April had passed, and May arrived with the encroaching warmth of summer. Today was the second of the month.
"Yes, these are the letters. A, B, C. Let’s try reading them together."
"A, B, C!"
Today was the day of Mine and Elsa’s study session.
Listening idly from the side, Jin mused once again on how the alphabet of this world was remarkably similar to the one on Earth.
Well, it might not just be me; perhaps someone else was summoned here a long time ago, he thought.
Since ruminating on it wouldn't yield an answer, Jin turned his thoughts back to the Manacam conversation he’d had with Reinhard the previous night.
"It seems the leadership of the Celuroa Kingdom is finally functioning again, and my transit permit was finally renewed. I'm back in a carriage for the first time in a while."
"That’s good to hear."
"Yeah. I’m sure Beth and Dolly are eager to see their families as soon as possible, too."
"You as well, right, Reinhard?"
"Haha, well, yes. I’ve been away from my homeland for over a year now, so we all share that same sense of nostalgia."
"Where are you staying tomorrow?"
"We’ll leave Folt in the morning and likely make it to Bororon. Everyone has been waiting for the journey to resume, so they’re in high spirits."
"Things have been busy on my end. I ended up taking a village on the outskirts of the Klein Kingdom as a leased territory for the next fifty years."
"That sounds like an interesting development."
"Yeah, actually..."
Their conversation had flowed easily like that.
The Shouro Empire, huh... I would like to see it, Jin thought.
However, as he watched Hanna practice her letters with all her might, Jin found it difficult to bring up the idea of traveling again.
Elsa seemed to have sensed something from him.
After the study session concluded, Elsa walked home with Hanna, the two of them holding hands. Along the path, Elsa spoke up.
"Hanna-chan, do you like Jin-nii?"
"Yeah! I love Onii-chan!"
"I see. I like him, too."
"We're the same, then!"
"Listen, Hanna-chan. How would you feel if Jin-nii went on a trip?"
"Eh? I wouldn't like it. It would be lonely."
It was the response Elsa had expected.
"Yes, you're right. It would be lonely. But remember when the three of us went out the other day? Didn't you have fun?"
"It was fun!"
Elsa nodded and gently stroked Hanna’s head.
"It was, wasn't it? And you see... Jin-nii has a place he wants to visit."
"Onii-chan does?"
Hanna stopped walking and looked up at Elsa’s face.
"Yes. Jin-nii has been looking forward to seeing a country called the Shouro Empire."
"......"
Elsa crouched down so she was eye-level with the now downcast girl.
"If you love Jin-nii, shouldn’t we let him do the things he wants to do?"
Silence followed. The two remained like that for a full three minutes before Hanna finally opened her mouth.
"...Okay."
Elsa pulled Hanna into a tight hug.
"You're a good girl, Hanna-chan. You made a brave decision."
As she spoke, Elsa rubbed the back of the girl, whose eyes were now brimming with tears.
"But it’s okay. Since it's Jin-nii, I'm sure he'll come back to visit us every now and then."
"Yeah... you're right."
＊ ＊ ＊
That afternoon, Jin was on Hourai Island, verifying the surveillance magic eyes that had been installed the night before.
"Mmhmm. With these, we'll have more than enough time to respond if humans ever try to attack."
The magic eyes could monitor areas up to ten kilometers away from Kaina Village at the furthest, and two kilometers at the shortest.
"I should probably create an auxiliary brain dedicated specifically to surveillance."
It would be a miniature version of Laojun. While it would only have about one-hundredth of Laojun’s processing power, it would still possess the capacity of a hundred humans.
Drawing on his experience from creating Laojun, Jin finished the task in about thirty minutes.
"Wake up."
"I look forward to working with you, Oyakata-sama."
"All right. I shall call you Koushin."
The name had a specific meaning behind it.
Jin recalled a folk belief from a manga he had read long ago. It said that insects living within the human body would sneak out on the night of Koushin to report their host’s sins to the Celestial Emperor. The Emperor would then shorten the host’s lifespan, so people stayed awake all night to prevent the insects from leaving.
Though his memory was a bit fuzzy, Jin chose the name "Koushin" based on that theme of surveillance.
"Understood. From this moment, I am Koushin. I shall perform my surveillance duties for the sake of Oyakata-sama."
"I’m counting on you."
Jin returned to Kaina Village shortly before three o'clock.
When he entered his study on the second floor, Hanna was waiting for him.
"Onii-chan, welcome back."
"Hey. What’s up, Hanna?"
Hanna stood there fidgeting with her head bowed, but eventually, she looked up and spoke with clear resolve.
"Onii-chan, if there's a place you want to go, it's okay for you to go, okay?"
"Huh?"
Jin was caught completely off guard.
"Our trip the other day was so much fun. Onii-chan, you have a place you want to see too, right? If you do, it's okay to go. Atashi will be a good girl and wait for you."
"Hanna..."
It was true that ever since his talk with Reinhard, his desire to visit the Shouro Empire had been growing.
Jin wondered if Hanna had noticed his restlessness, but then he realized Elsa must have spoken to her. Only Elsa and Mine knew about his latent plans.
However, he kept that thought to himself and simply stroked Hanna’s head.
"Thanks. In that case, I might head out soon. But I’ll come back to visit. I promise."
"Yeah!"
Jin had promised to return. That was enough to make Hanna happy again.
Finding her incredibly precious, Jin continued to stroke Hanna's head for a long time.
＊ ＊ ＊
That night, Reinhard made his scheduled contact via the Manacam.
"We’ve finally arrived in Bororon."
"That’s good. I might head over that way starting tomorrow."
"What? Jin, are you sure?"
"Yeah, though I’ll be traveling alone. It’s still too early for Elsa to move, right?"
"Mmh. Fritz seems to have returned to his normal self, but we still don't know the situation at their family home. Oh, that reminds me—I found and protected Adberg and Hermann, who were Elsa's attendants."
"Adberg was the butler, and Hermann was the guard, right? What about the third one?"
"The footman, Otto, is still missing. According to Hermann, when they were dismissed, Otto separated from them immediately. He might not have any intention of returning to the Shouro Empire."
"I see. That can't be helped, then."
"As long as Elsa is doing well, that's what matters."
"Yeah. This time, I’ll be pushing my carriage to catch up with you on my own."
"Understood. Tomorrow we’ll likely reach Ganys, and the day after that, Toscosia. Try to reach us by the time we hit Toscosia, all right?"
"Leave it to me."
"Haha, I figured you'd say that, Jin. Well then, I look forward to our reunion."