by Sato Tsutomu
This wasn't something they could say as representatives, but other than the professional assessors, each school also sent one student as a judge to help analyze presentations from other schools.
This judge position was traditionally filled by each school's Student Council President. First High was no exception, so Azusa had started her task in the early hours of the morning.
"The first group in the afternoon finished early, so I wanted to check in on everyone."
"So you came to encourage us. Thank you, Nakajou."
"Ah, you're welcome...... Sorry, Suzune. I hope I'm not distracting you."
Even though she kept her voice down, since Suzune was in the room, Azusa's already petite body shrank even further (atmosphere-wise).
"Who's in the lead right now?"
Isori turned and joined the conversation. The conversation was cut short in the middle, but not because Isori looked down on Tatsuya. —If that was the case, he might have suffered a blizzard when he entered the waiting room.
"It's Fourth High, as expected. This year, they brought another device that took a lot of time and effort."
Azusa's assessment caused Isori to tilt his head slightly.
"Don't you think they're a little too vainglorious?"
Fourth High presented second before the noon break and was the school that Isori was most worried about.
"Still, it was amazing they were able to create a system that could flawlessly combine magic. ......Ah, sorry, it's about time for the next presentation. Good luck everyone."
Given that she never forgot her original objective even at the very end, Azusa should be doing a fine job as the Student Council President. Probably.
In the audience stands, a select group of people sat together.
Highly motivated, Erika and Leo sat there with their weapons along with Honoka and Shizuku, who had joined them during lunch, as they eagerly waited for Tatsuya's group to appear.
"Mikihiko...... How is it?"
Although they were waiting patiently, they weren't just twiddling their thumbs.
"Nothing out of the ordinary yet."
After using Sensory Synchronization to receive local intelligence from the spirits he sent out, Mikihiko responded to Leo's whispered question.
"Mizuki?"
"No sign of anything strange."
Mizuki shook her head at Erika's concise question.
Mizuki replaced the glasses she took off earlier.
They were preparing for the "enemy" that was not in the audience and might or might not arrive.
After being checkmated by Fujibayashi and unable to continue her assignment, Haruka could just have departed from the premises, but that would have seemed like she was fleeing from the field. This mentality caused Haruka to remain in the main hall and subconsciously monitor the crowd.
"Ono-sensei."
Suddenly, someone called out to her from behind.
"Tsudzura-sensei?"
Turning around, she found the lead adviser for First High's representative team standing there with a long time no see expression.
"Why are you waiting here? Is something the matter?"
"No, not really...... I was just taking a break. Tsudzura-sensei, why are you here?"
Haruka's question prompted a mixed smile to appear on Tsudzura's face.
"There's no need for yours truly to appear today. We have a fine team of representatives this year."
This guy actually referred to himself as "yours truly"...... Even taking that into account, Haruka involuntarily acknowledged his "excellence".
"Still...... I have this irritating premonition."
Hearing him say that in an unambiguous tone caused Haruka to grow a little anxious.
Tsudzura was a magic researcher and Magician who obtained his position as an assistant professor at the magic university at a young age.
His expertise lay in magic geometry and he was especially famous for a theory known as Polyhedron Magic.
It was a theory that viewed macro phenomena as simply a combination of triangular pyramids and quadratic prisms and used the motions of these multiple polyhedrons to grasp the changes in phenomena. Using magic that manipulated multiple imaginary polyhedrons to alter the Eidos was one of the paths in modern magic theory.
However, Polyhedron Magic theory's utility as a stepping stone to solving deficiencies in modern magic like partial phenomena changes had been overshadowed by its potential to predict the future.
By using a recognition system to capture the entire world seen as three dimensional objects along with the myriad interactions between these objects in the world, the caster could view the various interactions through an abstract, three dimensional projection. This abstract model for viewing the world allowed a certain degree of data manipulation to project the future to be somewhat facile.
As the young authority on Polyhedron Magic, Tsudzura's "premonition" was on a certain level closer to a "prediction".
"......That being said, I do have a premonition that the worst will not come to pass."
Although the last comment seemed to be tacked on, Haruka earnestly prayed that he was not just saying that to comfort her.
◊ ◊ ◊
It was three in the afternoon. The presentation from First High's representatives went off on schedule.
While Third High's Kichijouji Shinkurou, the discoverer of the "Cardinal Code", was the main draw of the Thesis Competition, First High's topic regarding one of the three Great Puzzles of Gravity-Type Magic "Gravity Control-Type Thermonuclear Reactor" also received a lot of attention. In the main hall, besides the students and faculty from First High, many individuals affiliated with the magic university and civilian research organizations had gathered there. The audience rested their expectant gazes on the podium.
There, a large device sat on the stage bathed in natural light while Suzune spoke through the international conference hall's speaker system with a clear and calm voice.
Next to her, Isori was manipulating the model device and Tatsuya was on stage switching the CAD displays and Activation Sequences.
"......Is the actualization of thermonuclear power a necessity? This question has already been answered in the previous century."
Suzune stood next to a gigantic glass ball.
Tatsuya toggled the Activation Sequence for Release-Type Magic.
The instant Suzune touched the control panel on the CAD, the deuterium gas sealed within the globe ionized and reacted with the coloring painted on the inside of the globe to emit a dazzling light.
This magnificent display caused a small ruckus to break out in the crowd.
"First of all, there is the time needed for the deuterium serving as fuel to ionize as well as the ability to maintain the situation. Both of these issues can be solved through Release-Type Magic."
Still, this phenomenon has been proved in previous experiments so it was a little lacking in originality.
"The primary obstacle for thermonuclear power is the time created because the ionized electrons possess electric repulsion that prevents fusion chemical reactions, or simply the problem caused by the interaction of the electrons."
The flashing globe dimmed and a large screen descended from the center of the stage.
"Our predecessors attempted to achieve thermonuclear power without magic by applying overwhelming pressure to overcome electric repulsion."
The screen displayed images from the previous century's experiments and various models and charts.
"However, regardless of whether they used ultra-high temperatures or surface compression to increase pressure, they never managed to create a stable thermonuclear reaction. This was because of a multitude of reasons such as the container's durability and fuel resupply. Even if the thermonuclear reaction itself could be sustained, there are examples where the energy output is so tremendous that it became unwieldy. Still, all the problems can be narrowed down to the fact that the electron repulsion forces require too much resources to be fe
asible."
The silver screen rose.
Behind the screen, two large cylindrical magnets stood there, each with four cords attached between them to form a basic experimental device.
Isori raised one of the cylinders — although it looked like he was using his hands to pull them, he actually used magic — and let go of his hands.
The vigorously waving magnets were repelled by the magnetic force before they could make contact.
"This should be plainly obvious without an explanation, but the electron repulsion force will be magnified the closer the objects are to one another. Objects with strong Coulombic force will increase the repulsion force as they draw closer, so contact will be avoided."
Suzune silently stood by the repeatedly shaking device and wore earplugs to protect her ears from the cacophony while her hands remained on the control panel.
Immediately, a sound similar to repeated banging on a large gong reverberated across the conference hall.
Suzune took her hands off and the two magnets silently returned to stillness.
"However, electron repulsion force can be reduced with magic.
Here, we successfully developed a Magic Sequence that can reduce the Coulomb's force to 1/10000 within a brief period of time."
Suzune did not raise her voice.
Nevertheless, her words caused the audience to break into a furor.
As if to signal for quiet, the primary model slowly rose from the stage.
If asked to describe it, the model looked like a piston forged from transparent materials.
A modified piston connected to a flywheel and crank handle was inserted into the large, transparent cylinder. There were two valves at the top of the cylinder. From there, a transparent tube was inserted that was connected to a sink filled with clear water.
"This device takes into account the dangers of radiation, so we used hydrogen instead of deuterium gas. Release-Type Magic is used to ionize the hydrogen gas within the canister while Gravity Control-Type Magic and Coulomb's force resistance magic are activated at the same time. The ionized electrons have their repulsion force lowered by the Coulomb Force Resistance Magic and are gathered by the Gravity Control-Type Magic in the center, thus triggering a thermonuclear reaction. This device requires approximately 0.1 seconds to achieve a thermonuclear reaction. As you know, a thermonuclear reaction will not continue indefinitely on its own. If impetus is not supplied externally, the reaction quickly grinds to a halt. Our school's Gravity Control-Type Thermonuclear Fusion Reactor proactively makes use of this element. Once the reaction stops, Oscillation-Type Magic is used to cool the Deuterium gas to levels that the container can withstand. The heat energy recovered will serve as fuel for Gravity-Control Type and Coulomb Force Resistant Magic. Drawn by the gravitational field generated by the Gravity Control-Type Magic, the inertia of the piston continuously rises and sends the cooled Deuterium gas into the heat sink......"
While Suzune was delivering her explanation, Isori operated the control panel for the demonstration device. Ionization, Coulomb Force Control, Gravity Control-Type, cooling, energy recovery, ionization, Coulomb Force Control, Gravity Control-Type...... Isori regularly activated this chain of magics several dozen times in a row just like that.
"Currently, a highly skilled Magician is required to operate this device for sustained operation. However, if a device highly efficient in energy recovery could be used, I believe that a Gravity Control-Type Thermonuclear Reactor that only needs a Magician to jump start the device can become a reality."
The second Suzune's voice stopped speaking, the conference hall was filled with thunderous applause.
The reason why Gravity Control-Type Thermonuclear Reactors were thought to be impossible was because the target of the Gravity Control-Type Magic, the elements in the nuclear reaction, are constantly diminishing. In addition, since Gravity-Control Type Magic is directed towards a quantitative value, the lowered value of the elements would cause the magic to fizzle under the mistaken impression that the "target does not exist". Hence a nuclear explosion is possible, but sustained nuclear reactions were held to be impossible.
Now, with the addition of Coulomb Force Resistance Magic, Gravity Control-Type Magic was no longer as integral as before. This way, there no longer needed to be a continuous nuclear reaction, but instead they borrowed a leaf from the new technique "Loop Cast" to ignite multiple nuclear reactions. The praise from the audience below unanimously declared this to be an incredible idea.
Thirty minutes were allotted for each presentation during the Thesis Competition with ten minutes in between.
The previous team employed these ten minutes to help gather their materials and devices so that the next team could come on stage.
Compared to the presentation itself, the representatives and support personnel from each school felt that the break time in between was the busiest part.
Tatsuya was just about to dismantle the control device used during the presentation when the next team's operator (the assistant who had the same job as Tatsuya) came forth to setup their equipment.
"Nicely done. Allow me to congratulate you on a fine performance."
Initially, Tatsuya wasn't aware that this comment was directed to him because there was practically no time to converse.
Still, based on the direction of the voice, the target must be him. With that in mind, he raised his head to find Kichijouji Shinkurou smiling fearlessly at him.
"Should I say thank you here?"
"Don't worry about it, I wasn't expecting anything in return anyways."
Pah, Tatsuya closed the lid on the case and hefted the control panel that was about the size of the electron synthesizer on the table. Kichijouji set down a similar case carrying a control panel in the same place.
There were connections at both ends of the stage to allow ease of access from both sides, so was there a reason why he specifically chose the same side as Tatsuya?
"Gravity Control-Type Magic is a vital component in Flying-Type Magic and Coulomb Force Control Magic is a refined edition of ionization convergence magic developed by the previous Sirius, William Sirius. Compared to those, the fluidity of that 'Loop Cast' was astonishing."
"Your keen eye is truly terrifying. As expected of Cardinal George."
As Tatsuya was speaking, Kichijouji's hands were busy setting up his equipment.
Tatsuya was the only student from First High left on stage.
He was just about to leave the stage, holding the rectangular case as he walked towards the backstage.
"However, we're not going to lose. In fact, we're going to beat you this time."
A voice called out behind him.
That sounded a little childish, but it didn't seem malicious.
How should he make a witty comeback, Tatsuya thought as he stopped to turn around.
Just then, a colossal boom and vibration sent the entire hall shaking.
Chapter 10
The current time was 3:30 PM on October 30th, 2095 AD.
Future generations would refer to this turning point as the "Scorched Halloween". The "Yokohama Incident" that instigated this event began at this moment.
◊ ◊ ◊
After First High's presentation ended, Fujibayashi struck up an idle conversation with Toshikazu in the main hall — they had been together since the morning, so they were almost running out of topics — when suddenly his brow twitched and he broke off.
The terminal reserved for messaging (a security device with no data storage capabilities and strictly reserved for powerful signal broadcast) in his breast pocket was vibrating.
Sending an apologetic look towards Fujibayashi, he turned around to pick up the phone.
"This is Chiba, is it Inagaki? What!? ......Understood, I'm on my way."
Inspector Chiba turned around to find Fujibayashi also finishing her phone call.
"I need to head to the scene."
"I will remain here."
Neither of them ask
ed whether the other person received the same communication they did. Taking it on faith that they were on accord, there was no feeling of incompatibility.
"Sorry! Contact me later if anything comes up."
Fujibayashi nodded and didn't waste her breath as Toshikazu fairly flew towards his car with magic fueling his sprint. —His feet appeared to be moving faster.
◊ ◊ ◊
"What's the situation!?"
Three minutes after receiving the transmission, Toshikazu roared into the phone slotted in the car for more information as he sped towards the scene.
"The exploding car that plowed into the control building is still burning. There are no follow up suicide attacks."
On the other side of the receiver came a much more composed report.
Even so, the contents of the message were not relaxing.
The target was the Harbor Control Building near Hillside Harbor.
The sturdy construction material itself was able to repel the heat and force from the explosion so there was no need to worry on that account. However, the staff members were all civilians and must be paralyzed into inaction after being on the receiving end of a terrorist attack. In the meantime, while the staff were evacuating and before harbor security could take over, there would be a massive surveillance hole over the harbor proper.
(Too reliant on bureaucracy!)
Owing to resistance from politicians who were hostile to the expansion of organizations such as national defense and police, harbor control and airport control were all relegated to civilian control. Harbors for island nations are synonymous to the national border, so if they hated handing things over to the army, at least there should have been armed police on station. This was something that the Chiba Family, including Toshikazu, had proposed long before.
"The cargo ship moored in the harbor has fired rockets. They appear to be infantry mounted weaponry."