Matthew

Biodata

Background / History

Rivalry with Li Mo

Matthew was the son of Isaac Oliver, owner of the Oliver Cotton Mill, the largest mill in Mondel Town. His father's competition with Li Mo's father encouraged him to regard Li Mo as a future business rival. His hostility also had a personal cause: Matthew liked Helen, whose father had hoped to bring her together with Li Mo 8 20 45.

While Li Mo enjoyed a reputation as a mysticism prodigy, Matthew felt unable to challenge him. After Li Mo lost his Mysticism Perception and left Wellington Academy, Matthew repeatedly discussed his downfall at school, disguising his satisfaction as sympathy 8 20.

When Li Mo returned to class, Matthew demonstrated two calculus solutions to a cylinder-optimization problem to impress Helen. He then condescendingly offered to explain his work to Li Mo. Li Mo instead presented a much shorter proof using the arithmetic–geometric mean inequality, earning Mr. Harrison's praise and leaving Matthew humiliated 11 12.

Professor Bryce's Assistant Position

Matthew's father instructed him to establish a connection with Professor Bryce. Matthew bought assessment questions from the professor's assistant, but Bryce added an unexpected question that he could not answer. After failing, Matthew asked the assistant to recommend him again if Li Mo's application also failed 13 21.

Believing Li Mo had been rejected, Matthew pressed him about the assessment, mocked his lost Mysticism Perception, and insulted Anna as his “personal maid.” Li Mo responded by pretending to activate a dangerous Mystical Artifact using a magnet wrapped in copper wire. Terrified, Matthew apologized to Anna, who accepted 20.

When Bryce subsequently recognized Li Mo's work, Matthew briefly considered apologizing and asking to become Li Mo's assistant as an indirect way to fulfill his father's instructions. Li Mo chose Anna before Matthew could speak 21.

The Underground Organization and Mathematics Salon

Resentful of Li Mo's academic success, Matthew visited a secret underground club and paid fifteen gold pounds to an organization he believed could restore his reputation. Charles Bowen later explained that Matthew wanted a staged crisis in which he could impress Helen. The supposed occult organization was actually a student-run middleman scheme; Charles tried unsuccessfully to pay Li Mo to cooperate 22 33 34.

Helen's actual disappearance initially made Wayne and Li Mo suspect Matthew, but they later identified Doctor Morris as her kidnapper and Thomas's killer. Matthew's staged-rescue scheme was a separate matter, and the supplied events do not establish his responsibility for Morris's crimes 24 30 33.

At Li Mo's mathematics salon, Matthew mistook Charles's attempts to communicate with him for encouragement. He went to the blackboard expecting the Goddess of the Moon to provide an answer. After waiting without receiving any revelation, he feigned sudden illness and fled to the infirmary 36.

His escape became a schoolwide joke. Students imitated his excuse whenever they encountered questions they could not answer, while Wayne repeatedly challenged him to explain what was special about the number 1729 36 41 44.

Estelle and the Oliver Family's Dealings

Hoping to impress someone who had not witnessed his embarrassment, Matthew turned his attention to the transfer student Estelle Xi. He decided to avoid mathematics and mysticism and instead demonstrate his knowledge of politics and business 44.

Unaware that Estelle was the empress, Matthew boasted about his father's access to military intelligence and the family's cotton stockpile. Encouraged by her questions, he revealed bribery, improper bank loans, and plans to inflate prices on supplies sold to the Quartermaster's Office. Estelle recorded the officials and business contacts he named 45 46 52.

Matthew then paid for carriages to accompany Estelle, Caroline, and Li Mo's group to the Li En Spinning Mill. Confident in his knowledge of textiles, he dismissed Li Mo's improved spinning frame until he tested its stronger yarn himself. Caroline's decision to grant the mill royal backing left him shaken: the invention and military orders threatened his family's advantage in cotton and textiles 51 52 53.

Estelle ordered an investigation into the people in her notebook. Amid the ensuing arrests, Matthew's father was detained and the family's warehouses were sealed 52 61.

Reconsidering His Ambitions

After his family's reversal, Matthew became quieter, and the classmates who had followed him began avoiding him. Watching Li Mo teach, he questioned why he had insisted on competing with him in everything. He acknowledged that their conflict was not rooted in deep hatred and decided to measure himself against his own past rather than Li Mo 62.

His desire for recognition remained. Matthew wanted all of Mondel Town to remember his name, but the family crisis also weighed heavily on him. Unable to comfort his crying mother and reluctant to remain at home, he approached Charles again and offered whatever he could afford for help, asking not to be scammed another time 62 63.

Sacrifice at the Docks

When an explosion devastated the Oliver Cotton Mill, Matthew immediately joined the workers fighting the fire. He continued hauling water even after an old worker told him the ruined mill could no longer be saved 71.

A court guard's announcement that the catastrophic Mystical Artifact might be shut down gave him a new purpose. Matthew rallied workers and started the mill's steam tractor to reinforce Caroline's team at the docks 71.

Following Caroline's orders, he drove onto the bridge under concentrated rebel fire. Bullets struck his shoulder, abdomen, and thigh, but he continued forward and locked the tractor's brakes with the vehicle positioned sideways across the bridge. It became cover for the defenders outside the warehouse while Li Mo worked on the artifact inside 71.

Matthew died at the controls. Before collapsing, he shouted his full name and demanded the largest monument in the town square if they won the war. His final words asked whether his father would praise him. Wayne witnessed his death and broke down in tears 71.

Personality

Matthew is vain, competitive, and intensely concerned with saving face. His early treatment of Li Mo includes gloating, calculated provocation, and attempts to turn classroom achievements into public victories. His efforts to impress Helen largely ignore her discomfort with attention and spectacle 8 11 20 33.

Despite this behavior, the narration describes him as not fundamentally bad. He repeatedly returns to school after humiliating setbacks, and Li Mo eventually recognizes his resilience. Following his father's detention, Matthew shows greater restraint and accepts that personal improvement matters more than matching Li Mo 44 51 62.

His final actions reveal a strong attachment to his parents, the mill, its workers, and ordinary school life. His wish to become famous does not disappear; instead, he fulfills it by protecting others rather than seeking their admiration through a performance 71.

Abilities & Skills

Mathematics

• Solves a cylinder-optimization problem through standard differentiation and an alternative substitution using the ratio (k=h/r), obtaining (h=2r) in both cases 11.
• Earns Mr. Harrison's praise for his preparation, although Wayne attributes his extra methods to private tutoring 11.
• Cannot solve Bryce's unanticipated assessment question despite having purchased the original questions 13.

Textile Business Knowledge

• Understands his family's accounts and recognizes the commercial threat posed by Li Mo's improved spinning frame 53.
• Has practical familiarity with spinning machinery, yarn strength, mill attendance, and accounting 53 71.
• Knows details of the Oliver family's political and financial connections, but exposes them while trying to impress Estelle 45 46.

Steam Tractor Operation

• Starts and drives the mill's steam tractor to reinforce Caroline's force 71.
• Maneuvers it across a bridge and locks it into position as a barricade despite multiple gunshot wounds 71.

Relationships

• Isaac Oliver — Father and owner of the Oliver Cotton Mill. Pressures Matthew to cultivate useful connections and prepares opportunities for him behind the scenes. Matthew's dying wish is to receive his praise 21 45 71.
• Mrs. Oliver — Mother. Gives him spending money and praises his grades; her distress after Isaac's detention leaves Matthew unsure how to comfort her 53 63 71.
• Li Mo — Classmate and former rival. Matthew resents his reputation and closeness to Helen, but eventually abandons their one-sided competition. His final intervention protects the team while Li Mo studies the artifact 8 20 62 71.
• Helen — Original romantic interest. Matthew's public displays make her uncomfortable; he later considers his fixation on her ridiculous after becoming more interested in Estelle 11 62.
• Wayne — Antagonistic classmate who repeatedly teases him about 1729 and his feigned illness. Despite their bickering, Wayne is devastated by Matthew's death 36 52 69 71.
• Anna — Classmate whom he insults during his confrontation with Li Mo. He apologizes after Li Mo's staged ritual frightens him, and she forgives him 20.
• Estelle Xi — Later romantic interest, unknowingly the empress. Matthew mistakes her questioning for personal interest and reveals his family's corrupt dealings 45 46 52 62.
• Charles Bowen — Representative of the fraudulent organization Matthew hires. Matthew later seeks his help again during the family crisis despite the earlier deception 33 34 63.
• Caroline — Royal envoy he initially hopes to cultivate as a useful connection. During the dock battle, he follows her order to turn the tractor into cover 52 71.

Notable Quotes

“Why should I compete with someone like that? Why put myself through it?” 62

“All of you, remember this!!”
“My name is Matthew Oliver!!”
“When we win this war, you have to put up the biggest monument to me in the town square, aaah-!!” 71

“Old man... this time you should... praise me, right...” 71