It seemed the system of the Celuroa Kingdom allowed a handful of powerful individuals and their families to wield extrajudicial authority. Among them, the two standing before Jin were in a league of their own when it came to rampant selfishness.
"Archaic doesn't even cover it... No, is this a dictatorship? Or a city-state?"
It hardly seemed like a nation governed by the rule of law, Jin thought.
"No wonder Stearena wanted to run away..."
"In any case! Hand over that knife!" the Wayward Princess continued to scream.
"Elsa, come here to me!" the Selfish Young Lord blathered on with his nonsense.
"Jin-nii..."
Jin noticed a glimmer in Elsa's eyes as she clung to his shoulder.
"Did he do something to you?" he asked.
Elsa gave a silent, firm nod. That was more than enough for Jin.
"Stearena, you were kind enough to invite us, but you don't mind if I've had enough of this, right?"
Stearena could feel the anger radiating from Jin, but since she was equally furious herself, she gave a sharp nod.
"Just do it already!" she shouted with a sense of total resignation, looking like someone who had completely washed her hands of the Celuroa Kingdom.
"...Onii-chan, are those people bad?"
"Yes. They're being selfish and causing trouble for everyone else."
"Grandma always says you shouldn't do things that make people unhappy."
"Exactly. Those two are such big idiots that they don't even understand that. Hanna, you mustn't grow up to be like them, okay?"
"Yeah! I'll be a good girl!"
Jin patted the head of the brightly smiling Hanna. At the sight of their interaction, the tension in Elsa and Saki's expressions softened for a moment.
However, the selfish siblings were not about to remain silent.
"...Enough of this. Spouting whatever you want to us... that crime is worthy of death!"
"If you cry and beg for forgiveness, we might at least spare your lives, you know?"
Jin was thoroughly fed up. "...Give it a rest. How many people have you made miserable like that?"
"Hmph. It is my business how I treat the subjects I own, isn't it?"
With those words, Jin reached the limit of his patience. Sensing his master's anger, Reiko was already in a combat-ready stance.
"Father, may I teach these two fools a lesson in reality?"
Having seen her "younger cousin" Edgar mistreated, Reiko was nursing a fair amount of anger herself.
"Yeah. It's a pity for them, but it was their misfortune to serve such foolish masters. Neutralize every one of those automata."
Jin gave his permission. It was a mercy, in a way, that he ordered "neutralization" rather than "destruction."
"Wh-What insolence! Go, men! Tear that piece of junk doll to pieces!"
At the Selfish Young Lord's command, the ten guard automata lunged at Reiko.
Reiko didn't move. She simply stood her ground.
One unit grabbed her torso, while another pinned her head. The remaining eight grabbed her arms and legs in pairs.
"Fuhahaha! How do you like that! You can’t do a thing like this! I’ll have you torn limb from limb!"
"...Your tastes really are rotten to the core, aren't they?"
Jin watched Albert with cold, detached eyes. Elsa, Hanna, Saki, and Stearena stood close beside him. Elsa’s Secret Mobile Unit (SP) had reactivated their Invisible magic and vanished, but they remained right next to her, keeping a sharp watch on the area. The Secret Mobile Units (SP) guarding Jin and Hanna were doing the same.
"Hmph, sore loser talk....You lot! Tear her apart!"
At that command, the ten guard automata exerted all their strength....And yet, nothing happened.
"What's the matter? No need to hold back, you know?"
Despite the efforts of ten units trying to rip her apart, Reiko remained perfectly composed.
"...Is that all of your strength? I believe it is my turn now."
Reiko gave her body a single twist. With that movement alone, all ten guard automata were sent flying.
"Wh-What!?"
Both Jin and Reiko had already estimated the guard automata's potential. They could tell from the output of their ether converters, ether drivers, or mana drivers. Having faced numerous golems and automata in the past, including many powerful foes, these guard automata fell into the "weak" category.
To use a grim comparison, if Reiko were to kick Edgar, he would likely be smashed to pieces without a trace—and she could do that at only forty percent output.
"These guard automata probably only have about the same level of strength as Edgar."
Because they were designed with an emphasis on human resemblance, strength was a secondary concern; that was the nature of standard automata.
"Ether converter output, thirty percent."
Though twenty percent likely would have been enough, Reiko boosted her output to thirty percent just to be safe and lunged at her enemies.
An automaton's weakness was, generally speaking, the head. Because the designers prioritized human aesthetics, the strength of the neck was often insufficient, and they only perceived visual information through two eyes. Based on these two points, the neck was the most effective target for neutralization.
While many combat golems lacked a neck entirely, automata were different.
"Neck throw."
She leaped over an opponent from the front like a gymnast on a vaulting horse, locking their head in mid-air. As she landed behind them, she threw them over her shoulder. If done to a human, the neck would have snapped. It was the same for an automaton. For the first unit, its neck twisted in an unnatural direction, and it instantly ceased all movement.
Typically, when visual information is lost—meaning they can no longer see—automata are programmed to perform an emergency stop to prevent them from running amok.
However, from the second unit onward, they became wary of the attack, drawing their swords and thrusting out their shields.
"In that case."
Reiko carelessly grabbed a thrust-out shield and twisted it inward. Against her strength, the guard automaton’s posture collapsed effortlessly. She immediately locked its arm and slammed it into the ground with an arm throw. As it flipped onto its back, she kicked it in the face, crushing the head. The second unit stopped.
Only about ten seconds had passed.
The remaining eight units leaped at her simultaneously. Reiko jumped diagonally forward. Delivering a knee strike to the face of one unit, she slipped out of the encirclement. Naturally, the unit she kicked was rendered non-functional.
"Let's try this next....Erase."
It was one of the Master-Slave magic spells originally developed by Unifilar. Unless a core was equipped with the shield structure Jin’s team had perfected, it was impossible to defend against. The guard automata, having all information in their control cores wiped, naturally shut down. Three more units were stopped this way.
Seeing more than half of the guard automata already deactivated, the wayward siblings stared in shock. In the meantime, another unit was incapacitated. That left only three.
"The speed is on a different level."
Jin and his companions watched Reiko’s performance with complete confidence. In less than thirty seconds, the ten guard automata had been reduced to three.
"Brother! I’ll have my guard automata join in too!...Go! You lot, attack those people over there!"
Beatrix, the Wayward Princess, ordered her own guards to attack Jin’s group. However, everyone in Jin's party had already deployed barriers. They were not something that could be broken by the likes of these automata.
"Why? Why can’t you catch them!?"
The guard automata were being blocked about thirty centimeters in front of Jin and the others; neither fists nor kicks could reach them. It was the same when they drew their swords and struck.
"...How irritating."
The fact that they had drawn swords meant they were clearly intending to kill.
"You bastards."
Jin grew even angrier at their methods, which now targeted Hanna. He considered ordering the Secret Mobile Unit (SP), but decided to take matters into his own hands.
"Laser."
Light extended from Jin’s bracelet, piercing the chest of a guard automaton. It unerringly struck the control core. It was a shot aimed with the surgical precision unique to the Magi Craft Meister. One after another, all eight of Beatrix's automata had their control cores destroyed and fell silent.
"Wh-Wh-What on earth! You, just who are you!?"
"...I have no name to give the likes of you," Jin said coldly.
Saki and Stearena had never seen Jin this angry, but Elsa was different. She felt that the last time she had seen Jin this furious was during the final battle with Unifilar. Hanna, meanwhile, was reminded of the time Jin had been surrounded by Earl Walter's soldiers.
Reiko, for her part, had finished incapacitating the final units of the original ten.
"Now then, do you still want to continue?"
Jin glared at them. To be honest, Jin’s glares didn't have much natural intimidation because of his youthful face, but the wayward siblings, who had watched eighteen guard automata wiped out in less than two minutes, were as pale as ghosts.
"L-L-Lay a finger on me and see! My father won't stand for this!"
"I-I am a princess! Just try something! I’ll have you branded as wanted criminals!"
Even at this point, the two showed not a hint of remorse. However—
"...Dear me. I suppose this fun little game is about over."
"...Andro?"
The boy attending to Beatrix, Andro, took a step forward.