Episode 42: For Now, Something Like This!
“Are you a god!!!”
The surprise was fleeting; one of the development team members took Kazuma’s hand, who was transformed into the Crimson Knight, his eyes shining like a fanatic’s.
He was wholeheartedly praising Kazuma for capturing the marine life-form Ibinom lurking in the deep sea, a feat that even world-renowned powerhouses like the King, the Overlord, and the Sun King had failed to accomplish.
After all, Kazuma had achieved the impossible task they had set for him, so it was no wonder the man lauded him as a god.
“O-Oh. So, there’s no problem with this guy?”
“Hmm.”
Kazuma was taken aback by the instantaneous switch in the man’s train of thought but was impressed that he was undoubtedly a reliable man.
“I’d like to collect living cells as a sample.”
“How much do you need?”
“Just a tiny bit will do.”
“Understood.”
Normally, they would use specialized tools to dissect the Ibinom’s body and analyze its structure, but Kazuma was here.
Following the development team’s instructions, he dismantled the Ibinom while it was still alive, tossing the parts into capsules containing a special liquid prepared by the development team.
“Is this good?”
“Wonderful…! To think it could be dismantled so cleanly! And it’s still alive! Look! This pulsation of life!”
“O-Okay. I get it, so please stop bringing it closer.”
The developer showed off the fresh, still-living flesh of the Ibinom to Kazuma.
It was throbbing eerily with a dokun dokun sound, and even Kazuma found it repulsive and recoiled.
“My, my… To think we’d be blessed with such good fortune here.”
“Uhm, so, can the Nanomachine development proceed?”
“It will take time, but we will definitely meet your expectations!”
“How long will it take?”
“Somewhere between one to three years, I suppose…”
“That’s long. Alright, I’ll create the environment, so you can research to your heart’s content there.”
“Yes? What exactly do you mean?”
Kazuma, who wanted the Powered Suit right away, couldn’t wait even a year.
Therefore, he unsparingly used his Space-Time Magic and created a laboratory where the flow of time was altered.
“Work here.”
“It’s a particularly unremarkable room, but…”
“We’ll bring in the necessary tools and equipment right away. Could you make a list?”
“Understood. Please wait a moment.”
The developer took out a notepad and handed Kazuma a list of necessary equipment, tools, and chemicals.
“Will this be alright?”
“Got it. I’ll prepare them immediately.”
“We’re counting on you.”
Based on the list he was given, Kazuma cooperated with the other workers to gather the tools and equipment.
Since he had gathered everything written on the list, Kazuma used his Gift, Transposition, for the first time in a while, and arranged them in the development team’s workspace.
“Is this good?”
“Yes. It’s perfect. Ah, there was one thing I wanted to ask. You were moving quite sluggishly; was that harassment?”
“No, that’s not it. You guys are the ones who are accelerated.”
“…Could it be that the strange thing you were doing earlier was for this?”
“Yeah. I’ll skip the detailed explanation, but the flow of time in this workroom, or rather, laboratory, is different from the outside. So, from your perspective, we outside seem slow.”
“So, you mean we can immerse ourselves in research here without worrying about time?”
“Your understanding is quick, that helps. Of course, I plan to expand it. As for me, I want the Powered Suit completed by Christmas.”
“Oooh… Oooooooh! As expected, you are a god! To manipulate even the concept of time is the work of a god! At this rate, all other Gifted in the world are nothing but dust!”
“It’s not that big of a deal. This is limited. Here, watch that clock over there for a bit.”
“Yes!”
“…”
Kazuma sighed inwardly, thinking things had gotten strange, and stopped the developer’s perceived time.
After about a minute, Kazuma released the magic and spoke to him.
“How was it?”
“I see. Only I was stopped, while the world itself kept moving. It’s obvious if I look at the clock hands, which are different from before.”
“That’s how it is. So, it’s not that omnipotent. However, it’s convenient because I can accelerate or delay my own time.”
“Ah, so in essence, it’s like being able to freely use that phenomenon where things go into slow motion right before an accident.”
“Well, to put it simply, it’s something like that.”
“Hmm. However, to be able to isolate a certain space from real time, even if it’s limited, is still extraordinary. If possible, I’d like you to keep it active all the time.”
“Why is that?”
“For research, of course!”
“…I see.”
As expected, people don’t change.
In the other world too, they used Space-Time Magic to diligently pursue research and training.
Of course, they were all eccentrics uninterested in worldly affairs, absorbed in their own worlds, but Kazuma realized that this world wasn’t much different.
“Getting back to the topic, you can research to your heart’s content with this, right?”
“Yes! We will definitely complete the Nanomachines!”
“I’m counting on you.”
Entrusting the Nanomachine development to the team, Kazuma returned to the workers who were now idle.
Nanomachines would be the foundation, but the weaponry was a separate matter.
Kazuma wanted to create a Powered Suit capable of all-around combat: close, mid, and long-range.
Blades on the arms, Vulcans from the shoulders, beams from the back.
For now, Kazuma planned to incorporate plenty of things that would make a boy’s heart leap.
“Is that much possible with Nanomachines?”
“It’s possible. But we need to figure out what kind of thing we want to make. It’d be a different story if we could read brainwaves and develop weapons on the spot, but only an extraordinary genius could pull that off during combat.”
“So, that means we need to create the Nanomachine-based weapons beforehand, right?”
“That’s right. However, since the Nanomachines themselves aren’t complete, it means we’ll make the prototypes here.”
“But, if I recall, there was the issue of what to do about live ammunition and fuel, wasn’t there?”
“That’s the biggest challenge. Existing Powered Suits are fine with small batteries, but… the one we’re developing now will consume an enormous amount of energy, right? Even if Nanomachines can infinitely recover energy, their recovery time is another matter. It will definitely run out of energy.”
“Hmm, hmm…”
No matter how much Nanomachines are used, the energy problem is an unavoidable path.
Currently, there are revolutionary energy devices that use sunlight, wind power, and nitrogen or carbon dioxide from the air, but if asked whether they can be incorporated into a Powered Suit, one can only say it’s impossible.
First, they are heavy and take up space.
Even if miniaturized, they’d be about the size of a refrigerator, so you couldn’t fight with one on your back.
“The energy problem, huh…”
“Even if we complete the Nanomachines, it won’t be enough if we consider long battles. If we don’t supplement it separately, it’ll become something only usable for short skirmishes. That’s too limited, wouldn’t you say?”
“That’s true.”
“By the way, something’s been bothering me.”
“What is it?”
“That. Your tone can be natural. You occasionally slip into polite speech, but you’re not very used to it, are you? If so, feel free to be more casual.”
“Ah, is that so…”
“Getting back to it, what do we do about the energy problem? Weapon development should be fine, but where will we get that energy from…”
“Hmmm… Can’t we manage something by capturing an Ibinom?”
“We’ve already tried that. The current Powered Suits and weapons were created thanks to dissecting an Ibinom based on an electric catfish and researching its power generation organs.”
“Ummmuu…”
Kazuma was about to give up, thinking it was a complete dead end, but he remembered something he had discussed with a sage from the other world.
“There’s solar power generation, but what about moonlight and starlight?”
“It exists. But compared to sunlight, it’s too weak and not suitable for powering weapons. It might be possible for household appliances, but…”
Hearing that, Kazuma began to recall everything about his own magic power from scratch.
When Kazuma was summoned to the other world, a magic power generation organ was embedded in his body.
This was a special organ that couldn’t be detected by modern medicine; Kazuma had even undergone X-ray examinations normally, but it hadn’t been identified.
Thanks to this generation organ, Kazuma could wield magic power, but there were still limits.
So, Kazuma discussed it with the sage and conducted all sorts of experiments to see if something could be done.
These were the modern power generation methods Kazuma knew: solar, geothermal, wind, hydro, thermal, and nuclear power.
After roughly explaining these to the sage and going through trial and error to see if they could be replicated with magic, Kazuma obtained nearly infinite magic power.
Thanks to that, even after returning to his original world, he never suffered from a lack of magic power and could use magic to his heart’s content.
“(What if I convert magic power into electricity? Convert sunlight and moonlight into magic power through a Magic Circle, and then convert that into electricity with another Magic Circle. If it’s the Magic Circle I devised with that damn old geezer, the conversion efficiency for sunlight, moonlight, and starlight into magic power could generate enormous amounts of electricity! However, this method is…)”
If there was just one problem, it was that it was extremely dangerous.
Since Kazuma was a Hero and originally possessed immense magical power, it wasn’t a problem, but if an ordinary person tried it, they would undoubtedly explode into smithereens.
In short, there was a huge difference between Kazuma’s capacity and that of an ordinary person.
However, it wasn’t as if there was no solution.
It was just a matter of lowering the conversion efficiency to within the user’s tolerance range.
However, because each individual’s tolerance range differed, adjusting the Magic Circle was extremely difficult and inefficient, so it had only spread among Kazuma and his companions.
But this time.
This time, it was something that converted to electricity, not magical power.
In that case, it would likely be an easy task, as all he needed to do was grasp the power consumption.
Kazuma carefully selected the weapons to be installed in the new Powered Suit and had someone calculate how much energy they would consume.
“(Hmm, hmm… Or rather, can’t I just adjust it with a Magic Circle so it doesn’t charge if it’s full, like a cell phone…?)”
The energy problem was thus solved quite easily.
Kazuma used a paint mixed with his own blood on a suitable component and inscribed a Magic Circle.
To test whether it would work properly, Kazuma left it under the sun and checked if magical power had accumulated.
“What are you doing?”
“An experiment. For now, I’ve confirmed it’s effective, so let’s talk after this.”
It was an innovative technology that fused magic and science, but only Kazuma could do it, and furthermore, his blood was indispensable, making mass production difficult.
It was thus concluded that there was room for improvement towards mass production in the future.