“The name is Lance.”
As he spoke, Lance reached for the back of his head with his remaining left arm. With a faint click, the full-face mask he had been wearing loosened and fell to the ground.
“So you really were an automata.”
From beneath the mask, a face that looked indistinguishable from a human’s appeared.
“I came here to reclaim the comrades who share my Creator,” Lance stated.
“To reclaim them? You mean... they were stolen from you?” Elsa asked.
“Precisely. They were stolen by the leader of those you call ‘bandits.’”
The background of the situation was finally beginning to clarify.
“Who exactly are these bandits?”
“...I do not wish to speak of that now.”
Lance’s thought process seemed far more human than Elsa had anticipated.
“Then what do you intend to do now?”
“I can do nothing. Not in this condition.”
Indeed, with only his left arm functioning properly, he was truly helpless.
“What if you could move?”
“I find little meaning in such a hypothetical.”
“Even so, I want to hear your answer.”
Pressed once more by Elsa, Lance spoke with a look of visible dissatisfaction.
“Naturally, I would take Sword and Glar back to my Creator.”
Hearing his response, Elsa fell into a brief silence, lost in thought.
“Elsa?” Moritz asked, watching her with a worried expression.
“...I’m fine, Brother.”
Elsa spoke to reassure Moritz and then turned her attention back to Lance.
“If I told you I could repair you in exchange for more information, what would you say?”
“Hmm. You claim you can fix me?...What information do you seek?”
“I want you to tell me about the person who created you.”
“That is out of the question. I will not provide any information that might prove disadvantageous to my Creator.”
“...”
He was remarkably stubborn on this point. It was a testament to his high degree of loyalty. Elsa decided to approach the matter from a different angle.
“The golems you tried to recover are right over there. If I analyze them, I’ll discover the truth about your maker regardless.”
“Ugh... That is true. However, there is a difference in meaning between me betraying them and you extracting the information yourself.”
“...”
Elsa considered the possibility that it wasn't mere stubbornness; he might be programmed with orders that physically prevented him from leaking such sensitive data.
“It can’t be helped. I’ll proceed with the analysis then.”
“If you are capable of it, that is,” Lance replied with a hint of defiance before falling silent.
“Jumi, Land. Can you keep an eye on them for a while?”
Elsa wanted to consult with her brothers in private.
“Understood. Please leave it to us,” Jumi promised.
Elsa tugged on Moritz’s and Fritz’s sleeves, leading them back into the house.
“What is it, Elsa?” Moritz asked.
“Brother, did the bandits say anything?”
“No, not a word. I was just starting to think we might have to roughen them up a bit to get them talking.”
“I see.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“Yes. Well...”
Elsa explained that by analyzing the golems’ control cores, they should be able to uncover a wealth of information.
“I see. And you’re capable of doing that?”
“Yes.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“In that case...”
Elsa returned to her room to change her clothes. The time was just past midnight.
“Jin-nii should be awake by now.”
Sensing that the upcoming technical analysis would be more than she could handle alone, Elsa decided to contact Jin. More importantly, she knew that if she didn't tell him about something as fascinating as unknown golems, he would likely hold a grudge later.
『Elsa? Did something happen?』
Jin’s voice sounded concerned, given that she was reaching out so late.
“Yes, actually...”
Elsa gave him a brief summary of the night’s events.
『I understand. I’ll be there right away.』
The connection cut as soon as Jin gave his reply.
“It was just as you predicted, Laojun.”
『You flatter me, My Lord.』
In truth, Jin had been awake for some time, watching Elsa’s situation with bated breath.
“I wondered what was going on when you notified me at dawn, but to think it turned into this.”
『I apologize for the delay in my report.』
“No, it’s fine. Elsa was acting on her own because she wanted to see how much she could accomplish by herself, right? You were just respecting her wishes, Laojun.”
『Thank you for your understanding.』
“But I suppose she’s reached her limit for now,” Jin mused.
He had already received a full report from Laojun regarding the disturbances. He had intended to let Elsa handle things as she saw fit while she was at her family estate, wanting to support her independence. Furthermore, because he had also received reports from the Quinta, he knew slightly more about Lance’s background than Elsa did.
“It would be a bit much to go through Reinhard’s place at this hour.”
It was still the middle of the night in the Shouro Empire.
“I’ll have the Konron 3 teleport to the Shouro Empire directly. We’ll just say I happened to be nearby for an investigation.”
『Or perhaps that you were staying in Loizart.』
“That works....Reiko, let’s go.”
“Yes!”
With that, Jin departed for the Shouro Empire aboard the Konron 3.
“Wh-What is that!?”
Moritz cried out in shock as he spotted the airship hovering in the night sky.
“Aniki, there’s no need to panic. That’s the Lord of Kunlun’s airship,” Fritz said, far less surprised since he had seen it before. “Seeing how fast he got here, he might have been in Loizart.”
“I see.”
While they spoke, the Konron 3 touched down in the vacant lot adjacent to the Randol Mansion.
“Jin-nii!”
Aware of his arrival, Elsa ran out to greet Jin and Reiko.
“Elsa, it’s been a while.”
“Yes. I missed you.”
“Lord of Kunlun, welcome. I apologize for calling on you in the middle of the night,” Moritz said, offering a formal greeting.
“Gikei-ue, please don't worry about it.”
“Jin-dono, it’s been too long. I’m counting on you,” Fritz added with a brief nod.
“Of course....Elsa, I’d like to get started. Where are the golems?”
“This way.”
Jumi of the Quinta was waiting there, along with Land 783, 784, and 785.
“Good work, everyone,” Jin said, offering a brief word of praise before stepping toward the mysterious golems.