"In addition to me, there is another automaton, me."

"What?"

"In other words, there is a myself created before me, and is used as its control core. This has caused it to behave strangely from time to time."

"......"

Malite.Mal = defective, Mal = bad, ite = suffix of mineral, etc. Mal=bad, itite=mineral, etc. In other words, they named it "Magi Crystal," which is not a good name for it.

"So, ......."

A cold feeling ran down Jin's back as he listened to the conversation through Nidouble.

"Well, he must be the one who kidnapped this ."

"How is that possible?

He was concerned about Belialus, but he wondered if it was possible to interfere with the warp gate and change the destination.

"I can imagine what you are thinking. No, no, what the other did was not an interception, but a re-transfer."

I could guess what he was thinking from his words, but I listened to his explanation.

"The warp gate on the receiving end must have been tampered with. I think that he made this Belialus who appeared instantly transfer to himself once again."

"......Why did you leave it alone?"

Hearing Jin's words, the 600012's face contorted again.

"Because he is also me. I can't act in a way that would undermine me."

"...... is a shame."

"I am ashamed of you."

Jin's words were probably intended to be sarcastic, but 600012 did not seem to understand them at all.

"I have a purpose to fulfill my <> will, and I have to keep working until I achieve it. That is the reason for my existence."

"......"

Jin thinks that the 700672 was not this stubborn.

(Perhaps it became even more inflexible when it became a control core (......) instead of a biological brain.)

I try to imagine such a thing, but I can't confirm it.

"So, what should we do?"

Returning the focus to Belialus, Jin.

"The other might try to create a homunculus based on this Lord Belialus. Therefore, you can meet him in the bathroom. I cannot interfere with me, but you can, Master Jin. You can rescue him yourself.

What is the bathroom?

It's a room equipped to raise homunculi. Let's go there.

Jin wonders if it's okay to be so relaxed, but since the 600012 is so calm and composed, For the time being, however, since No. 600012 was so calm, I silently went along with him.

Nidouble and Reiko followed No. 600012 down the stairs and down the corridor.

Jin was a little surprised to find such a spacious space in a basement of 3,000 meters.

No. 600012 walks slowly in front of Jin Double.

Jin looked at it through the magic screen and saw that its body was quite old (the quality of the material was not so good either).

(The quality of the material was not so good either. ......)

Although and have advanced technology, Jin seems to be superior to when it comes to automata.

As we proceeded, we suddenly came to a place blocked by a large rock.

"You 600012, ......, are you in my way like this?"

The 600012 is called the 600 It is rather complicated because No. 600012 calls No. 600012, but we can only take it from the back and forth of the words.

It seems that he is also refusing in this way because he does not want to harm me.

"Well, the 600012 over there kidnapped Belial through a warp gate, can't you use that?

Nidaburu asked, "If we use the same warp gate, we won't have to go through all this trouble.

"That's a fair question, but their warp gate is usually not working. They must have moved it only when they kidnapped Lord Belialus.

"Oh, I see."

It is only logical that the gate cannot be transferred if the receiving side is not in operation. Nidaburu stared at the rock blocking his way.

"Will this passage collapse?"

"Hmm?　What are you going to do?　As you can see, this passage is made of toughened synthetic nephrite, so it won't collapse in the slightest.

Nephrite, also called jade or jadeite, has a dense structure that makes it tougher than its hardness would suggest (Mohs hardness of 6 to 6.5).

Most nephrite is white to green in color, but the one in this passage was white.

Synthetic nephrite?

"Mm-hmm. It is made by denaturing hornblende.

Jin did not have enough knowledge of minerals to understand it completely, but he understood that it was similar to the way a dense metallic structure becomes tougher.

I imagine that the "how" is probably something similar to engineering magic.

"So, how do we get to the other side?"

As Jin was deep in thought, Nidouble, who was being manipulated, remained silent. Reiko, who was accompanying him, asked a question.

"Can I bring the magic tool and move it out of the way, or can I smash it and move it ......?"

"Can I smash it?"

Reiko said something that seemed to be the quickest way to do it.

"As long as there is no damage to the surroundings. ......"

Before 600012 could finish, Reiko drove her fist into a rock.

"Hey ......!"

With that blow, the rock cracked countless times.

"This will get it out of my way."

Reiko said as if it was nothing, and lightly kicked forward. With a single blow, the large rock was blown across the passage, shattering into pieces.

In the process, several doors in the passage are dented or broken.

"......"

"Um, I'm sorry.

Nidaburu gently calls out to 600012, who seems to have stiffened, not understanding what had just happened. The voice seemed to bring No. 600012 back to himself.

"No, no. I knew from information that Jin-dono's followers are strong, but I didn't expect them to be this strong.

Jin thought, "It doesn't sound like much of an intelligence-gathering operation.

"Well, well, let's move on."

A passage littered with rock debris. It seemed to be a little hard for the aging body of 600012, who stumbled and tripped from time to time.

He went down the stairs at the end of the hall and went down to the second floor below. It's a pretty big facility, Jin thought to himself.

"...... is going to take a long time, is Belial going to be okay?"

Jin asked, curious.

"I think he kidnapped you to make a better homunculus. The information needed to model a homunculus only requires a single hair."

"I see."

If there's no need to drain blood or cut up the body, then it makes sense why the 600012 is so calm.

"And where is this girl Alshell that Belialus is looking for?"

I thought for a moment that I should leave Belialus out of it, but there was no harm in knowing.

"The girl is further down. I asked her to do something that only she could do, but now it's over."

"What?"

I've been asking her to help me farm a demon called Gigantor Avrum.

"Because she can tame demons, right?"

"That's right. And extracting the from the demons. And then she was extracting the from the demons for use in the homunculus.

Jin, who had been listening to this story, now had a pretty good grasp of what was going on.

The three of them followed the passageway deeper and deeper.

They arrived at a dead end. There was a door.

"This is the room we want!"

600012 opened the door. It was a room the size of a classroom.

In a corner of the room, Jin noticed a warp gate-like magi machine. Perhaps this is where Belialus was summoned.

The room next to this one is the bathroom. Perhaps that is where he is.

Then the door is opened.

There was an automaton wearing a mask and about the same size as No. 600012.

Beyond it, a human figure floats in a pale blue liquid.

"Is that ...... Archel?

It is the same figure as the that Jin recognized from the 700672. There was no doubt that it was a homunculus based on Archel.

And on the workbench next to the masked automaton was an apparently unconscious Belialus.