"Belle!"
Barrow noticed the girl beside him had collapsed and frantically tried to help her up. Jin, unable to stay on the sidelines, rushed over to them. "She’s burning up." Belle’s face was flushed red. When Jin placed his hand on her forehead, it felt as hot as fire. Her consciousness was already fading; her breathing was shallow and irregular. "Belle! Belle!" Barrow desperately shook her shoulders, trying to bring her back, but the girl’s head only lolled back and forth. Jin stood up slowly, a plan forming in his mind. "Reinhard, would you mind if I took charge of these two?" he asked. ("I don't mind at all. Jin, are you taking them with you?") Reinhard replied in a whisper barely audible to anyone else. Jin whispered back. ("Yeah. I can't just leave them, and I feel a bit responsible for their situation.") ("I see... Well, once you're across the border and into the Shouro Empire, a travel permit becomes a scrap of paper. You won't need identification, either.") Reinhard’s remark suggested he had a faint inkling of what Jin was about to do. "Got it. I'll spend the night in the carriage again. Eight o'clock tomorrow, then?" Jin raised his voice so the rest of the group could hear. Reinhard followed suit. "Yeah. We'll move out at eight....Come on, Mattheus, let's go." Reinhard resumed his walk. Mattheus hurried to catch up, grabbing his shoulder. "R-Reinhard, is this really all right? What about Jin-dono?" "It's fine. Tonight's our last night in the Celuroa Kingdom. Shall we make a night of it?" As he spoke, Reinhard glanced back and gave Jin a wink. Jin responded with a silent thumbs-up.
"Snap out of it, Belle!" Jin tapped the shoulder of the distraught Barrow, who sat there at a loss while cradling the unconscious girl. "Listen, you can't just leave her like this." "Huh!?" Barrow looked up at Jin. "Are you... the one who was with the noble earlier?" He finally seemed to register Jin’s presence. Jin nodded. "Yeah. He’s left the two of you in my care. What do you want to do? Will you come with me?" "Y-Yes!" Clutching at straws, Barrow tried to stand while holding Belle, but his legs wobbled. "Just as I thought. You’re at your physical limit, too. Reiko, carry the girl." "Yes, Father." "Father!?" Jin was twenty-one, but his boyish features made him look like he wasn't even twenty yet. Barrow was stunned to hear a girl who looked twelve or thirteen call him "Father." Ignoring him, Reiko easily scooped Belle up in a bridal carry and started walking briskly toward the carriage. "A-Ah! Wait for me!" Terrified of being left behind, Barrow scrambled to follow. He forced his leaden legs to move, desperately trailing after Jin and Reiko. (I don't even know if I can trust them. But we have nowhere else to go...) That was the only thought cycling through his mind. He moved forward on sheer willpower alone. But eventually, even that reached its limit. Just before they reached the unusual carriage Jin had boarded, Barrow’s vision went dark.
"Ah, I guess he was at his limit, too." Jin looked back and scratched his head, feeling a pang of guilt. The memory of the girl he’d seen in Ganys yesterday—the one who faked a leg injury for coins—had been so strong that he’d ended up putting these two through a bit of a test. "Reiko, bring them inside one by one."
"Welcome back, Jin-nii!" "I'm back." Jin had returned to Kaina Village. He brought no souvenirs; he hadn't even set foot inside the town yet, so there was nothing he could do about that. It was currently 6:00 PM. Since the time difference between Toscosia and Kaina Village was roughly two hours, the Martha household was just finishing dinner when Jin emerged from the workshop basement. "So, you want us to look after those two for a while?" Jin was currently in the dining room of Martha's house, talking with Martha, Mine, Elsa, and Hanna. He had laid the two newcomers out on futons in the second-floor living room of his own house. "Yes. If possible, I’d like Elsa and Mine to help look after them." Elsa tilted her head, clearly wondering why. "They said they're from the Shouro Empire." Jin gave a brief explanation of how he’d met them. "I see. So the noble they served fell from power, and they were let go." "Exactly. They wanted to go home but couldn't get past the checkpoint, so they begged Reinhard for help." Elsa cut in as Jin finished speaking. "And what did Rai-nii say?" "He told them it was impossible without travel permits. So, he handed them over to me." When Jin answered, Elsa’s expression turned slightly disappointed. "Rai-nii's being cold." "Haha, not really. He did say that once we’re across the border and into the Shouro Empire, travel permits become useless." "?" Elsa didn't seem to grasp the meaning. Jin elaborated. "Basically, he wants me to look after them for now and bring them back once we’re inside the Shouro Empire." "...Oh, I see. But can you and Rai-nii really communicate like that?" "Yeah, well, we have an understanding." "...I see." Elsa’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. Jin recognized that look—it was the same one she gave him when she thought he had a thing for dolls. Surely she wasn't harboring the same weird suspicion Mattheus had...? "B-By the way, Elsa, how much do you know about Mattheus?" Jin asked, trying to change the subject. "I know him well. He played with me a lot when I was little. He's the older brother of Rai-nii’s fiancée, Berche." "I heard he's quite fond of geology and minerals." That was news to Elsa. "Eh? Really?" "Yeah. When I told him the walls of Toscosia were sandstone because the area used to be the ocean floor, he was hooked." "The ocean floor? What do you mean?" "Jin, what’s this all about? The land used to be under the sea? That makes no sense," Martha added, having listened in silence until now. Jin realized once again that everyone has an innate hunger for knowledge. "Well, you see, sandstone is formed when sand carried by rivers and streams settles on the sea floor..." Jin repeated the explanation he had given Mattheus. "...Huh." "...I see." "...Is that how it works?" "?" Everyone except Hanna seemed to get the gist of it. "Jin, you really do know everything, don't you? I'm impressed," Martha said. Jin thought to himself, (Talking about trivia like this is actually quite nice.) He considered that he could have a golem or an automata imprinted with his knowledge give these lectures instead of doing it himself. Right then. "Father, they have both regained consciousness." Reiko, who had been checking on Barrow and Belle, appeared and gave her report.