kscans

Chapter 220 - Episode 15: The Negative Magic Crystal

The day after our strategy meeting, I was on the first floor of the lab. All the magic catalyst work had been moved to the new wing, so I was in the now vacant biology lab, ready to experiment with the Negative Magic Crystal.

Fulsy had been tearfully begged by Noel and reluctantly went to the Magic Dormitory to sort things out. She kept glancing back at me until the very last moment. As the eldest, a de facto count, and the pinnacle of the kingdom's sorcery, I wanted her to at least be a shield for her young subordinate.

Alfina had also been unusually concerned, but for now I had her helping Noel. As long as they were handling Sorcery Silver and existing Magic Catalysts, nothing strange was likely to happen. Over here, on the other hand, there was no telling what might occur.

And so, Maytyl was now next to me, not even trying to hide her curiosity.

"I'm all ready," said Maytyl, who had been preparing the Iris.

On a tray on the table were three types of Magic Crystals. A scrap Magic Crystal from a slime mold monster no bigger than a poppy seed, a regular red Magic Crystal, and a Crimson Magic Crystal.

"Time to see what this can do."

I took a black mineral out of a tightly sealed bag. I held it up to the lamp's light to observe it. Other than being black, it didn't look all that different from a Magic Crystal. But since it hadn't been processed, its shape was distorted. Its cross section, however, was sharp and glossy. With its color, it almost resembled obsidian, a precious resource in the Stone Age.

"So, what are you planning to do with this troublesome little thing?"

Maytyl peered at my hands. She was so close our shoulders were touching.

"First, I want to confirm the phenomenon. How exactly do you draw magic from a regular Magic Crystal with a Negative Magic Crystal?"

"It's less like drawing out magic and more like you're ruining the Magic Crystal. It's simple, just watch..."

Maytyl held the black Negative Magic Crystal in her right hand and a reddish brown scrap Magic Crystal in her left. Then she touched them together.

The point of contact gave off a faint light. The light slowly flickered, grew dimmer, and then vanished completely after a few seconds.

"Just like that. And now, this Magic Crystal is empty."

Maytyl pinched the scrap Magic Crystal between her index finger and thumb. The crystal, which was supposed to release magic at a sorcerer's will, didn't react at all.

"...So I can do that too, right?"

I took the Negative Magic Crystal from Maytyl and picked up a new scrap Magic Crystal. I brought them together with some trepidation, and a light appeared, just as it had for Maytyl.

"Whoa."

I was actually a little impressed. I felt like I'd become a real wizard.

"They once discovered a promising vein of Magic Crystals in the Empire, but the same site had a black stratum containing this stuff. None of the Magic Crystals they excavated could be used. That's why people generally hate it. I've even heard them say it 'breaks' or 'taints' the crystals."

"But if it draws out magic, you'd think there would be some use for it..."

"When we draw magic from a Magic Crystal, we can give it a certain amount of directionality, but what you just saw spread out in all directions, right? That means it's inefficient for channeling into a magic formation. And on top of that, the total amount of magic seems to be less than when we draw it out ourselves."

"The magic spreading out is a good thing, but the smaller amount is a problem..."

I fell into thought. My plan was to see if I could use this to forcibly extract the purple magic from the crystal. But based on what she just said, I couldn't just go and try that. I have to admit, I wasn't entirely free from the temptation to do it on purpose and ruin the crystal...

"So does it just suck up all the magic?"

"Hmm... Yes, that's close to how it feels. I felt something a little strange just now, too..."

"Strange?"

"The wavelength seems... No, we'll know if we measure it."

"Right, let's put it on the Iris."

Even if she talks about feelings, I can't really see any of it.

We began the measurement with the Iris. The magic generated from the contact between the Negative Magic Crystal and the scrap Magic Crystal illuminated the Magic-sensing Paper. Three bands appeared on the paper. But they were certainly faint. And they were extremely blurry.

To confirm, I had Maytyl try to draw magic from the scrap Magic Crystal after it had been touched by the Negative Magic Crystal. As expected, no bands appeared on the Magic-sensing Paper.

"It's definitely drawing out the magic, no doubt about it."

This was obvious to Maytyl, but for me, this was the only way to be sure. The phenomenon itself might not require any special aptitude, but investigating it involved too many things I couldn't do on my own. And we had far too much that needed to be done.

I looked out the window at the now fully winter landscape and almost sighed.

When I turned back, Maytyl was staring intently at the bands. Then, she slowly took out a scrap Magic Crystal and drew out the magic herself.

"Look. They seem similar, but they're shifted."

"...What do you mean?"

"This is what I thought was strange earlier."

The band that appeared was shifted toward the lower energy side compared to the one from the Negative Magic Crystal. No, the magic drawn out by the Negative Magic Crystal was shifted toward a shorter wavelength, in other words, the higher energy side. Is this like a blueshift for light?

"Does that mean it converted the quantity of magic into quality?"

"I don't know. It's a bit late to be saying this, but wavelength analysis is terrifyingly useful, isn't it. Every time we do something, we discover a new phenomenon."

"Ah, yeah. I get that it's interesting. But right now..."

"I know."

Maytyl repeated the same process several times. The results weren't stable, but there was a clear tendency for the band to shift toward the higher energy side. However, the width of the shift was terribly inconsistent, and the bands weren't sharp.

Still, wasn't this an incredibly valuable discovery? I shifted my gaze to the tray. There lay the other souvenir from the Empire.

"...If this happens with a scrap Magic Crystal. Then, hey, Maytyl."

I grew excited, having thought of a possibility. It seemed Maytyl had also realized what I was getting at, as she picked up the Crimson Magic Crystal. When she touched the Negative Magic Crystal to the crimson one, a blurry band appeared in a completely different area of the Magic-sensing Paper.

"Just as I thought. It's producing a magic wavelength close to purple. We can use this!"

It was a better result than I could have hoped for. We might be able to create Purple Magic using Crimson Magic Crystals. We could generate purple magic without Alfina or the crystal.

"Oh, no. This is an important result. A-and it's interesting..."

"...I know. I know exactly what you're thinking, Ricardo."

Maytyl said sarcastically, but her expression quickly returned to that of a serious sorcerer.

"It's not stable. And it's inefficient."

"You're right."

There must be some condition we're missing. The way the bands appeared varied even more than when we used the scrap Magic Crystals.

"But this phenomenon is worth pursuing."

"Yes, as a sorcerer, I acknowledge that."

Maytyl agreed. But she still seemed somewhat displeased. Speaking of which...

"Maytyl, um, are you okay being exposed to the purple magic?"

"Even if something were to happen, not with this small an amount. Still..."

Maytyl leaned in, bringing her face close to mine.

"W-what is it?"

"So you worry about me, too."

"O-of course I do."

"As a useful piece of lab equipment, perhaps?"

"I've never once thought of you like that."

Just as I said that in a fluster, the door opened.

"Ricardo-kun. Just now, a magic similar to the crystal's..."

Alfina came into the room, bringing Noel with her. She saw me and Maytyl and froze for a moment.

"Alfina-sama, please don't come any closer carelessly."

The words escaped my lips before I could think.

"A shame. It seems your treatment of me is quite different from your favorite."

Maytyl shrugged and moved away from me.

*

"It's still not stable."

I grumbled, looking at the Magic-sensing Paper. Since then, I had repeated the experiment, considering all sorts of factors like angle, distance, and shape. But while all of them seemed to have an effect, none were decisive. It was possible multiple parameters were interacting with each other.

"You've certainly used them extravagantly."

Maytyl said, looking at the mountain of depleted Crimson Magic Crystals. The supply of Crimson Magic Crystals from the Empire, while not small, was finite. Moreover, considering the decisive battle with the Magic Insects, we couldn't afford to be wasteful.

But to generate purple magic, not only were scrap Magic Crystals useless, so were the regular ones. It made sense, in a way, since we were raising the original wavelength. But we didn't understand the principle behind it.

"And we can't replenish the crimson ones with the Mana Charging Furnace."

"That's true. Though we might be able to if we used the Purple Magic Vent at that flying dragon mountain."

"Right, there is that option..."

If the battle against the Magic Insects becomes a long one, whether or not we can recycle Crimson Magic Crystals using the Purple Magic Vents likely to appear in the kingdom and the Empire will be crucial.

"But, if it's just the amount we're using here..."

Maytyl glanced at the next room.

"Absolutely not," I said.

"...Haaah. Well, if that's your policy, Ricardo, I'll respect it. You've earned the right to be that selfish."

"Sorry. I really appreciate it."

"I'm the one who filled your head with what must be your biggest source of anxiety, after all. But..."

Maytyl stared at me. I think I knew what she was trying to say. She was asking what I would do if a situation arose where we couldn't afford to say such things.

This could potentially place an even greater burden on Alfina. But I've seen Alfina fall ill, seen her collapse because of the crystal. I'm not having that happen again.

"Let's get everything ready so we can move the moment a Purple Magic Vent appears."

"Yes."

Another thing to do. No, another thing we can do.

Discovering that we can create purple magic with the Negative Magic Crystal is a huge success. For someone like me who lacks even one percent of a genius's talent, it's a rare stroke of serendipity that has fallen into my lap. All that's left is to make it work with one hundred percent effort and ingenuity.

If I'm going to insist on having my own way in this situation, that's the least I can do.