“Reiko”
Jin’s cry echoed.
Reiko had fallen down a cliff with a sharp drop. The height difference was over 100 meters.
Gigantes slowly approached Jin and Reinhardt.
“I can’t believe that Reiko couldn’t win.”
Reinhardt’s face was pale.
“This bastard, to my Reiko…”
At the moment when was about to fire off a maximum-power [Laser].
“I’m sorry, Father. I got careless.”
Reiko had jumped up the cliff and come back.
Jin stopped casting magic and,
“Reiko! Are you okay?”
He asked worriedly. Reiko waved both her hands and,
“Yes, nothing has broken.”
She said and gave Jin peace of mind.
“Father, won’t you leave that to me?”
Said Reiko standing in front of Jin, she seemed angry.
“Even if it was for a moment, I caused Father worry. It’s my duty to fix that.”
She said and ran off without even waiting for Jin’s reply. Jin looked at her back and,
“Reiko! Do what you want to do! But this time don’t lose!”
He called out to her.
After hearing Jin’s yell, Reiko increased her Ether Converter’s output to 40 percent.
It was as if she turned into a small bullet as she rammed Gigantes with her body. Even Gigantes was felled by that shock.
“Oh, did she do it?”
Reinhardt let out a small shout of joy, but, Gigantes grasped Reiko tightly with both its arms.
In comparison to her body, Gigantes’s hands were thick and large. In proportion to the hands’ size, it held down Reiko with ease.
Then while Gigantes sucked Magic Energy from Reiko to strengthen its own body, it tightened its grip on Reiko trying to destroy her.
Creaking and grating sounds came out from either Reiko or from Gigantes.
“Reiko!”
At Jin’s shout Reiko turned to face him just once, and showed a sweet smile. Like saying there was nothing to worry about.
Then Reiko increased her Ether Converter’s output to 80 percent.
“Wh-what?”
Reinhardt let out a bewildered voice.
That was only natural, as he saw something like a thin light shining around Gigantes. It was a side effect of when an enormous amount of Ether transforms into Mana.
Gigantes’s special characteristic was taking in Mana from the outside, and converting it to Magic Energy with its Mana Driver, making the energy its own.
Of course there was an upper limit. That was decided by the Mana Driver’s capacity.
Right now, Reiko’s Ether Converter had enterd full operation to supply Mana to both Reiko and Gigantes.
“So you’ve still got some leeway. …How about this!”
Reiko finally increased her Ether Converter’s output to 100 percent.
Gigantes pressed on Reiko even harter.
“You can stand even this, huh. In that case!”
Reiko increased her Ether Converter’s output to 110 percent, then 120 percent.
It was a drastic move she made because she had complete faith in Jin and Jin’s craftsmanship.
130 percent, 140 percent.
Machines’ structures have something called a safety factor or a factor of safety.
An example of a safety factor is a truck with load capacity of 10 tons being able to handle a load of 12 tons without breaking.
And so designs with no leeway have a low safety factor, and designs with leeway have a larger safety factor. There’s also the balance with costs.
So, how do you think Reiko is?
Jin’s beloved daughter Reiko to whom he poured his heart’s blood making her utilized world’s top-class materials and manufacturing processes, and the basis of her design was by the previous generation Magi Craft Meister, Adrianna Balbora Ceci.
The opposing Gigantes was an urgently constructed mass-produced trial product in a war against the devil race. There was no way Reiko would fall behind it in the degree of perfection, durability, or reliability.
There was no way a Magi Craft Meister’s beloved daughter would lose against a faulty mass-produced product.
At least, that’s how Reiko believed.
150 percent, 160 percent.
The rock comprising Gigantes’s body was tinged with heat. The reason was that the Mana Driver had passed its permissible limits.
170 percent, 180 percent.
The surroundings of Gigantes and Reiko were shining with dazzling light. It was just the surplus energy of when Ether was converted to Mana.
“H-hey, Jin, will Reiko-chan really be fine?
Reinhardt who was watching seemed to still be worried. Jin himself couldn’t help but worry. But she had faith in the smile Reiko had shown earlier, and was only watching attentively.
190 percent.
A snapping sound resounded.
200 percent.
Something was smashed up inside Gigantes. Simultaneously its body changed into simple rock and crumbled apart. There was no phenomenon of radiation any more.
Reiko lowered her output all the way to her regular 5 percent, then dusted off the dirt clinging to her body.
She then faced Jin and quickly bowed her head,
“I’ve caused you worry.”
She made a brief comment. Jin rushed over to Reiko,
“Reiko! Are you okay! Are you injured anywhere?”
He asked while gasping.
“Yes, I’m fine. …Father, I’m an Automata so please say broken or damaged instead of injured.”
Reiko replied. To such Jin replied,
“Idiot, I told you earlier didn’t I, that you’re my daughter. That’s why I’m talking about injuries.”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
Reinhardt watched the exchange in silence, but,
“Jin, Reiko-chan, shall we go back soon? Elsa’s must be worried too.”
He called out to them. Jin was in agreement with that.
“Got it. Reiko, does Gigantes have a core or anything like that left?”
“I’ll investigate.”
Reiko immediately walked over to the rock fragments that had compromised Gigantes, dug them up and eventually she seemed to have found something.
“Father, there was nothing more than this.”
She said and handed over fragments of a Magi Crystal.
“I thought so, that would happen if you poured in so much Mana.”
Jin muttered while holding the three small fragments in the palm of his hand.
＊ ＊ ＊
From the summit that she had been watching with worry, pieces of rock came falling down.
“Could it be…They’re fighting?”
Elsa tightly grasped the hands she had crossed in front of her chest.
Then the summit’s area was engulfed in a strange light phenomenon.
“That’s…Magic Energy?”
For the light to be that bright, how much Magic Energy was it even. Elsa’s face when white as a sheet with anxiety and worry.
But at that point, the strange phenomenon stopped already, and without means to know what had happened Elsa spent the time achingly as if she had stomach pains.
But, when the sun was nearing the middle of the sky, the long-awaited sound of footsteps came.
“They came back.”
Elsa jumped out of the carriage. Outside the butler Claude was waiting to greet his master Reinhardt.
“Jin-kun, Rai-nii.”
The figures of the two, then Reiko appeared in sight of Elsa, who knit her brows seeing their state. That’s because Jin and Reinhardt were both wounded.
Jin’s palms were bloodstained, and both Reinhardt’s knees had bled.
“It was a strong enemy after all?”
Elsa asked with worry and Reinhardt replied with a smile,
“Yeah, it was tough. But there’s no need to worry any more. Reiko-chan beat it for us.”
The Reiko in question was following Jin by him without having gone invisible.
“But you’re hurt like that.”
Elsa pointed out, while Jin smiled bitterly and said,
“Oh, this is from when we were coming down the mountain and we both fell. Our walking sticks and water also fell and disappeared somewhere.”
After that explanation Elsa’s expression became strained.
“Idiot. You worried me. It’s good that you’re both safe.”
She then began to cry big drops of tears. Because of his bloody palms Jin refrained from touching Elsa, so Reinhardt was the one to hug and console her.
“Sorry about worrying you. But we’re back now, so don’t cry.”
Reinhardt said and calmed down Elsa a bit.
It goes without saying that after cleaning the wounds with water, they were healed by Elsa’s healing magic.
