第８３３堀：ある技術者の思いと行動 (Part1)
Chapter 833: A Technician’s Thoughts and Actions
Side: Comet
"Boo-hoo. I wanted to go too!!"
I complained to Yuki and the others, who had just returned from Sea-Cypher.
"No, you’re the one who insisted on staying here to do research. You were the one saying you didn't want to do maintenance work over there."
"Well, obviously. I’m not interested in maintenance; I want to dismantle the CDC. And that Raptor Yuki took with him, too."
"Absolutely not!"
"Don't worry, I'll put it back together exactly as it was."
"How many 3TS units have you 'put back together' while saying that?"
"Ahahaha! About three, I think. Man, Pokémon is fun and all, but you have to wonder how such marvelous machines are built, right?"
"They’re precision instruments... anyway, never mind that. Agil."
Tch, I guess that’s a no-go.
Well, that aside, the fact that Agil has returned as part of the maintenance and technical team means...
"Here are the reports on the magic barrier generator we built and the carrier’s first combat engagement."
" " "Ohhh!?" " "
My voice was joined by others.
I turned around to find Narjia and Zargis standing there.
"When did you two get here?"
"Naturally, we come flying the moment we hear the word 'report'."
"Indeed. You made such absurd demands—a magic barrier capable of covering an entire massive carrier, with an output sufficient to withstand powerful attacks."
"Calling it absurd is rude. We live in a world where magic and monsters are genuine threats. It’s only natural to consider magical defenses alongside physical ones, isn't it?"
I certainly understand Yuki’s point. But the sheer scale of it...
Under normal circumstances, anyone would have given up. And yet, we somehow convinced ourselves that we could do it.
Fortunately, we have the dungeon core, which stores an inexhaustible supply of magic power. In terms of fuel, we’ve already succeeded in achieving extreme miniaturization.
The only remaining issue was how to generate the magic barrier itself. Narjia’s concern—that the magic circles would have to be massive to match the size and strength required—was solved by the fact that the target was an aircraft carrier.
The carrier itself is gargantuan, after all. There was plenty of room to carve out the magic circles.
"Well, never mind that. Read the report. Does it need modifications? Should we prohibit its use? I need a judgment call. I really don't want the magic barrier meant to protect us to explode and scatter the carrier to the winds."
Well, as Yuki said, the secret history of the barrier generator’s development can wait. I immediately began scanning the report.
"Ho-ho."
"Hmm, hmm."
"I see."
A ten-page report is something I can finish in under a minute.
Well, research reports, at least.
"For starters, the situation with the enemy was just plain bad."
"Indeed. As Comet-san says, a carrier engaging in archaic boarding tactics and melee combat is simply unheard of."
"I understand the circumstances forced their hand, but it’s a usage that contradicts the carrier’s design philosophy, so it’s a bit delicate."
The three of us began critiquing the report simultaneously.
The operational circumstances were so bizarre that it’s impossible to judge the carrier’s true performance.
It seems my faint hope of seeing the carrier’s actual combat potential was not even remotely realized.
"Idiots. Who fires a Tomahawk at a wooden ship? More importantly, the issue is..."
"The issue is the situation upon impact. Looking at this data, single hits fall within the acceptable, anticipated range, but the simultaneous impacts are strange."
"The load is roughly three times that of a single hit. I wonder what the cause is?"
"Our projections were for two times..."
"It’s a mystery, isn't it?"
As the four of us huddled together, heads bowed over the papers, Yuki looked at us with a puzzled expression.
"No, no. You can't expect the load from simultaneous impacts to be a simple doubling. Are you joking?"
" " "?" " "
As we tilted our heads in confusion, Yuki turned his gaze toward Zargis.
"Hey, what are you technicians even doing? Is your head empty? What about you, Zargis?"
"I understand what you’re saying."
Oh, Zargis seems to have caught on.
"The carrier wasn't stationary; it was in motion."
"Exactly. It wasn't just sitting there taking fire, and the output required to deploy defenses at multiple points simultaneously is different. From my perspective, the fact that it only reached three times the load is actually a good result."
Ah, I see.
Since both we and the enemy were moving on the sea, we have to account for that velocity.
In that case, it wouldn't be a simple doubling.
It’s related to kinetic energy.
Well, that area is all numbers, so it’s a bit of a chore to read.
My desire to see the actual hardware far outweighs my interest in the paperwork.
"Indeed. My apologies. Since it was a rush job, we didn't anticipate multiple simultaneous hits. It seems Taizo-dono overlooked it as well."
"Ah, Taizo-san too? Well, I suppose if it were Taizo-san, he would have designed it with the assumption of defending against a 'Big Gun' doctrine... he likely judged that taking a barrage was acceptable."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Warships during World War II had armor thick enough to bounce off mediocre shells. So, simple gunfire—I don't know if you’d call it that—attacks below a certain threshold wouldn't affect them anyway. The philosophy was likely to ignore the attacks that wouldn't do anything and only use the barrier to block the hits that could be fatal."
" " "Ah..." " "
I understood what he meant.
There’s no reason to waste magic power and put a load on the generator by blocking pathetic attacks that wouldn't damage the hull anyway.
It’s just a waste of mana.
So, the system was tuned specifically to endure those critical, devastating blows.
"So, back to the question of whether it’s safe to keep using it as is..."
"Well, based on everything we’ve discussed, there don't seem to be any major defects."
When I reached that conclusion, the other members nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. We now understand that a three-fold load is within the range of normal operation, and the overall load limit is still tens of times higher."
"Yes. There are no issues with the movement of the magic barrier generator itself. There are no signs of it running wild."
That’s right. Even if the load is three times higher, that only refers to a single hit; the limit is still far off.
As Yuki mentioned earlier, Taizo set the parameters to stop the main guns of a battleship.
...I mean, the "battleship" Taizo has in mind is that monstrous super-dreadnought, the Yamato. I can’t help but wonder just how much output is required to block a direct hit from those guns.
Man, I never realized that the little dungeon core I’d been using so casually was such an incredible piece of equipment.
Still, I’ve thought many times that he could just hand over the things he thinks of via DP exchange, but...
Well, I suppose things aren't that convenient. Or rather, if a technician started doing that, it would be the end of the craft.
While I was thinking about that, Yuki seemed satisfied.
"If there are no problems, we’ll keep using it as is. I think this will make our voyages a bit safer."