The morning of July 22 brought clear skies once more.
"Did you sleep well?"
Deus Ex Machina, the leader of the operation, asked Vice Commander Illumina Ratkin.
"Yes, soundly, thank you."
"That is good to hear."
As she was the only woman on the team, Maquina—or rather, Mentor—made sure to be considerate.
Incidentally, the others had already been informed that Squire Rei was an automata.
For breakfast, they kept it simple: warming up their prepared jars of stew, spreading jam over toasted bread, and washing it all down with Persica juice.
"Now then, regarding today's itinerary..."
As leader, Maquina went over the plan.
"First, we summit the peak. There is a high probability that some sort of facility or device belonging to the Jagus Principality is situated near the top, so we will conduct an analysis on it."
That was the extent of the planned schedule.
"However, I doubt matters will proceed quite so smoothly."
As they neared the summit, they would also be closing in on the territory of the Jagus Principality, which meant defenses of some kind were bound to be in place, Maquina noted.
"Security golems are the most likely threat."
Unlike humans, they required neither food nor rest, and fluctuating weather had no effect on them. Because of that, it was highly anticipated that there would be no human guards stationed up here.
"The issue lies in how they will react once we approach."
If they were golems belonging to the Jagus Principality, it was assumed they would attack on sight to eliminate any intruders.
"Well, that in itself poses no real problem."
Squire Rei alone was more than capable of handling dozens of Jagus Principality golems.
"The real issue is if they discover that non-Jagus personnel are at the summit."
Maquina explained that it was impossible to predict how the Jagus Principality would respond in that scenario.
"Indeed... First, they will likely dispatch an investigation team," chimed in Gene Fullsort Raksef, commander of the Norha Principality's 2nd Frontier Corps.
"With a hot air balloon, they can conduct aerial reconnaissance, so that is probably the tactic they'll employ."
Maquina nodded. "I see. And after that?"
Gene Fullsort Raksef continued offering his deductions. "Almost simultaneously, they will likely send in a mixed unit of humans and golems."
"Understood. Without humans, they cannot assess the situation properly....And beyond that?"
"In the worst-case scenario, there is even the possibility of... a declaration of war."
"Is that so?"
In that event, the "worst-case scenario" would be for the Jagus Principality, Maquina—Mentor—thought to himself, though he did not voice it aloud.
"If that is the case, I should contact Jin first."
Maquina reasoned that cutting off their aerial reconnaissance would hinder whatever moves they attempted next.
"I see. Understood."
Jin D was contacted via their portable manaphone.
In truth, Jin was already hearing the details directly from Mentor back on Hourai Island.
Presently, it was Jin himself piloting the Jin D double.
Accounting for the time difference, he had shifted his sleep schedule slightly to keep track of the operation's progress in real-time as much as possible.
Piloted by Jin D, Hurricane reached the skies above the Nameless Peak in thirty minutes. The weather was bright and clear.
"Hmm, a few clouds would have made it easier to camouflage ourselves in various ways, but... it can't be helped, I suppose."
First, an invisible barrier was cast around the entirety of Hurricane.
Rather than a full Invisible spell that also blocked infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths, they used Stealth, which simply bent visible light to project whatever lay behind the craft.
This rendered Hurricane completely undetectable from any hot air balloon.
Conversely, a hot air balloon's heat source would make it plain as day to Hurricane's sensors.
If golems with enhanced visual capabilities were aboard, Stealth would prove ineffective, but it seemed highly unlikely they would load heavy golems into a hot air balloon.
Rather, Jin, Laojun, and Mentor were in total agreement that the ground forces were where the bulk of the golems would be stationed.
While Jin D's Hurricane remained on standby in the airspace above the Nameless Peak, Maquina's party pressed on toward the summit.
They left their base camp intact. Protected by its barrier, it could easily serve as an emergency refuge if needed.
The remaining elevation difference to the summit was roughly five hundred meters; they estimated they could reach it within two to three hours.
"The trees are thinning out."
"The wind is picking up, too."
Being located right along the Equator, the tree line—the elevation limit where trees could survive—would normally sit much higher. However, the harsh winds appeared to push the local tree line down to around 2,800 meters.
"The footing's gotten easier."
"Visibility is better too, but that also cuts both ways—we're much easier to spot now," muttered Mimaka Principality Royal Magi-Ritter Corps Commander Daiki Yuuma Tatsuta.
"Well, the ground we are walking on right now is within our own Mimaka Principality, so there is no reason to tiptoe around anyone."
By the time the elevation difference to the summit had shrunk to about one hundred meters, the terrain beneath their boots turned into solid, craggy rock, and the slope grew steeper.
Due to the hazard, the party roped themselves together to continue the ascent.
It was a technique known as continuous climbing.
Incidentally, the method where half the party anchors themselves to secure the team while the other half advances, alternating by turns, is called pitch climbing.
In continuous climbing, because the climbers are not secured to an anchor, a single person slipping carries the risk of dragging the rest of the group down with them. On this occasion, however, having golems alongside them rendered that concern moot.
A golem's reaction speed was many times faster than that of a human, allowing them to instantly brace and secure the line the moment anyone lost their balance.
Only Squire Rei remained untethered.
Her role was to scout the immediate area and confirm their route ahead.
"About fifty meters to go."
Thanks to spending the night at the 2,500-meter mark, their acclimatization had gone smoothly. None suffered from altitude sickness, and they maintained a steady, efficient pace.
The crest of the Nameless Peak appeared to be quite broad. The slope gradually gentled, making their footing much easier.
At that point, they untied the ropes linking them together.
It was decided that having the freedom to move unhindered would be safer if an emergency arose.
Pushing forward a little further, the incline flattened completely, and the summit came into view.
The top of the Nameless Peak was a wide, rocky expanse.
With roughly twenty meters left between them and the peak, they spotted something standing on the plateau.
"What is that...?"
"An antenna," Maquina answered the voiced question.
"Meaning it is a communication facility that utilizes mana waves?" Illumina Ratkin checked with Maquina.
"Precisely."
With this, they confirmed that the communication repeater in the Mimaka Principality indeed routed its signals through this location.
"It appears they haven't noticed us just yet."
Perhaps owing to the ten-meter gap between them, the summit remained dead silent.
"Let us maintain this distance and circle the perimeter of the summit," Maquina suggested. "However, there is no need for everyone to go, so I will send a golem."
Maquina instructed one of the accompanying general-purpose golems—in reality, a Smith—to make a full circuit around the peak while keeping a ten-meter buffer from the antenna.