Jin had been officially recognized by Her Majesty the Empress as a state guest in the capital of the Shouro Empire.
To deal with the "magical consumption fever" that threatened to spread through Kaina Village, the Klein Kingdom, and perhaps the entire world, he had devised a clever plan. He had faked an illness, leaving a body double in his bed to maintain appearances while he temporarily returned to Kaina Village to resolve the situation.
By the morning of May 20th, the matter had been settled. This was the day Jin would leave the village once more.
"I might be gone for a while this time."
Standing before the workshop that served as his private residence, Jin bid farewell to his "family."
"Take care, Onii-chan!"
Hanna saw him off with her usual cheerful energy.
"Elsa, I’m leaving Smith A here. If you run into anything you don't understand regarding magi craft, just ask him."
To ensure Elsa could continue her studies in his absence, Jin had custom-built a smith golem specifically to assist her.
"Mm. I'll keep practicing....Have a safe trip."
Elsa looked a little lonely, but she sent him off with a warm smile nonetheless.
"Jin-sama, please be careful. Leave Barrow and Belle to me," Mine said, assuring him that she would look after the two apprentices.
"Jin, make sure you come back and visit every now and then," Martha added with a laugh.
"I will. I'm off."
With those final words, Jin left Kaina Village behind. He traveled via Hourai Island and warped back to his carriage waiting in the Shouro Empire.
"Hey, Jin. Welcome back."
"I'm back, Reinhard."
The carriage was parked in a secluded area on the outskirts of Loizart, the imperial capital.
"Right on time."
Jin arrived exactly at the hour they had agreed upon. He felt a wave of gratitude toward Reinhard for managing things so smoothly in his absence.
"Was there any trouble with the body double?"
Reinhard's expression turned slightly complicated at the question. "Well, a few people came by to visit you. For the most part, there weren't any issues. Except for one person."
"Wait, let me guess..."
Only one person came to Jin’s mind.
"That's right. The Empress."
The Empress was rumored to have the ability to see through to a person's true essence. Even in a short encounter, there was a high probability she had realized the person in the bed wasn't the real Jin.
"That’s a bit terrifying..."
Despite his words, Jin was smiling. He had a feeling that the Empress wouldn't use such a discovery to make unreasonable demands. He was perhaps being optimistic, but he felt confident he could handle whatever came next.
Mira 10, who had been disguised as Reiko, vanished into the Warp Gate along with the body double. In their place, the real Reiko returned.
"Father, the task has been completed without incident."
"Good work, Reiko."
With that, everything was back to normal.
＊ ＊ ＊
The following day, May 21st.
The time had finally come for Jin to travel to Reinhard's family home.
"Jin-kun, did you enjoy the capital? Though, I suppose you spent most of your time sleeping, so you might not have seen much."
The Empress had come for an unofficial send-off. Since the visit was private, her tone was frank and casual.
"Then again, it seems you weren't just sleeping, were you?"
She gave him a knowing wink. Jin realized his suspicions were correct.
(Yep, she definitely knows.)
"Reinhard, I am entrusting Jin-dono to you. Contact me if anything happens."
In that instant, the Empress's face became grave. Reinhard straightened his posture and answered with conviction.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I understand perfectly."
With that, Jin and Reinhard departed from the Imperial Palace.
Since the Randol countship was located on the opposite side of Lake Tosmo, they had two choices: take the long road around the perimeter or cross the water. Jin had requested the latter.
Their first goal was Koju, a town on the lakeshore. It was less than twenty kilometers away, a comfortable half-day's journey. Traveling at a leisurely pace suited Jin just fine.
"We'll arrange for a boat in Koju today and cross the lake tomorrow morning," Reinhard explained. Jin found himself looking forward to the voyage.
The trip to Koju passed quickly. They had left Loizart at nine in the morning, stopped for lunch in Ikishi—a town between the capital and the lake—and arrived in Koju by two in the afternoon.
Koju, along with Kamu to the west and Raaa to the east, was a hub for the lake’s water transport and fishing industries. Since it was a freshwater lake, the air lacked the briny scent of the ocean, but a faint smell of fish lingered over the town.
Jin and Reinhard walked through the streets of Koju accompanied by Reiko, Steward, and the Schwarzritter, Noir. The group drew stares from every passerby.
Mattheus, who had escorted them to the capital, had returned to his regular duties with the Imperial Guards, leaving the two of them without a human escort. Public safety was excellent within the empire, and both Reinhard and Jin had insisted that they didn't need any more guards.
Still, the combination of a tall, lanky young noble, a small foreigner, a black golem, a silver-gray golem, and a beautiful black-haired girl was bound to attract attention.
"Look, there's the harbor."
A series of excavated canals served as piers where several large ships—at least by the standards of this world—were moored.
"Whoa."
The ships were shaped quite differently from the ones Jin had seen in Port Rock in the Kingdom of Elias. He figured it was the difference between vessels built for the rough waves of the open ocean and those meant for a calm lake.
Many of them were flat-bottomed. In shallow waters, a V-shaped hull would easily scrape against the bottom. Jin’s ability to discern these design nuances at a glance was a testament to his status as the world's only Magi Craft Meister.
"The big ones look to be about twenty meters long."
One vessel looked almost like a carriage ferry, designed specifically to transport horses and wagons. Most were powered by golems rowing large oars. On Lake Tosmo, sails provided additional propulsion.
"Heh, how interesting."
Jin watched with fascination as boats of various sizes navigated the lake using a mix of sails and oars. In Port Rock, sails hadn't been nearly as common.
"I'm glad to see you're interested," Reinhard said with a smile. "I was born and raised in Banne, on the far shore of this lake. Water transport is a way of life there, so ships have always been familiar to me. That’s actually why I wanted to enter that boat race."
"The golem boat race... that brings back memories."
Jin had first met Reinhard and Elsa as fellow competitors in that very race.
"That's why Elsa and I have been swimming since we were children. How far can you swim, Jin?"
"Me? Well..." Jin had only ever swum in pools back on Earth. "Maybe fifty meters?"
Reinhard chuckled softly. "Haha, around here, we wouldn't even call that 'swimming.' We usually measure it by the hour. Elsa and I can both manage to swim across Lake Tosmo."
The distance between the towns of Trom and Mahahama was the narrowest point of the lake, spanning about ten kilometers. Locals considered crossing that gap a rite of passage into adulthood.
"The strongest among us can do a round trip—some even do it twice."
Jin was impressed by the regional differences in the people he met. When they had climbed a mountain to pursue Gigas, Reinhard had struggled with the terrain because he wasn't used to climbing, but he hadn't been nearly as winded as Jin. His lung capacity had clearly been forged by years of swimming.
"Look, that one over there is likely the same model as the boat we'll be taking tomorrow."
Reinhard pointed toward a boat with an exceptionally stable design.
"It's a ten-passenger high-speed boat. I actually modeled my own boat after that design."
"Now that you mention it, the shapes are quite similar."
It had a wide beam and a shallow draft. Jin nodded, seeing how perfectly it was suited to this environment.
"I wonder how Marcia is doing. A catamaran, huh..."
Reinhard seemed lost in thought for a moment, reminiscing about the race. But then, his eyes lit up.
"...Jin, would it be okay if I tried to build a ship like the one Reiko-chan was piloting?"
As expected, his inner engineering nut was already hard at work.