"And now, for the third event of the Gonkrenz! The stage moves to the water!"
Just as during the Golem Boat Race previously held in Port Rock, a combination of magic eyes and magi-screens projected the surface of Lake Tosmo for the audience to watch.
"He will not lose this time..." Viscount Georg Randol muttered from the spectator stands. Sitting beside him, Elsa didn't say it out loud, but in her heart, she replied: That’s impossible.
"Hey, look at that..."
"Is that girl... that automaton... planning to swim in those clothes?"
"She's even still wearing her shoes..."
At the edge of the plaza, two automata and three golems were lined up on the pier. None of them were wearing clothes, with the exception of Reiko.
Marcus Gruenwald's automaton was at least wearing something that resembled a swimsuit, but Reiko was an outlier.
"Jin-dono, are you sure about that?"
Christoph, acting as the referee, asked Jin out of concern, but Jin simply gave a silent nod.
"V-Very well then. We shall begin the third event: the long-distance swim. At the base of a watchtower on the opposite shore of Lake Tosmo, boards marked with each participant's name have been placed. You are to retrieve them and return. Naturally, the first one back wins."
The watchtower, though not visible from the pier, served as a landmark. The goal was to head there, grab the board with your name, and come back—a simple, transparent rule that made cheating difficult.
"On your marks... three, two, one, start!"
The five entrants dove in simultaneously. They surged forward at immense speeds, leaving trails of white foam in their wake.
The long-distance swim was a round trip across Lake Tosmo, totaling about ten kilometers. At a speed of twenty kilometers per hour, a participant would return in thirty minutes.
However, there was one automaton swimming at an extraordinary pace.
It was, of course, Reiko. Despite her clothes and shoes, her speed exceeded fifty kilometers per hour. And even then, she wasn't giving it her all.
Once, while searching for the missing Jin and warping across the globe, Reiko had fallen into the ocean. On that occasion, while carrying a load of over twenty kilograms, she had clocked speeds of over one hundred kilometers per hour. Now that her performance had been upgraded to more than double what it was then, Reiko was barely tapping into her output.
"Whoaaa!?"
"W-What is that...?"
"You've got to be kidding me..."
Watching Reiko swim through the magi-screens, the audience was left speechless.
Her swimming style was essentially a diving form, a method unique to automata who had no need to surface for air. If she were to swim in imitation of humans, she would create waves—known as wave-making resistance—which would act as a significant drag.
The other four participants were swimming on the surface, kicking up large waves and leaving white wakes behind them. Reiko, however, only poked her head above the water occasionally to verify her direction; otherwise, she pushed forward just beneath the surface like a submarine.
"Wh-What kind of automaton is that?"
Elsa couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for her father as he leaked that involuntary murmur.
(...This is what happens when you only know a narrow world. Thanks to Rai-nii and Jin-nii, I was able to see how wide the world really is.)
In the blink of an eye, Reiko reached the opposite shore and retrieved the board with Jin's name from beneath the watchtower. It was a large board, about fifty centimeters square, and it looked light. Being light meant it would stay afloat, which in turn meant carrying it while swimming would create significant resistance.
Yet Reiko simply used the board like a kickboard and set off. It wasn't as efficient as her diving style, but she was still incredibly fast.
About a quarter of the way back, Reiko passed Marcus's automaton. Then, in the middle of Lake Tosmo, she passed the three golems.
"Reiko-chan is terrifying..."
Reinhard sighed as he watched her performance. He felt she looked even faster than Lorelei, his own golem specialized for underwater movement.
"She's fast! Jin Nidou's automaton, Reiko! She's returned in less than fifteen minutes!"
The announcer's voice bordered on a scream. He likely couldn't believe his own eyes.
Leaving the second-place runner and the rest far behind, Reiko crossed the finish line. Naturally, it was a new record.
Ten minutes after Reiko, Marcus's automaton returned. Then, ten minutes after that, the three golems arrived one after another.
"How can this be..."
Seeing her father clutching his head, Elsa felt a flicker of sorrow for him. Without thinking, she gave voice to her feelings.
"Father, the world is vast. Jin... Jin-kun is a truly wonderful magi engineer. Please, just acknowledge that much."
However, Georg refused to listen.
"Marcus! You must win the next one!" he barked, before slumping back arrogantly in his seat.
Seeing him like that, Elsa thought: (Was Father always this kind of person? Compared to Jin-nii or Rai-nii... no, it's a more fundamental issue. As a person, he's missing something.)
Elsa felt she understood this now precisely because she had traveled, met various people, and gained experience. Her father was too self-centered. He refused to listen to those around him. By doing so, he was narrowing his own world and discarding his own potential.
(But I feel like... he wasn't like this in the past...)
She had memories of him being reasonably kind. Elsa felt a slight sense of dissonance; the father in her memories did not match the man before her now.
While Elsa and Viscount Georg were having that exchange, the fourth event began. This task was to find and retrieve the weights thrown during the earlier weight throw event.
When this was announced, several people gasped. No one knew exactly where the weight Reiko threw had landed.
"Committee! Under the previous rules, weren't colored balls thrown into the water to be searched for?" Reinhard shouted, his question bordering on a protest.
"From this event forward, as a handicap, it was decided that contestants must find the weights they threw themselves..."
A stir ran through the venue.
"But if you do that—"
"It’s okay, Reinhard."
Jin stopped Reinhard. "Reiko, can you do it?"
In response to Jin's question, Reiko simply nodded.
"Very well. Three, two, one... begin!"
The water of Lake Tosmo was clear, and most of the lakebed consisted of rock or gravel. Since mud was only present near the shores, searching was relatively easy. However, the weight Reiko had thrown had flown so far away that it couldn't even be seen, making the search a monumental challenge.
"Jin, will Reiko-chan be alright?"
"Yeah, I believe in her."
True to his words, when Reiko found the thirty-kilogram weight and brought it back within fifteen minutes of the start, the entire audience erupted in a roar of cheers.
(I wonder if Elsa is okay?)
Since Reiko had finished so quickly, Jin was left with nothing to do while waiting for the others. He was worried about Elsa, but he couldn't go to her himself. Instead, he asked Reinhard to check on her.
"Understood, leave it to me. I've been worried about her too."
Reinhard headed toward the section where Elsa was seated. There were automaton soldiers on either side of her and the Viscount's subordinates surrounding them, so he couldn't get right next to her, but he managed to sit close enough for his voice to carry.
"Elsa, I'm here."
When he called out, Elsa turned around. A look of relief spread across her face as she saw her kind and reliable cousin.
The competition proceeded. Marcus's automaton returned thirty minutes after Reiko. The three golems failed to find their weights even after an hour, leading to their disqualification for exceeding the time limit.
The results so far put Jin and Reiko in a decisive first place by a landslide. If one considered the three golems as mere decoration, it was a duel between Jin and Marcus—and it was looking like a completely one-sided game in Jin's favor.
"And now for the fifth event! The mock battle! This final event consists of two parts: swords and unarmed combat! First, the mock battle with swords!"
As the most anticipated event, the cheers from the crowd reached a fever pitch. At this point, the three golems had withdrawn, leaving it as a head-to-head match between Reiko and Marcus's combat golem.
Jin equipped Reiko with the Touka-modoki he had prepared. It was essentially a blunted katana made of 64 light silver.
In contrast, Marcus's combat golem was a two-meter-tall armored giant, equipped with a tower shield in its left hand and a greatsword in its right. When the two stood facing each other, they looked like a child standing before a giant.
"Reiko, don't cause any excessive destruction."
Jin gave her that single instruction and returned to his seat.
"Are both participants ready?"
The two figures nodded.
"Then... begin!"
The referee's hand swept down, and the final mock battle commenced.