While Jin was busy on Hourai Island, the Allied Kingdoms were in a state of turmoil.
During this time, Reinhard was making his way back to the Shouro Empire as scheduled. He was escorted by a company under the command of Captain Mattheus Geist von Realgar, the captain of the 3rd Company of the Imperial Guards.
Mattheus was a close friend of Reinhard’s and also the elder brother of his fiancée.
"I’m glad you were the one they sent, Mattheus."
Reinhard sat in his carriage, feeling secure under the protection of the unit led by his old friend.
"Yeah, His Majesty personally issued the order for me to guard you."
"His Majesty did?"
"That’s right. Rumors of your Schwarzritter reached all the way back to the capital. You won that combat golem exhibition match in the Celuroa Kingdom's royal capital, didn't you? I heard you even took down the famous Adamas Warrior."
To Reinhard, that felt like a story from the distant past, though barely a year had passed.
"And I heard you placed second in the Golem Boat Race in the Kingdom of Elias?" Mattheus continued, speaking while expertly keeping his horse perfectly alongside the moving carriage.
"Yeah, well... it was a shame I couldn't pull off the win."
"Don't sell yourself short! That was an entirely different field of competition. Taking second place right off the bat is a hell of an achievement."
Listening to his friend, Reinhard recalled that the race was where he had first met Jin. The days since then had been incredibly dense and eventful.
"...By the way, how is our young cousin?" Mattheus asked, breaking Reinhard's reverie. By "young cousin," he was referring to Elsa.
"Elsa, huh? I can't really speak on that. You'll have to ask Fritz."
"Major Fritz, eh? I’ve never been very fond of that man."
Reinhard had known since they were children that Mattheus had feelings for Elsa. However, Mattheus was a married man now.
"Fritz..."
Given everything he had learned from Jin, Reinhard couldn't help but wonder if Fritz was also under the influence of Seduce magic. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to confirm it.
They reached the provincial city of Tansten that evening to stay the night.
Back on Hourai Island, Jin was receiving a status report from Laojun.
『Regulus 4 has discovered ruins at Mount Galat near Blue Land. They recovered a Gigas Sealing Box and are currently transporting it here.』
『Deneb 7 located ruins near Lake Cedrolia on the border of the Klein Kingdom and the Celuroa Kingdom, but they were empty.』
『Spica 10 discovered a Gigas Sealing Box deep within ruins on the shores of Lake Manuse in the Klein Kingdom. It is currently being moved to our location.』
With two more boxes found that day, only three units remained unaccounted for.
『As for the conflict between the Celuroa Kingdom and the Kingdom of Egerea, Celuroa currently holds a slight advantage. It appears they have sent three battalions across the border.』
"I see..."
『Regarding the Kingdom of Franz and the Klein Kingdom, they are currently in a stalemate. The two armies are essentially in a standoff at the border.』
"...Got it."
Jin stood up and headed for the workshop, with Reiko following silently at his heels.
"War is never a good thing. I know that. But someone once said that there are as many versions of justice as there are people... I suppose that means there are as many versions of national justice as there are countries," Jin mused as he walked. "I’m not a hero or a champion. I’m not even a warrior. I’m a Magi Craft Meister."
He suddenly remembered the question Lishia Fahlheit, the young girl of the new nobility from the Klein Kingdom, had asked him.
"『Is it okay for me to stay as I am...?』"
She had sounded so uncertain. Her words perfectly mirrored Jin's own current state of mind.
"Father, where are you going?"
Reiko’s voice snapped him out of it. He had been so lost in thought that he was about to walk right past his own workshop.
"Oh, right. Sorry."
Jin rubbed the back of his head as he turned back. Reiko watched him with concern but chose to remain silent.
"Alright, I’m going to develop a new weapon today," Jin declared as soon as they stepped inside. "I’ve been analyzing that 'Chant-Interference Collar' they put on Reinhard and Stearena, and it’s given me some interesting ideas."
"Please, tell me more."
"Certainly. First, that collar had a mechanism that interfered with the concentration of mana."
His earlier somberness vanished as he grew increasingly animated.
"When using magic, chanting acts as a spirit word. It serves as a 'trigger' that is activated by a minute amount of mana."
He ignored the fact that magic could be cast without words if one could construct that trigger internally, focusing instead on the theory.
"The collar’s function was to diffuse the minute mana required for that trigger. Think of mana like gasoline and the trigger like the flame of a match. The collar effectively blows out the match before it can ignite the fuel. If we scale this up, we can create a field where magic simply cannot be activated."
"That is incredible, Father," Reiko said, her voice filled with genuine admiration.
"And there's more. It also had a function that drained the wearer's physical strength. If we scale that up as well, we could potentially knock out an entire army at once."
Both were highly effective tools. If he could complete them, he might be able to stop a war—even if only temporarily.
"That is wonderful, Father. Let us begin development at once."
Just as Reiko spoke, Anne entered the room.
"Goshujin-sama, I have heard the details via Laojun. Something similar to your idea actually existed in the past."
"Really?"
According to Anne, magic that interfered with other magic existed during the early stages of the Great Magic War.
"However, it wasn't very effective because it also prevented allies from using magic."
Against the demon race, who were physically superior, a situation where neither side could use magic usually ended in a disadvantage for the humans.
"Hmm. In this case, since it only interferes with the initial activation mana, I think you and the other golems should be fine. What do you think?" Jin asked, looking at Anne.
"Yes. Since it is strictly 'activation interference,' it will not affect golems running on internal mana. However, we would be unable to use external magical attacks."
Lately, Reiko had been relying mostly on her physical strength anyway, so losing her magical attacks wouldn't be much of a hindrance given her overwhelming power.
"It'll definitely be effective against mage units. Do you know how to construct it?"
"Yes, I have the magi-sequence in my memory."
With Anne’s help, they quickly put together a prototype for the Magi-Jammer. Jin added his own unique refinements and improvements to the ancient design.
"With Goshujin-sama's methods, the efficiency is more than doubled," Anne noted during the testing phase.
Next, Jin moved on to the "stamina-draining" weapon.
"Couldn't we just expand the existing function of the collar for this one?"
"The mana requirement would be far too high for that approach," Anne countered.
"Hmm, true. Then what if we did this..."
"Father," Reiko interjected, "I believe it would be faster to re-examine the magi-sequence from the ground up."
"You're right."
The three of them—Jin, Reiko, and Anne—pooled their expertise. Jin provided the intuitive leaps, Reiko handled the technical verification, and Anne offered insights from her unique strategic perspective.
With a clear goal and a base model to work from, they had the general configuration finalized before noon.
"Father, pushing yourself any further will be detrimental to your health. It is lunchtime, so let us go to Kunlun Island to see Elsa and the others."
Reiko practically dragged Jin away from his pile of prototypes.
"Goshujin-sama, please go and eat. I will assemble the prototype while you are away," Anne added.
Yielding to their persistence, Jin cleared his head and warped over to Kunlun Island.
"Welcome back, Jin-nii."
The weather was beautiful on Kunlun Island, so they had lunch outdoors. Elsa had become quite proficient at simple cooking, having clearly put effort into her skills.
Even away from his magi craft, Jin found himself falling back into thought as he ate. Elsa didn't miss it.
"Jin-nii, are you thinking about something while you eat?"
Jin flinched, caught red-handed. Since she had seen through him, he gave her a brief summary of the situation on the continent.
"War..."
Elsa turned a bit pale, so Jin tried to offer some comfort.
"Well, luckily, the Shouro Empire hasn't been drawn into the fighting yet. And I heard last night that Reinhard is on his way home under the protection of a unit led by a captain named Mattheus."
"Mattheus?" Elsa’s expression softened with nostalgia.
"Yeah. Do you know him?"
"Mattheus is Rai-nii's friend. He's also the brother of his fiancée."
"I see. So if Reinhard gets married, he'll be that Mattheus person's younger brother-in-law."
"Yes. If Mattheus is with him, Rai-nii is safe."
Elsa’s reassurance helped Jin relax as well. On a whim, he decided to ask her something.
"Elsa, what do you think about this war?"
She answered without a second's hesitation.
"I hate war."
She paused for a moment before continuing.
"...Brother Fritz was once taken prisoner. I was so worried about him back then."
That was from a time when Fritz was still a kind brother to her.
Hearing her words, Jin felt a strange sense of coincidence—he was imagining the same thing as Reinhard: that Fritz might be under the influence of Seduce.
"Father is a soldier. I heard he was promoted because of war. But I still hate it. It would be better if it didn't exist."
Mine, listening nearby, had a pained look on her face, perhaps recalling the circumstances of her life when she was pregnant with Elsa.
"I understand. Sorry for asking such a heavy question."
Jin gave her a small, apologetic bow. Serious, worried expressions didn't really suit him, but some things were worth the thought.