"To begin with, on behalf of the Kingdom of Elias, I wish to formally bestow the title of 'Magi Craft Meister' and the rank of honorary baronet upon Lord Jin Nidou."
The Chancellor, Marquis Godfar, was the one to speak. Having already received word from Marchioness Firenziano earlier, this served as the official certification.
"I accept with gratitude," Jin said, bowing his head. "In light of this, I... that is, I have a request of my own."
"Oh? And what might that be?"
"In the ocean far to the east of the Kingdom of Elias—or rather, the Elias Peninsula—lies an island known as Kunlun Island. That is my base of operations."
"I see?"
At last, Jin had broached the subject. This was the culmination of the numerous discussions he had held with Reinhard, Elsa, Laojun, and Reiko the night before.
"To be precise, it is located directly east of the Former Leonard Kingdom," Jin added, providing several supplementary details.
"Hmm... Your Majesty, I personally see no issue with this," the Chancellor remarked. "I believe we should grant our recognition."
From one perspective, it was an unknown island that had nothing to do with the Kingdom of Elias. However, Jin and his companions had reached a consensus: matters would likely become far more complicated once maritime transport became more advanced. It was better to secure recognition now.
"Very well. Lord Jin Nidou, our nation recognizes Kunlun Island as your territory. We shall put this in writing."
"Thank you very much. If possible, I would be grateful if you could convey this recognition to the other nations during the manaphone broadcasts."
"Indeed, I shall. We will do so during the regularly scheduled noon broadcast," Blitzen Skala Elias XII agreed graciously.
Jin felt a wave of relief wash over him; they had cleared the first hurdle.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. As a Magi Craft Meister, I would like to present your nation with two hot air balloons. They departed Kunlun Island yesterday, so I expect them to arrive around midday."
"Oh! That is wonderful news."
The desire for such technology had likely been at least half the reason they were so quick to name Jin a Magi Craft Meister. Both the King and the Chancellor were now beaming with delight.
With that, the first audience came to a close. The second meeting would take place after the noon broadcast, once they had gauged the reactions of the other nations.
Jin and his party were escorted to a VIP waiting room to rest.
"Well, Jin, it looks like things are going smoothly," Reinhard said with a pleasant smile.
"Yeah. It's thanks to all that planning we did last night."
Since Jin had no prior knowledge of the King of Elias's personality, he had relied heavily on Reinhard's diplomatic experience.
"Two hours until the noon broadcast, huh..."
Due to the time differences, noon in the Kingdom of Elias was roughly 9:00 AM in the Shouro Empire. It was just past noon in the Klein Kingdom and approximately 10:00 AM in the Celuroa Kingdom. It was a reasonable hour for every nation involved.
"In the meantime, let's have the hot air balloons sent here as planned."
They intended to gift the Kingdom of Elias two hot air balloons of the same model as those given to the Shouro Empire, the Kingdom of Egerea, and the Klein Kingdom. In truth, they would be sent via transporter, but the narrative they presented was that the craft had flown all the way from Kunlun Island.
The distance between Kunlun Island and Borgia, the capital of Elias, was approximately 500 kilometers. Traveling at 30 kilometers per hour, it would take just under 17 hours. The explanation that they had been in flight since the previous day was perfectly consistent.
The pilots would be Smith Golems.
"There is about one hour remaining," Reiko said, having coordinated with Laojun via internal communication.
"The matter of Kunlun Island will likely be approved by the other nations as well," Reinhard murmured thoughtfully. "For the time being, the waters around the island aren't exactly a place people can reach by ship. The Kingdom of Elias suffers no disadvantage by recognizing it."
Elsa picked up the thread. "...And since shipping is still underdeveloped, now is the best opportunity."
"Exactly," Jin added. "Since the situation with the Former Leonard Kingdom remains unresolved, we figured that if the Kingdom of Elias said 'yes,' the other nations would follow suit."
The Kingdom of Elias was the party most likely to have a conflict of interest; if they approved, Jin and his team anticipated that the other nations would see no reason to object. Laojun had also predicted that even the Celuroa Kingdom and the Kingdom of Franz wouldn't go out of their way to lodge a protest.
"If anything, they might recognize Jin-nii as a Magi Craft Meister simply because they want hot air balloons of their own?" Elsa suggested.
However, Reinhard shook his head at the thought. "No, the Celuroa Kingdom is a country with excessive pride. Especially with the Unifilar having been so deeply rooted there, I doubt they would be so accommodating."
Jin remembered that when they were treating the King of Klein, the former Minister of Industry, Delite Domus Hanks—who had been an agent—was using an old-model hot air balloon without a power source.
"Ah, that's true. They already have their own balloons, even if they're outdated." Jin leaned back against the sofa. "Well, it doesn't really matter to me either way."
Early that afternoon, Jin and the others met with the King once more.
"During the noon broadcast just now, I presented your request," the Chancellor reported. "The Shouro Empire, the Klein Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Egerea all approved without issue. Even the Celuroa Kingdom and the Kingdom of Franz gave their consent."
Jin finally breathed a true sigh of relief.
"Furthermore," the Chancellor continued, "the nations reached a consensus to grant you the title of 'Lord of Kunlun' as well."
The title officially recognized him as the sovereign ruler of the island. They had cleared the second hurdle.
"Thank you very much. By the way, the hot air balloons should be arriving any moment now."
Just as Jin spoke, there was a knock at the door, and a guard entered to deliver a report.
"Hot air balloons are approaching from the eastern sky!"
"Those are the ones I summoned," Jin confirmed.
"Oh! Truly?"
"Would you like to observe their arrival?"
When Jin suggested this, it wasn't just the Chancellor who rose; Marchioness Firenziano and the King himself followed him out to the castle's front courtyard, accompanied by a guard of royal ritters.
Two hot air balloons descended slowly, touching down gracefully before the gathered nobles.
"Good work, Smith," Jin said.
"Yes, Master!"
The spectators were visibly startled to see that the pilots were golems—especially since they spoke fluently and looked remarkably human, save for their metallic skin.
"These are the hot air balloons I promised. I will let these Smiths explain their operation to your staff."
"U-Understood."
A mid-level bureaucrat with extensive magical knowledge was summoned immediately to take charge. While the official was occupied with the Smiths, Jin moved to the final stage of his plan.
"I have one more gift to present. Since this isn't the best place for it, I suggest we return to the previous room."
Jin held up a cylindrical object he had received from one of the Smiths. His proposal was accepted at once.
"Now then, Lord Jin Nidou, what is this final gift?" the Chancellor asked, leaning forward with anticipation once they were back inside.
Jin opened the cylindrical bundle, revealing a large piece of parchment nearly a meter square. He spread it out across the table.
"Th-This is!?"
It was a map created on Hourai Island.
On the far right edge—the east—lay Kunlun Island. To the south was the Elias Peninsula and its neighboring islands. To the north, it reached the Klein Kingdom and the vicinity of Kaina Village. To the west, it stretched to the area around Loizart in the Shouro Empire.
"This is a map created through observations from the sky. I would like to present this to you. I intend to provide identical copies to the other nations as well."
The map was a significantly simplified version of the ones used on Hourai Island. While the terrain was accurate, small towns and villages were omitted, showing only capitals and major cities. For the Kingdom of Elias, it marked the capital Borgia, Port Rock Town, and Florenz. Only major highways were included, and there were no grid lines for latitude or longitude.
As for the projection, since it was based on Jin’s amateur instructions, it followed neither Mercator nor Miller conventions, but was a simplified, functional approximation. Nevertheless, it was a masterpiece of cartography that left everyone staring in wonder.
The King, the Chancellor, and the Marchioness were all speechless, their attention entirely consumed by the map. It took several minutes for them to regain their composure.
The Chancellor looked up at Jin, his voice filled with awe. "Lord Jin... are you truly giving this to us?"
Jin nodded. "Yes. It will be indispensable for traveling between nations by balloon or navigating the open sea. Please forgive any minor inaccuracies, as this is a personal project."
The Chancellor shook his head vigorously. "No, not at all! To be quite honest, a map of this caliber does not exist anywhere else in the world. You have our deepest gratitude, Lord Jin!"
For Jin’s part, he simply hoped the map would help prevent accidents during flight or voyages.
On this day, the Magi Craft Meister and Lord of Kunlun, Jin Nidou, had truly made his mark on the world.