第３２５堀：バカと天才と変態×３＝？ (Part2)
"Yeah, yeah. That’s enough of that. Now, allow me to introduce this guy—he looks like a lanky, pale zombie, but he’s the director of this laboratory. His specialty is magical research."
"……Please, spare me the insults. *Sigh*. As introduced, I am Zargis. Welcome, people of the New Continent. Now, since we’ve had our fill of comedy, let’s get to the main point. Narjia-san, if you would."
"Understood."
At her words, a box in the back—presumably moved by Narjia-san’s magic—floated into the air on its own and drifted softly toward us. It was likely an extension of her magic manipulation, but to move it with such dexterity, as if it were her own limbs... As expected of someone described in the literature as a "mass of magical power," I suppose this level of control is trivial for her.
From that box, she produced two magic swords.
"This one here is the one I made."
Without a moment’s hesitation, I reached out and took the magic sword on the right. The incantations related to mental control had been nullified, but it was done simply by blocking the flow of magical power. Such a feat could likely only be pulled off by Narjia-san, Zargis, or Yuki-kun.
"You identified it instantly, as expected."
"Of course. It’s something I worked on myself."
"Hmm. You truly are a proper researcher. This will make things much easier."
"And honestly? This other magic sword—the structure is absolute nonsense."
As I said that, the three of them nodded in agreement.
"Is that so?"
"I don’t really understand the technical side of things. Could you explain it to us?"
Hifi and Taizo-san tilted their heads, clearly lost. Well, I suppose they look identical to the untrained eye.
"To put it simply, it’s not just nonsense; it’s too simplistic."
"Doesn't that mean it’s not nonsense, then? Just simple?"
"Hifi, 'simple' might sound like a compliment, but think about it. For example, just because human magical power accumulates easily in blood and is easy to apply, would you go around poking holes in your body so you could draw out blood whenever you felt like it?"
"……I certainly wouldn't."
"In the case of my magic sword, I refer to the swords made by the others and Popuri’s group. I use a metal with high magical compatibility, embed a simple incantation into the blade, and draw magical power from an inserted Dungeon Core. But this sword? It writes a crude incantation directly onto the Dungeon Core, then stabs a piece of the blade into it to force it to function. This causes massive wear on the core, and every time the blade clashes with another, the shock goes straight into the core. It’s absolute madness."
"I see. That is indeed madness."
"It’s similar to how Sia and Kishua use them by having the Dungeon Core embedded directly into their bodies, I suppose? Though, since that requires a massive burden of magical control, the difficulty level is worlds apart from this sword."
"Auu……"
When I mentioned Sia and the others, Hifi’s expression turned apologetic. Well, it was something they desired themselves, so I have no intention of blaming them. Besides, it seems everyone who underwent that process was eventually protected by Yuki-kun.
"So, Comet has given her opinion. What about you two?"
"I agree."
"Same here. But if that’s the case, it’s designed to be disposable. Considering they are distributing these to outsiders, we must assume the source has access to even higher-performance magic swords and has established a system capable of mass-producing them."
Indeed. It’s unthinkable to hand over state-of-the-art weaponry to thugs from another country. That would be the absolute baseline.
"That’s the situation. I’ll investigate the source, so Comet, work with these two to further analyze the characteristics of this weapon. Predict the advanced versions, and of course, find ways to nullify them."
"I see. Understood. Leave that to us."
"Comet, you will do this properly, won't you?"
"I know, I know. You’ve got your own performance to put on, don't you? There are people out there making things like this besides us. If a war breaks out as things are, we have to be wary of the people who made these. In the worst-case scenario, it’s an all-out war. I can’t even imagine the casualties. To settle this secretly from the shadows, your performance is the most important part."
"I, I am well aware of that."
……I wonder if she’ll be okay. Hifi looked incredibly stiff as she walked out of the laboratory.
"Well, with Yuki-san around, it should be fine."
"Indeed. That man can handle anything—whether it’s through silver-tongued persuasion, physical might, or sorcery."
"Isn't that just being omnipotent?"
"Not quite. Yuki-san only has one body, after all. If we don't divide the labor like this, he’ll collapse in no time."
"True. We must do our best to reduce Yuki’s burden. Now, to that end, I’d like to get started on our work immediately, but……"
"Is there a problem?"
As I wondered what she meant, the two of them smiled brightly.
"“First, let’s study just how much of a gap there is in our knowledge.”"
"I’m in!!"
That’s right!! We have to start there, or we won’t even understand what the other is talking about!! Therefore, obsessively studying Narjia-san’s weapons and Zargis’s research is strictly for work!! It is absolutely not a hobby, and it is all to support Hifi!!
"““Fufufufufu……””"
This is starting to get fun!!
No one knows the answer to the title. Well then, it seems the snow is quite heavy across the country today. I’m thinking of using that as a theme for a pitfall trap in the next chapter. Stay warm, everyone, and don't catch a cold.