Volume 9 - Chapter 49 – Had Jin Been the One to Find Elena (1/2)
09-49 IF #1: Had Jin Been the One to Find Elena
Content warning: violence, pain
Please think about this tale as something like a parallel world.
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One day, one of the Quinta dispatched everywhere reported encouraging news through Laojin.
“My Lord, on the western shore of the Lake Azul there are ancient ruins that have been turned into a tourist attraction, but underneath it there seems to be a large room.”
“Mh-hm, has that not been found before?”
“It hasn’t, My Lord.”
“Hmm, seems interesting. Let’s try going for once.”
Jin muttered, and Reiko raised an objection.
“Father, it’s dangerous to go personally to an unknown place like that.”
“Mmh, I’ve got Reiko and since they’re ancient ruins let’s have Ann come along this time too. And I’ll be wearing the reinforced clothing and taking Muramasa and Masamune with me.”
Reiko was still looking a bit sullen yet,
“There’s no other way, is there. I’ll take Peach Blossom and the Magi Cannon. Let’s also have the SP carry a Paralyzer, a Vibration Blade, and an Induction Radiator each.”
She said. Jin who heard that wondered about what on earth she was going to wage a war on. But he kept his mouth shut since it seemed like Reiko would’ve asked him not to go since it was dangerous had he said it.
“If we go through the floatsink base in Lake Azul it won’t take long. Let’s wait until it’s midnight on the other side when we arrive.”
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Jin’s personal VTOL, Pegasus-1 flew out of the floatsink base in Lake Azul, and in about three minutes it was above the ruins they were looking for.
“The Quinta is coming to meet us. No humans have been found on the surface.”
On top of the search by the Quinta who found the ruins, detection by infrared rays and sight revealed that there were no people around.
Judging that the risk of being witnessed was low, Jin made Pelican-1 land in front of an open space in front of the ruins. It was stone-paved just perfectly so landing was easy and done without raising any clouds of sand.
First the SP went out to watch the surroundings. A minute later, Reiko, then Ann left. Finally Jin got out.
“Good work on coming all the way here, Chief.”
The Quinta in charge of the western shore of Lake Azul bowed.
“Thanks for greeting me. So, the ruins in question, where might they be?”
“Yes, over here.”
Jin tried lighting the surroundings with a [Light Ball]. There buildings all around supported by pillars of stone strengthened with magic. However, the strengthening magic had completely faded and the structures had begun weathering.
Guided by the Quinta, Jin headed near the ruins. The Quinta came to a stop between two large pillars and said while pointing at the ground,
“There is a large cave underground here.”
Jin examined the surface with [Sonar] and understood that there clearly was a large room underneath the ground. Jin then gave orders to Reiko.
“Reiko, try hitting here with 30% of your power.”
After confirming that Jin and the others had retreated a bit further away, Reiko swung her pretty fist and struck the ground.
Along with a thunderous noise, the earth cracked and caved in. Reiko nimbly leapt away and avoided falling.
Once the dust settled, a large hole could be seen there.
“So dark. [Light].”
Even when using light magic to illuminate the hole, the bottom couldn’t be seen. The Quinta then said,
“Chief, I will try going down first.”
And jumped into the hole.
A little while later a report came in through a ManaCom.
“I’m fine, there’s nothing out of the ordinary here. Please go ahead and come down.”
Jin’s group then headed to the middle of the hole. Jin was carried by Reiko, while Ann and the SP went by themselves.
Once down the hole in the ruins, they found a rather wide room with passages to the left and right. Either direction would’ve been good but Jin decided to head for the smaller passage.
After continuing on for a while the passage sloped down. Although dim, there were perpetual light emitters that ran on Ether inside the walls of the hallway.
“They’re of lower grade than those in the research laboratory, aren’t they.”
Reiko looked at the dim lights and commented.
Finally they saw a door. It was made out of iron, was covered in red rust, and once in front of it Ann said a few words.
“Master, this seems to be the emergency shelter room of the ancient fortress.”
“Hmm, so is it likely there’s something inside?”
Jin asked Ann.
“Yes, the likelihood of there being Magi Tools or weapons and such for emergency use is high, I think.”
“Alright, let’s try opening it.”
Jin tried pushing but the heavy door barely budged. Reiko took over for him and pushed. The hinges creaked and broke midway, and the door fell to the inside of the room with a loud sound. It raised dust into the air.
“*Cough*, this is terrible. [Wind].”
Jin expelled the dust out of the room with wind magic. Now he became able to inspect the inside of the room.
Inside the room were, just like Ann said, quite a lot of Magi Tools. There were ones that had broken through the passing of years, but about a third seemed still u sable.
Jin ordered the SP to recover the tools. Then he noticed something at the very back.
“That’s a…”
It was a human shape. Jin could immediately tell it was an Automata. Its figure was that of a girl. But it was leaning on the wall while sitting on the floor without any life. Its left arm was broken, gone from the elbow down.
“That’s, it can’t be… the ‘Golden Princess of Destruction’?”
Ann said.
“Ann?”
“It’s just what I think is probable, but this Automata is the ‘Golden Princess of Destruction’. She was a mysterious Automata that in the early days of the Great Magic War went around destroying my brothers and sisters.”
“Hmm, I see…”
After hearing that Jin proceeded to examine the Automata making sure not to touch it.
“The craftsmanship isn’t bad.”
In the corner of his eye, Jin saw Reiko puff up her cheeks after hearing that and he hurriedly added.
“…Although it can’t hold a candle to Reiko.”
Reiko’s expression returned to normal.
“Hmm, supposing we collect all the ancient Magi Tools, just leaving this Automata would be regrettable. Alright, Reiko, please carry her and then let’s go hom.”
“Yes, I understand.”
While carrying the Magi Cannon on her back and Peach Blossom on her waist, Reiko lifted up the Automata.
Feeling the faint Magic Energy coming from Reiko the Automata woke up.
“Are you the one… who woke me up? …H– hey, wait, what are you doing!?”
“Ah, she woke up. So she really had configured herself to wake up after detecting Magic Energy.”
“Wa-wait, release me! I am the queen of Automata! Listen to what the queen tells you!”
She kicked and struggled, but Reiko’s solid grip was like a vise and no matter how much the Automata tried to shake and untangle her it didn’t matter.