episode_0166

After class, we continued our attempts to manufacture memory chips, struggling amidst uncertainty and ambiguity.

The challenge continued through midnight into the early morning. It was already past noon, but we hadn’t made much progress.

“How annoying!”

Someone, unable to endure the boredom, came up with a radical idea.

“I found something interesting. You know those memory chip fragments stored in our minds? I checked the spell formulas, and they all had something in common. Every single one was created when someone died during its casting. Could the creation of memory chips be closely related to this fact?”

“Is that really true?”

If an interesting idea arises, Violet’s approach is to challenge it immediately. A hundred Violets gathered again and began preparing a spell. This time, there was also a Violet holding a crossbow nearby.

First, as a test, we prepared the Tracking Blade spell, which was relatively easy and had almost no chance of failure. As the spell formula appeared, we manipulated the orbs and controlled the mana.

“Alright, it’s almost done. Number 78! Begin!” Just before the spell formula was almost complete, Number 78 aimed the crossbow at one Violet’s head and pulled the trigger.

“Screech!” When the Violet casting the spell died, the magic was canceled. The Violets waiting in the network stood up and searched their surroundings.

“Found it! Here, there’s something that looks like an arcane memory chip.” A short while later, Number 678 found a rectangular memory chip. Although smaller than the memory chip fragments found before, its form was almost perfectly intact.

“Activate!” When we struck the memory chip with a hammer and broke it, a tracking blade shot out from the staff as expected, tearing through the target.

“It’s a success! As expected, us dying was the answer!” “Good, let’s make more right away!”

A few hours after celebrating our success and entering mass production of the magic, we had to accept the sad truth that we had popped the champagne too early.

“Why isn’t it forming? We definitely killed them!” The manufacturing yield of the arcane memory chips was too low.

We shot them in the head every time they cast a spell, yet out of ten attempts, we barely succeeded once or twice. As if peeling an onion, new obstacles kept appearing, leading to a sense of despair.

“Of course…!” “It seems we have no affinity for magic. Shouldn’t we just focus on practicing swordsmanship instead?”

“But, then all the effort we’ve put in so far would be a waste!”

After dinner, we decided to try a different suicide attempt to manage the memory chip yield.

We laid out weapons in front of us, put a pistol in our mouths, and began casting the spell, when someone knocked on the factory door.

“Mmph?” “What, it was open. Uh, I’m coming in… wait, what the… what are you doing?”

I met eyes with Lucian, who had suddenly opened the door and walked in. His eyes were filled with absurdity.

“What? Why didn’t you knock? You pervert! Trying to peek into a pretty girl’s room, how lewd!”

“You’re calling me a pervert? You’re the one with a pistol in your mouth to be talking… huh?” His expression hardened as he grumbled at me. His gaze shifted to the blood-stained weapons laid out before me. In shock, he suddenly cried out.

“Irene! Daphne! Where are you! Come out quickly! Violet’s gone crazy and is trying to harm herse—mph! Mph!”

“It’s not self-harm!” The startled Violets, afraid someone might see, grabbed Lucian and covered his mouth. Looking outside, thankfully, no one had heard.

We closed the door and held him until he calmed down. After a long while, when we released his mouth, Lucian glared at us.

“I’ll tell you now, we’re perfectly sane.” “…But you *were* harming yourselves, weren’t you?”

“Ugh, well, it’s true. But there are circumstances!”

When I finally finished speaking, Lucian stared blankly at us with an incredulous expression, muttering, “You… you crazy women…”

Upon hearing that, I bristled with anger.

“Damn it! Do you think we’re doing this for no reason? I want to be good at magic too!”

“Is being good at magic everything? What would a show-off like you know about it?!”

When I came to my senses, we were surrounding him, venting our rage.

“That’s right! You’re the one who got knocked out by the Vanguard first in the dungeon, and you have the nerve to talk?!”

Oh, that wasn’t right. By the time I realized I had made a mistake, it was too late.

When my words ended, Lucian nodded, his face uncharacteristically gloomy.

“Damn it… you’re right. I’m just a show-off. And it’s true that I wasn’t of any help last time. I’m sorry.”

“Uh… no! It was a mistake. I’m sorry!”

Only then could I read the depression on his face. The shock and frustration of being crushed by the Vanguard agent in the last battle must have been immense.

The Violets, feeling embarrassed, apologized to him one after another.

“Sorry!” “I won’t say anything harsh again!”

He scratched his head, perhaps feeling burdened by our continuous apologies.

“No, no… well, it’s not wrong. I apologize for calling you crazy. I was just worried something might have happened to you, as the team representative…”

“Oh, don’t take it too much to heart! I don’t mind.”

Actually, I am a bit crazy, after all.

A long while later, we got a chance to explain. After our long, long explanation about memory chip manufacturing ended, Lucian asked,

“Wow, parallel processing. I never would have imagined it. It must be possible because it’s you. So, the memory chips are born when you die during the calculation, right? In your mind?”

“Yeah! But the yield is too low.”

He thought deeply for a moment, then spoke.

“Wait a moment, according to what you explained last time. You said you don’t really die even if you die. Because you go somewhere else when you die. Where did you say you go?”

“The Violet Network!”

“What a strange name… Hmm, no, never mind. Anyway, if a memory chip was created the moment you died during spell calculation, shouldn’t we consider the possibility that the place your consciousness moves to after death is the cause?”

“…Huh?”

The moment they heard Lucian’s words, the missing puzzle pieces in the Violets’ minds began to fall into place one by one.

“Wait a minute, he’s right. We might have misunderstood the cause and effect!”

“If a Violet dies during spell formula calculation, the dead Violet naturally moves to the Violet Network. It’s possible that during that process, some of the calculated spell formula was carried along with the Violet.”

“Professor Albert emphasized the importance of a framework to fix the spell formula and a vessel to store it. We don’t know why, but we can freely manipulate the inside of the Violet Network! So doesn’t that mean we can fulfill that requirement as much as we want?”

We couldn’t stand it when we had a new question. I said some nice words and sent Lucian out.

“Sorry for the harsh words! Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll buy you anything! Don’t you need a game console?”

“Ah, no. You don’t have to apologize that much, but…”

After sending him out, the Violets once again activated the calculation formula for the Tracking Blade.

As the complex spell formula appeared before their eyes, they focused their mana and meticulously calculated to move the orbs. Up to this point, it was the same as usual. The key was when the spell formula was on the verge of completion.

“Alright, everyone, cut off your mana and move to the network simultaneously. Understood?” “Focus. One, two, three!”

The moment the spell formula ended, we recovered our mana. At the same time, the Violets moved to the network. There is no time difference in the Violet Network. In the blink of an eye, a hundred Violets moved to the plaza inside the network.

And there, we could see a single, brilliantly glowing stone tablet in the middle of the plaza. The stone tablet was perfectly intact, without a single flaw, and the circuits and orbs were intricate and neat.

“It’s done, it’s a perfect memory chip!”

As if possessed by a ghost, we created memory chips one after another.

One time, two times, five times, eight times, ten times. Before long, ten arcane memory chips were stacked in the Violet Network plaza. I caressed the memory chips and instilled my will into them. I felt as if I had to.

Mana drained out quickly, and ten arcane blades appeared simultaneously without a single error.

“All of them succeeded. It’s 100% yield!” “It’s a magical industrial revolution!”

My heart swelled with emotion. Now, Violet could stack magic like ammunition in an arsenal.

For now, it would only be limited to low or mid-level magic beyond the basics, but what if our numbers increased further and we became more accustomed to spell calculations? We would be able to mass-produce arcane memory chips containing high-difficulty offensive magic and stockpile them within the Violet Network. If we mobilized even more people, we could stockpile melting rays, like artillery shells.

Most importantly, if we activate magic by consuming an arcane memory chip, no preparation time is needed. If there’s enough mana, we could unleash dozens of spells at once right in front of the enemy. The breadth of strategic and tactical options had greatly expanded.

“Wooooah!” We cheered and rushed out of the barracks. The Violets lifted Lucian, who had been loitering outside, and tossed him into the air.

“We succeeded! It’s all thanks to you!” “Long live Lucian!”

After tossing him a couple of times, we lowered him. Lucian let out a hollow laugh and muttered,

“Is that so. I see… Damn it, I guess I’ll be useless now…”

I tilted my head.

“No! You’re our teammate, you know?”

“But…”

Hmm, it seems he’s quite disheartened, probably because of his last defeat. I guess I’ll have to feed him meat.

“Tonight, it’s a meat party!”