The Magic Radar
The atmosphere in the room settled for a moment. I had tea prepared for Malton, who had finally taken a proper seat. After taking a sip, he seemed relieved that I hadn’t called him in for nothing. He waited with an expectant look as I opened my mouth to speak.
“It’s about the magic wave transmission you mentioned.”
“Ah, you mean the magic pulse, my lord?”
“Yes. The magic pulse.”
Could magic power be used like radio waves? That was the idea behind the technology I’d created. Techniques that treated magic as a kind of wave already existed, of course, but they were limited to things like telepathy or messaging between people. Engraving that concept into a magic stone was an entirely different matter.
“We’ve succeeded in projecting the magic pulse in a fixed direction, at least.”
Continuously emitting the magic power stored in a magic stone at a regular wavelength. If we researched this properly, we could catch up to modern science’s use of radio waves for things like radios and walkie-talkies.
The problem was that magic and radio waves weren’t the same thing at all. Trying to use them in a similar way was bound to fail. In the end, it was nothing more than recreating modern scientific devices through completely different principles using magic. And since magic’s properties changed depending on the user, any science built on it was inherently unstable.
After all, the cameras, drones, and other gadgets we’d made so far were, strictly speaking, just imitations powered by my own magic.
“However, the magic stones used in that experiment…” Malton began carefully, watching my reaction.
Ah. I knew exactly what he was about to say. So that’s why he dropped to his knees the moment he walked in.
“For this experiment alone, we used more than thirty magic stones… um…”
“Thirty of them?!”
Chloe let out a horrified shriek at Malton’s words. The price of magic stones varied wildly depending on quality and size, but the ones used for experiments had to meet a certain standard. Her reaction was completely understandable.
Malton fidgeted awkwardly, clearly aware of that fact, and glanced nervously between me and Chloe.
“Have you lost your mind?! Do you have any idea how much of the workshop’s budget is already being spent?!”
“B-but it was a necessary experiment! As Lord Leoric always says, failure is the mother of success! Through countless failures, we can prove even more theories!”
“Ugh!”
Failure is the mother of success? When did I ever say that? Still, just as Malton claimed, I had personally given permission for them to run as many experiments as needed, whether they succeeded or failed. The budget they were using had also been approved by my father.
That didn’t mean everyone was happy about it. People like Chloe—and Zeke, for that matter—naturally hated it. As someone in charge of internal affairs, she couldn’t help but feel that way. No matter how much budget you had, it was never enough.
Chloe knew that all too well. She pressed her lips tightly together, her fists trembling. Malton finally noticed and shut his mouth. Though he held the title of head of the research lab, Chloe outranked him in both status and position.
“Alright, calm down. I have no intention of blaming Malton or the other researchers for the failed experiments.”
“R-really, my lord?”
“Tsk.”
I soothed Malton, who let out a sigh of relief, and Chloe, who was still glaring at him. Time to move the conversation forward.
“I’ve been receiving various reports about the incidents occurring in the Great Mountain Range. We’re estimating that the culprit behind these events is at least a medium-sized monster—possibly even a large one.”
“A-a large monster? That’s serious…”
Malton’s dazed response made it look like he was hearing about some distant disaster that had nothing to do with him. Well, that was how most people reacted to news of accidents that didn’t affect them personally.
“Furthermore, we believe its trait is stealth-type.”
“Stealth-type… You mean creatures specialized in hiding?”
Monsters that could conceal not only their appearance but even their magic power and presence. Honestly, the big, bulky ones were easier to deal with. I hadn’t faced them myself, but the records in books described large monsters as uniformly bizarre. Some scattered corrosive powder from their wings that could melt anything, while others fired missile-like projectiles from impossible altitudes to carpet-bomb areas.
The fact that creatures who had lost the survival competition inside the Great Mountain Range were this dangerous was enough to make me realize just how perilous the situation was.
“That’s where I plan to use the magic pulse technology.”
“Pardon? The magic pulse technology?”
At those words, Malton’s eyes changed completely. The hazy, half-asleep look of a neighborhood bum vanished in an instant, replaced by the manic gleam of a mad scientist. Even Chloe flinched and took a small step back in surprise.
“I received the report on the ongoing research. You said you succeeded in re-observing the emitted magic pulses, correct?”
“Yes! Normally, an emitted magic pulse dissipates immediately, but by engraving a magic formula into the magic stone, we can maintain the pulse for a set duration. We’ve even succeeded in measuring the reflected waves that bounce off objects and return instead of vanishing!”
What Malton described matched exactly what I had envisioned. As I’d said before, I wasn’t a science major, so I didn’t understand the detailed theory. All I knew was that radar worked by emitting electromagnetic waves and observing what bounced back to determine an object’s distance and location.
They probably didn’t even use such basic radar systems in this world anymore. Still, the core concept was worth stealing.
“In other words, the reflected magic pulse. Let’s call it the echo wave. If we can collect various data—such as how long it takes for the echo to return or what form it comes back in—what could we learn from that?”
Both Malton and Chloe fell into deep thought at my question. Since I already knew about radar, it was obvious to me, but this world had no concept of using waves for detection like this. Of course, there might be families that had already developed similar techniques.
“If we continuously emit magic pulses at the same speed and observe them…”
“Objects that are closer would reflect the pulse back faster, while distant objects would naturally take longer because of the distance…?”
“Exactly.”
I grinned at their answers. The development of the magic radar had begun.
“Ooh! We must begin experiments immediately! Right now!”
“Hold on. Just calm down for a second.”
I stopped Malton, who had jumped to his feet in excitement. I appreciated his passion for research, but there was no way we could create a functional radar overnight. For starters, how were we supposed to calculate the exact distance based on the return time of the reflected waves? This world had no computers. In the end, people would have to do the calculations manually. That would take time, reduce accuracy, and be prone to human error. Proving the reliability of those formulas would take even longer.
Malton seemed to calm down after hearing my explanation, his expression softening.
“Y-yes, of course. There’s clearly a mountain of work to do. But from the way you’re speaking, it sounds like you want to use the magic pulse method you mentioned earlier…”
“Let’s call it the magic radar.”
“Radar? What a strange word. Hmm. Still, it rolls off the tongue nicely. As expected of Lord Leoric. Your naming sense is truly excellent.”
Yeah, thanks. Sigh. Was this the fate of every person reincarnated in another world? At least there were no copyright laws here. I figured there was no need to feel ashamed about stealing existing technology or names.
“And the important part is what I mentioned earlier about the stealth-type large monster.”
“Hmm, are you thinking of using the magic pulses and their echoes to locate the hidden monster?”
“That’s right. I’m not looking to measure complicated data like its exact position or size right away. The key is simply being able to detect that something exists in that location.”
“I see. Indeed.”
Malton nodded at my words.
“However, our current magic pulse experiments are only being conducted in the outskirts of the city. The Great Mountain Range has always had an extremely high density of magic power. It’s so concentrated that ordinary people would quickly become exhausted and faint. Would we even be able to properly observe magic pulses in a place like that?”
“It’ll definitely be difficult. That’s something we’ll have to keep experimenting with. For now, though, I’ll be using my own magic power.”
If the density of magic was high, I would simply overwhelm it with superior quality. The Great Mountain Range was far too vast for me to wander around measuring everything personally.
“If Lord Leoric takes the field himself, it should be possible. On the other hand, the fact that it’s the Great Mountain Range presents its own problems. With all the obstacles, animals, and monsters present there, will the magic radar be able to produce the results you want?”
“That’s a good point.”
I wasn’t sure if even old-fashioned modern radar would function properly in such an environment. It probably wouldn’t. Although I had come up with the concept of a magic radar, I had no idea whether it would actually yield the desired outcome.
After all, this was a world where individuals could control magic with their own power without relying on tools. If someone in the modern world could freely manipulate radio waves and similar forces, would technology have developed the way it did?
Still, what mattered right now wasn’t whether the radar would work perfectly. The priority was finding that large monster.
“What we’re dealing with is a monster estimated to be large-class.”
A magic pulse emitted across a certain range. Could a creature really show no reaction at all after being stimulated by a pulse powered by my magic?