kscans

Chapter 229 - Episode 21: Performance Requirements

We returned to the lab and split into two groups. Fulsy went upstairs to continue her work on the purple magic generator, our version of a bug zapper. It was still the highest priority. I stayed with Maytyl and Noel to figure out a new course of action for the weapon we suddenly had to develop.

By the way, I had Alfina return to the ducal residence to confer with Euphillia and Mia. We needed to coordinate on the logistical side of things, the elements that would support the coming fight.

Even though our core hypothesis had been proven correct, our countermeasures needed a complete overhaul.

We called Noel, who had been researching magic semiconductor dies in the lab, over to the old building and told her the story Craig brought back. Noel had recently been instructing the seconded staff with a newfound dignity, at least by her standards, but hearing our tale made her look as though the world was ending.

"First, we need to decide the requirements for fighting the adult magic insects."

"R, right…" "Guess we do…"

Maytyl spoke calmly. Noel and I nodded. These would be our performance requirements, so to speak.

"It will need to be fast enough to hit the adults while they’re flying. Probably about twice as fast as Raen."

"The range will need to be long, too. It’ll be useless if they can just attack us from a distance we can’t reach."

"...And power. It’ll need enough power to break through their magic barrier."

"...If we’re fighting a massive swarm, we’ll have to use our magic efficiently. It’ll need even better magic efficiency than the current Raen." My and Maytyl’s voices grew quieter and quieter.

"U, um, you said that a single pair of magic insects laid close to a hundred eggs at the Magic Vent, right. That means a lot of people will need to be able to use it. If the sorcery is too complicated, then…"

We each listed off the necessary requirements. Then, the three of us looked at one another.

"...Isn’t this impossible." "It is." "Totally."

We all sighed in unison.

"...How are we doing on magic semiconductor performance and manufacturing technology."

I asked Noel. I may have been looking for any shred of positive information.

"If we’re just talking about the circuit lines, they’ve gotten pretty thin, though not quite to the width of a hair. The magic required is a fifth of the conventional amount, and the circuit speed is more than three times faster. Production is also easy if we use the magic gold dies. The yield rate is up to about fifty percent."

"That’s just a ridiculous amount of progress. If I didn’t know about the next disaster, I’d be declaring to the citizens of the Empire that ‘we have achieved victory in the war against the monsters.’"

It was incredibly positive news. Under normal circumstances, it would be enough to guarantee our victory. We could stop this meeting right now and start planning a company retreat. But we had absolutely no room for such optimism.

"What happens if we apply it to Raen."

"The model we took to the Empire was already more than three times better than what we were using originally. This would be twice as good as even that one. But the crucial factors, its range and the speed and power of Raen itself, won’t improve that much."

"...Yeah, I figured."

The biggest improvements would be in the speed before firing, which is to say the calculation speed, and in magic efficiency. Accuracy would likely increase along with the calculation speed. Still, from what I heard from Craig, it wasn’t enough.

"I guess we have no choice but to consider a completely new form of sorcery. By the way, is there any sorcery that surpasses Raen."

I looked at Maytyl.

"If there was, we would have used it in the last war... I know what you mean. You’re talking about something we can put into practical use based on our current circuit technology."

Maytyl sank into thought with a serious expression. But she soon shook her head.

"I told you that the magic character at the heart of Raen is based on a monster’s pattern, right. And that pattern is the most, no, it’s by far the most thoroughly researched pattern of any monster. In fact, if Ricardo’s words are correct, there’s a high probability that the magic seals on monsters which manipulate air are distinctly evolved."

The genius Imperial Princess used a concept I had taught her to point out an inconvenient truth.

"How long do you think it took for the magic seal that became Raen to take shape. Of course, I was the one who gave it its shape, but I was only able to do so by referencing a vast body of prior research."

"So the other patterns are even more of a black box than Raen... But we have to look into it, right."

My theory was that magic was an advanced and ultra efficient form of information processing. In theory, nothing should be impossible. And such an incredible technology would naturally be a black box. Even with Raen, Maytyl had been using it with almost no understanding of its underlying principles.

"Well, the next most advanced field of research is probably the one for that battering ram."

I see, the one that rotates magic gold. But even that was repelled. Still, we had no other choice.

"Is Ricardo there. It is about time you came this way…"

Fulsy opened the door and came in. I had promised to show my face upstairs as soon as we had a general direction.

"I’ll look into the patterns of other monsters for now. I’m the most knowledgeable on this subject. Noel, you help me."

"Understood."

"I’m counting on you."

I bowed my head to them.

"I know. That’s our top priority. Both logically, and for you, Ricardo."

Maytyl puffed her cheeks out slightly as she spoke.

◇◇

"How is the purple magic generator coming along."

I asked Fulsy after going upstairs. The prototype in front of me looked completely unchanged from before. Not that I would know if anything related to the magic had been altered.

"We are making progress. But the requirements have gone up for this as well."

Fulsy said. We needed to spread the purple magic over the widest possible area. It was like creating a light intensity gradient of purple light, but while they could make a rough determination with the type of magic catalyst, she said adjusting it was difficult.

"And the magic efficiency is still unreliable."

Fulsy looked at an empty magic crystal as she spoke.

"There’s a limit to how much magic we can save with circuits, after all."

Take personal computers, for example. You can continually improve the power efficiency of a CPU, shrinking something that once filled a room to fit on the tip of your little finger. But there are significant limitations to how much you can improve the power efficiency of the display.

"I have tried many things, but this is a special kind of magic. My past experience often does not apply."

"I can imagine…"

I understood. After all, this was a magic wavelength that had previously only been seen in crystals.

"We will also need an antenna that can detect the purple magic with high sensitivity, so we have no choice but to be clever."

"Making an Iris is a problem because of the dragon crystal material, so we’ll have to use a magic catalyst that reacts easily to purple magic, right."

"We will have to make it a smaller, simpler mechanism, specialized solely for purple magic."

"Then there’s the radar for tracking the swarms of magic insects…"

"That one uses crimson magic, so it is a little better. The improvements we have made so far should be enough, but…"

Since the adults were stronger than expected and would proliferate in the massive numbers we had predicted, we had to boost the radar’s capabilities as well. Even if she said it was simple, it would still take up Fulsy’s time.

I needed to consult Noel about how much responsibility we could assign to the seconded team members. No, maybe it would be better to ask Alfina about this.

I had to concentrate on the top priority, the purple magic, as much as possible.

"We’ll just have to try a lot of different things…"

The knowledge I possessed was from a world without magic, and it wasn’t even exact theory but rather a collection of vague concepts. And for my intellect to adapt that knowledge to magic, I had no choice but to wait for ideas to surface through trial and error.

By the time I finished working with Fulsy and helping Maytyl and the others with their investigation, it was already late at night. In the end, all I had accomplished today was gaining a little knowledge about the properties of a newly adopted magic catalyst.

I wanted to stay the night at the lab, but I had a meeting with Central Garden tomorrow.

Feeling apologetic, I climbed into the waiting carriage, which hadn’t uttered a single complaint. Over ten knights rode alongside it. ...There usually weren’t this many, but it was probably because of the late hour. My title felt heavy.

I would have to go to the Chancellor’s Office soon. I would also need to stay in close contact with Craig, who would be preparing the Knight Orders for spring. Not that I had anything to report at this stage.