"Now then, regarding our strategy..."
Jin laid out his thoughts to Laojun.
Because Reiko and Laojun—both of whom Jin had created—rarely offered opposing opinions of their own accord, he invited Anne to join the discussion as well.
"...If that is what you believe is best, Master, then I see no reason to object."
Anne gave her tentative approval to Jin’s plan. With that, Jin made up his mind.
"Alright, let’s get started. Laojun, I’ll leave the preparations to you."
After entrusting Laojun with the task of readying the materials, Jin took a brief break. He found himself worrying a little about what to do with Elsa.
What he was about to do was, even by his own standards, beyond the realm of common sense. However, he didn't want to live with the regret of doing things halfway.
The thought of Why am I going this far? crossed his mind, making him feel slightly weary, but he corrected himself, knowing this was something only he could do.
He wondered if it was right to involve Elsa in such an outrageous operation, but he felt that after explaining the circumstances and having her cooperate this far, excluding her from the final stages would be omitting the vital finishing touch. Thus, he decided to wake Elsa, who was dozing in a chair.
He hesitated to disturb her since she looked so peaceful, but he couldn't just leave her there, so he steeled his heart and gently shook her awake.
"Nn... Jin-nii?"
Elsa looked at him with sleepy eyes, but the events of the previous night quickly returned to her.
"...What happened after that? I heard about the disease in detail, then we made the magic tools..."
Her memory seemed to end there; she must have started nodding off shortly after.
"Elsa, from here on, I intend to do the greatest thing I’m capable of. What will you do?"
Jin intended to respect her wishes, but Elsa answered his question without a moment's hesitation.
"...Of course, I’m staying with you until the end."
"Alright. In that case, let’s wash our faces to wake up."
Jin was also feeling the weight of fatigue, so they went down to the workshop on the lower floor and washed their faces at the sink. Elsa followed suit.
"Then, I want you to watch while I build this....Reiko, could you get that magi-crystal for me?"
"Yes, Father."
With Reiko’s assistance, Jin began constructing an ether converter. A powerful one, at that.
"You have to be careful when writing in the magi-formula here. This part converts free ether into mana, but the efficiency is..."
He worked while giving Elsa a general explanation of the process. Elsa’s handling of magi-formulas was still far from professional level, but she seemed to understand the intent behind Jin’s words and listened intently, even to the parts she didn't quite grasp.
"...Alright, that’s one finished."
Jin proceeded to complete the ether converter, a mana driver, and then a mana tank in quick succession.
He then began assembling them, fitting them into a housing, and finally incorporated an Elradrite to complete the device.
Even Elsa could tell that the resulting object was an incredibly powerful magic tool.
"Jin-nii, what is this for?"
Jin didn't answer the question directly. Instead, he demonstrated the process of writing in the spell that would be the device’s core.
"Write In... Genesung."
Upon seeing the magic being inscribed, Elsa’s eyes widened.
"...That... is..."
"That’s right. This is a magic tool for treatment. One that can project its effect over an incredibly long distance and an extremely wide area."
Jin explained his plan to Elsa, who had been asleep during the earlier briefing.
"We’ll load this onto Pegasus... onto the airplane, and cast healing magic from the sky toward the ground. That’s how I plan to wipe out the magical consumption fever."
Hearing this, Elsa could hardly believe her ears.
She knew Jin had an airplane and could fly.
She knew Jin could create powerful magic tools.
She knew that even for magic Jin couldn't use himself, he could make it functional by incorporating it into a magic tool.
But to combine all that into such a plan—it was beyond anything she had imagined. Indeed, she hadn't even known such a thing was possible.
"...Jin-nii, you really are beyond common sense. You're on a different level....It’s like you’re a savior from a story."
Elsa spoke those words as a sincere compliment.
However, Jin’s reaction was quite the opposite.
"I’m no savior."
"Eh?"
"...I’m not a savior, and I’ve never thought about becoming one. To be honest, I don't even want to do this. I just want to live a life where I make the things I like and have people be happy to use them... that’s all I want."
"Jin-nii..."
Perhaps due to the exhaustion of staying up all night, Jin was unusually vulnerable. Once his true feelings escaped his lips, they poured out like a burst dam.
"This is simply for my own sake."
"..."
Elsa had no words for Jin as he voiced his pained honesty.
"I couldn't care less about some stranger. But I have people who are important to me. Those people live in Kaina Village, and Kaina Village is where I belong. To protect Kaina Village, the Klein Kingdom has to be at peace. And for the Klein Kingdom to be at peace, the surrounding countries have to be at peace too."
Having said that, Jin wore a tired, weary smile.
"...That’s why I’m doing this for myself. Just for now. It just ended up becoming such a massive ordeal."
Jin looked back at Elsa and continued.
"I will protect what I want to protect using the methods I’m capable of. That’s all there is to it."
"..."
Perhaps because he had vented the frustration building up inside him, Jin wore a lonely smile that differed from his usual expression.
"Sorry. I wasn't supposed to dump this on you, Elsa....I might be more tired than I thought."
Jin scratched his head. Elsa took his hand and looked at him.
"...No, I’m happy you told me....I can’t do much for you, but I can at least listen. Don't carry the weight of the world by yourself."
Jin stared intently at Elsa’s face.
"...Jin-nii?"
Elsa was a bit bewildered by his sudden silence.
"...Thank you....Just now, I was thinking about how I have all these opportunities to see and hear interesting things at the Imperial Palace of the Shouro Empire, so why do I have to be bothered by all this? It just came out."
His words sounded genuinely drained of strength. Elsa spoke to him in a worried tone.
"...Jin-nii, you take on too much alone. Reiko-chan and the others were worried before, too."
She was referring to the time when the final battle with the Unifilar was approaching. Back then, at the request of Laojun and Reiko, Elsa had helped Jin clear his head.
"I’m not as capable as you, but I want you to rely on me a little. Like you did this time."
As Elsa finished, Jin hung his head for a moment.
"Jin-nii?"
However, when Jin raised his head, his expression had brightened significantly.
"...You're right. I might have been conceited, thinking I had to do everything alone. Even this time, I’ve had you helping me, Elsa."
With that, Jin slapped his cheeks with both hands, the sharp sound echoing through the room.
"Thanks, Elsa. I’m wide awake now."
This time, his gratitude was full of energy.
"Reinhard told me once that I should learn the standards of this world. I know I’m an outlier here. I definitely overdo it sometimes."
The corners of Jin’s eyes crinkled as he spoke.
"But I am who I am. I can't change that. If I ever look like I’m about to make a mistake, Elsa, tell me."
"...Mm. Leave it to me!"
Elsa nodded with more vigor than usual, prompting Jin to smile and give her shoulder a firm pat.
"Alright, let's go....Reiko, sorry, but could you load the Treatmenter onto Pegasus 1?"
Reiko, who had been looking a bit downcast behind Jin, brightened instantly at the instruction.
"Yes, Father!"
She joyfully lifted the Treatmenter as if it weighed nothing.
(I’m glad. Father has regained his spirit....Miss Elsa is quite skilled at sensing Father’s feelings... It is frustrating, but I must acknowledge her contribution.)
The Treatmenter was quickly loaded onto Pegasus 1, and Jin installed it so that it could project its magic downward.
"This should do it. If it can be neutralized with Medicare, then using Genesung should be even more effective in a shorter amount of time."
According to Jin’s hypothesis, the pathogen of the magical consumption fever was a mutation of a bacteria or virus that originally affected birds.
Therefore, he concluded that by using healing magic to revert the pathogen’s mutation to its original state, it could be rendered harmless.
Curing the infected humans at the same time would be a perfect outcome. However, he had no intention of performing such an extreme feat on a regular basis.
"Then, Elsa, get in. Reiko, we’re going."
"Mm."
"Yes."
Pegasus 1, carrying Jin, Elsa, and Reiko, took flight into the morning sky. Jin activated the Stealth system to ensure they remained invisible from the ground.
"First, we head for the Town of Rakham."
Their destination was Rakham, Earl Walter’s temporary base and the town where the pathogen had likely first been released.
"...Jin-nii really is amazing. To be able to fly through the sky so freely."
Elsa, excited by her second view from the clouds, spoke with wonder, but this time Jin just smiled and let the praise pass.
Laojun had compiled the information from the Quinta units scattered across the region and determined that, for the time being, the Town of Rakham had the most seriously ill patients, followed by the Town of So and the Town of Charles.
"The magic of Genesung works by returning abnormalities to their natural state. In other words, a healthy person won't feel a thing."
Jin muttered to himself as they flew. Elsa listened, nodding in agreement.
She had never specifically cast Genesung on a healthy person, but there were countless times when healthy people were within the radius of a healing spell.
Despite that, the magic only ever acted upon the injured or the sick.
"I believe your insight is correct, Jin-nii."
Encouraged by Elsa’s words, Jin brought Pegasus 1 to a Stand Still directly above Rakham.
Then, with a look of absolute focus, he activated the Treatmenter.