After receiving word that Laojun had a report for him, Jin felt a prickle of concern.
"I have some business to attend to," he told Hanna and the others, excuse himself before returning to Hourai Island late that afternoon.
Knowing Hanna would be sleeping over with Mine set his mind at ease.
"Laojun, let's hear the report."
"As you wish, My Lord."
Laojun began his briefing. He started with the progress on the aircraft carrier, followed by the mass production status of the vibration swords, paralyzers, and magi-jammers designed for golem use.
He also noted that the Mermaid Squad had discovered resources on the ocean floor. They were currently conducting test drills to determine exactly what could be harvested.
And then:
"As a result of investigating whether government officials—starting with the Celuroa Kingdom—have been subjected to Hypno or Seduce magic, it has become clear that many are likely under some form of influence."
"What... did you say?"
This was a grave situation.
"I apologize for presenting these points out of order, but we have also discovered that we can determine whether mental manipulation magic is being used by monitoring magic patterns."
"Really? That's a huge relief."
Amidst a flurry of bad news, this was a significant breakthrough.
"When detecting magic patterns, a normal state displays a flat reaction, while an excited state shows a peaked one. However, an individual under mental manipulation constantly maintains a flat state, yet the intensity of that pattern is equivalent to a state of extreme excitement."
Jin nodded, processing the information.
"I think I understand. It's as if they're stuck in a state of sustained, perpetual agitation."
"Precisely. The effect can be dispelled using Shock magic. As you suspected previously, there is no need to go out of our way to induce excitement first."
Laojun reported that he had already experimented on people who were clearly being manipulated. They had reportedly recovered with no lingering side effects.
"Setting aside the ethics of human experimentation for the moment... well, you've done a fine job. This will make things much easier going forward."
"Thank you. Furthermore..."
Laojun delivered even grimmer news.
"Master Reinhard has been attacked. This information comes from the Secret Mobile Unit assigned to him, received just moments ago."
"What! Give me the details."
Laojun explained that Reinhard had encountered a magi craftman named Donald and an automata named Elena. He described how Elena’s demeanor had suddenly shifted, leading to a clash between the Secret Mobile Unit and Elena, as well as Donald’s golems. Reinhard himself was unharmed. He also revealed that Donald was the second seat of the Unifilar.
Finally, he noted that the manacam Jin had given to Reinhard had been destroyed in the fray, which was why the Secret Mobile Unit had been the ones to make contact.
"I see. I'll have to get another manacam to him."
"Master Reinhard has since relocated to a Shouro Empire supply base, accompanied by his friend Mattheus and his subordinates," Laojun concluded.
While Jin felt a wave of relief knowing Reinhard was safe, his anger toward the Unifilar flared up again.
"I can't let those people get away with this any longer."
He decided he would deliver a new manacam to Reinhard as soon as possible. He also needed to upgrade Sage and Cosmos—the Secret Mobile Units protecting Reinhard—with power-focused modifications.
"Even so, that Elena automata sounds like a force to be reckoned with. Even if the Secret Mobile Units aren't built for raw power, she held her own against two of them at once."
"Do you know anything else about her appearance?"
Anne, who had been listening in silence until then, suddenly interjected. Laojun answered her.
"Yes. She reportedly has golden hair, red eyes, and pale skin. Her appearance is somewhere between that of a young girl and an adult woman."
Anne's voice sharpened.
"It's her! That's her!"
"Her?"
Intrigued, Jin signaled for Anne to explain.
"I refer to her as 'her' because her true name is unknown. She is a mysterious automata who appeared just before the Great Magic War and was active through its early stages. Though she looks indistinguishable from a human, she was a force of destruction, indiscriminately tearing apart golems and automata alike."
"What?"
"She wasn't an ally to the demons, either. Several members of the demon race who tried to interfere with her were slaughtered."
"I wonder if she even has a goal."
"That is unknown. Some soldiers at the time called her the 'Golden Destruction Princess.'"
"The Golden Destruction Princess, huh? From what you've described, it sounds like she's running wild," Jin said with a frown.
Beside him, Reiko nodded in agreement.
"I agree, Father. I suspect that automata is operating without a master, caught in a state of perpetual rampage."
Coming from Reiko, the theory carried significant weight.
"So she wasn't made by this Donald guy, but is a relic from the distant past?"
"Yes, she must have been created before the Great Magic War," Anne concluded.
"Hmm. Then why would an automata like that be working with the second seat of the Unifilar?"
Jin tilted his head, but no answer presented itself.
Before he could ponder it further, another report came in.
"My Lord, I have just received a transmission from Regulus 2, the Quinta unit dispatched to Alban, the capital of the Klein Kingdom."
"Yes? What is it?"
"The Klein Kingdom has declared a state of emergency. They have ordered the landed nobility to mobilize their private armies."
"What?"
"The Franz Kingdom’s army is making a slow but steady incursion. This appears to be the countermeasure."
Jin’s expression darkened.
"That means they're going to conscript the villagers as soldiers. Right when they should be busy in the fields!"
Even if they won, agricultural production would plummet, and the nation's overall strength would inevitably wither.
"War really is the height of stupidity. If they want to fight so badly, they should just let the people who actually want to die go at it themselves," Jin spat. "At this rate, I might as well just go and throw the entire battlefield into chaos."
The thought was uncharacteristically aggressive for him, but he meant it.
"The only reason Kaina Village lost its people was because of war. Even that village..."
He remembered the desolate, depopulated village he had seen while traveling with Reinhard.
"And Lishia... she'll probably be called to the front, too."
He remembered the girl asking him, 'Is it okay for me to stay as I am?' He remembered her shouting, 'Ritters protect everyone!' as she charged a golem.
"If this keeps up, the Kingdom of Egerea won't be safe either..."
He thought of Prince Ernest, who adored the Lotte golem Jin had made. He thought of Lyla, the clumsy but earnest member of the Royal Secret Maids.
He thought of Count Kuzuma of Blue Land and his fiancée, Beena.
Even the Kingdom of Elias might be at risk. He pictured Marcia the shipwright.
There were so many others he had met. Sie and her family at the mine. The children of Moft Village.
"If I can do something about it, I want to help them..."
Jin began to formulate a plan.
"Master, you wish to stop the war, not simply win it, correct?" Anne asked, as if to confirm his intent.
Her words triggered a memory from his youth.
It had happened at the orphanage. Two of the younger children had gotten too competitive over a game, shouting about who won and who lost until it nearly came to blows.
"If you can't get along, you won't be allowed to play at all!"
The Orphanage Director had snatched the console away and smashed it against a rock.
"I bought this game so you could have fun together. If the game is the reason you're fighting, then I'll never let you play one again."
Faced with the director's unwavering resolve, the children had burst into tears and apologized.
Later, Jin had worked a part-time job to buy them a replacement, but the children never fought over it again.
"Well, whether they can actually be friends depends on the nature of those nations, but stopping them? I can manage that."
"Father?"
Sensing that Jin was about to do something reckless, Reiko tugged at his sleeve.
"Ah, it's alright, Reiko. What I'm planning isn't even possible without you, after all."
Jin proceeded to explain his strategy.
Listening to him, Reiko nodded firmly.
"Please, leave it to me," she said, puffing out her chest with pride. Then she added with a small smile, "But Father, please stay here on Hourai Island and provide us with instructions."
Jin intended to use the Body Double he had crafted earlier, so he agreed readily.
"Right. I'll give the orders through the Body Double....Wait, there's no reason for it to look like me, is there?"
He had already planned to intervene anonymously, but it occurred to him that it would be even more effective if the figure bore no resemblance to him at all.
Jin immediately set to work modifying the Body Double’s appearance.
He changed the black hair to silver and the black eyes to blue. He also increased its height to 180 centimeters.
When he was finished, it looked nothing like him.
"Good, that's done. Now for the rest..."
He began preparing the necessary equipment at a feverish pace.
"Right, I'll need to turn Induction into a magic tool..."
With the Smith golems assisting him, the preparations were completed in short order.
Once everything was ready, Jin gave the command to Laojun.
"Reiko will depart in Titan 2. If the situation demands it, I will pilot Titan 3 remotely."
No. 2 was a piloted model, while No. 3 was built for remote operation.
"Understood. A submersible base equipped with a super-large Warp Gate has already been deployed in Azul Lake within the Celuroa Kingdom."
"A submersible base?"
Jin repeated the unfamiliar term.
"Yes. A submersible base normally remains hidden on the lake bed. In the event of an operation, it surfaces to allow the use of the Warp Gate."
Jin was impressed. Azul Lake was in Celuroa, but its location put it near the borders of both the Franz Kingdom and the Klein Kingdom.
"The 8th Fort Ruins are insufficient for transporting the Titans or the aircraft required to carry them."
"I may have created you, Laojun, but you really do excellent work."
"I am honored. That being the case, I request that you name the aircraft dedicated to transporting the Titans."
At Laojun's signal, two massive planes landed in the plaza in front of the laboratory.
"So these are the Titan transports?"
The aircraft were unique, equipped with specialized magi jet engines. The diameter of the engines was enormous, while their length was surprisingly short.
If a standard magi jet engine was a cylinder, these were shaped like rings.
They weren't an entirely new invention, but rather a variation within existing parameters that Laojun had been able to manufacture on his own initiative.
Jin studied them with interest.
"I see. They aren't built for speed, but they have incredible lifting power."
"Yes. I took the liberty of researching the design."
Jin grinned, pleased with the progress.
"Good work, Laojun. Keep it up....Right, a name. Let me see..."
Jin looked at the aircraft again.
They had four massive magi jet engines for lift, arranged at the corners of a square frame, and four smaller engines for forward propulsion. The Titan would be suspended from a swing-like harness in the center of the square.
"Alright. Let's call them 'Condor'."
"Acknowledged. Condor 1 and Condor 2. Preparations are complete. They are ready for launch at your command."
"Good. We have plenty of time. Condor 1, carrying Titan 2, will depart tomorrow morning. The Raptor and Falcon squads will sortie with the Land units."
"Laojun acknowledges. Raptor 1 through 10 and Falcon 1 through 10 are preparing for takeoff."
The Smith golems began loading the magic tools Jin had just finished. Once they were secure, Laojun issued orders to the Land units.
"Land 11 through 90, assemble with your issued armaments."
Late into the night of April 21st, Hourai Island finally began its move.