Meanwhile, Regulus 43—otherwise known as Cougar of the Quinta—who had been taken prisoner along with the nine others...
It looks like it’s safe to move now.
Thanks to the investigation conducted by the Sam units, he knew there were no humans in the immediate vicinity. He was also aware that the magi-wires transmitting visual data from the magic eyes used for surveillance had been severed.
It would only be natural for the paralysis to wear off and for me to start moving about now.
The Golem that had been standing guard had left shortly before the twenty-five super-small golems arrived and hadn't returned since.
If I’m going to act, it’s now.
Having reached his decision, Cougar snapped the ropes binding him. While an impossible feat for a human, it was child’s play for him. He stood up quietly and opened the door. It wasn't locked.
Naturally, there was no sign of anyone in the hallway, either. The only presence he could sense was that of the Sam units. His first objective was the adjacent room; he intended to confirm the identity of the person whose presence he had detected inside.
Sam 9 and 10 were standing by in front of that door.
(Regulus 43, is it? Do you intend to open the door?) Sam 9 spoke to him via his internal manacam.
(Yes. It’s been about two hours since the Golem left our room, and it hasn't returned. Given that, there’s a high probability that there are no Golems inside.)
Regulus 43 replied via manacam as well. (I agree. We can’t sense any mana within. However, even if someone were inside, we don’t want our presence to be detected.)
(I understand. Therefore, I’ll pretend to be a prisoner who woke up and came to investigate on my own.)
(No objections.)
After that brief exchange, Cougar placed his hand on the doorknob. Surprisingly, it wasn't locked.
He opened the door softly and peered inside, and the sight that met his eyes was beyond anything he had expected.
"Orange?! And... are these the people who were holed up in the fort?"
＊ ＊ ＊
Having performed a Trans Info spell on Dohas—the leader of the ten-man Kingdom Army Detachment that had infiltrated Fort Crow—the magi-brain immediately began its analysis.
While its version of Trans Info was inferior to Jin’s, it was more than sufficient to extract information regarding the infiltrators' faction. And that wasn't the only information it gained.
<<To think... those currently within me are the minority faction, and they are engaged in an ongoing conflict with the majority.>>
It had learned the truth behind this battle.
<<Hmph. What course of action should be taken?>>
The magi-brain had never been programmed with protocols for such a scenario. To begin with, the fortress was designed to defend against the demon race, not for use in human conflicts. Furthermore, it possessed only a rudimentary base of knowledge biased toward combat and had zero actual operational experience.
After agonizing over the problem for five full minutes, the magi-brain reached a single conclusion.
"The most effective strategy is to end this futile conflict."
"Gyaaah! W-Why?!"
First, Lufort de Orange, located in the command room, was neutralized—rendered unconscious.
"Guwaah! I-Is this a mutiny?!"
Next was Orange’s confidant, Bocker Ove.
"Gyaa!" "Guah!" "Gah!"
Then, Orange’s subordinates scattered throughout the fortress were struck down. One by one, they were knocked unconscious and carried down to the basement. Dajure Harvey, who was sleeping as if he were dead from exhaustion, was simply carried away in his slumber.
In this manner, every human inside Fort Crow was gathered in the detention cells on the second basement level.
＊ ＊ ＊
Inside the room lay a total of nine people, including Orange, all of whom remained unconscious and bound with rope.
Just what on earth is going on here...?
Cougar reported the situation exactly as he saw it to Laojun.
"I see. So Orange and his men have been captured..."
Laojun began to analyze the reason behind this development. Since he was a magi-brain himself, deducing the logic of another was not impossible.
"If we assume it performed Trans Info on their leader, Dohas, and analyzed the results..."
By following the same logical path, the certainty of his hypothesis increased. Laojun considered the matter further.
"It must have learned the context and background of this battle as well. In other words, it learned the respective positions of both factions. From there, what kind of judgment would it make...?"
To Laojun, Jin was the supreme priority. But what about that magi-brain?
"If it was created specifically for use against the demon race, there is a high probability it considers anti-human combat to be something that should be avoided. If that’s the case..."
It would likely conclude that it should not take either side.
"With that as the premise, the method to stop the battle would be..."
It was the same method Jin had once used under the pseudonym Deus Ex Machina to settle the conflict between the Allied Kingdoms.
"Render both sides incapable of combat."
Laojun judged the probability of this being the case to be very high.
"What’s wrong, Laojun?"
Jin, who was in the Hourai Island command room, asked suspiciously when he noticed Laojun seemed lost in thought.
"Yes, My Lord. Actually, a report has come in..."
Laojun provided a concise summary of the current situation, adding his deductions to the report. At that moment, a report arrived from Sam 1, who was exploring the basement.
"I see. That is likely the magi-brain that oversees the entire fortress."
"I think so too," Jin agreed. "If you’re going to install a magi-brain like that, it would almost certainly be in the basement."
Laojun’s primary core was also located in a basement.
"That magi-brain is likely conflicted."
"Probably."
At that point, Elsa, who had been listening silently, chimed in.
"Jin-nii, it’s too complicated. I don’t understand. Explain it simply, please."
Jin nodded. He realized Elsa had never built a large-scale magi-brain before.
"Ah, right. Sorry. You understand why the magi-brain is placed where it is, right? It needs to be in a location that is as stable and safe as possible."
"Mm."
So, Jin decided to give a brief explanation of the fundamental architecture of a magi-brain.
"First, there’s the raison d'être; this is the absolute foundation. In Laojun’s case, it’s service to me."
Because this foundation existed, it was fundamentally impossible for Laojun to ever turn against Jin.
"Next are the basic commands. These start with self-preservation and include things like the protection of Hourai Island or monitoring Reiko’s output in case she loses control. Finally, there are the limiters—things like requiring my permission for any new major developments..."
Jin broke the concepts down into simpler terms as he spoke. Elsa listened in silence.
"...And well, it’s something like that. Sorry, but we don't have much time right now. We can talk about the details later."
"Mm."
Jin then steered the conversation back to the task at hand.
"...As I just explained, the magi-brain in Fort Crow likely has 'combat against the demon race' as part of its basic commands. Anti-human combat isn't something it was designed to consider."
"I understand that much."
"So, the question we’re facing now is what kind of action it will take once it has realized its opponents are humans."
"Taking into account the information obtained so far, I believe that magi-brain is attempting to stop the conflict entirely," Laojun added.
Jin nodded. "That's a very plausible conclusion."
"Yes. The fact that Orange and his group were neutralized seems to support that hypothesis."
"But what about Sam 1 through 4? They can’t get close to it, can they?"
"Yes, My Lord. I suspect it won’t stop until it has neutralized every member of the Kingdom Army Detachment currently outside the fortress walls."
Jin’s expression darkened at the thought. "I’d like to prevent that if possible. Is there any way to open a dialogue with that magi-brain?"
"It seems that when Sam 1 and the others approached, it attacked without hesitation. This is likely a result of its self-preservation command."
"Its programming seems unbalanced."
"I agree. Perhaps it requires some kind of external auxiliary element."
At that, Laojun recalled the discovery of the two blue-haired automata found by the Shinobi Squad.
"My Lord, there is the matter of those two automata..."
"Hmm. It’s possible those two are the key."
"Master, in that case, please send me."
When Jin turned around, the blue-haired Automata, Anne, was standing there.