kscans

Chapter 234 - Episode 24: Latter Half - A Glimmer of Hope

"What if, instead of attacking, we dedicated everything to defense?"

Maytyl spoke, breaking the silence.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"...I was just throwing it out there. I know it won’t work. We would just be slowly losing a battle of attrition."

Circuit diagrams were scattered across the floor of the old building’s first floor room. We sat staring at each other with grim faces. A week had passed since then, and the development of the new weapon had not progressed a single step. We had only a growing pile of half-formed ideas. And just like now, someone would always veer off topic. I did it last time, and Noel did the time before that.

Incidentally, the frequency of these kinds of comments was inversely proportional to the probability of a new idea emerging.

The little man in my brain still had nothing to say to me. And this was after he had gotten a nice long rest while I was bogged down with multitasking.

"The demands are just way too high…" Noel lamented.

She is deeply involved in the production that comes after development. She must be feeling even more pressure than I am, since my work ends in the lab.

"Creating a magic tool from scratch is harder than I ever imagined," I said, looking up at the heavens. My gaze then settled on the ceiling. Alfina was up there…

"...Are you worried about the second floor?"

"N, no, that’s not it."

She had hit the mark, and I hurriedly turned my face back down.

"Fine. We could all use a little change of pace, right? I’m curious about the purple magic stuff, too. Let’s go have a look upstairs."

I silently nodded at Maytyl’s sarcastic words.

◇◇

We climbed the stairs. With each step, my feet seemed to move a little faster. When I opened the door, the room within was flooded with light.

"Oh, Ricardo-kun. What brings you here?"

Alfina noticed me and turned around. In front of her was the purple magic generator. Opposite her stood Fulsy, holding an antenna. Claudia was waiting by the window.

"Alfina. Are you okay… with this much…"

A bright purple light filled the room, seeming to overflow from the hemispherical generator. It was bad for my heart, reminding me of footage of nuclear reactors from my past life. I knew that what I was seeing was an indirect product of the magic and fundamentally different in principle, yet I couldn’t help it.

"You’re the one I should be asking, Ricardo-kun. You look exhausted. Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?"

Alfina came closer, peering into my face. I looked back at her. Her beautiful features showed no signs of pain or fatigue.

"Ahem. Is the purple magic generator progressing well?" Maytyl asked, her face twitching slightly.

I realized I had been staring into Alfina’s eyes. Alfina’s expression became flustered as well. We both looked down at the same time.

"Well, you could say it’s going smoothly. We’ve made great strides in both efficiency and control," Fulsy said. Alfina nodded.

I turned my attention back to the purple magic generator. At a glance, its shape hadn’t changed much. A large sphere and a small bowl. Between them were crimson and black magic crystals, from which the purple magic emanated. The magic produced was reflected by the bowl and the sphere, then directed toward the ceiling. The light illuminating the room was certainly much brighter than before.

"Please, watch," Alfina said.

As she held her hand over the two types of magic crystals at the center, the pillar of light expanded.

"Even from what I can see, it’s clearly expanding in controlled stages," Maytyl commented, impressed.

"Thanks to Her Highness’s help, our experiments have leaped forward. When it comes to sensing the fine details of purple magic, none of us can even hold a candle to her," Fulsy said, praising Alfina. But I couldn’t bring myself to simply agree.

"I, is that so? But…"

I looked at Alfina.

"Aren’t you too close?"

"Not as close as you and Alfina were just now," Maytyl quipped.

"I told you our efficiency has improved. Look closely," said Fulsy.

When I looked closer, I saw that while the light filling the room was bright, the light at the very center was actually weaker than when I last saw it.

"It is all right, Ricardo-kun. Unlike with the scrying crystal, there is not as much strain on my head."

I see. It’s not transmitting images, so her brain doesn’t need to process high density information. Processing is fundamentally an interaction. Less processing means less interaction. Which means less of a burden on Alfina. But still…

"Just to be safe, have you noticed an increase in hair on your pillow when you wake up, or any changes in your bowel movements?"

The ominous association from earlier made me ask without thinking.

"What on earth are you asking?" Claudia said from the window, as if she couldn’t bear it any longer.

Alfina’s face turned red as she told me in a small voice, "I do not believe so." So it was just my needless worry. Well, if there were problems on that level, it should have had a major effect on the lifespans of the shrine maidens we researched before.

"If you’re worried about hair on her pillow, why don’t you check it yourself, Ricardo?"

"Hey, we don’t have that kind of relationship… Director. You’ve made a lot of progress. Are there any problems?"

Realizing Maytyl was teasing me, I turned back to Fulsy.

"It was quite a struggle to find a catalyst that reflects perfectly. Right, that array you had made for us was a great help."

Fulsy pointed to the silver coating on the surface of the large and small spheres. It seemed they had continued with their trial and error even after I had gone to the new building to search for a magic-reflecting catalyst. The array, by the way, was just an offhand idea I mentioned to Vinaldira when I was fruitlessly searching for catalysts. It was already finished?

"The problem is, we need Her Highness’s power to control it to this extent."

"Does that mean…"

I couldn’t let that comment slide. Did that mean they needed to bring Alfina onto the battlefield?

"Well, we’ll do what we can. In essence, we just need to replicate what Her Highness is doing by devising new magic tools and catalysts. We already know the answer, after all," Fulsy said.

It was true. This old man had made my vague ideas from my past life into reality, as if by magic. Though it actually was magic.

"Thanks to our growing understanding of how to handle purple magic, we’re also making progress with the antennas and such. This is also thanks to Her Highness."

"That is not true. It is thanks to your strength, Director," Alfina said humbly.

Fulsy’s skill in these matters was certainly immense, but there was no doubt Alfina had also contributed greatly. Was what I did truly a mistake?

"That’s good news," Maytyl said.

The antenna for quickly detecting the emergence of purple magic vents. That was another vital element.

"Which is why, it’s about time we asked for your help as well, Noel and Princess Maytyl… But it seems you lot are struggling," Fulsy said.

"To be frank, it’s not going well at all," Maytyl said with a wry smile. Noel hung her head.

"Well, let’s hear about your side first. With our current control systems, perhaps using a magic circuit…"

Fulsy and the others began their consultation.

"Ricardo-kun. I know it must be difficult, but please do not push yourself too hard," Alfina said.

"I’m ashamed."

I shrank with embarrassment. At this rate, everything I did was just getting in the project’s way.

"...I have said it before. I am happy that you worry for me."

Alfina smiled. Well, it was true that I was worried. No matter how much safer they said it was than the scrying crystal, what they were doing was still an unknown experiment. What if something terrible… I thought, and as I looked at the purple magic generator, I felt a sense of unease.

"...Was this thing in the center there before?"

At the very center, between the upper and lower spheres, I could see a thin, thread-like line of white light. What’s more, it seemed to be growing stronger even as I watched.

"Oh, that. It appears sometimes after a while. It’s a waste in terms of spreading the magic, but it’s only a very small part. The use you envision involves pulsing it on and off, right? It shouldn’t be a problem in practice."

Fulsy turned and said.

"Hm, how interesting. Perhaps Ricardo knows the reason for it?" Maytyl said teasingly.

"...Yeah, probably."

Something clicked into place. I looked at the source of the light at the center, where the crimson and negative magic crystals were pressed together.

What did I think when I figured out the true nature of the negative magic crystal? Not negative, but positive… a positive hole substance. That’s what I thought. A positive hole substance, what would have been a P-type semiconductor in my previous life. By the same logic, a normal magic crystal would be an N-type semiconductor. You join a P-type and an N-type semiconductor, drop electrons into it, and generate a pure wavelength of light.

And the mirrors. What they were doing was exactly like that. And the nature of that phenomenon is…

Why didn’t I realize it? If I use this… no, wait. Just thinking about it for a moment, there are several problems.

"...Still, it’s worth a try. Hey, there’s something I need you to prepare…"

I turned back to the magic team. There, I saw three exasperated faces and one look of pure reverence.

"I don’t really get it, but it seems you’ve come up with something incredible, as usual," said Maytyl.

"Indeed," said Fulsy. "...Though perhaps I’m the strange one for thinking it took you longer this time."

"...More work for us," Noel sighed.

Hey, I’m not even sure it will work yet…