"I'm going to soak the armor in this."
As the armor absorbed the liquid metal, it took on a dull, leaden hue.
"Next is the control core."
Gunno called Phantom over and extracted a magi-crystal from its head—the unit's control core. He then performed the same operation on the suit of armor, removing its own magi-crystal.
"Now, I'll duplicate the contents... 'Copy'!"
Jix took the duplicated control core from Gunno and held it up for King Cesar and the ministers to see.
"With this, all of Phantom's operational logic has been replicated."
He slotted the copied control core into the head of the leaden armor.
I see. So it doesn't need magi-nerve wiring, Jin observed, gathering data as he watched the process.
By that time, the armor had turned entirely dull gray, and the level of liquid metal in the barrel had dropped by half. Jix and Gunno performed the same procedure on a second suit of armor, then took a step back and pointed at the two figures.
"Wake up."
"Wake up."
Upon chanting the activation keywords, the suits of armor rose as fully functional golems.
"Oh."
"They are finished already?"
"That is certainly fast."
King Cesar and his ministers watched with wide eyes. A smug smile spread across Jix's face.
It was true that the process was faster than even Jin could manage if he were building a golem from scratch. However...
"What about the time spent preparing that armor, or the time it took to refine that liquid metal? Furthermore, the head must have receptor organs for visual and auditory information, right? How are those manufactured?"
As Jin pointed this out through his Doppel, the triumphant looks on the brothers' faces vanished.
It was like buying a pouch of instant curry. While the final preparation was fast, that didn't account for the labor required to produce the ingredients and the pouch itself. Or perhaps a cup of instant noodles was a better analogy—just because you poured the hot water doesn't mean you made the noodles. Jin knew that producing foamed metal was no simple task, and he suspected the same was true for the fluid metal.
"Th-That is..." Jix faltered.
"No, I am not criticizing you," Jin said. "I simply wish for you to explain the process without glossing over the details."
"The armor is... well..." Jix continued to hesitate. He eventually snapped, "I-It doesn't matter! Gunno, activate all of them!"
"Got it, Brother."
"H-Hey!"
"I didn't tell you to go that far!"
Before anyone could intervene, the brothers used the two active golems to assist them, submerging seven more suits of armor into the fluid metal.
"Copy. Copy. Copy..."
Jin decided against having his Doppel physically intervene, as it would have required shoving Jix and his brother aside. Instead, he chose to watch the situation unfold.
"Wake up."
"Wake up."
"Wake up."
Soon, a total of ten golems stood in a row. One was the unit Gunno had arrived with, one was the original Phantom, and the remaining eight were duplicates. They looked so identical that it was impossible to tell them apart.
"How is it, Your Majesty? Look at this gallant sight!" Jix boasted.
But King Cesar's voice was cold. "...It is a pity, Jix, Gunno. It seems you are not the kind of talent this kingdom needs."
"W-Why, Your Majesty?!"
"You lack even a shred of cooperativeness, and you refuse to listen to others. You force your own ideals onto everyone else without a moment's reflection. Even though you possess great technology, you have no will to use it for the common good. As a king, I cannot accept such men as my retainers."
"..."
"..."
Both Jix and Gunno stood in silence, their fists trembling with rage.
"...In that case," Jix said, raising his head. His eyes were bloodshot and wild. "Then we will carry out our revenge ourselves!"
Jin watched the scene unfold from the command room of the Hourai Island laboratory.
"Just as I thought. Jix and Gunno... especially Jix... something is wrong with them."
"It is as My Lord says," Laojun replied. "They are emotionally unstable, as if they have lost the ability to regulate their feelings."
"...Mental magic?" Elsa murmured, furrowing her shapely brows.
"That is a possibility," Jin agreed. "Though we don't know who cast it, or when."
The nature of mental magic was to weaken one's willpower and rationality, essentially turning them into a puppet by making them unable to suppress specific emotions. In the case of the magic once used by the Unifilar, it was characterized by emotional explosions whenever matters related to Adriana Barbora Tsetse were mentioned.
On the screen, Jix had just declared his intent to take revenge alone.
"That idiot!" Jin shouted at the monitor.
Making such a declaration in the presence of King Cesar, First Military Minister Lagede, and Chief of the First Ministry of Technology Latant was the point of no return.
"Steward might have a hard time handling this alone."
"Father, I will go," Reiko said immediately.
"That would be best."
Jin equipped Reiko with a Magic Canceller and Touka before sending her out.
Reiko arrived near the training grounds via the transporter. Sprinting from the arrival point, she reached the scene in the blink of an eye. She made it appear as though she had just rushed down from Konron 3, where she had been stationed.
"I've come to help!"
At the training grounds, Steward was already engaged, single-handedly holding back the eight dull-colored golems that were attempting to run amok. The remaining two units stood guard around Jix and Gunno.
Despite his prowess, even Steward was struggling slightly against an eight-on-one assault. Reiko wasted no time joining the fray.
"Reiko, I'm counting on you!" Jin's Doppel called out.
"Yes!"
Reiko aimed her Magic Canceller at the golem furthest from Steward and activated it. However, the dull-colored golem didn't even flinch as the waves hit it.
"...I see. I have no other choice, then."
Reiko drew Touka from her back.