Chapter 794 She“s Only Four this Year
The atmosphere in the hall immediately became quite tense. Earlton was an extremely esteemed figure in the field of mathematics here in the Roth Empire, and his position was only below that of Erma and Leeroy. Setting official titles aside and speaking from a scholarly perspective alone, even Byron ranked below him.
He was now threatening retirement and putting his entire career on the line to crush Mag, and that was a clear indication of his confidence.
Even though Mag’s words were quite sharp, upon careful analysis, they appeared to be quite exaggerated. After all, could a child that was barely out of their infancy really be able to win against the best mathematicians of the Roth Empire?
Earlton’s actions seemed to be quite rash and reckless, but he was actually taking a calculated risk.
Two-digit multiplication problems were considered to be extremely difficult in the world of mathematics. If the problem involved large numbers, then no ordinary mathematician would be able to solve it. In fact, there were many people present who were unable to solve such questions.
However, Mag was proclaiming that even a child was capable of such an extraordinary feat, and that was clearly nothing more than a pipe dream. Now, Earlton was grabbing ahold of that point and issuing a challenge that Mag clearly couldn’t win.
The revolutionaries were all waiting for Mag’s response. The notion had been raised by Mag, and it was time for him to support it.
If Mag didn’t accept the challenge, then the verdict of this debate was quite apparent. However, if Mag were to accept the challenge, where was he going to find such a prodigious young mathematician?
Could it be…
Luna withdrew her gaze from Mag and turned toward Amy, who was currently struggling to hold Ugly Duckling in her arms. Was Amy going to be the one to prove Mag’s point?
“What a touching bet. If all of you were so eager to retire and refrain from continuing to burden the field of mathematics, it would be vastly fortunate for the entire Roth Empire,” Mag said with a smile. A bet like this played right into his hands. Looking at the enraged expressions on the faces of all of the white-robed dogmatic old farts, Mag’s smile widened even further.
“Seeing as you’re so eager to volunteer yourself as tribute, let me show you the power of the multiplication table used in conjunction with the decimal system. My four-year-old[1] daughter will be the one to demonstrate this point for me.” Mag gestured toward Amy, who then skipped over to him with Ugly Duckling in her arms.
Mag continued, “You can the pick the best mathematician among you and assign the same two-digit multiplication problem to both competitors. Of course, the mathematician chosen by your side must use the hexadecimal system in their calculations. The winner of this showdown will decide who wins this debate. If you lose, then you have no right to further obstruct the implementation of the decimal system and the multiplication table in the Roth Empire.”
The entire hall had fallen completely silent. No one had expected Mag to accept the challenge. Furthermore, he was upping the stakes, and proposing that the outcome of this contest decided the outcome of the entire debate.
What was even more arrogant of him was that he was allowing anyone from the conservatives to go up against Amy, which meant that even Erma or Earlton could take the stage!
Everyone immediately turned to Amy, only to discover a little girl who appeared to be around three or four years of age. Her semi-transparent pointy little ears and her intricate little face were all very adorable, and as she blinked her large blue eyes in an innocent manner, she didn’t look like she was capable of even simple arithmetic calculations.
Little girls her age were normally still fretting about what they were going to eat; how could she have possibly mastered the skill to solve two-digit multiplication problems?
All of the revolutionaries were also feeling quite nervous. Even though they had chosen an extremely difficult path from the very beginning, all of them had been working their hardest during the past few months.
However, Mag was now proposing a downright absurd contest, and if he were to lose, they would also lose the debate. In that case, all of their efforts would completely go down the drain.
Everyone turned toward Byron in unison. He was the leader of this mathematical revolution, and only he could decide whether this showdown would go ahead.
Byron looked at Mag for a moment, and then cast his gaze toward Amy. A smile appeared on his face as he nodded, and said, “I have no objections to this.”
Earlton, Erma, and Leeroy glanced at each other before Earlton turned to Mag with a cold sneer on his face. “Alright, I’ll be happy to crush your insolence!”
Erma turned to a young man with a heavily freckled face below the stage, and said, “Fitch, you can compete against her.”
“He’s sending out Fitch! That’s… That shouldn’t be allowed!”
All of the revolutionaries immediately sagged like deflated balloons. Fitch was the most exceptional young student of the elite imperial academy of mathematics, and had been a prodigy from a young age. At just 10 years of age, he solved a two-digit multiplication problem on his own, and was accepted into the academy as Erma’s disciple.
Now, he was still only 16 years old, but his reputation had already exceeded that of many of his teachers, and no one could compete with him when it came to speed solving. Even Erma had proclaimed that Fitch would reach greater heights than he had during his peak.
Such a brilliant prodigy was being sent out to compete with a little three-year-old half elf girl. It appeared that the conservatives were willing to become laughing stocks as long as they could win this debate.
“Yes.” The young man emerged from within the crowd before slowly making his way onto the tall platform. Without his freckles, he would actually be quite a handsome young man.
Even though he was a little thin and frail, he carried himself in a graceful manner, and there was no hint of arrogance about him that one would expect from a prodigy of his lofty status. Instead, he gave off an air benevolence, and seemed to be quite approachable.
Mag glanced at the young man with absolute confidence in his eyes.
These stupid old bastards dared to proclaim that the multiplication table was crude and unsightly! It was time for them to learn their place!
“My daughter, Amy, will be participating in this contest. She’s four years old at the moment.” Mag patted Amy’s head before turning toward the conservatives as he continued, “In a contest of calculation, the best parameter to decide on a winner would naturally be speed. We’ll each pick a random two-digit number to be used as components for the multiplication problem, and we’ll see who can get the answer first. The final answers can be converted into the other contestant’s numerical system for verification purposes.”
[1] For some reason, the author says she’s three in the chapters as of late, but she’d been introduced as either four or nearly four at the start…