"Eavesdropping?"

Anne's comment made Jin sound surprised. But then he thought back that it was not so surprising, since he had such a means himself.

He tried to find out about the unusual concentration of magical power that Reiko had found. But Jin (his double) could not understand it.

"If only Elsa were here ...... No, we can't let her cross the dangerous bridge now ...... right!"

I thought of the mini-craftsman (Smith) I had with me. He should be able to do a precision job that is one sixteenth of Jin's.

Smith, activate.

"Hi, master."

Jin activates one of the 10 cm tall miniature smiths. Istaris and Zion rolled their eyes.

"What?　What is this?"

"It's ...... cute."

"I don't have time to explain now. ...... mini-craftsman Smith, check it out."

"Hi, master."

The mini craftsman (smith) gets on Alectus's shoulder and first touches him behind the ears. Then he lies down and examines his chest. Duration: 2 minutes.

"Behind the ears, under the skin, there are magic tools. The one in the chest reached the heart. There is magic power coming out of both of them, and they are connected to somewhere. I don't know where it is at the moment.

The magic barrier is deployed, so the connection by the magic power must be broken. But now we know that the magic tool has some kind of influence on Alectus.

Can you get it out?

"Yes, the one behind the ear will be quick. The one in the chest will take longer.

It seems that it is not easy to remove the one that has reached the heart. Maybe this is where Elsa comes in.

"Okay, take out the one behind the ear."

First, Jin took out that one to see what kind of magic tool it was. Depending on the result, he would decide whether to call Erza or send Alectus to Horai Island to deal with it.

"Master, it's done!"

In about a minute, the mini-craftsman (Smith) has taken out the magical tool in question. It is a needle-like tool about 2 cm long and 1 mm thick.

After the removal, there was a reddish blot of blood, but it was healed without a trace with a beginner-level healing spell, <>.

"Now, what kind of magic tool is this probe ......?"

I decided to let the mini craftsman (Smith) analyze it as well. In about two minutes, it was done.

"I understand. This transmits the master's instructions to the wearer, and also sends the voice heard by the wearer to the master.

This surprised Jin on Horai Island.

Furthermore, the information read by <> is presented.

"I see. ......"

The old form of the Magi Formula is lined up. These formulas look older than their predecessors.

But their purpose and results are clear. It is one half of a magical tool for controlling the wearer.

"In this case, we'd better take out the magical tool that is said to have reached the heart as soon as possible. ......

The Horaijima members who had gathered around the pilot's seat of the substitute doll (double) had dispersed after the commotion was over and they had simply moved on.

Erza had also gone somewhere, so Jin asked the old man to call him again.

"Brother Jin, what is it?　What's going on?"

After about 2 minutes, Elsa comes out.

"Yes. As a matter of fact. ......"

Erza's face turned serious as Jin explained.

"...... implanting a magic tool in her heart and manipulating it?"

"Yeah. That's probably what it is."

"That's just evil."

I agree.

Erza said that she would take out the magic device at any cost, so Jin instructed Reiko of Capricorn 1 to send Alectus to the relay base, , using the warp gate.

Jin, in cooperation with Erza, prepared necessary items. Jin worked with Elsa to prepare what was needed, which was only recovery medicine and magical tools for healing.

Five minutes later, Jin and Erza met up with Alectus and Reiko, who had brought him to the Shinkai. They are accompanied by a mini-craftsman (Smith) with a probe that they have extracted.

Incidentally, in order to connect the warp gate between Capricorn 1 and <, the magic barrier had to be lifted for a moment.

Also, the magic barrier is now deployed here in . That's how careful they are.

"Erza, please hurry up, we are wasting time.

Since Capricorn 1 does not inform Istaris and the others about the warp gate, they must think that Reiko has entered the small room to treat Alexas.

"Yes, I know."

With Jin and Reiko assisting her, Elsa began to remove the < embedded in Alectus.

"......<>...... got it. The probe is stuck near the coronary artery of the heart. If you force it out, you will have a big hemorrhage."

Elsa thought for a moment about how to treat it. She came to a conclusion.

"There is no need for anesthesia because the patient is <>. < and at the same time pull out the probe at once without damaging the surrounding tissue.

Again, this is where the mini-craftsman (Smith) comes in.

"May I?　......3,2,1,0.<>"

As Elsa counts down, the mini-craftsman (Smith) pulls out the probe at once.

Thanks to the healing magic applied at the same time, the bleeding was negligible and the procedure was completed.

All right, Reiko, take him to Capricorn One.

"Yes, Father."

Jin says to Reiko as she heads for the warp gate with Alectus on her back.

"I'm counting on you."

Hearing this, Reiko smiles and walks through the warp gate.

What is she doing?

What is she doing?

Meanwhile, inside Capricorn 1, Zion waited impatiently.

"It's difficult to perform the surgery unless it's germ-free," Anne explained.

Anne explained, but Zion did not seem to understand.

"Don't worry, it will be over soon.

"It's been 10 minutes since you said that.

It's really almost over.

In the middle of this exchange, the door to the small room with the warp gate opened.

"It's done. We have successfully extracted the magic tool ......<>."

The mini craftsman (Smith) on Reiko's shoulder holds up the probe and shows it to her.

To avoid any suspicion, he hurriedly finished analyzing the removed probe and entrusted it to Reiko and the others again.

"This probe seems to be operated from the master's side, and it seems to cause pain to the heart.

"What?

Zion shouted loudly. Jin knew exactly how he felt.

"Calm down. I've already taken it out. That's why he should be free from the slavery now.

Just to be sure, he strapped her to the auxiliary seat again, albeit loosely, and gave her a <> to wake her up.

"U......"

"How are you feeling?　I've taken out the magic tools that were implanted in you, right?"

Jin says to Alektas as he opens his eyes. He flutters his eyes and shakes his head repeatedly. And then,

"Thank you, Magecraft Meister, Jin-dono. My head feels lighter.

"After all, you were controlled by that magic tool, weren't you?"

Yes. <

It was just as evil a magical tool as I had expected.

"All the members of the clan, even the children, were implanted with it, so that they could not resist."

I'm sorry," apologizes Alexus. Jin ordered Reiko to untie the rope.

"Thank you for believing in me."

Untied, Alectus bowed his head again.

"I did not hear much of the this morning, so I thought I could welcome Jin-dono and the others and tell them of our plight, but I guess I was naive.

It seems that the rulers are not always on the watch. Not even Jin himself is always in control of his double.

By the way, Jin-dono, are you feeling all right?

"What?　Yes.

There is no change in the condition of the substitute doll.

I hope that's all right. Actually, I gave Jin-dono a dose this morning, but I don't know how I could have disabled it. I hope he is all right."

"......"

"I only drugged Jin-dono to draw him to our side, and I apologize for that.

"I'm sure everything is fine now."

Since he was a double, any poison would have no effect on him. Once again, Jin patted his chest.