Shattering Worldviews

Translator: CinderTL

TL/N: Terry Cable's full name was just mentioned. Previously he was translated as Kabul but Cable sounds better.

Terry Cable stood at the podium, his fingers unconsciously fiddling with the astrolabe pendant hanging around his neck. This astrologer, who had just been praised by Paul as "an outstanding astronomer of Weiss Academy," now looked as nervous as a novice attending his first academic conference. His light golden short hair was tousled from repeated scratching, and his amber eyes behind silver-rimmed glasses blinked incessantly.

After a brief opening remark, Cable got straight to the point.

"Uh, my teacher, Viscount Diego Blare—many of you here must have heard of him, he was the court astrologer of Collins... cough, he left behind a vast amount of observational records. Combining my teacher's data with my own observations over the past three years..." His voice trembled at first, but when he looked down at Paul Grayman, who was watching him intently, his tone gradually became firm: "The traditional geocentric theory, or the theory that the Earth is the center of the universe, should be... wrong!"

A low murmur of discussion arose in the auditorium, and several bearded astrological masters frowned, with one even snorting in disdain.

Cable held up a scroll depicting a traditional star chart and continued to shout: "If the stars truly revolve around our world—thanks to the great Captain Gran, who, along with his brave crew, completed the first circumnavigation in human history, proving that our world is indeed spherical—if the stars truly revolve around our world," he pointed to the traditional star chart in his hand, "then the trajectory of the Flame Star should be as symmetrical as a carriage wheel. However, I discovered..."

He suddenly turned around and, based on his teacher's and his own observational records, marked the positions of the Flame Star at different times on the blackboard. Cable was so familiar with the data he was about to present that he didn't need to refer to his manuscript at all.

"Look here! When the Flame Star passes through the Frost Throne constellation, its speed is thirty percent faster than the theoretical value!"

Several elderly scholars immediately took out crystal lenses to examine their own star charts, their faces gradually turning pale.

An elderly astrologer stood up shakily: "Perhaps... perhaps it's just a minor deviation in the epicycle?"

"What about this?" Cable suddenly lifted a velvet cloth, revealing an exquisitely crafted orrery model. "This is an orrery made strictly according to traditional theory and real observational records. I tried to combine the two, but they contradict each other!"

He turned the handle, and seven clay planets stumbled along their intersecting orbits. "But if the planets moved according to traditional theory, they would get stuck at certain positions—because real stars don't follow these imaginary curves!"

The clay Flame Star "cracked" against the seam of the orbit, shattering into pieces scattered across the floor.

At this moment, no one laughed—everyone saw the truth revealed by the broken model: the geocentric system that had been used for a thousand years simply couldn't accommodate the real trajectories of the stars.

An elderly astrologer suddenly stood up, his gray beard trembling: "Young man, do you know what you're questioning?"

Cable didn't back down. "I know it's hard to accept," his voice was particularly clear in the noisy venue, "but the data doesn't lie. Our world is indeed not the center of the universe. The sun is the center, and the planets—our world is also a planet—revolve around the sun!"

The entire auditorium erupted instantly.

Some cheered, "Just as I speculated, see, I told you so!"

Conservative scholars loudly reprimanded, "This is utter nonsense, your records must be fabricated!"

The venue fell into a chaotic state. Unlike the intensity downstairs, the corridor on the second floor was relatively calm, probably because the scholars here were not in the field of astronomy—they were just here to watch the excitement.

Coleridge moved, she maneuvered around one discussing person after another, walking while focusing her attention on the person downstairs who resembled Alvey, lest she accidentally lose sight of him in the crowd. There were too many people on the first floor, and once the focus was lost, it would not be easy to find him again.

"Master Alvey, what do you think?"

Paul returned to his seat, next to him was Alvey, a scholar from the Scholars' Tower of Gabella.

Alvey stroked his gray beard, "To be honest, I'm not very familiar with astronomy, but based on my limited knowledge of astronomy, I can't seem to find any errors in Mr. Cable's words."

"Haha, you're too modest!"

Alvey sighed, "Alas, if Aldridge were here, he would surely have a good discussion with Mr. Cable. My senior is proficient in astrology and astronomy, otherwise he wouldn't have been so convinced of the prophecy of the calamity star. It's just a pity that Aldridge is now deeply involved in politics and conspiracy, and must have long since lost interest in academics."

The noise in the venue subsided a bit, and Cable continued his speech.

"The planets revolving around the sun is just a small point in what I'm saying today..."

Before he could finish, someone suddenly stood up and shouted: "Viscount Blare would be ashamed to have a student like you!"

The person looked around the venue and shouted: "Do you know that this Cable is a fugitive? He was accused of murdering his teacher in Collins, which is why he fled to the Northwest Bay!"

"Throw him out!" Paul frowned.

Before the guards beside him could act, academy guards had already rushed in and "escorted" the troublemaker out of the venue.

Cable disdained to refute the accusations against him by the troublemaker, as it would only make things worse. He continued to talk about his academic discoveries.

"Furthermore, based on my years of research—of course, with the help of Marquis Grayman, thank you—I have finally summarized the motion of the planets into three laws! These three laws perfectly match the observational records accumulated by my teacher over decades!"

"First, the orbits of all planets around the sun are ellipses, with the sun at one focus of the ellipse. Second..."

On the corridor of the second floor of the auditorium, Catherine, Eileen, and Ladia stood in a place with a wide view, listening to Cable talk about his discoveries. They were all very interested in today's content, but didn't want to squeeze downstairs, so they stayed on the second floor.

Ladia Setia, who was listening with great interest, suddenly felt something and looked up sharply into the distance.

"Dear Ladia, what's wrong!"

Catherine noticed her movement and asked with concern.

Having stayed in Alden Town for a long time, she had noticed that this green-haired lady seemed to have a certain degree of ambiguity with her husband.

Although she had some small emotions, Catherine was also a traditional woman of her time, when it was common for men to have multiple wives.

She even wondered why her husband didn't take Ladia as a concubine.

(End of the Chapter)

---

📖Read (FF) on Pa.treon@CinderTL - c881. [+1i]

🔑Early Access at $5.

✍Translated (6) Series, (3K+) Chapters, (4.2M+) Words.

💥Flat 30% Discount on All Tiers Available Till 26th July, Use Code 3KCHAPTERS to Avail.