"Is it practical, though? It's not unheard of for a child's ideas to surpass an adult's, but they often end as mere imaginings due to a lack of feasibility."
"That's the most astonishing part. This is logically sound. Moreover, this section on the right, though still in its nascent stage, could be considered the start of a new field of study. Yes, it's that significant!"
Hans, possessing a certain level of scholarship himself, could just about grasp the content. Hypothesis testing being a fundamental aspect of statistics, his claim that it could initiate a new academic field was not misplaced.
As a scholar understanding its logical validity, he was confident in his assertion.
Suppressing a smile, Duchess Nashia calmly offered Hans another cup of tea. Hans, seemingly parched, quickly gulped it down.
"Now, could you elaborate on what exactly you wish to do?"
"I propose sending Lady Kalia to the preeminent Aether Academy to collaborate with top scholars."
"I've heard this before, but I must decline."
"Excuse me?"
"No matter her genius, she is still only ten. I have no intention of sending her away from our territory."
"Then, what shall we do?"
"Propose an alternative."
Hans closed his eyes, pondering various possibilities, but no straightforward solution came to mind.
Kalia was a prodigy, a raw gem yet to be fully polished. Hans longed to refine her brilliance as swiftly as possible, but her parents opposed.
Then, he had another thought. Kalia's ideas were epoch-making, and even the notes he had already penned were substantially refined.
But that didn't mean she had developed a fully-fledged scholarly argument. She hadn't yet learned the formalities of academic discourse. Genius ideas still require formal education.
"I'll write a paper."
"Oh?"
"With Your Grace's permission, I'll compile Lady Kalia's ideas into a paper and submit it to the Spring Academic Conference. Naturally, Lady Kalia will be the lead author."
The scholar was willing to write a new paper without hesitation, offering the prestigious position of lead author to Kalia. To him, the privilege of writing this paper was an honor in itself.
"How impactful do you think this will be?" Duchess Nashia inquired.
"Though I am only a master's graduate, it's likely to prompt action from the Imperial Academy."
"That significant... Very well. Provide whatever is needed - personnel, resources, rare materials, anything. Take good care of my daughter."
"Thank you."
"Dismissed."
After Hans left, Duchess Nashia took a moment to compose herself with a sip of tea. Despite her calm demeanor, she too was astonished.
"Since it's spring, we'll prepare a festival to celebrate her accomplishment once the paper is published."
"I'll plan something enjoyable for the entire duchy."
Meanwhile, Kalia, left alone, idly lifted her dumbbells, waiting for her tutor's return. When Hans returned after regular class hours, he brought surprising news.
"A paper? About me?"
'I've only ever written one undergraduate thesis, and now this!'
"Don't worry, Your Highness. I will handle the writing. You just need to explain your logic to me. How did you come up with such an idea?"
"Uh..."
'It's not really mine, though. Is this plagiarism? Intellectual theft? No, methodologies don't have copyrights, but still, it feels wrong to be credited for something I didn't invent.'
"Okay then. What about the magic lessons?"
"Of course, Your Highness, your studies are crucial and will continue as usual. Occasionally, I'll come to ask questions, and you just need to answer them as best as you can remember."
"That doesn't sound too hard."
"Certainly not."
The day's lesson ended up being quite unproductive due to their shared excitement. Kalia, too, was so distracted by the thought of the paper that she only managed to complete half of her usual workout.
Despite her worries, explaining her rudimentary knowledge of hypothesis deduction and statistical hypothesis testing to Hans, albeit in a child's language, was all that was required of her.
As Kalia described her ideas in simple terms, Hans refined them into scholarly language, filling in gaps where her knowledge was incomplete or forgotten. The teacher truly was different from the student.
The result was two eight-page papers, the potential impact of which on the world remained unknown.
Meanwhile, Kalia faced a different challenge.
She had already verified that healing magic could accelerate muscle recovery. Now, she needed to figure out the precise level of magic required to halt the process at the optimal point of hyper-recovery.
This hyper-recovery phase was crucial for muscle growth. To achieve optimal growth, she had to repeat her exercises at precisely the right timing.
'It's not something I can sense. The hyper-recovery phase post-exercise lasts between 48 to 72 hours. If I could quantitatively calculate the time acceleration due to the healing magic, that would be perfect.'
Kalia's mind raced with thoughts. It would be ideal to quantify the amount of magic used and its corresponding effects, but quantifying the effects of healing was a complex challenge.
First, controlling the variables was difficult. Recovery rates varied from person to person, influenced by genetics and environment, making it hard to control.
Creating perfectly identical injuries for experimentation was another hurdle. Without some kind of injury-producing machine, it seemed impossible.
'How did 21st-century medical scientists solve such problems?' Kalia wondered, not realizing that in such cases, compiling an overwhelming number of similar cases – individuals with similar age, weight, gender, etc., with similar injuries – was the key. After all, humans were almost identical within a macroscopic framework.
Eventually, Kalia concluded that gathering relevant data should be the first step. Even without knowing Earth's methods, she could follow the concept.
Collecting such cases was not easy, but never once did she think 'it's too hard, so it can't be done.' For Kalia, having many tasks was a good thing. She preferred excitement over boredom, and the end goal of all her efforts being tied to exercise was very much in her character.
Calmly waiting for the signs of puberty, Kalia completed her preparations. Everything she had done so far was merely a warm-up.
The real workout would begin after the onset of puberty. With the growth of her skeleton, she would embark on a more rigorous exercise regime!