After leaving the baths, the two shared a meal at an hour that was neither breakfast nor lunch.
"I prepared the food this time," Laozi announced.
He had clearly been enthusiastic about preparing his first meal for Jin. While the portions were a bit generous, the two hungry travelers managed to clear their plates without any trouble.
"That was a wonderful meal."
Once their stomachs were full, their eyelids began to grow heavy.
"Father, please rest for a while," Reiko said, her voice laced with concern for Jin's physical state.
"Yeah, you're right. I'll take a short nap. You're sleepy too, aren't you, Elsa?"
"Mm."
Jin guided Elsa toward the Mansion. It was spring, and since Hourai Island was situated on the Tropic of Cancer, it remained quite warm during the day even at the Mansion’s elevation of roughly 1,000 meters.
"After you."
"What... is this? I've never seen a building like this before."
Elsa stared in wonder at the traditional Japanese-style architecture with its tiled roof.
"Well, let's just rest and take it easy for now. I'll explain everything later."
"Mm. I'm looking forward to it."
Jin laid out a futon in a south-facing room and called Elsa inside.
"This room has tatami, too! I'm so happy."
Saying that, she flopped onto the tatami mats. She rolled across the floor until she reached the futon, looking very much like a child.
"Well then, I'm going to sleep in my own room for a bit."
Just as he was about to close the sliding fusuma door, he was stopped by Elsa’s voice, which sounded painfully lonely.
"...Wait....Please, just for a little while, stay by my side."
"All right."
Jin returned to Elsa's room and lay down on the tatami.
"I'll be right here, so sleep well."
"Mm. Thanks, Jin-kun."
This time, Elsa seemed like she could finally sleep in peace.
She’s feeling helpless, Jin thought as he let his mind drift back to the past.
During his days at the orphanage, there had been a girl who was taken in after losing her parents. She had been in the third grade, and she was the type of child who could never sleep unless someone was by her side. Jin and the other older children had taken turns sleeping beside her. Jin remembered those times with a sense of nostalgia.
"Father, please wake up."
As he lay there, Jin had apparently fallen asleep as well. He woke to the sound of Reiko’s voice.
"Yawn... I slept well."
Jin sat up and stretched. Reiko looked slightly displeased.
"Father, you won't be able to recover from your fatigue properly unless you rest in a real bed. Besides, what would we do if you caught a cold?"
"Ah, sorry. But I was worried about Elsa."
When he apologized, Reiko made a face that suggested she found him hopeless but forgivable.
"It is already past three o'clock. If you do not contact Lord Reinhard soon, he will surely worry."
"Yeah, you're right. Actually, I'm thinking of revealing the truth about this place to Reinhard as well."
When he said that to Reiko, she gave a simple nod.
"Please do as you see fit, Father."
Jin quietly left the room and asked Laozi the same thing through a terminal inside the Mansion.
"Yes, My Lord. If you believe it is best, then please proceed. I shall provide my full support."
Laozi said much the same thing, and Jin finally decided to bring Reinhard here.
Just then, he heard the sound of pitter-pattering footsteps running down the hallway. Wondering what was happening, he looked out to see Elsa running toward him.
"Elsa?"
When he called out to her, she came to a dead stop and slowly turned around.
"Jin... kun?"
"Elsa, what’s wrong?"
When she turned, her eyes were so full of tears they looked ready to overflow at any moment.
"Jin-kun!"
Elsa lunged at Jin, clinging to him.
"I thought... I thought you had left me behind."
Jin felt that Elsa was regressing slightly toward an infantile state.
It's probably the anxiety from being kidnapped and the drastic change in her environment, Jin thought as he gently stroked her back.
"Now then, what should I do?"
If his guess was correct, time would eventually solve the problem. But as things stood, Jin couldn't even step out for a moment.
"Would it be okay if I had Soleil and Luna stay with her?"
Since they had been with her during her bath, Jin called the two golems and decided to entrust Elsa to them for a while.
"Yes, please leave it to us."
Then Jin spoke to Elsa.
"I'm thinking of going to get Reinhard and bringing him here. So, will you wait for me?"
Elsa nodded with a lonely expression.
"Mm. But, come back soon... Jin-nii."
"Jin-nii?"
Elsa had called him "Big Brother," just as she did with Reinhard.
"Mm....I've already abandoned House Randol. I'm all alone. If possible, I want you to treat me as your younger sister....Is that okay?"
Ah, Jin understood. Elsa felt completely alone in the world. That was why she was so incredibly anxious.
"I understand. From now on, you're my sister figure. Is that all right?"
"Mm. Jin-nii."
"Good. Then, I'm going to go bring Reinhard back, so wait here and be good."
Leaving the finally calmed Elsa behind, Jin used the Warp Gate to leap back to the carriage in Telurus.
That was when he noticed the time difference between Hourai Island and Telurus. It was a difference of about three and a half hours, which meant it was still before noon here.
"First, I'll go check on Mine's condition."
Instead of entering the inn, Jin headed toward Sally's clinic.
It had been sunny on Hourai Island, but here it was cloudy. Jin walked through the town, feeling the somewhat damp spring breeze against his skin. The clinic was located just past a turn in an alley near the embankment.
"Hello."
When he opened the door and stepped inside, there were about three patients present.
"Oh, it's you. Wait a moment."
Sally acknowledged Jin, then returned to examining her patients. After waiting about fifteen minutes for her to finish, Sally spoke.
"The woman named Mine—she's regained consciousness."
"Really! That's good to hear."
"However, she's being a handful. She’s trying to discharge herself even though her strength hasn't recovered. You should give her a warning as well."
Jin entered the hospital room with Sally. When Mine, who had been lying down, saw Jin's face, she pushed herself up into a sitting position.
"Lord Jin! Elsa... Elsa is...!"
She began to shout excitedly, so Jin calmed her with a hand gesture.
"Mine, it's okay. I've already rescued Elsa. She isn't injured; she's safe, so you can rest easy."
When he told her that, all the strength seemed to drain from Mine's body.
"A-Ah... I see... You saved her, didn't you? Thank you, Lord Jin."
She lay back down on the bed.
"Mine, you're Elsa's biological mother, aren't you? Right now, Elsa is hidden in a place where she'll never be found. I have no intention of telling anyone in House Randol about this, except for Reinhard. So, you should just focus on recovering in peace."
When Jin said that, tears welled up in Mine's eyes.
"So you knew... I... I almost made that child miserable."
Jin replied, "As long as you realize that, it's fine. Let's think carefully about what to do from here. First, you need to get healthy. But I'm glad. This will put Elsa's mind at ease, too."
Then Mine spoke up.
"Lord Jin, I have a request. Please, do not tell Elsa that I am alive."
"What?"
"After going through this, I finally realized it. I only bring unhappiness to that child. Someone like me is better off not being there."
Whether her brush with death had changed her worldview or not, Mine seemed like a completely different person. However, Jin said:
"Don't be stupid. Right now, Elsa is all alone in the world. Aren't you her only living relative? You're her biological mother. What are you going to do if you don't protect her?"
He encouraged Mine that way, but she still murmured, "Is that... really so? Is it all right for someone like me to be her mother?"
Jin gave a wry smile in his heart, thinking that her troublesome personality hadn't changed after all.