Chapter 9
[A Magic to Sleep]
October 11th, Monday morning.
Tatsuya came to the University with Miyuki and Lina. The research of the counter-magic for [Gjallarhorn], started last week and put into hold because of the attack on the Yotsuba Main House, was to resume today.
They parted ways once on campus; the girls left for their lectures and Tatsuya headed for Higashiyama's lab.
The lab was locked. It was the preference of Higashiyama to secure this room with a mechanical lock, as opposed to an electronic, biometric, or a psion-wave authentication system. Tatsuya entered the room with a duplicate key Higashiyama had given him.
He first went over the previous week's discussion on the terminal provided in the lab to confirm. While he went with the analog key and lock for security, there was no denying the convenience of modern digital technology over pencil and paper for research.
Still, due precautions were taken to maintain information security. This terminal is independent, isolated from every outside network; that includes the closed network of the university.
For this occasion, Higashiyama was using this terminal to manage and record the data and progress of the research on the countermeasure against [Gjallarhorn]. Each time some external data was needed, the procedure was to download it to another terminal connected to the network, copy it to something like a thumb drive, then manually transfer the data to the research terminal.
Tatsuya wasn't sure if all of this was because Higashiyama was someone highly conscious of security or not.
Tatsuya was not working alone in this project, he was part of a three-man collaboration effort that included Professor Higashiyama and Tsukuba Yuuka. While he waited for the others to arrive, Tatsuya was checking last week's research notes on his terminal. About that time, Yuuka made her way in with a "good morning".
"You arrived early, Tatsuya-san. Is the professor here yet?"
She followed up her greeting with a question that she would know the answer if she glanced around so much. She was clearly just asking to make conversation, playing dumb is sometimes part of the communication process.
"Good morning. No, the professor isn't here yet." Tatsuya could, but chose not to add the "as you can see," and instead exercised the minimum of common sense.
"I see. I wonder if he was dragged into a pointless meeting."
Just after Yuuka rambled on, a third "Good morning" came in from the direction of the entrance.
"You two came in early today" spoke the man this laboratory is named after. He didn't sound the least apologetic for arriving last.
"Professor, you're late!" Yuuka retorted in an exasperated voice.
Tatsuya didn't butt in and pointed out that they never agreed on a specific hour to start the research, or for how long the sessions would be. Higashiyama nevertheless apologized to Yuuka while scratching his head, "My mistake" he said to Yuuka as he scratched his head. They both understood that it was better to go with the flow, which in many cases avoids wasting valuable time.
That was it for morning greetings and patching up, now the three of them got right down to business.
"…Achieving an uniform effect in calming down an entire crowd of people roused into a mob mentality with mental interference magic is still quite a challenge, I must say. The mental state of each person in the crowd is bound to be too distinctive for a singular path of action to realistically exist." Yuuka, as a user of mental interference magic, expressed her pessimism about the requirements they had to meet as they discussed the concept of counter-magic.
"We already know the mechanism of action, and that the rioting is due to an enhanced destructive impulse. Do you still think it'll be difficult with that?"
"I think so, because the spirit, unlike matter, the body, is not that easily divisible. It's a very complex task to try to interfere with specific impulses," Yuuka answered Higashiyama's question. She then took a reserved glance at Tatsuya for a moment before adding, "I have never witnessed it myself, but the only person I know that was able to do something in that aspect, of target specific impulses was the late Miya-sama."
The name Yuuka unearthed, "Miya-sama", referred to Tatsuya's biological mother and twin sister of the current head of the Yotsuba, Shiba Miya, maiden name: Yotsuba Miya. In terms of age, Yuuka could have met Miya before her passing, but it seems that she never had the chance.
"Yes, you're right. Miya-dono may have been able to pinpoint and inactivate the death drive. But even so, we still have the issue of scaling. It would be difficult to do so on a scale of hundreds or even thousands of people." Higashiyama, for his part, seemed to have been acquainted with Miya and her magical skills prior to her passing.
But in his observation he also expressed his doubts, in that this task would be difficult even for Miya.
"Do you two think we should change our approach?" Tatsuya asked Yuuka and Higashiyama.
"To be honest, yes," Yuuka nods in agreement. "We are currently deadlocked in this current approach, so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to explore other avenues in the meantime."
"Yeah. Then how about we go back to the first one and reexamine the biochemical as well as the sensory input approach?"
They didn't have to limit themselves to a mental-interference type magic to achieve their goal of calming down the excited state of the rioters. And Tatsuya was also beginning to feel deadlocked with this approach as well.
"The first mechanism using a biochemical approach that we could consider would be using absorption magic to synthesize neurotransmitters such as monoamines in the brain. But that still would be less effective than using nerve gases." Tatsuya started by remarking the biochemical approach and the issues with it.
"I'm not so sure about that," Yuuka rebutted the raised issue with no hesitation. "Gas needs time to take effect, and the effectiveness will vary wildly from person to person. To suppress a crowd of rioters, it would also be necessary to apply gas at a much higher quantity and concentration than the base estimate."
"The same issues of the Individual differences between people and the risk of overdose also show up in the magic approach. A magic that measures and idiosyncratically synthesizes brain chemicals to the right amount for each individual is impractical for this situation. We need a generalized magic that affects a large number of people at the same time."
Tatsuya responded to Yuuka's counter argument by raising the issues that had already been discussed ad nauseam.
Higashiyama nodded at Tatsuya's point.
"As Shiba-kun raised, it'd be difficult and risky to use a magic that interferes with the brain substances in the mob group."
"I agree."
This time, Yuuka relented. She wasn't necessarily advocating for using a magic that interferes with neurotransmitters. She was simply disputing Tatsuya's point that gas would be any more practical than magic.
"But is there any other means of calming excitement than manipulating neurotransmitters? If not, that rules out the biochemical approach, right?"
Yuuka also questioned the validity of using absorption magic to interfere with biochemical reactions as a potential path of action for the countermeasure following the suspended consideration of mental interference magic. Originally, she was invited to join this team on the premise that she would help in the development of a mental interference-type magic to counter [Gjallarhorn]. Having denied this approach herself, she appears to have lost some of her motivation in the project.
The establishment of the path of action against [Gjallarhorn] was not forthcoming. Later, in the afternoon, Miyuki and Lina joined them in the laboratory.
Tatsuya gives them a brief summary of what they have been discussing so far.
"...Wouldn't it be easier to just put the crowd to sleep than to try to calm their agitation?"
This casual remark by Miyuki after hearing Tatsuya's explanation was the spark that broke the deadlock in their research.
"A crowd sleep-inducing magic, hm?" Tatsuya muttered as the pieces seemingly came together, "That indeed would be more practical, wouldn't it?"
Higashiyama eyed Yuuka, as if to ask "Would it?"
"Well... It would be easier in magical terms, in the sense that it would require less precision and coordination than attempting to regulate the levels of excitement, which is a difficult state to measure. So inducing sleep would be less of a hassle. But if that is your objective, then why not just use sleeping gas?" Yuuka raises the obvious question.
But Tatsuya immediately shook his head. "It would not be practical with a group of a few dozen, let alone a crowd of hundreds or thousands."
"And how would it be any different with magic? Unless we consider something like [Ozone Circle], which alters the air content within an area, it is unrealistic to expect magic to put a crowd of hundreds or thousands of people to sleep. I don't think there is anyone with that sort of capability."
The typical criteria used in the field of modern magic to evaluate a magician's capabilities are processing power (the speed), capacity (the scale), and event interference power (the strength) that the magician can bring to bear in the operation of magic. At issue in this context is the factor of Capacity: how large, that is, how much information can be compiled into a magic sequence.
Magic brings forth non-natural phenomena by temporarily overwriting the "Eidos", the information pertaining to an existing event, with magical sequences. In order to rewrite a wide range of events, it is necessary to have a magic sequence that can correspond to a wide scale of Eidos of the events in question.
Yuuka was pointing out the reasonable implications in terms of modern magical knowledge that, for a magic to put thousands of people to sleep at once, it would require a magician with the capacity to process the state of "wakefulness" of thousands of people.
"If we can define an uniform event modification to ‘induce sleep,' then we have our solution. As for the scale, we can use Chain Casting."
"...Chain Casting, as in the technique used in Bezobrazov [Tumaan Bomba]?" Yuuka gives him a non-conformist look that says, "How would that be a solution?"
"Oh, I see. If we use chain casting to duplicate magic sequences in the information dimension, it might be a feasible way to extend a sleep-inducing magic such as [Hypnos Garden] to reach the scale we need of thousand people," Higashiyama answered Yuuka's question on Tatsuya's behalf while voicing his understanding.
The referred term "Chain Casting" is a magic technology developed by the now-deceased "Apostle" Bezobrazov of the New Soviet Union, and, as mentioned by Yuuka, is a core component of his Strategic Class Magic [Tumaan Bomba].
The reffered term "Chain Casting" is a magic technology developed by the now-deceased "Apostle" Bezobrazov of the New Soviet Union, and, as mentioned by Yuuka, is a core component of his Strategic Class Magic [Tumaan Bomba]. It is, simply put, a magical process that replicates magic, automatically generating slightly different magical formulas in the information dimension.
In [Tumaan Bomba], chain casting is used to replicate several small sequences that each break up a small amount of water in the form of droplets or moisture into oxygen and hydrogen. Those are then set to chemically react and recombine at slightly different time intervals, causing a large amount of hydrogen to simultaneously compound, that is combust, with oxygen over a wide area, creating a large and powerful hydrogen explosion.
As for [Hypnos Garden], it is a wide-area mental interference-type magic that induces a number of people to fall asleep over a given range. During an incident three years ago when the Stars headquarters was taken over by a group of officers-turned-Parasites, Major Kevin Antares, a Parasite in the rebelling group, used this magic to put most of the soldiers and staff in the Stars headquarters into a state of sleep.
The "wide-area" in its classification is a bit of a misnomer. [Hypnos Garden] can, at most, affect only a few dozen people, and its sleep-inducing effect is relatively weak. Furthermore, it is reported that it is particularly ineffective on individuals who are in a heightened excited state.
To its credit, however, is the fact that [Hypnos Garden] has the know-how in inducing sleep to an unspecified number of people. The low effectiveness is a trade-off for the wide range.
To achieve both effectiveness and range, the range of effect in the sequence can be narrowed to focus on a small number of persons, or even person, and Chain Casting can be used to achieve the necessary coverage. In theory, this should enable a high-effect induced sleep magic that targets thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people.
Tatsuya and Higashiyama seemed to have reached this same conclusion.
"Then, should we adopt the course of anti-riot magic using a chain cast of mental interference magic?" Higashiyama asked Tatsuya. "I personally find the option of interfering with sensory input through physical stimulation is a more versatile form of magic." With that, Higashiyama was pointing out the fact that there are very few mages who have an aptitude for mental interference magic.
"If you want to put people to sleep with a physical stimulus, there are the Sound Sleepers," Before Tatsuya had a chance to respond to Higashiyama's question, Lina spoke up from the side.
Tatsuya, Higashiyama, and Yuuka all looked at each other with the same expression of sudden realization.
Sound sleeper is a household appliance that assists a comfortable sleep through the use of sound waves personalized for each user based on heart rate and breathing rate.
That said, not everyone is comfortable with this device, and while Lina has been using it since when she lived in the USNA, Tatsuya, Yuuka, and Higashiyama do not. So they never thought of the appliance in their considerations.
Setting aside its personalized feature, it is said that certain frequencies of sound are highly effective in inducing sleep. Similarly, weak electric currents are also said to have similar effects. Products using these concepts have been sold as "good night's sleep aid devices," but, to this day, many people still view them as scams. Another reason, as to why they unwittingly excluded it from discussion. "...To avoid the same issue of individualized control from haunting us again, let's check to see if there are any sound frequencies and electric currents that are generally associated with relaxing effects."
"I can look into that. I have some experts in mind." Higashiyama volunteered to take on this task raised by Tatsuya. "I'll leave the design and configuration of the chain casting process to you, Shiba-kun."
"What about me?" Yuuka asked Higashiyama what she should be doing.
"Can I ask you to arrange the [Hypnos Garden] magic sequence? And, Tsukuba-kun, please adjust the effect to stage 4 non-REM sleep and the range to 10 people or less."
"Got it."
Non-REM sleep (sleep with little or no eye movement) is divided into four stages, where stages 3 and 4 are known as deep sleep.
Before the advent of the magic field of study, there was a tendency to lump these two in a Stage 3. But contemporary magical theory, which views the cerebrum as a communication organ between the mind and the body, states that during Stage 3 the communication between the cerebrum and the mind is still maintained in what was presumed deep sleep. Thus, pointing at the existence of a fourth stage, where the communication with the mind is temporarily interrupted.
The Death Drive is the flip side of the survival instinct. Both arise from the inherent understanding that life is fleeting and from the mortality of the body. Neither are intrinsic to the psyche.
Therefore, Higashiyama's idea in specifying Stage 4 was that the disruption of the communication between the body and the mind, even if momentarily, should curb or subside the destructive impulse aroused by [Gjallarhorn].
Thus, thanks to the unexpected spark from Miyuki and Lina, the countermeasure plan against Gjallarhorn began to make substantial headway.
◇ ◇ ◇
The term "Chain Casting" was not the one given by the creator of this technology, Bezobrazov. Nor did Bezobrazov, or the (New) Soviet Academy of Sciences, to which he belonged, ever disclosed this technology to anyone.
It was Tatsuya, who reproduced the process some time after "seeing" [Tumaan Bomba] for the first time, who gave this provisional name "Chain Cast" to it. He later went to utilize it to create two large-scale magic.
The first is the Strategic-Class magic [Ocean Blast] that made Ichijou Masaki a State-Recognized Strategic-Class Magician. Tatsuya designed the fundamentals of the activation formula incorporating the Chain Casting, but the magic's officially recognized developer is Kichijouji Shinkurou.
The other is Miyuki's "Glacial Age," a magic in the Strategic-Class level that trapped USNA vessels in an ice field during the Miyakishima campaign. This is a magic that freezes the surface of the sea in a thick layer over a radius of 10 kilometers, impeding the movement of the vessels. Although this magic has not been designated as pertaining to the Strategic-Class, it is capable of incapacitating a fleet of vessels if they are in formation. Since neither magic developers have disclosed this technology, Tatsuya being the one who reproduced the core process of [Tumaan Bomba] and Kichijouji, who learned from him, are the only people capable of developing magic using Chain Casting now that Bezobrazov is gone.
It was only natural that Tatsuya would be tasked with the scaling up part of the sleep-inducing magic, given the current state of affairs.
Tatsuya took the data he would be working with at home and worked until midnight in his private laboratory to nearly complete the chain cast activation sequence for the crowd sleep-inducing magic.
All that remained was some minor adjustments to the timing of the triggering of the sleep-inducing magic, which he would need to wait for Yuuka's part before he could make the final touch ups. Tatsuya wrapped up his work for the night there.
As for Yuuka, it didn't take too long for her to finish the modification for [Hypnos Garden] as assigned by Higashiyama. By nature, it is less difficult to increase the power of mental interference magic than, say, increasing the range. And since she already had a complete magic sequence to work with, arranging it in a direction that would make it easier to modify was not a difficult task for Yuuka, who is an excellent magic researcher and an excellent magician as well.
However, for as much complete is the theoretical framework, you can never call it a successful arrangement unless you actually put it to the test, Which is why, as soon as Yuuka returned home ─her apartment in the Tokyo Headquarters of the Yotsuba─ after integrating the results of her research at the university into the activation formula she called Ayako who lived in the nearby flat. [─How do you do, Yuuka-san, what business brings you to me? Am I correct in assuming it's something to be done at short notice?]
"A hundred percent. I am indeed in need of an expedited favor from you."
Yuuka still sees Miyuki as a rival for the position of head of the family. And while Ayako is in a close position to another candidate, Fumiya, Ayako still kept her distance from the competition for the head of the family. Perhaps because of this, Yuuka is on better terms with Ayako than with Miyuki.
The relation seems to be reciprocal. Ayako always had a rivalry with Miyuki, who's at the same age range a year older. The bigger age gap with Yuuka made her feel as if she were some sort of older sister.
[So, how can I help you?]
"I believe you're probably aware, but I am currently working at the behest of the family's Head on a magic to pacify the excited mobs."
[Yes, I have heard about it.]
"I came to you because of that, I would like to take a field test, if you will."
[Absolutely. You wish to use the prisoners as your test subjects?]
"To put it bluntly, yes."
Seeing Yuuka awkwardly admit, Ayako audibly laughs in visible enjoyment on the screen, "We don't need to keep the veil up in between us, do we?"
"Indeed, no matter what pretty words we choose and pick, it's still human experimentation, isn't it? So, is it possible to procure it?" Yuuka also opened up a smile of her own. [We always have some for these occasions. I'll show you tomorrow.]
Tomorrow is Tuesday, and Ayako should have lectures at university, but Yuuka chose not to mention.
"Thank you very much. I look forward to working with you." And simply accepted Ayako's offer without hesitation.
Next morning, Yuuka headed for Izu, accompanied by Ayako.
It took about three hours by car for the Kuroba family to reach their destination, a fortress and prison built in the mountains in the southern part of the Izu Peninsula. The Yotsuba family had purchased this property prior to its sale as a recreation facility and converted it into a backup base for the Magic Engineering Institute, which is scheduled to be situated in the southern part of the Izu Peninsula.
Their precautions paid off. Industrial spies and saboteurs flocked regularly to the Magic Engineering Institute like moths to fire. As a result ─fortunately, they could say─, there was no shortage of "human resources" who could not be officially sought after.
"The prisoners at this section have been deemed beyond rehabilitation. So, suit yourself," Ayako suggested as she showed Yuuka around the prison section, with a smile that betrayed no hint of malice.
They walk down the prison corridor, escorted by guards front and back. The prisoners and the girls are separated by bars and one-way mirrors. The inmates could not see the two women, but Ayako and Yuuka had a direct view of them.
"Are there any measures in place to prevent the use of magic?" "Not directly, but they have chokers on their necks with a taser that works in response to a psion sensor."
No device has been developed so far that mechanically disables magic activation, instead collars and restraints have been used in magic-able criminals that have sensors. Once they pick psion stimulation, the restraints release an electric shock to prevent and deter magic activation.
"Can it be turned off remotely?"
"I can, but why do you ask?" information.
Yuuka wasn't trying to be uncharitable and leave Ayako in her puzzlement.
"I simply want to test the new magic here, if that's all right?"
"Yes, there shouldn't be a problem." Ayako nodded with an air of understanding.
Based on what she heard, Yuuka had been working on a magic that puts people to sleep, so Ayako didn't think it'd have any negative impact even if it failed.
"Do you want me to shut it down right now?"
"Give me a moment first... Ok, if you please."
Ayako tells the guard in charge of escorting them, and the choker's function is deactivated.
Without a moment's delay, Yuuka activates the rearranged version of [Hypnos Garden].
Some prisoners were sprawled on the floor as if in disgruntlement, others were working out, perhaps under some illusion that they would escape somehow, and there were some who sat, legs crossed, or stood in a meditation-like exercise similar to zazen.
All of them, regardless of will, activity or luck, collapsed on the spot under Yuuka's magic, as if they all suddenly lost all strength.
"....It seems to have been a success. It took about ten seconds after activation for the first effects to manifest. That component still needs some refinement..." Yuuka made some mental notes and turned again to Ayako. "Can you check their sleeping condition?"
"I'll have them appraised right away." while making an internal comment, "Sleeping? Wouldn't you call that fainting?", Ayako radioed for the medical department of the premises to come over and take a look.
◇ ◇ ◇
Around the time Yuuka and Ayako were on their way to the private prison in Izu. Tatsuya was hearing the news that she would not be present at their joint research session.
"Tsukuba-san is unable to join us today since she'll be testing the rearranged version of [Hypnos Garden]." It was Higashiyama who told him.
"Well, we ought to expect that of her. Being able to finish her part of the project and moving to the field test stage in a single day."
"Let's examine the sleep-inducing through sensory input interference method in the meantime for today," Higashiyama suggested in consideration of Yuuka's absence.
Tatsuya had no objection to not wasting time. According to what Higashiyama gathered from his academic contacts, there is a factual basis that certain sound frequencies can have a sleep-inducing effect. The theory of weak electric currents also seems to be effective in the same respect.
Tatsuya immediately set about constructing activation sequences for vibration magic that causes sound waves the frequencies Higashiyama had listed to be generated right by the target's ears, as well as emission magic, similarly in the determined ranges, to produce electric current in the target's skin. As long as he knew the requirements and had the data, Tatsuya could whip up even somewhat complex magic formulas on the fly.
They then tested the magic on junior seminar students who volunteer ─at professor Higashiyama's request, to be precise─ to be test subjects.
The result could barely be called a success.
Subjects in a normal state were put to sleep in about 10 seconds. However, with those at a highly excited state ─how it was achieved it's not worth mentioning─ the success rate fell to 50%. And considering the small test sample size, the rate is likely even less than that. It may be a success in terms that it proved to be a sleep-inducing magic, but it was unreliable and unfit as a countermeasure against [Gjallarhorn].
"Increasing the power would also probably be counterproductive." Tatsuya was already giving up on interfering with the sensory input.
"Increasing the stimulus strength can produce the opposite effect... Pairing it with nerve gas may increase the effectiveness, but..." Higashiyama still seemed to linger on the idea. Perhaps he was simply trying to find some use for the data he had gathered from his acquaintances. "It'd be nice if we could use nerve gas in the first place. We're just going back to where we started." Tatsuya threw in a pointed criticism with a wry smile, trying to help Higashiyama to let go of it.
"Yes, you're right." With a bitter smile, Higashiyama finally forfeits.
◇ ◇ ◇
Yuuka showed up back at the lab on Wednesday.
"I heard your test run went well. Thank you for your hard work."
"Yes it did. Thanks to everyone's contribution, of course. Professor, I have finished all the requirements you gave me." Yuuka responded to Higashiyama's appreciation of her efforts with a confident smile. "Here is the experimental data." She handed a data card to the professor as she said so.
"Let's have a look, shall we?"
Higashiyama receives the card-type storage unit and inserts it into the terminal.
The experimental data, including a recorded video, is shown on the large wall display linked to the terminal, separate to the terminal built-in screen.
Numbers and symbols ran alongside a short video of around five minutes. Despite the high density of information, neither Tatsuya nor Higashiyama had any trouble following it.
"I have no complaints. What do you think, Shiba-kun?" Higashiyama passed the question to Tatsuya, who echoed his opinion, "I agree. Me neither." "Yuuka-san, can I have the activation sequence data? I'll incorporate it into a chain casting system right away."
"Of course, here it is," Yuuka handed Tatsuya another data card from the one in the terminal.
Once it got to his hands, Tatsuya jumped to his terminal and started tapping on the keyboard.
Miyuki and Lina, who showed up in the lab in the early evening, stood at the entrance bewildered, both of them by the atmosphere of an odd mix of accomplishment with frustration that Higashiyama and Yuuka were exuding.
"...Did you run into some problem, Tatsuya-sama?" Miyuki went to Tatsuya to ask, who seemed to be the only person unaffected by that atmosphere.
"It is not so much a problem as an anticipated limitation."
"Limitation? Weren't you guys looking for a way to deal with [Gjallarhorn]?Is there a bottleneck of some kind?" Lina takes her turn to ask.
The answer came from a hunched down Yuuka, who was holding her forehead with her finger, "You could say that the required magic power of what we achieved is too high to be a general use measure..."
That answer didn't quite clear up Miyuki's and Lina's questions, however.
With how they looked, one could see cartoon bubbles with question marks hanging over the heads of the two frustrated researchers.
"Let me give some context." "...Sorry for the inconvenience, and thank you." Miyuki gave a light bow to Tatsuya for taking on the inconvenience of explaining what was going on.
Tatsuya then summarized their findings; how using physical stimuli to induce sleep had proven ineffective, unlike their other approach, using a concentrated area mental interference magic. They then planned to incorporate the latter in a chain casting system to create a magic able to affect large groups, more specifically, to suppress a riotous crowd.
"However, as you may know, Miyuki, the magical power requirement for chain casts increases in proportion to the range of the target area."
It may seem obvious at first, but in the case of the sleep-inducing magic, the requirement is not in direct proportion to the number of individuals within the magic coverage, but rather to the amount of information in the target space. As a result, it imposes a significant greater burden on the magic calculation area than the rate proportional to the number of affected individuals.
Due to the nature of chain casting to propagate magic sequences in adjacent areas, it can be somewhat inefficient in that sequences are created even in areas of the information dimension where there is no person.
Since there is no event for the magical sequence to override, there is no consumption of event interference power. But the magician still would need to have the capacity to form the magical sequence. While using chain casting is more labor saving than a single magic sequence to cover a same given area, since some processes can be automated, it is still nevertheless a significant effort. As the area of coverage expands, inevitably there will be an increased load on the magic calculation area. "With the magic we have created right now, even a first-rate magician would probably only be able to cover about a hundred people at a time, at best."
The naïve thought of "if that's the case, why not just use again, and again," never crossed the girls' minds.
If the limit was stated to be about a hundred people at a time, it was very likely that this estimate was based on the magician using all their resources to reach this scale. Even magicians of the ranks of Miyuki and Lina wouldn't be able to cast magic at their full capacity continuously.
"All that isn't to say something like using Loop Casting on every person would be anything more realistic. That would probably be far more consuming in the magic calculation area."
"Which means..."
"Are you trying to say Miyuki is the only one that can use this against [Gjallarhorn]?" Lina spoke up without reservation, saying what Miyuki had been hesitant to say.
"Unless you could find someone with the same level of ability as Miyuki when it comes to mental interference magic, it would be challenging to suppress a riot of the scale that occurred in San Francisco," in saying so, Tatsuya readily agreed with Lina's assessment.
"It'd be just like in San Francisco, where they were only able to respond thanks to Lena Fehr's personal skills."
Lina's remark brought a frown to Yuuka's face. As a magician researcher, Yuuka sought to find a solution that did not rely on variables beyond control, like the opportune presence of individuals with just the right skills. "Magic is inherently a subjective skill," her fellow magic researcher pointedly disagreed. Tatsuya may have been thinking that if the development of sleep-inducing magic doesn't produce results, he could just bring Lena to help him deal with the problem.
◇ ◇ ◇
"I think I can activate it with no problem."
After returning home, Tatsuya and Miyuki try out the chain-cast rendition of [Hypnos Garden] in his lab in the basement of the building. The laboratory attached to the basement lab. Since it was a test, there was no need to have a thousand people to be put to sleep, it was enough to simply advance in the magic process right until before activation, to see what kind of burden it would have.
"Can I give it a go, too?" Lina asked eagerly. She had tagged along to the lab.
"Sure, why not. Even if you don't have a particular affinity to mental interference type, you can at least get a feel for how far you can expand the chain casting."
Miyuki hands over the test CAD to Lina.
"─Hm? Mmmmm!" Lina wrinkles her brow and groans for a while. "...Uhaah! Why it's so it so crazy!"
"Yeah, I guess that's because you're more of the explosive type. Chain casting may not be your thing."
"Hm, I suppose you're right," Lina begrudgingly agreed with Tatsuya's supposition. "Now to give a name for this thing... Miyuki, the ball is with you."
"Me?" Miyuki confusedly looked back at being handed the question. "I can't think of anything at the spur of the moment... I think Tatsuya-sama should be the one to pick," in her uncertainty, Miyuki threw the ball to Tatsuya.
"I didn't make this magic all by myself, you know that."
"What do you think Higashiyama-sensei and Yuuka-san would say about it?"
"Probably that the magic user should choose whatever they want to call it." Yuuka made the point to add, sulkily, that she "wouldn't be able to use it anyway," but Tatsuya tactfully left that out. "And since Miyuki will probably be the one to use it, she gets to choose the name."
"You didn't make this any easier..." With the ball bouncing right back to her court, Miyuki expressed deeper consternation.
"Just keep it simple if you don't have anything. Since this is a Chain Casting version of [Hypnos Garden], why not just call it something like [Hypnos Chain]?" As Tatsuya and Miyuki bounced back and forth, Lina came up with the idea.
"Seems good to me."
"Seems fine to me."
Presented with the easy way out, the pair immediately came back with similar lines overlapping each other.
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
Setting aside the confusion between one of the magic creators and its user, the name of the crowd sleep-inducing magic was settled on [Hypnos Chain].
After the test was over, Tatsuya and Miyuki returned to their personal living space. After a bath, they relaxed together in the living room.
Lina went to her apartment.
There was no one to disturb them.
Alas, the atmosphere between them right now was hardly any romantic, to say less of anything else.
"...We still need to test [Hypnos Chain], don't we?"
"We do, but getting a sample isn't going to be like rounding up extras for a movie."
"I heard that they don't use extras in movies anymore, though. Your comparison is a bit out of date. Everything is CG nowadays, it seems."
The topic of the test of the new magic infiltrated even during their private time, to the point that Miyuki felt like making a bit of a quip with Tatsuya's line.
"Well, that may be true when they need a large number of bodies in a scene. As for us, we can't very well gather a bunch of ordinary civilians to test a magic that we haven't even verified is safe."
It seems frustration got the better of Tatsuya as well, for him to lose his cool and respond to the quip with a direct response. There was none of his usual sarcastic snide and ironic humor.
"Yuuka-san's test didn't seem to produce any problematic aftereffects, though." "Still, we are dealing here with a new kind of implementation of Chain Casting. As you know, it does not replicate the same sequence every time. Every new copy has a slight difference. And although no new process or anything is being added down the line, this is not the same as with [Tumaan Bomba] or [Glacial Age], which are large-scale attacks, where you can just cast it and watch it work. We cannot ignore the possibilities of any unforeseen changes in [Hypnos Chain] that may potentially result in adverse side-effects."
Thus the dilemma, they cannot say the crowd sleep-inducing magic is completed without testing its efficacy. But it would be hard to test considering they don't know if there will be any complications.
Until they could think of something, or an opportune situation fell to their laps, they would be running in circles with no way out.
"I'll brew you another cup of tea, Tatsuya-sama. Or perhaps do you prefer something else to drink?" The teacup was still half-full of herbal tea, Miyuki nevertheless picked the opportunity to clear the heavy atmosphere, and even there in an added suggestion.
"No need. Same thing is fine." Tatsuya's mood seemed unchanged. He slid over the cup with now cold contents closer to Miyuki.
"As you wish," Miyuki says, grabbing both of their teacups and disappearing into the kitchen.
Tatsuya was left alone in the living room. Before the silence could fully set in, a notification of a new message rang.
Tatsuya's expression darkened as he looked at the terminal in his hand.
An urgent message was displayed from Kazama of the Independent Magic Regiment. The once comrades-in-arms parted ways three years ago and grew distant. Recent developments, such as Kazama joining the faction of Major General Akiyama of the Joint General Staff, and an establishment of a trade relationship between Tatsuya and the latter, has seen the former friends re-establishing a cooperative relationship to a certain extent.
Kazama is no longer his commanding officer, so, unlike then, he is in no position to give orders to Tatsuya. However, in the event of a serious national security concern, he would reach out to Tatsuya and ask Tatsuya for his cooperation. Which then was Tatsuya's choice to accept or not.
Tatsuya immediately opened the email. Attached with a short text was a low-resolution image. Likely taken by a reconnaissance satellite, which was clearly being jammed at the time of the photo.
Unconsciously, the corners of Tatsuya's mouth rose slightly.
"Tatsuya-sama, is everything alright?" the curious voice came from Miyuki. She, who was bringing a pot of freshly brewed herbal tea, found it strange to return to a somewhat humorous Tatsuya.
"Miyuki, take a look at this."
Tatsuya fiddled with the terminal in his hand and put Kazama's email and image on the large wall-mounted display.
"Are this... Signs of a NSU mobilization of a large number of troops in Sakhalin?"
"While there are no large vessels there, as far as we know, the General Staff believes it may be possible, with those numbers, that there will be a landing operation on Hokkaido. "
"Tatsuya-sama, it seems to me that this is not the first time that Hokkaido has been targeted by the New Soviet Union." "It'd be one thing if it was a major offensive, with things like large surface vessels and airborne troopers, then we'd have the time to prepare a robust military capability in the area. But if they plan to troy horse, a large contingent of troops hidden in disguised civilian vessels for a landing operation, that would be complicated. The NDF needs to maintain a level of readiness both in the north and in the west. Sending troops from there would weaken those fronts."
"That's why Colonel Kazama contacted you? Because he wants your assistance, since you have already successfully repelled a similar invasion remotely with magic?"
Tatsuya gave Miyuki a wicked smile, "Colonel Kazama probably has that scenario you mentioned in mind. But I think we can do something different this time."
"You mean to say that you are going to sit on the sidelines until you receive an official request from the NDF?" surprised and confused, Miyuki asked.
Tatsuya shook his head. Smile still in his face.
Then he finally tells her the reason for his amusement, "No, no. I'll simply have the NSU troops gathering in Sakhalin to help us test our new magic."
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