"The core of it is the ether condenser."
Jin explained the underlying magi-sequence to Elsa.
"...That is an incredible concept."
"Father, what about the ether tanks?" Reiko asked.
"We'll need to prepare those as well."
"In that case, allow me to handle it."
"Alright, I'm counting on you."
Having served as an assistant during Elena's repairs, Reiko had the structure of the tanks perfectly memorized. Jin felt comfortable leaving the task entirely in her hands.
"Make a few extra, just in case."
"Understood."
Jin had several ideas in mind, so he decided to have a surplus of ether tanks ready. It's not like they'll go to waste, anyway.
Jin, Elsa, and Reiko each began their work, with the Smiths assisting them.
"I don't want the device to just pull energy in at random. I want to prioritize areas with high concentrations," Jin explained.
"In that case, should this magi-formula be written like this?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah, exactly. And then this part goes over here..."
"Jin-nii's ideas are as brilliant as always."
Reiko proceeded with her own work while occasionally glancing at the exchange between Jin and Elsa.
"Since Father asked for extras, let's prepare two hundred. Smiths, all twenty-five of you, I'm counting on you."
"Yes, Young Lady!" the little golems responded in their high-pitched voices.
Since they were using an existing design as a reference, the work wasn't particularly difficult, aside from a few minor adjustments to improve efficiency. That said, because these were products of Hourai Island, they were etching precise magi-formulas onto tiny magi-crystals that would normally be considered too small to be useful. In a sense, they were repurposing what others would have thrown away as scrap.
In this manner, all the necessary components for the plan against the Voracious Grasshoppers were ready by the end of the day.
"We're finished on our end. How about you two?"
Late that night, everyone gathered in the command room.
"Yeah. We couldn't do anything too extensive in just half a day, but we've made some progress," Saki replied. Since they were dealing with living subjects, a slower pace was only to be expected.
"Alright, I'll explain what we've discovered."
Goose looked at Saki, and she took the cue to speak.
"First, their dietary preferences. They prefer plant matter most, followed by animal matter. They aren't particularly fond of minerals, though they will still bite them."
"I see. Then the damage to crops is definitely our biggest concern."
"Exactly. After comparing a few types, it seems they prefer the kernels of barley, wheat, and rice over the actual leaves..."
"Ah, that’s bad..."
"As for animal matter, when we compared raw meat and dried meat, they showed a clear preference for the raw stuff."
"It just keeps getting worse," Jin muttered. They were dealing with a truly dangerous species.
"As for their jaw strength, they can bite through steel without any trouble. They can't bite through adamantite, however. Their limit is somewhere between the two, but we didn't have enough time to find the exact point."
"No, that's already a huge help."
"We're still looking into how they react to environmental changes," Saki concluded.
"Thank you. This will be very useful as a reference. But it means we really have to move fast tomorrow."
At that point, Laojun chimed in with a timely report.
『My Lord, it appears the Voracious Grasshoppers stop moving once it gets dark.』
"Oh, really? Then at least the damage won't spread during the night."
『Yes. It should be perfectly fine if we head out tomorrow morning.』
They were expected to reach the next agricultural zone very soon, so Jin announced that they would begin their operation before dawn the next day.
"Eventually, I'd like the World Security Guard to be able to handle situations like this."
However, this was an emergency, and Jin wasn't the type of person who could just look the other way while a disaster unfolded.
"Let's see... there's a time difference to consider, so heading out at 9:00 AM Hourai Island Time should be about right."
"Hehe, sounds like a plan," Saki agreed.
Deciding that having time to spare was a good thing, they all headed to the hot spring to wash away the day's fatigue before turning in for the night.
『The Voracious Grasshoppers have completely ceased movement for the night.』
Meanwhile, Laojun continued his activities regardless of the hour. He had sent the mobile terminal Laozi to the affected region via the transporter to conduct further investigations. He had located a small swarm of about fifty insects that had been separated from one of the massive clouds.
『Let us test the hypothesis....Light....Just as I thought.』
The moment the magical Light was activated, the Voracious Grasshoppers began to move.
『It seems they do indeed have "night blindness." Now, let us experiment to see which wavelength of light they react to most strongly.』
Having determined that the insects stopped at night not because of the temperature but simply because they couldn't see, Laojun used Laozi to dig deeper.
『I see. Like many insects, they react to ultraviolet light as well.』
It turned out that the Voracious Grasshoppers showed their strongest reactions to light in the blue, violet, and ultraviolet spectrums.
『I shall report this to My Lord first thing in the morning.』
If they built a powerful ultraviolet generator, they might be able to lure the Voracious Grasshoppers into a single location. Unwilling to stop there, Laojun continued to gather data.
『I shall leave the question of where and why they are appearing to Mr. Goose and Saki...』
Laojun manipulated Laozi to record more biometric details.
『Body length: minimum 56 millimeters, maximum 111 millimeters. There is no significant difference in size between males and females. Jumping power is approximately two meters. They use four wings for movement. The muscle tissue controlling the wings is abnormally developed, suggesting they are capable of long-distance travel. Daily food consumption: between 100 and 500 grams per insect. As for how the free ether is affecting their biology... I suppose I should leave that to Saki and the others.』
Dawn was nearly upon them.
『Well then, let us capture this small group at the very least.』
Laozi used a barrier to trap the swarm of fifty insects, securing them for Saki and Goose's research.
"Huh? The grasshoppers increased."
"There's no way they multiplied overnight... right?"
The next morning, Saki and Goose tilted their heads in confusion at the extra specimens in their laboratory.
『Saki-san, Goose-san, those are the ones I captured during the night.』
"Oh, is that it? Well, it's a big help."
"True. Let's get right to the experiments."
Satisfied with Laojun's explanation, the two began their research before they had even finished breakfast.
『While I was collecting them, I took the liberty of investigating their reaction to light.』
Laojun explained the data regarding the different wavelengths.
"Hehe, I see. As expected of Laojun. That's one less task for us."
『I was concerned I might be overstepping my bounds.』
"No, time is precious right now, so I think it was the right move," Jin added. "Alright, let's finalize today's plan."
They were set to deploy in just two hours.