"…You have some quite impressive automata. This has been educational."
"Andro? You… what happened to you?"
Beatrix gasped, startled by the sudden shift in the aura surrounding her young attendant, Andro.
"My lady, I apologize, but it seems my performance as your servant has come to an end. It was a pleasant enough diversion while it lasted. And all thanks to you people… Hmph!"
Andro casually kicked one of the guard automata lying nearby toward Jin and his party. To their surprise, the machine hurtled through the air, traveling five meters before slamming into Jin's barrier and slumping to the ground.
"W-what on earth are you…?" Albert stammered, his voice trembling at the display of superhuman strength.
"My true name is Androgias. I am Androgias the Frenzy."
Hearing that introduction, Jin spoke up instinctively. "Are you… one of the demon race?"
"Oh? You know of the demon race?" A flicker of genuine surprise crossed Androgias’s face.
"The demon race?! Andro, you were one of them?" Beatrix shouted.
"Quiet, you. Shut your mouth, you selfish brat. I’m speaking to him right now." Androgias cut her off with a freezing glare. His tone had shifted completely; this blunt, condescending manner was likely his true self. He turned his attention back to Jin. "…Now then. You say you know of the demon race?"
"…I’ve encountered them before. A man named Marcosius… though I wouldn’t exactly say I ‘met’ him."
From the perspective of the Hourai Island forces, this was the fifth member of the demon race they had identified, following Raldo, Dogmaralud, Bemiaruche, and Marcosius.
"Hmm. I don’t quite follow, but it seems you are indeed aware of us." Androgias’s atmosphere changed again, turning sharp and lethal. "…In that case, I can’t let you leave here alive. Gravita."
"This is bad! Air Leichtern!"
Jin immediately activated a magi-crystal engraved with Air Leichtern magic. It was a safety device Laojun had insisted he carry in case of an airship crash.
The spell barely managed to offset Androgias’s gravity magic. Although Androgias had begun his chant first, Jin’s magic seemed to trigger faster.
"What?! Why are you still standing? Your weight should have increased more than tenfold!"
Whether ten times was the limit of what a demon could manifest individually without Elradrite, or if Androgias was simply inexperienced, Jin didn't know. Regardless, the gravity currently pressing down on them was only about 1.2 times normal. It felt like carrying a slightly heavy pack; even Hanna only looked a bit confused, as if wondering why she felt a minor tug.
"Stun."
"Guh!?"
Taking advantage of the moment Androgias faltered, Reiko unleashed her magic. She didn't intend to kill him; her goal was to knock him unconscious so they could take him alive for interrogation.
"Ah!?" "Eek!"
However, the spell was intercepted by a strange barrier surrounding Androgias and dissipated into sparks. The resulting aftershock caught the royal siblings instead, knocking Beatrix and Albert off their feet.
Ignoring the fallen duo, Reiko immediately prepared her next attack.
"Wind Slash."
Since her stunning magic had been neutralized, she opted for wind magic, which carried a physical concussive force.
"Hmph." Androgias simply laughed and parried the blade of air. "I think I’ll take care of that automaton first. Gravita."
Reiko’s body wavered for a fraction of a second—the telltale sign of an localized gravity increase.
"……"
"Hah! It seems this one can’t use gravity magic." Androgias smirked, but his grin vanished as Reiko began walking toward him with a completely impassive expression.
"W-what? You! How are you moving?"
"My weight has indeed increased to roughly three hundred kilograms," Reiko replied calmly. "What of it?"
Reiko was a masterpiece who wouldn't be slowed down even if she weighed several tons. Androgias turned pale. This was clearly his limit.
"My magic was reflected, but let’s see how you handle this!"
With those words, Reiko kicked off the stone pavement.
She closed the distance to Androgias in a heartbeat, driving a right straight toward his solar plexus. The barrier appeared to halt her fist for a microsecond, but it was a futile resistance. Her punch, delivered at thirty percent output, buried itself into Androgias’s stomach with its momentum barely hindered.
Furthermore, this wasn't a punch from a thirty-kilogram girl, but a strike backed by three hundred kilograms of mass.
Though the blow only sent Androgias flying a few meters, its sheer weight was more than enough to snuff out his consciousness instantly.
As he went limp, the gravity magic vanished, and Jin deactivated his Air Leichtern.
"Phew… I’m glad I had that crystal on me."
"Ji-Jin! You can manipulate gravity too?" Saki asked, her eyes wide with shock.
"I'll explain later," Jin said, calming her down. "More importantly, what do we do with him?"
Androgias lay sprawled on the road about ten meters away. He was a precious source of information. Jin had endless questions about why a demon was infiltrating the Celuroa royalty.
"Let’s start with Trans Info." Jin took a cautious step forward. Even unconscious, there was no telling when a demon might wake up. But in that moment—
"Fireball!"
"What!?"
A sphere of flame erupted, scoring a direct hit on Androgias.
"Flame Storm!"
Another spell followed immediately. The demon boy’s body gave a sudden, violent twitch, but it was brief. The intense inferno reduced Androgias to ash in a matter of seconds.
"Hanna, don't look." Jin reflexively pulled Hanna into a hug, shielding her eyes.
"…Pant, pant…"
The one who had cast Fireball was Beatrix; the one who followed up with Flame Storm was Albert.
"…How could you do that!?" Jin shouted.
Beatrix turned a sharp, venomous glare toward him. "What? He was one of the demon race—an enemy of all mankind!"
"Exactly," Albert added. "He deceived us and manipulated us. There is nothing wrong with executing him for such crimes."
The earlier aftershock of the Stun magic seemed to have broken the mind control, but their fundamental personalities remained unchanged.
"…I just thought it would have been better to interrogate him," Jin said.
"Interrogation? Unnecessary. Humanity won the Great Magic War, and we will win again if there is a next time."
The siblings showed no interest in listening to Jin. Even with their minds restored, they were still the same arrogant pair.
"……"
Jin felt the tension leave his shoulders. There was no point in arguing with them. He stroked the head of the girl he was holding.
"Let’s go home, Hanna."
Elsa, Saki, and Stearena all nodded in silent agreement.
"H-hey! Where do you think you’re going!?" Albert shouted, but Jin ignored him.
Edgar appeared capable of walking on his own, so Jin’s group simply turned and walked away without looking back.
"You'll regret this—!"
The prince was still yelling, but likely out of fear of Reiko, neither of the siblings attempted to follow them.
"…I’m exhausted."
Back at Stearena’s house, the group sank into the sofas, mentally spent. Hanna had been worn out by the day's events and was currently napping with Reiko watching over her.
"I am so, so sorry!" Stearena bowed so deeply it was nearly a dogeza. "I never dreamed things would turn out like this! Especially to you, Elsa-san… I’m so sorry."
"…I don't mind," Elsa replied softly. "You don't need to apologize… that much."
"…Thank you."
No one blamed Stearena; none of it had been her intention.
"I can certainly see why you’d want to leave this country behind, Stearena," Jin remarked, his face clouded with exasperation.
"Can you?"
"You really should move. After today, you've definitely been marked by those two."
The group began to discuss Stearena’s future.
"I don't think I can stay here any longer…" Stearena said, her voice weary.
"Yeah, I agree," Saki added.
"…Me too," Elsa said.
It was unanimous: she needed to relocate. The question was where. Jin’s Kaina Village? Hourai Island? Or perhaps Reinhard’s Kalts Village?
Moving to Hourai Island would essentially mean becoming a shut-in. Since Warp Gates were an option, the discussion narrowed down to Kaina Village or Kalts Village.
"Actually," Saki spoke up, offering a third possibility, "why don’t you come live at my place?"