The welcoming committee for Jin’s party disbanded, leaving only Chief Hiro Mutu behind.
However, one other person remained who clearly wasn't a councilor. She was a woman in her early twenties with dark brown hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin. She bore a subtle resemblance to Hiro.
"This is Mii, my granddaughter. She will be looking after your needs, Jin-sama. Please let her know if you require anything at all... Mii, introduce yourself."
"I am Mii Mutu. It is a pleasure to meet you."
It was only natural that she shared Hiro Mutu's aura, given she was his granddaughter. She gave Jin and the others a graceful, polite bow.
"The pleasure is ours," Jin replied.
"If you would like, I shall show you to your rooms."
Accepting the offer, the group followed her. Aside from her distinctive way of referring to herself, Mii didn't seem to have any noticeable accent or dialect.
"...Oh, tatami."
The suite consisted of four adjoining rooms. Each individual room was ten tatami mats in size.
A black-lacquered low table, polished to a brilliant urushi shine, sat in the center, surrounded by six zabuton.
However, what truly caught Jin's eye was an object placed in the tokonoma.
It consisted of two white, flattened round objects stacked on top of each other.
"...Kagami mochi?"
No matter how he looked at it, it was kagami mochi. Jin vowed to himself that he would ask about the reason for its presence later.
"Please, Jin-sama."
Guided by Mii, Jin took the seat of honor with his back to the tokonoma. Elsa sat beside him in the second seat, while Hanna and Saki sat opposite them in the third and fourth positions.
That being said, Jin wasn't entirely confident in the proper etiquette of seating orders in a Japanese-style room beyond the first seat.
Reiko, Edgar, and Aaru sat diagonally behind their respective masters.
Hiro took a seat directly beside the table, while Mii brewed tea for them. It was hojicha. It seemed to have been freshly roasted, as the aroma was quite pleasant.
"Now then, I apologize for interrupting your rest, but might we hear your wishes, Jin-sama? That is to say, I would like to know what you seek from our country."
"Uh, well..."
Jin was a bit taken aback; he hadn't expected to receive state-guest treatment here.
"...I'd like to travel around and see various things. In particular, I want to see and learn about things that don't exist in our lands, or things that are different."
"I see. You are a person of great studiousness, Jin-sama. Do you have any specific requests?"
At this point, Jin remembered the information provided by the Watcher.
"There are settlements north of the capital as well, aren't there? I'd like to try visiting them."
Hiro thought for a moment before replying.
"Do you mean the towns of Kure or Inno?"
But Jin shook his head.
"No, much further north."
"What! You even know about such places?"
"At the very least, I know that people live there."
At this, Hiro fell silent, his face clouded with thought. He seemed to be deliberating something serious.
Jin and the others drank their hojicha, moistening their throats while they waited for a response.
"...Even we do not know much about them. We only know that there was supposedly interaction in the distant past, but due to the extreme distance, contact was lost long ago."
"You don't know any details?"
"I am afraid not."
"I see..."
He hadn't been counting on it much to begin with, but it was still a bit disappointing to find there was zero information.
"In that case, would you be able to guide us around Miyako tomorrow?"
Switching gears, Jin made the request, and Hiro nodded deeply.
"Yes, of course. Please leave it to Mii. Shall I arrange for rickshaws?"
"N-No, I'd like to walk around and see the sights. We have an automobile if we need it."
When Jin mentioned the automobile, the light in Hiro's eyes changed.
"An automobile! What marvelous technology. As expected of you, Jin-sama. John-sama also rode a wonderful thing called a Golem horse, but yours sounds even more impressive."
Just then, Mii, who had been listening in silence, spoke up.
"U-Um, Jin-sama... if it's possible, could you introduce us to any 'sweets' from the eastern lands?"
"Mii, really now!"
Hiro chided her, but Jin found the request intriguing. Sweets were something that could soothe people's hearts the world over.
Jin recalled making popcorn in Blue Land in the Kingdom of Egerea, and topopo chips in Borgia, the capital of the Kingdom of Elias.
"Hmm, considering the environment and products here..."
Seeing Jin fall into deep thought, Hiro broke into a cold sweat. Mii also looked a bit worried.
"H-Have we offended you in some way?"
To reassure Hiro, Elsa explained.
"It's fine. Jin... sometimes gets absorbed in things when it comes to craftsmanship or food."
Hearing this, Hiro and Mii were relieved.
"That's just Onii-chan for you," Hanna added with a laugh.
"Yeah, that's Jin all right," Saki said with a wry smile.
Then Jin rebooted, seemingly having hit upon an idea.
"I'll try doing what I can."
"Wow, thank you so much!" Mii looked delighted.
"By the way, Mii-san, there's one thing I wanted to ask."
"Yes, what is it?"
"What exactly is that?" Jin pointed at the kagami mochi. He couldn't help but be curious.
"Oh, the kagami mochi in the tokonoma?...Well, you see, it's an old custom to display it during auspicious occasions. I believe it was put out because you were visiting us, Jin-sama."
It seemed to be a custom that had been passed down while slightly changing its meaning over time. For now, Jin was satisfied with that explanation.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Ah, this feels great."
Jin stretched his limbs as he soaked in the large bathtub. Reiko was attending to him.
"Father, what do you plan to do from here?"
"Well, I'd like to look into Shuuki Tsetse after all."
"The person with the same family name as Mother, I see."
"That's right. I'm curious about it. And then, there's the northern lands."
Reiko fell into thought as she washed Jin's back.
"...I am terribly sorry that I do not know anything myself."
"No, that's not your fault, Reiko," Jin comforted her. "It wasn't in the knowledge I inherited from the Predecessor, either."
Jin felt that was only natural. He could imagine that it would be overwhelming to have the entirety of a person's knowledge, experience, and memories transferred all at once. He understood that the Trans Info was the result of the Predecessor carefully selecting what was most necessary.
"It feels so good!"
"Hanna-chan, do you have any itchy spots?"
The women were taking a leisurely soak in a separate bathroom.
Right now, Hanna was having her head washed by Mii. Wearing a cotton bathing gown, Mii was also washing Elsa's back and head.
Since the only automata who had come to the bathroom was Aaru, who was a neutral-type, while the male-type Edgar was outside—and because Hanna didn't have an automata attending her—Mii had joined them to help.
"Hehe, this soap is really nice. It lathers well and gets the dirt off. It smells good, too."
"Yes, it is a local specialty."
Elsa wondered if this was also something introduced by the magus.
"Now, Elsa-sama, I shall wash your back."
Mii approached. Her cotton bathing gown was wet and clinging to her skin. Her tanned skin was slightly visible through the fabric, but that wasn't the issue.
Of the four people here—setting aside Hanna for now—it was perhaps inevitable that a sense of envy would bloom at the sight of a bust far more voluminous than those of the other three.
"You have such beautiful hair, I'm so envious," Mii said as she washed Elsa's hair.
Elsa, meanwhile, was busy thinking useless thoughts about wanting to be given just a little bit of that chest volume.
"Phew—"
With a somewhat old-man-like gesture, Saki soaked in the tub.
Mii had also removed her bathing gown and was soaking with them. She was bathing with them at the request of Elsa and the others.
"Everyone has such beautiful skin. I'm so envious."
Mii said she was envious once again. Her own skin was the color of light coffee milk.
"Your skin is also very fine-textured and lovely, Mii-san," Elsa told her.
In fact, aside from the color, Mii's skin was what one would call mochi-like—supple and plump.
"Oh, really? But still, Elsa-sama... you're so lovely... so fair-skinned, with blonde hair."
"Hya!"
Her shoulder had only been poked lightly, but Elsa let out a strange sound.
"A-Ah, I'm sorry, Elsa-sama!"
Mii bowed her head so low that it caused a splash. Her head was momentarily submerged in the hot water.
"D-Don't worry about it."
Elsa hurriedly pulled Mii back up. Perhaps because she was being held by Elsa, or perhaps because of the hot water, Mii's face was flushed a deep red.