The walled city of Asunto was surrounded with walls ten meters high.
Its shape was a square with edges almost five kilometers in length, and inside it bordering the north side walls was the royal castle.
The so-called outer palace was this defensive enclosure of ten-meter high walls which stretched around from the north side and shaped the outer palace to a rough square.
The north side of this outer palace, that is, Asuntoâs castle walls, had a gate through which the kingâs army could sally out of.
Protected by the outer palace was the inner palace which was the heart of government and where the king lived. The wall separating the inner palace from the outer was three meters high, less than a third of the castle wallsâ height.
Therefore from around the center of the inner shrine seeing the exterior castle walls was possible.
And seen from the inner palace, a giant golem rising higher than even the castle walls was looking down on them.
âU, uh ohâŠâ
âTâthatâs aâŠâ
The people watching were trembling with fear, then saw someone step on top of the castle walls from the golemâs palm.
Black clothes, and a silver helmet they had never seen before. They seemed to be a tall person. Judging from the body shape they were male.
âWho could that be. A friend, or a foe?â
Everyone watching held the same thoughts.
âLadies and gentlemen!â
The mysterious personâs voice reverberated. He mustâve been using some kind of magic as his voice reached to all corners of the inner and outer palaces.
âMy name is Deus Ex Machina. It seems that a certain subset of people have named me the Mysterious Golem Master or some such.â
âDeus Ex Machina, you say?â
âIâve never heard of him before. Who in the world is he? What are his aims?â
Everyone present began talking. However, the person who called themselves Deus Ex Machina waved his hand and it again became quiet.
âWar is useless. It doesnât create anything.â
Deus Ex Machina spoke.
âThe land is vast, and people are few. Do not commit such foolishness as fighting against your own race.â
Some of the people agreed inside their hearts.
âPeople havenât yet caught up with the state of civilization of the Great Magic War days. That is the truth. But setting your eyes on the past is foolish. Because the past will never come back.â
There were also people who frowned when they heard those words.
âDo not head for the past. Focus on the present. Endeavour to clear the way to the future.â
Deus Ex Machina raised his voice even more, and spoke almost shoutingly.
âWhether or not you listen to my advice is your own choice. But if you do not, I have a plan ready.â
Deus Ex Machina said and pointed at a destroyed golem.
âLook.â
Everyoneâs gazes gathered there. Then, everyoneâs eyes became wide-open with surprise.
Before their eyes the broken golem turned red hot, then white hot, and then it completely melted.
âYou understand, right? I only wish for one thing, peace. To put it in another way, coexistence would do too. It should not be a difficult thing.â
Deus Ex Machina then stopped speaking, and looked out over at the people.
âI will not show myself as long as you do not cause conflict. Think well upon it.â
Finishing with that, Deus Ex Machina jumped on the giant golemâs shoulder. At the same time, the giant golem turned its back around to Asuntoâs castle.
At that moment, one of the magi knights chanted magic and was about to fire an attack spell.
â[Wind Slash]âŠ! Why? I canât use magic!â
Deus Ex Machina turned to look back from the golemâs shoulder and,
âI forgot to mention. Far from neutralizing magic, it is possible for me to make magic unusable. Please stop doing pointless things.â
He then pointed at the magi knight who tried to use magic.
âUgh!â
Then the magi knight let out a short grunt and immediately after suddenly went rigid. Then he fainted.
âUnfortunately, that man appeared to have been a puppet of the [Unifilers]. But now he should be returning to normal. I shall send you a list of people who have been confirmed as being manipulated later.â
Deus Ex Machina said and once more turned his back on the people.
âWell then, I hope we do not meet again.â
And this time Deus Ex Machina left together with the giant golem.
Jin was fainting with agony at Hourai Islandâs headquarters.
âUooaaaaaaah, suuuuper embarasssiiiing!!â
This was because after finishing reading the script bearing with the the tone that was excessively like that became too much.
âMaster, please calm down. You were cool.â
Ann consoled him.
âBefore the Great Magic War, that sort of style of speech and display was a regular performance.â
When nobles had small fights between fellow countrymen and such, that kind of exaggerated talk was commonplace, Ann said.
ââŠIt really was exaggerated, wasnât it.â
Annâs consolation didnât seem to be of much use.
âMy Lord, please give your instructions on how to continue.â
Then as a request came from Laojin, Jin switched gears.
âAs plans over here too went more or less as planned, it should be fine to carry on with the plans for the aftermath too.â
âUnderstood.â
âThen Iâll be going to Kaina Village, so if thereâs anything please give me a call.â
After doing something as out-of-character for him as stopping a war, Jin couldnât relax in any way and in a great hurry warped to Hourai Island to seek comfort.
âAh, onii-chan! What did you do? Itâs almost lunchtime, you know?â
Hannah shouted as soon as she saw Jin. She was a little upset as he had been late in coming back.
âSorry, sorry, there was just a little something back at my home that I had to take care of.â
âGeez. You scared me, I thought you might have disappeared again!â
âSorry. Iâll be in contact properly from now on.â
Jin apologized while patting Hannahâs head. While doing that he felt his hear that was on the edge calming down.
âYou know, today I went to the forest to gather firewood. This morning uncle Rock and the others brought in a lot of mountain deer, so weâre going to make smoked meat.â
Jin remembered that Rock had said something about that when he had seen the icehouse.
âOh, I see. Shall we go help?â
âYeah!â
Hannah who was back in a good mood pulled Jin by the hand to the plaza where they were smoking meat.
Meanwhile, Reiko had returned to Hourai Island with Titan Mk.2. Because she had gone through the Warp Gate she was the first one back.
âWelcome back, Reiko-san.â
âLaojin, whereâs Father?â
Reiko asked as she couldnât see Jin who was usually here.
âMy Lord has⊠gone to Kaina Village a step ahead of you.â
Laojin told Reiko the truth with some concern, thinking it would make Reikoâs mood worsen.
âIs that so. He went to see Hannah-chan, didnât he?â
Reiko smiled and said so, contrary to his expectations.
âFather appears to treasure Hannah-chan the most, doesnât he?â
Feeling just a little marveled, Laojin decided to daringly ask Reiko.
âReiko-san, you seem to hold Hannah-chan in special regard too, am I correct? Of course, when leaving My Lord out of the argument.â
Then Reiko surprisingly laughed.
âHe he, so you noticed. Yes, after Father Hannah-chan is the most important to me.â
âMay I ask why?â
âOf course. Itâs because Hannah-chan resembles Mother well.â
âBy mother you mean the predecessor, isnât that right?â
âYes. My Mother, Adrianna Balbora Ceci. Of course, I donât mean that their Magic Energy patterns are alike or anything like that. On the contrary, Hannah canât use magic.â
âIn that case, itâs the appearance?â
âThatâs correct. When Mother was young, no, when she was a child, Iâm certain she looked just like Hannah.â