Chapter 20 – And of the hearts desire
Sorry for being late (it’s about 1:30AM here, so I’m at least an hour and half late from my promised time) my plans went awry. I was babysitting my nephew for my sister and her husband (he’s not even 1 yet, I’m not sure how many months old off the top of my head) and they unfortunately had their schedule changed while they were at work. Originally they were supposed to be back around 6PM, but because some other employees called in sick (or something like that) they had to fill in for them and didn’t get back until midnight. Well, either way, the chapter is now out. I will also have one up next week so we can get back on schedule, but don’t expect them that often. Well, enough said, enjoy your chapter.
Falinmer
03-20 And of the hearts desire
（These two bodies are specialized in underwater action, aren’t they?）
Reiko was observing and while analyzing for any signs of hostility approaching.
（Small stature, thin figure, and hands and feet with are webbed.）
Both bodies had the same form.
（The prominence of the forearm seems to have high offensive power, doesn’t it?）
Reiko approached to about 5 meters and hid herself in that place.
The vicinity is a shallow place that is no more than 2 meters deep, but it’s rocky enough to not lack hiding places.
（The sign of Arrow is approaching, isn’t it?）
When it was seen from beneath the water, the order of approach was the shallow bottom boat of Reinhardt and Elsa, the mono hull of the noble man, Valentino, and the catamaran of Marcia.
At that moment, the underwater golems began to move.
One of them went towards Elsa’s boat, while the other advanced on Cygnus.
（I don’t know what you’re going to do, but I won’t let you go.）
Since the opponent was a golem, Reiko had absolutely no hesitation. She bent her body like a spring and kicked off the rocks to move through the water in a moment.
She first grabbed the legs of the closer golem and crushed them at once.
（The interior is hollow? It is incomparable to the golems made by father.）
After crushing its other leg so that its movements were dull, Reiko leaves it in place and goes after the other golem.
（Are you going to tear the boat hull with that protuberance?）
The golem was aimed at the catamaran, but Reiko’s arm quickly caught the golem in an instant.
（The protuberance is steel, it’s soft, isn’t it?）
Reiko finished twisting the arm and water entered through the hollow arm, dulling its movements at once.
（That’s it.）
Because of their dulled movements, the golems were not an enemy for Reiko. Reiko wrenched off the remaining arm and both legs the same way as she did the other one.
Because the Control Core at the heart was fine, they should be able to identify the criminal.
（Well, let’s report to father.）
After leaving the golems which couldn’t move anymore, Reiko returns to the boat that Jin is on.
To her rear, the lead group passed through without incident. (TL: I’m wondering if it’s really Valentine who set those there and he’s just that stupid, or if it’s a setup to frame him.)
「Father, it’s finished.」
Quietly entering from the side, Reiko reported it.
「Is that so? Thank you. By the way, did you take the evidence from the golems?」
「If that’s all, I can go back and grab them.」
Reiko calmly answered.
「Is that so? Then please do.」
「Yes.」
Reiko seems to be happy that Jin depended on her and is acting with a smile.
First, she took the hands and feet she had wrenched off and twisted and stretched them into an unshapely rope. It was a forcible labor and not even engineering magic was used.
She tied the 2 golems together using this rope made of their limbs. As ridiculous of a feet as it is, Reiko is unaware of this since she’s only using 20% of her
Well, both father and daughter are birds of a feather. (TL: This sentence was confusing, but they’re saying that both Jin and Reiko are absurd and unaware of how absurd they and their actions tend to be)
With the golems tied to the aft of the boat, Reiko began to push it back.
「What? That boat.」
「It’s moving without rowing?」
Some on the sightseeing sheep seemed to notice this time, but Jin was not pursued in this matter since no one saw his face.
＊ ＊
「The top group that went around the uninhabited island Io, the turning point is in the order of 3, 1, 35, and 28!」
The play-by-play had continued to announce with their usual tension.
「The last stage from here is the high-speed sections with no obstacles, right?」
One announcer says.
Athlete 35 and Marcia were behind and to the left of 1 moving towards the open sea. It’s because it doesn’t let Riche interfere with their course.
And they mad a spurt at the stretch.
「Oooh! Athlete 35 is fast! The water spray is really flying back!」
Slanting to advance had caused Cygnus to lose some speed, but that was nothing.
「It has surpassed! It has surpassed! team MJR has finally outran number 35 and 1!」
Marcia has gone out in front of Riche for the first time. This time, it was Riche who was impatient.
「Why!? Why didn’t it fall out?! That ship performs so well!」
Riche couldn’t believe it when the catamaran which Marcia rides on passed her and sprayed her with water.
Though she made the golem that Lord Valerio made work to the limit, the difference didn’t shrink. It seemed like it was a nightmare.
Marcia accelerates more and and closes the distance between her and Elsa who’s in the lead.
「Fast… it is as big brother Rai anticipated.」
Elsa felt the difference in the absolute performance of the ship and decided to stop that with course interference.
「Fair and square game.」
Even though it’s not suitable for the climax of the finals, course interference is not foul.
Lorelei was encouraged to accelerate even more than the limit. Using her flexible body, Lorelei began to kick the water in the rear.
On the other hand, Cygnus moved the hull forward with the waterwheel driven by the pedal that Arrow rowed to the limit and pushed a white spray up high.
「Well, the waterwheel is just inefficient.」
Jin sighed while seeing it from a long distance.
Although flashy, the waterwheel is spraying too much water into the air, that meant it was doing extra work, but there were no records about it before this. (TL: I think he’s trying to say that not many would notice the flaw since it hadn’t been written before, and is pointing out that the large amount of water being thrown is a sign of wasted energy.)
「After all, a propeller would be better, huh.」
Jin hasn’t figured out how to build a suitable drive mechanism for a propeller yet, even with his power.
「When I return to the research center, I’d like to focus on this part as expected.」
While continuing his train of thought, Jin was jolted in the boat.
「Work hard, Lorelei.」
Elsa controlled Lorelei desperately, but number 35 gradually narrowed the distance.
Before long,
「OVERWORK, DEATH, master Elsa」
Lorelei said that it had exceeded its limit. At this pace, it won’t be able to reach the goal.
Reluctantly, Elsa drops the output of Lorelei, and Cygnus finally takes the lead.
「What unbelievable speed! Number 35 has outrun the Blue Marine and taken the lead for the first time!」
「When the competition is over, team MJR will be in great demand, won’t they?」
If the nameless MJR won the championship, there would be several rich people and nobles who would call out to them.
「That’s right. According to our documents, it’s said that Marcia, the ship operator, is also a Shipwright. And Jin who made the golem is a nameless Magic Craftsman, but after this his name should spread quickly, won’t it?」
For the first time in the finals, Cygnus is running in the lead.
Although he couldn’t see it anymore, he could listen to the play by play and that made Jin smile.
「Now Reiko, we’ll return quickly, too.」
Because they had to advance along a different course from Marcia, it can’t be denied that it’s a roundabout route, but they had to take it to avoid being seen.
The small boat with Jin took the great detour around and aimed at the port town, Port Rock.
＊ ＊
At the goal point in Port Rocks central port, one person who was watching the Magic Screen was grinding their teeth in frustration.
Needless to say, it was the noble man, Valentino. (TL: So it appears that he really IS just that stupid, or maybe I’m just too familiar with basic investigations, but I’d think anyone would suspect the one who would profit the most out of a sabotage first)
「Grrrr, surprisingly that girl Riche is cowardly! Sir Valerio is Sir Valerio, too, but I poured in so much money, what is it, that condition?」
After seeming mortified and murmuring so, he changed completely and a dark smile floated on his face.
「Since it’s come to this, there’s no choice…」
He muttered so.
「Valentino, they will soon be at the goal. Shall we go meet the contestants at the finish line?」
The person in the VIP seats said. There are not many who can call Velntino by name without a title like this person did.
It was Valentino’s boss that had spoken, a female lord Elias Kingdoms south Zaus state, Marquis Dominique de do Firentsiano. (TL: ドミニク・ド・フィレンツィアーノ suggestions?)
Valentino clicked his tongue inwardly, but went down according to the feudal lords instructions from the VIP seats without showing his thoughts on his face.