Chapter 107: The Second Armor

Normal armor blocks attacks from the outside based on factors like hardness and thickness, but Reactive Armor attempts to prevent this by dynamically reacting to attacks in some way.

The most famous example is explosive reactive armor installed on tanks. This armor, attached as additional armor to the surface of tank armor, contains explosives inside, which explode in response to gunfire, diverting the power of the projectile to hinder penetration.

While the theory is understandable, it's quite a crazy idea to essentially stick bombs onto your own armor.

It seems that the realization of such a sensation was indeed difficult. Even after practical implementation, there were many challenges, such as fragments scattering and causing casualties to accompanying infantry, and in recent years, it is said to be used less frequently.

The armor currently in Isamu’s hands is attempting to realize a similar concept to such an extraordinary weapon.

"Um, first of all, are you distinguishing between physical attacks and magic attacks? And if it's a magic attack, then next is identifying the elemental attribute...Wow, there are 8 types of magic attributes... Wait, does the magic barrier spell 'Magic Barrier' not work? Well, I guess not everything can be handled by magic circles."

With a rough understanding of the concept, Isamu’s deciphering speed increased. Whether in programming or anything else, knowing the purpose and aim greatly affects efficiency and accuracy in work.

The countless conditional statements that seemed like an endless maze also became clearer as the desired goal became apparent.

From there, Isamu continued deciphering while noting what kind of attacks or magic were being anticipated and how they were trying to defend against them.

Although the deciphering speed increased with understanding the purpose, there was no difference in the need to crush each one individually.

For three days, while replenishing his spirit with Orihime lounging under the kotatsu, Isamu continued his work silently. Finally, the deciphering of the first magic circle was completed.

"Ah~~~ it's done! I'm sleepy, hungry, exhausted... The person who made this must be completely nuts..."

Isamu muttered to himself while vigorously scratching his tousled head. It was still morning, but the sun was already quite high.

There was no particular deadline, and warm food would be served at the main mansion of the viscount's house during meal times, so Isamu’s sleepiness and hunger were entirely his own fault for overexertion.

Annemarie had come to check on him on the first day, but knowing it was futile to disturb Isamu while he was concentrating, she had simply left a light meal on the table.

It was worth it. Isamu had almost fully grasped the entire content of the first magic armor.

However, whether the information obtained was worth the effort was somewhat dubious...

"Oh, it seems like you've finally finished deciphering?"

As Isamu nibbled on the toast Annemarie had left behind, Eto entered the laboratory.

Since Isamu had become completely engrossed in deciphering, for the past three days, Eto had spent his time making improved wheels for the carriage with Willem and producing inventory for the border guards' use with the Ferris series.

"Ah, Eto-san, good morning. Somehow, I managed to decipher it all."

"This time, it was quite a long haul."

"Well, this time was quite a tough opponent. But thanks to that, I learned a lot."

With a hollow laugh, Isamu continued.

"Oh, considering you managed to decipher it, the reaction seems rather lacking?"

"Ah~ yeah, you're right. There were plenty of usable things, of course, but it seems that this armor is still incomplete. Well, to be more accurate, it's probably in the middle of prototyping."

"A prototype?"

Eto echoed unexpectedly from Isamu’s words.

"Yeah. From the start, it didn't seem disposable like a lightning ball, so I should have suspected that line once I deciphered it. Well, there are definitely some things that aren't finished."

Isamu continued as he tapped the armor on the desk.

"I think this armor is a prototype aiming to neutralize the opponent's attacks. The research itself was probably progressing reasonably well; even in its current state, it seems to be able to neutralize fire and lightning magic to some extent. It also seems like it's partially working for wind magic. I haven't tested it yet, so I'm not sure how much it can block."

"Neutralize magic?"

Eto's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes. I heard a bit about it when I first learned magic, but apparently, there are advantageous and disadvantageous attributes to magic. As the name suggests, it's like compatibility between magic attributes. For example, fire magic is a strong advantageous attribute against ice magic, but it's a weak disadvantageous attribute against water magic. Just hitting it with advantageous attribute magic doesn't completely block it, but it's definitely more efficient at reducing power compared to other attributes. This magic armor uses those advantageous attributes to deploy highly defensive magic on the surface of the armor and nullify the power of magic. And not just for specific attributes; it's an insane attempt to make this armor handle all magic with just one piece."

Isamu explained the concept of the armor to Eto with a distant look.

"My, that's... Quite a remarkable idea."

Eto's eyes widened even further upon hearing the explanation.

"Indeed, there's a fine line between genius and madness. Well, the idea is too grand, and the magic circles have become quite ridiculous."

“That level of detail certainly feels insane.”

"I agree. They seem to have started from areas where they could make it work, but there are just notes written casually where they couldn't handle it. Since they're just notes, I don't understand their meaning with my skill, but there must be some insane comments written there. It might be a good thing that I couldn't read them... They've already identified possible patterns, so there are countless patterns, and that was the biggest obstacle to deciphering."

Isamu, who had explained up to that point, let out a short sigh and leaned back heavily in his chair.

"But there are still significant gains. First, I can now identify what kind of attributes and what kind of magic power is involved. Not only can it be used for armor or defensive walls, but since the power is determined by the amount of magic, it might be applicable to automatically controlling the magic power of various magic devices. And we can now obtain information about temperature and the strength of electricity. Magic power alone probably wasn't enough to gauge the power of magic, so it was used as an auxiliary parameter. For us, this seems more useful."

"Both are incredible discoveries... Combining it with the magic circle for adjusting magic power we found earlier, we can do various things. Look, we talked about adjusting the temperature of the refrigerator using the heat-retaining stones, but now we can do it right away."

There was a history of trying to improve the refrigerator with heat-retaining stones, but it was abandoned because it was trying to make a longer working time with the same size. Now that we can obtain temperature data, it should be easy to do.

"And about this magic circle that incorporates the external situation around here, it seems that it's no good unless it's all non-attribute magic stones."

"What did you say!?"

Isamu makes the most bombshell statement of the day.

"If that's true, the value of non-attribute magic stones will rise again... Even though we haven't announced that we can adjust magic power yet, we're already onto the next discovery."

Until half a year ago, no, since it hasn't been announced yet, non-attribute magic stones were still considered useless to most people. However, to those who know the situation, they are now like gems. Eto sighed deeply at the profoundness of the situation.

"Are you planning to make something?"

"Yes. Originally, this was intended for armor, so it's quite unreasonable. The area to draw magic circles is too small compared to the surface area. So, I'm thinking of making a shield instead. Shields have a simple shape and a large surface area, so I think they'll be much easier to make. Plus, you can switch them out quickly, so even if it doesn't cover all attributes, it should still be manageable."

"I see! A shield. That sounds good indeed. Perhaps, in the past, they were already using shields, so they might have been trying to make armor types to counter them."

"Yeah, that might be the case. It definitely feels like it's meant for military use, so maybe they chose armor because the opponent had shields, or something like that."

Feeling a sort of determination or obsession from the magic circle, Isamu laughed as he spoke.

Isamu reported to the lord and lady along with a summary of the deciphered magic circle for the armor, proposing to develop a shield that could neutralize several magic attacks.

And as usual, the decree of secrecy was issued, adding a touch of elegance.

Later, Isamu began deciphering the magic circle for the other armor.

He knew that the contents would be different from the first copy, but he didn't know how different.

However, based on the concept and completeness of the first armor, he could make some guesses about what it might be.

As expected, it turned out to be a prototype of Reactive Armor designed to counter physical attacks.

"I thought so... Since they easily dismissed physical attacks in the initial evaluation. Well, it's probably more constructive to separate them and then think about how to combine them later."

Muttering such things, Isamu continued deciphering.

Since he understood the concept from the beginning and perhaps because the same author had made both magic circles, the pace of deciphering was faster compared to the first armor.

Also, it seemed that the prototype for countering physical attacks wasn't as advanced as expected, as Isamu finished deciphering it in just one day.

At dinner, the lord's family was surprised to see Isamu appear casually.

"Isamu-san, are you done deciphering already? I heard you started deciphering the second armor today."

"Yes, I started deciphering this morning, but I got used to it, and the content was thinner than I expected, so I managed to finish it in a day. Oh, this sautéed papillon (fake bell pepper) and boar meat are delicious."

"Isamu-sama, if the content was thin, does that mean there were no useful magic circles?"

Julius, the eldest son of the viscount's family, who turned 11 last month, asked eagerly.

"Mm, well, there were some. There was a magic circle that disperses the power of impact attacks, which seemed to be at a practical level. It seems difficult to completely neutralize them, so they went for dispersing the power instead."

Isamu said casually, causing everyone except Isamu to freeze.

"Eh!? Isamu-sama, isn't that amazing? If we incorporate that magic circle into ordinary armor or defensive walls, wouldn't it become incredible armor...?"

Julius asked Isamu, his eyes wide with excitement.

"Mm, indeed. If we incorporate it into armor or defensive walls, it would be a pure enhancement... Ah, if we could incorporate it into something like a cloak, it would be quite useful, wouldn't it?"

Having realized its usefulness thanks to Julius's suggestion, Isamu stopped eating and began to ponder.

"...Isamu-san, while it's fine to do as you please with that magic circle that disperses the power of impact attacks until it's prototyped, remember not to speak of it to others."

Nicolette promptly interjected.

"Yes, I understand. Ah, but with this, the defense issue we've been concerned about has improved somewhat. In that case..."

(Is it about time...?)

"Eh? Did you say something, Isamu-san?"

Annemarie reacted to Isamu’s words, which seemed like muttering to himself.

"Oh, no, it's nothing. I just want to make something that can be useful for the knights and soldiers of the viscount's domain. After the magic sword, it's time for magic armor, isn't it?"

"Magic armor!? Even just a magic sword is amazing, but to have magic armor as well... Isamu-sama, could you make one for me too?"

Julius, who has been diligently practicing swordsmanship day and night to obtain his own magic sword for the past few months, asked Isamu with shining eyes.

"Haha, Julius-kun, you're interested in magic armor too? Sure, I'll make you a magic armor if Selfers-san says it's okay.”

"Really!? Thank you!! Father you heard that, right!?"

Looking at Julius eagerly talking to Selfars about it, Isamu narrowed his eyes.

"Nyaaa!"

Orihime, curled up on Isamu’s lap, opened one eye slightly and made a short meow, looking somewhat unimpressed.

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