________
After returning to the meeting room in Academy City, Edward had Morgana distribute the Arcane Merits based on the achievements and services of each participant.
He then waited for five minutes to allow these people who grinning from ear to ear to calm down. Finally, he continued the meeting.
"The next project will be divided into two teams, each working on a different aspect," said Edward, which instantly made the room quiet as everyone began to pay close attention.
"For the first team, I have already chosen the leader."
He motioned his hand and four people walked in. Two of them had armor on while escorting the other two in the middle. After seeing the two people in the middle with a pajama on and a white lab coat, he was momentarily speechless.
'These guys are now Tier 4 and should be able to easily use a spell to change their attire, or at least change the way it appears to others through illusion.'
"Fred, George."
"Professor, how have you been? We have not seen you in five years."
"I've been busy."
"It's good to be busy," replied Fred as he looked around, ignoring the weird look other people were giving him. "So, for what reason you brought us here?"
"I need you guys to lead a team on a special project."
"No way, professor. Absolutely no."
"Oh! Why is that?"
"Just like you, we are also busy," replied George.
"Yes. We have our own research to do, running a successful business, and dealing with family, etc," added Fred.
"Just like George said, we are busy," replied George.
'It seems that these guys have no change after so many years.'
"Is that so?" replied Edward with a smile on his face–an act which made the twins immediately vigilant. There are only two people that these lawless guys are afraid of their mother and the professor.
That's because of these people will be afraid to call on their shenanigans and punish them when necessary.
A small screen appeared in front of Edward and he said: "From what I know, five years ago I gave you guys a small vacation, but you never return to the Tower after a year. When the Imperial Guards went to fetch you guys back, you ran away and even used clones to deceive them.
"When I return, I found in my desk a list of all the crimes you guys have secretly committed in the past five years. Although nothing major, it should be more than enough to spend the next 5 years in jail.
"Do you guys want to take a visit down there? I heard there is a new program that advocates making the food better for prisoners. With your financial abilities, if you fund them, I'm sure your stay there will be more…what's the word…comfortable."
The two looked at each other for a moment, then placed the most genuine smile of their life.
"Professor, don't be like this," said Fred.
"It's just a joke," added George.
"You know, you have changed. In the past, you used to get our jokes."
"Yes. Now, you are serious all the time. You're no fun anymore."
The two of them did not doubt for a second that the professor would send them to prison just to teach them a lesson.
"So, it's just a joke," replied Edward with the same smile. "You guys are right. Over the years, I have lost some of my sense of humor. As your professor, how could I question your work ethic? Alright, sit down, and let's begin the debrief."
While the twins hurried to their seats, many people looked at them with envy; they wished they had such a close relationship with the Emperor. Many people of high status knew that the Emperor used to be a teacher at Hogwarts.
And amongst his students, many of them have become the pillar of the Empire. Truth be told, a lot of people from Hogwarts from his era holds a great amount of power and responsibility.
Amongst the 18 Tower Masters, a third of them are from Hogwarts or related to it in some shape or form. A few people are dissatisfied with this, but they also understand that these people are the real supporters of the Emperor.
So, they dare not target them–at least on the surface.
"The reason I want you two to be the leader of this project is that it involves your research from five years ago."
Edward then sent a file to the twins along with everyone else present.
"I once tasked you to find a way to turn solar energy into mana. This time around, the task is to turn an entire sun into mana."
"The entire sun?" asked Fred.
"Yes."
The two of them frowned as they reviewed the documents, thinking about how to proceed. "We already have an [Energy Transformation Enchantments]. And recently we have already translated it into Arcane Rune Magic.
"So, technically speaking, it should be possible. But the resources needed to accomplish this task are quite a lot."
"You don't need to worry about this."
"The main issue is how to test the enchantments after succeeding," commented George. "Although we can use Virtual Simulation, it is not the same."
"Once you guys are finished, I will send your team to a star in a desolate system and you can experiment all you want."
"In that case, we have no problem."
"Then, let's move on to the final task," said Edward. "I need a way to move an entire planet."
"Your majesty, what do you mean?" People were a little confused.
"Just like its sound, I want to be able to move a planet out of orbit and pulled it away from the gravitational pull of any star."
"It is possible. With Anti-Gravity Enchantments, this would be easier than expected," commented one Arcanist.
"We can encase the planet in a powerful enchantment that can regulate everything about it: from its climate to the gravitational force, to the electromagnetic waves that it emits."
"If we want, we could even place a Space Transfering Enchantments and teleport it to its destination."
"That's a good idea, but with an object of such mass, the amount of energy required would be tremendous."
"In that case, we could shrink the planet to reduce its weight."
"It would still require a lot of energy to shrink it."
"So, the question is, what will cost us more energy-wise? Teleporting the entire planet, or shrinking it before the teleportation. Let's do the calculation."
"How about sending the planet to another pocket dimension."
"How is that going to help?"
"I do not know. I just want to try what it would be like."
"Let's ignore this crazy guy and get back to business."
(Disclaimer: I am not a science guy. So, I'm sure many of the things I said here are wrong. Please do not come for me. This is a world of magic where the laws of physics have no significance.)
As Edward watched these people come up with ways to accomplish the task, he nodded in satisfaction. Moving the planet is essential for Project Akashic, so he placed heavy emphasis on it.
So, after promising these guys enough funds to do their projects, he left. He even contacted that guy that wanted to send a planet inside a dimension. He told him if he can come up with a feasible plan and theory, he will also fund his experiment.
________
Title: Target
