On July 3rd, the day after the centipede extermination, a meeting that felt like an after-action report was underway on Hourai Island.
Stearena had returned as well, joining the group for the discussion.
"I thought our current defensive capabilities were sufficient, but I've been forced to realize they're inadequate," Jin admitted.
Normally, he would have believed that no opponent existed who couldn't be instantly neutralized by Hourai Island's current military strength. Reinhard and the others couldn't exactly tell him he was worrying too much, either.
"As long as we don't have to use it, there's no harm in being too strong, just in case..." Saki added. Yesterday's experience had clearly left a powerful impression on her.
"My Lord, I believe our weapon profiles are somewhat unbalanced," Anne spoke up.
While Elsa and Reinhard were already familiar with her, it was the first time Saki, Bell, Mine, and Stearena had seen her. Anne usually served as Laojun’s right hand, receiving reports from the Quinta units and drafting plans to preemptively stop anything that might disadvantage Jin or Hourai Island. One could call her the manager of their underground operations.
She was present today because Jin had requested her input as a military strategist.
"For long-range combat, we rely on lasers and magi-cannons," Anne continued her analysis. "For mid-to-long range, we have Induction Radiators, though their effectiveness depends entirely on the target. For close quarters, we have vibration swords and Paralyzers. Our active combat forces consist of the golem army and the Titans."
Jin listened in silence.
"For defense, we have barriers and Magi-Jammers. For support, we have Treatmenters and medicinal potions."
Anne then offered an observation from a different angle.
"Our current arsenal is more than sufficient for anti-personnel combat against swordsmen or magi. However, from the perspective of fighting magical beasts—while we are well-suited for wars of attrition—we lack the means to handle localized combat, such as the situation we faced yesterday. Furthermore, the lack of dedicated armaments for the Titans is a significant oversight."
Reinhard, who had intended to stay quiet and just listen, found he could no longer keep his peace.
"B-But, I don't think we'll encounter an opponent like that very often, will we?"
"On the contrary," Reiko chimed in. "The Death Sea Serpent that Reinhard-san defeated previously, or the sandworms said to inhabit the Harihari Desert, are prime examples."
Reiko had defeated both in the past, but her methods had involved high-output attacks that completely disregarded any damage to the surrounding environment.
"Well, as far as that goes, I intend to put the magic sword I used yesterday—the Plasma Sword—into practical use," Jin said.
"...We lack blunt-force weapons," Elsa noted.
"Elsa!?" Jin was taken aback by her suggestion. In fact, it wasn't just Jin; Reinhard and the others were equally surprised by her tactical input.
"...We are comrades. It is only natural that we help Jin-nii."
"...That’s true. Elsa told me before that you try to shoulder too much alone. Jin, I'm sorry. We've been leaning on you too much as well."
"She’s right. Jin-kun, we also lack piercing-type weapons, don't we?" Saki added.
"There's also the option of restraining them—using ropes or chains to rob them of their mobility," Stearena suggested.
"We have light, water, and projectiles... so perhaps heat or ice?" Bell contributed.
Jin was inwardly delighted to receive so many useful ideas. Spears, drills, maces, heat rays, freezing units, anchor ropes, and more. If he added the mana bombs currently under development and gravity weapons to the list, he would be much closer to his ideal arsenal.
"Also, there are too many weapons that place an extreme emphasis on lethality," Bell noted.
"I have to agree with that. Especially in close quarters. We have too many 'one-hit-kill' types," Jin admitted. The fact that their only non-lethal anti-personnel weapon was the Paralyzer was a clear sign of his design bias.
"Maybe something like knives, blowguns, or small-caliber guns?" Saki suggested.
They were engaged in what could be called a brainstorming session—a technique where a group shares ideas to stimulate one another's creativity.
(Knives, guns, spears, maces, staves, drills, anchor ropes, heat rays, freezing...)
Laojun, who was monitoring every word of the discussion, immediately began working on whatever was feasible.
Once the discussion about weaponry reached a stopping point, it was time for tea. Reiko's subordinates, Luna and Soleil, brought in the refreshments.
"By the way, Laojun, you mentioned back then that you still had two cards left to play. Could you tell us what those methods were?" Reinhard asked while sipping his tea.
『Certainly. One was to use ice magic to freeze them. As they were arthropods—insects—I assumed they would be susceptible to low temperatures. The other was to have Reiko-san throw magi-cannon shells at them.』
Indeed, both seemed like they would have been effective.
『However, neither would have matched the efficiency of My Lord’s method.』
"Even I didn't think of using cooling," Jin said with a laugh.
The group transitioned to the next topic.
"Let's have Laojun explain what we've learned about those Gigant Peeders so far," Jin said after taking a sip of his tea.
『Yes. While it remains a mystery why the Gigant Peeders grew to such a size, our analysis of them as materials has progressed significantly.』
The Gigant Peeders that had given Hourai Island's forces such a hard time were, from another perspective, excellent source materials.
『Their outer shell is incredibly robust and reflects approximately ninety percent of laser light. I believe it is possible to increase that reflectivity even further with additional processing.』
It was a material that looked promising for shields and armor.
『It is currently unknown why a magical beast that lives underground would possess such light resistance.』
The common consensus was that subterranean magical beasts were weak to light. In fact, ground spiders and Ground Caterpillars were known to loathe it.
『We have also confirmed that their bodily fluids can dissolve almost anything. The only materials we've found so far that are resistant are the Gigant Peeder’s own tissue and ground spider silk. Sea Dragon materials were dissolved.』
"So everything except materials taken from other subterranean magical beasts gets melted..."
『Precisely. From the five carcasses we cut apart, we harvested approximately two tons of bodily fluid. It has been stored in containers made of ground spider resin and placed inside an Ether Stocker. We are continuing to analyze the chemical components.』
It seemed highly likely that the substance wasn't a standard chemical like an acid or alkali.
"Does it even dissolve adamantite?"
『Yes. It dissolves light silver, gold, platinum, mithril, adamantite, and stainless steel. However, the rate of dissolution is relatively slow. The feet of the Land units were slightly corroded as well.』
"Were the vibration swords damaged too?"
『Because they cut through so many of the creatures, most of them will be unusable until they are regenerated.』
"Understood. Please continue the analysis."
Jin thought this might be a lead toward unraveling the mystery of the Gigant Peeders. Naturally, he was also considering how to adapt the fluid for weaponry.
『I should add that the fluid is highly volatile; there is no trace of it left at the site. For some reason, the evaporated gas appears to become harmless. We are currently investigating the reason.』
Jin recalled that some pesticides were neutralized by ultraviolet light or specific chemical reactions. He supposed he should be glad it didn't turn into a toxic gas.
"We've repaired the damage to the Land units, but what about the general-purpose golems I made in the Klein Kingdom?"
Elsa twitched at the mention of them. She had been there when Jin created those golems, and she knew how much he cared for his own work.
『Yesterday, after Gloria-san and her team finished their inspection of the site, we finished recovering all ten units. They were in a truly wretched state.』
"I can imagine."
『Rather than explaining with words, please see for yourself.』
Laojun projected images of the recovered golems onto a magi-screen.
"...This is terrible."
Some were missing one arm or both; others had lost their legs. There were deep dents, gashes, and holes in the torsos. Heads were smashed or missing entirely. Some didn't even retain their original shapes.
"Repairing them would be easy," Jin said. They were on Hourai Island, after all. "But... I don't want to give them back to those people anymore."
Jin spoke his honest feelings.
"Yes, I think that's for the best. The King and the Princess are likely sincere people, as are Lishia-san, Gloria-san, Boulton-san, and Jessica-san," Elsa added, her opinion aligning with Jin's.
"I've only heard stories, but it seems the King's authority in the Klein Kingdom isn't very strong," Reinhard noted, his experience as a diplomat shining through. "It appears they are stuck in an old-fashioned system they can't seem to fix."
"Dear, do you mean that several nobles with their own territories have gathered and simply chose a coordinator to prop up as a figurehead king?" Bell asked.
"That's right, Bell. That’s a fairly accurate way of looking at it."
"Um... there's no solid proof, but there are rumors that the Kingdom of Franz and the Celuroa Kingdom are pulling strings behind the scenes to further weaken the royal family's already fragile power," Stearena added. Given that she was from the Celuroa Kingdom, her words carried significant weight.
『That is indeed a fact. One could say it is effectively the Celuroa Kingdom carrying out these operations,』 Laojun confirmed. This was information he had gathered through the Quinta units he had stationed everywhere. He added that he had ignored it until now because he didn't believe it would specifically disadvantage Jin.
That wasn't a problem in itself. Jin had no desire to involve himself in international intrigue. However, it was a different story if it started to affect him or the people he knew.
『They are targeting nobles who possess high pride but low competence, providing them with financial aid and the like, subtly flattering them and sowing the seeds of defection.』
"I suppose all warfare is based on deception."
"Jin, what was that?" Reinhard asked, catching Jin's murmur.
"Eh? Oh, 'all warfare is based on deception'? It’s... a quote from a military genius named Sun Tzu from my world, I think."
"Oh? Does that mean you have knowledge as a military strategist, Jin?"
"No, it's just general knowledge—more like a classical proverb. I only know the basics."
In truth, it was knowledge he’d picked up from manga.
"And... what was it... Ah, right. I think he said that in war, the highest excellence is to win without fighting."
This was the limit of Jin's recollection. In truth, the quote was: "To win a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the highest excellence; the highest excellence is to subdue the enemy's army without fighting." In other words, winning without a battle is superior to winning every battle you fight.
"I see. To win without fighting. That is what diplomacy and intrigue are for. Certainly, in terms of preventing human casualties and avoiding the devastation of the land, that is superior to winning through force."
As expected, Reinhard grasped the essence of the sentiment.
"W-Wait, Reinhard, you're getting off track," Saki interjected. If she hadn't, they likely would have spent the rest of the day debating diplomacy and subterfuge.
"That's true....Seeds of defection, huh. Well, as long as no actual harm comes of it, let's leave that alone for now. Just keep an eye on the situation."
As Jin said, as long as the nations were keeping each other in check, he had no intention of interfering.
"It would be a relief if Lies would just hurry up and marry into Egerea," Jin remarked casually, letting slip something quite significant. "I wonder what would be best for Kaina Village?"
Jin looked around at the faces of everyone gathered there as he spoke.