Chapter 461: The Provincial Town of Goa - 2 (1/2)
After their review meeting was over, Jin and his colleagues decided to take a break and discuss some newly discovered items.
“Although Quinta’s preliminary survey did not reveal the existence of the basement, we did learn that a special barrier had been set up. I knew it the moment I walked into that basement. That was… an Attenuation Barrier.”
“Attenuation Barrier?”
“Yeah. Regular barriers simply block an entrance. Though they do have reflecting properties depending on their angle.”
Elsa nodded to Jin’s explanation.
“I see. Basically, their purpose is to separate the inside from the outside.”
“That’s why, if you use an investigation spell, you’ll get a different reaction from the surroundings, and as a result, you’ll know that there’s something there.”
“I see, you’ll feel that there’s something enclosed by some kind of empty space there.”
Saki had come up with an interesting analogy.
“That’s right. That’s a nice way to see it. …And that barrier doesn’t reflect or absorb the investigation spell. Think of it as something like electromagnetic waves that travel through space. They would seem to attenuate naturally.”
“If we go by Saki’s analogy, the reflected area would be a white enclosure, and the absorbed area would be a black enclosure. So this attenuation would be… A transparent enclosure?”
This time, Stearleana compared it to colors. It was a pretty accurate metaphor.
“That’s right. It’s something like that. That’s why I didn’t quite understand. It seems that Sonar has similar characteristics, so not even Quinta could tell there was something there.”
“…You seem to have a good grasp on things, brother Jin.”
Elsa looked at Jin with reverence.
“Yeah, one of the purposes of going to the old Lenard Kingdom was to analyze barriers. I was especially careful about it.”
Jin explained that he wanted to unravel the mystery of the phantom barrier that stretched over the old Lenard Kingdom.
“I was curious to know who did it, and how did they manage to deceive a golem’s eyes.”
Depending on their design, golem eyes could be made to outperform human eyes. They could see at a farther distance, and they could even see infrared and ultraviolet rays if their maker felt like it.
That phantom barrier could not be seen even by the Air Force Golems, who were equipped with such eyes. Jin wanted to know the secret behind that.
“Well, I’ll continue to leave that investigation to the Quinta.”
And thus Jin concluded his speech.
＊ ＊ ＊
It was almost time for lunch, so they headed to the dining room.
“Huh? Is Hanna still outside?”
Just as Jin muttered that, Reiko and Hanna came back. Reiko seemed to have been right on time.
“Big brother, Sis Reiko said to come back now since it’s almost time for lunch.”
“Yeah, you’re right on time. Let’s have lunch. Hanna, I know you’ve had some Pelshikas a bit ago, so are you okay with having lunch now?”
“Yeah, I’m okay!”
Hanna was quite energetic. Her front teeth had all come out, so she had been having less discomfort when eating.
“Today’s lunch is udon noodles.”
Soleil brought in freshly boiled udon noodles. Of course, they had already been chilled with cold water.
“Udon noodles?”
“That’s right, here they are.”
“Waah, they look nice!”
Chopsticks and forks were laid on the table for everyone. Of course, Jin preferred using chopsticks.
The soup is a special soup made by Peridot and others using fish sauce and a kelp substitute.
“Mmm, delicious!”
Jin started eating first. The cold udon noodles went pleasantly down his throat.
“Mmm, this is good!”
“…Delicious.”
“Yum~!
“So tasty!”
The others were using their forks, but the noodles seemed to have been well received.
Hanna’s portion was smaller than the rest, so she finished her noodles before anyone else.
“It was a great meal. But Jin, those… Chopsticks, were they? You seem to be quite skilled with them.”
“Ah, well, I’ve been using them for a long time.”
Stearleana praised Jin’s dexterity as she saw him hold the noodles with those two sticks.
“I think I’ll give them a try.”