Magi Craft Meister

Magi Craft Meister 645

18　King Klein’s Treatment Arc

19-32　Embrace

“You…why are you here!? What happened to the Golem?!”

“Ah, you mean that wooden doll? It’s turned into scrap by the hallway. Isn’t that right, Reiko?”

“Yes, Father.”

Reiko threw a large piece of iron through the door opening. Derait hurriedly avoids it, but was surprised to see it roll on the floor with a loud noise.

“What?!”

That’s because it was the head of a Golem of the same type as Gren.

“You… how did you destroy this one?!”

“How…? Well, how did you do that, Reiko?”

“Well. I won’t even bother answering that question.”

“…What did you say?”

At that moment, Princess Lieschen opened her mouth.

“Derait, give up already. I’ve heard everything you said. And now that Jin has jumped in, you have no chance of winning. Just admit your crime quietly.”

But Derait didn’t seem to be listening.

“Shut up! We’re done here. Lecker! Prepare for our escape! Gren! Catch that woman!”

The general-purpose Golem Lecker broke the window and jumped out onto the balcony. It seems that the hot-air balloon was hidden inside the large wooden crate that had been placed there.

On the other hand, the heavy-duty Golem Gren smashed the table that Elsa had been using to shield herself and approached her. It seemed that they were trying to take Elsa hostage.

However, Edgar stood in his way.

“…Edgar…”

“Miss Elsa, leave this to me.”

“Okay.”

Edgar took Gren’s blow without dodging it. Because he could have hit Elsa instead if he had tried to dodge.

“Edgar, are you okay?”

“Yes.”

＊　　　＊　　　＊

Derait was being held down by Reiko near the door.

“Give up. I won’t let you escape.”

“Ugh! We’re not done yet. Lactor! Kisah! Claro!”

“U-uwah! …J-Jin!”

Princess Lieschen seemed flustered.

In response to Derait’s voice, three heavy-duty… no, combat Golems appeared, breaking through the wall in the adjacent room.

“Kill them all!”

Derait’s words no longer cared about appearances. The three Golems attacked as commanded.

“This is dangerous, Father.”

As one of them brought down its fist at Jin and Princess Lieschen, Reiko stood between Jin and the Golem. Of course, this sets Derait free, who runs towards the window in an attempt to reach the balcony.

“Don’t let him escape!”

“Gyaah!?”

It seemed that, responding to Jin’s voice, one of the Covert Units showered Derait with a “Stun” spell while remaining invisible. Derait rolled on the floor before being rendered motionless.

Still, the combat Golems had already received his orders, and weren’t stopping.

“Reiko, we’re still inside the royal castle, so don’t do anything too flashy!”

“Understood.”

There were knights and maids on the floor below. In the unlikely event that the floor collapsed, they could be seriously injured, so Jin urged Reiko to be careful. In that respect, he was more composed than Elsa.

As for Reiko, if she had her Peach Blossom with her, she would’ve been able to cut the Golems to pieces in no time, but unfortunately she hadn’t been allowed to bring any weapons into the royal castle.

On the other hand, the combat Golems didn’t care for such reservations and attacked Jin and the others with all their might.

However, fighting under such a handicap meant nothing to Reiko. Her only concern was which of her choices she would go for in order to deal with them.

(Transfer Gun… no, it’s better not to use that in public. Laser… too flashy. Induction… that’ll take some time.)

Those thoughts dashed through Reiko’s mind in about 0.2 seconds.

Then, she reached a conclusion.

“’Magic Canceller’.”

A weapon that forced Mana to revert into Ether. Contrary to such a simple effect, it would be difficult for any onlookers to understand what happened to its targets.

Golems don’t even have an Ether Converter, let alone a Magi Reactor.

If their Mana Tanks run out of Mana, they will no longer be able to function.

“Father, let’s take out their Control Cores.”

“Well done, Reiko.”

With their Control Cores removed, each of the three stationary Golems would be no different than scarecrows. Jin quickly removed the Control Cores from all three of them.

“…”

Princess Lieschen was at a loss for words, since she couldn’t understand what had just happened, or how Reiko had neutralized the Golems.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

On the other hand, Edgar, who had been improved and strengthened, was completely undaunted before a Golem with a physique over five times larger than his own.

Not only did he catch its punch, he retaliated with a front kick.

Since it is a kick that is aimed slightly upward, it managed to lift his opponent slightly despite the weight difference, successfully causing it to fall.

However, Elsa’s face turned pale when she saw the resulting cracks in the stone floor.

“E-Edgar, be careful, or the floor may collapse.”

“S-sure.”

Gren’s weight seemed to be around 500 kilograms. It wouldn’t be strange for something that heavy to tear a hole through the floor when falling.

So Edgar decided to change his method of attack.

He pulled out his equipped knife. This knife was made from the shell of a Giant Centipede, and was capable of cutting through steel.

With Edgar’s strength, it easily pierced through Gren’s armor.

A second slash destroyed the Magi Crystal in charge of its sense of sight. Its movements, which had already been slowed, now became even slower.

Taking advantage of that opening, Edgar used the knife in his hand to cut through Gren’s chest armor plating.

The iron plate falls to the floor with a loud noise. The cracks on the floor spread further.

But that was the end of it.

With his armor plating missing, Gren’s internal Magi Devices were completely exposed. Edgar pulled out its Control Core, causing the combat Golem to cease functioning.

“Miss Elsa, it’s over.”

“…Thank you, Edgar. ‘Toughen’, ‘Fusion’.”

Splicing the cracks together, Elsa repaired and reinforced the cracked floor.

“…Phew, this should do it.”

“Elsa!”

Elsa, who had taken a deep breath after having avoided a potential accident by repairing the cracked floor, was suddenly hugged by someone.

This caused her to suddenly become stiff, but once she realized that the one hugging her was Jin, her face turned bright red.

“Ah, uh, B-Brother Jin?”

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Did anything happen to you?”

“…N-no.”

“I see… good.”

Even as he said that, Jin continued to hug Elsa.

“…B-Brother Jin… it hurts.”

As expected, being hugged tightly by Jin, who had strengthened his body for this situation, was a bit too painful for Elsa.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Hearing this, Jin hurriedly let go of her. His face was also bright red, as if it had been boiled.

“…Ah.”

Released from Jin’s embrace, Elsa was relieved that the pain was gone, but she was also disappointed that his warmth was gone.

“Jin, that Golem is running away!”

The blushing Jin and Elsa came back to their senses at Lieschen’s call.

On the balcony, the hot-air balloon was about to take off.