Chapter 74: Ruins Exploration Day Two

“Well, it’s quite unusual for that much magic power to be required for activation…”

“Is that so?”

Eto, having heard from Isamu about magic tools found in the restricted area, shared his impressions.

“Yeah. However, before I met you, I didn’t know how much magic power was needed as a numerical value. Whether it’s a small magic stone, medium magic stone, or large magic stone… that’s about it. I’ve heard that the activation array of magic tools used to reinforce the walls of the royal castle requires a large magic stone, though I’ve never seen one. Is it something on that scale…?”

While crossing his arms, Eto tilted his head slightly.

“But 30 times the output of a small magic stone is quite large. I brought along some medium magic stones just in case, but I definitely didn’t bring any large magic stones.”

Still crossing his arms, Eto glanced at Isamu.

“Do you remember what you said when you started researching the activation array? When I found the GOTO statement.”

“GOTO?… Oh! Is it that thing!! The one that caused a big commotion!”

Eto, who had been thinking with a sideways look in response to Isamu question, suddenly remembered and slapped his knee.

“What was it… I think it was something like being able to use even small magic stones if the output is low…?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s it! After that, I didn’t do any research on the activation array, but if that idea is correct, we might be able to get by with just small magic stones, even though the board may need to be larger.”

Isamu nodded several times in response to Eto’s answer.

What Isamu had been thinking when he found the GOTO statement was a mechanism for temporarily storing magic power as a “magic power variable” and using the GOTO statement, which allows skipping the flow of processing to any location within the magic array, and the IF statement, which can branch the process based on a numerical comparison. It was a mechanism to temporarily charge high-output magic power like a capacitor.

In their research, Isamu and the others discovered that magic stones have two aspects of magic power: the strength of the output, which is the magic power that can be extracted at once, and the total amount of magic power that can be extracted in total. While it generally scales with the size of the magic stone and is not often a concern, it becomes crucial in cases like this.

“First, let’s grasp the output and total amount of small magic stones and confirm how much magic power can be stored in the magic power variable.”

While writing down what they were going to do on a piece of paper, Isamu began to explain.

The principle is simple, like drawing water from several small buckets with a ladle and pouring it into another large bucket. In this case, the multiple small buckets are the magic stones, the ladle is the magic power output, and the large bucket is the magic power variable. Isamu explained that once magic power is extracted from the magic stone’s output, it is stored in the magic power variable. If the required amount of magic power hasn’t been reached, magic power is extracted again. It’s a repeating process.

The challenge lies in how much magic power can be stored in the magic power variable. If it can store up to the required amount of magic power for activation, that’s good. However, if it doesn’t, a combination of multiple variables is needed. If 100 liters of water are needed, but the bucket’s capacity is 50 liters, two buckets are necessary.

“Infinite storage of magic power is impossible, don’t you think? If it were possible, the significance of large magic stones would be diminished…”

“Well, yeah. If it’s convenient to use with no risk, people would be using it a lot more. The issue is, what happens if you exceed the capacity limit?”

Isamu furrowed his brow as he spoke.

“What do you mean?”

“For example, if you keep pouring water into a bucket, what happens when it reaches the limit?”

“It’ll overflow… I see. That makes sense. If it’s water, you can wipe it up, and if you know it’ll overflow, you can do it outside.”

“Yes. This time, we don’t know what happens if the magic stone overflows… Will it explode?”

Isamu asked with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing… Anyway, we won’t know unless we try, right? All we can do is try. At most, when you activate it, make sure to step back as far as possible.”

Eto laughed and slapped Isamu on the back.

And so, the experiment began. Without putting in a large amount of magic power at once, they extracted a small amount at a time, stored it in the magic power variable, and gradually increased the threshold for stopping the inflow. By the time the day changed, they finally determined the limit of how much could be stored in the variable.

“Phew, I’m glad it didn’t explode…”

Isamu sighed as he flopped onto the floor with a wry smile.

“This kind of tension is rare.”

Eto, who sat on the floor as well, lightly bumped fists with Isamu.

While there was no explosion, as soon as they exceeded the limit, the entire magic array emitted a strong light. Upon inspection, the entire magic circuit had changed color, and it was in a state where magic power would no longer flow.

It was concluded that the magic array was in a state similar to a short circuit due to the overflowing magic power. The amount that could be stored in the magic power variable was 7FF in hexadecimal, or about 2,000 in decimal.

As the magic tool in the ruins needed slightly over 12,000 in decimal for activation, seven magic power variables would be needed.

Next, they measured how much total magic power one small magic stone had. Although there were individual differences, it was revealed to be around 5,000 to 5,500 in decimal when extracted with the maximum output. Isamu thought that this would be different from when extracted with a smaller output.

With simple calculations, it seemed that three small magic stones would be enough. However, they didn’t have time to experiment with extracting magic power from multiple stones skillfully. Therefore, to increase certainty, they decided to discard any remaining magic power, cut it off at one small magic stone, and use a total of four small magic stones.

Now, all that was left was to transfer the magic power stored in each variable to the activation array of the ruins. It should activate if done properly. By the way, magic array processing is usually sequential, meaning it proceeds to the next process only after the previous one has finished. However, the magic power extraction and release processes allow for exceptional parallel processing. Thanks to this, even in a case like this, it is possible to release magic power from multiple variables simultaneously.

Thus, they developed the activation magic array for the entire night until dawn and created five magic arrays, including spares. The final magic power transfer part was left blank because it required on-site adjustment with the activation array.

When Isamu and Eto, who appeared at the meeting place for the second day with bright expressions despite staying up all night, were seen by the other members, everyone smiled wryly.

“It looks like it went well, huh?”

Nicolette, who was replacing Selfers for the second day of ruins exploration, spoke with a wry smile.

“Yes, we’ve done everything we can at this point!”

“Exactly. Truly amazing, Isamu-san. Well then, let’s go right away. Isamu-san and Eto, you can sleep a bit in the carriage on the way.”

“Yes, we’ll do that.”

The exploration team, which had slightly changed its accompanying knights, proceeded with the exploration of the ruins on the second day from early morning.

As yesterday, it took a little over an hour to reach the restricted area. During that time, Isamu and Eto slept as if dead. Orihime, in a protective manner, had been sitting on Isamu’s knees, watching over him.

En route to the site, knowing there was nothing new to see, they continued forward, dealing with sporadically attacking monsters. When they arrived at the site in about half the time compared to yesterday, they removed the camouflaged rocks.

“After that, there’s no sign that someone else investigated this, right?”

Vice-commander Felix checked while moving the rocks.

“I see, so you were creating a magic circle to open this.”

Nicolette, who wasn’t there yesterday, says with interest as she looks at the slits and hollows on the side.

“Yes. Well, supplying magic power doesn’t necessarily mean it will open smoothly.”

As Isamu responds, he opens the lid of the hollow once again.

“I see, so this is the magic array for that magic tool. Isamu, where’s the activation array?”

“Oh, it’s around the upper-left here. See, the circuit board is slightly different, right?”

“Oh, I see… now that you mention it, it is. You noticed it well.”

“I noticed because I could read just this part beforehand…”

While having such a conversation, Isamu and Eto began working on creating the connection between the brought magic array and the activation array inside the recess.

They treated the part that normally extracts magic power from the magic stone as a comment, rendering it non-functional, and connected the magic power supply part of the created magic array to the same section. Theoretically, this should make it work. If it didn’t, they had prepared a method to rewrite only that part and recreate the activation array, replacing it entirely.

“Alright, it should be connected now.”

Eto efficiently connected the circuit board of the magic array he brought with the activation array inside the recess using magic ink.

“Yeah, it looks okay. Now, attach the magic stone for the overall activation to the lid, and…”

It seemed that activation was done on the lid side, and a magic stone serving as a switch was also inserted into the lid.

When the lid was closed, a protrusion on the back of the lid would be connected to a part of the activation array, so the added magic array was fixed in a position that wouldn’t interfere.

“Okay, the lid closed without any problems!”

When the lid was closed with a snap, it fit neatly without floating or leaving any gaps.

Once the members sensed that everything was ready, everyone stared at Isamu in silence.

“Wait, w-why are you all looking at me like that!!”

Isamu panicked at being stared at so intently.

“Well, you see…”

“If this works, it will be the first time someone has activated a non-functional magic tool in the ruins. Literally a historical moment! When you think about it that way, it’s tense, and I’m impressed by Isamu-san’s greatness again…”

Mother and daughter said with stiff smiles. The other members nodded solemnly.

“You’re exaggerating things! Even if it works, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will open… Well, there’s no point in just watching like this, so I’ll activate it, okay?”

With a deliberately cheerful tone, Isamu, finally touching the magic stone inserted into the lid, made it emit a faint light, just like the other magic tools. The activation itself was proof that it was possible. Hidden behind the lid, it was supposed to store the extracted magic power in the magic power variables.

A moment of silence. And then…

A faint sound, like a “fon,” was heard. The slits glowed faint blue, then flashed red, and eventually the light disappeared. A dial-like thing appeared on the lid where the magic stone was inserted.

“””!!!!”””

Everyone was surprised by the clear and unexpected movement, holding their breath.

“D-did it activate!?”

Eto said with excitement.

“Y-yes. It seems the activation was successful. However, it doesn’t seem to open just like that…”

As Isamu answered, he checked the dial on the lid.

(No matter how you look at it, this is like a numeric keypad to unlock something… It’s not ten digits, so I don’t know if it’s numbers or what… And this one at the bottom left is the confirmation button, and the number of digits to input is four…)

It resembled the built-in lock release mechanism seen in modern apartments or office buildings, where you swipe a card to open the door.

“Perhaps this mechanism opens when you enter a set of four predetermined values. And if you enter the wrong values a few times, it probably won’t open.”

“Huh!? How do you know something like that?”

Anne-Marie asked in surprise.

“Oh, in the original world, facilities similar to this were widespread. To prevent outsiders from entering. It looks similar to that, so people in the past probably thought the same…”

“I see… In that case, the question is, what are those values?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t know. Even if it’s numbers, there are 10,000 possibilities, and it doesn’t look like just 10, so it’s probably more. So, you should assume you have about three chances.”

Isamu said with a wry smile. Assuming a 4-digit number and three chances, the probability is 1 in 3,333. A considerably desperate number.

“Hmm?”

While lightly escaping into thoughts about whether wordplay like that exists in this world, Isamu, who was looking at the panel, noticed something.

“What’s the matter?”

“No, doesn’t this part look strangely dirty?”

What Isamu pointed to was the top-right corner of the panel where symbols were lined up.

“Indeed, the color is a bit different only here…”

Isamu pointed it out, and Anne-Marie examined and replied.

“No way!!! Well, but it’s possible…”

Having realized something, Isamu exclaimed.

“Wait, can I try it once? If it goes well, this should open.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Anne-Marie asked in confusion.

“It’s what you might call a ‘cliché.'”

Saying that, Isamu pressed the value in the top-right four times and pressed something like the confirmation button.

Again, a faint sound like “fon” was heard, and the slits glowed blue. The inner wall of the slits was pushed a little deeper, slid quietly to the left, and the entrance opened wide.

“…………”

Everyone, except Isamu, stared wide-eyed at the sight.

“Haha, I knew it! Even in different worlds and times, laziness is the same…”

Seeing the door open as planned, Isamu said with a cheerful expression.

“No, not ‘haha,’ but why do you know this!?”

Nicolette, the first to recover, made a retort.

“In this type of numeric mechanism, there’s usually an initial value at the beginning, and the person in charge changes it for use. Well, that initial value is often something easy to understand, like 0000 or 1111. Since they’re going to change it anyway, it’s better if it’s easy to remember. However, many people are lazy. Even though they often have to set values for each door, if there are dozens of them, you can’t remember them all, right? So, in many cases, they just use the initial value as it is. In that case, only that place gets pressed, and it keeps getting dirty.”

This situation often occurs even in older types of auto locks, among others.

“Ah, I see… When you explain it like that, I understand, but without knowing a similar mechanism, one wouldn’t even think of it. Anyway, Isamu-san is truly something…”

To Nicolette, who was impressed, all the members nodded again.

While they were talking, the sound “fon” was heard again, and the door closed quietly. Returning precisely to its original position, the slits blinked red and turned off.

“I-it closed…”

Anne-Marie stared at the slits in amazement.

“Oh, if you enter the numbers again, it should open, so it should be okay. So, what do you think? Are we going to examine the inside for sure, and everyone will go? Should we leave some guards outside, rotating every certain period? This door probably opens from the inside as well, but there’s still a non-zero chance of being trapped…”

Doors like this are usually easily opened from the inside, but there are exceptions to everything. It wouldn’t be a joke if everyone joyfully entered and got trapped.

“Y-yes, that makes sense… Isamu-san and Eto will go in, and the rest of us will take turns at regular intervals. One knight must always stay outside. Is that alright?”

“”””Ha!””””

And so, the group finally set out to explore beyond the door.

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