Jin and Reiko had been traveling by carriage as guests of the Shouro Empire noble Reinhard.
By now, the carriage carrying their group had finally come within sight of the fortress city of Blue Land. It was here that Jin made a suggestion.
"I’d like to head home for a bit and get things ready to welcome you all."
Reinhard and Elsa were both eager at the prospect of visiting Jin’s home and agreed immediately.
"All right, then. I’ll come to the city gates to pick you up tomorrow morning. But I should warn you, I can probably only bring two of you along."
Jin made sure to set that boundary early; things would likely spiral out of control if Elsa’s butler Adberg, her wet nurse Mine, and the guard Hermann all tried to come as well.
"Ah, that's no problem. I'll be looking forward to tomorrow!"
"Jin-kun, see you tomorrow," Elsa added.
With those casual goodbyes, Jin and Reiko parted ways with Reinhard’s group. After walking for about an hour, they reached the outskirts of Blue Land and entered a cave hidden deep in the forest where the Warp Gate was concealed.
"It hasn't been damaged, and there aren't any signs of intruders."
Jin had placed two barriers over the site—one for concealment and another that could only be deactivated by his specific mana pattern. As a result, the gate remained undetected by local wildlife and any humans who might happen to wander nearby.
Jin and Reiko entered the cave and stepped into the Warp Gate.
＊ ＊ ＊
In an instant, they were transported to Hourai Island. The familiar air of home enveloped Jin.
"Welcome back, Father, Big sister."
"Welcome back, Master, Young Lady."
Soleil, Luna, and the Five-Colored Golem Maids were all there to greet them.
The first item on Jin’s agenda was a bath. He was weary of the long carriage ride, and more than anything, he hadn't been able to wash up for two days straight.
"Ah... that feels good."
"Are you tired, Father?" Reiko asked. She was soaking in the tub with him.
"No, not really tired. It just feels good to be home."
"Master, may I provide a report?"
To save time, Jin had called the Five-Colored Golem Maids to the bathroom to give their updates while he soaked.
Development on Hourai Island was proceeding smoothly. They reported on the progress of road construction, port maintenance, the cultivation of orchards and rubber trees, and the fish farming preserves. They also covered the quarrying of stone and the mining, classification, and storage of mineral resources.
Then came the reports from the Air Force, Navy, and Army.
The Sky units were making steady progress on mapping the region. The Marine units had constant reconnaissance boats patrolling the waters around the island to maintain security. For the time being, the ships of this world did not venture into the open ocean since they lacked mariner's compasses. Meanwhile, the Land units were assisting with development while guarding both Hourai Island and Kunlun Island.
"Hmm. With things getting this busy, I really need a management brain to handle things while I'm away."
Soleil and Luna weren't quite equipped for that level of oversight. Consequently, as soon as Jin finished his bath, he set out to put his new idea into action.
"I'll need one of every type of magi-crystal..."
He prepared eight crystals: earth, water, fire, wind, lightning, light, darkness, and an all-attribute crystal. He placed the all-attribute magi-crystal at the center of a magi-plate and arranged the others around it. He then constructed a magi-device that allowed mana to circulate between all the crystals via the central all-attribute core.
"Right, this will be the brain. For the power source, I'll use an ether converter, a mana driver, and a backup mana tank."
He implemented safety measures to ensure the system wouldn't shut down under any foreseeable circumstances.
"The housing will be adamantite and mithril."
He shaped the unit into a hemispherical dome with a radius of about fifty centimeters. To prevent the kind of "rebellious computer" scenario common in science fiction, he programmed multiple layers of safety magi-formulas. The system was designed to recognize Jin’s mana pattern and obey him alone. He even installed a self-destruct mechanism that only he could trigger.
Fundamentally, this brain would hold authority over all other golems. The sole exception was Reiko; she and the brain were to be of equal rank, acting as mutual monitors to ensure neither went rogue. Reiko provided the physical power, while this brain provided the superior intellect.
Finally, Jin transcribed the majority of his own knowledge into the system, along with everything known by Soleil, Luna, Plane, Satella, the Five-Colored Golem Maids, Sky, Marine, and Land. He named the completed management brain "Laozi." He intentionally excluded Reiko’s specific knowledge to maintain the integrity of their mutual monitoring.
"Father, what does the name 'Laozi' mean?"
"Ah, in my old world, that was the name of the head of the immortals who were said to live in places like Hourai or Kunlun."
The comparison wasn't perfectly accurate, but Jin decided it was close enough.
"Laozi, wake up."
Jin activated the management brain he had created to oversee Hourai.
"My Lord, I look forward to serving you."
"Good. Laozi, are there any defects?"
"None at all, My Lord."
"Do you understand your duties?"
"Yes, perfectly."
"Good. Carry on then. Make sure to compile regular reports."
"Understood."
And so, a management brain was born to look after Hourai Island and Kunlun Island in Jin's absence.
"This makes leaving home much easier. If anything happens, consult Laozi first. And make sure you keep sending me regular updates."
"Understood!" the golems replied in unison.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Father, I have a request."
It was rare for Reiko to ask Jin for something.
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Regarding that incident with Albus... please make it so I never lose to a golem like that again. And I want to be made so that I can never attack you, Father."
"Reiko..."
She was clearly still bothered by the fact that she hadn't been able to confront Albus directly, fearing her control core might be rewritten via Craft Magic.
"I understand. Come with me."
Jin led Reiko to the workshop within the laboratory and had her lie down on a workbench.
"All right, I’m going to put you in standby for a moment."
"Yes, Father."
Jin had actually been considering countermeasures ever since that battle. His first solution was a mana shield. Once Reiko was deactivated, Jin shielded her control core with the highest quality mithril to protect it from external mana interference. He engraved magi-formulas onto the shield’s surface to convert incoming magic into free ether.
His second solution was mana pattern protection. He painstakingly restructured her magi-formulas and magi-circuits so that they could not be modified without his specific mana pattern.
"I’ll give you a backup control core as well."
Thirdly, he modified her so that a backup core would take over if the primary core failed. He kept the main control core in her chest but placed the backup in her abdomen.
"And one more safety device."
He installed a type of circuit breaker—a simple magi-device that would instantly cut power to her motor functions if she ever tried to attack someone possessing Jin's mana pattern. He had installed a similar safeguard in Laozi. However, he added a condition: the power would not be cut if doing so would result in a disadvantage for Jin. In other words, if cutting her power would put Jin in danger, the safety would not engage.
"Now then, since I've got you open, let's do some full maintenance."
He performed a thorough check of Reiko’s body, repairing and reinforcing any parts that showed even the slightest sign of wear. He also recalibrated her ether converter and mana driver, which increased her efficiency and boosted her output by ten percent.
Finally, he added a "Hide" function. By combining presence concealment, mana concealment, and sound dampening, it was significantly more advanced than the version used by the bandits. He named it the "Stealth" function.
"All right, Reiko. Wake up."
Reiko sat up. "How do you feel?" Jin asked.
"Excellent. My body feels even lighter than usual. Thank you, Father."
"I-I see. That's good."
In reality, the weight of the backup control core, the new magi-devices, and the mithril shielding had made her about three kilograms heavier, but Jin figured that was within the margin of error, especially since her output had also increased. He decided to keep that detail to himself, though he did explain the new functions to her.
＊ ＊ ＊
With Reiko’s upgrades complete, Jin checked the time.
"Now then, I wonder how things are going on Kunlun Island?"
After eating the lunch Soleil had prepared, Jin prepared to head to Kunlun Island to finalize the arrangements for his guests.
"Father, how should we handle the Warp Gate settings?" Luna asked.
As it stood, there was no direct link from Blue Land to Kunlun Island; one would have to pass through the laboratory first. Jin didn't want his guests seeing the inner sanctum of Hourai.
"You're right... I'll install another Warp Gate in Blue Land and set that one to link directly to Kunlun Island."
"I believe that is a wise decision," Laozi added.
With Laozi’s agreement, Jin gathered the necessary materials and prepared to jump to Kunlun Island. Naturally, Reiko was the one tasked with carrying the heavy supplies.