第１９３６堀：陸上戦艦の開発が急がれるということは (Part1)
**Chapter 1936: The Implications of Expediting Land Battleship Development**
**Side: Dressa**
The decision to accelerate the development of the land battleship has been approved.
Given the current state of utter chaos in the New Continent, a mobile fortress is a versatile asset that could be deployed anywhere. As for the seas, there is no immediate need to venture out, so the urgency there is lower than it is for land-based vessels.
Still, I never imagined we would be building something like this.
And besides…
“Tell me, Ratz. That armor we discussed earlier—are you sure about it?”
There are conditions, yes, but it seems they can be met. Though, only within the borders of Weed.
“To what end are you asking if it’s ‘safe’?”
Ratz asks in return, a smile playing on her lips. Ah, she’s going there, is she?
“Fair point. I wonder how it would go if the world found out.”
“It would be an absolute disaster. Looking at the documentation, the materials used for the armor are all high-purity steel and rare components. If it becomes known that these can be recycled in ten-meter squares at two millimeters thick, we’ll have a swarm of people trying to strip the armor for their own uses. They wouldn’t care one bit about the burden it places on us. In fact, they’d likely assume that if we can restore Weed’s losses, the supply is effectively infinite. At worst, it’s a catalyst for war.”
“You’re right.”
I nod, conceding the point. I had a vague sense of danger, but hearing Ratz spell it out made the reality of it sink in.
After all, we are talking about steel that can be harvested infinitely, provided the conditions are met. Furthermore, its military application is undeniable—it is already being used as armor for land battleships and warships.
In other words, its utility in the military sector has already been proven. If word gets out that this is part of an unprecedented weapon like a land battleship, there is no doubt that fools will emerge, desperate to get their hands on it regardless of the risks.
“Do Narjia and the others realize this?”
“I believe they do, but since they’ve found a way to acquire steel and materials without spending DP, they might be getting a bit carried away.”
“Ah, that sounds like them. And what about this special potion refined from medicinal herbs? If it can’t be mass-produced, I suppose we don’t need to worry too much, right?”
What bothered me earlier wasn’t the magic power, but the mention of a potion refined from special herbs. If the production system for that isn’t established, it shouldn’t hold much value. If even Weed can only produce a small amount, it would mean that if a land battleship were ever damaged, it wouldn’t be easily repaired.
“I was curious about that too, so I asked Narjia and the others. Apparently, you know that Agil confirmed the existence of special medicinal herbs on the plateau?”
“Something about herbs containing components with unknown effects, right? So they used those? But weren’t they still in the middle of figuring out how to cultivate plateau herbs?”
If that’s the case, they shouldn’t be able to provide a stable supply of the potion.
“No, they aren’t using the plateau herbs. They utilized the extraction method for those special components and tested it on herbs currently circulating in Rogari, If, Haiden, and Zuraburu.”
“Oh, I see.”
So, they applied the experience gained from the plateau to common herbs.
“It seems they were able to extract the components in the same way—though, mind you, they are different from the plateau components. According to the report, these enhance recovery. They are of a type that also affects physical matter. Have you heard the rumor? The one about how, while it can’t fix armor, it can repair clothing?”
“...That sounds familiar. But wasn’t that considered a tall tale?”
If such a thing were possible, one could just use potions to mend clothes.
“I thought so too, but it seems Agil and Comet were interested, so they researched it in their spare time. They admitted that they’re quite careless when it comes to maintaining their own clothes.”
“That, I don’t doubt. Still, just splashing a potion on it wouldn’t make it look crisp and ironed, would it? And wouldn’t it get soaked?”
“It does get wet. And regardless, the performance is only enough to perform minor repairs on fabric, so it turns out using potions for that is actually a loss. It’s cheaper to just sew it by hand.”
“That makes sense.”
Potions are meant to heal wounds; they are a lifeline for soldiers and adventurers who put themselves in harm’s way. While they might be ‘cheap’ in some contexts, they aren’t as inexpensive as a sewing kit. Depending on the rank, a single potion costs at least as much as a night at an inn. Using that to fix clothes is hardly cost-effective.
“However, they succeeded in extracting the specific property that allows it to mend matter.”
“Oh, that’s them for you.”
The research team that Weed prides itself on.
“Even so, that alone is just a liquid for mending objects. And it seems it could only repair iron, which wasn’t particularly effective.”
“Hmm? But then, how could you possibly regenerate composite armor?”
If it can barely fix iron, there’s no way it could restore armor made with an abundance of special materials.
“That’s where the massive amount of magic power comes in. The performance of that liquid—let’s call it a restoration fluid—seems to scale with the amount of magic power applied.”
“So, having a high capacity for magic is the key.”
“Exactly. As it stands, the rarer the material, the more magic power is required.”
“Which is why they need mages from Weed—or rather, people like Comet and her peers, who are in a league of their own. But doesn’t that mean it can’t be operated without mages of executive caliber?”
That sounds like a fatal flaw.
“Ah, no. Normally, if armor is damaged, you perform emergency repairs and then head to a shipyard for proper maintenance. The idea of regenerating it on the spot is what’s abnormal.”
“Ah, right.”
Because Narjia and the others spoke of it so matter-of-factly, my perception of what was normal had become skewed. Usually, if armor is damaged, you perform first aid and then head to the dock.
“Still, being able to regenerate it on the spot is convenient. Especially for the land battleship we plan to deploy.”
“It’s designed with actual combat in mind, after all. You can’t just retreat and dock immediately, so being able to repair it on the fly is a blessing.”
“Indeed. That is a significant advantage. And since this is a prototype, being able to minimize the risk of losing it is a good thing. That said, while it’s a stretch to say we can make this armor regeneration system usable by anyone, if we could simplify it so that any warship could use it…”
“That would be incredibly convenient. How we handle that, though… well, that’s up to Yuki and the others.”
Being able to repair without docking is something everyone—not just the military—would want. As we discussed earlier, the possibility that someone might realize it allows for the infinite recovery of materials is not zero. It could easily become the spark for a war, even without us trying to escalate things.