“So just how strong is <Fenrir>, really...?”
At Eve’s question, Asahi tilted her head and answered.
“We believe the ratio between body weight and <Magic Stone> mass—and by extension, the size of the <Magic Stone> itself—affects magical capabilities! If you look at it that way, <Rain Croin> was roughly nineteen hundred tons, and a wyvern is about two thousand. So, taken very simply, the <Magic Stone> performance of a <Fenrir>-type organism, which we estimate at around three to four hundred tons, should not be all that high, but...”
“That is only in comparison with the magical abilities of even smaller monsters, like worms and hyenas, so we cannot go so far as to say that a threat organism the size of <Fenrir> has weak magical capability. <Rain Croin>’s <Magic Stone> ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) certainly was large, and the wyvern’s was of a similar size. There is definitely a relationship between body weight and <Magic Stone> size, but we do not have enough cases yet to say with confidence that magical capability scales proportionally as well!”
“<Fenrir> is smaller than the giant earthworms, but our analysis suggests that the earthworms’ <Magic Stone>s were unusually small for their body size. Among threat organisms, giant earthworms did not rank very high in magical capability.”
The giant earthworms’ <Magic Stone>s had been recovered as well, but compared to a wyvern’s, they were vastly smaller. The giant earthworms had possessed no magic barriers, and were accordingly classified as having low magical capability. By contrast, even the juvenile form of <Rain Croin>—juvenile though it was, it already exceeded four meters in length—already possessed a magic barrier. And the size of the <Magic Stone> inside its body was believed to be smaller than that of the giant earthworms.
“We cannot afford to underestimate them. At any rate, we have no choice but to hit them with full force!”
“Even so, using aircraft may attract other threat organisms—wyverns. For that reason, we cannot place a Gigantia unit on the front line.”
While Asahi spoke with rising intensity, <Ringo> calmly displayed the operation map.
The basic idea was to wait for <Fenrir> to move south, then advance a ground force centered on the land battleship that had already been held in reserve.
It was considered highly likely that threat organisms could detect an opponent’s magical capability and judge the level of threat from that.
Which meant it was unclear how much hostility they would direct toward the land battleship.
“We need to keep radar illumination to an absolute minimum! Ground weapons are fundamentally line-of-sight combat systems, so that should not be a problem, but the Gigantia unit in the rear will require some ingenuity!”
“We will need to rely on GPS guidance, or laser designation. We do not have enough GPS geostationary satellites, so the operation will need to be conducted during a window when low-orbit satellites are passing overhead.”
At present, many of the weapons operated by <The Tree> relied on electromagnetic waves. Since it was already known that broadcasting aerial radar would draw wyverns in, flying aircraft near the <Demon Forest> was extremely risky.
“So the operation window is limited. <Fenrir> doesn’t seem to move all that quickly during its normal patrols, though. Is that part not a problem?”
“Yes yes, Commander Ma’am. No, it should be fine. <Fenrir>’s territorial patrol follows almost exactly the same route every time, so we can choose when to begin the operation.”
The basic tactic would be to neutralize the magic barrier with hypersonic missiles launched from the rear after contact, then attack with the ground force’s high-powered guns—railguns, multi-stage electromagnetic projection cannons, and the like.
The main concern was the possibility that the ground force would simply be swept aside the moment it made contact.
Because <Fenrir>’s combat strength remained unknown, they could not even estimate what losses a formation built around a land battleship might take.
At the very least, they wanted to keep the engagement range to several kilometers.
“Couldn’t we just start by hitting it with missiles or something?”
“Ah, Asahi thought of that too! But our prediction is that unless we present a clear enemy, it will be difficult to make them withdraw! Of course, if we can kill them, that would be best!”
“Hmm. I see. So in the end, there are just too many unknowns...”
This operation had been selected because they could not establish a reliable prospect of killing <Fenrir>, but it still offered the highest chance of doing so. In the first place, they did not even know whether driving them off would make them go back home. The opposite was just as possible—that they would become fixated and begin attacking more frequently.
There was nothing to gain by leaving them alone, so they had decided to throw some of their increasingly surplus ground forces at the problem, partly as a way of working through excess inventory.
Naturally, nothing would truly be wasted as long as it could be recycled into resources, but at present, digging up mineral veins cost less than reclaiming materials that way. And automated machines only continued to deteriorate the longer they went unused, so if there was a purpose for them, it was more economical to use them until they wore out.
“Well, fine. Let’s try throwing something at them for now. We were going to need to measure their combat strength sooner or later anyway.”
“Yes yes, Commander Ma’am. We will assemble a force centered on the land battleship Jotun and draw up the attack plan. The final stage will be the commitment of anti-magic-barrier missiles followed by saturation attack, but before that we should try several other tactics.”
“And now we know electromagnetic weapons can work in some cases too! If you think purely in terms of energy delivered to a single point, then concentrated laser or maser use is still the most powerful option we have!”
In terms of pure energy projected onto a single point, lasers and masers were the strongest, since multiple beams could be focused onto the same location.
It was also possible to repurpose the microwave power supply system and generate an energy peak at any chosen point.
Wyverns had shown powerful resistance to electromagnetic waves, but the magic barrier of Holy Capital Staritsa had been vulnerable to electromagnetic attack. According to Asahi’s prediction, that may have been because the wyvern’s scales reflected electromagnetic waves, causing them not to be recognized as effective attacks.
In other words, it was possible that a magic barrier selectively eliminated attacks that were actually harmful to itself.
Which made it extremely important to determine what kinds of attacks were effective against <Fenrir>.
For example, it was possible that it actually possessed extraordinary resistance to bombardment. Unlikely, yes, but still.
“Okay, this time I should actually contact Mr. Amajio properly... Hmm. Maybe I should send him the outline once it’s ready and set up a meeting...”
“...It would be best to ask the man himself.”
◇◇◇◇
“...Hm.”
“...What is it, Lord Amajio?”
Amajio Silverhead had been giving Saarya a history lecture as part of their ongoing social exchange, and when that information arrived out of nowhere, he let out a sound before he could stop himself.
“Oh, no, sorry. I just remembered something completely unimportant. Don’t mind me.”
“...Is that so? Well, Lord Amajio is one of the great pillars of the state. I understand you must have all sorts of things to think about!”
Saarya declared that with the air of someone trying very hard to become an understanding woman, and Amajio answered with a wry smile. Linanel, watching the exchange, was smiling cheerfully as well.
“Well then, next is this one... Senior Baron Laptsnen. He played an important role, keeping the knightly lords guarding the border in line. It was the defense of a strategic point, after all, so even though he was only a baron, he apparently received considerable support, and his stipend was generous. However, he was not on especially good terms with the margrave. His relief supplies were being skimmed off.”
And while continuing that history lesson, Amajio Silverhead unfolded the incoming information inside his mind.
His main body continued moving as before, while he used the processing space of his A Argument B Brain structure to analyze the data.
And the information that had been sent to him was—
In Amajio Silverhead’s understanding, it was a plan for the extermination of a large magical beast.
In <Paraiso>’s terminology, it was an extermination plan for <Fenrir>, classified as a threat organism.
