Magi Craft Meister

Magi Craft Meister 611

18　Further Progress Arc

18-31　Engineering Magic

It all started by pure coincidence.

It just happened to start taking in a magical power of the right wavelength from the environment.

However, compared to when it was first created, there was far too little Ether around.

Its built-in Ether Converter had slowly begun accumulating the Mana necessary for its movement.

And when the required amount was exceeded, it started moving.

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Jin started showing the Empress’ party around the remodeled mansion.

“This is the kitchen.”

“…Wow! What a beautiful sink and kitchen counter!”

They were made of 18-12 stainless steel, which was so well-polished that you could see your face reflected on them. It was only natural that the Empress would be surprised by them.

“This is the restroom.”

“…Oh, this feels nice to touch.”

“Hmm, this idea is interesting. It makes it comfortable even when the weather’s cold.”

Everyone seemed to be drawn to the heated toilet seat. The restrooms’ other functions were also more advanced than the average restroom, so their reaction was understandable.

“It’s important to treat sewage. Especially if it all returns to Lake Tosmo.”

It seemed that Lake Tosmo’s water already wasn’t being used for drinking in the first place, and that the people living around it had already decided to use purified water instead.

“That’s right. We are currently reviewing our policies regarding that, including everything related to hygiene.”

The Empress then mentioned that, based on the knowledge she had obtained from Jin, she was considering a policy that included disease prevention.

“Of course, we think it’s necessary to properly wash our hands and brush our teeth, but also to boil water in order to sterilize it.”

Degauss added to the Empress’ words.

He then continued by saying that the “detoxification” and “disinfection” Magic Tools will come in handy once the policies had been settled.

After that, they all headed to the guest room area.

“Oh! What is this floor?”

In addition to the living room for himself and Elsa, Jin had made two Japanese-style rooms complete with tatami mats. These had quickly caught the Empress’ attention.

“These are called ‘tatami’. You’re supposed to take off your shoes when walking on them.”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful! To take off one’s shoes during a visit… Ah, what a sign of peace.”

In a way, Jin was impressed by the Empress’ own interpretation of the meaning behind the tatamis. Her idea was that not having to wear shoes during a visit meant that a visitor would feel reassured by being in a place from where they would have no need to run away in a hurry.

“And… It smells really good. Like the smell of nature.”

They smelled like freshly cut grass. Elsa liked this scent, and the Empress seemed to like it too.

“I wonder if you could cover the floor of a bedroom with these and just lay down a futon bed on top of it…”

Judging from her words, it seemed that the Empress had really liked the idea.

“I’ll give you some tatamis later.”

As soon as Jin said that, the Empress looked like she was about to start jumping out of joy.

“Do you think you could show us around the rooftop as well?”

“Right, I’d like to take a look at how you did things up there for future reference.”

The main purpose for Degauss and the Empress’ visit was to see how Jin had put his blimp landing station together, as well as its maintenance infrastructure.

“Sure. This way, please.”

They climbed the new set of stairs that would take them to the roof.

“Hmm, of course, the exit to the roof has a door and a roof overhang of its own, I see…”

It was as if they had come out to the rooftop of a school. The door and overhang were there because Jin didn’t want any rainwater to make its way into the building during bad weather.

“I see, so you can have the necessary personnel here at any time.”

The Empress nodded after seeing that there was an area on the roof where the personnel that assisted with landings and departures could stay.

“Not only the roof, but also the pillars and walls are reinforced with ‘Toughen’ and ‘Hardening’ to increase their durability.”

“Hmm, of course.”

“We have drawn a white circle as a guide for landings, just like the one at your castle.”

“Of course, you’d have bollards here as well.”

A low but strong railing had been set around the roof, as well as bollards for mooring aircrafts.

“Oh, what’s that?”

Minister Degauss pointed at something that looked like one of the lamps used to brightly illuminate a square.

“That’s a light Magic Tool that I set here for when any arrivals or departures happen during the night.”

Degauss nodded at Jin’s explanation.

“I see. It’s true that you need to be able to either take off or land here even at night, in case of an emergency.”

“That’s right.”

At that moment, they all saw a messenger on a horse running at full speed towards Jin’s residence.

“Huh? Where’s he going with such haste? …He’s coming here?”

And two minutes later, an out-of-breath Barrow ran up to the roof.

“…M-Master Jin! T-There’s big trouble! I-In the castle…!”

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After waking up and checking its surroundings, that realized that it was trapped.

The “black box” that Jin had feared had begun to move.

<Restraints confirmed. Self-defense Level 1. …Eliminate restraints.>

Its arm slowly moved upwards, and the mantle that had been covering it slid to the side and fell.

“Uwaaaaahhh!”

This caught Marcus by surprise. Just when he thought they were finally done moving those giant Golems, one of them suddenly started moving, tearing away at the temporary cover that he had put a lot of effort into.

Though he had avoided the falling mantle, Marcus’ face went completely pale after realizing what was happening.

“W-What? How? Why now?”

The giant Golem, which he had been ordered to store away, had now started to walk all of a sudden. And Marcus and his team had yet to find their control device.

At this rate, the giant Golem could cross the entire courtyard of the Imperial Castle, break through the outer walls and go out into the city.

“Goliath No. 1! Stop it!”

Marcus gave instructions to one of Goliaths, the large Golems Marcus had brought along for this job. However, this only invited further chaos.

<Antagonistic entity confirmed. Self-defense Level 2. Remove antagonistic entity.>

The 6-meter Goliath faced the 20-meter supergiant.

Using one of his legs as an axis, the giant Golem made one full rotation. It was like it was trying to shake off a puppy that had been clinging to its leg.

Goliath No. 1 was sent flying by that momentum, causing it to fall on the ground. The giant Golem then proceeded to keep walking.

“Hey! Everyone, stop that thing!”

This time, four more Goliaths clung to the giant Golems’ legs, two on each. However, this didn’t stop the giant Golem.

“No. 1! You too, get up!”

The fallen Goliath No. 1 finally managed to get back on its feet. However, it seemed that the fall had damaged its lower back, causing its movements to become sluggish.

Even so, it stood in front of the giant Golem.

<Five opponents. Self-defense Level 3. Destroy antagonistic entities.>

The giant Golem raised its right arm and brought it down at its right leg.

A blunt, metallic sound was heard, and Goliath No. 3’s head was crushed.

However, despite having lost its visual receptors, the Goliaths’ control mechanisms weren’t located inside their heads. Therefore, Goliath 3 continued to latch itself to the giant Golem’s right leg.

<Strength of the antagonistic entities acknowledged. Self-defense Level 4. Selecting elimination method… Complete. Commencing.>

“W-What!?”

The giant Golem placed its hand on Goliath No. 3’s crushed head and activated a magic spell.

A faintly shining magic circle appeared, and Goliath No. 3’s body was distorted into a strange shape before coming to a complete halt.

When Marcus saw that, his eyes widened in surprise.

“‘Forming’…”

It was “Forming”, an Engineering Magic spell.

It wasn’t impossible for a Golem to use Engineering Magic to attack an enemy. However, that was all that it was: “not impossible”.

That was simply part of the characteristics of Engineering Magic.

The strength of most Engineering Magic changes in inverse proportion to the cube of the distance between its caster and its target. It’s considered to be a relationship that affects three-dimensional objects.

In other words, as the distance between caster and target increases, the effect of Engineering Magic decreases sharply, along with requiring more magical power to work at all. Therefore, when it comes to attacking an enemy, regular offensive magic would be more efficient and effective.

Back when Jin was attacked by Count Walter’s soldiers in Kaina Village, he used “Forming” to bend their spears, that had been an exception among exceptions, and not something that anyone could do.

But the giant Golem had been able to use Engineering Magic in the same way. This was what had rendered Marcus speechless.

After being done with Goliath 3, the giant Golem proceeded to incapacitate the rest of Marcus’ Golems one after another.