kscans

Chapter 218 - Episode 14: Part One, Basic Strategy

"Ricardo. And the Crystal Princess. It's been a while, Princess Alfina."

Maytyl, who was already in Fulsy's room, spoke. It had been some time since Maytyl had seen Alfina as well, but judging by her expression, she seemed to have softened since they last met.

"It has been a long time, Princess Maytyl. It seems Ricardo-kun was of great help to you on the other side of the river. You have my thanks."

Alfina replied politely, just as she always had.

"Oh, I see no reason for you to say such things to me. Besides, there were times Ricardo helped me out as well."

Maytyl started talking about the battle with that Magic Insect. She told an embellished tale of how I had leaped in front of the creature to save her. I couldn't understand why she was exaggerating so much. Thanks to her story, Alfina's face clouded over. I had told her some of what had happened, but I had been rather vague about that part.

"Oh, that's right. We even spent the night together in the same room."

Maytyl added something truly outrageous.

"Hey, that was only because our investigation went on all night. And it wasn't just the two of us."

I waved my hands frantically in denial. I wanted to tell her not to use that morning, when everyone including Crenne was frozen stiff, as the butt of a joke.

"W, well, if you're going to say that, then I have too. And in my case, it was just the two of us at first."

But then Alfina started saying something to compete with her. I looked around for help, but no one threw me a lifeline. In fact, shouldn't Claudia have stopped that bombshell of a statement.

"Yours was just a crystal investigation, wasn't it."

After their claims clashed, they settled on the conclusion that both incidents had been missions related to the calamity. Though not before making me break out in a cold sweat.

"Well, whatever. Ricardo is overprotective, so I'll make sure not to burden you too much. You can rest easy."

Maytyl said. Provocative phrasing aside, I had no choice but to be grateful. Maytyl was no longer a hostage, but the Empire's representative for joint research and development between our two nations. If she demanded Alfina's assistance on the grounds of this crisis facing humanity, things could get very ugly.

"No, I was hoping to have Princess Maytyl teach me all sorts of things about what I can do. I am in your care."

But as I breathed a sigh of relief, Alfina bowed her head to Maytyl.

Maytyl's gaze turned to me. I shook my head emphatically. Keeping Alfina out of harm's way was my fundamental policy. I had no intention of compromising.

Maytyl stared, comparing Alfina's face and mine.

"Finally finished my explanation. What is with this atmosphere."

Noel, who had come up from downstairs, opened the door. She froze upon seeing the two princesses facing off before her.

"I'll think about it."

"Thank you very much."

As Noel stood there wondering what to do, the two of them ended their conversation.

"Well, with that, everyone's here. Right then, shall we begin."

Fulsy said.

"That's right, we can't start until we've heard Ricardo's plan. The Empire has provided a large quantity of magic crystals, so you'd better live up to our expectations. I'm also curious what you'll be using that for."

Maytyl said sarcastically. For my return this time, the Empire had provided valuable resources, including rare crimson magic crystals. Things that would normally be used for national defense. It was just one heavy responsibility after another.

"Aye. The negative magic crystal, was it."

"Um, I'm already at my limit just dealing with my own work..."

Fulsy's eyes lit up. Noel was trying to back away. I wished both of them would show a sense of responsibility befitting their positions. Not that I was one to talk, having forgotten my own title as director until just a moment ago.

"The next Great Calamity. It feels ridiculous to even call it that anymore, but I want to discuss our plan to deal with it. I think everyone here already knows this, but the situation is quite serious."

The final decision regarding the crystals rested with me. But to avoid such a situation in the first place, we had to formulate a solid plan.

Incidentally, the handling of 'that thing' which Fulsy and Maytyl were so excited about still had many uncertain elements. I glanced at the carefully sealed package in the corner of the room. Inside was the black crystal I had brought back from Muldorass. The negative magic crystal.

First, I needed to explain things at the strategic level. I stood in front of the stone slate.

"There are several projects the lab must undertake to prepare for this Great Calamity."

"Hmm. We have no choice but to leave the matter of the Magic Insects' nature to His Highness the Crown Prince and the others, but it's difficult to form a plan without that knowledge."

Fulsy grumbled.

"She's right. It's inefficient if we don't know the requirements. And we're on a tight schedule, aren't we."

Maytyl looked at Alfina.

"Judging from the vision I saw in the crystal, the calamity will occur in the spring, or early summer at the latest."

"We don't know how long it will take to develop new magic, and there's no guarantee it will even work. That makes further improvements to Raen the most realistic option. How are things on your end, Noel? From what you showed me earlier, it seems you've made quite a bit of progress, no?"

Maytyl directed the conversation to Noel. Noel was supposed to have been advancing the magic silver semiconductor technology, the hardware side of things. It would boost all magic. Its power had been demonstrated in the improved magic staff, but the potential of magic semiconductors was still immense.

"This is as far as I've gotten for now."

Noel took out a single silver plate. Red and blue paint flowed through grooves in its surface. Maytyl took it in her hand and channeled magic into it. The entire plate was instantly enveloped in light.

"This has gotten considerably better. When I left, this level of precision was out of the question."

"It was Vinder's idea to use capillary action to channel the magic catalyst into the grooves of the magic silver, and it's improved the yield rate quite a bit. However, we only get one that activates perfectly out of several dozen we make."

Noel said. A champion product, not champion data, huh. Still, it was a huge step forward.

"In my area of expertise, it would be improving that radar to generate purple magic. Our understanding of the properties of magic catalysts for each wavelength has also progressed significantly."

Fulsy said. As expected, she knew what she was talking about. The device to generate purple magic would be based on the radar we used in that carriage race, specifically its active mode.

It struck me again just how brilliant the members gathered here were. In a situation that was far from optimistic, they were my only salvation. Alfina was also looking at everyone with an impressed expression. I hoped this would convince her that she didn't need to push herself so hard.

The problem was that I, the one leading this team, was just an ordinary person propped up by knowledge from a past life.

In any case, I had to figure out how to combine all these excellent technologies.

"Understanding the nature of the Magic Insects, a generator for the purple magic wavelength, improvements to the magic silver circuits, and development of a magic staff that can counter the insects. Broadly speaking, that's what we need."

I organized my thoughts again. The entire magic team, who had been so proud just moments before, now looked troubled. To be blunt, each one of these was a major project in itself. That was precisely why it was crucial to decide on a strategy and set priorities.

"Which of these do you think is the top priority."

I asked first.

"They all seem indispensable. But in the end, we need the power to fight."

"I agree. If we can't defeat the Magic Insects, there's no point."

Fulsy and Maytyl said. Ultimately, power is necessary. That was true. To put it in extreme terms, if we could annihilate the Magic Insects with a single spell, we wouldn't need a strategy at all.

"But, as you both just said, we have little information about these Magic Insects..."

Noel said with a grim look on her face. In that sense, improving the foundational magic circuits, which could respond to any situation, could be called the safest bet. But...

"The most important point is to lure the Magic Insects to an uninhabited area. In other words, the device for generating purple magic is the top priority."

I stated my conclusion.

"I understand what you're trying to say. If they attack all over the kingdom at once as the prophecy foretold, we'll have no way to deal with them. However, even if we can do that, it's all the same if we can't win."

"In that sense, allowing the Magic Insects to form the largest possible swarm is itself dangerous."

Their doubts were reasonable. But there was a fundamental difference in how we were thinking.

"I get it. Vinder, you know a way for us to win for sure, don't you."

Noel said. Alfina gasped.

"Of course not."

I shook my head. For some reason, Alfina looked relieved. Did she think every single thing I did was reckless?

"Then what shall we do. It will be difficult to wait for information on the adult insects from His Highness the Crown Prince who remained in the Empire."

"Yes, in the worst case, that information will arrive at the same time as the calamity."

Just before we returned to the kingdom, there was a report that purple magic had appeared near the eastern edge of the Empire. We had hopes, but it was far from certain. Of course, with the way things were now, there was no certain method for anything.

"What will you do without information. You won't be able to form one of your famous hypotheses, will you."

Maytyl watched me with great interest.

"Right. Including magic, it will be difficult to prepare the best tactics from the outset."

What I wanted to say was the complete opposite. We would build a 'system' that could ultimately win even without complete information.

"So we won't assume we can. This time, we will create a situation where we can win using humanity's greatest strength, our learning efficiency."

I declared. If their strength was numbers, our strength would be our rate of improvement.