The last day of October, the 30th.

Jin was about to further strengthen the defense of Horai Island.

"It's a barrier that can be put up in the ground.

<, though it was limited to <.

There is no hurry to attack from our side.

We are almost certain that their ultimate goal is Jin, so we have decided that it is urgent to strengthen our defense.

According to your analysis, the , who was individualistic and disliked conflicts, may have technological power, but may not be good enough to use it for attacks.

Even so, <> was a threat, and the golem they captured is advanced from a general level.

<>.

Jin was somewhat averse to the idea, but he reminded himself that he could not be so naive when it came down to it.

"So, Jin, how is the practical application of the barrier going?

Erza asked. In case you are wondering, Zion and Marikka are taking it easy in the village of Kaina.

"Father, the experiment is ready.

"Oh, thank you, Reiko. ...... Elsa, we're going to start the experiment now."

Jin explains what he is thinking.

"The principle of the barrier is a web of free magical elements, right?

"Yes."

"Free magic element (ether) is much smaller than atoms and molecules, so it can be built even in a solid body."

"Oh, ...... sure."

Jin's explanation continues.

"There's a reason why we haven't been able to do this before."

"Father, what is it?"

Reiko didn't know this either. She had been assisting Jin as his assistant for a long time, but there were things she did not know.

"The strength of the mana required to construct the warding is different in the air and in the ground. If the strength is based on the air, of course the underground is excluded."

"......" The reason makes sense. Then, why not use the underground as the standard?"

"Yes, that's the point."

Jin agreed with Elsa's idea.

"That's what I was experimenting with."

"It took more than a million times the strength of mana, but the wards were formed properly.

Reiko reported the results.

"If the strength of mana in gas is 1, the strength of mana in water is 1,000, and in solid is about 100,000,000, which is an order of magnitude higher. It is said that it eats an order of magnitude more mana than 1,000 in water and 100,000 in solid.

Jin speculated that the free magic element (ether) contained in the solid was probably interfering with the process.

"The consumption of free magic element (ether) is ridiculous at this rate."

"Indeed."

The next question is how to improve the efficiency.

Still, since it is possible to set up wards around the old man with the current technology, Jin has decided to set up the wards as a temporary security measure.

* * * * * * * *

In the early morning of the same day, a mysterious flying object flew over Leusert, the capital of the Shoro Empire.

"What the hell is that?"

A hot-air balloon squadron on patrol was the first to spot it.

It is a circular object like a dish, with a diameter of less than 10 meters.

The speed of the object is so fast that it disappears from sight in a matter of seconds.

The object was barely visible as it dropped something into Lake Tosmo.

A few minutes later.

"It's losing altitude!

"The heating magic is stopping!"

"Fire magic to assist ......, no, I can't use magic!"

We're going to crash-land!

The hot-air balloon, by its very nature, could not crash all at once, so the occupants were spared serious injury.

However, this was not the end of the story.

"The golem is not moving?

The magic lamp is not glowing!

The phenomena were so frequent that they were centered around Lake Tosmo.

These phenomena occurred in a radius of about 50 kilometers around Lake Tosmo.

"You!　The neon lights have stopped working!

Something is going on. Belle, I'm in this room with Yuri.

Reinhardt tried to contact Jin with his manacam, but he could not get through at all.

"The warp gate is also ...... disabled."

It seems that all magic tools and spells have been disabled, Reinhardt decided.

"Jin ......."

Reinhardt was sure that Jin would take care of the situation as soon as he heard about it.

* * * *

"Aal stopped working?"

"Yes, that's right."

Saki's house was also affected.

"I don't know what the hell is going on...I can't contact ...... Jin..."

Not only the Jin family was affected, but the same thing was happening in Reuthert.

"I can't use magic!

"My magic tools don't work!"

"My body is ...... lazy. ......"

In Miyagi, the emperor, who had heard of the town's problems, pushed aside his physical weakness in order to get a better grasp of the situation.

"......Magic Technology Minister, do you have any idea why magic suddenly stopped working?"

"I'm sorry to say that I have no idea. ......"

"Your Majesty, there are reports of hot air balloonists seeing an unidentified mysterious object over Lake Tosmo in the morning, but I'm not sure if this has anything to do with this situation."

"In any case, please act with priority on finding out the cause and countermeasures."

That's all the Empress can say at the moment,

(I wonder if Jin-kun can ...... do something about it. ......)

), but her hopes were dashed when a report came in.

"Your Majesty, I went to Kunlun-kun's residence.

How did it go?

The Kun Lun lord didn't seem to be at home. Moreover, I looked in through the gate and saw two golem maids lying motionless in the garden. ......

"What? ......"

Hearing this report that Jin's golems had also become motionless, even the Empress paled.

"What's going to happen to them ......?"

No one could answer that question.

The capital city of Leusert had now completely ceased to function.

Even the common people were having difficulties in their daily lives without the benefit of magic tools.

And the fifth column (quinta) was no exception.

Fortunately, the place where he collapsed was out of sight.

Finally, Horaijima came to know about the situation.