31. Spirit and Homing Guidance 1 – Mitoka 3

Shiro continued explaining the second part of his idea for annihilating magic.

"So, the second one is the ability to track a target—what we call homing guidance. It might be a bit complicated, though." Shiro scratched his head.

"Homing guidance... an appealing feature, but how exactly would you implement it?"

"Before that—up until now, we've been unconsciously doing it—but when activating multiple spells, how exactly do we link each activation to a specific target?"

"...You were doing it unconsciously?" Mitoka looked incredulous.

"Well, I guess—intuitively?" Shiro deflected.

"Fufu. Well, fine. Multiple Activation basically just repeats a single standard activation. In broad terms, it's just repeating two steps: defining the origin point and defining the target. So, unconsciously, each individual spell activation is targeting something. By the way, using multiple activations of the same attribute is what defines 【Multiple Activation】—the so-called 【Multi】-type magic. If you want to activate different attributes simultaneously, you'd need something like 【Multi-Cast】, which adds another layer of complexity."

"I see... What I'm thinking is—separating the activation process. First stage: individually designate a 【Target】. That requires identifying the opponent through some sort of assessment or scan, and storing them as a target in memory. Then, during Multiple Activation, use that stored target as the reference. Finally—right, there might be an extra spirit involved—adjust the trajectory of each spell activation based on the target's movement."

"..."

Shiro finished his explanation, but Mitoka fell silent.

"Shiro, I understand the idea. To implement it, we’ll need a few additional skills first."

"Hmm, you think it’s doable?" Shiro asked, sounding pleased.

"Yes. First, we need to acquire a memory-boosting spirit technique—specifically for target memory, of course. Though, improving memory is useful in daily life too." Mitoka smiled.

"Then there’s the tracking function. That’s actually a fairly advanced feature. At the very least, we’d need a dedicated spirit for each target."

"Figures. So how do we get additional spirit entities?"

Shiro gave her a knowing look, a faint smirk playing on his lips.

"...Shiro, are you actually realizing something?"

Shiro gave another slow, sly grin and replied.

"Nope. Not at all."

"..."

"Actually, I was just thinking—maybe you can install spirit entities yourself?"

"Huh? Why would you think that?"

"Haha. I’m not just the godfather for nothing," Shiro said, puffing out his chest with pride.

"...Since when did I become your daughter?...Well, I suppose you are technically the 'godfather,' aren’t you?"

"Anyway, Firumia called you a spirit life-form, but that can’t be right. I didn’t design spirits to attach to other minds like skills. Sure, it’s possible this world works differently, but I doubt it."

Shiro neatly sidestepped Mitoka’s question and continued explaining.

"..."

"Anyway, if something can attach to a mind, the simplest option would be a spirit. Judging by your demeanor, you’ve got a solid self-awareness. A spirit with that kind of self would have to be at least an upper-tier spirit."

Shiro went on.

"And given how detailed Mitoka’s knowledge of this world is, I figured she might just be a spirit capable of accessing the Spirit King Network. Sure, she could’ve just been given the info—but that’d be too boring for a programmer. Besides, the goddess herself called her an architect."

"Shiro, well done. Exactly right."

The moment Mitoka spoke, an announcement chimed.

——『[Mitoka] has reached Level 2』

"Wait, Mitoka’s level just went up?!" Shiro blinked in surprise.

"Fufu. Since you’ve figured out my true identity without getting yourself killed, the restrictions have been lifted. As a Spirit King, I can now install spirits."

Mitoka smiled brightly at Shiro in reply.

"Oh, that’s quite the timely development…"

"Yes. I’m rather pleased I can be of greater assistance now."

Mitoka kept her smile fixed, nodding at Shiro as she looked straight at him.

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