Volume 8 - Chapter 20 – Quinta (1/2)

08-20 Quinta

When it came time to go all-out in preparing the armaments, Jin consulted Laozi.

First was sorting the information about the Unifilers. The analysis of the Magi Crystal containing the branch head Purcell’s copied knowledge was left for Laozi to analyse.

The main task was strengthening Hourai Island.

“There’s a lot of things to do, but which one should I start with?”

“Let’s see. Intelligence, transport or mobilization otherwise, and military force. I think these three things are important. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to list each avenue for improvement in order of priority?”

Laozi said, and Jin followed his advice and thought. And the plan he came up with was,

1. For solid intelligence, send spies everywhere.

2. Development of new ways of movement.

3. Development of new weapons.

These three steps.

“For spies, I think that increasing the amount of current Ninja unit members should do, however…”

“I suppose. If you’d like my opinion, I think that if they aren’t used for the reason of guarding My Lord, they should be Automata instead of golems so they can mix in with people and disguise themselves.”

“Hmm, that sounds good. Alright, let’s do that. Let’s make roughly 100 of them, and call them the ‘Quinta’.”

“The fifth column were spies, weren’t they? A good name, My Lord.”

Laozi approved of it too, and for starters they settled upon the construction of the intelligence unit ‘Quinta’.

The adult-male types that would find it easiest to act numbered 40 and the adult female types 30. For camouflage purposes there were ten teenage boy types and ten teenage girl types, and finally ten small Reiko-types for a total of 100 Automata. Their foundation would be the same as that of Hourai Island’s SP’s, but they would be covered in Magical Skin and have hair to make them resemble humans. Jin would make the principal parts and Laozi would be in charge of the rest.

The next thing they started to work on was ways of movement.

“For movement, I want to make a VTOL or a helicopter.”

“Transport that can takeoff and land anywhere, I see. I think that is a fine idea.”

Finally, with regards to the armaments, because they would operate together with the intelligence and the transport systems, they weren’t in a hurry to make decisions.

Then when they were just about to begin working on the Quinta, Reiko returned.

“Father, the establishment of a base at the ruins of the stronghold has been completed.”

“Ah, good work, Reiko.”

Then Reiko began her report.

“First of all, the wreckage of the stronghold was left as it was.”

The reason was to make it seem to the outside that it had been abandoned.

“The hole in the central part of the stronghold was dug in deeper, and the base was established in a depth of 50 meters. The installation of ManaComs and the Warp Gate have also been taken care of.”

After that, Reiko’s report continued.

“For personnel faculties there are bedrooms, a kitchen, and a toilet. It’s small, but a bath has also been installed.”

Knowing that Jin loved bathing she seemed to have made a smart move.

“There isn’t a stockpile of food yet, but water has been stocked. Enough for about ten people to subsist for a week.”

“Well done. Using the base Reiko made as a standard, let’s establish more of them in other places after this.”

He added one more thing, the establishment of bases, to the list with three points from earlier. He indeed urgently needed some military staff for planning. Because even Laozi had Jin’s knowledge as his base.

“What would you like me to do? Master.”

Then and there came Ann. Right now, Ann didn’t have any particular task assigned for her, so after coming to Hourai Island she’s had nothing to do. It appeared that until now she had been learning some things from Soleil and Luna.

“Oh, Ann.”

Jin briefly explained the details. And then,

“It’s only a little, but I think I can offer some advice.”

She said.

“Oh right. You were something like a private secretary in that fortress, weren’t you, Ann?”

“Yes. I’m afraid to say that despite receiving your care a part of my memories have disappeared, but I can still offer as much help as I can so please do not dispose of me.”

“Dispose of? Why are you suddenly talking about that?”

To the doubtful Jin, Ann told him about the past.

“In that fortress, I was an old model, I also had a low combat capability, and all the soldiers had grown tired of my body too. And so I was simply left alone to decay without even receiving repairs for any breakdowns.”

“What the…”

What a cruel story, Jin thought in anger.

“While you’re with me, I’ll never let something like that happen to the best of my ability. So forget about sad things like that. …Anyway, please give me your support.”

“Yes, thank you very much, master. I will do my utmost to serve you.”

“Ann, let’s do our best together.”

Reiko also encouraged Ann. For some reason Jin had never seen Reiko burn with jealousy towards Ann. It must be because they’re ‘blood relatives’ due to the foundation being of the predecessor’s design, Jin thought.

“Alright, in that case let’s start afresh. There’s a lot of things to take care of, but they don’t have to be done in order.”

Jin said and looked in turn at Reiko, Ann, then Laozi’s fixed terminal.

“Armaments mainly for use against the Unifilers, right?”

Ann asked to confirm.

“That’s right. But if possible, I was thinking about keeping them nonlethal.”

Jin replied, and after hearing that Ann made a statement.

“In that case, the top priority is collecting intelligence about the Unifilers. The best weapon is knowing your enemy.”