The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 173: [Research] Start: Atomic Bomb Development (2)

Chapter 173: [Research] Start: Atomic Bomb Development (2)

I put my hands on Lotte’s shoulders.

“A mission for you, soldier.”

“S-suddenly?”

She was feigning ignorance, but I could see her lips twitching upwards.

“Do you remember the promise we made during summer break?”

“...That we’ll live together on our estate once everything’s over?”

“Before that.”

“Making a bomb that’ll annihilate all Beasts...?”

I nodded.

“Exactly.”

Lotte’s eyes, which had been the very definition of boredom, were sparkling. It was nice to see life in them after a long time.

My friend had an ambition to subjugate all the Beasts in the world and stabilize the welfare of the people. If I were to accomplish this, then her trust in me would grow and of course, the obsession should go away as well.

On top of that.

The very act of manufacturing an atomic bomb was distancing myself from Rosemary, which was something that Lotte would welcome with open arms.

......That is, assuming she knew who Rosemary was.

“Although White Night is a ‘very small part’, you managed to get it done. Now it’ll be a piece of cake to turn small objects into plasma. Do you know what this means?”

Lotte nodded with a happy face.

“We can work in a high-temperature, high-pressure environment as much as we want.”

“We can create such an environment for an instant, to be exact.”

We could make a high-pressure environment in the gigapascal range for a very short time. Maintaining it was a whole other matter.

It didn’t matter. This was enough to finish making the bomb.

Because we had all the materials.

I removed the wrapper from the beryllium, which revealed a disk that shined black.

“Freyr, what spell did we use when we went up Pitchblende Mountain?”

“The one that keeps you clean?”

“Could you, please.”

Freyr nodded. Using instant transmutation, the kid put together a radiation-proof scroll and used it.

This would deal with the radiation exposure.

The theory part had been explained. The only thing left was to delegate tasks to the two people.

My gaze went to the spindle-shaped structure.

[Steel structure (small)][A steel structure large enough to hold a fission bomb. The estimated force of explosion when using this container is 6-21 kt.]The force of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima had been 15 kt, which meant it was about that much.

We weren’t going to be able to kill the Demon King with this.

Still.

“Most Cataclysms should die with one strike.”

The energy released when tens of thousands of Flare were shot at once was going to come from this one bomb. I wasn’t sure about myself or Jǫrmungandr, but we should definitely be able to fuck up the ones from Tertius down.

“We’re going to start making the explosive that’ll go inside.”

I held up three fingers.

“Three things are needed.”

“Which is?”

First of all.

“Ninety percent or higher enriched uranium, or plutonium.”

This we already had.

I continued, folding a finger.

“The second is another detonator that will activate the fission bomb.”

‘Compression’ was important in order for fission to occur quickly. The bomb only exploded when the uranium or plutonium was crushed under high pressure.

Scientists used other explosives like TNT to create high pressure. It was unrefined and simple, but it was the easiest way.

But we didn’t need to do that.

“Don’t we just need to use the appropriate Fire Magic?”

“That’s right.”

Fire Magic also had explosive spells, of course, such as ‘Red Storm’ or ‘Delivery Shot’, Both of these were spells used as substitutes for TNT or RDX.

The scrolls of spells like these were well-structured. We just needed to take it and use it.

“And finally, the third.”

This was the only issue.

“We need a spark plug that’ll supply neutrons to the core of the bomb.”

Neutrons, an unfamiliar particle to the people of this world.

Obviously research and things like that hadn’t been done properly. The Imperial people didn’t even know how to extract protons, let alone neutrons.

In the first place, this was about the early 20th century. Protons had just been discovered. ‘There are other substances that make up the world besides magic elements!’ was exactly what academia was like currently. So with that being the case, how would there be neutron spark plug technology?

“We need to supply neutrons at the start while the uranium or plutonium explosive is compressed, but making this feeder isn’t easy.”

It was a slight pity, this part. Steps one and two were done, but to be stuck on the third and last one...

Except it wasn’t a big problem.

Why?

Because the answer would be found no matter what.

“So you’re saying we’re going to make that together, right? Then how do we do it?”

“There’s two ways.”

My eyes lifted to the hardcover floating in the air.

[There are two main ways to obtain neutrons.]

[1. Obtain by building the nuclear reactor then splitting the nucleus of the uranium.]

[2. Obtain it as a byproduct of colliding the accelerated high-energy particles with a specific sample.]

The first one was out.

We were trying to create a situation like the first one so. This would only lead to the order being reversed.

So that only left us with using the fracking method that was number two.

[You chose the number two after all. What will you do now?]

Well, let’s think about it for a sec.

The ‘accelerated high-energy particles’ mentioned mainly meant protons. It was a technique where you shot protons at the sample and made neutrons jump out.

The way to make this possible was in my Innate Magic, the ‘Eightfold Way’.

The first and second forms dealt with the electric field, and the third and fourth forms dealt with the magnetic field.

Then what about the remaining fifth to eighth forms?

It was obvious as heck: they dealt with weak force and strong force.

If I learn all eight forms, then I would be able to use techniques like turning protons into neutrons or binding and unbinding atomic nuclei. In fact, it was an overpowered ability that would let me control all natural forces besides gravity.

But I hadn’t been able to get that far yet. No, I didn’t. Because every time I tried to learn something, I had to recall some of Aether’s memories.

And if I unlock all of the Eightfold Way? I didn’t know what my personality would be like by then. Perhaps I’d be consumed by Aether even without being betrayed or anything.

I didn’t want to create any uncertainties. I’d have to take the long way around.

Flicking my hand, I started jotting down a few things in the hardcover.

[How to obtain the particle to be irradiated on the sample surface]First, in the case of protons.

[Ionize hydrogen.]Doing this made it friggin’ simple. What was hard about bringing some hydrogen samples and shaking it up with something like Flare or White Night?

Right, then should we go with this.......

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

“Wait, Freyr, what are you doing?”

“Transmuting?”

Freyr was in the middle of making the chamber to compress the bomb with the materials before she was even told. Without reciting the incantation, at that.

Instant transmutation.

It was a convenient magic ability that only Freyr had.

I would have to learn that eventually as well to be able to go home.

“Ah.”

A good route popped up in my head in that moment.

I flipped through the hardcover like I was being chased and looked through what was in Earth Magic.

[Ultimate Earth Magic ─ Free Transmutation][Details : The highest level of transmutation. Learning this magic will allow for scrolless transmutation using just materials and blueprints in the mind. Very few among Earth Mages have understood this magic.]Mastering Fire Magic had become easier after completing Flare, so it should be the same with Earth Magic. Once I learn this Free Transmutation, the others should come easily as well.

“Freyr, the whole transmuting freely thing that you do, is there some kind of secret to it?”

“A secret? Umm.......”

Freyr, who’d been fiddling with the internal structure of the bomb like it was clay, hummed and fell into contemplation.

“There is!”

“What?”

If there was, this was going to be easier to finish than I thought.

“Just transmute a lot.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Just start transmuting a lot and do a lot of it.”

Ugh, my head. It was my fault for asking her for an explanation.

Still, she wasn’t completely wrong. It was the same thing as studying a lot if you wanted to get better at studying, and playing a lot of games if you wanted to be good at it. You’d have to study and practice a lot first if you wanted to be proficient at magic.

There was no reason to be stuck because of theories. I took the class in first semester so I knew the basics of transmutation at least.

The problem was that Earth Magic wasn’t my thing.

“Can you not transmute if you aren’t an Earth Mage?”

“No, not exactly.”

“Is there a way, then?”

Freyr nodded like she was saying ‘of course’.

“You just need to drink something called mana water.”

Mana water was something I knew about as well. A mysterious water that was said to have more value than holy water as it was blessed by all sorts of Elementals. It allowed one to use magic of a different system temporarily.

“But mana water’s expensive.”

“They say the price went down a lot after the Scroll Revolution!”

“Still, that doesn’t make it not expensive. Isn’t it water that’s made by the Four Elementals infusing it with mana?”

Above all, the buyer needed not only wealth but a reputation or trustworthiness to buy the mana water. Because if it accidentally fell into the hands of a Beast, then it would be useful for researching the weakness of the Elementals.

Fuck, why do I know this?

“Why though, I can do the transmutation. Do you need the mana water?”

“Because I think I’ll need to work on the finer details of the structure myself.”

“Come on, you just need to make me a good blueprint, I’m telling you!”

“I feel bad for making you suffer through this.”

It was a sincerity that I uttered casually. At those words, Freyr’s hands trembled like she felt touched all of a sudden.

“Y-Yellow....”

The brat spoke as she pretended to wipe tears from her eyes.

“If you finally get it then treat me to something delicious.”

Of course. I knew she’d be like this.

“Beer?”

“The most expensive beer from Storipe!”

With a sigh, I told her alright since I wasn’t so mean that I couldn’t buy my friend a drink.

I couldn’t treat a friend who was working this hard badly. A technician needed to be treated well as much as they were worked.

“Freyr, finish what you were working on and Lotte, you and I’ll brainstorm about the neutron generator. If we get these two things, that and this, then we’re practically done with the design.”

“Okay!”

Lotte responded with excitement in her voice. Although I couldn’t see a Status Window like Vermel, I could tell that Lotte’s stress had noticeably decreased.

Yeah.

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, obsession for an obsession.

To stop her from being obsessed with me, all I needed to do was have her obsess over research instead. Behold how over the moon she looked!

After that, we immersed ourselves in research like always. All three of us were more than determined to work hard; all that was left was for our stamina to hold up.

This day, our enthusiasm went ahead of our stamina. We forgot to return to our dorm and ended up falling asleep in the club room.

**And the next day, something strange happened.

“......The hell.”

A box full of mana water was sitting in front of the club’s entrance.