Jin boarded Pegasus 1 with only Reiko at his side. They used the transporter—the recently renamed "receiverless Warp Gate" installed in the plaza behind the Hourai Island laboratory—to jump into the skies above Taki Town.
Taking every precaution, Jin first sent a small rubber ball through. Once Regulus 50 confirmed its arrival and verified there were no issues, Pegasus 1 followed. Since he had used Regulus 50 as a spatial marker this time, the margin of error was negligible.
"Hmm. If I can place markers like this throughout the known world..."
The thought reached Laojun immediately, though establishing a global network of markers was a project for a later date.
As it was still daylight, Jin activated the Invisible function before landing on the outskirts of town. Guided by Regulus 50, he and Reiko made their way to the clinic.
"It is here."
The building was a small clinic tucked away on the town's edge. Marcus Grūnwald lay in one of the rooms.
"...This is terrible."
The man was visibly wasting away and had yet to regain consciousness. Reiko looked on with complete indifference. Since he had been an enemy to Jin, her coldness was only natural.
Jin turned to Regulus 50.
"I assume this is the backlash from being forced to exert superhuman strength?"
"Most likely," Regulus 50 replied. "Marcus was human, yet he was manipulated by the demon race to perform beyond human limits. His muscles, tendons, ligaments, and even his bones were reportedly left in tatters. The healer only recently managed to stabilize him this much."
"I see. We're short on time, so let's make this quick."
Jin pulled a magi-crystal from his pocket and initiated Level 8 Trans Info—the standard maximum level for the spell. Above this sat only Level 9, which could copy an entire personality, and Level 10, the level the Predecessor had used to transfer her knowledge to Jin. Unlike the ninth level, Level 10 allowed the user to include detailed annotations, though it was significantly more time-consuming.
A magi-formula flickered over Marcus's head as the Level 8 spell took hold, siphoning his memories and knowledge into the magi-crystal.
"That should do it. I'll let Laojun handle the analysis."
Jin left the room and returned to Pegasus 1. Before departing, he handed Regulus 50 a bottle of recovery medicine from the craft's supplies.
"Give him this in small doses. It should speed up his recovery."
With that, Jin and Reiko used the Warp Gate installed on Pegasus 1 to return to Hourai Island, leaving the craft to fly back home on autopilot.
"Welcome back, My Lord."
"Laojun, I need you to analyze this."
Jin handed over the magi-crystal, which contained the sum of Marcus's memories, knowledge, and experiences.
"Understood. I shall begin immediately."
Just then, a visitor arrived.
"Jin-nii, I've finished the modifications on Edgar."
It was Elsa. Hearing her voice sparked an idea in Jin’s mind, but he kept it to himself for now, wanting to consider the implications more thoroughly.
"Oh, really? Have you tried moving him yet?"
Jin had mentored her, but Elsa’s speed was impressive nonetheless.
"Yes, I just woke him up. I wanted you to see him, Jin-nii."
Having reached a natural stopping point with Laojun, Jin followed her back to the workshop.
"He looks good."
"You think so?"
They performed a test run; Edgar's movements were stable and fluid. It seemed the data Reiko had relayed from Laojun had been invaluable.
"Based on this, I think you're ready to build an automata."
"If you say so, Jin-nii, I'll give it a try."
Elsa finally set to work on the automata intended as a gift for the Marquis.
"She’ll need to be capable of caregiving, so she should probably have a build similar to yours, Elsa," Jin suggested, thinking of the physical strength required to lift or carry an adult.
"Yes, I agree."
They used 64 light silver for the skeleton and magical fiber produced on Hourai Island for the muscles. For the skin, they used magical skin. The goal was to reach roughly half the specifications of Jin’s early restoration of Reiko. Naturally, they included robust countermeasures against Master-Slave Rewrite Magic.
Jin kept his use of design base templates to a minimum, treating the project as on-the-job training to sharpen Elsa's skills. Because this was her second construction, the process only took about three hours—an hour faster than Edgar—proving just how much her technique had improved.
The clothing was made from Ground Caterpillar silk. Elsa had sewn a standard maid’s uniform and dressed the girl in it.
"She turned out well. She's taller than Edgar, but I suppose that makes her his younger sister."
In Jin’s own lineage of golems and automata, Reiko was the eldest sister, so the dynamic didn't strike him as odd.
"Have you chosen a name?"
"Yes. I’m going to call her Lisa."
As a rule, maid names were usually two syllables to make them easy to call out. If they were longer, they were almost always shortened to a nickname. While nobles occasionally gave their children short names, commoners rarely gave their children long ones. It was simply the custom.
"Lisa, huh? It has a nice ring to it. Go ahead and wake her up."
"Okay....Wake up."
Lisa opened her eyes and slowly sat up.
"Pleased to meet you, Creator."
"Your name is Lisa. How does your body feel?"
"I judge all systems to be functioning without issue, Creator."
Elsa’s second automata had a platinum-blonde bob that reached her shoulders and pale blue eyes. Since Elsa had designed her as well, her facial features bore a resemblance to Edgar’s.
"Alright, let's have Perido and her team check her housework skills."
And so, Lisa was born.
"That was quite a challenge..."
Reinhard had finally finished installing the tactile sensors in the Schwarzritter and had progressed to the test run phase.
"Noir, how are you feeling?"
"I am in excellent condition."
"Can you feel the tactile sense?"
"...Yes, it is functioning correctly."
"Good. For now, move slowly and focus on gathering data. Don't try any sudden bursts of speed or heavy lifting yet, alright?"
"Understood."
Recalling the lessons learned with Ar, Reinhard spent time letting Noir adjust to the new sensations. After thirty minutes of careful movement checks, he moved to the next phase: stealth.
"Try walking slowly without making a sound."
Noir managed it perfectly.
"Good. Now, a little faster."
That, too, was successful.
"Very good. Now... try holding this."
Reinhard pointed to the hollow metal sphere Jin had made during Ar's testing. It was paper-thin; even a slightly too-firm grip would crush it instantly.
"Jawohl."
Noir reached out, grasped the sphere, and successfully lifted it.
"I did it! Excellent work, Noir. I’m counting on you from here on."
"Jawohl, Mia Schöpfer."
Reinhard was clearly growing as an engineer as well.
Just then, Berche and Mine entered the room.
"Shall we have lunch? I've baked some hotcakes."
It was a bit late for lunch, given when they had finished breakfast. Because of the five-and-a-half-hour time difference, evening was already setting in on Hourai Island.
"Oh, sounds good."
"Hotcakes?" Reinhard asked, tilting his head at the unfamiliar term.
"Rai-nii, hotcakes are exactly what they sound like—warm cakes. They're delicious... I think."
The group gathered in the dining room to enjoy the meal. Since the cakes had been made under the guidance of Perido Leader, the quality was exceptional. The last time Jin had made something similar for Saki, they had been more like crepes without any leavening, but these were proper, fluffy hotcakes.
"Mmm, these are fantastic!" Reinhard said, preferring his with plenty of butter.
"...So good. I'm so happy."
"They are wonderfully sweet!"
Elsa and Berche drizzled theirs with plenty of honey.
"Yes, they're delicious. Thank you, Mine, Berche."
"You are quite welcome," Berche replied with a smile.
"There's no need for thanks, Jin-sama," Mine added. "I'm just glad to have learned a new recipe."
Eating something delicious had a way of softening the heart, and naturally, smiles returned to their faces. For this brief moment, everyone forgot their lingering worries and simply savored the meal.