In another world, Lu Mingfei is learning card making.

"What do you mean by 'before me'—I never intended to create that kind of reputation, okay?" Lu Mingfei shook his head decisively.

On a grander scale, this set of numbers is the crystallization of Earth's culture. Even if Lu Mingfei were to share it, he wouldn't claim that he had researched an entire set of numbers.

He even considered assigning a researcher to this set of numbers, using the story of the hero's inheritance as a pretext—but he didn't even know who originally developed these numbers, and he was afraid of making a mistake by misattributing them.

"This set of numbers was found in the legacy of heroes, and its honor rightfully belongs to the sages."

"I just don't want the House of Nobles to take this honor away."

Percy nodded, her face showing approval.

She was very pleased with Lu Mingfei's words; the spirit of chivalry—fairness, humility, honesty, and honor—could all be seen in them.

As for his hostility toward the House of Lords?

At school, these are all minor matters.

Percy believed that Lu Mingfei would definitely be able to find those truly worthwhile friends in the Noble Academy, while staying away from those who would tarnish the honor of heroes.

"In that case, can you think of the origin of numbers?" Percy clapped her hands and pulled out paper and pen from somewhere. "Here, write it down."

"If the House of Nobles were to disclose its origins and use it for arithmetic instruction at St. Marian's College, we could write a paper on its origins and earn you some credits."

"If the House of Nobles chooses to place the honors it deserves on someone, I guarantee you that they will have to swallow their bitter pill."

"What do you think of this approach?"

"I thought you were going to say, 'If its honor belongs to the sages, we'll just watch from the sidelines,'" Lu Mingfei placed the paper in front of him and began to chat. "After all, saying that this honor doesn't belong to me and profiting from it doesn't seem like something a knight would do..."

“This isn’t about profiting; it’s about supplementing knowledge. There’s no rule that says knights can only fight and can’t do research.” Percy crossed her legs, rested her elbows on her knees, and propped her chin on her hand. “Besides, my help comes with conditions.”

"If I really have to write a paper, then I want to be the second author."

"Don't feel like you're getting the short end of the stick with this exchange. You know, the prefect's job is incredibly busy. I'm already being kind by squeezing out time to help you perfect a paper, and I didn't steal your first authorship. You should be grateful."

Lu Mingfei nodded indifferently.

He is now delving into his memories to recall the origins of Arabic numerals.

He still remembers that when he first came into contact with the Arabic numerals, he couldn't remember the distorted symbols.

Then his mother, Giovanni, told him stories about the origin of Arabic numerals, about the "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art," and about how the method of exhaustion separates π from 3.1415926 and 927...

Lu Mingfei sighed quietly, a spark suddenly swelling in his heart, burning away all the complicated thoughts in his mind.

Now is not the time for sentimentality; we have important matters to attend to.

Lu Mingfei gripped the pen and began to write furiously:

Initially, the numbers 1 through 4 were represented by the number of "angles" on each symbol. This meant that 1 was more like '7', while 4 was more like two intersecting straight lines, one horizontal and one vertical.

When it comes to the number 5, it's inconvenient to represent it with the number of jiao (a unit of measurement, approximately 1/3 of a centimeter). The clever ancient people connected this to the five fingers on the hand, and how clenching those five fingers resembles a circle, thus using a circle to represent 5.

[One palm represents five, and two fists placed one above the other represent ten. To make it simpler, draw a straight line down the middle; a circle above represents ten, and a circle below represents five.]

In later evolutions, the number 10 gradually became horizontal, becoming '10', while the number 5, in order to distinguish it from '6', was not fully circled, becoming '5'.

As for the numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9, they are derived from the numbers five and ten. Adding a corner above the five indicates five plus one, which equals six; adding a corner below the ten indicates ten minus one, which equals nine.

"Okay, I'm done writing." Lu Mingfei threw down his pen and lay down.

Percy took it with interest, glanced at it from head to toe, and couldn't help but show a look of disgust:

"Your handwriting is terrible. It's not good either... Lu, you really need to practice your writing skills. They'll be very useful in the future."

"What's the use of writing skills..." Lu Mingfei stared blankly at the ceiling. "The last time I wrote such a large amount of text was when I was doing that history of magic assignment in the first week."

"We'll be researching card production in the future. How do documents help with card crafting?"

"Does being good at writing mean I can forge the highest-level God Cards?"

"No, it can't." Percy picked up her pen and began to circle and draw on the parts that Lu Mingfei had already written, while starting to write something new below. "But it can bring you more card-refining materials."

"Write a good paper, publish it, and as long as someone cites it, the credits will automatically be credited to your academic credit card."

"With academic credits, what kind of materials can't you buy?"

Lu Mingfei looked strange; he was hallucinating as if he were seeing an American video he had seen on a forum.

A young man with shifty eyes spoke to the camera, saying:

"See this? This is milk, produced from cows. Just sell it, and the money will magically appear in your hands!"

"See those chickens? They lay eggs! Just pick them up and sell them (gestures rubbing banknotes). If they stop laying eggs, you can sell the chicken meat too!"

Lu Mingfei cleared these strange images from his mind and peered at where Percy had written. A single glance was enough to tell he indeed possessed a skill:

The handwriting is elegant, and the strokes reveal considerable skill...

But compared to that, those lines of text surprised Lu Mingfei even more.

The shapes of the numbers "1" through "4" often originate from intuitive geometric features. Early symbols used the number of "angles" on each mark to represent the corresponding number: one angle represented "1", two angles represented "2", and so on. Therefore, the symbol for "1" is closer to today's "7", while "4" is presented as a cross shape formed by the intersection of two straight lines, one horizontal and one vertical, containing exactly four right angles. This design, which uses the number of angles as a coding rule, reflects the direct borrowing of geometric features from primitive counting symbols.

"...No, sister, you really do have this skill?" Lu Mingfei's expression changed repeatedly.

Didn't we agree that all students at the Knights Academy were barbarians who wouldn't study seriously? Sister, how could you betray us?

"It's precisely because everyone else thinks you're a barbarian that you can be even more unpredictable once you excel in your studies, right?" Percy reached out and tapped Lu Mingfei's nose. "Study hard, and strive to live a life of academic freedom through your papers in the future."