"Well, based on the current method, it’s essentially nothing more than a turret."
Back in the laboratory’s conference room, Jin reset the focus of the discussion.
"So it’s just a 'turret' because you’re simply deciding on a direction and firing it? I suppose you're right," Toa remarked, sounding strangely impressed by the analogy.
"But you can't use that to make humans fly, right?" Saki asked. "Jin, we confirmed this before—Craft Magic can't be applied to living organisms, isn't that right?"
While physical phenomena triggered by magic can affect people, applying the magic itself directly to a human body was nearly impossible. Healing magic was the only real exception.
"We figured it was because the mana circulating through the body acts as a barrier, right?"
"That's right. I'm interested in that too, but let's save it for another time."
If they let the conversation branch out too far, they would never reach a conclusion.
"Heh, shame though."
"For now, let's put the human element aside. We’ve established that this force can be applied to golems. I want to take that one step further."
Jin finally began to touch upon the core of his research.
"Could a golem make itself fly? Or rather... can it apply force to its own body?"
"Is that your ultimate goal, Jin?" Reinhard asked.
Jin nodded. "Exactly. If we can achieve this, the world will change."
Elsa was the first to grasp the implications.
"Propulsion for airplanes..."
"That's it, Elsa. And it can be applied to other things, too. Like spaceships."
The satellite launched via Gravity Magic had been a failure. Before trying again, Jin wanted to develop a new method of propulsion.
"If we can put this to practical use, humans might eventually be able to fly through the sky on their own."
"Jin-kun, are you talking about moving your own body with psychokinesis? I don’t think anyone in history has ever managed that," Stearena said.
Jin had to agree with her.
"Probably not. But it’s a dream worth considering."
No one disputed that. Flight was a dream humanity had chased for ages.
"Let's start with golems rather than people," Jin said, suggesting they take it one step at a time.
"But even for a golem to fly itself... I wonder if that's possible?" Stearena tilted her head. Essentially, the problem was that one cannot lift their own body.
"I think it is. I believe we simply had the wrong setting for what you might call the 'origin' of the magic," Elsa answered. This was the primary revelation she’d had while in the bath. "I think everyone who tried to move themselves placed the origin 'inside' their own bodies without exception."
"Hmm... how do you mean?"
Since Stearena didn't quite seem to follow, Jin stepped in to explain.
"You can't lift yourself up because the force point, the fulcrum, and the point of action are all inside your body. But magic is different. You can consciously place the origin outside your body."
Archimedes is famously said to have claimed, "Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the Earth."
"Ah!"
"Of course!"
Stearena and Reinhard spoke almost simultaneously. They could finally visualize the results of placing the origin of force outside the body.
"But for such a thing to be... No, if it's Jin, he might actually pull it off."
"Yeah."
Jin gave a sober nod.
"Magi who can analyze magi-formulas are rare, so maybe nobody has ever thought of it until now."
"T-That's true! And then there's your attempt to fuse science and magic!"
"Regardless of whether there’s a precedent," Jin prefaced, "it’s worth a shot, right?"
He then began preparing for a demonstration.
Though it was getting quite late, no one suggested ending the session. They were all too captivated by the experiment Jin was about to conduct.
"Let's see... this goes here..."
He took the magi-formula that generated the force for firing a Stone Bullet and engraved it onto a small magi-crystal.
If he launched it as was, the crystal would tumble and lose its direction, so he decided to attach it to a simple model airplane. It was a hand-launch glider—the kind normally thrown by hand to glide. Jin had made countless planes for the kids back at the facility, so he was an expert at this.
"There. That should do it."
The group stepped back outside the laboratory. Since it was too dark with only the light from the windows, they used Light Ball spells for illumination.
"Alright, here goes. 'Wake up.'"
When Jin spoke the keyword, the airplane in his hand—or rather, the magi-crystal attached to it—began generating propulsion.
"Launch!"
With that, he released the model. The plane dipped for a fraction of a second, but as it picked up speed, the nose lifted. It began to climb, eventually vanishing into the darkness.
"It worked..." Jin murmured as he stared into the night. His words acted as a signal for the others to burst into praise.
"You did it, Jin!"
"Congratulations, Jin-nii."
"Jin-kun, that's amazing!"
"Jin-kun, this is a monumental discovery!"
"Thanks, everyone."
While it could currently only move in a straight line and lacked speed control, it was functional as propulsion for an aircraft. They had cleared the highest hurdle.
With it now being the middle of the night, the second Recoil Cancellation Magic Study Group was finally adjourned.
Once Reinhard and the others had departed, only Jin and Elsa remained in the Mansion. Hanna was there as well, but she was sound asleep after a long day of playing.
It was one in the morning. The moon had passed its peak and was tilting toward the west. The autumn moon hung high, bathing the ground in light from nearly directly overhead.
In the silence surrounding the Mansion, the autumn insects had resumed their chorus.
"...It’s so quiet."
"...Mm."
Though the hour was late, their minds were still buzzing from the discussion and wouldn't allow for sleep. Jin and Elsa sat on the veranda, listening to the insects.
The island’s nighttime chorus consisted of sounds resembling bell crickets, common crickets, and tree crickets. There were several other varieties as well, though Jin didn't know their names.
"Elsa, thank you."
"...?"
Elsa tilted her head at Jin's quiet words of gratitude.
"Thanks to your hint, I think I’m finally going to solve the problem that’s been weighing on me for so long."
"...Mm. If I was able to help you, Jin-nii, then I’m happy."
"You were a huge help. There’s still a lot of work to do, but I think the rest will work out fine."
"...I’m looking forward to it."
"Yeah. Just you wait and see what I come up with."
Jin followed this with a wide yawn.
"...Whew. I think I’m finally getting tired."
"Me too."
Elsa yawned as well.
"Time to head to bed."
"Good night."
The lights in the Mansion went out, leaving the moon as the only light shining from the sky.