"Your Majesty!　The magic is back ......!"

The long awaited words were heard from the top floor of the Palace in Leuthart, the capital of the Shoro Empire, as the Emperor gazed out toward Lake Tosmo.

"Are you sure?　Are you sure?

"Yes, ...... yes!　The golem that had been stopped has been reactivated!

Running up the stairs out of breath was the Minister of Magical Technology of the Shoro Empire, Degas Furt von Manischlus.

He is 45 years old, younger than the Empress, but he is not very good at being physically active since he is usually working at his desk and doing research.

(Thank you, Jin-kun ......)

The Empress thanked Jin in her heart and hurried down the stairs to clean up the mess.

* * * *

"You, you, you, the neon is on the move!

"Yeah, the magic lamps are on too."

In Reinhardt's own village of Kurtz, the anomaly had also ended.

"Jin-sama, it's ......, isn't it?"

"I guess so. I'll go there after I finish my work."

I'll go there after I finish my work.

Oh, ah!

"Ah, Aal!　Thank goodness I have ......!"

"Saki-sama, was I offline?"

"Yes, I was. But thanks to Jin, I've been reactivated.

"Are you saying that the free magical element (ether) was ...... inactivated?"

"Well, I don't know about that yet. I'll ask him later.

I'll ask him later.

"Oh, I can use magic now!

The lamp is on!

Thank God. ......

The people affected by this incident realized how dependent they had been on magic.

* * * *

"Hmmm, ......, you took care of that.

You can't be underestimated.

Indeed. It's like there's no bottom to it. ......

And with a means of flight like that...

An airship. Not surprising since they have hot-air balloons.

What do you want me to do?

Let's see what you can do with those three planes.

All right.

Okay.

Don't follow me yet.

Conlon 2 is now over 60 degrees south latitude. The concentration of free magical element (ether) in the space is a quarter of that near the equator, and <> has already used its magical energy reservoir (mana cylinder).

"What about those three machines?"

<>.

"I see."

I guess that's good news in this case, but we still don't know what they are capable of.

"Perhaps it's remotely controlled, too."

<<

I see.

Just as there are differences between the movements of a golem and a human, there will be differences in the operation of these vehicles as well.

But you persist. Are you still following me? ......<>"Let's try to increase the speed a bit, using propulsion as well."

.

I increase the speed from 100 kilometers per hour to 120 kilometers per hour, and the three planes still follow me.

"Okay, 150 km/h."

The three still clinging to me.

The old man who had been observing the flight made a judgment.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

has enough mana cylinders to circle around Ars twice, but what about the three aircraft that are chasing us? Jin wanted to give it a try.

"Brother Jin, are you sure you don't want to attack?"

"Yes. Yes, at this stage.

.

Jin nodded and gave an additional explanation.

"That's right. We want them to think we have no offensive capability or are too weak to do so, so we can take advantage of them."

How do we do that?

"First, we'll grab one of the planes and find out who's controlling it. I'm going to use that line to try to talk to them.

Jin explained that he wanted to do this carefully, because if all-out war broke out, other countries would be affected.

"...... sure."

Jin could defend Horai Island and Kaina Village well enough, but he would not be able to cover all other areas.

"If we do it, we have to crush them with a single blow. ...... whether we do it or not."

"Hmm, okay."

"But they're really persistent, ......."

Above 70 degrees south latitude, the free-magic (ether) concentration in space was less than one-fifth that of the equatorial region.

"Could it be that they are transferring energy?"

Jin was startled by Erza's unexpected words.

"I see... ...... that's a good idea."

If so, we are at a disadvantage. Jin had yet to develop a free-magic element (ether) transfer device with satisfactory performance.

"What should we do? ......"

Jin ponders over another plan.

"Okay, let's have a battle of wills.

And then he decides on a course of action.

"Once that's decided, let's not waste mana cylinders. Let's make a circle around the equator.

And then...

And here was the real plan.

"Mr. Old Man, I want you to use your peepers and find out as much as you can about the structure of that disk."

<>.

This is impossible with human reaction time, so I will leave it to you, Mr. Jin.

In the meantime, we can do something else.

When will the other side get tired of this? That's the only thing I don't know.

"If they have a magic brain, we have an automata and a magic brain.

Jin smiled a little wryly.

"Brother Jin, you look bad."

Erza said to Jin, "You look bad.

"Maybe. I'm a bit annoyed with their tactics.

"Well, actually, I am too."

Erza agreed.