Chapter 106: Concept of Armor-Type Magic Equipment

Isamu and the others, who spent three days making three types of prototype tires, were preparing for comparative tests with the cart.

As before, Mizeroi, the veteran knight and exclusive guard, pulled the cart, with the female knight Tiramisu standing by as support. Riding in the cart were Isamu, Eto, and occasionally Orihime.

By the way, during these three days, since Isamu and the others ended up cooped up in the laboratory again, Orihime had been happily enjoying hunting in the nearby forest with some volunteer knights.

“Now, let’s start with the softer one first.”

After conducting a test run with the intermediate type installed last time, they decided to try the monster tire made softer than before.

This tire was designed with an additional layer of rope tentacles on the outside, reducing the amount of fungus packed into the rope tentacles but compensating by adding another layer of rope tentacles.

“Here we go!”

After confirming that Isamu and the others were on the platform, Mizeroi began pulling the cart.

“Hmm. It feels like the starting weight has increased another notch.”

Upon Mizeroi’s words, Isamu checked the condition of the tire.

By reducing the bouncy fungus and increasing the viscosity of the softer tentacles, the collapse of the tire section has increased significantly.

The collapse indicates the application of force, and it’s likely that the increase in contact area with the ground due to collapse and the increased resistance to the ground with viscous tentacles have occurred.

In any case, as a result, the resistance for pulling has increased another notch.

“Now let’s increase the speed.”

Mizeroi gradually increased the speed. At the same time, the vibration transmitted to the platform increased.

“The pulling sensation after starting to run still feels a bit heavy.”

“The vibration has decreased even further. I wonder if the slight jitteriness has reduced?”

“That’s right. It’s still bouncy, but the sharp feeling has decreased.”

Perhaps the softening has led to the absorption of small irregularities on the road surface.

Since the size of the irregularities that can be absorbed is not very large, it’s doubtful whether it will be effective on large cobblestones.

Returning to the Viscount’s mansion’s carriage stop, they checked the tire’s condition as they did the other day.

“Even though it’s soft, it doesn’t seem to have been damaged much from this movement.”

“Hmm. There are quite a few sharp stones, so I wonder what would happen if we ran long distances in this state.”

“Yes, indeed. If it gets stuck further and suddenly tears like a wedge being driven in, it would be scary.”

“…You occasionally say unpleasant things like that. Well, even if it tears, it’ll mostly just revert to the current wooden wheels, right? We’ll just stop and fix it or remove the other side to match the height.”

To Isamu’s worst-case scenario, Eto responded with a grim expression.

“Now, shall we try the harder one next?”

“Yes. Let’s see what difference it makes… Mizeroi, are you okay?”

“Yes, there’s no problem at all. Thank you for your concern.”

Since Mizeroi’s physical strength seemed sufficient, they immediately changed the wheels and tried a test run.

The next one they wore was the same as the intermediate type in terms of tentacle specifications, but the outer layer was covered with a one-step harder rockworm skin.

During processing, it was noticed that the rockworm skin had a double structure, with a harder outer layer and a softer, more elastic layer underneath.

The softer part is probably like a muscle used for locomotion, and the harder part is probably the skin.

Both sides were shaved around the boundary to adjust the thickness since they were too thick to be tires as they were.

When this material was chosen, only the harder outer layer was noticed, so in the current situation considering the inner layer, calling it “the harder one” might be contradictory.

“Here we go!”

Mizeroi put in more effort and started pulling the cart.

“Oh? This is the lightest one so far. It might not be much different from just wood.”

The harder layer seemed to have a higher elasticity compared to the previous materials, which might be influencing this.

“It doesn’t feel heavier even when I increase the speed. It bounces a bit more compared to earlier, but it doesn’t feel as hard as when it was just wood.”

While saying that, Mizeroi gradually increased the speed.

“Wow!? It feels bouncier than the softest one, but isn’t it better than the intermediate one?”

“Yeah, it bounces, but it’s not a harsh feeling. It’s strange.”

Perhaps the double structure played a role, as the two were surprised by the less stiff ride than expected.

Thus, the test runs and test rides for the four types of wheels, including the original wooden ones, came to an end.

“How was it, Eto-san?”

“Well… I think the one with the rockworm skin at the end is the best.”

Isamu thought about it for a bit, but then Eto said it flatly.

“Do you agree with that, Eto-san?”

“Yeah. It has a good balance, and the apparent flaws seem to be absent. It’s not the final form, but it’s good to improve based on this one.”

“That’s right. Since we’ve raised the overall level for now, shall we see how it goes with this? Fortunately, neither the rockworm skin nor the other materials seem to rot even without special processing.”

“It’s also good that we can secure a large quantity of rockworms, which seem likely to become consumables.”

The two were satisfied with the considerable results achieved using only gathered materials.

With the end of the wheel experiment, it was decided that the wheels of both the Viscount’s carriage and the Orihime Trading Company’s carriage would be replaced one after another.

And from this day on, the adventurers’ guild in Klaufendam would regularly receive requests for rockworm materials to prepare for winter.

From the day after the end of the carriage wheel festival, work on copying the magic circle of Armor-Type Magic Equipment 2 resumed.

By the time the work was completed, which took two days just like the first one, November had arrived, and the season was steadily heading towards winter, becoming colder day by day.

“Nyaaaaa…”

From under Isamu’s feet, Orihime’s voice could be heard as he progressed with deciphering the replicated magic circles. It was an unusually languid meow, almost as if she had a stuffy nose.

“Nafu…”

Furthermore, a sigh-laden meow followed.

“…Hime, I get that it’s cozy, but isn’t this a bit too lethargic?”

Isamu, who had stopped deciphering, glanced at Orihime at his feet with a wry smile.

“Nyaffu.”

Orihime, opening only one eye to glance at Isamu, closed it again.

“Good grief… Maybe I rushed things a bit too much with making the kotatsu…”

Seeing Orihime’s behavior like that, Isamu let out a small sigh.

As for what Orihime was doing at Isamu’s feet, she was nestled up to the small kotatsu that Isamu had made for her in preparation for the coming winter. By activating the enchantment Heat, which was used for the magic stove, with very weak magic power, it provided just the right amount of warmth. It was a prototype Isamu had made, measuring 50 centimeters on each side and about 25 centimeters in height, designed exclusively for Orihime.

The plan was to unveil it when it got a bit colder, but Orihime had somehow learned how to activate the magic device. Using her front paw’s pad, she deftly activated the magic stone for activation and promptly slipped inside.

By the way, the kotatsu futon was a one-of-a-kind creation made by Annemarie, who had learned about the kotatsu a few hours later and promptly sewn together fabric and cotton to make it.

Realizing that it was impossible to pull her out, Isamu resumed deciphering the replicated magic circles.

The magic circles, resembling protectors, were clearly distinct from those seen before. Firstly, there were many types of parameters taken in from external sources. Although many of these parameters were unclear, it seemed that many of them were related to magic.

Furthermore, there were numerous branches in response to these taken parameters.

“It’s like there’s no ‘switch’ statement, just an unbelievable number of ‘if’ statements… The lack of indentation makes it chaotic to determine which level of conditions we’re at…”

Isamu grumbled as he deciphered the magic circles one by one.

Both ‘switch’ and ‘if’ are conditional branching instructions found in various programming languages. The ‘if’ statement is used when you want to execute a process like “if A, then do ○; if B, then do △,” while the ‘switch’ statement can collectively judge multiple conditions at once.

With ‘if,’ if A, then do ○, if not A but B, then do △, and if not B but C, then do □… In contrast, with ‘switch,’ if A, then do ○; if B, then do △; if C, then do □; if D, then do ×, allowing for a more concise and understandable appearance, which is convenient.

In this world of Ethersia, however, it seems that there is no ‘switch’ statement despite the existence of ‘if’ statements.

As mentioned earlier, various external parameters are finely branched, but since all of this is drawn with ‘if’ statements, it’s incredibly confusing.

If this were a program, there would usually be a function to execute one instruction at a time and pause, making it somewhat more manageable. However, there’s no such function in magic circles, so everything has to be simulated in the mind while taking notes. It’s practically a form of training.

While relieving the stress of painstaking deciphering by distracting himself with Orihime’s relaxed face under the kotatsu, Isamu worked for two full days. Finally, he grasped what seemed to be the concept of this armor-type magic device.

“Isn’t this what they call Reactive Armor?? And it seems like they’re trying to accommodate various magic effects with just this… No wonder there are more external parameters and complex conditions… Good grief, there are people in every world who come up with such outrageous ideas.”

Upon discovering such an audacious and grandiose concept, Isamu let out a grand sigh.

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