February 4, noon.
Kawaha Village in the Kingdom of Franz.
It was a desolate settlement of a mere twenty-one households.
Geographically, it sat midway between the royal capital of Sanjerton and Sanfoze, a vital waypoint along the main highway. By all rights, it should have enjoyed a favorable location. However, the distance between Sanjerton and Sanfoze was only thirty-five kilometers—a stretch that could be traversed in a single day even on foot or by horse-drawn carriage. With the rise of modern transit like golem carriages and golem automobiles, the village had gradually fallen into decline.
Consequently, the remaining villagers eked out a meager living by offering water and light refreshments to travelers passing along the thoroughfare.
Queen Caroline de Lafayette of the Kingdom of Franz had taken the situation seriously, offering tax relief and various forms of aid, yet none of it had produced meaningful results.
And with good reason.
Presently, Kawaha Village served as a base of operations for the Magic Federation.
Compared to the former Unifilar, it was hard to say whether their lack of a unified leader and charismatic upper executives—which prevented them from collapsing all at once—was a blessing or a curse.
What remained certain was that it was a curse for the world at large. Having splintered into guerrilla cells, eradicating them had become vastly more difficult.
Approaching that very Kawaha Village were Quinta operatives dispatched by Laojun: Regulus 10, codenamed Albert, and Deneb 5, codenamed Romia.
"According to Laojun's findings, nearly every villager here is an affiliate of the Magic Federation."
"How troublesome."
"However, roughly half appear to be under the influence of brainwashing. If we dispel it, they should return to their senses."
"Using Wecken, correct?"
They had a working grasp of the Magic Federation's indoctrination methods.
The most potent variety had been Markitus's Brainwashing Magic, but the man was already dead. The current state appeared to be simple indoctrination on the level of Subliminal suggestion. A casting of Wecken—just as Elsa had demonstrated recently—ought to be enough to break it.
"Then to confirm: we first blanket the entire village with the Paralyzers to knock everyone out and bind them. Once they come to, we check their mental state and use Wecken to free anyone still swayed by the Magic Federation's ideology. Is that the plan?"
Deneb 5, Romia, reviewed the steps.
"That should suffice," Albert replied.
"Understood."
"Also, there should be ten Golem wolves present, and the Paralyzers likely won't work on them. We will neutralize them with the ether eliminator instead."
The ether eliminator functioned by draining the free ether from a target's mana tank and transferring it into their own. They had already confirmed that the Golem wolves operated on mana tanks.
Furthermore, they had decided in advance that credit for this operation would be attributed to Deus Ex Machina.
"Should we summon the Land squad to ensure none slip through our fingers?"
Incidentally, Jin had previously considered redesigning the Land squad units deployed under Deus Ex Machina's name. However, during the decisive battle against Guillermo Markitus, the golems dispatched as reinforcements had been Land units. Figuring that some people might already know Maquina and Jin commanded the same model of golem, he had kept the designs identical. If questioned, Jin reasoned he could simply claim the blueprints were an inheritance from his master.
'Understood. Deploying the Land squad.'
Laojun's response came through, and a mere 0.5 seconds later, three units—Land 55, 56, and 57—materialized on-site.
"Well then, shall we begin?"
Without waiting for nightfall, they moved into action. They had already confirmed that every single villager was present within the perimeter.
The village chief's residence in Kawaha Village served as a local stronghold that could aptly be called the Magic Federation's Kawaha Command.
Without warning, a hail of Paralyzer beams rained down upon the building.
"Gah!"
"Guh-!"
With brief cries of shock, the three sentries stationed inside crumpled to the floor.
Almost simultaneously, people collapsed in rapid succession across the rest of the village.
Within thirty seconds, not a single human was left moving. As collateral damage, even the domesticated kokarisks—chicken-like creatures—had completely passed out.
And yet...
"...Here they come."
Nine Golem wolves emerged into view.
There was supposed to be one more unit, which Regulus 10, Albert, deduced was directing the pack from somewhere in the shadows.
Even so, he decided that silencing these nine came first.
"Discharging ether eliminator!"
At his command, the nine beasts collapsed one after another, flopping to the ground like marionettes whose strings had been severed.
"That leaves one."
"I wonder where it could be hiding."
The instant Regulus 10 and Deneb 5 exchanged those words—
A gray shadow lunged straight for Deneb 5's throat.
"Whoops, careful there."
A human would have had their carotid artery shredded in an instant, but Deneb 5 sidestepped the pounce effortlessly, without a trace of danger.
"So this one is the pack leader."
It was indeed the leader of the Golem wolves they were looking for.
A human might have looked down on the beast or indulged a desire to test its combat prowess, but as Quinta automata, Regulus 10 and Deneb 5 harbored no such vanity.
"Discharging ether eliminator."
Without hesitation, they fired the device.
The Golem wolf attempted to spring back, but its reflexes were no match for a Quinta. In a heartbeat, it froze and ceased all movement.
In the end, the pacification of Kawaha Village took a mere thirty minutes. A collection of magi-devices, including assorted junk, was seized alongside the targets.
"That settles everything here."
"Yes."
Every member of the Magic Federation was thoroughly bound. Though the Golem wolves were utterly drained of energy and unable to move, their legs were tied up as an added precaution.
"We shall leave the rest in Laojun's hands."
'The targets have been secured, I see. Almost entirely on schedule.'
Back on Hourai Island, Laojun reviewed the results with satisfaction.
'This should put My Lord's mind at ease.'
Because this was a matter weighing on Jin's mind, and having judged it to be of utmost urgency, Laojun had taken direct charge of the operation to see it resolved swiftly.
'However, we cannot simply extradite them to the Shouro Empire under the current circumstances.'
This was the sovereign territory of the Kingdom of Franz. Since the culprits were not on an international wanted list, transporting them across the border into the Shouro Empire was out of the question.
'Shall we summon the World Security Guard under the authority of Deus Ex Machina III?'
Properly speaking, this was an affair that fell under Avalon's jurisdiction.
Conveniently, Deus Ex Machina was one of Avalon's founding figures, and Deus Ex Machina III was likewise treated as a person of great importance.
A preliminary report regarding the cave-in incident in the Shouro Empire had already been submitted, and affiliates of the Magic Federation were, by default, classified as terrorists.
Inside Avalon.
"Lord Tomax, an incoming transmission from Sir Deus Ex Machina."
"Hm? What could it be?"
Tomax picked up the manaphone, which had been engineered down to a remarkably compact size.
'Hello, this is Deus Ex Machina. Am I speaking with Lord Tomax Bartman?'
"This is Tomax Bartman, Chief Administrator of Avalon."
'Splendid. Well, to get straight to the point...'
Deus Ex Machina provided Tomax Bartman with an overview of the recent cave-in in the Shouro Empire, informing him that the perpetrators had been apprehended.
With that brief explanation alone, Tomax Bartman grasped the situation.
"I see. You wish to transfer custody over to the World Security Guard, do you? Very well, I shall dispatch a unit to your coordinates immediately."
Under Tomax Bartman's directive, an airship fleet took to the skies ten minutes later, charting a direct course toward the Kingdom of Franz to take custody of the terrorists.