Chapter 689 - Research Leading Up to the Calamity?
Monday.
Monday. It was raining quite heavily, so we had lunch in the classroom. I gave Natto and Iincho a brief explanation of what happened yesterday.
"That's the place below the cliff you went to on the stream, right?"
"Yeah, they were connected at the very bottom."
The spiral staircase to the basement had a small storage-like room halfway down, filled with wooden crates packed with small Magic Stones. At the time, I thought they were materials for making Regenerated Magic Crystal Stones, but...
"Magic Stones, huh. So, what about the first floor?"
"It's a library. Bookshelves all along the walls, packed with books."
As for the books on the first floor, there were so many that I put off a full investigation. A quick glance showed many books on general magic, followed by books on magical beasts... monsters.
"Hmm, probably not a library. Maybe a research facility?"
Natto said this before taking a large bite of a yakisoba bun.
"Probably. The second floor is a development room or a Production Room. Furnaces, hearths, drafting tables, all sorts of things. Azure-san thinks they were making magic tools there."
"Cough!"
Natto choked on his food in surprise, and Iincho smoothly handed him some tea. They really were a great duo.
"...Can players make magic tools?"
"I think we'll be able to eventually. Azure-san said that if we properly study Magic Analysis, we should be able to make them."
"Are you serious..."
However, Seth's opinion was that they wouldn't become widespread all at once due to material issues. After logging out, Bell-bucho and Seth, who had heard the World Announcement, were waiting for me. I spoke with them to give a report and discuss various things.
"We don't have enough Mithril."
"Ah, yeah. We're definitely short on Mithril. Output has increased, but so has the number of new players."
Though Mithril ore could now be mined on the Southern Island, its primary use was still accessories, followed by weapons and armor. It was also used for things like kitchen knives to break through the caps of production skills. The shortage was ongoing.
"Also, Magic Crystal Stones. Small ones are fine for things like lamps, but you'd need at least a medium size for a Magic Storage unit."
"There are plenty of players who can take down an Area Boss, you know? Well, finding them is a pain, so nobody is really farming them," Natto laughed.
Apparently, if you defeat a weakened Area Boss in a cleared area, some of them drop medium-sized Magic Stones. Like the Armor Bear. But if magic tools became even more common, we'd run into a shortage of Magic Crystal Stones. That was why I felt Regenerated Magic Crystal Stones were going to be very important...
"What was on the third floor?"
"The third floor is the Control Room, but it also had a table, chairs, and a bed. It looked like the person who lived there stayed overnight."
"What kind of research were they doing?"
At Iincho's question, Mion and I both struggled to answer.
"Hmm? Is it some kind of spoiler? We don't mind."
Iincho nodded at Natto's words.
"I wonder if it's a spoiler. I'm not really sure, so I'd like to hear your opinions, but... well, the content is a bit unsettling."
"Just tell us. We won't know unless you say it."
I knew Natto would say that, so it was fine, and Iincho looked like she wanted to hear it too.
"Alright. To jump to the conclusion, it seems the research there was about how to create large Magic Stones."
"What? That sounds normal."
"No, it's not. That means natural ones, not Regenerated Magic Crystal Stones, right?"
As expected of Iincho.
After looking at the pier at the bottom of the tower and returning to the first floor, we decided to split up and investigate each floor in more detail. Mion, El-san, and Sweee handled the library on the first floor, focusing on the books. I and Lupi took the second-floor workshop, focusing on the magic tools.
"And?"
"There were too many books, so Mion is currently making a catalog. I was appraising the magic tools on the second floor and then checking the contents of the desk drawers, and..."
I had found a bundle of notes from the person who conducted the research. I skimmed through them since I had time. It seemed they were researching a way to create stones identical to natural Magic Crystal Stones that wouldn't break when refilled with mana. The notes contained the details and experimental records.
"So, what was in them?"
"...Raising monsters by hand to make them larger."
When I answered, both Natto and Iincho took on complicated expressions. Mion and I had been repulsed, and Argenta-san and the others were exasperated. Incidentally, the method involved grinding small Magic Stones into powder and feeding them to monsters... It was called Biological Condensation, and it seemed they were doing some very dangerous things.
"Hey, weren't you told to keep that quiet?"
"No, they said it was better to tell people close to me. Apparently, some monsters that were released into the wild because of that research are still out there."
I had never seen one, but Uruk was apparently one of those monsters. The Uruk mentioned in the experimental logs was described as an experimental subject using an Orc...
"That guy? He's not in any existing games."
"Was the research successful?"
"The notes said it wasn't going as well as they hoped..."
The notes ended there. According to Argenta-san and Azure-san, there was likely a limit to how large they could make them that way. This research predated the magic technology that caused the calamity. It seemed to be from an era when magic tools were increasing in number and size.
"Well, I get it. Nobody would believe us even if we told them."
"I suppose we'll just share it within the guild for now."
"I think that's enough. I mean, the point is to make sure nobody tries to copy it. The monsters used in that research are apparently quite dangerous."
However, the most dangerous part was the basement on the west side of the castle. It seemed the experiments were carried out there...