And so, the leading legion commander, along with the ten robot squadron officers behind him, levitated into the air.

"Halt."

"State your purpose."

The lead killing machine had already issued its warning using a Spiritual device.

Duke Zain could, of course, see that the eleven killing machines before him were all Alchemy Puppets.

But upon seeing that these Alchemy Puppets seemed to possess a high degree of intelligence, he immediately collected himself and replied with due gravity:

"I am Zane Hall of Brady County, the current Duke of Brady County in the Holmes Kingdom!"

"I have come to thank you for your aid. May I ask your origins?"

As soon as Duke Zain spoke, the lead killing machine replied, its face impassive:

"Your thanks are unnecessary."

"As for our origins, we have nothing to hide from you."

"We belong to the Intelligent Mechanic Legion of the Star Empire. We are a ground assault unit attached to the Seventh Starship Fleet of the Empire Star Realm. Our legion designation is 112."

’Star Empire? Starship Fleet?’

’What was all that about?’

Upon hearing this, the High Tier Professionals surrounding Duke Zain exchanged bewildered glances.

"What kind of kingdom is that? How have we never heard of it?"

"There’s absolutely no way that’s a kingdom on our Skua Continent."

"Of course they aren’t! Didn’t you hear that High Tier Alchemy Puppet mention being part of a legion from a ’Star Realm’ fleet?"

"A Star Realm legion? Could they be an extraterrestrial civilization?"

"This... this is unheard of. But then again, our world is already infested with corrupted Snake People. The emergence of another unknown Power doesn’t seem so impossible anymore."

"But..."

The rest went without saying.

The expressions of those present had already grown extremely grave.

Even these High Tier Professionals had grown wary of the killing machine legion.

And Duke Zain was no exception.

His expression was somber as he faced the killing machine.

"If I understand correctly, all of you with your Alchemy-forged bodies hail from an otherworldly realm we know nothing about?"

The lead killing machine nodded calmly.

"That is correct."

"But you need not be afraid. Our Star Empire would not commit unprovoked acts of war against the Human Race—against a Race of Order."

Grand Duke Zane’s expression remained unchanged as he silently met the other’s gaze.

The killing machine’s Legion Commander continued:

"Our Star Empire is home to thousands of Races, all of whom are equal. We do not engage in wanton slaughter, nor do we invade other worlds without cause."

"Therefore, you need not worry."

"The legion I command was taking part in a war exercise. For some unknown reason, when we crossed the Teleportation Array meant to take us to the designated drill site, we arrived in your unknown world instead."

"It was purely by accident. Therefore, you have no need to worry."

"As for our recent intervention, we simply witnessed the Human Race under attack by malevolent creatures and, in accordance with the Empire’s laws of war, launched a necessary military strike against these creatures."

Hearing the robot Legion Commander’s explanation, Duke Zain and his party were completely stunned.

’Thousands of Races?’

’A legion on a training exercise? Accidentally arriving in this world while crossing a Teleportation Array?’

’Malevolent creatures? How would they know the Snake People are malevolent?’

’Couldn’t this simply be a war between Races?’

Of course, Duke Zain simply had to assume these Alchemy Puppets had some way to differentiate malevolent creatures, perhaps even their own standards of judgment.

But these were just words, and naturally, Grand Duke Zane and the others didn’t believe them.

But what choice did they have?

After all, the Alchemy Puppet commander’s story was plausible enough.

So, after weighing the risks, Duke Zain pondered for a moment before saying:

"I see."

"In other words, your party was stranded in our world by accident, correct?"

"Precisely." The robot Legion Commander nodded calmly.

"It’s... not that this Duke doubts you, but everything you’ve said is rather hard to believe."

"However, I also gathered that your world—the, ah, Star Empire—also has a Human Race, is that correct?"

The robot Legion Commander said coolly, "Naturally. Does our appearance not tell you everything?"

"Furthermore, I can sense that you, Human, are suspicious of us."

"Since that is the case, we have accepted your words of thanks. You may leave now."

"As for us, we will find an uninhabited area to make camp on our own, and then search for a way to return to the Empire."

’What?’

’Let them find their own place to set up camp?’

Not only did Duke Zain feel this was a bad idea, but the other High Tier Professionals felt the same.

Leaving aside the mysterious origins of these Alchemy Puppets...

...the very idea of them finding their own territory to camp in was problematic. Was there any corner of Brady County’s lands that wasn’t nominally under Duke Zain’s jurisdiction?

Besides.

If this mysterious Alchemy Corps truly hailed from a powerful civilization and Empire...

...and if everything they said was true...

...then letting them go just like that would be an even greater mistake.

After all, the Square World was now overrun by the corrupted, and every town and Kingdom had descended into chaos.

Survival itself had become a struggle.

To have such powerful outside help arrive now and simply let them walk away went completely against Duke Zain’s interests.

For over a decade, Duke Zain himself could never have imagined the world would fester to such a degree.

The appearance of the corrupted Snake People had not been taken seriously at first.

Then came the large-scale attacks, which eventually triggered wars of Divine Descent.

Now, Divine Descents had become rare, and it seemed even the gods themselves were not faring well.

Under these circumstances, a single county city could hardly expect to receive aid.

Even the Royal Capitals of the various kingdoms were facing their own massive problems.

In a situation where all regions were, in effect, completely isolated, Duke Zain had very few choices left.

Regardless of the truth behind this Star Empire...

...he could not possibly let such a powerful asset go.

If for no other reason, he had to keep this mysterious Alchemy Corps here for the sake of the million remaining residents of Brady County City.

In short, it was a classic case of beggars not being choosers.

And so, Duke Zain spoke, his voice laced with bitterness.

"You misunderstand."

"You can hardly blame us for being suspicious. To be frank, you must have seen that the situation in our world is not good."

"Those Snake People, the corrupted, are now everywhere in our world."

"We are deeply worried about encountering another malevolent Race or civilization that would inflict even greater harm upon our world, which is why we were so suspicious."

"However, as for now..."

At this point, Duke Zain spoke bluntly.

"Considering that you helped us repel the corrupted, we really shouldn’t have doubted you."

"After all, to be honest, even if your civilization and Empire do have designs on our world, that would still be better than all of us becoming those... things that are neither human nor Demon."

"Furthermore, your aid in our predicament is an immense kindness in itself, so..."

"If you can trust us, why not make your camp outside my Brady City? This way, we can have a chance to repay your kindness."

"Of course, it would be even better if you could help us defend against the Snake People in the coming days."

"This may be presumptuous, but since you are stranded in our world, you will surely need information about it, won’t you? You may even need to resupply."

"Therefore, if you can help us, Brady City and I, this Duke, will do everything in our power to satisfy all of your requests."

"What do you say to that?"

Duke Zain had made his plea very plain.

He was, in effect, treating this Alchemy Corps as the county’s last hope.

Although the other High Tier Professionals still had their doubts, they considered the reality of the situation and, like deflating balloons, fell silent.

And as for the robot legion?

Their host had made his offer. As an intelligent legion commander possessing advanced computational power, there was, of course, no reason to refuse.

Besides, this had been their objective all along.

And so, just like that, the thousand-strong legion successfully made camp outside Brady County City.