Although they went very off topic there, they still ended up returning to the original topic at the end-how to deal with Klein Kingdom.
âJin, what do you plan to do?â
âHmmm⦠I didnât really plan on doing anything really⦠itâs a bother.â
Reinhardt let out a small laugh hearing his answer, but he wore a serious face the very next moment and warned Jin.
âThatâs no good. Not only will they take you lightly, nothing will change on their side. And the fact that they wonât change means that theyâll probably do something similar again.â
âYea, thatâs probably whatâs going to happen.â
âJust think about it, if these gigantic centipedes had made their way to Kaina village and there were casualties, could you have been as carefree?â
Jinâs expression stiffened.
âThat is true. A firm response would be needed in such a case.â
âMy lord, let us use Machinaâs name.â
Laojun suggested.
âMy lord is soft, Machina is hard. Letâs differentiate it like that.â
Hearing that, Stearleana voiced her doubt.
âWho is this Machina?â
âIt is my lordâs other face.â
âAh, as I thought. I thought I heard it before during the disputeâ¦â
Stearleana understood.
âThe one who saved those 4 is Machina. As such, let us use Machinaâs name to give a warning to the kingdom.â
âBut then, they might look into Jin and Machinaâs relation, you know?â
âOfficially, Machina has saved the four from the kingdom, as such, let us send them a warning as Machina.â
âThey might look into Jin and Machinaâs relationship in such a case, you know?â
âIn that case, we could say that Machina is my lordâs senior as a disciple.â
Reinhardt nodded after pondering for a while.
âRight, I think it would also be better if we add that Jin and Machina arenât that close.â
âThen we could say that my lord became a disciple after Machina became independent.â
âThat should do it. Well, I doubt they would come ask in the first place, though.â
âHow about we send them a few pieces of the chopped up gigantic pede?â
âOf course, with a document blaming the Klein Kingdom as well.â
Reinhardt and Laojun kept progressing the talk by themselves.
âLetâs also send a part of the broken general use golem. After all, we will be repairing them with 18-12 stainless steel instead of 5-½ nickel.â
By sending them a portion of the exterior, they would be letting the kingdom know what foolish move they made.
âHow about we also send the ones responsible in Toka village along with it?â
âYeah, that sounds good. Um, Bolton, Heintz, the coachman and⦠Viscount Buyer, was it?â
âYes.â
âAlright, take âem out during nighttime and send them off to Alban.â
It seems Jin was quite angry as he could see the destroyed general-use golem lying in the corner.
4th of July, early dawn.
It would be fine to send it to Klein Kingdomâs royal castle via the transmission device. The Quinta in charge of Alban, Spica 7, was able to send it with minimal error.
Same day, in the morning.
There was a huge uproar in front of the royal palace in Alban, Klein Kingdom.
âW-what is, this?â
âIs it a centipede monster?â
âWho is there? â¦â¦M-Mr. Bolton? Even Heintz Lash!â
âAlso Viscount Buyer!â
ââ¦And who is that? The coachman?â
A piece of the centipede, a piece of the broken golem and the VIPs there were lying in front of the royal castle unconscious. Thereâs no way it would not turn into an uproar.
Considering that the piece is of a centipede of 10 meter length. It was a threat in and of itself.
âThereâs a letter too? â¦For the Klein Kingdomâs King? The sender is⦠Deus Ex Machina?!â
âCall the prime minister!â
âThe healing party as well! Hurry!â
The uproar finally calmed down after 3 oâclock.
Seven people had gathered in the kingâs office.
Klein Kingdomâs King Alois The 3rd, minister Powell, leader of the order of chivalry Glen, leader of the 2nd knightsâ squad Belnard, Bolton Ohlstat, Heintz Lash and Viscount Buyer.
âNow then, first off, Viscount Buyer. Letâs hear it. Bolton, youâre to intersect if the Viscountâs explanation has something missing or is unclear. Heintz as well.â said the prime minister.
Alois the 3rd was just glaring at the viscount in silence. Bolton was cowering in fear. Heintz was also on edge, being glared at by his superior.
Although his mental chaos had died down and his injuries had also been healed, he looked pale due to the tense atmosphere. However, since he was questioned, he couldnât afford to stay silent and so he reluctantly opened his mouth.
âY-yes⦠Firstly, we were at the Inada mineâ¦â
He slowly started explaining the situation starting from his assignment there. Bolton also assisted in the explanation, and some details here and there and Heinz backed them up.
And then they came to the point where the centipede appeared.
â⦠A huge centipede crawled out from the back of the mine, and we had no choice but to retreat.â
Bolton added immediately.
âIt was Deus Ex Machina who saved us, and it was also Machina who got rid of the centipedes.â
Hearing that, Viscount Buyer bit his lips and was trembling.
âFools. Not only did you bring about loss of trust from Mr. Jin, but you also caused a disaster that you couldnât solve yourself-making Machina, who is not even someone from the Klein Kingdom, fix your mess.â
The king was enraged.
âDid Mr. Machina really get rid of that monster?â
The Viscount was still in disbelief.
âYes. Did you see the centipede piece that was left with you? The sword broke when they tried slashed it. Even as we see it here, I can understand that that monster is beyond our control.â
It can be cut with an adamantite blade. Unless itâs a super-fast vibrating sword, itâs definitely not easy.
âA part of the destroyed general-purpose golem was also sent. Ten of these golems were lost at once! â¦According to the letter, Mr. Jin is also indignant. But of course. We were secretly mining even after saying that we would give it to him. And to top it all of, a monster came out of the mine and it is now abandoned.â
The kingâs voice slowly became sad.
ââ¦I was stupid. I lost credibility and lost precious golems. I can no longer ask Mr. Jin to make more of them.â
Mining the natural resources from the mine without telling Jin was a breach of trust itself. What kind of a face is he supposed to make to ask Jin to make him more?
ââ¦At this point, I have to consider completely transferring Kaina village to him, not just lease it.â
Alois the 3rd was at his witsâ end.
âEven Mr. Machinaâs impression of us has surely gotten worse â¦â
Deus Ex Machina, who has the means to carry not only humans, but also the centipede pieces from Toka village all the way to Alban in just one day or less.
They assumed he had some sort of connection with Jin and wanted to deepen their bonds going forward but this is doing completely the opposite.
ââ¦where did we go wrong?â
King Alois the 3rd regretted his indecisiveness and what he couldnât say earlier.
However, in such a situation, the current situation cannot be improved overnight, and so his worries deepened.
Even so, he was able to dispose of Viscount Buyer as the person responsible.
He was well aware that this does not solve the problem. He only hoped that this would prove to be a warning towards the old nobles to act with care.
âViscount Buyer is confiscated and deprived of his title. Exiled from the capital.â
The king himself declared the punishment. He had been taking a cut so this much was obvious.
On the other hand, Bolton Ohlstat and Heintz Lash were only rebuked and had their salary reduced for one year.
Afterwards, it was decided that the resources derived from the Inado mine loaded on the four wagons that returned a few days later would be transferred to Jin as is.
Furthermore, they also started considering making Kaina village Jinâs permanent land.
Such events in the Klein Kingdom were known by Laojun.
âWell, I suppose thatâs a reasonable line.â
Kaina village will now become Jinâs land-not just a leasehold land. In other words, it would now be an independent area.
âAlthough, it seems it has not been made final yet.â
There is definitely a high possibility of it happening. It is not like he really wants it but it wouldnât be bad to have it as his own land.
âIn such a case, we need to stay unrelated to the Klein Kingdom⦠If that happens, my lord will be a feudal lord in its true sense.â
Laojun was secretly pleased.
âIf that happens, we can develop Kaina Village boldly.â
And so Laojun began making plans for development straight away.