“…You seem to have a rather outstanding automata with you, huh? That’s good to know.”
“Andro? W-What are you…”
Beatrix was surprised by the sudden change in the presence of the young boy Andro.
“Young lady, I’m truly sorry, I’ve been just pretending to be your attendant all this time. I’ve had lots of fun thanks to… you!”
Andro kicked one of the automata guards that were lying on the ground towards Jin and his friends.
Surprisingly, the automata flew in the air, hitting Jin’s barrier -who was about 5 meters away from them- before falling to the ground.
“W-What on earth are you…?”
Albert made a surprised voice after seeing such a display of superhuman strength.
“My real name is Androgias. Androgias the Wild.”
Upon hearing that name, Jin reflexively blurted out a question.
“You… Are you a demon?”
“Huh? Do you know about demons?”
A slight hint of surprise appeared on Androgias’ face.
“A demon!? Andro, were you a demon all along?”
Beatrix’s voice came out loudly.
“How noisy. Be quiet, you selfish young lady. I’m talking with this guy right now.”
After interrupting Beatrix with his cold voice, Androgias once again turned towards Jin. It seemed that that was his true tone of voice.
“…So, do you know about demons?”
“…No, I’ve once met a guy named Marchosias… Well, I wouldn’t say I actually met him…”
However, as far as Hourai Island was concerned, there had been five demons. Lardus, Dogmaud, Bemiarouge, Marchosias, and now this Androgias.
“Hmm? I’m not sure I follow, but it does seem to me that you know about demons.”
At that moment, something about Androgias changed completely.
“…So I can’t let you live. Gravita.”
“Look out! Erleichtern!”
Jin activated the Magi Crystal with the weight-reduction spell that he happened to have on him. Laojun had given him that just in case of an airship crash.
And it had barely managed to offset Androgias’ gravity magic. Androgias had been the first to chant, but Jin’s spell seemed to have been the first to be completely activated.
“Wha-!? How come are you all still standing? Your bodies should feel 10 times heavier right now!”
Could Androgias really make their bodies 10 times heavier even if he hadn’t used Erleichtern, or was he simply inexperienced? Jin wasn’t sure, but the force attacking them was making their bodies only 20% heavier than usual. Even Hanna had a “What?” face as if she had been expecting something more than just the feel of carrying a heavy bag on her back.
“Stun.”
“Kuh!?”
Reiko cast a spell, taking advantage of Androgias’ momentary state of surprise. It was a spell not intended to kill, but to paralyze its target for later questioning.
“Ah!?”
“Kyah!?”
However, a mysterious barrier that surrounded Androgias blocked and repelled, and it was scattered. And in the aftermath, the Selfish Siblings, Beatrix and Albert, ended up being caught by the stray spell.
Reiko cast her next spell without paying attention to the two fools that had fallen to the ground.
“Wind Slash!”
Since her electric shock attack had been deflected, Reiko tried using her wind-based spell, which was a semi-physical attack.
“Hmph.”
However, Androgias laughed and warded off that attack as well.
“Looks like I’ll have to get rid of that automata first, huh? Gravita.”
Reiko’s body shook for a moment. It was proof that gravity had increased.
“…”
“Hmm, looks like my gravity magic is working after all.”
Androgias grinned, but Reiko started to walk while making a face as if she wasn’t feeling anything at all.
“Wha-! What’s the matter with you!? It didn’t work!?”
“No, I’m sure I’ve become about 300 kilograms heavier right now. But what about it?”
Reiko was acting as if weighing even a few tons was no big deal for her. Androgias went completely pale. Perhaps he had already reached his limit.
“You might have repelled my magic, but how about that?”
After saying that, Reiko leapt forward.
Reaching Androgias’ position in an instant, Reiko threw a right punch at his abdomen.
The barrier seemed to stop Reiko’s punch. However, this had been only for a moment, and Reiko’s fist, which had been thrown at 30% of her power, dug straight into Androgias’ abdomen without losing almost no momentum at all.
Furthermore, this wasn’t the punch of a 30-kilogram-weighing Reiko, but the punch of a Reiko that weighed over 300 kilograms.
Although it had only managed to blow Androgias a few meters away, Reiko’s absurdly heavy blow was enough to render him unconscious.
After Androgias fainted, the effects of his spells vanished, so Jin also canceled his own weight-reduction spell.
“Phew, I’m glad I had this with me…”
“J-Jin! You can operate gravity as well?”
Saki was completely astonished, but Jin assured her that he would explain everything later.
“More importantly, what are we going to do with him?”
Androgias lay sprawled on the road about 10 meters away from Jin and his friends. He could be an important source of information about demons. Jin was also personally curious about what had been his motives.
“Should we try to use Transinfo on him?”
Even though Androgias had fainted, he didn’t know if he would regain his consciousness soon, so Jin approached him with caution.
“Flame Ball!”
“Wha-!?”
A fire spell was unleashed, hitting Androgias directly.
“Flame Storm!”
And another one.
For a brief moment, it seemed that the demon boy had managed to open his eyes. But the next moment, the powerful flames had already turned Androgias into ashes.
“Don’t look, Hanna.”
Jin hurriedly hugged Hanna so as to block her field of view.
“Haah… Haah…”
Albert had been the one who had released the Fire Ball, while Beatrix followed with her Flame Storm.
“…What have you done!?”
Beatrix glared at Jin in response to his yelling.
“What? He was a demon, an enemy of mankind!”
“That’s right. He had been deceiving us and manipulating us all this time. What’s wrong with us punishing him for it?”
It seemed that Reiko’s Stun, which had bounced onto both of the Selfish Siblings, had been enough to dispel the mental manipulation spell that Androgias had cast on them, but still their personalities hadn’t changed one bit.
“…Well, I think we could have learned many things if only we had been able to take him for interrogation.”
“Interrogation? There’s no need for that. Mankind had already won the last Magic War. Even if there were to be another one, mankind would surely win again.
Even after regaining their true selves, the Selfish Siblings still wouldn’t listen to a word Jin had to say.
“…”
Jin finally relaxed himself, thinking, “There’s nothing we can do about it now anyway. Have it your way, then.”
As he stroked Hanna’s hair, Jin said,
“Let’s go home, shall we?”
To which Elsa, Saki, and Stearleana nodded silently.
“W-Where do you think you’re going!?
Albert started to yell about something, but Jin didn’t bother trying to listen.
Edgar seemed to be able to walk on his own, and Jin started to walk away without looking back at the Selfish Siblings.
“I’ll remember this—!”
The Selfish Siblings kept on talking, but neither of them dared to chase after Jin and his friends, as they were probably still afraid of Reiko.
＊ ＊ ＊
“…I’m so tired.”
The mentally exhausted party returned to Stearleana’s house, throwing themselves on the sofas.
Hanna seemed to have become very tired from all that walking, and was taking a nap. Reiko sat beside her.
“I’m very sorry about all that!”
Stearleana bowed apologetically, almost as if she were about to drop on her knees.
“I never thought something like this could happen! I’m very sorry, Elsa!”
“…Don’t worry about that, you don’t need to apologize about that.”
“…Thanks.”
Stearleana hadn’t meant for any of that to happen, so no one really was blaming her for it.
“I can see clearly why you’re so keen on giving up on this country, Stearleana.”
Jin suddenly opened his mouth. He had a tedious expression on his face.
“I know, right?”
“You should really move away from here as soon as possible. Today’s events made it even clearer to me.”
Jin and the others decided to talk about Stearleana’s future.
“I don’t think I can stay here anymore…”
Stearleana’s voice sounded extremely tired.
“Yeah, I think so too.”
“Me too…”
Everyone was of the opinion that she should move away.
So next, they had to decide her destination. Was she going to go to Jin’s Kaina Village, or to Hourai Island? Or perhaps even to Reinhardt’s Kartze Village?
Since Hourai Island was rather separated from the other areas, and because the other possible destinations had Warp Gates, it quickly turned into a choice between Kaina Village and Kartze Village.
“Wait, why don’t you move in with me?”
At that moment, Saki offered a third option.