Chapter 48

The curtains were drawn, casting a dim light over the conference room where a heated debate was taking place. The meeting, titled "Phantasmal Metal Application and Utilization Project Report," was so intense that it seemed the participants might come to physical blows at any moment.

"Because we don't have enough mithril, I'm telling you!"

"I don't have enough either! Don't just assert your own convenience!"

"What did you say!? Do you not understand how important our project is!?"

"Every project is important! We can't prioritize just your project!"

A middle-aged man with a potbelly and a middle-aged man wearing glasses and a lab coat were shouting at each other, their voices filled with anger. The other attendees frowned but remained silent, listening to the two men's heated argument.

"If you prioritize mithril for us, we can complete the superconducting transistor... the prototype of a quantum computer this year!"

"The same goes for us! We're about to complete the demonstration model of the superconducting flywheel and other superconducting power storage systems!"

"You, with the intellectual glasses!"

"What did you say, you potbelly!"

"Let's take this outside!?"

Just as the argument escalated and they were about to come to blows, a thunderous voice echoed through the room.

"Stop it!"

"!?!"

"Enough! What do you think this meeting is?"

"S-Sorry!"

The stern voice of the elderly man, Koyama Koichiro, who sat at the head of the table, silenced the two men who had been on the verge of a physical altercation. Koyama sighed and surveyed the room before speaking.

"Gentlemen. I understand the excitement in the face of such promising materials and results. However, now more than ever, we must refocus and tighten our resolve. Do you agree, gentlemen?"

"..."

"Very well. Let's proceed with the current status reports for each project."

After Koyama finished speaking, a middle-aged man with noticeable thinning hair, whose nameplate read "Kizaki," stood up and began his report.

"First, I will start. My project focuses on the analysis and reproduction of phantasmal metals. After investigating the four types of phantasmal metals brought back by the SDF exploration team from the dungeon, we discovered that they possess remarkable properties. The four types of phantasmal metals are known as mithril, orichalcum, hihiirokane, and adamantite."

Kizaki operated his tablet, displaying a chart on the conference room monitor that listed the properties of each phantasmal metal.

"First, let's discuss mithril. Our investigation revealed that mithril exhibits zero electrical resistance under all temperature conditions. In other words, it is a constant superconducting material that is unaffected by temperature."

The monitor showed a video of mithril's resistance measurement experiments. Mithril was shown in various states: cooled in liquid helium, left at room temperature, heated with a burner, and melted in a crucible. In all these states, the electrical resistance measurement was zero.

"As you can see, mithril maintains its superconducting state under all conditions. It is a dream material that could revolutionize the field of electronics. However, this is a common issue with all phantasmal metals: the amount we can obtain is extremely limited. Currently, the total amount of phantasmal metals we possess in our country is less than 100 kg for each type."

"Is there any prospect of increasing the amount we can obtain?"

"Currently, only the elite exploration team of the SDF can reach the lower levels of the dungeon where these phantasmal metals can be obtained. It will take time for civilian explorers to be able to obtain them, and a significant increase in the amount we can obtain is not expected in the near future."

Kizaki's words were met with sighs from around the room. Whether one saw it as 100 kg "only" or 100 kg "at least" depended on one's perspective, but the attendees of this meeting saw it as 100 kg "only."

"However, we have successfully developed a superconducting alloy that uses less mithril. By synthesizing finely ground mithril with silver and a few other substances, we created an alloy that maintains its superconducting state at room temperature. Several projects are currently researching its applications."

Several attendees nodded in response to Kizaki's words, including the potbellied middle-aged man and the middle-aged man with glasses who had been arguing earlier.

"Next, let's discuss orichalcum. In a nutshell, it's an incredibly strong metal. The testing equipment broke before the orichalcum did."

Kizaki operated his terminal to display a video of the orichalcum tests.

"As you can see, orichalcum outperformed all existing metal materials in every material test. Tensile, compressive, and shear strength... it exceeded existing materials by hundreds of times."

"While the test results are impressive, a material that is just strong is not useful if it cannot be processed. If it can't be worked, it's useless."

"Indeed, processing orichalcum is very labor-intensive, but it is possible. When heated to around 3000 degrees Celsius in a strong electromagnetic field of nearly 100 teslas and in an oxygen-free environment for a long time, it can be liquefied and cast."

"100 teslas? 3000 degrees in an oxygen-free environment?"

Koyama's eyebrows shot up. Normally, the cost of processing orichalcum would be prohibitively high. It would be impractical for most applications, and it would likely only be used in military applications, such as armor for tanks, where cost is less of a concern. Additionally, the amount of orichalcum that can be obtained is as limited as mithril.

"Later, the person in charge will explain the applications of orichalcum."

"..."

Koyama looked at the person in charge with a skeptical gaze, but the person nodded confidently with a smile.

"Next, let's discuss hihiirokane."

Kizaki operated his terminal to display a video of the hihiirokane tests.

"Our investigation revealed that hihiirokane is highly resistant to heat, electric current, thermal conductivity, and creep strength. It excels in heat-related properties."

"Heat-related... is it a super-high-temperature material?"

"Yes, but it far surpasses the performance of current super-high-temperature materials."

The video showed hihiirokane remaining unchanged even when heated by a plasma cutter, and it did not change when subjected to high electric currents. Water on top of hihiirokane boiled when heated with a 100-yen lighter.

"Compared to orichalcum, hihiirokane is relatively easy to process. By synthesizing finely ground hihiirokane with iron and a few other metals, we can produce a hihiirokane alloy. While its performance is lower, it still exceeds existing super-high-temperature materials."

"Hmm. There is a high demand for super-high-temperature materials. We need to commercialize it as soon as possible."

"The person in charge will explain the applications of hihiirokane later."

Koyama looked at the person in charge with hopeful eyes.

"Finally, let's discuss adamantite. Adamantite is a metal with high levels of various resistances and extremely low chemical reactivity."

Kizaki operated his tablet to display the results of the adamantite property tests on the monitor. The results far exceeded the highest recorded values for existing metal materials.

"Adamantite is not only strong but also highly malleable. It can be processed into extremely thin sheets, thinner than gold, and 1 gram can be processed into a film covering several dozen square meters or a wire several kilometers long. Additionally, its strength means it does not suffer from the durability issues that gold does after processing. Given its chemical stability, it is likely to be used as a coating agent."

"Coating agent... like gold plating?"

"Plating would be difficult. It would be more appropriate to process it into sheets and attach them to the surface of the object."

"I see."

Instead of gold plating, it would be adamantite sheeting. From a chemical resistance standpoint, this would eliminate concerns about oxidation and corrosion in metals.

"The detailed applications of adamantite will be explained later by the person in charge."

"Similar to the others, I see."

"Yes. This concludes the current explanation of the phantasmal metals we have identified."

Kizaki turned off the video on the monitor.

"Next, I will report on the progress of the phantasmal metal reproduction experiments. Our detailed analysis revealed that adamantite is an isotope of gold, mithril is an isotope of silver, orichalcum is an isotope of copper, and hihiirokane is an isotope of iron."

"Isotopes? Does that mean they have a different number of neutrons?"

"No, it seems that is not the case. They do not have radioactivity either."

"Then what does it mean?"

Koyama asked, puzzled, but Kizaki shook his head slightly.

"To be honest, we don't fully understand."

"?"

"The number of protons and neutrons does not change. However, we have confirmed the presence of an unknown particle between the atomic nucleus and the electrons."

"..."

The room buzzed with murmurs at Kizaki's report.

"For convenience, we are calling this unknown particle a 'magic particle.'"

"Magic particle?"

"We named it a magic particle because it is the source of the mysterious energy, known as magic power, required to activate the magic used by explorers."

"I see. What about the investigation of the magic particle's properties?"

"It is ongoing, but we are still far from a complete analysis. It will take some time."

A sigh of disappointment echoed through the room.

"If the analysis takes time..."

"It will be impossible to conduct phantasmal metal reproduction experiments until the analysis of the magic particle is complete."

"I see."

If they could produce phantasmal metals independently of the dungeon, the benefits would be immense. Kizaki, observing the disappointed faces, shared some additional information.

"Speaking of which, the discovery of the magic particle has helped us understand the core crystal, which was previously a mystery."

"Core crystal? What do you mean?"

"As you know, when core crystals are finely ground and immersed in water, they collapse and release heat. They are currently used as a power generation fuel. The mystery was why they collapse and release heat when ground and immersed in water, and their atomic structure was not well understood. However, the discovery of the magic particle has allowed us to make some inferences."

The attendees' attention focused on Kizaki as he revealed the solution to the mystery.

"We hypothesize that core crystals are structurally unstable elements composed solely of magic particles."

"Elements composed solely of magic particles? Do such elements exist?"

"Indeed, they exist in the form of core crystals. Because core crystals are structurally unstable, they undergo self-excitation when immersed in water."

"Self-excitation... like the bridge collapse in the United States?"

"Yes, exactly. As self-excitation progresses, the magic particles undergo mass collapse, converting their mass into heat energy and releasing it. When core crystals are large, the resistance to self-excitation is high, and the collapse rate is slow, resulting in low heat output. However, when finely ground, the resistance to self-excitation is reduced, the collapse rate increases, and the heat output increases. This is the current hypothesis for the heat conversion process of core crystals and the difference in collapse rate due to fine grinding."

"..."

"If the analysis of the magic particle progresses, it may eventually be possible to create reactors that directly utilize magic particles without relying on core crystals."

After Kizaki's explanation, the conference room was filled with a stunned silence.

This is a pseudo-scientific theory, so I would appreciate it if you don't delve too deeply into it.