The Shouro Empire, Town of Banne.
It was the home base of House Randol, where Reinhard was born and raised.
Stationed at the Banne Security Guard Headquarters, Unit 2 Leader Fried Randol von Read was seething with indignation.
An act of fraud had occurred right here in the Town of Banne, of all places.
According to what he had personally heard from a magi engineer named Ludwig, an agricultural golem had been purchased six months prior from a shop claiming to be a branch of House Techles. The golem had then run wild—an utterly unthinkable malfunction.
Yet when they attempted to lodge a complaint, they discovered that no such entity as the House Techles Banne Branch even existed in Banne.
It was an undeniable act of fraud perpetrated under House Techles's name.
A message had arrived the other day confirming that the broken golem was being preserved as evidence, so there was little room for doubt.
"Now then, where should I begin?" Fried Randol muttered to himself.
As a unit leader, he had four subordinates under his command.
Just a moment ago, Fried had dispatched them to gather any information that might serve as a lead.
Naturally, he intended to investigate the matter himself as well, but he found himself in a slight dilemma.
"Should I gather information on the streets, or should I have that golem analyzed...?"
As his surname suggested, Fried Randol carried the blood of House Randol.
His ancestor was Fritz Randol von Grosch (in the Shouro Empire, noble names followed the structure of Given Name, Surname, [von grant-name]).
Relative to the head house of House Randol based in Banne, his lineage was a cadet branch, but relations between the two families remained amicable.
However, because Fried possessed little talent for magi-craft, he had joined the Security Guard instead.
In other words, though he wanted to analyze the golem, he had no means of doing so on his own.
"He did mention that the golem itself is being stored at a workshop in Kalts Village."
Fried resolved to head over there first.
"Since it's a workshop, I should be able to ask them to analyze it for me."
The distance was only around ten kilometers, a journey taking barely thirty minutes on horseback.
"Berlich Workshop... Ah, there it is."
Arriving at Berlich Workshop, Fried requested their assistance with the analysis.
"We'd like to help, but neither the workshop head nor the deputy workshop head is here right now..."
The workshop head, Berlich, was away in Avalon, and the deputy workshop head, Ludwig, had stepped out. The apprentice minding the counter was simply unable to fulfill Fried's request.
Just then, another voice chimed in.
"Um, if you wouldn't mind, would you let me handle it?"
The speaker was a serious-looking man in his early twenties.
"And you are?"
"Yes, my name is Altas. I've been serving as a temporary instructor at this workshop since the day before yesterday."
"Altas-san, can you really do it?" the apprentice asked worriedly.
"Yes, it won't be a problem....Besides, hearing about this golem fraud has made my blood boil. Please, allow me to assist."
"All right, then I'll leave it to you."
Even if he was only temporary, the man possessed enough expertise to teach, and he clearly shared Fried's outrage over the crime. Fried decided to accept his offer.
While there was always a chance that Altas was an operative sent by the fraudsters to destroy evidence, Fried chose to trust his instincts and believe the man's earnest indignation.
"Analyze. Decompile. Analyze..."
Under the watchful eyes of several apprentices who had gathered around, Altas ran the analysis again and again.
Before long, he spoke.
"I've uncovered a few things. Surprisingly, this was constructed quite some time ago—roughly fifty years ago, I'd say."
"How can you tell?"
"From this material... Biological material was used for part of it, so I can gauge its age by the degree of degradation. I'd estimate forty to sixty years have elapsed."
"I see, which is why you estimated fifty years."
"Yes."
"Furthermore, the ones who crafted it were most likely the Magic Federation. I've analyzed several golems made by them in the past, and this shares distinct characteristics with those."
"Is that so?"
Unversed in magi-craft as he was, Fried didn't ask what those characteristics entailed, but the apprentices couldn't contain their curiosity.
"T-To think you could do it like that..."
"...Alternating between Analyze and Decompile yields that kind of result...?"
"A-Altas-san, what are those shared characteristics?"
"It's simple, really....It comes down to how the magi-formula is applied here. Normally, no one would script it this way. At the very least, I've never seen anyone use this style outside of the Magic Federation's golems."
"I-I see..."
Altas continued with his assessment.
"This golem was likely a prototype. The fraudster, or their ring, must have stumbled across it and made a few alterations."
Altas concluded by remarking that, for a practical product, the craftsmanship was rather abysmal.
"I see! That was very informative. Thank you so much, Altas-san!"
Realizing this was an official Security Guard inquiry, the three apprentices bowed politely and returned to their stations.
With their departure, handling Fried's case was left entirely to Altas.
"Well then, Altas-dono, I truly appreciate your cooperation."
Just as Fried offered his thanks and turned to take his leave—
"I might be able to help you a bit further, you know?" Altas called out.
"What was that?"
Fried halted in his tracks and looked back over his shoulder.
"I said I might be able to provide more help....No, this is neither a lie nor a bluff. I can identify what sort of person readjusted this golem."
Fried stared at him in disbelief.
"Y-You can do that?! You're not pulling my leg, are you?"
Altas remained entirely composed.
"Of course not; why would I lie?...This golem's control core still retains information on its creator and adjuster, along with their magic patterns."
It was much like how digital image metadata contained details beyond the image itself.
In any case, Altas wielded knowledge accessible only to a select few magi engineers.
"Oh! Then by all means, tell me!"
"Could you give me just a moment?"
"Of course."
With Fried's consent, Altas worked his magi-craft once more.
"Read Info."
Fried lacked the magi-craft knowledge to realize it, but Read Info was a spell that merely read raw data from a control core.
Without an extraordinary mental processing capacity, the decompile occurred in a split-second flash, rendering the spell practically useless to an ordinary caster.
Yet Altas wielded that very Read Info to extract nuances of data that would normally slip past unnoticed.
"I have it....The person who readjusted this golem goes by the name of Hanga Kamoi. He looks like this."
Altas swiftly sketched a man's face onto a notepad and held it out for Fried to see.
"Incredible... To think you could discern even that much."
"Yes. It was extracted from the stored memories of what the golem 'saw and heard.'"
They now had both a name and a face. Yet that was only the first step.
The hunt for the culprit—whether a lone fraudster or an entire syndicate—was only just beginning.