Jin issued orders to Reiko and the rest of the group at the disaster site.
"Reiko, Noir, clear away that collapsed scaffolding. Edgar, Ar, get the injured out of there. Neon, Selene, you’re on Elsa's team. Elsa, I’m counting on you to handle the casualties."
"Understood."
"Reinhard, Stearena. We’ll use Craft Magic 'Joint' to secure the scaffolding. We need to stabilize it, even if it’s only temporary."
"Got it!"
"Right."
"Saki, keep your eyes on the scaffolding. Vivian, watch the ship as a whole. If you see anything that looks like it's about to give way, tell me immediately."
"Leave it to me, Jin."
"Okay, I’ll try my best."
Jin started from the far end, while Reinhard began from the near side. Stearena moved between them, using 'Joint' to reinforce any weak points they might have missed or to secure easily accessible sections.
Because Joint was a spell designed to bond irregular materials like wood into a single unit, it was perfectly suited for this purpose.
"I never would have thought to use Craft Magic like this. Your ingenuity never ceases to amaze me, Jin!" Reinhard murmured in admiration as he stabilized a precarious section of the frame.
"It really is impressive. He’s every bit the Magi Craft Meister!"
Reinhard immediately shot a look of warning at Stearena after her accidental slip of the tongue.
"Stearena, that’s a secret..."
"Ah!"
Fortunately, it seemed Eckart hadn't overheard the remark.
Meanwhile, Reiko and Noir were putting their immense strength to work. They cleared the collapsed scaffolding with such ease that the massive beams seemed to have no weight at all.
"Elsa-sama! We need treatment over here!"
"Okay... 'Cleanup'. 'Sterilization'. 'Heilung'."
Edgar and Ar carried the workers out from beneath the cleared debris. Elsa cleaned their wounds, disinfected them, and then applied healing magic.
Once a patient was stabilized, Neon and Selene moved them to a safe area to rest.
In this manner, they managed to pull eight of the ten buried men to safety.
"The rest are under here."
They had reached a spot where the ship's heavy structural beams and the scaffolding timber were piled into a massive mountain of wreckage.
"Reiko, if you would."
"Noir, move it."
The timber used for the scaffolding weighed about twenty kilograms per piece at most, but the ship's structural beams exceeded a hundred kilograms. Some were nearly two hundred.
Under normal circumstances, an ordinary golem would have been outmatched.
However, Noir—the Black Knight reinforced with materials from Hourai Island—possessed more than enough power for the task.
And then there was Reiko, the 'Walking Absurdity'. She hoisted the hundred-kilogram beams with a single hand, clearing the wreckage as if she were tossing aside mere twigs.
"Wh-who on earth are you people...?"
Watching the spectacle, Eckart stood by in a daze.
In an instant, the pile of structural materials and timber was cleared away.
"Elsa-sama! He’s not breathing!"
The worker Edgar pulled out was no longer drawing breath.
"...'Diagnose'... It's all right. His heart is still beating, but it's faint. This is dangerous... 'Völlig Genesen'."
As Elsa cast her most powerful healing magic, her body swayed. She had depleted her mana.
"Elsa!"
Jin, having finished reinforcing the site, rushed to her side.
"...Reiko, contact Laojun. Have him transfer Persica juice and medicine. Receive it outside the dock so no one sees you."
"Understood."
Reiko used her internal manacam to contact Laojun as she stepped out of the dock. She retrieved the supplies Jin had requested and returned immediately.
"Elsa-san, please drink this."
"...Reiko-chan, thank... you."
It was Hourai Island's special Persica juice, a drink designed to restore internal mana. She was also given a restorative medicine at the same time.
Noir cleared the final pile of rubble, and Ar carried out the last man. This worker was treated with the medicine.
"...Is that everyone?"
The rescued men were laid out in a row at the edge of the dock, well away from the danger. A few had already begun to regain consciousness, though they were still too weak to stand.
Now that the critical cases were handled, they began tending to the remaining injured. For minor scrapes, even a small amount of medicine was highly effective.
"Reiko, Neon, do a final sweep of the site. If you see anything that looks unstable, we’ll fix it."
"Understood....Let’s go, Neon."
"Yes, Reiko-sama!"
Lately, Neon had taken to addressing Reiko with the '-sama' honorific. She followed Reiko with visible joy.
"That spot looks dangerous....I can fix something like that myself. 'Joint'."
Locating a section where the scaffolding was leaning, Reiko applied a magical reinforcement. Neon was ecstatic.
"Oh! Reiko-sama, you can even use Craft Magic!"
"Yes, well."
"That’s amazing! Just as expected! I truly admire you!"
During her last upgrade, Neon’s control core had been completely replaced, and she had become much more expressive since then.
Apparently, her emotion programs had originally been tuned for a low-quality control core. Now that the hardware quality had been increased, she was prone to getting overexcited—or 'high', as her master Berche put it.
"She’s cute, so it’s fine," Berche had added.
In contrast, Reiko's settings prioritized composure, making the interaction between the two quite a heartwarming sight.
But back to the task.
Reiko and Neon finished their inspection by making a full circuit around the vessel.
The ship was roughly forty meters long, about the size of a large sightseeing boat from modern Japan. For a ship in this world, it was gargantuan.
"I wonder how it will be powered," Reiko mused as they rounded the prow to the far side.
This side of the dock was relatively clear of debris, and the ship’s outer plating was already being installed.
＊ ＊ ＊
With the minor injuries tended to, a sense of calm finally returned to the dry dock.
"Jin-san, thank you so much!"
Eckart bowed deeply to Jin and the others.
"If you hadn't been here, many lives would have been lost today. You truly saved us."
The injured were healing, and there had been no fatalities.
Having finished the rescue operation, Jin looked up at the massive ship.
"...It's impressive, isn't it? I was building it in secret, but I suppose there are no secrets between us anymore."
Eckart began to explain his vision to the group.
"I’m building this to trade with the Kingdom of Egerea, the Kingdom of Elias, and even the Shouro Empire. Once it's finished, the crew can live on board, and it can carry an enormous amount of cargo. It’s guaranteed to be a gold mine."
Eckart spoke with the pragmatism of a merchant.
"Currently, there are no checkpoints on the open sea, and no laws to regulate it. Besides..."
He paused for a moment, a dreamy look crossing his face.
"I want to see the great ocean for myself..."
Reinhard opened his mouth to respond, but the entire dock suddenly shuddered.
No—it wasn't the dock. It was the ship itself.
The supporting cradle groaned and warped, and the massive vessel began to tilt directly toward Jin and the others.
Someone screamed.
To Jin, the sight of the 200-ton hull falling toward them seemed to happen in slow motion.