Magi Craft Meister

On August 9, Jin and his friends left Hotel Lunor.

"So what are we going to do now, Jin?"

Shion seemed quite puzzled, and rightly so. The towns of Loroon and Genf were more than 70 kilometers apart from each other in a straight line.

There was no way they could catch up with the convoy by carriage.

"Oh, don't worry about that. 'How' we're going to catch up to them is a secret. You guys haven't told me everything, have you? I have my secrets as well. Please understand that. But I can assure you we'll definitely rescue your sister."

"…G-Got it."

This time, Jin had no intention to make a move himself. There was a risk of getting himself exposed and blamed, and besides, there was no need for him to get himself into a potentially dangerous situation.

Therefore, Jin intended to return from the Frantz Kingdom to the Klein Kingdom for the time being.

After some backtracking, they arrived at the checkpoint.

They underwent the same inspection and verification as before, and after another bribe, they easily passed through.

Then, they also passed through the checkpoint on the Klein Kingdom's side by showing Jin's certificate, just like before.

"I wonder if this certificate really is this effective, or if those guards were just slacking."

＊　　　＊　　　＊

At 13:00 on the same day, at the midpoint between the towns of San Jose and Genf in the Frantz Kingdom…

A coniferous forest with no houses in sight.

A road about 5 meters wide stretched from north to south with some zig-zagging. Since it was unpaved, dust was being kicked up from it.

Ten soldiers and two knights were escorting a curtain carriage.

"We're less than ten kilometers away, so we should be arriving there in about two hours."

"Ah, I can't wait to say good-bye to these annoying demons."

"How about we hit the brothel once we arrive at Genf?"

The soldiers were escorting the carriage -which had a cage inside- while having such conversations.

At that moment…

"Wait!"

Five suspicious-looking people appeared before them.

"Bandits?"

"Are you stupid? Does it look like we have anything of value?"

But they weren't bandits.

"I see you're the convoy escorting those demons. Hand those demons over to us."

"What? Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Let's just say we're some people who hate demons. Would you kindly hand them over?"

The one that seemed to be their leader took a step forward. The guards couldn't see his face since they were covering it with his hooded robe. However, they managed to catch a glimpse at the breastplate he was wearing underneath.

"That crest…? No way, is that the one belonging to the Royal Family of the Celuroa Kingdom…?"

While still doubting his own judgment, the guard that seemed to recognize that crest moved forward.

"We're escorting them under official duty. We cannot hand them over to you. If you continue to get in our way any further, we will be forced to remove you. Move away now."

"That sounds fun! Why don't you come over here and see how that works out for you?"

One of the five who claimed to be hostile towards demons was all worked up. However, the one that seemed to be the leader spoke out calmly.

"I guess there's no other way. If you don't hand them over, you'll be dooming yourselves."

Even before the leader stopped speaking, the ten soldiers and two knights that were escorting the carriage fell on the spot without being able to even say anything back.

"This is Regulus 41. Processing fainted targets."

"This is Sky 1. I've confirmed that there are no people within two kilometers around."

"Laojun here, acknowledged. Check the prisoners."

"This is Regulus 41, roger."

Regulus 41 approached the carriage and carefully lifted the curtain that covered what was inside.

"Targets confirmed."

There were two demons, about 17 or 18 years old each, in the cage that was inside the carriage. Both of them had fainted as well.

"Transinfo."

Regulus 41 activated the magic tool given to him by Jin.

"…'Transinfo' failed. I can confirm that the targets are demons."

Since they couldn't have Shion do facial recognition of the prisoners, they used the fact that "Transinfo" had no relevant effect on demons other than receiving information that was impossible to read.

"Sky 1, descend as planned."

"This is Sky 1, roger. Landing Falcon 1."

Falcon 1, which was capable of vertical take off and landing, landed on the specified spot.

Regulus 41 searched the fainted guards, finding the keys to the cage. Regulus 42 and 43 carried the two demons out, and 44 and 45 brought in the dummies they had prepared in advance to replace them.

With their Magi Jammers ready to be used at any time, Regulus 42 and 43 took the demons into the Warp Gate installed in Falcon 1, instantly sending them to Nidou Castle.

At Nidou Castle, 20 Army Golems were standing by in the guest room on the second floor, prepared for anything.

"Begin the final phase."

Following Laojun's instruction, the carriage was oiled and then set on fire.

The wooden carriage burst into flames in no time.

The fainted guards were moved far enough away so that they wouldn't sustain any burns.

Eventually the fire went out and all that remained was ash and a charred iron cage. There were two burnt corpses in the cage. Of course, they were dummy corpses, made out of monster materials.

They were now nothing more than a pile of ash and charcoal, so there was no way to know they were fake.

"Good. Pull out, everyone."

Regulus and the others used Falcon 1's Warp Gate to send themselves back to Hourai Island. They were to be sent to their new posts after that.

Then, Falcon 1 deployed its invisibility cloak and took off once more, setting a course for Hourai Island as well.

"They must have noticed the crest. This would end up being even better if they were to believe that the mastermind behind this assault was related to the Royal Family of the Celuroa Kingdom. Though it's fine if they don't make that connection."

Regulus 41's breastplate had been furnished with a crest very similar to the one used by the Royal Family of the Celuroa Kingdom to create a misunderstanding.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

After driving the carriage a little to the north of Storsk -a town on the border of the Klein Kingdom, Jin found the blimp that was being handled by Steward.

"Good job, Steward. Let's go back to Kaina Village."

"J-Jin, w-wait! Are we going to head back already? Without doing anything?"

Shion panicked. Her discontent was made evident in her face.

"Huh? We obtained lots of information, haven't we?"

"Information, you say…? We came all this way here just for information!?"

However, Jin laughed it off, and reminded Shion of an important fact.

"Don't worry. We're going to rescue your sister. Leave it to me."

"…Are you sure?"

"Yeah. That's why we need to go back quickly."

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean by that, but oh well…"

After that conversation, Jin and the others boarded the blimp.

The trip back to Nidou Castle by taking the same route used to come all this way but in the opposite direction took them only two hours. The time difference was about 1 hour, so it was nearly 2 PM by the time they arrived.

And roughly at the same time, Istalis and Netros also arrived at Nidou Castle.

"Welcome back, Master Jin."

Barrow was there to greet them.

"It appears that we have received two guests in the second floor's guest room just a few moments ago, but I am unable to confirm this since I've heard you had specific instructions for us not to go inside. Is that correct?"

"Ah, I see. Just in time. Yes, you did good. You and Belle will have to wait to enter the guest room until I say you can."

"Understood, Master."

Neither Shion nor Lucas understood what they were talking about. Elsa, on the other hand, wasn't surprised, because she had an idea of ??what Laojun had done under Jin's instructions.

"Anyway, Shion, Lucas, you'll see for yourselves when we get there."

Jin walked fast, followed closely by Reiko. Shion and Lucas also began walking hurriedly behind them.

Reiko opened the door of the guest room on the second floor. Jin was standing behind her, which was something Reiko had insisted on to protect him from any harm that may come.

"Welcome back, Master."

They were greeted by Land 1. He had been keeping watch on the two demons that were lying on the futon beds.

"Sister!"

After seeing them, Shion shouted loudly and rushed into the room, clinging to the still unconscious female demon.

"What!? How!?"

How many questions were confined within those two words? After staring at Jin, Shion stared at her lying sister and began to shed tears.

"She really does look a lot like you, Shion."

The female demon, who was probably Istalis, had the same silver-colored hair and white skin as Shion. The male demon, which would be Netros, had brown skin and black hair, exactly like Lucas.

"Are they not waking up because of the poison, or…?"

Jin realized that she was talking about the Paralyzer. Land 1 quickly understood what she was trying to say, and quickly replied.

"We believe it's both."

That signaled it was Elsa's turn to act.

"So, Elsa, can you do a medical examination on them and treat their wounds?"

"Yeah, sure."

Elsa stepped forward, gently pulled Shion -who was still clinging onto her sister- away from Istalis, and flipped over the sheets covering her in order to conduct a medical examination on her.

"Ah…!"

"How horrible…"

"S-Sister…"

Istalis was wearing nothing but a single piece of dirty cloth that barely covered her body. Her exposed skin was covered with bruises that had turned blue and black, and a wound that had been covered in dried and solidified blood.