Jix and his brother were being held in the infirmary. Two security guards were stationed outside the door.
"Good work," Latant, the Chief of the First Ministry of Technology, said as he addressed them and entered the room. Jin, Elsa Randol, and Reiko followed close behind.
Jix and Gunno were sitting up on their beds inside the room.
"You've come, Lord of Kunlun, Lady Elsa."
Waiting for them were King Cesar, Kirk-at, and Rambeau, the Chief of the First Ministry of Internal Affairs. Four other guards, who appeared to be members of the Royal Guard, were also present.
The King had clearly decided that the interrogation of these two was a matter of the highest priority.
While an infirmary was hardly an ideal setting for a questioning, the session was being held here because the toxins had only just been removed from the prisoners' brains; it was still uncertain how they might react.
"Well then, it seems everyone is here. Let us begin."
At King Cesar's command, the interrogation commenced.
"...My name is Jix Asher."
"...Gunno Asher."
There seemed to be no doubt that the two were brothers.
It was also confirmed that they hailed from a remote village that had been wiped out during a skirmish with the Kingdom of Egerea when they were young. Rambeau had already verified these facts against official records.
After their village fell, the two had drifted from place to place. During their travels, they met an alchemist and became his disciples. Since that alchemist was also somewhat proficient in magi-craft, the two brothers ended up learning both disciplines.
"I see. And what was this alchemist's name?"
"...His name was Freciaus Nakar."
"I thought as much."
Latant, the Chief of the First Ministry of Technology, had heard the name from King Cesar the previous day and had evidently done his homework. He offered an explanation to the King.
"He was a scholar who was banished about thirty years ago. It appears he once rose to the rank of Beta."
Their master, Freciaus Nakar, had been an excellent scholar who once held the rank of Beta within the Celuroa Kingdom. However, because he harbored views considered heretical at the time, King Cybele—the monarch of that era—had sentenced him to banishment.
Latant added that, likely for that reason, almost no records of the man remained.
"And what exactly were these views?"
"...Our master believed that the era five hundred years ago was the supreme age of history," Jix answered smoothly.
"I see. At that time, in our country—and indeed in others—the era of the Dinar Kingdom three hundred years ago was considered the pinnacle," Latant noted with a nod of understanding.
"And what has become of Freciaus Nakar now?"
"He passed away. We were his final disciples."
"Is that so?"
"We inherited our master's legacy..." Gunno took over the explanation. "Our master understood our goals. That's why we intended to make effective use of what he left behind..."
Jin had wondered how two individuals could have secured such a vast quantity of materials; it seemed this inheritance was the answer.
The brothers continued their explanation for some time. When they reached a stopping point, Jin posed a question.
"By the way, why did he consider the era five hundred years ago to be the supreme age?"
"...I don't know. I only heard from our master that it was somehow related to religion."
"We weren't interested in the past, so we never pressed him for details."
"However, we did hear that for some reason, magi craftsmen and alchemists were persecuted back then."
"Apparently, that's why those technicians lived in seclusion, far away from the cities," Jix and Gunno explained, alternating between them.
The world of five hundred years ago was starting to come into focus, if only slightly.
"The existence of religion, I see..."
Jin understood that religious organizations, which had almost entirely vanished after the Great Magic War three hundred years ago, still held immense power during that earlier period.
"How did you obtain the flu—no, the mercury?"
This was one of the things Jin wanted to know most. The officials of the Celuroa Kingdom leaned in, equally curious.
"It was something our master had in his possession."
"...Did you hear anything about where he got it?"
"We didn't. However, he did mention that in records from five hundred years ago, there is a description of an island to the south."
"An island to the south, you say..."
The information was far too vague. Furthermore, if one travels south of the equator, the concentration of free ether becomes extremely low, rendering most magic tools unusable.
Setting that line of inquiry aside for now, Jin voiced another question.
"Do you know how the armor is manufactured?"
The two brothers seemed surprised, as if they had just realized the significance of the question.
"...You can tell? You understand how specialized it is?"
"I suppose there's no way we could have won..."
The two let out a sigh that bordered on total resignation and began to explain quite honestly.
To summarize the key points: first, mercury—the fluid metal—is mixed with light silver. The ratio is one to one.
During this stage, the metal being mixed in must be one that is not dissolved by the fluid metal—in other words, it must not form an amalgam.
In that regard, light silver was the perfect candidate since it does not dissolve. Adamantite is the same. (In this respect, fluid metal appears slightly different from the mercury of Earth, where titanium does form an amalgam).
The resulting alloy has the consistency of firm clay. After it is molded into the shape of armor using Forming, the substances are separated through Extraction.
This process results in the foamed metal armor.
Once explained, the method seemed surprisingly simple. The fluid metal would then be allowed to permeate the resulting gaps once again.
"How did you create the control cores?" Latant asked. This was another question of high importance.
"You used Copy, didn't you?" Jin asked, as if to confirm. Gunno nodded.
"Our master said that Copy was a commonplace technology five hundred years ago."
"I see..."
Jin couldn't understand why a spell called Copy was being used instead of Trans Info, which Adriana Barbora Tsetse was supposed to have perfected. Had the technology degraded somewhere between a thousand and five hundred years ago, or had it been lost and then newly developed by someone else?
It seemed that for every mystery solved, another appeared in its place.
Jin also wanted to ask about the kite airships, but since they were likely a technology from five hundred years ago, he decided to refrain for now.
As for their base of operations or whether they had other comrades, Jin decided to leave those matters to the Celuroa Kingdom.
"That's all from me."
"Hmph. Then allow me to ask a question as well."
King Cesar, who had remained silent until then, spoke up.
"Do you two still harbor the desire for revenge?"
"..."
"Revenge, you say?"
Jix and Gunno closed their eyes and fell into deep thought for a while.
Eventually, Jix was the first to speak.
"No... the will for it has vanished."
"Yeah. After being shown that kind of power by the Lord of Kunlun, well..."
"Incidentally," Jin added, "my senior apprentice Maquina possesses even greater military strength than I do."
At those words, the two brothers were left utterly speechless.