"Phew, that feels like a new lease on life."
Exhausted, Princess Lieschen soaked in the hot spring alongside the children.
"Lies-oneechan, let me scrub your back!"
"O-Oh, all right then."
The children were just as energetic in the water as they had been on land. They took turns scrubbing Princess Lieschen's back with bath towels.
"O-Oh, easy there... please, a little more gently..."
It turned out Her Highness had very delicate skin.
"Oh, this is wonderful!"
A glass of fruit juice after the bath. It felt as though her flushed body was being cooled to the perfect temperature.
"It’s good, isn't it!"
The children drank right along with her. Incidentally, since she had played and bathed with the village children, her visit was free today (it normally cost five Toll, or about fifty yen).
＊ ＊ ＊
While Princess Lieschen was relaxing in the hot spring, Jin was summoned by No. 700672.
"A third space vibration occurred a short while ago. The source was nearly identical to the second. This means the threat has drawn closer by the same distance Ars has traveled in its orbit."
Jin had already heard word of the occurrence from Laojun.
"The frequency is increasing."
"Indeed. The interval between the first and second was two days, but the gap between the second and third was only one. It is concerning."
No. 700672’s expression grew grave.
"How are the Space Monitors doing? The ones you sent out?"
"They have been dispatched, but since they have not yet reached the target sector, I cannot provide much data of substance."
"I see..."
"However, it is certain that the point of origin is drawing closer to Ars."
Laojun had made the same observation.
"The danger is escalating, then."
"Yes. I would ask that you complete the barrier as soon as possible."
"I'm on it."
Jin had no intention of sitting around waiting for disaster to strike. Thanks to his ongoing discussions with Laojun during his downtime, he finally had a solid plan in place.
The core of the concept was spatial isolation.
Warp Gates and teleportation magic circles were designed to connect two points in space. The Space Isolation Barrier was an attempt to invert that effect. Since magic circles were generally more versatile than Warp Gates, he had been experimenting with modifications to the former.
However, Jin’s expertise lay in magi-craft. Redesigning magic circles—which operated on different principles—was outside his usual wheelhouse, and progress was slow.
"The level of complexity is worlds apart compared to when I'm just neutralizing 'recoil'."
"Hmm, I suppose it would be."
No. 700672 fell silent for a moment, deep in thought, before speaking again.
"I do not know if this will be of use, but I shall offer one piece of advice... A magic circle does not necessarily have to be restricted to a single layer."
"Ah!"
The suggestion sparked a sudden flash of inspiration in Jin’s mind.
"Heh. It seems I've struck a chord."
"You have. More than you know," Jin replied, his voice tinged with excitement. "I use multi-layered structures all the time when writing in a magi-formula, yet I never even considered applying it to magic circles."
"That is perhaps unavoidable. By their nature, magic circles were originally meant to be inscribed on flat surfaces."
The most primitive circles were said to be those carved into the dirt with simple sticks.
"However, one could, for example, draw magic circles on two separate sheets of paper and stack them."
"I follow. As long as the two circles don't interfere with each other, the effects should overlap and stack."
"Exactly."
Jin bowed his head to No. 700672 in gratitude.
"To be honest, the biggest hurdle was that the circle was becoming too massive. If I use a multi-layered structure, I can shrink the footprint significantly."
Portability was the key. Shrinking the device meant it could be moved where it was needed most.
"I am glad to have been of help."
No. 700672 seemed genuinely pleased. Just then, a pair of voices called out.
"Father, the Space Monitors have reached the target sector."
"I’ll project the feed onto the screen now."
It was Neige and Rouge. They had evidently become indispensable assistants to No. 700672.
"I see. Very well. Jin-dono, you should see this as well."
"All right."
A section of the wall in the White Room darkened, and the screen flickered to life. Since it was projecting a view of outer space, the background was naturally pitch black. The display was split into several segments.
"I have sent them to fifteen separate locations in total."
As most of the feeds showed nothing but the void of space, it was difficult to distinguish one from another.
"All is quiet for the time being."
No. 700672 turned back to Jin.
"I will contact you the moment we discover anything. For now, please return to your work and finish the barrier."
Jin nodded.
"Understood," he said simply, before returning to Hourai Island.
＊ ＊ ＊
『A multi-layered structure, sir?』
"Yeah. I can't believe I didn't think of it myself."
Since magi-crystals were three-dimensional, Jin was used to writing magi-formulas in layers when crafting magi-devices. He just hadn't translated that logic to magic circles yet.
"This will let us increase the information density exponentially."
『Indeed. With this, I believe we can bring your concept to life.』
"I'll have the Mini-Smiths handle the actual writing... How long until it’s ready?"
『Including the debugging phase, I expect it will be finished in two hours.』
"Good. We’ll run a test early tomorrow morning. Get everything ready."
『Understood.』
With the meeting with Laojun concluded, Jin headed back to Kaina Village.
"Onii-chan, where did you go?"
Inside Jin Castle, dinner was just being served. Princess Lieschen, Hanna, and the Chancellor were all gathered at the table.
"Oh, just finishing up a few things," Jin said casually as he took his seat.
Sitting beside him, Elsa offered a knowing smile that showed she understood he'd been busy.
Glasses were filled with the sparkling wine from the Kingdom of Elias that was quickly becoming a favorite. Naturally, the portions for Hanna and Princess Lieschen were non-alcoholic.
"Well then—to the success of our construction project. Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
"Cheers."
Jin looked over the feast spread across the table, thinking to himself that Sion would likely have something to say about this tomorrow.