They traveled for ten hours at twenty kilometers per hour.
Along the way, they ate and slept. Because of the three-and-a-half-hour time difference with Hourai Island, Jin made sure to get some rest himself. While he slept, Laojun took over the operation of the Double.
However, since the Double was simply pretending to sleep as well, Laojun had very little to do.
Early on the morning of the 12th, the Capricorn 1 arrived in the vicinity of its destination.
"Well, it should be around here somewhere."
Jin looked out from the cabin. The landscape consisted of nothing but blue-gray rocks with a sparse coating of lichen. Directly ahead stood a rock wall roughly twenty meters high.
"Let's see. Where is the magi-detector...?"
He picked up a signal about fifty meters to the right, underground.
"Four... no, five signals."
"There should only be four missing people... Could it be Arshel?" Belialus asked with hopeful optimism.
Jin, who was operating the Double at that moment, thought it was unlikely, but he kept the thought to himself.
"If so, then the entrance would be..."
Just then, the ground vibrated slightly. As Jin and the others braced themselves, the rock wall ahead crumbled, and a golem standing about two meters tall emerged.
"A golem!"
"...A guardian, more likely."
Compared to the gargoyle Gorg, this one didn't look like much of a threat, judging by its total mana volume.
However, Jin wanted to take a closer look at this new type of enemy golem. He activated the Magic Canceller, followed immediately by the Ether Jammer.
By doing this, he forcibly reverted the mana held by the enemy golem back into free ether. Then, by bringing that free ether under his control, he was able to completely seal the golem's movements.
As he watched the golem come to a halt, Jin was hit with a new idea.
The combination of the Magic Canceller and the Ether Jammer is quite convenient, he noted.
He ordered Reiko and Anne to remain on high alert in case there were more attacks, while simultaneously having them search for the entrance. Meanwhile, he began his investigation of the immobilized golem.
Jin, acting through the Double, stripped down the golem's chest in a matter of moments.
"I see... it’s using both ends of a long crystal for the magi reactor after all. Efficiency aside, it’s a waste of magi-crystals."
Using twin crystals—like the ones Jin employed—would increase efficiency and save on magi-crystals.
"Right, so it has no muscle tissue. It relies on its abundant mana to use Forming... no, that’s not quite it."
Jin realized that while it was a Forming-based technique, the magi-formula was subtly different. This was the only point of divergence from the enemy gargoyle he had examined earlier.
"Hmm... right, I see. It’s 'Form Drive.'"
One could describe it as a version of Forming dedicated specifically to physical movement. Jin thought Stearena would be delighted if he taught it to her.
Having finished his analysis of the technology the Negadoll had likely been using, Jin turned to the others.
"How is it? Did you find the entrance?"
"Yes," Reiko replied. "Behind where the golem emerged, there is a passage that appears to be for maintenance. It is quite narrow, but I believe I can manage to pass through. I shall go and investigate first."
After her brief report, Reiko stepped into the maintenance tunnel. It was so cramped that she could only just fit. It would have been a tight squeeze even for a Negadoll.
Without encountering any traps, Reiko reached the interior. As suspected, the area appeared to be a material storehouse. A small amount of magi-crystals and light silver had been stored there.
Further back, she found a small room.
To prevent any traps from triggering, she kept her Magic Canceller active as she opened the door. There she found her objective: the four missing members of the demon race were lying on the floor.
Beside them stood another two-meter-tall golem. It seemed this one had been the one to transport them.
The golem pounced the moment it spotted Reiko, but when she struck it back with a light brush of her hand, it shattered into pieces.
"...It was far too brittle."
Reiko shrugged as she looked at the fragments of the enemy golem. It was broken so thoroughly that Jin wouldn't even be able to investigate it properly.
She decided to at least secure the remaining control core and a few shards of the components. She figured Jin might be able to glean something from them regardless.
Finding no other rooms or items of interest, Reiko contacted Anne to help carry the four out. However, there were no other obvious passages, and it didn't look like Anne would be able to fit. That meant the demons wouldn't be able to pass through either.
"...What should we do?"
Reiko pondered the problem for a moment, weighing her options.
"I suppose I shall expand the passage."
Even if she was no match for Jin, Reiko was capable of using Craft Magic. By watching him, she had learned to imitate his methods.
"Dig."
While originally an earth-attribute spell used for excavating holes, Jin used it for civil engineering projects like digging hot springs or mineral veins. Reiko copied him, using the spell to widen the maintenance tunnel.
"This is only for the time it takes to carry them out, so there should be no need for Toughening."
With the path cleared, Reiko called Anne over.
"Elder Sister, did you call for me?"
"Yes. Please lend me a hand in carrying these demons out."
Reiko and Anne each picked up two of the unconscious demons and made their way outside at a brisk pace. They laid them out on a sheet they had spread on the ground. Since the cause of their condition was unknown, they decided to apply a light Healing spell to each of them.
"Also, Master, there were some magi-crystals and light silver inside."
"Ah, is that so? Could you bring them out?"
Jin decided to claim them as spoils of war. As Reiko turned to head back inside, Belialus called out to her.
"...Reiko-dono, was there no one else?"
"No, no one."
Reiko paused for a split second to answer before disappearing back into the tunnel. Anne followed her. When they emerged again, they brought out dozens of magi-crystals and two light silver ingots weighing about fifty kilograms each.
"Good work."
Jin gave them a brief word of appreciation and had them store the items in the Capricorn 1. Since only about a quarter of their food supplies remained, there was more than enough room.
"Furthermore, there was a teleportation marker, so I have recovered it."
With that, their business at this location was essentially finished.
"Ugh..."
Just then, the demons began to stir.
"Whe... where is this?"
"I'm sure we were chasing Doneicia..."
"Is that you, Belialus?"
The three who had chased Doneicia woke up first. Belialus gave them a brief explanation of the situation.
"What? You're saying it’s all over already?"
"Jin-dono did this? I see..."
"Wait, what happened to Doneicia?"
Doneicia herself had yet to wake up.
"I remember now. The one who knocked us out was Doneicia. It was as if she were being controlled by someone."
"She was like a completely different person."
"She may have been manipulated by someone."
Jin examined Doneicia, but he could find no Agujha. He turned to Belialus.
"I heard from Sion that if someone is brainwashed with Master-Slave Magic, their emotions disappear. Is that right?"
"Yes, that's correct. Therefore, it doesn't seem like Doneicia was under the influence of magic."
However, Jin knew better. He knew why ordinary Trans Info didn't work on the demon race: it was because the magic didn't function if the frequency was too low.
(Perhaps 'ordinary' Master-Slave Magic works if the frequency is increased. If that's the case, it would explain why her emotions haven't disappeared.)
Just as Jin reached this conclusion, Doneicia's eyes snapped open.
"Ugh... this place... You lot!"
The eyes that stared at her worried companions from the Jest clan were filled with pure hostility. She was clearly still under the influence of the brainwashing, Jin realized.
"Don't underestimate me!"
Doneicia leaped back five meters.
"Gravita!"
She unleashed gravity magic, but it had no effect whatsoever.
"Wh-Why?!"
It was the Magi-Jammer that Reiko had deployed. It nullified the incantation, preventing the magic from activating. Reiko immediately followed up with her own attack.
"Stun."
"Kyaa!?"
If it worked the same as it did on humans, this should have been enough to break the "ordinary" Master-Slave Magic.
"I suppose I should tie her up for now."
Jin bound her with rope made from ground spider silk and applied a Healing spell.
"Ugh..."
Doneicia recovered from the stun and opened her eyes.
"Huh? Why am I tied up?"
"D-Doneicia, are you back to normal?"
"Doneicia, do you recognize us?"
"Jin-dono, what kind of man are you...?"
The three demons looked at Jin with a newfound sense of respect. He had cured Doneicia of her enslaved state with incredible ease.
From Doneicia, they learned that the one who had brainwashed her with Master-Slave Magic was Negadoll 001. The golem Reiko had destroyed had likely used Teleportation Magic to knock her and the other three unconscious and transport them to the warehouse. Jin noted that it was a shame the unit had been shattered beyond the point of analysis, as he would have liked to see how it utilized such magic.
With their mission a success, the group finally began their preparations to return home.