Having slaughtered up to three of the six remnants, Reiko continued to aim for more targets without rest.
This time, after about 30 seconds of flight, she descends into the jungle.
"I wonder if they are looking for me in a place like this.
Reiko could understand why she would think so, for the area was overgrown with vegetation.
Unusual for this cold region.
And .......
"So this is what you mean."
There we found a golem with both legs broken.
It was lying on the ground, entangled in ivy.
But its upper body was intact, so when it saw Reiko, it stretched out its arms and tried to attack her.
"......Do you still want to destroy me after all this? That's more of a <> than a <>. ......
With such a mutter, Reiko slashed at the golem with her and brought it to a halt.
After that, she cleared away the golem's tangled ivy and the surrounding grass and bushes, and after confirming that the <> had recovered without any problems, she turned her feet to her next target.
"The next one is ...... a little further away."
Reiko took off from there toward the northwest.
* * * *
After retrieving the four golems, Jin looked at the one with both legs damaged and tilted his head.
"This one's damage ...... is strange, isn't it?"
"What's wrong, Jin? What's funny?
"Oh, Beena. Look at this cross-section.
It's beautiful.
It's beautiful, isn't it? First of all, it's sharp, like it was cut with a sharp knife. And it's not oxidized. The metallic luster is still there.
"Huh? Jin's reaction suggests that Reiko didn't cut it, did she?
It seems that Bina had thought that Reiko had cut it with the .
"No, no. Reiko cut the body. Here, this one."
"Oh, ...... this one has a nice cross-section too."
"Well, that's all right, but there's hardly any difference, is there?"
"Yes, it is."
"Well, if you look closely at the leg, you can see a slight cloudiness, so it must have been cut a few days ago."
"What?"
Bina seemed to finally understand what Jin meant, and surprise flashed across her face.
"Wait a minute. Does that mean there is that cut off this golem's legs?"
"That's what I'm thinking, isn't it? But the golem's body was covered with a lot of ivy. That means it's been there for more than a few months.
Jin said, "It wouldn't be tangled if it hadn't been still and motionless during that time.
"Ah, I finally understand. That's why Jin said there was something wrong.
Bina nodded her head.
"...... So you're saying that the golem had its legs cut off by something <>?"
"No, it could have been cut off at the same time as it stopped moving. And now, a few months later, here we are.
"Well, that's a little strange."
Reinhardt, who had been listening to Jin and Bina's conversation, also found it strange.
"Why did it stay still until the ivy became entangled, and what cut off the golem's legs, and why?"
"Yeah, that's what Reinhardt summed up for me, that's my question."
"I can guess at each one, but it's hard to ...... come up with a hypothesis that doesn't contradict all three together."
"Hmm. The ...... that stops working is <><> and <>...... or something like that."
"Hmm. Was it ...... another golem that cut you off?"
"But why? Is there a golem from a hostile force?"
Erza, Saki, Goose, and others weighed in.
"It's hard to imagine that it's malfunctioning. It was working until a few minutes ago.