Chapter 93 - A Light Toward the Completion of the Expedition
My Friend wore a serious expression as he began to explain the runes. It looked utterly ordinary—if not outright defective—but I listened closely to his words. Just how did he intend for this to be used? The full picture still eluded me...
“This,” he began, “will be connected to the ‘watch post’ communicator. You understand that an extremely low-frequency sound will be emitted in all directions, yes?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Now, remember how [Telepathy] works. Communication through [Telepathy] occurs in stages. What’s the very first thing that happens?”
“With a Telepathic Transmitter, the moment it picks up a signal, it sends back a response to indicate it received the wave. The runes are based on how people use [Telepathy] through magic.”
“Exactly. So, what if someone with innate mana and a natural talent for magic were to use a Telepathic Transmitter?”
“That step gets skipped. Since they already possess the necessary ability, the response becomes automatic. It can’t be controlled manually. That’s what makes using [Telepathy] so tricky... You know that, right?”
“Right. The issues of directionality and automatic response. On top of that, when multiple people react simultaneously, the message doesn’t transmit properly as meaningful words. That’s one of the main reasons why broad usage of [Telepathy] has been so limited. But then I thought—what if we turned that flaw into an advantage?”
“What do you mean?”
“Instead of transmitting words or intent, we use a single, meaningless sound. Since it carries no meaning, signal degradation doesn’t matter. And if we carefully choose the right kind of sound, its range can even exceed visible distance. Plus, unlike optical systems, mana imbued with ‘thought’ doesn’t react to terrain or foliage. Anyone who receives the signal automatically emits a reflection. Those with internal mana can’t suppress that reaction. Am I wrong?”
Now I understood what My Friend was getting at—gathering environmental data without relying on sight. So that was the trick...
“I see... So you repeatedly emit this signal at set intervals. If something with internal mana is out there, it’ll inevitably return a reflected signal... And with that, we can locate anything with mana. Still, there must be limitations when it comes to practical use, right?”
“It’s no good while moving. If your own position isn’t fixed, you’ll end up detecting false signals. But with a stationary source, we can precisely measure both the distance and direction of the reflected signal. That’s what these runes are for.”
“Huh... I never thought of it that way. Didn’t know [Telepathy] could be used like that.”
“We’ve already laid an incredibly dense magical communication network. And we’ve got this many watch posts. If we install magitech devices based on these two formulas around the newly widened trail, we can continuously pinpoint the locations of any monsters or magical beasts that appear nearby. Automatically, at that. The fortress’s comms room will process the data, but with automatic reception set up, we can operate it separately from regular transmissions. The data from each detecting ‘watch post’—its identification number, signal strength, distance, and direction—can be logged by an auto-writing magitech device. And if we set a threshold for signal strength, we can filter out the low-level threats and focus only on the more dangerous ones.”
This way of thinking was extraordinary. Breaking down the cumbersome magic of [Telepathy] into its rune components, fully understanding each step of the communication process... No one could have constructed such a theory without that deep knowledge. Truly the work of a genius. From what I remembered of my previous life, the idea of using magic designed for long-distance conversation like a sonar or fish-finder was something I had never considered.
“I see... I get it now. I’ll take it into account.”
“If you’re going to evaluate it and consider implementing it, just let me know. I can whip up an auto-writing magitech device right away, and I’ll get the comms room equipped with a dedicated unit too.”
“Thanks. I’ll make sure to go over it carefully.”
“Mm.”
With an almost arrogant confidence, he had shown me a beacon of hope for solving the issues plaguing the Shallow Forest. He reminded me just how vital it is to approach problems from different perspectives. Come to think of it, there were times like that during our studies in the Alchemy Tower at the Magic Academy, too.
I couldn’t help but feel, now more than ever, just how precious and irreplaceable My Friend’s presence truly was.
It felt like witnessing the handiwork of divine guidance. And yet, for the burden of the ‘mission’ I had been entrusted with, even this blessing felt minuscule in comparison. If not for my time at the Magic Academy... I shuddered to think how lost I would be now.
Could connections with people really change one’s situation this drastically? The fact that I’d realized that—perhaps that alone was reason enough to be grateful to the god who had ordered my rebirth into this world. I felt that with absolute certainty.
“Ah, and one more thing. You know that shooter from the first squad of the guerilla unit? I heard something from her...”
“Hm? What is it?”
“She said the ambient mana density in the Middle Forest is exceptionally high. You’ve seen how many of the monsters there exhibit signs of metamorphosis, right? It’s plausible to assume that the dense mana in the area is the root cause. We don’t yet know what’s producing such concentrated mana, but I do understand this—we’re getting closer to uncovering that mystery. Which brings me to this...”
With a rustle, My Friend reached into his formal mage’s robe—official attire of the Royal Magitech Institute—and pulled out a small paper box. Wait—where the hell did he just pull that from? Had he created yet another “mysterious lump” of a magitech device? He held the paper box out to me and opened the lid. Inside was something resembling a mask—but with no eyeholes. It covered the nose and mouth, and could even fit snugly over the entire chin. On both sides, from the cheeks to the jaw, were thin yet sturdy plates that looked like armor plating.
“This,” he said, “is the result of a lot of thought. It’s a mask designed to block dense mana from being absorbed into the body—even in the Middle Forest. When I walked with you into the forest, I observed firsthand how much oxygen was needed during a march, how much air is inhaled in a single breath. The main intake points for dense ambient mana are the mouth and nose—basically, breathing. It all accumulates in the lungs. As the concentration builds up, breathing becomes more and more difficult. Obviously, that’s a big problem. So, I came up with this to deal with it.”
“I’ve thought about something similar myself. But covering the mouth restricts mobility. And restricting a soldier’s movements is essentially putting their life at risk. Are you saying this solves that issue?”
“Exactly. You remember that complete shed skin from the Bit Viper you obtained?”
“That was at your request.”
“I did some testing. That thing had some really fascinating properties. First of all—it’s porous. Makes sense, since it’s a shed skin. It’s also extremely thin, but incredibly durable. Given what it came from, I’m not surprised. It was so tough that only the dagger you gave me could cut it. That thing... it’s made from magic ore, right? And it’s been enchanted with both Durability and Sharpening incantations, hasn’t it? Whatever you do, never bring that thing into the capital. It would cause an uproar. Anyway, back to the material—that translucent stuff had another unique property.”
“...What kind of property?”
“It allows air to pass through, while partially blocking mana. On top of that, like magic crystals, it can sustain the activation of runes for a period of time. When I combined it with my patented anti-magic paint (TL/N: previously translated as Mana-blocking Paint), I was able to filter out large amounts of ambient mana. From our last march, I already had a grasp on the amount of airflow the guerilla unit’s soldiers would need. I calculated the necessary filtration surface area to meet that requirement. The filter itself becomes a magitech device. Now, the holy magic spell [Purify] consumes a lot of mana, but the spell [Cleanse]—from the daily life magic series—requires very little. If I could find a way to fix the ambient mana, that’d be ideal, but I’m still in the trial-and-error phase there. For now, I’ve embedded a small magic battery beneath the chin. It’s a ‘Baron-class’ capacity. With that, the [Cleanse] spell can easily run for over a month.”
“So the mask first filters out the dense mana, lowering the concentration, and then uses [Cleanse] to purify what remains?”
I could only marvel at My Friend’s brilliance. To think that, from just a single march, he was able to pinpoint exactly what we’d need for future expeditions... his intuition and insight were nothing short of astounding.
Yes—
—My Friend truly was a genius.
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