“Since they're the group that kidnapped Reinhard, a diplomat of the Shouro Empire, I’ll leave their punishment to him....Oh, that’s right.”
Remembering something, Jin pulled a magi-crystal from a pocket of his reinforced suit and approached the unconscious members of the Unifilar. He used Trans Info on the man who looked the most important among them.
“This should give us some slightly better information.”
Purcell, the manager of the 8th branch he had scanned last time, had possessed very little useful information.
Just as he tucked the crystal back into the breast pocket of his reinforced suit—
A shadow leaped out of the darkness and struck Jin. He was lifted off his feet and sent flying about five meters through the air.
“Jin!”
“Father!”
The one who had struck Jin was the Universal Golem that had sunk into the river with Intact. Because its right leg had been destroyed by Reiko’s railgun, it had taken time for the machine to climb back onto the bank.
Naturally, Intact, whom it had been supporting as ordered, had drowned and was already gone from this world.
However, the Universal Golem possessed a degree of autonomy—though not as much as Jin’s golems. Once it confirmed that Intact was dead, it knew that the chain of command would transfer to the next in line: Marcello, the vice-branch manager.
And when it saw Marcello unconscious and tied up, it attacked the enemy standing closest to him—Jin.
Having been thrown five meters by the blow, Jin lay on the ground without moving a muscle.
“How dare you... do that to Father!!”
Along with those words, Reiko delivered a retaliatory blow to the Universal Golem. She swung the railgun in her hands, striking down with a massive overhead swing.
It was a strike delivered with Reiko’s absolute full power—so much force that even the adamantite barrel of the railgun was bent out of shape.
Through some application of physics, the Universal Golem did not sink into the soil; instead, it was flattened like an empty can crushed by a truck.
“Jin! Pull yourself together!”
Meanwhile, Reinhard rushed to Jin’s side to tend to him.
“Ugh... nngh?”
“Jin! Are you awake?! Thank goodness!”
“Father!”
Having crushed the Universal Golem, Reiko also immediately rushed to Jin’s side.
“I am terribly sorry! Please, punish me!!”
Reiko prostrated herself in a deep dogeza before the conscious Jin. However, Jin spoke to her with a kind voice.
“Reiko, I’m okay. Lift your head.”
“J-Jin, are you really alright? You were punched by a golem and sent flying five meters!”
But Jin answered with a smile.
“Yeah, this reinforced suit protected me from the impact. It seems I blacked out for a second, but that was just from the shock of being thrown and hitting the ground.”
Jin stood up, waving his arms and stomping his feet to prove he was unharmed.
“Ah, thank goodness. I’ve never been so frightened in my life.”
“Father...”
Reiko’s face was crumpled with distress. If she were capable of crying, she would have been shedding a torrent of tears.
Following Reiko’s lead, the golems of the Secret Mobile Unit were also prostrating themselves all around them. It was a surreal sight.
“Everyone, that’s enough. I’m perfectly fine.”
The reinforced suit made of Sea Dragon materials had withstood the blow from the Universal Golem, even if the golem's right leg had been damaged. Though he wasn't particularly happy about the circumstances, the suit's performance in actual combat had been verified.
“Jin, I am sincerely happy that you came to rescue me. But you should value yourself a little more.”
“Eh?”
“Reiko-chan and the rest of the golems—they are your children. If anything happened to you, they would all be devastated. You need to understand that.”
Having realized that the golems and automata Jin created possessed rich emotions, Reinhard offered this advice.
“In the first place, I don't think you are suited for leading on the battlefield.”
Jin gratefully accepted Reinhard’s blunt assessment.
“I suppose... you're right. I understand, I’ll be careful. Thank you, Reinhard.”
“Yeah.”
After consulting with each other, Jin and Reinhard decided to have the captured Unifilar members escorted by Land 58, 59, and 60. They would be taken to the city of Dali and handed over to the Celuroa Kingdom through the Shouro Empire’s garrison. As a diplomat, Reinhard could not allow personal grudges to dictate his actions.
Deciding to send the prisoners on foot, Jin considered what to do with Reinhard and Stearena, who had yet to wake from her faint.
In the end, since it was still the middle of the night, he decided to transport them near the city of Dali aboard Hydro 5.
“Ooh! So this is the ship Jin built!”
Reinhard grew excited upon seeing the Hydro 5.
“It’s not golem-powered!”
Jin soothed Reinhard, telling him he would explain everything later, and helped him onto the craft.
As it had a capacity of four people, the seats were full with Marine 5 at the helm, Jin, Reinhard, and Stearena. However, Reiko was adamant.
“I will not leave Father’s side.”
With no other choice, Jin had her sit on his lap for the trip. The bent railgun was stowed in the luggage space. Even then, the craft had plenty of margin in terms of weight capacity.
“Departing now.”
With those words from Marine 5, Hydro 5 started. Moving with the river’s current, the craft exceeded 50 kilometers per hour despite carrying four passengers.
The Army golems, other than Land 58, 59, and 60 who were escorting the prisoners, were recovered by Falcon 2. The fragments of the secured enemy golems were also taken along.
“Reinhard, I should mention this, but the guards in the Celuroa Kingdom are useless. Even though you and Stearena-san were kidnapped, they hadn't even started to make a move.”
“Well, yeah. I can imagine.”
“Besides, your butler—Claude, was it? Even he was reportedly shut out from the scene.”
Jin explained the things that Sage and Cosmos of the Secret Mobile Unit had seen and heard while they remained on-site to gather information.
“Hmm, is it really that rotten?”
While they were talking, the city of Dali came into view. It had taken a little under thirty minutes. Since getting too close would be risky, Hydro 5 pulled over to the riverbank. Here, a problem arose.
The city of Dali was on the left bank of the Azul River, while the prisoners were on the right bank.
“It can’t be helped. On this side—I believe this is the town of Jiron—there should be garrisoned soldiers here as well. Let’s hand them over there.”
As Reinhard said this, Hydro 5 crossed back over to the right bank.
“Sorry, but please find a way to keep my name out of this. And give my regards to Stearena-san.”
Being questioned by the soldiers of the Celuroa Kingdom or the Shouro Empire right now would be a waste of time and, above all, a nuisance.
Thus, although he felt a bit bad about it, Jin dumped all the cleanup onto Reinhard.
“Good grief, I suppose it can’t be helped. In exchange, I’ll have you make it up to me later, alright?” Reinhard said with a mischievous smile.
Jin also smiled as he spoke.
“What are you talking about? I saved you, didn’t I?”
To that, Reinhard replied:
“Haha, just a joke. Well, leave the diplomatic processing to me.”
He accepted the task readily.
Still, Jin was concerned about Stearena, who had yet to wake up, so he promised Reinhard he would send some recovery medicine later before letting him disembark.
Reinhard’s dedicated guards, Sage and Cosmos, were already waiting there and took charge of the unconscious Stearena.
When Jin contacted Land 58 and the others via manacam, they reported that it would take about four and a half more hours to reach the town.
“Well then, Reinhard, I’m really sorry. I’ll leave the rest to you!”
With those final words, Jin turned Hydro 5 back toward the upper reaches of the Azul River.
Once the city of Dali was out of sight, Falcon 1 and 3 descended. Falcon 3 hovered over the river to hoist the Hydro 5, sending up clouds of spray.
Then Jin and Reiko boarded Falcon 1. At that moment, Jin took an ampoule of recovery medicine from the onboard medical kit and asked Reiko to deliver it to Reinhard.
“Understood. But Father, please do not leave the Falcon under any circumstances, alright?” Reiko insisted.
Jin gave a wry smile and nodded.
“I shall go and return quickly then.”
With that, Reiko vanished.
Reiko covered the distance of approximately three kilometers in about one minute. Her speed reached nearly 200 kilometers per hour.
“Reinhard-san.”
“O-Oh, Reiko-chan, what is it?”
“This is recovery medicine. It is very effective, so please have her take half of it at a time, in two doses.”
Reiko held out the ampoule.
“Ah, so this is it. Thank you for going out of your way.”
Reinhard thanked her and accepted the medicine.
“Well then, I shall be going now.”
No sooner had Reiko said those words than she turned on her heel and vanished like the breeze.
“Father! Are you safe!”
“Oh, Reiko, you were fast.”
“...Thank goodness, you are safe.”
“Of course. What do you take me for?”
But Reiko didn't answer that.
“Now, quickly, let us go home.”
She said. Understanding Reiko’s feelings, Jin gave the instruction to Sky 11 at the controls to return to base.
And so, Falcon 1 and 3 soared up into the dawning sky.
Falcon 3, which was carrying the Hydro 5, maintained a speed equal to Falcon 1. This was possible through an application of wind magic that controlled the airflow around the fuselage.
The Pelican models functioned the same way. All models with thick fuselages were equipped with this feature.
During the return to Hourai Island, Jin used the manacam to explain the details of the rescue to Elsa.
On the other side of the manacam, Elsa let out a sigh of relief. She might have been remembering the time she herself had been kidnapped.
Once the call was finished, Jin took a nap for a short while. Reiko gazed intently at Jin’s sleeping face.
Falcon 1 flew toward the sunrise rising over the horizon, heading for Hourai Island.