kscans

Chapter 178 - Episode 12: First Half, A Confident Creation

A week had passed since I cooked at the ducal residence. Having wrapped up our research in the archives, Alfina and I headed for the lab. Today was the day Maytyl had promised to show us her results. I had, incidentally, been strictly reminded not to forget her reward.

Thanks to that, Natalie and the others were in the director's office at this very moment, making ice cream.

When we went up to the second floor of the lab and opened the door, we found Maytyl with her arms crossed, gazing down at us. Deeper in the room, Noel was adjusting an optical bench while Fulsy held an object that looked like a board.

Good, it looked like Mia made it in time too. She had been popping in every so often to lend a hand.

"Have you prepared the ice cream?"

"Is that the first thing you ask? Yes, I have them making it now."

My eyes moved past Maytyl. I couldn't see any major differences in the optical bench Noel was tinkering with. The only changes I could spot were that it was back to a single prism, and that this one prism was larger than before.

"Well then, allow me to begin my explanation. This is what we devised."

Maytyl held up two components mounted on rods. In each hand, she twirled a transparent part set within a round ring.

"A lens? But..."

It was likely made from dragon crystal. That wasn't particularly strange, considering it was an experiment with light.

Focusing the light with a lens would reduce the surface area, which meant the density of magic per unit area would increase. However, there were supposed to be two disadvantages. First, the spacing would also narrow, which contradicted the goal of distinguishing between different wavelengths. Second, the refractive index of a lens changes depending on where the light hits.

"The first one goes here."

Watching my confusion with a look of satisfaction, Maytyl installed the first component on the optical bench. Contrary to my expectation, she placed it between the slit and the prism.

"You're going to focus the light coming from the slit with a lens? Doesn't that seem wrong?"

"No. It's the reverse, the reverse."

Maytyl glanced at Fulsy. Fulsy stood and went to the stone slate. She drew a diagram showing light hitting a lens and converging at a focal point. Then, she added a slit at the location of that focal point.

"Try turning what ye just said on its head. The focal point of this lens is perfectly aligned with the slit. What happens when the magic, narrowed by the slit, spreads out toward the lens?"

So, it wasn't about focusing the light, but about catching the narrowed light as it spread. Not like the science experiment where you burn paper, but more like how you use a magnifying glass to look at something.

"The light gains an angle as it spreads from the slit, and the lens returns it to a parallel path. This was the absolutely critical part."

"I see. So all the light hits the prism at the same angle."

It made sense. The magic narrowed by the slit would spread out slightly on its way to the prism. This meant that from the center of the magic to its edges, it would strike the prism at various angles. Consequently, when refracting, even waves of the same length would bend in slightly different directions. The resulting image would be blurred horizontally. But if the light was adjusted with a lens so that it traveled straight, that problem would disappear.

...Damn. I was being reminded all over again that my knowledge was stuck at an elementary school level.

"Exactly. And the other lens goes here."

Maytyl placed the lens from her left hand after the prism.

"With this, we can bring each wavelength of magic to a focus at a different location."

That was the effect I had first imagined. The light emitted from the magic crystal is narrowed to a single point by the slit, then spreads out. The first lens makes it parallel again, and the prism separates it by wavelength. The magic, now separated, is then focused by the second lens into different spots according to each wavelength. This time, it was being focused at staggered locations.

If I thought of the magic's flow simply, it was like a pencil sharpened at both ends. The first lens was the magnifying glass. The second lens could be thought of as the human eye.

My head was spinning, but I somehow managed to grasp the concept.

"Still, it's amazing you came up with this."

"W, well, I suppose you could say Ricardo's words gave me a hint. I remembered there was a strange flow of magic deep in the Castle-Eating Worm's head. Looking back on it now, I suppose I was thinking about how to replicate the shape of that flow."

I see. So that was what Maytyl had been investigating at the ducal residence.

"Come on, the proof is in the pudding. I'll show you the power of the new analyzer."

At Maytyl's signal, Noel placed a small magic crystal into the improved spectrum measuring device. It was the magic crystal from a single slime mold monster, the one we couldn't measure at all last time.

The magic-sensing paper reacted in just a few minutes. Wasn't that as fast as when we used a regular magic crystal? If I remembered correctly, the magic content of a scrap crystal from a slime mold monster was one-hundredth of the normal amount.

"Can it really make that much of a difference?"

In response to my surprise, Maytyl puffed out her chest.

"The efficiency improvements are layered, centered around the lenses. By passing the magic through a lens before it hits the prism, we can also increase the width of the magic source captured by the slit. And since the lens's effect increased the resolution, we only need one prism, which cuts the loss at the prism in half. Focusing the separated wavelengths also increases the exposure per unit area. And then..."

Maytyl looked at Noel and Fulsy.

"We applied the pigment from the magic-sensing paper to sorcery silver instead of paper. This eliminates the blurring caused by the paper's fiber alignment and increases the magic's adhesion. ...Though it does raise the cost quite a bit."

"We used fewer prisms, but getting the lenses to the right precision was a struggle."

"Plus, Mia calculated the distances and angles of the optical path for us. Thanks to her, we were able to keep the trial and error to a minimum."

The four of them nodded at each other. They had developed a real team atmosphere while I was gone.

"I cannot wait to point this at a magic vein. Now, what wonders will it show us?"

"It seems like it could also be used to analyze the alchemical process. I think we should install one in the Magic Dormitory. I mean, if we monopolize something like this, who knows what people will say."

"With this, I can finally get back to the ledgers..."

The magic team chatted cheerfully about future prospects. Though one of them was making my heart race.

"Its potential is far greater than that. We can now analyze magic on an unprecedented level. The applications are endless. ...Though your intentions are involved in that, of course."

Maytyl said, looking at Leonard, who was standing at the very back. Leonard gave me a troubled look. The more powerful the device, the bigger the headache it would become. But no, now that the magic team had produced results, it was my responsibility to make use of them. First, I would demonstrate its effectiveness in a way the royal palace would understand by measuring a magic vein. Then, I would delve into the mechanism of the crystal's prophecies.

Well, that was a story for later. For now, I should respond to Maytyl, who was puffing her chest out proudly while looking at me with expectant eyes.

"Alright, about that promise... Sherry, if you would."

I spoke toward the door behind me. At my signal, Sherry and Natalie carried in plates on trays.

On the plates was a swirl of brown cream, sprinkled with black specks. Brown and black. Maytyl tilted her head at the plain appearance. For the record, Plural, who had helped us make it, had worn the exact same expression.

"This is another case of 'the proof is in the pudding'. Go on, try it."

At my words, Sherry gave a timid nod, and Natalie a slow one. After all, Maytyl had been so full of confidence. I had a confident creation of my own prepared.