August 4th, the day after the failure of Satellite 001. Jin was currently visiting the Stearena residence.
"It sounds like yesterday was quite the ordeal," Stearena remarked.
"Yeah, well. It really made me realize how much I’m still lacking."
"Hehe, if you’re lacking, Jin-kun, then no one else in this world has the right to act superior."
After a short while spent in such idle conversation, Jin finished his tea.
"Thank you for the tea."
With that, he took his leave from the Stearena residence. Today, he planned to activate a new magi machine.
『My Lord, preparations for the launch of the Mole are complete.』
Laojun provided his report as soon as Jin returned to the laboratory.
On August 1st, Inado Mine had been officially incorporated into Jin’s leased territory. No one could stop him from doing as he pleased there anymore.
『I must say, withdrawing the guards before the official handover date was quite questionable on the Klein Kingdom's part,』 was Laojun’s dry assessment of the kingdom's conduct.
"Alright, begin the survey. And be extremely careful."
『Understood. I have also stationed twenty units from the Land squad, equipped with Plasma Swords, there permanently.』
There was much Jin wanted to investigate, such as the mysterious device he had seen in the depths of the mine and the habitat of the Gigant Peeders.
Using the Land squad units he had sent ahead as position markers, the Mole was transported to the site.
The completed Mole was a cylinder two meters in diameter and three meters long. It bore a resemblance to the shield machines used for tunnel digging on modern Earth.
It featured two methods of excavation: the magic tool Dig and a physical drill using hyper-adamantite chips. The excavated soil and rock were to be discharged to the surface via a transporter.
Equipped with Sonar and a magi-detector, it would dig forward while scanning for foreign objects underground. The Mole was also programmed to cast the Toughening spell on the holes it dug to prevent cave-ins.
At 11:00 AM, with Jin looking on, the machine was transported to its destination.
"Father, Elsa-san is calling for you. Please, come inside."
"Hm? Oh, right."
Prompted by Reiko, the two entered the laboratory and headed for the workshop.
"Ah, Jin-nii. I’ve finished everything, including the exteriors."
Jin was met by Elsa, his sister figure and best disciple. On a large workbench in the workshop sat ten cat-type golems. Having returned from her parents' home, Elsa had been tasked with the fur grafting process.
Nine of them were covered in sleek fur of various colors: the seven colors of the rainbow—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet—plus white and black.
"Oh, they look beautiful."
The last one remained the silver-gray of its light silver body. It was the prototype.
"I named them Seki, Tou, Ou, Ryoku, Sei, Ai, Yukari, Haku, and Koku," Elsa said. In a way, even her naming sense seemed to follow Jin’s lead.
"And this one?" Jin asked, pointing to the unfurred prototype.
"That one doesn’t have a name yet. You should give it one, Jin-nii."
"Hmm, in that case... Tama."
"Mhm. Tama, then."
The nine furred golems were built to the same specifications as Tama, with the only difference being the presence of fur. Tama would remain on Hourai Island, but the other nine were to be sent to Kaina Village and allowed to roam freely.
The project had originally started because Hanna had asked for a cat golem. Initially, Jin thought making just one for her would suffice, but he had changed his mind for a different reason.
"Jin-nii, why did you make so many of them?" Elsa asked, curious.
"Well, Reinhard told me that as a lord, showing favoritism is a bad idea."
Essentially, if he favored only Hanna, the other children might become jealous.
"It was one thing when I was just a guest at Martha-san's house, but now I'm technically the lord here."
"...I see. That sounds like Rai-nii."
"So, I decided to release golem cats throughout the village."
Though they moved like cats, their intelligence was set much higher. Their bodies were made of light silver, and their claws were tipped with adamantite. Even if a rock wolf or a forest bear appeared, they would be able to defend the village without issue. Naturally, they were also programmed to alert Laojun in case of an emergency.
Usually, however, they would just be friendly cats.
"I hope that by starting with things like this and keeping pets, the children will learn the importance of life."
Raising small animals and learning to value the sanctity of life, rather than just doting on them, was something Jin himself had been taught by the Orphanage Director. In a corner of the orphanage's garden, there was likely still a grave for a goldfish that Jin had made.
"Alright. Wake up."
The ten golem cats began to move all at once, letting out soft meows. Jin officially gave each one their name. Then, he gave his orders.
"Tama, stay here. The rest of you, follow me."
Obeying his words, Tama walked over to Elsa. When Elsa stroked the golem’s head, it hopped soundlessly off the workbench and rubbed its body against her leg.
The remaining nine cats lined up and followed Jin. Reiko brought up the rear.
Jin traveled to Kaina Village via the Warp Gate, passing through Shinkai. This time, the exit was the shelter in front of Nidou Castle.
"Ah, Jin-sama, welcome back."
Barrow ran over as soon as he spotted Jin. Jin noticed that his demeanor was a bit different than usual.
"I'm back. What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Y-Yes. Um, it seems there's another lost child."
"A lost child?"
"Yes. They're at Sally-sensei's clinic. I only heard it second-hand, so please ask the Village Chief for the details."
"I understand."
Sensing another potential headache, Jin introduced the golem cats to Belle, who had also come out in a hurry.
"Wow, they're so cute!"
"Are these called 'cats'?"
"Yeah. I'm going to let them roam free in the village, so please show them some affection every now and then."
When Jin added that they were golems and didn't need food or water, the two of them widened their eyes in surprise. It was their first time seeing a small animal golem. Given that such things hadn't existed in the world until now, their reaction was only natural.
"I can't believe they're artificial..."
As Belle whispered this, the yellow cat, Ou, walked up to her feet and curled up. She reached out tentatively and stroked its fur. It was fur made from ground spider silk—more supple than silk and stronger than steel.
"It feels wonderful to the touch..."
Leaving Ou there, Jin started walking again.
"Well, I'm going to go take a look."
Eight golem cats trotted along behind him.
"Ah, it's Jin-niichan!"
"Hey, hey, what's that?"
The children, quick to spot Jin, came running over.
"These are cat golems. I'm going to release them in the village, so be nice to them."
"Cats?"
One of the children, Patty, quickly scooped up the blue one, Sei. The cat curled up in her arms.
"Patty, you're really good at holding them."
"Mm-hmm, because I hold Henry sometimes."
Henry was Patty's younger brother, born on June 27th. Though he probably couldn't even support his own head yet at just over a month old, his big sister Patty was already doing her best to help out with the baby.
After patting Patty on the head, Jin resumed his walk. Reiko and the seven remaining golem cats followed.
Along the way, Seki and Tou seemed to have found a small animal that looked like a mouse and went chasing after it. By the time Jin arrived at the Martha residence, he was down to five golem cats.
"Ah, Onii-chan, welcome back!"
Hanna, spotting Jin, ran toward him and froze in surprise when she saw the golem cats following him.
"Oh, is that a cat? Onii-chan, you made them for me!"
It had all started when Hanna saw a cat ornament in the Leonard Kingdom and asked if he could make something like it.
"Yeah. I'm going to let them live in the village, so make sure to play with them."
As Jin said this, the white golem cat Haku ran up to Hanna and hopped onto her shoulder.
"Wow!"
Jin had made the weight of the golem cats almost identical to that of a real cat. Perched on Hanna's shoulder, Haku rubbed its face against her cheek.
"Oh, it's so fluffy!"
As Hanna cheered, Jin asked her a question.
"Hanna, I heard there's a lost child at Sally-sensei's place?"
"Eh? Oh, yeah, that's right. Are you going to go see?"
"That's the plan."
After telling Hanna that, Jin headed for the Village Chief's house. Four golem cats and Reiko followed. On the way, Ryoku and Yukari ran off toward some children they encountered, so by the time Jin reached the Village Chief's house, only Ai and Koku remained.
"Hello?"
When Jin knocked on the door, Sally came out immediately.
"Ah, it's you. I take it you've heard about the lost child? Perfect. Come inside."
Following her lead, Jin stepped into the Mileshann Clinic. The remaining golem cats trotted off to explore on their own.