While Elsa glared at Jin with a suspicious, sidelong look—still reeling from seeing her mechanical double—Sally was busy evaluating the health of the mother and child inside Linus’s home.
Inside, Sera had just finished nursing the infant. She was now lightly patting his back to help him burp.
“Doctor, thanks to you, both my wife and my boy are safe. I wanted to thank you properly again.”
Linus bowed deeply toward her.
“Oh, don’t worry about the thanks. Just make sure you take good care of your wife and son. By the way, have you decided on a name yet?”
“Well, I’m torn between ‘Charles’ and ‘Franklin.’...Actually, Doctor, would you do us the honor of being his godmother and naming him?”
“Me? Hmm... ‘Schroeder’... no, that doesn't really fit the style of the Klein Kingdom. How about ‘Henry’?”
“Henry? That sounds wonderful! Thank you so much. Hey there! Did you hear that? Your name is Henry now.”
Linus said with a grin, gently poking the cheek of the baby cradled in Sera’s arms.
Watching the warm scene from the threshold, Jin quietly pulled the door shut and walked away from the house.
“...Jin-nii?”
Jin’s back looked unusually lonely to her, so Elsa hurried after him.
“Father, Elsa-san is following you with a very worried expression,” Reiko noted.
Whether it was out of genuine concern or just a desire to be helpful, Reiko’s observation made Jin stop and turn around. Elsa was already within arm's reach.
“Ah...”
Their eyes met, and Elsa looked instantly awkward. She struggled to find the right words to comfort him, her mind racing through various options. Finally, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Jin-nii, do you... want children?”
“Huh?”
Jin stared at her, completely floored by the unexpected question. Elsa, realizing what she had just said, was the one who panicked the most.
“N-No, I mean, that’s not what I—the, um, nursing, like Sera-san’s...”
Another awkward word slipped out, and Elsa—turning a rare, vivid shade of crimson—spun around and bolted.
“Hey, wait!”
But Elsa didn't stop. She vanished from Jin’s sight in a matter of seconds.
“...She got flustered and turned red all by herself... What was that even about?”
“Father, I believe Elsa-san probably... came to offer you some comfort,” Reiko suggested.
Hearing Reiko’s take on it, the truth finally clicked for Jin.
Watching Linus and Sera together with the baby—Henry—had left Jin with a strangely hollow, restless feeling. Having grown up without ever knowing a mother, seeing such a domestic, happy scene had been unexpectedly difficult for him to witness.
Knowing that Elsa had followed him out of concern for his feelings made him feel a bit guilty for worrying her.
“I see.”
Lately, Jin realized, he had been finding himself feeling a bit down more often than usual.
“Haah... haah... haah...”
Elsa didn't stop running until she reached the outskirts of the village, where she finally paused to catch her breath. Before her flowed the Erme River. With July just around the corner, the morning sun was already beating down with intense heat, leaving her drenched in sweat.
“...I want to go for a swim.”
She desperately wanted to cool her flushed body and her racing head.
However, she didn't have a swimsuit here. No matter how relaxed life was in Kaina Village, only small children could get away with entering the water without any clothes on.
As her breathing steadied and her heart calmed, Elsa found herself wondering why on earth she had run away.
She knew Jin was an orphan. Perhaps that was why his lonely-looking back had struck a chord with her—and seeing the radiant, happy face of Sera nursing her baby had surely amplified that feeling.
She hadn't been able to find the right words for him, and while trying to think of what she could do to help, those bizarre questions had just tumbled out. Then, in her embarrassment and confusion, she simply couldn't bear to look at his face anymore.
“...I should go back.”
Walking with a heavy, sluggish pace that was a complete reversal of her frantic dash, Elsa trudged back toward the village. On her way, she ran into Barbara, who also seemed to be lacking her usual energy.
“Oh, Elsa.”
“...Barbara.”
The two had become close enough to drop formal honorifics entirely.
“You look a bit down,” Barbara noted.
“You look a bit down, too,” Elsa replied.
The two looked at each other and, as if on cue, let out a simultaneous, weary sigh.
“Well then, Village Chief, I’ll leave the arrangements to you.”
“Aye, I understand. I’ve got the rooms to spare. Leave it to me.”
Around that same time, Jin had finished his consultation with Village Chief Giebeck. They had decided that Sally would stay at the chief’s house for the time being, which would also serve as her temporary clinic.
“So, you’re in favor of the Raglann Company opening a branch here in the village?”
“Yes. In fact, I was thinking of going ahead and building the shop myself. I wanted to discuss the best location for it.”
“Hmm, in that case, it would be most convenient if it were near the center of the village...”
Jin had been informed by Laojun that there was a proposal for the Raglann Company to establish a Kaina branch. Once the Village Chief confirmed he was on board with the idea, Jin immediately moved to arrange the construction.
“Do you know who they’re sending to manage the branch?” Giebeck asked.
“Hmm? No, I haven't heard officially.”
“Does Barbara know?”
“Aye, I mentioned it to her.”
“That’s good, then.”
Jin knew from Laojun’s reports that Erik was already on his way. However, he decided to keep that detail to himself to ensure it remained a surprise.
In truth, while the Village Chief claimed he had told Barbara about the branch, she had been so distracted at the time that she had no memory of the conversation at all.
Regardless, Jin secretly summoned a Smith and gave instructions for the construction.
“...The layout should be like this. The first floor will be the storefront and workshop, and the second floor will be the living quarters. Essentially, it’s about twice the size of my house here in the village.”
“Understood, Master.”
A team of five Smiths immediately set to work. They would finish the entire structure in roughly a day, but the villagers were so accustomed to Jin’s miraculous efficiency by now that nobody even batted an eye.
Sally, having no prior context for the village’s oddities, didn't even have a chance to be surprised. She was currently busy visiting every single house in the village, performing health checkups as a way of introducing herself to the residents.
“Hmm, you’ve got quite a bit of fatigue built up.”
“Please visit Nidou Castle to refresh your spirit!” Gamma added cheerfully.
“...About six months along, I’d say. Take good care of yourself.”
“For the best prenatal environment, we highly recommend Nidou Castle!”
“You mustn't ignore injuries just because they seem minor.”
“Shall I perform a disinfection?”
Nurse Gamma was already proving her worth as a constant companion. In fact, the three prototype Nurse Golems were programmed to transmit their gathered knowledge and clinical experiences to Laojun in real-time.
Thus, Gamma was currently working diligently to gather the data necessary for the benefit of future mass-produced models.
South of Kaina Village lay Toka Village.
A few members of the new nobility had been appointed to succeed the late Earl Walter in governing that village, along with Rakuno, Doppa, and the Town of Charles.
For Toka Village, the appointment had gone to Lishia Fahlheit.
As of July 1st, she was officially the lord of the Toka Village area.
“Phew, it really is a scorcher today.”
Lishia had just departed from the Town of Charles, riding a Golem horse she had borrowed from Jin. Another Golem horse followed behind carrying her luggage—the one Pascoe Rush had been permitted to use.
“It’s taken us quite a while to return these. I’ll have to apologize properly to Jin-san.”
Accompanying her toward Toka Village as her personal escort was Gloria Allstatt.
“I only hope we actually get to see Jin-dono.”
Gloria had requested to be Lishia’s guard with clearly personal motives, and Chancellor Powell had granted the request with a wry, knowing smile.
“I’ve heard that Jin-san is prone to appearing and disappearing quite suddenly...” Lishia noted.
“So he is elusive, then.”
Although Gloria was Lishia’s former superior and combat instructor, their official positions had reversed. After a great deal of back-and-forth—with Lishia insisting she didn't need formal speech and Gloria insisting on proper protocol—they had eventually settled on a level of polite familiarity appropriate for their ages.
“Kaina Village, huh... I’m looking forward to seeing it.”
“Fufu, I think you’ll be quite surprised when you do, Gloria-san.”
Lishia murmured as she absentmindedly watched a merchant’s carriage traveling a short distance ahead of them on the road.