Summoning Japan: Flights of the Fancy

Chapter 9 - Hymax

The mage leading the experimental unit from Runesvaletta, Corcana, was in a good mood. This was because the debut of her adorable Magic Troopers was promised.

The Mirishial Army's weapon development was mainly divided among three magic academies: the Runepolis for naval vessels, the Runesvaletta for aircraft, and the Runesweaves for land combat weapons. They were neatly separated into sea, sky, and land. Therefore, when Runesvaletta which primarily focused on developing aircraft, started working on the development of the Magic Trooper, there was a sense of discomfort (or rather, skepticism) even within the military. When individuals asked the development director, Corcana, about the concept, they uniformly rejected it. According to them, "It's absurd to develop something that even the Sorcerous Empire didn't create!"

In response, Corcana said, "Thanks for the compliment!"

He would follow up with a blow to those who were puzzled by his response.

"There's no way we could defeat the Sorcerous Empire by doing the same thing as them!"

Those who were told this irrefutable argument would inevitably be left speechless. As a result, she was referred to as a "Witch" by colleagues and students—both as a form of respect and as an insult.

In reality, the concept of the new Magic Trooper, also known as the "Witch's Whim," was a bit outlandish: Magic Troopers capable of three-dimensional mobility (flying). Runesvaletta had been developing the floating ships of the heavens, and it made sense for them to have expertise in aerial weapons. But sending land weapons like Magic Troopers flying? What's the point of that? Is it even possible? Even if it were, wouldn't the Sorcerous Empire have done it long ago—such were the overwhelmingly common reactions.

In response, Corcana argued that if one could move in the air, they would have a significant advantage in speed and rough terrain traversal over moving on land, drastically increasing the unit's mobility. Everyone had to reluctantly acknowledge the validity of this argument.

However, the feasibility of the idea was challenging to counter. Initially, they tried attaching the Elpacio 3's magical chant-powered compressed air emission engine to existing Magic Troopers (the current mainstay, "Maxta"), but the engine lacked the thrust to make them fly. Attempts to lighten the Maxta's weight only resulted in a slight lift of the vehicle. Nevertheless, the Army appreciated the weight reduction, and a vehicle with only weight reduction was officially adopted as the high-mobility/support-type Magic Trooper "Maxlight."

Thus, Corcana's research reached a temporary deadlock until the solution brought from Japan—the improvement in bypass ratio. By equipping the Elpacio 3''s engine on the Maxlight, the vehicle became capable of continuous 30-second aerial movement (any longer would cause overheating). During aerial movement, it achieved a maximum altitude of 15 meters, a maximum horizontal movement distance of 400 meters, and a top speed of 100 km/h (40 km/h on the ground). Corcana named this vehicle "Hymax" and pitched it to the Army.

However, the Army was not as naïve as to jump to conclusions based on these numbers and think that mobility had increased. The magical chant-powered compressed air emission engine consumed magical stones intended for aircraft like a glutton. Continuous aerial movement was not sustainable, frequent use shortened the range, and it even decreased mobility. Moreover, many Army experts were skeptical if the cost increase due to using expensive liquid magical stones was justified by the benefits of aerial movement.

Having doubts cast on the mobility advantage she had touted, Corcana presented another benefit: its utility as an anti-tank weapon.

While the Mirishial Army had self-propelled guns, it lacked tanks due to the inability to create a high-output engine capable of moving heavily armored vehicles. Until now, Magic Troopers had been their champions of land warfare.