It was March 18th, in the early spring, after the chaos within the Royal Castle of the Kingdom of Egerea had finally settled.
"Jin, you’d better come back! Next time, take it slow and teach me how to make golems!" Prince Ernest called out.
"Jin, I look forward to seeing you again. When that time comes, I hope to show you Beena holding a lovely baby," said Count Kuzuma.
"Jin... I can only say the usual things... but thank you for everything. I’ll never forget these past few days. Or going to Kunlun Island," Beena said softly.
There were many others gathered as well, including a guard who looked upon Reiko as if he were worshipping a goddess, and several maids who seemed genuinely reluctant to see them go.
Amidst these farewells, at 9:00 AM, Jin and his party departed from the capital, Asunt.
"Your Majesty, was it truly wise to let him go?"
The Chancellor asked this in the throne room.
"That man is dangerous. His technology, his knowledge, his abilities, and the Automata that follows him—any of these could become a threat."
"I am aware. However, I have judged that this man, Jin, possesses no ambition. Ernest has also grown quite fond of him."
"But...!"
"What would we do if we foolishly antagonized him and turned him into an outright enemy? That one Automata named Reiko could likely take on my entire army by herself."
The King looked up at the ceiling as he spoke.
"In that case, is there not more profit in behaving as amicably as possible?"
"............"
After exiting the throne room, the Chancellor muttered under his breath.
"Naive."
"There is no guarantee he will not become an enemy. Furthermore, there is always the possibility he could be abducted and forced into servitude by a rival power. It is not too late; I should dispatch someone..."
Just then, a man called out to him.
"Chancellor, has something happened?"
It was Kelichdore, the Minister of Magic. When the Chancellor explained his concerns, Kelichdore replied thoughtfully.
"Hmm, in the grand scheme of things, I agree with you, Chancellor. According to a report that just came in, this man named Jin possesses an outrageous amount of mana. They say he turned a mass of destroyed, scrap golems back into raw materials all at once."
He was referring to the magic Jin had recently performed—using Fusion on scrap metal. Jin had claimed to use Elradrite, but even so, the magic would have no effect unless a massive amount of mana was supplied to it.
To use an analogy: a transistor amplifies current, but only when a proper power source is present. It never creates something from nothing.
Elradrite functioned in the same way. Without a magi-crystal to serve as a source of mana, it was impossible to release such amplified magic.
Because the properties of Elradrite and its specific methods of operation were national secrets, Jin, who lacked such knowledge, had not realized the implications of his actions. Of course, Stearena, who had been present at the time, had not realized it either.
There was a reason the state only informed people that Elradrite amplified mana without explaining the underlying mechanics.
"But personally, he is someone I would prefer to remain on friendly terms with," the Minister of Magic added.
Since even the Minister of Magic spoke of Jin in such a way, the Chancellor, Marquis Boyd Norse Galueri, relented slightly.
"Hmm. However, we cannot simply do nothing. For the time being, I must at least place him under surveillance."
He then proceeded to issue instructions to his subordinates.
"Oho, this carriage truly is comfortable!"
"Mm. I want to ride in this forever."
Reinhard was riding in Jin's carriage for the first time today and was marveling at the ride quality. Elsa, who had taken a complete liking to it, was sitting in the seat next to Jin as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"It’s certainly no wonder the Prince wanted one."
Indeed, yesterday—March 17th—had been spent entirely on building a custom carriage for Prince Ernest and teaching the Guild the structure of the carriage suspension system that utilized Golem arms.
Of course, even though it was custom-made for the Prince, it lacked magical climate control. It was a downgraded version of Jin's carriage, with the Golem horse's output restricted to a mere ten percent.
Nevertheless, the materials manager had turned pale at the sight of the construction, which was a pity.
The design taught to the Guild was similarly simplified. Still, as far as carriages went, it was revolutionary and might very well become the new standard.
"And an autonomous Golem horse, at that. This is excellent."
Now that they had left the capital and the presence of other travelers had grown sparse, Reiko had returned to the interior of the cabin, leaving the Golem horse to pull the carriage on its own.
For a while after leaving Asunt, the scenery remained rural farmland, but gradually, the houses became few and far between. Eventually, they saw a line of red stakes. Once they passed them, even the sight of houses vanished. There wasn't even a single shack to be seen.
However, the area was filled with meadows and woods; the environment didn't seem particularly harsh.
"This area north of Asunt is royal property," Reinhard explained. "You saw the red stakes, right? Beyond that point, rare medicinal herbs grow and unusual flowers bloom, so they maintain strict restrictions on the land."
In other words, it was a conservation area.
"Are people allowed to enter?" Jin asked.
"For individuals, it's not a problem. Gathering for medicinal purposes is also permitted for individuals."
It seemed it was fine as long as one didn't harvest in massive quantities.
"However, clearing the land for farming or grazing livestock is forbidden."
Standard rules for a nature preserve.
"Then I suppose living here is also out of the question."
That explained why the land was uninhabited.
The carriage traveled on while they gazed at the scenery, which was preserved in its natural state. Then, around noon, the red stakes appeared again.
"Aha, we've finally cleared the preserve," Reinhard said. "It's about time for lunch. Let's find a suitable spot to stop."
Normally there would be a village or town nearby, but because of the conservation area, there was nothing but nature around them.
"Actually, this course isn't the main highway. If we were on the highway, there would be proper post stations," Reinhard mentioned.
"Then why did we take this route?"
It was Elsa who answered Jin's question.
"Jin-kun. You'll understand if we go just a bit further."
"?"
Since Elsa put it that way, Jin decided to wait for the answer and let the carriage run a little longer.
After about ten minutes, the view opened up, and a vivid reddish-purple color filled their vision.
"Oh?"
Jin spoke up in spite of himself.
"Hehe, are you surprised? I was startled when I first saw it, too."
Spread out before them was a reddish-purple carpet. Upon closer inspection, it was a vast field of flowers.
"I wanted to eat lunch here, so I had us come this way."
Apparently, when she had traveled here several years ago, she had passed through this spot by chance, and the scenery had been burned into her memory.
"And I wanted to show this to you, Jin-kun. That's why I asked Rai-nii to go out of his way to come through here."
"Ah, I see. Yeah, it's a beautiful sight. Thank you, Elsa."
"Mm. I'm glad you like it."
There was an open space a little further ahead where they could park the carriage.
"Now then, let's have lunch."
Mine, who was in an unusually good mood, took the lead in preparing the meal. She spread a cloth right beside the flower field.
"Please, everyone, help yourselves."
They ate sliced hard bread, similar to a baguette, with warmed soup. They lightly toasted the same bread, topped it with thinly sliced meat, and grilled it further. There was salad prepared that morning, and warm Te-e to drink. Since it was the first day of travel, they were able to enjoy items that required some advance preparation.
"Yeah, this is great," Reinhard praised.
"Mine, this is delicious."
"I am glad to hear that."
The soup had been seasoned exactly to Elsa's liking, and she ate it with great relish. Since Mine didn't cause any problems this time, lunch ended in a harmonious atmosphere.
"The next town is less than an hour away. Let's relax here for a bit."
When Reinhard suggested this while looking at the flowers, Elsa eagerly agreed.
"Yes, I agree!"
She ran off into the middle of the flower field with excitement.
Jin also approached the flowers. He sat down, plucked a single blossom, and held it up. The small reddish-purple flowers were clustered together in a bunch. Each tiny flower closely resembled the flower of a pea plant.
"They look like Chinese milk vetch."
In the small rice paddy behind the orphanage, they used to sow seeds of Chinese milk vetch in the spring to use as fertilizer. For the first time in a long while, Jin remembered the world he had originally come from. He felt as though he could hear the playful voices of the younger children and see them running around.
"Father?"
Perhaps noticing that Jin was acting differently than usual, Reiko had sat down beside him without him realizing it and was peering into his face.
"Is something the matter?"
"...No, it's nothing. I was just remembering things from a long time ago."
"From a long time ago? Do you mean the world you were originally in, Father?"
"Yeah."
As Jin nodded, a look of worry crossed Reiko's face.
"Um... Father, do you think it was a nuisance that I called you to this world?" she asked hesitantly.
Jin shook his head.
"No, not at all. If I hadn't been 'called,' I probably would have died. I'm grateful for it; it's not a nuisance in the slightest."
When he answered that way, the clouds cleared from Reiko's brow.
"Then I am glad. It is just that your face looked a little lonely, Father."
Saying this, she gently grasped Jin's left hand.
Jin stayed like that with Reiko for a while, but then he had an idea. He plucked several of the flowers at his feet and began to weave them together.
"Father?"
As Reiko watched him curiously, Jin plucked more flowers, twisting and braiding them.
"There, finished."
He had completed a flower crown.
"Here, Reiko."
He placed it on Reiko's head.
"F-Father?"
Reiko was taken aback by having the crown suddenly placed on her head.
"Yeah, you look cute, Reiko," Jin said with a gentle smile that held just a hint of loneliness.
"Father..." Reiko looked down slightly. "Thank you very much," she said with a smile.
"Oh, what's that?"
Hearing a voice, Jin turned to see Elsa standing there. She had returned with the hem of her skirt held up, filled with the flowers she had picked.
"Hey, Elsa. Oh, you've gathered all sorts of flowers."
The flowers Elsa had gathered included white and yellow ones in addition to the reddish-purple ones. Seeing this, Jin asked, "Do you want a flower crown too, Elsa?"
Elsa gave a firm nod. Jin immediately began to make another one.
This flower crown was made mostly of the reddish-purple flowers, but he used the yellow flowers Elsa had picked as accents in one spot.
"Finished. Here, Elsa."
Jin placed it on her head. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she thanked him bashfully.
"Thank... you."
It was a warm, peaceful early spring afternoon.