Refining

According to the Spider Witch, who had finished spinning her web in the old temple, Tokyo was currently moving to reclaim its territory.

The Tokyo Witches' Gathering held its greatest extent immediately before the Iruma Coup.

Many witches and wizards died in the Iruma Coup, but the Eye Witch covered the vacant territories by throwing her vast number of familiars at them.

Next, the Vampire Wizard died in the Great Monster Advance, and Minato Ward fell. The Witches' Gathering's management capacity had already reached its limit dealing with the aftermath of the coup, so Minato Ward was lost once.

Then the Hell Witch left Tokyo, and Adachi Ward, which had been under her management, was lost as well.

Afterward, Minato Ward was reclaimed through the Magic Stone Wand and the Thirteen Ritual Implements.

For a while, the plan was to ride this momentum and expand the sphere of survival, but the pandemic knocked the wind out of it.

Three witches died in the pandemic, and Itabashi, Sumida, and Hachioji were lost.

After gaining connections with Tohoku and Hokkaido, Tokyo finally recovered from the damage caused by the pandemic. Just as it was about to reclaim its territory this time, the Arataki Group attacked, knocking the wind out of its sails once again.

Our momentum has been battered from every angle. How many times can we be knocked off course?

Moreover, before any time had passed since the Arataki Group's attack, the Kō-class monsters underwent an anomaly and grew stronger. The witches were too busy responding to it to spare any resources for reclaiming territory.

Then, just when we had overcome the Kō-class monster anomaly and could finally catch our breath, the Black Ships arrived.

The Tokyo Witches' Gathering's main forces, the Blue Witch and the Dragon Witch, temporarily withdrew.

In place of the Blue Witch, the Spider Witch moved to Okutama.

The territories spanning Nerima, which had been under the Spider Witch's management, and Musashimurayama, Higashiyamato, and Higashimurayama, which had been under the Dragon Witch's management, were taken over by mage units that had originally been supposed to reclaim Adachi and Itabashi. They assumed responsibility for territorial defense.

And now, the remaining mage units are carrying out an operation to reclaim Sumida Ward and Hachioji City.

Compared to several years ago, the level of the mages has improved dramatically.

The university's combat department compiled and spread the basics of mage combat.

The study of indirect incantations increased the number of spells that could be cast.

Commercial-quality magic wands improved in performance.

The artillery balsams the Hokkaido Monster Farm exported to Tokyo have been bred until enough are available for territorial defense.

Amulets had slightly increased the speed of mana recovery.

The production of nitric acid, one of the raw materials, was a bottleneck that prevented mass production, but we had managed to make dynamite as well.

Mana training increased our mana reserves, raising the baseline of everything.

The side effects were severe, but we had even obtained mana recovery potions.

The clincher was the Demon King's summoning of the Kō-class monsters. Japan is temporarily free of Kō-class monsters.

There will never be a better time to reclaim our lost territory.

If time passes, wildlife will mutate and new Kō-class monsters will begin appearing again.

Before that happens, and before another major incident occurs, we must not let this moment pass us by.

More than half of the mage units organized to reclaim the territory are graduates of Magic University—in other words, they carry the general-purpose wands I made.

Once the territory has been reclaimed, I want you to promote it by saying something like, "Thanks to 0933's wands, we reclaimed the territory, I got a girlfriend, work went well, and I even won the lottery." I'm counting on you.

While Tokyo was pouring all its efforts into reclaiming territory, I was devoting myself to studying magic script.

Magic script was difficult.

Learning to write the characters was quick. Since I only had to look at them and imitate them, it was easy.

The grammar, however, was ridiculously complicated. I had at least some foothold thanks to what I had learned from Professor Ohinata about speaking the magic language, but I might have given up without that.

It is generally said that the farther a foreign language is from one's native language, the harder it is to learn.

In other words, Japanese people can learn the Korean and Chinese languages of neighboring countries relatively easily. English and French, however, are completely different languages from far away, so they are difficult.

From that perspective, the magic language is not merely a foreign language; it is not even a language of Earth. Of course it is difficult. Its learning difficulty is unquestionably off the charts.

The reference materials I use as a textbook contain examples of magic script, so it is possible to use magic script without studying by simply copying them exactly as they are.

However, using it without understanding the principles behind it is frightening because of the risk of accidents.

I would be unable to deal with malfunctions, and I would not be able to modify anything.

If I introduced magic script into my wands and a customer complained, "There's something wrong with the magic script," that would be a problem. There was no way I could say, "I don't understand the principles, so I can't fix it." That would disgrace me as a craftsman.

No matter how difficult it was, if I was going to use magic script in my wands, serious study was essential.

That said, studying all the time was tiring, so I also occasionally daydreamed about all sorts of ways to use magic script as a break.

But America had already tried most of my daydreams.

For example, a "magic circle."

The basic principle of magic script is to write characters along a line drawn straight across from side to side.

So what would happen if that line were curved, wrapped all the way around, and made into a circle?

You would draw a circular magic circle with magic script. It certainly looked like something ought to happen.

When I thought of it, I said, "This is it!" But when I checked the reference materials, I found that there was a whole page on magic circles, and that America had already researched and put them into practical use.

In a nutshell, magic circles make it possible to fire spells in rapid succession.

When you cast a spell using a magic circle, mana glows as it spins around the circle. Every time the mana passes through a character, the magic represented by that character activates. In other words, a single incantation makes the same spell repeat for as long as the mana lasts.

This magic-circle technology dramatically increased the instantaneous firepower of America's Transcendents.

After all, it could turn one spell from a single incantation into ten or dozens of spells—or, if things went badly, hundreds.

It was easy to understand if you thought of it as a single-shot gun changing into a machine gun. Of course it was powerful.

Since the Transcendents had vastly greater mana reserves, they could burn through mana with automatic repeat-fire from their magic circles and blast out high-powered spells capable of instant kills one after another. They were trigger-happy.

Naturally, the mana consumption was ferocious, and their sustained combat ability fell sharply, but their instantaneous firepower skyrocketed.

America's Transcendents who used magic circles were completely unfazed by Kō-2 monsters, and even Kō-1 monsters could be torn through by five or six working together—though if they failed, the counterattack would kill them. They could achieve the same level of feat with magic circles as the Tohoku Hunting Association's Daidarabotchi hunt using my gun wand.

Although the magic circle, a developed application of magic script, was more heavily weighted toward instantaneous firepower than Japan's vaunted magic wands, it had quite a lot going for it.

Magic script was brimming with possibilities. If I could incorporate it skillfully into magic wands, their performance would improve dramatically.

Incorporating it into armor or accessories, or simply writing it on paper or boards, would not be a bad idea either.

While I was absorbed in mastering the basics of magic script and exploring its possibilities, the Spider Witch took over the work Hiyori had been handling for me.

The Spider Witch was reserved, so she always stayed inside the old temple. She placed a decoy in Ome City and used it as a go-between for communicating with other places.

She screened out weirdos trying to sound out 0933, and also took care of university-related orders and product deliveries. It was a great help.

However, the Spider Witch was kinder-hearted than Hiyori, so matters that Hiyori had rejected outright began reaching me instead.

For example, it seemed the Dragon Witch wanted me to process some magic stones for her.

The magic stones owned by the Dragon Witch were overseas with her, so the request was currently on hold, but judging by the request form, she apparently wanted them cut until they were shiny and sparkly.

That sounds like a phrase I've heard before. She really sees nothing but gemstone value in magic stones.

The Dragon Witch once kidnapped me, put me in handcuffs, and tried to make me work like a slave.

It was only natural for Hiyori to reject her request, but the Dragon Witch had a huge hoard of precious metals in her lair.

The gold and silver treasures gathered not only from Tokyo but also from the surrounding prefectures had been nothing but an absurdly wasteful indulgence until the moment magic script arrived, when they suddenly acquired practical value.

The Dragon Witch possessed an enormous amount of the precious metals essential for using magic script.

I could establish a route where I acquired precious metals in exchange for cutting magic stones, manufactured alloys at my metalworking plant in Shinagawa—which I had left sitting unused—and then used them to make wands.

Maybe it was time to reconsider my relationship with the Dragon Witch. It was worth thinking about. Of course, all of that would have to wait until she returned home.

Hiyori's return is certain, but I have no idea whether the Dragon Witch will make it back alive from the battle with the Demon King. I've heard she's fairly strong, but I have such a strong impression of her fleeing from Hiyori and begging for her life that I can't really picture it.

Another matter Hiyori had rejected and the Spider Witch had let through was a request about becoming the Tobacco Witch's racehorse owner.

The Tobacco Witch had converted Yokota Airfield in her territory into a ranch, where she protected and raised racehorses that were in danger of being lost after the Gremlin disaster.

It seemed she intended to revive horse racing eventually, and recently she had been asking influential people in Tokyo, "Would you like to become a racehorse owner?" That was how the matter reached me.

I thought the same when I accepted the wand order before, too, but she really was an entertaining witch.

In fact, I was making a ton of money manufacturing magic wands, and I had money to spare. I had been investing the surplus in my Shinagawa factory, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to put some of it toward raising horses. I didn't dislike horses.

But I didn't particularly love them, either. I had no interest in horse racing. Becoming a racehorse owner and showing my face at a racetrack packed with people would be an act of suicide.

I was more interested in things like riding lessons or keeping a pony. I had heard horses were intelligent, so I might be able to become friends with one.

This was worth thinking about as well. I wouldn't become an owner of racehorses, but would the Tobacco Witch accept me paying because I was interested in horses themselves?

For several weeks, the Spider Witch handled the reception of negotiations without a hitch.

However, she began spending more and more time lost in thought.

The Spider Witch's expressions were difficult to read, but after spending several weeks with her, I had started to understand them somewhat.

I visited the old temple with fish meatballs as a gift and asked whether something was troubling her. The Spider Witch reared back in exaggerated surprise.

"You can tell? The Blue Witch said, 'Oori is insensitive, so unless you tell him clearly, he won't notice a single thing...'"

"Ah, that's accurate. My people skills are dead, so there are probably all sorts of things I haven't noticed simply because I'm unaware of them. But when it comes to you, Spider Witch-san, I can tell. Please tell me anything. If it's something I can help with, I'll do everything I can."

When I spoke sincerely, the Spider Witch let out a high-pitched squeak.

She clicked her mouth anxiously, but after a while, she muttered to me in a small voice.

"You know how I put a decoy in Ome and talk to all sorts of people through it? The people who see the decoy find it creepy. It seems the problem isn't so much my ability to distort their perception as the fact that it looks like a botched, flat-featured doll..."

"Hmm...? Well, I can kind of see why. I suppose people who find artist's mannequins or department-store mannequins creepy would be bothered by it."

I remembered what the decoy looked like and nodded slightly.

I didn't dislike it, but I could certainly imagine people who did. A moving doll was one of those common horror themes, after all. Even I understood that I was in the minority for finding a moving human being scarier.

"I tried dressing it, too, but its body shape is a little different from a human's to begin with. Hey, Oori. You can totally refuse if you don't want to, but could you make my decoy look more human...?"

"More human? I don't know anything about makeup, you know? I'll try my best, though."

"No, that's not it. Could you sculpt its face, hands, and fingers, so the decoy would properly look human...?"

"Oh, you mean you want to cross the uncanny valley? Then I think I can do it."

I readily agreed.

The uncanny valley is the phenomenon of finding a form unsettling when it resembles a human.

Even if a robot is humanoid, people do not find it creepy when it is a blatantly robotic machine with its metal exposed.

A robot that seems to be trying to imitate a person feels disgusting.

However, a robot so similar to a human that it is impossible to tell them apart does not feel creepy, even when you know it is not human.

This phenomenon, where people's affinity drops sharply only when something resembles a human halfway, is called the uncanny valley.

The Spider Witch's decoy fell squarely into this uncanny valley.

It really was only halfway humanlike. If I made it perfectly resemble a human, the creepiness should disappear.

"There are all sorts of styles when you say sculpture, though. Greek, Japanese, and so on. Do you have anything in mind?"

"Greek...? Sorry, I don't know much about sculpture, so I wouldn't know... But, um, well... I-I want her to be a beautiful girl..."

"Okay. I'll make her the most beautiful girl in the world."

The Spider Witch said it shyly while fidgeting and scratching the floorboards of the old temple with the tips of her legs, but she had nothing to be ashamed of. Wanting to become beautiful—or wanting to make something beautiful and cute—was natural. You could say it more boldly, you know.

I immediately set to work carving the decoy, which had been returned from Ome to Okutama, with a chisel, a punch, and carving knives. While I worked, I had the Spider Witch make a wig from spider silk. Hair made a huge difference in one's impression, so it was essential.

What she had said before about the decoy being quite sturdy was true; its strength and hardness were considerable. The carving knives I had sharpened for cutting Gremlins couldn't even scratch it, so I brought out a metal file and slowly ground it down.

Once I had the shape, I polished it with sandpaper. I had to be careful not to overpolish it if I wanted to give it a human-like skin texture.

After three full days, I finished it down to the smallest detail as a perfect life-size beauty, then put on the wig made by the Spider Witch.

I gazed at the finished Version 2 decoy with satisfaction, but I was struck by a strange sense of déjà vu.

I felt like I had seen this decoy somewhere before. Where was it...?

"What's wrong...? I think it turned out well. It looks exactly like someone...?"

"Exactly like whom?"

"Huh? Oh—the Blue Witch..."

"!!!! That's it!"

The Spider Witch's hesitant words dissolved the sense of wrongness.

That's right. This decoy looked exactly like Hiyori.

The hair was white because it was made of spider silk, but otherwise it was Hiyori's exact double.

I see. Of course. I had been asked to make her the most beautiful girl in the world, so naturally she resembled Hiyori. I hadn't even realized it.

"So it was unconscious. I thought you were rubbing it in my face. Then when you were told to make the most beautiful girl in the world, you unconsciously made her look like the Blue Witch...? Ugh, my brain feels like it's burning..."

The Spider Witch suddenly began writhing, and I wondered what was going on, but the work itself was approved.

Her wording had sounded like something was bothering her, so I offered to fix anything she disliked. She replied, "My feelings are such a mess that I don't even know whether I'm dissatisfied..." and left me bewildered.

What on earth did that mean? I had sculpted the stunningly beautiful girl she had ordered.

I couldn't figure it out no matter how much I thought about it, and asking her got me nowhere, so I left the old temple with my head tilted. Well, good enough for now! If she requested improvements later, I could make them as needed.

Sculpting had been a pleasant change of pace.

Now, back to my steady study of magic script.