“Jin-dono, far from being the guest, you even performed maintenance on Tia. I cannot express my gratitude enough. I offer my thanks alongside His Highness.”
So spoke Duke Blue.
After Jin finished refurbishing Tia, a simple banquet was arranged.
The staff served a smooth, low-alcohol liquor. Jin thought it tasted remarkably like plum wine. In truth, it was a distilled spirit made by steeping the fruit of the plume—a plant from the southern Klein Kingdom that was, for all intents and purposes, a plum—into the alcohol.
Princess Mimir was already in the land of dreams, and Tomax Bartman was likewise sleeping like a log. Consequently, those in attendance were limited to Jin, Lordtoss, Ernest XVII, Illumina Ratkin, and Duke Blue.
Reiko, Urgan, and Tia stood silently behind their respective masters.
“Please, think nothing of it. It was a promise, and I enjoy the work anyway,” Jin replied.
More than the banquet, Jin was concerned about Tomax Bartman’s condition.
“Illumina-san, is Tomax-san going to be all right?”
“Yes. He was simply suffering from a great deal of accumulated exhaustion.”
“I thought so...”
As Jin noted the dark circles under the man's eyes and his sluggish reactions, memories of his time working for a black company back in Japan flooded back to him.
“Had he been pulling all-nighters for about three days?”
The answer was exactly as he expected.
“Ah, yes. Just about that long.”
“...Tomax-san certainly has a powerful sense of responsibility,” Jin felt compelled to say.
“I only wish I could provide him with more support,” Illumina sighed, explaining that Tomax was the type to shoulder every burden alone.
“Hmm...”
Jin considered whether he should construct a secretary automata for the man, but then he reconsidered, thinking such a gift might be better received if it came from Maquina III.
“For now, I’ll give you some of the recovery medicine kept on the Hurricane tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you very much...”
It seemed Illumina also possessed the temperament of someone accustomed to hard work and heavy burdens.
“So, Jin-dono, will you be departing tomorrow?” Duke Blue asked with a look of slight regret.
“Yes. I still have research left to attend to.”
“I see. It is a pity, but I suppose I cannot force you to stay.”
The Duke truly seemed disappointed from the bottom of her heart.
“Tomorrow, I plan to analyze the enemy golems once they’ve been delivered. After I’ve submitted my report, I’ll head back.”
“That would be a great help.”
Jin was deeply curious about the origins of these enemy golems.
Were they derived from the technology of the Origin, or perhaps from the lineage of blue-haired automata like Tia? Or were they something else entirely?
“If I examine their control cores, I should be able to learn much more,” Jin stated, adding that he wished to perform the inspection in Tomax Bartman’s presence.
“Umu. Those golems should be kept at the military station outside the castle,” the Duke explained. They wouldn’t be brought into the castle interior immediately.
“Understood.”
With that, the night’s meeting concluded.
The morning of January 4th arrived.
Jin and his party traveled to the soldiers' station outside the city via the Hurricane. Duke Blue, Lordtoss, Tomax Bartman, and Illumina Ratkin accompanied them.
“Jin-dono, my stomach felt much better after I took that recovery medicine you gave me,” Tomax said as they walked, offering his thanks.
“I’m glad to hear it. However, unless you address the underlying cause, it’s only going to come back.”
“You are exactly right...” Tomax replied while absentmindedly rubbing his stomach.
Although the stinging pain he had felt for so long had vanished after taking Jin's medicine, the habit of clutching his stomach remained. Beside him, Illumina let out a wry smile.
“This way, please.”
The captain of the guard led the group to a particularly large tent. Inside lay the enemy golems captured the previous day.
Tomax and Illumina went to speak with the leader of the investigation team to review their preliminary findings. Jin, meanwhile, prepared for his own independent analysis.
The control cores had already been looked over by the investigation team, but Jin believed that a closer look at the structure and materials would yield more secrets.
“Right then.”
Jin approached the nearest golem and began his work. Lordtoss and Duke Blue watched closely from the side. Even the members of the investigation team gathered at a slight distance, eager to see Jin’s legendary skills for themselves.
“Forming. Separation. Inspection.”
“Wha—!?”
In a heartbeat, he had removed the chest plating and exposed the vital internal magi-devices. He transitioned into the analysis without a moment’s hesitation. Someone from the investigation team let out a gasp at the sheer speed and precision of his technique.
Jin ignored them, focused entirely on the machine.
“Analyze. Decompile. Analyze.”
He pushed forward with the analysis at a relentless pace.
“Aha... Just as I thought. This one is also part of the blue-haired automata lineage.”
Though the model differed from the golems that had caused chaos in Avalon, they were clearly from the same series.
(So they aren't from the Origin lineage... That’s a relief.)
Golems that inherited the designs of the Origin possessed performance that far exceeded standard models. If a single power held such technology, it could shatter the global balance of power.
(...In that sense, I suppose the same could be said of me.)
A fleeting thought of retiring to Hale crossed Jin’s mind. However, he quickly refocused on the golem in front of him.
“Analyze... Zinc-plated carbon steel....Analyze... And this part is bronze mixed with mithril... I see.”
As Jin dissected the materials, Reiko stood by, quickly noting down every word he muttered.
“The muscle tissue is... ho, magical beast material. Looks like Death Sea Serpent skin.”
The members of the investigation team stared, wide-eyed at the terrifying speed of his deduction.
“The ether converter and the mana driver... the craftsmanship is mediocre at best. No, it’s subpar. The conversion efficiency is terrible.”
Even as he muttered his critiques, Jin’s hands never stopped moving.
“The skeletal structure is... ah, I see. Even though they had the blue-haired automata to look at, they didn't use them as a reference?”
Jin immediately spotted the lack of a pelvis, which severely limited the range of motion in the waist.
“That’s why their movements didn't look human.”
Finally, Jin analyzed the head.
“The ears are decent enough, but the eyes... why did they do this?”
They had used an ultra-wide-angle lens to secure a front-facing field of vision of roughly 200 degrees, but they lacked a zoom function. Distinguishing objects at a distance would be nearly impossible.
“The light-receiving section has high performance to compensate, but... it’s all so inconsistent.”
In terms of a digital camera, it was like having an incredibly high resolution that allowed for clarity when blowing up details, yet it came with a significant trade-off.
“Because of that, their night vision is likely poor.”
That would be a severe disadvantage for use in an abandoned mine, Jin thought.
“Well, many copies are made by people who just imitate the form without understanding the underlying design philosophy.”
They could never hope to surpass the original, Jin noted with a cold smile.
He proceeded to examine the other three golems in the same manner, but he found no further surprises.
“Duke, thank you for your cooperation. This is everything I’ve found.”
Jin handed over a report containing his professional opinion along with the notes Reiko had taken during the analysis.
“Oh, this is remarkably easy to follow!” Duke Blue said, her face lighting up as she reviewed the document.
“There are points here that our own national golems could use as a reference.”
“Yes. I’ve made sure to document both the strengths and the weaknesses.”
“So it seems. Jin-dono, you have my deepest gratitude.”
“Please, don't mention it. I gained quite a bit of valuable information from this as well,” Jin said with a smile.