"Take care now."
On the morning of April 19th, Jin and his party departed from the village of Urun.
Hanna felt a lingering sense of disappointment; she hadn't been able to meet Separei's husband. Their destination for the day was the town of Nade.
"Nade is my hometown," Goose noted. "Though neither of my parents are with us anymore."
"...So Mark-san traveled that far," Saki mused, her voice low and reflective.
"I heard he was discovered and rescued by a group of researchers scouting the Harihari Desert," Goose replied. "From there, he went with them to the town of Nade... and well, things happened, and he eventually settled down with my mother, or so I'm told."
Few people enjoyed recounting the romantic history of their parents to others. Saki seemed to understand this and didn't press him further.
After about an hour and a half, they reached the village of Kaido, followed an hour later by the village of Romune.
"I think you'll find something rather interesting here," Goose whispered suggestively to Jin. "An acquaintance of mine looks after it."
Intrigued, Jin decided to take a detour into Romune.
When he parked the automobile in the plaza at the village entrance, the local residents—starting with the children—came swarming out in a curious throng. As always, Reiko remained invisible, staying close to Jin's side to provide silent protection.
"Hello there! These folks are travelers from the eastern lands," Goose called out, introducing the group to the villagers in the local dialect.
Given Jin and his companions’ different skin tones, the villagers could tell at a glance that they were foreigners.
"Well now, if it ain't Goose."
"Hey there, Booker. I came to see you."
Goose's friend, Booker, had short, dark brown hair and brown eyes. His build was a size sturdier than Jin's.
"Hmm? Bringin' foreign guests with ya? Suppose that means you're here for the 'ancient document,' eh?"
"That's right. Would you be willing to let us see it?"
"Anyone who looks like they might actually be able to read the thing is welcome," Booker said with a shrug.
Goose looked back at Jin and spoke in his standard, non-accented voice. "Jin, he says he'll show it to us."
Just then, another man of middle age approached.
"Are these our guests? I am Rei, the village chief."
"Ah, Father, Goose has brought some guests from across the sea," Booker explained.
As the son of the village chief, it made sense that Booker was entrusted with the care of valuable items.
"I see. Welcome to Romune," Rei said, greeting them in refined, standard speech.
"My name is Jin Nidou. These are my companions: Elsa, Saki, and Hanna."
Jin gave a brief introduction. Reiko remained hidden, and Aaru was still inside the vehicle. When Jin introduced only Edgar as an automata responsible for driving, the village chief’s eyes widened.
"What an incredible thing. There aren't even automata of this caliber in Dahhate."
Goose leaned in and whispered to Jin that Dahhate was the capital of Fusou Island.
"Furthermore, that horseless carriage of yours is magnificent. Did you build it yourself, Master Jin?"
The village chief had referred to the automobile as a "horseless carriage." Jin wondered briefly if the man had seen something similar before, but he pushed the thought aside for later. For now, he was focused on the document.
"It is this."
Rei produced a wooden box made of a material resembling paulownia. Booker stepped forward to open it with practiced care.
"...Oh...!"
Jin's eyes went wide.
It was, without a doubt, a book. However, it was in a state of severe decay, the paper brittle and crumbling. Though Jin called it a book, it was torn halfway through; it possessed a front cover, but the back was gone.
"History... of... Technology?"
The title was written on the cover in kanji.
"Eh?"
"Master Jin, you can read this?" Booker and Rei stared at Jin, their faces masked with shock.
"...Yes." Jin stared back at the volume intently. "Um, may I hold it? I'll handle it very carefully."
"A-Ah, i-if you can truly read it, then p-please, go ahead."
"Thank you."
Ideally, he should have used gloves, but since he had none, Jin wrapped a handkerchief around his hand to avoid touching the paper directly.
"It definitely says 'History of Technology.'"
The typeface felt slightly archaic. It wasn't a modern hardcover. When he opened the front cover, he found a table of contents. Though stained with mud-like brown grime and partially torn, he could make out an "Introduction" and a "Chapter 1: The Birth of Humanity and Tech—" The rest of the word was lost to a tear.
The text was written horizontally. It looked like a technical reference book or perhaps a textbook.
"Is this a university textbook...?"
As a high school graduate, Jin couldn't be certain. He flipped through a few more pages and found diagrams of early models of lathes and drill presses. The content was so detailed that Jin felt he could probably replicate those machine tools just by following the manual.
"It's a shame the latter half is missing," Jin lamented. He didn't know exactly how many pages had been lost, but he found himself wishing he could have read the entire thing.
"...Jin, you can actually read these characters? Script that no one has been able to decipher for ages?"
Kanji and hiragana—it was Japanese. Without prior knowledge, it would be virtually impossible for any linguist or cryptographer in this world to decipher it.
"Yes, I can read it. This is a portion of an academic book. It seems to be a record of the history and development of technology."
Goose nodded at Jin's explanation, falling into deep thought. Meanwhile, Booker and Rei were practically dancing with joy.
"Master Jin, you can read the script of the magus!"
"I can." At this point, Jin saw no reason to hide the fact.
"...Could it be that you are from the same homeland as the magus?"
"I don't know for certain. But the possibility is there." Since he had no way to prove his origins, he couldn't say for sure, but Jin suspected they were indeed from the same place.
"Legend says the magus came from a 'land in the east,' the 'Far East,' an 'island country.' Do you understand what those mean?"
"...For the most part."
"Ooooh...!" Rei was trembling with excitement. "Preserving the relics of the magus for over a thousand years... it was all worth it!"
This ancient document—no, this History of Technology—was apparently a legacy left behind by the magus.
"Nobody could make heads or tails of what was written in there," Booker added, picking up where his father left off. "Please, tell us what it says!"
The two men immediately performed a dogeza, bowing low to the ground to beg Jin. He wondered briefly if this specific custom had also been introduced by the magus, but his immediate concern was getting them to stop.
"Please, stand up!"
In the end, the party didn't make it to the town of Nade that day. Instead, they stayed overnight at the village chief's home, where Jin spent the hours explaining the contents of the History of Technology.
Still, Jin was able to examine every remaining page, and Hanna was more than happy to look through them with him, so he considered the detour a success. Furthermore, Reiko had memorized every word and transmitted the data to Laojun, making the encounter incredibly productive.
The book had already been treated with preservation magic, but as a final gesture, Jin reapplied a fresh layer of Toughening before the precious volume was returned to its storage box.