“Lansia… what’s a magic with the longest range and fastest projectile speed?”
If they’re far away, all I can do is compete with projectile speed… so I need magic that flies far and fast.
The Manager, with just a vague description like “magic that goes like this,” could probably create instant magic with a hint.
“Magic with high speed? The Manager’s Light Bow arrows are already quite fast… I’ve never seen magic that flies straight that far before.”
Hmm, even from Lansia’s perspective, the Manager’s magic is pretty high-level. But that won’t do… it only serves as a deterrent. The idea of “fast and far” is wrong… I should explore other possibilities.
Let’s try rephrasing the question.
“…Are there any anti-air combat magic spells for dealing with enemies in the sky? Magic that can be fired in volleys… or in rapid succession. Even if the power is weak, if it’s incredibly fast, or tracks the target, or just generally causes widespread damage. Is there anything like that?”
“Magic to counter enemies in the sky? And something more effective than that… Even that only seems to be a deterrent because of the distance, right?”
“Yeah… it would be great if there was one or two more magicians who could attack the sky, or archers. Is there anyone like that?”
…Well, the latter is probably impossible, even if the former is. An archer’s range is at most about 100 meters. Being able to hit a target 300 meters away already makes one a monster. Even such a monstrous archer would be completely useless in this situation. Come to think of it, even the Manager’s Light Bow arrows are pretty cheaty.
“As it happens, among the magicians here, I, a B-class adventurer, am the most skilled… But, I’m sorry! I can’t use magic that can hit enemies that far away. At best, I can only defend against fire arrows like I’m doing now.”
…I see. Lansia can’t handle it with the magic she has. In that case, the others are probably similar. …Or rather, if the enemy’s goal was to attack and they approached without hesitation, there would be plenty of ways to respond… But this is completely beyond what was anticipated: attacking from high in the sky while gathering information and peppering us with suppressing fire. They probably can’t think of any countermeasures.
Perhaps it might be possible to counter with a combination of multiple spells, but Lansia and the others can’t reach that conclusion. My own lack of knowledge about magic in this world is also a bottleneck… If I knew what kind of magic exists and what it can do, the rest would be a matter of application…
It would have been nice to talk to some professional magic users during the day… but in any case, I was too busy. Lansia, even as a professional spirit medium, her combat ideas are probably stuck on ground battles. After all, the very idea of fighting enemies high in the sky doesn’t exist, so it can’t be helped. The Manager is the same.
The reason I can think of a unique combat style like anti-aircraft warfare is probably influenced by games, anime, and the real war experiences my grandfather told me about. My grandfather apparently commanded anti-aircraft turrets on the continental front during the Great War. He was also excellent at shooting games and FPS games… and when I was young, he insisted on joining me for a game of airsoft in the back mountains, and my grandfather and I together wiped out the entire team of our airsoft buddies, who numbered over ten people… I remember one of his lessons from the war: if you spot a reconnaissance plane, shoot it down with the highest priority. He said that if you successfully shot one down, the daily air raids would stop, or the enemy might carelessly fly within range, but if you let them escape, they would circumvent your range or increase their attack accuracy, leading to more friendly casualties. It clearly made a difference.
It’s best not to give the enemy any information. It really makes you realize how weighty the words of those who have experienced war are. However, that applies to the enemy as well. The highly strategic action of aerial reconnaissance, outside the thinking of Lansia and the people of this world. This is nothing less than an understanding of the importance of information. …The suspicion of who or what they are never ceases.
In any case… I don’t want to continue this fruitless exchange forever. A means to shoot down an enemy 1 km away. The fastest thing in the world… would be light. Even a laser pointer, if aimed at the eyes of a living thing, could be quite effective. Better yet… if there was a laser-beam-like attack magic, things would be much simpler. “Lansia! Is there any magic that emits a strong light that burns the enemy?”
“A light that burns… you say? I’ve heard of such things for anti-undead purposes… but I’ve never heard of it!”
It seems there isn’t anything like that… So, magic that mimics an SF weapon like a laser is impossible? The Manager might be able to use it, but first, he’d have to understand the concept of a laser beam, and wouldn’t get it without that… It’s impossible right now… it seems.
The next fastest thing… wind? Strong gusts or kamaitachi? They seem fast, and the Manager would understand them, but… Would something like that even work on a Wyvern? They seem pretty tough…
What else… That’s it! How about lightning magic? The speed of lightning striking is about 150 km per second, I think. This world’s magic is full of unknowns, but if the principle is to artificially create natural phenomena? If it’s a natural phenomenon, there’s a high probability that most things can be reproduced.
“…Lansia, is there magic that calls down lightning?”
“Lightning…? Yes. There are electric-attribute magic spells like ‘Electric Shock’ and ‘Ball Lightning’. However, regardless of accuracy, their range is so short that they’re difficult to use. They can only travel about 5 meters, and they’re not used much because they’re difficult to use in rain or near water, as you might get caught in the blast yourself.”
Is lightning magic like… an electric shock, tingly feeling? Is it like that creepy doll from the 80s…? …Indeed, that wouldn’t be practical. It also involved a lot of people around, and it didn’t hit often either… But that’s for discharging electricity and such, what about bringing down lightning directly onto a designated spot or a place where lightning is likely to strike? That’s common in fantasy works. Even in the famous Dragon Quest, there was something like that. In short, it’s a type of magic that’s cast not directly from your body or a magic staff, but from the sky, falling down on the enemy’s head! …Since that Wyvern is flying, if lightning were to strike now, it would have the highest chance of hitting it.
“Besides that kind of thing… for example, is there anything like bringing down lightning on a castle or a dragon?”
“…It’s a highest-tier elemental magic for armies and fortresses. It’s called ‘Summoning Lightning’… It involves calling upon lightning spirits to bring down lightning, but before that, you have to summon thunderclouds and prepare the environment, so it’s a ritual magic that takes multiple people and time to perform… It’s not something that can be used by one person. You need about ten skilled spirit users, and it takes half a day…”
I see, so it does exist. In that case, could the Manager’s cheat skills make it possible? Alright! I might have found a way to beat them!
