Volume 0 - Chapter 3 – DEPARTURE (2/2)

Jin was satisfied with what he had finished.

「Well then, the last thing to finish this is the 『Activation』」

To activate it, he poured his magic power into the 《Mana Drive》 but the 《Automata》 laying before his eyes did not move.

「Huh? Did I make a mistake somewhere?」

He checked it, but there was no defect in the performance of the magic circuit.

「Yeah… I have no idea」

At that moment, as though to remind him, his stomach rumbled.

And so, we return to the opening line.

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「Aaaa… so hungry…」

Jin sank down onto the floor.

「At this rate I’m going to starve to death in this research facility…」

Thus, he decided to go outside for the time being.

「Hmm… if I remember correctly, there’s a 《Warp Gate》 I can use to easily travel around.」

The knowledge he inherited had told him there was such technology.

「Also, the 《Warp Gate》to go outside should be on the 1st floor」

His memory, or rather he searched his knowledge for the 《Warp Gate》 that was the gate to the outside world. Just how many 《Warp Gates》 were lined up?

「Oh well, any of them will do, let’s just take the 5th one then」

According to his knowledge, the 《Warp Gate》 exits are close to large towns.

He takes 5 gems from the store room to exchange for money. They were small rubies. He judged that it would be difficult to convert into money if it was too big.

「Looks alright. Well then, time to go」

He gets on the magic circle of the 《Warp Gate》, and pours in his magic power. The magic circle immediately operates…

「… something feels odd」

Jin had forgotten. The 《Warp Gates》 were setup more than 1000 years ago. In a 1000 years, towns can perish and the geography of land can change.

The corresponding 《Warp Gate》 of the 《Warp Gate》 Jin was using no longer existed.

「Su-re-ly-it-wo-nt-go-out-of-co-nt-ro-l?」

The magic circle was flickering intensely. The amount of magic power needed to transfer was great. Now that its destination was lost, it began to malfunction.

「This… is… bad…」

He was unable to get off, and just as the magic circle malfunctioned, Jin’s figure disappeared from the research facility.

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「… fa…ther?」

The 《Automata》 opened its eyes. Being in the room under the malfunctioning magic circle, it was able to sense that Jin was in danger.

The reason why the activation was so slow was because for its body that had a tremendous magic power capacity, it took time to convert the 《Ether》 in the air to the quantity of 《Mana》 the 《Mana Drive》 needed to activate.

「Father… is gone…」

Having its creator gone, it was the most serious matter for the 《Automata》.

「I have to… find father」

The 《Automata》 faced its search for its own 《Raison D’être》, Jin. Readying a new 《Warp Gate》 to return with, it was now prepared,

「I’m going」

And now another disappeared from the research facility.

All that remained were the golems that dug out resources single-mindedly.