The next day, June 27th.
Following a late breakfast to accommodate the Marquis’s schedule, Jin and the others were gathered in the reception room, conversing over tea.
“Jin, Elsa, thank you,” Saki said suddenly.
Jin and Elsa both tilted their heads in confusion. “Hmm? For what?”
“Hehe, for Lisa. Grandfather seems to have taken quite a liking to her. Beyond that, her housekeeping skills are phenomenal. My maids were all staring at her in shock. She’s even better than Ar!”
While Saki claimed she was better than Ar, the two were likely equal in performance. Their materials were both produced on Hourai Island, and the quality of their control cores was nearly identical.
The only real difference lay in their tactile sensors. While Ar utilized a sensor-distribution type, Lisa made use of the mana potential generated by the physical deformation of her mana-active skin. The processing load required for each was handled differently.
Jin intended to eventually upgrade Ar’s tactile sense to this newer method as well.
“Did I keep you waiting?”
The Marquis arrived, supported by Lisa. Jin had considered crafting a wheelchair for him, but he reconsidered; the man needed the exercise of walking for his rehabilitation.
“Now then, what is it we are discussing today?”
The Marquis sank into an easy chair and looked around at the faces in the room, ready to listen.
“I wanted to consult you on a matter regarding education,” Jin said.
The Marquis’s eyes sparkled. “Oho, education? And what sort of education are we talking about?”
Jin decided to speak his mind without reservation.
“Yes. The subjects would include magi craft, alchemy, general engineering, and science. I want to establish something like a laboratory—one that isn't bound by the framework of a single nation.”
“Hmm. ‘Not bound by a nation’... Does this involve the matter of the demon race? You are operating on the premise that humanity will stand no chance against them unless we unite our strength, I take it?”
The Marquis displayed a sharp sense of insight, deducing the context even though Jin hadn't mentioned it.
“Y-Yes, exactly.” Jin found himself stammering in the face of such perception.
“Hmm...” The Marquis closed his eyes, a habit he seemed to have when lost in thought. Eventually, he opened them again. “A beautiful ideal, but an exercise in futility.”
His critique was biting.
“Eh?”
“Lord Jin Nidou, you are young. You might recognize human ugliness when you see it, but you do not yet understand it. You have yet to feel how easily power rots the soul, or how heavy a burden a nation can truly be.”
The Marquis exhaled a long sigh and continued.
“When humans are few, they find it beneficial to flock together. They cannot survive otherwise. However, as their numbers grow, factions are inevitably born, and strife follows. They scheme to maximize their own profits and plot to bring others down. And eventually... they splinter.”
“...”
Jin—and everyone else in the room—remained silent.
“Three hundred years ago, during the Great Magic War, the Dinar Kingdom managed to unite the surrounding countries and rally humanity, but that was only because of the terror the demon race inspired. The fact that the world fractured into the Allied Kingdoms the moment that threat vanished is proof enough of my point.”
Regrettably, Jin had to admit that the Marquis’s logic was sound.
“A laboratory like the one you imagine cannot deal with nations as entities. No, you would have to recruit individuals who value themselves over their country and their research over their nation. That is the only advice I can give you.”
“...”
Jin was speechless. He had essentially been told that his vision of a ‘Holy Land of Magi Craft’ was impossible—at least, in the form he had currently imagined.
“Because people possess individuality, there will always be a clash of opinions when they gather. What integrates them is strict law and iron discipline. That is how an army maintains its shape.”
“...I understand.”
Jin’s shoulders slumped. He had been rushing forward with such momentum, only to trip over his own feet halfway. He had been so focused on achieving what his Predecessor could not that he had likely overlooked a great deal.
Still, it was fortunate that he had sought the counsel of a senior in life like the Marquis.
Elsa, Reinhard, Berche, and even Mine found themselves unable to speak. They instinctively sensed that the Marquis was right. Ideals are sweet because they are beautiful, and because they are sweet, they make one blind to reality. Reinhard, who had traveled the Allied Kingdoms as a diplomat, likely knew this better than most, but even he had avoided looking at the uglier side of things because the ideal was so compelling.
“The only reason I mentioned wanting to build a school previously was because... well, I wanted to create a military academy. One focused on raising advanced-level officers. I wanted to create a place to dedicate the remaining half of my life, as someone who has already given half of it to his country as a soldier.”
Gaylen Theoderic von Eisen, speaking with the authority of a lifelong soldier, concluded the discussion.
Before noon, Jin and the others took their leave of the estate and headed back toward Reinhard’s home. Saki remained behind; it seemed the Marquis wasn't ready to let her go just yet.
Inside the carriage, Jin sat in a dejected silence. Reinhard tried to cheer his friend up.
“Jin, don’t take it so hard. I know it feels like the preparations on Fusou Island were for nothing, but...”
“No, it’s not that,” Jin replied, his head still hanging. “I’m just... frustrated by my own naivety.”
“...I think you’re fine just the way you are, Jin-nii.”
Elsa was the one who responded to his moping.
“It’s because you are that kind of Jin-nii that I’m here.”
“...Elsa.” Jin finally looked up.
“No, it’s not just me. Rai-nii, Mother, Berche-san... and even Saki-nee, though she’s not here. We all like that about you.”
“...You’re always so positive, Elsa.”
“Moping doesn’t suit you. You look best when you’re focused on making something.”
“...Do I?”
“Yes. I think that is what being a Magi Craft Meister is all about.”
“A Magi Craft Meister, huh...”
Jin looked out the carriage window at the sky. A single streak of cloud drifted across the blue.
“Maybe I was rushing things. Let’s take it slow and steady from now on.”
Just then, Reiko pulled on the hem of Jin’s clothes.
“Father, I have an emergency transmission from Laojun. According to Hanna-chan, a major incident has occurred in Kaina Village. She says we must return immediately.”
“What! Did something happen to Hanna?”
Jin wondered what could have happened in the village during the ten days he had been away. He decided to return using the Warp Gate installed in the carriage. After informing Reinhard, his friend nodded.
“Understood. I’ll explain things to my father and the others. I might follow you there later.”
Reinhard promised to handle the domestic side of things.
“Jin-nii, what about me?”
“Right. Elsa, Mine—it would be a help if you both came with me.”
“Okay, I understand.”
“Understood, Jin-sama.”
Jin stopped the carriage briefly to give Steward his orders: return to Reinhard’s home and maintain the carriage there.
“Jin-sama, please be careful,” Berche added.
“Thanks, Bell. We're off.”
Jin, Reiko, Elsa, Mine, and Edgar—three humans and two automata—warped to Kaina Village via Shinkai.
Given the urgency, the group emerged from the Warp Gate in the workshop basement. Jin sprinted up the stairs to find Hanna waiting for him.
“Honi-hyan!”
Hanna appeared unharmed, and Jin felt a wave of relief.
“Hanna, what’s wrong?”
He immediately shifted his focus to the crisis in the village.
“Sera-san is suffering!”
Sera. Jin remembered she was the wife of Linus and was roughly nine months pregnant.
“Could something have happened with the baby?” Mine asked.
“In any case, let’s go!”
Linus and Sera’s house was located just behind Village Chief Giebeck’s residence. Jin and the others broke into a run.