Magi Craft Meister

Chapter 710- 21-21 Possibility

Chapter 21-21: Possibility

Hearing that even No. 700672—and his own masters—could not invent a “warp drive,” Jin felt a twinge of disappointment. Yet he steeled himself to speak his thoughts.

“…May I share my theory with you?”

No. 700672 nodded.

“By all means. We homunculi lack our masters’ creativity. Our role is memory and support.”

Like the automatons and golems Jin had built, this artificial human’s memory was excellent—but creativity, less so.

“The teleport gates, my teleportation device, and the transfer apparatus—all fundamentally link two points in space, correct?”

“Precisely.”

“I suspect they work by opening a spatial tunnel between the two points.”

At these words, No. 700672’s eyes brightened.

“Interesting. What leads you to that conclusion?”

“Well, to move an object from point A to point B at a distance, you have a few options.”

No. 700672 leaned forward, listening.

“First, move it at super-high speed. Second, connect A and B spatially and traverse that connection. Third, disassemble at A and reassemble at B.”

“Hm—number three? Is that truly possible?”

“No—it’s from a speculative novel in my world.”

“A most intriguing idea: disassemble the object, convert it to energy, traverse the long distance, then reassemble it.”

“In my world there is the saying, ‘Whatever the mind can conceive, reality can achieve.’”

No. 700672 nodded appreciatively.

“If our masters yet lived, perhaps one day they might have done just that…”

For a time Jin and the homunculus discussed those far-reaching ideas. Noticing Elsa’s quiet attention, Jin turned to her.

“Elsa, I’m talking too much. It must be tedious.”

“No—it’s fascinating. Even just listening, I learn much.”

“Then I’m glad.”

“Heh—Lady Elsa always defers to you, Lord Jin.”

“Eh…”

Elsa’s cheeks flushed with that tease. Jin and No. 700672 then returned to the main topic.

“I believe the teleport gate is the second method: a spatial tunnel.”

“Yes—linking two points via a tunnel.”

“In this case, the tunnel’s entry and exit are three-dimensional—akin to a black hole and a white hole.”

“I have noticed that the receiver side of a teleport gate serves as the tunnel’s exit-marker. My teleportation device, which can send matters without a receiver, lacks the marker function.”

No. 700672 clapped his hands in admiration.

“Excellent. Your insight rivals even our masters’.”

“Now, my conjecture,” Jin said, “is this: when sending something, the teleporter creates a tunnel of ‘subspace’—a realm temporally separated from ours.”

“Temporal separation? Why so?”

“Because although a distance must lie between the entry and exit, the object arrives almost instantaneously—implying the tunnel exists in a different time frame.”

No. 700672 nodded many times.

“Continue.”

“Although ‘almost instantaneously,’ a minuscule time elapses. That is my theory’s starting point.”

“Mm—then?”

“Even if you cut power after creating the tunnel, it should persist briefly. If one could leap into that tunnel in that fleeting moment, one could transport oneself—thus, a warp drive.”

“Wonderful!”

The homunculus sprang to his feet, excitement shining in his eyes—drawing Reiko, Neige, and Elsa’s astonished stares.

“Truly, Lord Jin’s theory is extraordinary,” he said, settling back down. “It appears feasible.”

“Yes. Yet there are issues. First: how to enter the tunnel?”

“Indeed. You must cease tunnel generation to enter—and do so before it vanishes.”

“Precisely.”

No. 700672 regarded Jin thoughtfully.

“The window to jump in must be vanishingly short.”

“How short?” Jin asked.

“Perhaps one-in-a-millionth of a second.”

Micro- and nanoseconds.

“Mass hinders acceleration?”

For the first time Elsa interjected. To accelerate rapidly, lower mass is preferable. Jin nodded.

“Right—an object at rest must attain top speed at zero time. Mass must be near zero.”

At that moment Jin’s mind leapt to gravity-control magic, which can reduce an object’s effective mass—he had tested it when launching the satellite.

Moreover, in space one could simply keep moving at high velocity to enter the tunnel before it collapsed—though on land that trick would not work.

He returned to the moment as No. 700672 spoke:

“Your idea is inspired, Lord Jin. Such creativity eludes us homunculi.”

“Please experiment along those lines. I long to see the results.”

“Yes, I will. And one day—surely…”

“…Brother Jin can achieve it,” Elsa said softly.

“Yes—Father certainly will,” Reiko agreed.

No. 700672 chuckled.

“Lord Jin is well-loved indeed.”

“Until we meet again.”

“Indeed—always welcome here.”

With promises to return, Jin’s party left the “White Room” and warped back to Hourai Island.

Reiko: “Elsa, good work.”

Elsa: “And you too, Brother Jin.”

Reiko: “Please get some rest, my lord.”

Jin: “Yes… you’re right.”

He gratefully accepted Reiko’s suggestion and took a brief rest before pressing on.