Jin entered the Hourai Island command room, accompanied by Milowina and Elsa.
“Laojun, prepare a Doppel. Transfer it to the site along with Reiko.”
“Understood.”
“Reiko, I’m counting on you again.”
“...Yes, Father.”
There was no one else Jin could entrust the site to but Reiko. Though she hesitated for a fleeting moment, she understood his intent and teleported back to the Dars River Ruins.
Three minutes later, the Doppel was transferred to join her.
“So this is what it looks like,” Milowina said, staring intently at the footage transmitted from the Doppel.
First, they examined the barrier surrounding the pagoda. It was the sole reason this golden structure had remained intact and unlooted for centuries.
“That’s quite a resilient barrier.”
Sensing that Reiko was about to suggest breaking through by force, Jin preempted her by issuing orders to disable it properly.
“I want to investigate the site without damaging it if possible. I’m counting on you.”
Spurred by Jin’s trust, Reiko began a rapid search of the surrounding five-hundred-meter radius. The Land squad joined the search, but it was Reiko who ultimately located the source. Buried ten meters underground at three points forming an equilateral triangle around the pagoda were the barrier generators.
“Good. Use the Magi-Jammers.”
The Magi-Jammer functioned by seizing control of the free ether within a specific range, effectively suppressing magic. It was equally effective against magic tools. Once their supply of free ether was cut off, the barrier generators naturally ceased to function.
“Land squad, stay on-site and keep the generators suppressed with the Magi-Jammers.”
With the barrier down, they could finally begin their investigation of the pagoda. The Land squad had already located the entrance.
“What an interesting entrance,” Jin remarked.
“Wait, Jin-kun. I just remembered—that’s a dummy.”
Milowina called for a halt.
“I recall seeing this in the records. That should be the entrance to a trap.”
“Is that so? That’s a huge help.”
While Jin could handle most traps, he preferred to skip the unnecessary effort of disarming or evading them.
“In that case, is that underground cavity some kind of pitfall?”
“Probably,” Elsa agreed with Jin’s murmur.
The builders likely intended to drop intruders into the pit and then restrain them.
“Let’s see, what did the texts say about the actual entrance...?” Milowina fell into thought. “Ah, right. There should have been a separate building nearby equipped with a teleportation magic circle...”
She stopped mid-sentence as she looked at the screen.
“...Though it doesn’t look like it survived.”
The surrounding area was almost entirely reduced to rubble. It appeared the barrier had only protected the pagoda itself, leaving the other buildings to crumble.
“My Lord, in that case, shall we use a transporter?” Laojun suggested, but Jin had a concern.
“It’s similar to Uni, isn’t it?”
“You’re right,” Elsa noted. “That facility basically lacked conventional entrances as well.”
Jin pondered the situation for a moment before turning to Milowina.
“If—and this is just a hypothetical—we were to teleport inside without authorization, what are the chances we’d be identified as hostiles?”
“Well, I’d say it’s fifty-fifty. Even I don't know for sure, and I can't give you an irresponsible answer.”
“I suppose not.”
They decided that the Shinobi Squad, specifically Shinobi 1 and 2, would go in first via the transporter for reconnaissance.
“Oh, how cute.”
“They were quite useful back on Uni as well,” Jin replied to Milowina’s praise.
The Shinobi Squad was a unit with a proven track record.
“Commencing transfer. Three, two, one... transfer.”
The coordinates were determined with extreme precision by using the Land squad positioned around the pagoda as a reference point.
“Oh, we have a visual of the interior.”
The feed from Shinobi 1 appeared on the monitors.
“Say, Jin-kun, is this footage what those tiny golems are seeing with their own eyes?” Milowina asked after a moment.
“Yes, it is. Is something wrong?”
“Well, I was just surprised that the image is so clear despite coming from such a small ‘eye.’”
She was curious about how the image quality remained so sharp despite the high magnification and the tiny size of the optical components.
“I see. We use particularly high-quality light-attribute magi-crystals for the eyes of the Shinobi Squad.”
These were hand-picked magi-crystals. However, because they were so small, many individual eyes could be fashioned from a single crystal. Just as the eyes of raptors like hawks and eagles are smaller than a human's yet can see much further—or how an owl can spot prey in total darkness—the eyes of the Shinobi Squad were specialized tools.
“I understand. As expected of you, Jin-kun.”
“Thank you.”
Internally, Jin was impressed that Milowina possessed the technical curiosity to ask such a question.
“Jin-nii, look at that,” Elsa said, pointing at the screen.
“Hm? Is that... a golem?”
It was a golem made of a dull, golden metal.
“The size... looks to be about two meters?”
Without a frame of reference and viewing through the perspective of the miniature Shinobi Squad, it was difficult to judge the scale from the screen alone.
“Jin-nii, is that gold too?”
“It might be an alloy that closely resembles gold,” Laojun replied in Jin’s stead.
“If only we had a sample...” Jin muttered. However, the priority was still the interior of the pagoda.
“My Lord, the Shinobi Squad does not appear to have been detected. I suggest sending in all ten units.”
“Wait, let’s send up to Shinobi 5 first. If they still aren’t noticed, then we’ll send the remaining five.”
“Understood.”
Accordingly, three more units—Shinobi 3, 4, and 5—were transferred inside.
So far, there was no reaction within the pagoda. They counted five golden golems in total. Jin suspected they were security units, though they didn't appear to be carrying any weapons. The interior seemed to be divided into several levels, and the area with the golems appeared to be the lowest.
“There doesn't seem to be anything else on this floor besides the golems. Moving up.”
In what appeared to be the center of the room, there was a spiral staircase leading upward.
“Wait,” Milowina interrupted. “Those stairs might be a trap as well.”
In a pagoda that lacked external entrances, it was highly likely that movement between floors was also handled by teleportation. Following her advice, they searched for a teleportation magic circle.
“...Nothing.”
The five Shinobi units split up to search the floor but found no sign of a circle. Consequently, Jin decided to send in the remaining five: Shinobi 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.
The ten-unit search team scoured the room, and the results were immediate.
“My Lord, a magic circle has been located.”
“Oh? Where was it?”
“Shinobi 10 found it at the base of the central spiral staircase.”
It was a blind spot of sorts. The magic circle was small, engraved directly into the floor at the very start of the stairs—the "zeroth" step.
“It feels a bit like clearing a dungeon,” Jin muttered under his breath. Elsa and Milowina didn't seem to catch the comment.
Fortunately, Milowina knew the activation sequence for this type of circle.
“I recognize that model. ‘Activate’ should work. To stop it, use ‘Shutdown.’”
“That helps a lot.”
Laojun immediately relayed the commands to the Shinobi Squad.
“Activate.”
Shinobi 10, the unit that had discovered the circle, was the first to teleport. One minute later, after receiving a report that the destination was clear, Shinobi 1 through 5 followed. Two minutes after that, Shinobi 6 through 9 teleported, and the entire squad successfully moved up to the next level.