Chapter 49

Magi Craft Meister Volume 9 Chapter 49

09-49 IF #1: Had Jin Been the One to Find Elena
Content warning: violence, pain
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One day, one of the Quinta dispatched everywhere reported encouraging news through Laojin .
“My Lord, on the western shore of the Lake Azul there are ancient ruins that have been turned into a tourist attraction, but underneath it there seems to be a large room . ”
“Mh-hm, has that not been found before?”
“It hasn’t, My Lord . ”
“Hmm, seems interesting . Let’s try going for once . ”
Jin muttered, and Reiko raised an objection .
“Father, it’s dangerous to go personally to an unknown place like that . ”
“Mmh, I’ve got Reiko and since they’re ancient ruins let’s have Ann come along this time too . And I’ll be wearing the reinforced clothing and taking Muramasa and Masamune with me . ”
Reiko was still looking a bit sullen yet,
“There’s no other way, is there . I’ll take Peach Blossom and the Magi Cannon . Let’s also have the SP carry a Paralyzer, a Vibration Blade, and an Induction Radiator each . ”
She said . Jin who heard that wondered about what on earth she was going to wage a war on . But he kept his mouth shut since it seemed like Reiko would’ve asked him not to go since it was dangerous had he said it .
“If we go through the floatsink base in Lake Azul it won’t take long . Let’s wait until it’s midnight on the other side when we arrive . ”

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Jin’s personal VTOL, Pegasus-1 flew out of the floatsink base in Lake Azul, and in about three minutes it was above the ruins they were looking for .
“The Quinta is coming to meet us . No humans have been found on the surface . ”
On top of the search by the Quinta who found the ruins, detection by infrared rays and sight revealed that there were no people around .
Judging that the risk of being witnessed was low, Jin made Pelican-1 land in front of an open space in front of the ruins . It was stone-paved just perfectly so landing was easy and done without raising any clouds of sand .
First the SP went out to watch the surroundings . A minute later, Reiko, then Ann left . Finally Jin got out .
“Good work on coming all the way here, Chief . ”
The Quinta in charge of the western shore of Lake Azul bowed .
“Thanks for greeting me . So, the ruins in question, where might they be?”
“Yes, over here . ”
Jin tried lighting the surroundings with a [Light Ball] . There buildings all around supported by pillars of stone strengthened with magic . However, the strengthening magic had completely faded and the structures had begun weathering .

Guided by the Quinta, Jin headed near the ruins . The Quinta came to a stop between two large pillars and said while pointing at the ground,
“There is a large cave underground here . ”
Jin examined the surface with [Sonar] and understood that there clearly was a large room underneath the ground . Jin then gave orders to Reiko .


“Reiko, try hitting here with 30% of your power . ”
After confirming that Jin and the others had retreated a bit further away, Reiko swung her pretty fist and struck the ground .
Along with a thunderous noise, the earth cracked and caved in . Reiko nimbly leapt away and avoided falling .
Once the dust settled, a large hole could be seen there .
“So dark . [Light] . ”
Even when using light magic to illuminate the hole, the bottom couldn’t be seen . The Quinta then said,
“Chief, I will try going down first . ”
And jumped into the hole .
A little while later a report came in through a ManaCom .
“I’m fine, there’s nothing out of the ordinary here . Please go ahead and come down . ”
Jin’s group then headed to the middle of the hole . Jin was carried by Reiko, while Ann and the SP went by themselves .
Once down the hole in the ruins, they found a rather wide room with passages to the left and right . Either direction would’ve been good but Jin decided to head for the smaller passage .
After continuing on for a while the passage sloped down . Although dim, there were perpetual light emitters that ran on Ether inside the walls of the hallway .
“They’re of lower grade than those in the research laboratory, aren’t they . ”
Reiko looked at the dim lights and commented .
Finally they saw a door . It was made out of iron, was covered in red rust, and once in front of it Ann said a few words .
“Master, this seems to be the emergency shelter room of the ancient fortress . ”
“Hmm, so is it likely there’s something inside?”
Jin asked Ann .
“Yes, the likelihood of there being Magi Tools or weapons and such for emergency use is high, I think . ”
“Alright, let’s try opening it . ”
Jin tried pushing but the heavy door barely budged . Reiko took over for him and pushed . The hinges creaked and broke midway, and the door fell to the inside of the room with a loud sound . It raised dust into the air .
“*Cough*, this is terrible . [Wind] . ”
Jin expelled the dust out of the room with wind magic . Now he became able to inspect the inside of the room .
Inside the room were, just like Ann said, quite a lot of Magi Tools . There were ones that had broken through the passing of years, but about a third seemed still u sable .
Jin ordered the SP to recover the tools . Then he noticed something at the very back .
“That’s a…”
It was a human shape . Jin could immediately tell it was an Automata . Its figure was that of a girl . But it was leaning on the wall while sitting on the floor without any life . Its left arm was broken, gone from the elbow down .
“That’s, it can’t be… the ‘Golden Princess of Destruction’?”
Ann said .
“Ann?”


“It’s just what I think is probable, but this Automata is the ‘Golden Princess of Destruction’ . She was a mysterious Automata that in the early days of the Great Magic War went around destroying my brothers and sisters . ”
“Hmm, I see…”
After hearing that Jin proceeded to examine the Automata making sure not to touch it .
“The craftsmanship isn’t bad . ”
In the corner of his eye, Jin saw Reiko puff up her cheeks after hearing that and he hurriedly added .
“…Although it can’t hold a candle to Reiko . ”
Reiko’s expression returned to normal .
“Hmm, supposing we collect all the ancient Magi Tools, just leaving this Automata would be regrettable . Alright, Reiko, please carry her and then let’s go hom . ”
“Yes, I understand . ”
While carrying the Magi Cannon on her back and Peach Blossom on her waist, Reiko lifted up the Automata .
Feeling the faint Magic Energy coming from Reiko the Automata woke up .
“Are you the one… who woke me up? …H– hey, wait, what are you doing!?”
“Ah, she woke up . So she really had configured herself to wake up after detecting Magic Energy . ”
“Wa-wait, release me! I am the queen of Automata! Listen to what the queen tells you!”
She kicked and struggled, but Reiko’s solid grip was like a vise and no matter how much the Automata tried to shake and untangle her it didn’t matter .
“Y-you’re, could it be, you’re Adrianna’s…!!”
“Be quiet please . My Mother is indeed called Adrianna Balbora Ceci . ”
“I–I knew it! Le– let me gooooo!”
“I said be quiet . ”
Reiko put more strength into her arms that were carrying the Automata .
Along with a cracking sound the Automata’s skeleton was bent .
“Gyaaaaaah!”
It seemed that the Automata possessed some degree of feeling . Her scream echoed .
“You’re too loud . Father, please silence her . ”
Once asked by Reiko Jin got closer to the Automata and put a hand on its neck . Then,
“[Standstill] . ”
He had the Automata turn off half-forcibly .
“Ah, it became peaceful . ”
“This Automata really does seem to be the Golden Princess of Destruction, doesn’t she . ”
Ann said while looking down at the Automata Reiko was carrying .
“Hmm, I wonder why did she come to have a personality like that . I’m a little interested . ”


Jin said while watching the Automata that had gone limp .

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They were able to exit the ruins without anything happening on the return trip . When they were exiting the hole Jin was pulled up with a rope hung down by the SP who climbed up ahead of them .
They then boarded Pelican-1 and returned to Hourai Island via the floatsink base .

Now the examination of the Automata that had been brought to the workshop in Hourai Island’s research laboratory was underway .
“Hmm, the skeleton is Light Silver, the muscles are Magical Muscles . There’s a Mana Driver but no Ether Converter . ”
“Father, what does that mean?”
Reiko asked while holding down the Automata for hazard prevention .
“Mh-hm, you and the others use the Ether Converter to change the Ether in the air to Mana, then use the Mana Driver to convert the Mana to energy, correct?”
“Yes . ”
“This Automata has no Ether Converter and instead has an Ether Tank, and appears to use an Ether Driver to convert that to energy . ”
“What’s the result of doing it that way?”
Reiko had enough knowledge to tell the differences between the structures, but didn’t know anything about their efficiencies and such .
“Normally a Mana Tank and a Mana Driver are combined, but this Automata’s combination appears to sacrifice efficiency for a higher power output . ”
“I see, this is the first time I’ve heard of something like an Ether Driver . So you’re saying the efficiency is worse when converting Ether directly to energy?”
“That’s right . If you think about it, then probably before the Ether Stampede occurred the Ether in the air was thicker than now, so this must’ve been good back then . ”
Jin stated his guess .
“But Mother made me with the method I’m utilizing now though?”
Reiko asked a question regarding that .
“Ah, that’s just natural, since you could say that the predecessor had an ideology in her designs on top of the technology . ”
There’s the structure of increasing the power output with heavy work, and then there’s the structure that increases the power output by delicately managing the performance . It’s needless to say which one is better .

“What’s more is that this Control Core is somewhat strange . ”
“What might you mean?”
“Well, it looks like it’s been recycled and used twice . Although faint, here and there the old Magi Formula remains . ”
Jin said while gazing at the comparatively large Control Core .
“Isn’t this one of the reasons this Automata went out of order?”
While saying so, Jin completely cleared the old Magi Formula .
“And also, there’s the possibility that the manufacturer’s last words have something suspicious in them . ”
While talking, Jin freely used the Craft Magics [Read] and [Decompile] to search for that portion . And after searching for 30 minutes, he found it .
“This is it . ‘You are the best’, huh . ”
“‘You are the best’ is it . That indeed does seem like something that could make one odd if there was a single error . ”
Reiko could understand the danger as a similar Automata who had lost her manufacturer once .
“Hmm, but ‘You are the best’ . ”
Jin tilted his head in confusion .
“It’s got to continue somehow, doesn’t it . You are the best ‘and stay like that’, or you are the best ‘and the brightest’ or something . ”
Jin thought of it a lot . Then,
“If it were me, I’d have wanted to say you are the best ‘daughter I could hope for’ . ”
Reiko said .
“Well, normally you’d say something like that, wouldn’t you . ”
Jin also agreed with Reiko .
“Well, let’s for now try repairing the parts that have deteriorated or faded with age . ”
Jin mended the flaws in the Automata . He then tried restarting it . Reiko was of course also monitoring her . Although more accurately Reiko was watching her restraints .
“…Where is this?”
The Automata opened its eyes .
“Are you the one who repaired my arm?”
There was no madness in the tone of her voice .
“Yeah, that’s right . Are there any other places that feel weird?”
Jin said and had Reiko slowly release her from her restraints . The Automata then tried moving its body and,
“No, not at all . I’m in very good condition . Thank you very much . ”
She said and bowed .
“To thank you for repairing me, I would like to work for you . Would you please give me a name?”
She said and bowed once more .
Jin thought for a while, then suddenly a name popped to his mind . It was rather unusual for Jin .
“Hmm, I suppose, in that case how about ‘Elena’?”
He said .
“Yes, my name is Elena . Please take care of me from now on, master . ”
Elena said and gave a deep bow, turned to face Reiko and Ann, then bowed her head and said,
“Pleased to meet you too, my sisters . ”

This is the world of ‘what-if’ . The world that would’ve been if Jin had found Elena . A story about a world of ‘what-if’ that would probably be a happy one for Elena afterwards .