"Golems!?"
"There’s no doubt—those are Valentino’s golems!"
The machines forcing their way through the doors were the very same ones crafted by Sir Valerio for the race. Their owner was indeed Valentino.
"The man has been backed into a corner and has resorted to violence, it seems," Reinhard observed grimly.
A second golem of the same model emerged behind the first.
"Two of them! He must have commissioned them using the profits from his smuggling!"
Though submerged to their chests in the water, the golems marched forward with steady, purposeful strides.
"They’re heading straight for Marcia’s catamaran," Jin noted. "They’re definitely after the evidence of the Elradrite deals."
Reinhard immediately called out to Lorelei.
"Yes, Creator."
The mermaid-type golem rose from the depths.
"Wait, Reinhard," Jin interjected. "You’re not seriously going to try and stop those two with Lorelei, are you?"
Lorelei was constructed from magical beast leather; she would be at a significant disadvantage against metallic opponents in a direct confrontation.
"She might not look like a fighter, but Lorelei’s combat capabilities are quite high," Reinhard assured him. "Provided she’s in the water, anyway."
He gave his golem her orders. Lorelei vanished beneath the surface. A moment later, the two enemy golems buckled as if their legs had been swept out from under them, collapsing into the water.
"Well done! Everyone, out now while we have the chance!"
Reinhard moved to usher Elsa and Marcia out of the dock to safety, but Marcia stood her ground.
"No! If we leave them like this, won't they just destroy my boat!?"
"She’s right," Jin said, assessing the situation. "From the looks of it, those two are semi-autonomous types. They won’t stop until they either complete their mission or are completely destroyed."
Marcia looked confused. "Semi-autonomous? What does that mean?"
Reinhard took over the explanation. He explained that semi-autonomous types were the most common format for golems, possessing a limited degree of independence. For instance, if given a command like "Retrieve that object," they could navigate the environment to do so without requiring constant, minute control from the master. However, imbuing a golem with greater autonomy than that was a feat far beyond most magi craftmen.
"Hmm, it's just too cramped in here..." Jin muttered.
He was currently weighing his options. While Reiko could easily handle twenty golems of that caliber, the confined space of the dock made things difficult. If she punched with enough power to dismantle them, the recoil would likely send her flying backward, right through the dock's walls.
He scanned the area for an alternative and spotted exactly what he needed.
"Reiko! Throw those weights at them!"
He pointed to a set of ballast weights, each weighing about twenty kilograms, used for temporary anchoring.
"Yes, Father."
Reiko hoisted the iron mass as if it were a feather. She calculated the trajectory and hurled it at the first golem with twenty percent output.
Someone let out a sharp intake of breath.
The weight Reiko threw didn't just strike the golem—it pulverized the machine's entire upper torso before soaring out of the dock entirely through the open doors.
"Thank goodness those doors were already open," Jin sighed. He was glad she hadn't added unnecessary property damage to the day's events.
Reiko reached for a second weight and launched it at the remaining golem. The machine reached out its arms to intercept the projectile, but it was no match for a mass of iron moving at twenty percent of Reiko's power. The projectile shattered the golem's arms, crushed its chest, tore straight through its midsection, and continued its flight at incredible velocity until it splashed down far out in the harbor.
The witnesses stood in stunned silence.
Reinhard was the first to regain his composure. "Lorelei, find their control cores!"
"Yes."
Analyzing the cores would provide undeniable proof of the perpetrator. Lorelei quickly retrieved the two gems from the water.
By then, the local Security Guard had begun to swarm the area. Reinhard took charge of the explanation, with Elsa providing corroboration. Watching them work, Jin realized once again how valuable it was to have a recognized status.
"I see. So two golems forced open the dock doors and attacked?"
"The sentry is injured, but he confirms the account."
"In any case, the Lord wishes to see you immediately. We will secure this area."
The situation had escalated into a major scandal. As key witnesses, Jin and his companions were escorted to the government office to meet with Marchioness Dominic de Firenziano, the ruler of the southern Elias Kingdom.
In an upper room of the government office, Valentino de Hudson—third son of Marquis Hudson and assistant to the lord—was being held for questioning. Because of his noble status, he was being kept in a regular room rather than a dungeon cell.
His formal interrogation was set for the next morning. Two guards stood outside his door, confident that he had no means of escape. Then, the sound of shattering glass rang out from inside.
"What was that!?"
The guards threw open the door and recoiled in shock.
"G-Golems!?"
Two golems stood in the center of the room. Had Jin seen them, he would have recognized them as the same model that had attacked the tax convoy back in Kaina Village.
"Heh. As long as I have these, you'll never keep me in a cage. I’m done with this country anyway!"
Valentino leaped through the hole the golems had smashed in the wall, his protectors following close behind.
"Wait! Stop!"
One guard gave chase, while the other ran to report the escape to the Marchioness.
"What!? Valentino has fled!?"
Marchioness Dominic could hardly believe it. A high-born noble had actually fled like a common criminal to avoid judgment.
"Deploy every available man! He must be caught!"
She barked orders to her subordinates, but the town's garrison was spread thin. She had only ten of her own men, and the local force numbered a mere twenty. With half the men off-duty, they were ill-equipped to face two combat golems.
At that moment, an attendant arrived.
"Lady Firenziano, Lord Reinhard and Lady Elsa from the Shouro Empire are here to see you, along with the winners of today’s race, Team MJR. They say it is urgent. The port guards are with them as well."
Though she was tempted to make them wait, the presence of foreign nobility forced her hand. She ordered them shown in.
However, as they laid out their findings, her annoyance turned to grim realization. Reinhard used a Read spell on the retrieved control cores, projecting the recorded commands for all to see.
"‘Destroy boat number 35 and recover the evidence of the Elradrite transactions hidden within’...? And the one who issued the command was... Valentino!?"
"We have already secured the evidence in question. This is it," Reinhard said, placing the contract on the table.
Dominic’s face paled as she inspected it. She confirmed that the seal on the contract was undoubtedly Valentino’s.
"If this all holds true, it seems Valentino was neck-deep in a smuggling ring."
According to the Marchioness, the Elradrite mentioned in the contract—which had been hidden inside Marcia’s ship—likely belonged to a royal shipment that had been stolen a year ago while en route to the capital.
"The proof is in the 'E' engraving."
The diagrams in the contract showed four stones, each marked with a small 'E'. There was no longer any room for doubt.
"But why hide it there of all places?" the Marchioness mused.
Marcia spoke up. "I think I know. About a year ago, I was performing a massive overhaul on my boat for the race, even though I couldn't find a magi craftman to help me compete back then. I didn't have a dock, so I had it hauled up on the beach where anyone could get to it."
Because of the ship's unique catamaran design, it would have served as an unmistakable landmark for a drop-off or hiding spot.
"I recall a report from that time," the Marchioness said, checking her records. "A suspicious person was spotted and detained, but a search of his person turned up nothing."
It was around that same time that Valentino had begun hounding Marcia to become his concubine. Frustrated by his persistence, she had eventually moved the boat to the neighboring town where her father’s shop had once been. Valentino must have panicked when his "hiding spot" suddenly sailed away.
"And when he finally tracked it down again, the boat containing the evidence turned out to be the same one owned by the woman he was pursuing—who was now entering it in a public race," Reinhard concluded.
The puzzle was finally complete.
"Once Valentino is questioned, we’ll be able to identify the thieves and the entire smuggling organization," Reinhard said with a sigh of relief.
But the Marchioness looked grim. "I’m afraid... Valentino was just broken out of custody by his golems. He has escaped."
"What!?"
"I must report this to the royal capital immediately and place him on the wanted list. Lord Reinhard, I would ask for your assistance in filing the formal report."
"Of course."
With that, Jin and Marcia were excused. The matter had moved into the realm of high-level diplomacy and law enforcement—well beyond the concerns of a craftman and a shipwright.
The next morning, Jin and Marcia stood at the harbor to say their goodbyes.
"If you’re ever in town, come look me up!" Marcia said with her usual boisterous grin. "I’ll have Marcia's Shipyard up and running by then, just you wait!"
"I'm looking forward to it. Make sure you build plenty of great ships."
The two shared a firm handshake before parting ways.
As a side note, everyone else involved in the smuggling ring was arrested in short order.
The arsonist who had set fire to the docks turned out to be a member of the Security Guard who had been paid off by Valentino. He had used his clearance to enter the area while off-duty.
The Security Guard Captain was also found to have accepted massive bribes to look the other way during illegal shipments. He was stripped of his rank and imprisoned.
The thugs who had tried to ambush Marcia—the ones Reiko had knocked out—were eventually interrogated. They were already in custody in the next town over for another crime, and they confessed to their involvement with Valentino almost immediately.
Furthermore, at a later date, a large number of Death Sea Serpent carcasses were discovered floating off the coast of Io Island. No one could explain why so many of the monsters had died in that specific area, and the mystery remained unsolved.