“Big Sister, Big Sister! The front-line fortress’s magic barrier has manifested! It worked! We did it!”
“O-ohhh...? Seriously? It actually worked...”
A report had come in that the barrier generator relocated from the Prava Divine Kingdom’s Holy Capital had finally begun operating at the enormous fortress built on the front line of the <Demon Forest> development.
Eve caught Asahi as she rushed over with a beaming smile, but she frowned at the contents of the report.
“The scariest thing is when something works even though we don’t know why... If anything happens, we won’t have any way to respond.”
“We are basically throwing that part entirely to the Chimiya Family! All we need to do is maintain the fortress functions!”
Well, what had already started working could not be helped.
Eve nodded and changed gears, then looked back at <Ringo>, who was following close enough behind her that Eve could feel her breath.
“<Ringo>, we’re going to the command room. Let’s hear about the situation at that front-line fortress.”
“Yes, Commander Ma’am.”
◇◇◇◇
“Big Sister.”
“You came right away, Iris. Would you like to sit beside me?”
Eve welcomed the doll-machine communicator controlled by Iris, who nodded silently, with a hug. Then she kept an arm around Iris’s shoulders and walked with her to the sofa.
“The magic barrier started operating?”
“Yes.”
Once they were seated side by side on the sofa, Eve squeezed Iris’s hand.
Some unknown barrier device had begun operating within Iris’s area of control, so Iris’s stress value had risen somewhat.
With <Ringo>’s example fresh in their minds, Eve and the other intelligent entities of <The Tree> were being quite considerate toward Iris.
“Can you tell me the situation?”
“Understood.”
At Eve’s prompting, Iris began playing footage showing that the magic barrier had functioned.
“During today’s scheduled inspection, we confirmed that the magic barrier had manifested. We ran the test several times and confirmed that it blocks ordinary shelling. Also, as in the experiment at the Holy Capital, it reacted only to attacks that would cause damage, while objects that would not cause damage passed straight through. Therefore, at present, we estimate that it is displaying the expected defensive capability.”
“I see. Thank you, Iris. This has made the fortress’s defensive strength very high.”
“Mm.”
Iris looked delighted as Eve stroked her, her tail swishing busily.
Her stress value was still somewhat high, but it seemed to have stabilized.
“Then we need to start thinking about a name for the fortress... You said you had one in mind, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I have thought of one.”
It was beginning full-scale operation as a front-line fortress. Since that was the case, Eve had decided it would be better for it to have a name, but Iris had then said she wanted to name it herself.
It had been quite a proactive opinion, so Eve had gladly left it to Iris.
“I would like to name the Prava Divine Kingdom defensive fortress <Gladiolus>. Gladiolus is a plant in the iris family. The same as me.”
Iris said this with full confidence.
It was true that iris was another name for ayame, and naming it after something related to ayame felt fitting.
In fact, the initial five sisters’ names had been chosen from flowers with that expectation in mind, so this meant the policy was functioning properly.
The members of <The Tree>, Eve included, had not lived very long lives, and they were not good at the act of deciding names.
“Oh, that’s a good name. <Ringo>, register the fortress as <Gladiolus>.”
“Yes, Commander Ma’am. From this point forward, the relevant fortress’s designation will be defined as <Gladiolus>.”
With Eve’s order, the map information updated. The Prava Divine Kingdom front-line fortress was now displayed as <Gladiolus>.
“The defensive power <Gladiolus> can exhibit is unknown. I plan to conduct a [N O V E L I G H T] durability test as early as tomorrow. We are preparing a confirmation rampart now.”
Iris intended to fire on the fortress from outside and, just as they had done at the Holy Capital, confirm how much kinetic energy needed to be applied to neutralize the barrier.
Using that as the standard, they would examine various defense scenarios.
“Also, several hours before the barrier activated, the values at the mana monitoring posts increased noticeably. Therefore, we currently assume that was the timing of the barrier’s activation.”
In fact, they had been observing this for some time already. Immediately after the <Magic Stone> for the magic barrier was installed, the mana concentration had begun rising.
When they consulted the Chimiya Family about this, the answer had been that it might have turned into a mana hotspot.
“A hotspot, huh... If I remember right, that’s a point where mana concentration is high. I think the explanation was something like a place where mana is being generated.”
“Yes. The Chimiya Family described it as mana seeping out from the ground.”
As far as Iris had learned from the Chimiya Family, at least in the Prava Divine Kingdom, a hotspot was recognized as a place where mana gushed up from underground.
And a hotspot was a place human species found comfortable. Also, if left alone, amorphous monsters such as slimes would appear, and eventually the area would be covered by rapidly growing pseudo-greenwood treants.
“And apparently, the current fortress has become a very large hotspot. Because the Chimiya Family is living there as well, it apparently will not become a state where monsters start springing up.”
“That is... another strange phenomenon.”
If people were living there, slimes would not emerge.
Pseudo-greenwood treants did sometimes appear depending on the circumstances, but that was apparently a rare event as well.
“The reason is not well understood. We may need to conduct comparative experiments at hotspots someday.”
“Oh, Iris, you have been researching this properly too. Once the wyvern investigation is complete, let us begin investigating hotspots! From what I am hearing, we should be able to establish all sorts of hypotheses!”
Asahi responded energetically to that report. It seemed Asahi was also advancing various projects, and was not able to keep an eye on all of them.
Well, Iris probably had not been actively circulating the information either.
Both of them had accumulated task lists. They had no reason to go out of their way to name and release information with no urgency.
“Iris, Asahi, both of you, don’t push yourselves too hard. But Iris, you did very well researching this properly.”
“............”
Iris, praised while Eve stroked her, silently wagged her tail.
“Hmm... A <Magic Stone>... In this case, perhaps a <Magic Stone> in a state where it can manifest a magic barrier—that is, an operating state—is drawing mana toward it.”
Asahi murmured this while looking over the changes in mana concentration.
“Also, Iris. The mana concentration in the surrounding area is...”
“...Yes. Fluctuations have appeared in the surrounding mana concentration. Perhaps in response to this, monster activity also appears to have become somewhat unsettled. We have observed states such as increased movement distances and increased numbers of territorial patrols.”
“Huh... So mana concentration really does affect monster activity.”
When they analyzed the sensor information being operated by the fortress <Gladiolus>, it seemed that the rapid increase in mana concentration had probably caused the mana concentration across the surrounding area to fluctuate.
And in response, changes also seemed to be occurring in the ecosystem, including the monsters.
“Changes in mana concentration are affecting both animals and monsters. According to the behavior-analysis results, aggression, or territorial-maintenance behavior, has intensified. For some time, we will need to strengthen the defensive posture around the fortress.”
“Hmm. Well, that makes sense. Mana is something like the energy monsters need to live, right? In our terms, would it feel like a delicious smell suddenly drifting in?”
“The Forest Boar’s mana-detection cells exist as olfactory cells. That comparison is likely correct.”
A powerful fortress had begun operating inside the <Demon Forest>.
No one yet knew what effects that would have on the surrounding area in the future.
