Magi Craft Meister

"I think it's been made sufficiently clear."

Jin had Reiko reduce her output to normal values.

"This can be seen from Reiko's experience as well."

"Yes, back when I went looking for Father after he went missing, I found myself in a place that was clearly a northern area. The Ether concentration there was incredibly high, and my magic was over three times more powerful than ever."

From this, Jin concluded that it is possible to theorize that this was due to the concentration of Ether being so high that it could be used at length even by someone who had as much magical power as Reiko had at that time.

"I see. That makes a lot of sense, Jin."

"You always have these incredible ideas, Brother Jin."

"There's no getting tired of your discoveries, Jin."

Everyone expressed how impressed they were. Jin shyly scratched his head.

"W-Well, I'm going to be making an interfering device using this as a basis."

"I'll help."

"We'll be allowed to watch and learn as you make it, right, Mr. Magi Craft Meister?"

＊　　　＊　　　＊

Since they were able to use the same Magi Sequence used for the Ether Converters, a prototype was completed in a relatively short time.

"…Is it already done? I'm impressed."

Vivian couldn't hide her amazement.

"I know that feeling too, Vi, but this is Jin we're talking about."

It was still bright outside, so they decided to conduct a quick experiment in the open area in front of the laboratory.

The prototype is simply a Magi Formula written on a Magi Crystal. Jin said the keyword…

"'Activate'."

Its effective range would be about 10 meters in a radius centered on Jin.

"…Yeah, when I get close to you, it feels kind of strange. Is this because of the Ether around us?"

"Let's see. 'Wind Bullet'… I can't…"

Elsa, who was standing right by Jin's side, tried shooting a "Wind Bullet" into the sky, but the spell failed to activate.

"It worked! …Sorry, Elsa, but can I ask you to call Edgar over here?"

"Sure. Come here, Edgar."

Following Elsa's command, Edgar approached them, and suddenly became unable to move properly.

"…Insufficient Ether… Motor functions… malfunc… tioning…"

"'Stop'."

Jin hurriedly turned off the prototype, and Edgar went back to normal.

"Thanks, Elsa. Now I know this also affects Automata, which means that magic tools shouldn't work either."

"But why is Reiko able to move?"

Reiko, who was standing behind Jin, didn't seem to be particularly affected by the prototype.

"Oh, that's because the Ether that's under the control of this interfering device obeys 'my' magical power."

Reiko, the other golems, and Laojun, all share the same magical power Jin has. It could be said that they're all in the same frequency.

"That's why even when the interfering device is active, it won't affect anything I made."

This was very important. It meant that one could block someone's ability to use magic while still being able to use magic themselves.

"Next we should work on its ease of use. Basically, there should be a way to direct the area of effect of the interfering device while retaining a spherical form, and it should allow its user to expand and narrow its range as they see fit."

"You're losing me there, Brother Jin."

"Hehe, Jin really is quite the tinkerer."

Elsa and Saki were staring at Jin with silly smiles on their faces.

"But this isn't really 'interfering' with magic itself, but with Ether."

"Ah."

"That's right."

"Yeah, dad, you're right."

Toa's remark was on point. It couldn't be called an 'interfering device'.

"…Hmm, alright. Since it's interfering with Ether, how about we call it 'Ether Jammer'?"

"Yeah, that sounds much better."

Thus they decided to name their latest invention "Ether Jammer."

The "Ether jammer" was completed on the same day. They started mass-producing them right away, and then equipped them to Reiko, Laojun, the Covert Units, and then the Quintas, in that order. They would eventually be installed in all of the Golems in Hourai Island.

"Let's prioritize deploying them to Nidou Castle and Kaina Village."

Laojun instructed the Quinta to follow this order of preference.

"Next we should think about how to defend against it."

Was there anyone who could think about how to defend against a weapon they had just finished making?

"Will you tell me if you come up with anything?"

Jin didn't have much time to spare, so he couldn't afford to think about that at the moment.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

Early the next morning, Jin and Reiko moved to Nido Castle with their new gear.

"How are they, Butler?"

Butler B had arrived to greet them.

"They seemed to have regained consciousness for a brief moment, but then fainted once again. I haven't checked on them today yet."

Upon hearing his answer, Jin went to the guest room where Shion and the others were.

"Shion? It's me, Jin. Can I come in?"

Shortly afterwards, he could hear Shion saying "sure" from the other side of the door."

"I'm coming in then."

Jin entered the room with his hand holding the newly made "Ether Jammer" he was keeping inside his pocket, just in case.

"How are they?"

"They seem to be much better. They haven't opened their eyes yet, but their breathing has stabilized and their color seems to have returned to them."

"I see, that's good to hear."

While they were talking, Istalis' mouth moved.

"Young lady, look! Lady Istalis is…!"

In response to Lucas' voice, Shion quickly turned towards her sister.

"Sister! Sister!"

"…Shi… on…?"

Her closed eyelids slowly opened. Istalis had the same semi-transparent, pale light blue eyes Shion had.

"Yeah, it's me! Pull yourself together, sister!"

Jin gently tapped on Shion's shoulder and handed her a feeding cup filled with Pelshika juice.

"Ah, right! …Here, sister, drink this!"

Istalis brought the feeding cup to her mouth and took a sip of the juce.

"It's delicious…"

Then, after drinking all of it, Istalis' condition seemed to have greatly improved.

"Shion… Is that really you?"

"Yes, sister, it's me! And Netros is here too. Everything's going to be okay now!"

"Huh? Okay? Ah! …I… I was captured…"

Istalis' face started to warp and get more and more distorted with every passing second.

"U-uh, aaah… AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

She then started to scratch at her own face with both hands. Red scratch marks began to appear one after another all over her face.

"Sister! Sister, stop!"

Her body started to twitch and tremble heavily, and Shion found herself unable to calm her down.

"It's no use!"

Not only Istalis was still furiously scratching her own face, she was also hyperventilating and her throat was making a wheezing sound.

"Reiko!"

"Yes. …'Paralyze'."

Unable to bear watching that any longer, Jin asked Reiko to use 'Paralyze' on Istalis.

"Sister…"

Istalis lay limp on the bed with her face completely stained with her own blood.

Jin had Butler B prepare a clean cloth and wiped her face. Then he used "Sterilization" and "Cure" on her. They were the best Jin could do in terms of Healing Magic, but they were good enough for the current situation.

Shion stared at her sister as she lay on the bed with her wounds healed and her face now clean.

"Sister… What happened to you…?"

"Please, don't ask."

Netros, who had regained consciousness at some point during this incident, muttered those few words in response to Shion's question.