September 17th arrived, bringing with it a rather chilly breeze.
The members of the demon race had mostly settled into their new routine. However, the whereabouts of the missing Raldus and Arshel remained a mystery.
As for Raldus, Laojun—who was familiar with his magic pattern—should have been able to detect him with the magi-radar. Yet, they were faced with an abnormal situation.
"I cannot find any trace of Raldus."
Laojun suggested two possibilities: "He is either in a location that completely shields magic, or..."
Or he was no longer among the living.
In any case, with his work in the demon territory largely complete, Jin had traveled to the lands of the All-Creation clan.
This time, it was Jin himself, not the Double.
Since the pact had been signed and the threat had vanished, he had finally received permission from Reiko and Laojun to go in person. To do so, he had used the Warp Gate on Capricorn 1 to swap places with the Double.
His primary motivation was simple: he wanted to examine the artifacts left behind by the ancients with his own eyes and hands.
"Ah, so that's how it's constructed..."
Jin was currently occupied with analyzing an artifact known as the Image Recorder.
The device's structure was straightforward—it was essentially a camera. Light passed through a lens to form an image on "something" acting as film. Naturally, it even featured a shutter. One could describe it as a large, antique camera that utilized glass plates.
Jin was more interested in the "film"—specifically, the photosensitive agent—than the camera's mechanical design. Though it had deteriorated over the centuries, the agent seemed to possess properties similar to powdered magi-crystal. It used dry plates, which were glass sheets coated with this substance.
Having a few theories regarding the agent, Jin decided he would discuss it with Saki and Toa once he returned home.
Next was the Timepiece. It was a mantel clock, though it only featured an hour hand, lacking both minute and second hands. Nevertheless, it was perfectly functional for daily life.
"Hmm? What's the power source for the hand? What is this?"
"Father, is there something you find unclear?" Reiko asked.
"Ah, Reiko. Could you 'look' at the relationship between this magi-device and the free ether for a moment?"
Jin pointed toward the magi-device that served as the heart of the Timepiece.
"Understood. Trace....It appears to be following the flow of free ether."
"As I thought. That raises a few questions... but regardless, it's fascinating. This clock uses a magi-device to track the sun's position and displays that angle as the time."
The core of the clock was a sensor that detected the free ether emitted by the sun and oriented itself accordingly; the hour hand was slaved to that movement. Given the definition of time, it was an infallible method. Of course, the display would become inaccurate if the clock were tipped on its side.
In this manner, Jin proceeded to examine all the All-Creation clan's artifacts one by one, successfully analyzing their internal structures.
"Jin, are you finished?"
Sion arrived and announced that tea had been prepared.
"Yeah, thanks. I'm coming."
Jin followed her to where All-Creation and Rolona were waiting.
"I brewed the tea you gave us, Jin. I hope it's to your liking."
The tea Jin had brought consisted of leaves from what were known as "tea trees" in Kaina Village—otherwise known as peruhya. He had also brought seedlings so they could eventually become self-sufficient. Since Sion and All-Creation had taken a liking to the flavor, he had encouraged them to cultivate it here.
"Yeah, it’s good," Jin remarked after a sip.
"I'm glad to hear that."
As Jin relaxed, Sion spoke up.
"...Say, Jin, you're going home soon, aren't you?"
"Yeah. In another two or three days."
"I see..."
Sion's expression clouded with a hint of loneliness. While Jin was notoriously dense—perhaps too dense—regarding romantic feelings, he was quite sensitive to the emotions of younger children.
"I'll come to visit from time to time, though."
"...How?" Sion asked, looking at him with skeptical, narrow eyes, as if wondering if he was just trying to humor her.
"Well, I can just fly here."
"...Ah, the airship. I suppose you can use that if there's no danger."
Satisfied that he wasn't lying, Sion's mood visibly brightened.
"Oh, did the tea get cold?"
"No, I have a sensitive tongue, so this temperature is perfect."
As he spoke, Jin drained about half his cup in one go. He then remembered a question he had been meaning to ask while the opportunity presented itself.
"By the way, Sion, All-Creation, and Rolona-san, I have a question."
"Yes, what is it?" Rolona, the mother of the two sisters, answered for them.
"Well, Sion mentioned that Lucas and Netros belong to the servant race. But it seems like the other clans don't have any servants..."
"Ah, that," Sion said, nodding firmly before Jin could finish. "As you said, Jin, our All-Creation clan is the only one left with them. Apparently, most clans used to have them a long time ago..."
"Compared to us demons, the servants have much shorter lifespans," All-Creation added, picking up the explanation. "Because of that, only our clan still has them."
"In that case, the servant race currently consists of..."
"There are ten of them left."
"Ten, huh..."
It was an incredibly small number. Survival as a species would be impossible with only ten individuals.
"Oh, but on very rare occasions, they do have children with the demon race," Rolona noted. "In almost all cases, the children inherit the characteristics of the demons, though."
It seemed that in the case of interbreeding, the demon genes were dominant. Jin decided to share the reasoning behind his curiosity.
"I see. To be honest, I was wondering where the servant race originally came from."
The roots of the demon race traced back to the Origins who had arrived from Hale. In this world, they had intermingled with the indigenous species of the planet Ars, becoming the Fallners. It was highly probable that those with a high concentration of Origin blood became demons, while those with less became humans.
If that were the case, what had happened to the indigenous species? No such race existed in the known world. Because of that, Jin suspected that the servant race might actually be those original inhabitants.
"...Of course, this is purely out of intellectual curiosity," Jin added at the end.
"...I believe your hypothesis is correct," Rolona said after a brief silence. "Legend has it that the servant race was brought here from the south."
Jin nodded silently. Their dark skin had seemed out of place in this northern territory. It suggested a southern origin, which had been the source of his initial suspicion.
"If I ever visit the southern lands, I might encounter more of Netros and Lucas's kin."
Another goal had been added to Jin's list.
"This is..."
Jin had come to inspect the zirconia deposit. When he mapped the area with Grand Search, he discovered that the minerals were distributed in a remarkably clean, geometric pattern.
(The most likely explanation is that something dome-shaped is buried here.)
Perhaps a dome city like those found in science fiction once stood here, and the cubic zirconia that composed the dome had become the buried deposit. He kept the thought to himself, as he couldn't prove it, but it seemed a plausible explanation for why cubic zirconia—which shouldn't occur naturally—was present in such abundance.
He offered only one piece of advice based on his deduction.
"There might be something further in—or rather, deeper underground—than this deposit."
If it were a dome, there had to be something it was built to protect. Furthermore, Jin’s Grand Search had detected layers of calcareous rock. He suspected these were the calcified remains of structures made from something akin to concrete.
"At the current rate of mining, these reserves should last fifty years."
Jin believed they should only trade in small amounts. He also figured he would be able to synthesize the material himself eventually.
"Well, that clears up a few more doubts. I feel a bit better now."
Jin stretched and looked up at the darkening sky. The wind felt a bit cold against his skin.
"...Jin."
He turned at the sound of his name to find Sion. With her hair fluttering in the evening breeze, she looked somewhat somber in the fading light.
"Are you... really leaving tomorrow?"
"Yeah. That's the plan."
"I see....Th-thanks for everything."
Sion looked down, speaking in a lonely tone. Jin reached out and patted her head.
"You're a real scholar, Sion. I was impressed."
"Eh?" Sion looked up, blinking at the sudden praise.
"You know, during the council meetings, you explained everything so clearly."
"A-ah. That's because I read it in the books at your castle."
"Even so, to do that after reading them just once is incredible."
This was Jin's honest opinion. Hearing it, Sion’s face brightened significantly.
"R-really?"
"Is everyone in the All-Creation clan that gifted?"
"I don't really know about 'gifted,' but I heard the name 'All-Creation' was given to us because we possess knowledge of all things in the world."
Jin took the opportunity to ask one more thing.
"Does that mean all the demon clan names have meanings like that?"
"Hmm... You could say yes, and you could say no."
Before Jin could ask for clarification, Sion continued.
"Long ago... yes, back when we first split into clans, it was certainly true. I've heard the Puppet clan excelled at Master-Slave Magic, and the Frenzy clan... well, they had a way of thinking that was almost incomprehensible."
"I see."
"But nowadays, with marriages between different clans, those distinctions don't really mean much anymore."
It seemed that as the bloodlines mixed, their unique traits had faded. Jin found the explanation convincing.
"Still, I think you live up to the name All-Creation, Sion."
"Huh?" she let out a confused little sound.
"I just thought that with all that knowledge, you'll grow up to be the kind of adult who leads the demon race."
Sion’s face turned bright red in an instant.
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what are you saying?! Flattery won't get you anything!"
Her reaction was exactly that of a girl her age.
"That's fine. Sion, don't do it for me—do your best for the sake of the demon race."
Jin gave her head one more gentle pat. Stars began to twinkle in the western sky where the last of the light remained, and the short autumn day drew to a close.