The story now turns back to an earlier moment in time...
In the governmental affairs office at Parnam Castle, Souma and Liscia were listening to a report from Mao on the Seadian city of Haalga—the gateway to the northern hemisphere—and on the adventurers who had gone there ahead of the rest.
Mao sat across from Souma, her image projected by the magatama jewel resting on his kamidana altar.
It was a routine report, with little having changed since the last one. The world of the north remained largely unknown, and all she could say was that the investigation was ongoing.
Just as it became clear that only a bit of idle chatter remained before wrapping up, Liscia suddenly asked, “Come to think of it, Madam Mao, you’re able to project yourself without using a simple receiver, aren’t you? The simple receivers project images onto water, but what are you projecting onto?”
“Hey... I never thought of that,” Souma admitted. “I just assumed she could project it in midair.”
He’d grown up seeing that sort of thing in sci-fi, so unlike Liscia, the thought had never even crossed his mind.
Mao smiled softly and explained, “It’s much the same. The nanomachines use their power to project the image using moisture in the air, dust, even the nanomachines themselves. In this world, it’s the work of what you call magicium.”
“Hmm. So if you make full use of magicium, you can project an image even without a simple receiver?”
“Yes, that’s correct. But it would be difficult for anyone short of a being like Tiamat or myself to fully harness the universal matter known as magicium. As things stand, mankind can only record video using the advanced universal machines you call dungeon cores.”
“Huh? So dungeon cores are like a high-grade form of magicium?” Souma asked, picking up on what Mao had said.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“In that case, does magicium have recording capabilities too?”
“It does,” Mao confirmed with surprising ease. Souma blinked.
“Seriously? Then we never needed to haul around those giant jewels for broadcasts?”
“Only if you can properly wield magicium, or if you have someone who can record using their own abilities. You do have people like that among your subordinates, don’t you?”
“Huh? Who?”
“The House of Juniro. They call their abilities illusion magic, but in reality, they’re projecting explosions and sounds that don’t exist, aren’t they?”
“Ivan and his family, huh?!”
Souma had been misled by them calling it “illusion magic,” but in truth, their abilities could also be understood as projecting special effects into midair.
In short, jewels might no longer be necessary for broadcasting, and Souma already had the key to making it happen. He let out a sigh.
“That was a blind spot... Ah, so is there a way to record video without a jewel then?”
“If I limit my answer to methods feasible for people in this world...perhaps with curse ore.”
“Curse ore?”
“Yes. You already know it is a mass of nanomachines, magicium, that has completed its function and gone dormant. In other words, it is a lump of universal matter. If dungeon cores can be used to record video, curse ore should be usable in much the same way.”
““...””
Souma and Liscia stared at Mao, mouths hanging open.
“Souma... I feel like she just casually dropped something that could shake the very foundations of this world.”
“Yeah. No doubt about it,” Souma replied with a nod. “I already came up with a few ways to misuse it.”
“Such as?”
“Sending curse ore that’s been turned into a recording device to other countries...for spying.”
“You came up with something that underhanded?!”
“It’s only natural to imagine what you wouldn’t want the other side doing to you,” Souma said, pressing a hand to his forehead with a sigh. “Before I can get excited about making video cameras, I’m more worried about how they’ll be abused.”
“What do you want to do? Keep it secret?”
“No. Someone else is bound to figure it out eventually. If it gets misused then, and we’re slow to respond, the damage could be even worse. It might be better to announce it publicly so each country can take countermeasures. Of course, I wouldn’t mind if it also just led to more cameras being made.”
If they prepared themselves for potential misuse, they could probably prevent it. For example, any gifts sent from other countries to the castle could be checked for curse ore along with the usual inspections for hazardous materials.
Later, Souma brought the matter up at a summit with the other heads of state. The representatives were surprised, but by disclosing the information openly, the Kingdom of Friedonia showed that it had no intention of monopolizing or abusing the technology. The possibility of broadcasting without large jewels appealed to other nations as well, and so they agreed to adopt it while taking appropriate precautions.
With their understanding secured, Souma requested that Genia the overscientist develop a miniature broadcast jewel—or mini-jewel—that made use of curse ore.
And from there, the production of broadcast programs in the Kingdom increased rapidly.