Chapter 498: Friends’ Warning

“What do you think, Laojun?”

After handing Laojun all of the data he had on Lucas’, Jin asked him for his opinion on it.

“Since there is little data, this is mostly pure speculation, but this makes me think that Lucas could be just like those ‘servants who are almost the same as a person’ that were mentioned in Vivian’s tales.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Jin was also of the same idea. He wasn’t sure whether he was part of a different species or an artificially created race.

“So, can we trust those two?”

Through Reiko, Jin asked further questions to Laojun, who he had expected to have heard all the conversations he had with Shion.

“Yes, My Lord, I believe there is no matter for concern with them.”

“I see.”

“Though they might still be hiding something, they appear to not have told a single lie so far. At the very least, they don’t seem to have any malicious intent, and since some valuable information may be obtained from them, I consider it potentially beneficial for us to continue to help them for the time being.”

“Understood.”

“However, though it might prove difficult to do so due to time differences, I believe it necessary for you to consult this with the rest of your companions yourself.”

“You’re right. Elsa already knows about them, but I have to talk about this with the others.”

It was currently 4 PM at Kaina Village and 6:20 PM at Hourai Island. That meant it was around 1 PM at the city of Loizart in the Shouro Empire.

“He might be in the middle of work now…”

He felt sorry about bothering Reinhardt while he was busy, but this was probably a more pressing matter than his everyday work.

Jin contacted everyone using the Mana Comm, and 30 minutes later, all of the members of the “Family” were present.

That included Jin himself, Elsa, Mine, Reinhardt, Berthie, Saki, Toa, Stearleana, and Vivian.

Since this was an urgent matter, they gathered right away.

“Well then, I have good reason for calling you all here on such short notice…”

With Laojun’s help, Jin recounted the events that transpired the day before.

“…And that’s basically what happened. Sorry for bringing you all here so suddenly.”

“D-Demons, you say? Are you sure this is a good idea, Jin?”

The first one to speak after Jin’s explanation was Berthie, with an understandably concerned tone of voice.

“Hmm. Jin, those demons… Shion and Lucas, you said they were called? Can we really trust them?”

Reinhardt also shared his prudent opinion.

“Yeah. About that, Laojun and I both agreed that we believed their words. Though I can’t personally say that I fully trust them.”

“Hmm… So… They said they knew Marchosias and Androgias, huh…”

Saki’s face seemed tremendously suspicious of them, and with good reason.

However, Elsa’s opinion was different.

“I think they’re no different from humans.”

“Huh?”

“When I conducted a medical examination on them with ‘Diagnose’ I found that their bodily structure is the same as that of humans.”

“Hmm… Then what about their extraordinary strength, endurance, and special abilities?”

Reinhardt’s face showed that he couldn’t agree with Elsa. The one to answer that question was actually Laojun.

“I do have a hypothesis about that. I believe demons undergo some kind of special physical enhancement process.”

This was taking into consideration that Androgias, though powerful, had been reduced to ashes with Fire Magic after having fainted.

“Since the human body has water, it is unlikely that it will instantly be reduced to ashes, even when exposed to temperatures above 1000 degrees.”

“Ah, you’re right…”

As for Jin, who had his life on Earth cut short as a result of falling into an electric furnace, his own experience of having his body burn in flames was second to none. Such an experience had reasonably turned into a slight trauma.

“Flame magic is basically magic that turns Ether into heat. In other words, if you hit a body that has a lot of Ether with magic…”

“… All of the Ether in the body turns into heat at the same time, instantly reducing the body to ashes…?”

“Correct. Which leads me to believe that, along with the water in their bodies, their bodies themselves are made with Magi Isotopes.”

Laojun’s hypothesis was met with a few nods. If the cells that made up their bodies were made of Magi Isotopes, they should be very compatible with magical power.

“The physical enhancements of the demons may be fundamentally different from those used by mankind. I’m currently in the process of analyzing Lucas, though it seems that it will take time because his method is completely different.”

“Hmm, right. I’m guessing that the empowering spells that some knights can use come from a method that brings out unused abilities.”

Having gained knowledge about modern Earth, Reinhardt used his wisdom to come up with an analysis of magic of his own.

“The way demons do it might be similar to how we enhance golems.”

Jin also supported Reinhardt’s theory.

“…I think the story about those two is more important right now.”

With Elsa’s pointing out, the conversation’s trajectory was corrected.

“Yeah, you’re right. …So, I’m planning to start talking this out concretely starting tomorrow.”

“Hoho, a concrete plan from you, Jin? That’s new.”

Jin laughed as he answered Saki’s remark.

“Well, I wouldn’t call it an actual plan, but I think it would be a good idea to sell the food grown in Kaina Village to the demons.”

“I see.”

Since there was no need to feed the kingdom with it, Jin would inevitably have a constant supply of food. However, when having a surplus of food, selling it was an option worth considering.

“If that’s not enough, then I’ll ask Toka Village as well. I don’t know exactly how much food the demons need, so I can’t say I can plan for a steady supply.”

“I see. Well, I don’t think either of those villages would have a problem with the idea, but selling out a lot of food all of a sudden is a bit risky.”

There wasn’t a lush abundance of food in this world. Fortunately, the Klein Kingdom was an agricultural country, so it had some surplus food. However, there was also a need to stockpile it in case of famine or natural disasters, so selling all of the surplus off was unreasonable.

“We also have some reserves here in Hourai Island. However, I’d like for them to eventually become self-sufficient.”

Regarding crops, topopo (this world’s potato), wheat, rye, buckwheat, cabbage, green beans, etc. could be considered, but crops after buckwheat have not been found yet.

“Then there’s dairy farming.”

Jin believed that a golem-centered workforce would be somehow manageable.

“Jin, Applues should grow well even in relatively cold regions.”

Toa, who had listened silently up until that point, voiced his opinion.

“Ah, that’s right. …Then there’s fishing.”

There could be no whaling in this world, but it could be possible to do something similar with some other kind of marine magical beast.

“We could also consider suggesting the use of greenhouses.”

Laojun shared his thoughts.

“If we manage to put even this much we’ve planned so far into practice, we should be able to improve their food situation for the time being.”

Jin seemed relieved.

“Then all we need to know is how big their population is…”

Without that, there was no way to estimate the amount of food the demons would need.

“Yes. I’ll have to ask them about that…”

“But Brother Jin, don’t tell me you’re planning to go to the land of the demons…?”

A worried Elsa asked Jin while looking straight into his eyes.

“Yeah, eventually, I think.”

“I’m absolutely against that. You can’t go there, Brother Jin.”

Elsa’s face went pale in response to Jin’s answer.

“Yeah, I’m against that as well. You can’t just go there, Jin. It’s too dangerous. No matter how much you can believe what… Shion and Lucas, was it? No matter what they say, can you trust the rest of the demons…?”

“That’s right, Jin. There must be some way to solve this that doesn’t involve you going there.”

Berthie and Reinhardt also expressed their opposition to Jin’s willingness to go to the land of the demons.

“You must have another way to do this, right, Jin? You don’t have to go.”

Saki was also of the opinion that Jin shouldn’t go to the land of the demons.

Seeing the unanymous concern from his friends, Jin nodded reluctantly.

“…Okay. I kinda wanted to go, but I won’t do anything reckless.”

Hearing Jin say that, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

“…Demons, huh… These beings that only appeared in stories, and yet they’ve suddenly become so… familiar?”

“That’s what it means to get involved with Jin, Vi.”

“Yeah, I’m not saying that I’m scared or that I don’t like it, Stearly. I’m just surprised.”

Seeing Stearleana’s confused face, Vivian couldn’t help but laugh.

Hearing that conversation, Jin, Reinhardt, and Elsa also smiled.

At any rate, they had reached a conclusion of sorts, so they decided to break up the meeting for the day.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“I won’t be going, but I still need to have someone go, so we’ll have to take the ‘Substitute Doll’ up a notch.”

Reinhardt and Berthie returned to Kartze, and Toa and Saki returned to their house, joined by Stearleana and Vivian. Mine also returned to Kaina village.

Elsa was about to start working with Jin on Hourai Island.

“Back when I first made it, I wasn’t able to give it the sense of touch, so the feedback wasn’t very accurate, making it hard to handle it, but I wonder how it will come out this time?”

That doll was the one he used to pose as Deus Ex Makina, so Jin would be making a new one. However, with the help of Elsa and the Smiths, the foundation for it was completed in about 30 minutes.

“Okay, let’s try it out.”

Just like how he would when manipulating Makina, Jin sat on a special seat and used a Magic Screen to see through the doll’s eyes.

Its operation is an application of Linkage. The Substitute Doll would use its own judgement and optimize any movement that Jin would think. Similarly, the Substitute Soll could speak at its own discretion, but Jin could speak through him as well if necessary.

“Its movements have become more natural after all.”

By adding the sense of touch to it, it’s movements had become closer to those of humans.

“Amazing, Brother Jin.”

Elsa was very impressed with the result.

“I wonder what are you going to do, Reiko. You’re always by my side…”

“I don’t want to leave your side, Father.”

“That’s what I thought. Hmm, what should we do, then?”

Jin started thinking once again.