Naturally.
The design itself was complete.
It used a magic circle to convert hydrogen and oxygen, then ignited them, harvesting the explosive force for power, which was then converted back into magical energy.
This cyclical process was achieved using Alice's knowledge and her unique magic circles.
Over at the Kappa's place on Youkai Mountain, they had a thing called an 'engine' that operated on a similar principle.
The difference was, Alice's energy source was magical power.
The Kappa, on the other hand, mostly used a foul-smelling oil—something called gasoline or diesel, I think—as their fuel.
And crucially, the Kappa hadn't figured out how to convert the explosive force back into their fuel.
Alice managed this feat by applying her Seven Elements magic.
It was, in theory, perfectly elegant.
But in the end, it just blew up.
The problem with this seemingly perfect process was one critical question: could the kinetic energy from the ignited hydrogen and oxygen be converted back into an equal amount of magical energy compared to what was used to create them?
The answer was no.
Through experimentation, Alice found that one unit of magical energy, after being converted into hydrogen and oxygen and then exploded, would only yield about 0.8 units back. There was a loss of roughly 0.2 units.
Creating the specific environmental conditions necessary for the explosion itself consumed magical energy.
It was the cost of maintaining that explosive environment that ate up the 0.2 units.
Any loss at all meant Alice's dream of a 'perpetual motion' core was utterly impossible.
Naturally, increasing the volume of hydrogen and oxygen would create a bigger explosion, which in turn would generate more magical energy upon conversion.
But, by the same token, the magical cost of maintaining the larger explosive environment would also increase.
And so, she was stuck in a vicious cycle of diminishing returns.
Still, after relentless testing, Alice did find a breakeven point—a specific threshold where the input magical energy and the recovered energy were perfectly balanced.
At that precise level, the magic put in to create the explosion would be exactly what she got back.
She could make a doll that incorporated this, but it couldn't perform any actions. The moment it tried to move, it would consume magic, completely throwing off the balance. Useless.
So, Alice kept experimenting, increasing the hydrogen and oxygen production, amplifying the explosive force.
The result?
Alice successfully created a self-destruct doll. The containment field inside its body was too small, and the magic conduction couldn't keep up. The moment it was activated, it would simply blow itself to pieces.
"So difficult..." Alice sighed, cleaning up the aftermath of her experiment.
Her mind wandered idly.
"If I ignore the conversion back to magic and just use the explosion of hydrogen and oxygen as a pure power source, it's actually not bad."
The biggest challenge in her entire design was ensuring the hydrogen and oxygen could explode safely and successfully inside the doll without damaging it.
It all came down to the durability of the doll's internal 'engine.'
So much of the magic converted from the explosion was being funneled right back into reinforcing the engine's defenses. Every time it detonated, a significant portion of the shockwave leaked out during collection.
If she could perfectly capture that leaked explosive force and convert it into magic...
Then, and only then, would her 'perpetual motion' core be complete.
"Which means, I need to study more about barrier magic, doesn't it."
Having tidied up the workshop, Alice sat back down at her workbench.
She reached into a gap in space and pulled out a translucent 'stone,' examining it carefully.
"A Goliath's bone... quite a fine material. It would make a decent core, capable of channeling a substantial amount of magic."
"Should I use this to make a basic doll for now?"
She stared at the bone in her hand, torn.
To be honest, she wanted to keep researching the core. Even if true perpetual motion was out of reach, if she could amplify one unit of her magic into ten times the output, that would be fantastic.
She could simply collect the explosive force without converting it back, setting it up exactly like the Kappa's engine.
With Patchouli's magical knowledge, Alice could easily adapt a diesel engine design into a magic-powered engine.
And magic was something Alice had in spades.
So, for the Goliath's bone, she was leaning towards crafting it into a weapon or a tool for a doll. The bone had excellent magic conductivity and could handle immense amounts of energy.
She could even inscribe magic circles onto it. Its potential uses were vast, and Alice was reluctant to relegate such a material to being a simple core.
Just as she was wrestling with the decision, a knock came at the workshop door.
"Lady Alice!" Lili's voice called from outside. "There's an invitation here for you!"
Hearing Lili, Alice stowed the Goliath's bone back into the gap and went to open the door. Lili stood there holding a black envelope.
"An invitation?" Alice took the black letter from Lili.
On the back was a wax seal, imprinted with the emblem of a bow and a sun.
"This crest..."
Looking at the emblem, Alice frowned. It looked familiar, but she couldn't place it.
"It's from the Apollo Familia, Lady Alice," Lili explained, seeing her confusion. "The golden bow and sun is their Familia emblem. The invitation is probably for the banquet hosted by the god Apollo this month."
Alice's appetite was... not normal.
Lili ate more than she did. Plus, lately, Hestia and Bell had been coming over for dinner almost every night, so Lili was the one who bought all the ingredients each day.
When Lili had gone to the market that morning, she'd already heard the rumors about the Apollo Familia preparing a banquet. Seeing the invitation now, she connected the dots.
"But why would the Apollo Familia invite you, Lady Alice?"
Lili found it very strange.
Alice, however, thought it was perfectly straightforward.
"Probably because their god wants me to join his Familia, and I refused?" Alice said, opening the envelope and pulling out the letter inside.
Lili's expression cleared. "Ah, I see. So this banquet is basically set up for you, then? As expected of Lady Alice."
"But in that case, since you haven't joined any Familia, you probably won't go, right?"
"Well..." Alice scanned the letter. Her brow furrowed for just an instant before smoothing out, a slight smile appearing on her face. "I suppose showing up for a little bit couldn't hurt."
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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