"Go!"
With just a single command, the thirty Norha Golems formed ranks and surged toward Reiko and Hope.
"Hope, I shall take the lead."
"Understood, Ojou-sama."
Reiko had found Madaim Luha's attitude thoroughly intolerable herself.
Furthermore, Jin had told her about how the man had interfered during their escape with Lordtoss, which was why she had stepped forward to propose this match in the first place.
Since it was a sham fight, Reiko and Hope were empty-handed, but the Norha Golems each held a shield alongside a staff of varying length.
The two lead units raised their shields and charged.
Reiko calmly strode toward the foremost golem.
With a light strike against its shield, the steel shattered into pieces, pulverizing the golem's arm right along with it.
That was too much, Reiko thought. Lowering her output further, she kicked the second golem's shield.
This time, the metal held intact, and the golem was merely hurled backward through the air.
Having gauged the necessary restraint, Reiko moved to intercept two units that were thrusting and swinging their staves at her.
A single punch snapped the swinging staff clean in two, sending the top half flying.
She seized the thrusting staff, twisted it upward, and sheared it straight down the middle.
With their weapons abruptly shortened, the two golems required about half a second to adapt to the change.
In that fleeting window, Reiko slipped between them to confront the line of staff-wielding golems behind them.
It took the reinforcements roughly 0.2 seconds to react to her sudden appearance, but that momentary delay gave her more than enough of an opening.
She slammed a body check into the first unit.
Unlike with her punches or kicks, the impact threw it three meters backward without heavily warping its frame, sweeping up three golems behind it in the process.
She struck the next unit with a roundhouse kick, prioritizing knockback over raw destruction. Sure enough, it was blown back into three more units.
This created some breathing room between Reiko and the Norha Golem squad.
Then, Reiko went on the offensive.
Though she limited herself to subsonic speeds to hold back, the Norha Golems still could not keep up with her movements.
Unleashing a flurry of punches, kicks, throws, and body tackles, Reiko completely shattered the squad's formation.
A mechanical unit standing 2 meters tall and weighing 400 kilograms apiece was being utterly toyed with by Reiko, who was merely 130 centimeters tall and weighed 30 kilograms.
Giving the scattered golems no chance to regroup, Reiko dismantled them one by one.
Hope joined the fray from the rear.
Employing Shouro Empire throwing techniques, Hope repeatedly slammed the Norha Golems into the hard ground.
Since these throws gave no opportunity to break a fall, heavy impacts to their heads and necks left golem after golem immobilized or drastically slowed.
In the blink of an eye, the entire squad of thirty golems was wiped out.
The whole engagement had taken barely thirty seconds.
"I-Incredible..."
"Th-This can't be... How..."
Commander Gene Fulsort Raxeve of the 2nd Frontier Corps gaped in admiration, while Vice Commander Madaim Luha stared in sheer disbelief.
Despite the staggering difference in size and mass, Reiko and Hope—chiefly Reiko—had utterly overwhelmed them without breaking a sweat.
A heavy silence fell over the grounds.
"It is finished," Reiko said, brushing the dust from her skirt.
Hope walked back beside her at an easy pace.
"Ghh..."
Madaim Luha's face flushed crimson, his teeth grinding audibly.
Just as Jin realized something was deeply amiss—
"This is impossible! You must have cheated somehow!" Luha screamed.
"Reiko, Hope, restrain Madaim Luha!"
At Jin's command, barely a second passed before Reiko and Hope had Luha pinned flat against the dirt.
"Your Highness, I apologize for taking it upon myself to restrain an officer of your military."
Jin offered a formal apology, but First Prince Zifola Movie de Norha waved his hand dismissively.
"No, even to my eyes, Luha's behavior just now was clearly unhinged. You subdued him before anything escalated, and for that, you have my thanks."
"Indeed....Jin-dono, we are in your debt."
Even pinned to the earth, Madaim Luha continued to rave and shout wildly.
Is this brainwashing...?
Jin decided to test the waters with the Weckener.
Since he had a habit of equipping Reiko with his latest devices and prototypes right away, he gave the instruction.
"Reiko, try using the Weckener on him."
"Yes, Father. Right away."
Reiko aimed and discharged the Weckener straight into Madaim Luha.
"...Guh?!"
Though the Weckener was completely painless, Luha gasped sharply.
It was not a cry of physical agony, but rather the disorienting shock of snapping back to his senses.
"...I... Why on earth was I saying such things...?"
His tone had shifted entirely, returning to a calm and composed cadence.
"Reiko, ease up on him."
Jin had them stop pinning him to the ground, though they kept a firm grip on his arms just in case.
"Madaim Luha, what happened to you?" Minister of Military Affairs Zonata Nictes Vecchio demanded.
"Sir! It feels as though roughly a third of the actions I believed were my own were actually forced upon me by some external compulsion."
Realizing that truth had clearly left him badly shaken.
"Hmm... Jin-dono just used a device called a 'Weckener' on you. If that brought you around, then..."
"...Regrettably, it means Madaim Luha-dono was subjected to brainwashing," Jin chimed in to explain. "The Weckener is designed specifically to undo mental manipulation."
At this revelation, the first prince, the minister of technology, the minister of magic, the minister of military affairs, and the commander of the 2nd Frontier Corps could not conceal their shock.
"Mm..."
"...If it is brainwashing, then the Jagus Principality is the only plausible culprit."
"Indeed."
It seemed that even here in the Norha Principality, the Jagus Principality's mastery of brainwashing techniques was an open secret.
"In that case..."
After a moment's reflection, First Prince Zifola Movie de Norha turned back to Jin.
"Jin-dono, I have witnessed the immense strength of Lady Reiko and Hope-dono with my own eyes."
"Quite so. Lady Reiko's prowess lives up to every legend; she is truly the world's greatest automata."
Minister of Military Affairs Zonata Nictes Vecchio bowed his head respectfully to Jin as well.
"Jin-dono, my own name, 'Gene,' was bestowed upon me in honor of the First Generation Magi Craft Meister. My family has revered the Magi Craft Meister for generations."
Commander Gene Fulsort Raxeve shared this with a somewhat bashful smile.
"This is a departure from our original schedule, but would you be willing to hold a discussion regarding the Jagus Principality after this?" the first prince asked, pointing out that their neighbor could not be left unchecked now that Madaim Luha had been covertly compromised.
"Of course. That sounds like the wisest course of action. I don't mind at all."
With Jin's ready consent, Minister of Military Affairs Zonata Nictes Vecchio spoke up.
"Then let us head back inside the castle....If possible, we would like Gajue Tsuga-dono and House Theoderic to join us."
"Mm, a sound proposal. I shall extend the invitation myself."
Announcing that he would see to adjusting the day's itinerary, the first prince turned and led the way back into the castle.