Silence reigned inside the automobile as it sped northward. No one seemed willing to speak first.
"So, in the end, everything the Magus did was in vain..."
Jin finally broke the silence, his voice heavy and somber.
Elsa and Saki, who knew that Jin hailed from the same world as the Magus, Shuuki Tsetse, could easily guess what he was feeling. He had just witnessed a stark example of how a person’s efforts to improve the world could backfire and lead to its ruin.
"But Jin, even if this place—New El—has fallen into decadence, the Magus is still revered in Fusou and Mitsuho, isn't he?"
Goose spoke up, trying to console the dejected Jin. "Maybe it was just Battalf that happened to go to ruin."
His words seemed to lift Jin’s spirits, if only slightly.
"Yeah... you might be right."
"Father, I actually brought this with me."
"Hmm?"
Reiko held out a magi-crystal. Or rather...
"A control core?"
"Yes. It belonged to one of the golems that shattered when I struck it. I thought it might reveal something."
"Oh, well done. Let’s take a look....Decompile."
Jin used his craft magic to read the information stored within the core. Data formatted in Magi Language expanded before their eyes.
"This is... So that was another reason..."
The contents left both Jin and Elsa speechless.
"Hanna-chan, don't look."
Elsa turned beet-red and covered Hanna's eyes. Even though Hanna couldn't actually read Magi Language yet, Elsa took no chances.
"Jin, what did you find out?" Goose asked, unable to read the language himself. Saki looked equally curious.
"Well, you see..."
Jin began to speak in a low voice. Meanwhile, Elsa kept talking to Hanna to keep the girl distracted.
"To put it simply, the birthrate plummeted because people began performing 'acts' with automata instead of other humans."
Jin felt the need to add a defense for Shuuki’s honor. "Though, it seems that those functions were added by engineers of later generations, not the Magus himself."
"Good heavens... that is truly appalling," Saki muttered.
"I’ll say," Goose added.
Both of them looked utterly stunned. It went without saying that everyone except Hanna was thinking the same thing: it was quite a stretch to blame that particular outcome on the Magus. It was a tragic example of the bizarre directions humanity could take when cursed with too much idle time.
"Also... I’m seeing an incredibly abnormal Magilink value here."
It was more than ten times that of Reiko, Luna, or Soleil.
"It was likely a measure meant to force them to do exactly what Kroden wanted, but this value is far too high..."
"Father, even if these golems were autonomous, they would never have been able to make rational judgments with a link like this," Reiko observed.
"Which is why they simply reflected Kroden’s madness in their actions."
Once the party had more or less processed these facts, Elsa asked about their next steps.
"Jin-nii, what should we do now?"
For the moment, they were still trundling north at a slow pace of about ten kilometers per hour.
"Let’s see... we are short on time..."
"Jin, how about we try visiting just one more place?" Saki suggested.
Jin nodded. "Yeah, let's do that."
The question then became which town to visit. They could have picked a nearby town for convenience, but the place Jin truly wanted to see was clear.
"It has to be Naminte."
It was the birthplace of Adriana Tierra, the woman who had become Shuuki Tsetse’s wife. It was also the home of the Tierra Clan, the people who referred to themselves as "visitors."
"Yes, I agree. I’m curious about it too," Saki said.
"Mm. I think that's for the best," Elsa added.
"I’m happy to go wherever you want to go, Onii-chan!" Hanna chimed in.
"It seems like the most logical choice. I have no objections," Goose finished.
With everyone in agreement on Naminte, the automobile accelerated to fifteen kilometers per hour.
"Jin, you and Reiko-chan really are something! You truly are the best in the world. I can see why everyone says you're the Magi Craft Meister, the one with the greatest magi-engineering skills on the planet!"
Goose voiced his admiration for the two of them. Then, he looked out the window with a distant gaze. "I suppose the Shouro Empire must be very advanced in magi-engineering as well..."
He was likely thinking of his father’s homeland.
"Actually, that's not necessarily true," Jin replied.
"Hmm? Why is that?"
Jin proceeded to give him a brief overview of the Great Magic War and the Ether Stampede.
"I’ve heard of the Great Magic War from my father," Goose said. "But the Ether Stampede didn't seem to have much of an effect in Fusou."
Perhaps because the region naturally had a high concentration of free ether, their Magi Machines and magic tools never became completely useless. However, it seemed some devices had malfunctioned or become sluggish.
"So there was an impact even there," Jin murmured.
Goose shared another of his father's sentiments. "My father used to say it: relying too much on a single thing makes the eventual backlash terrifying."
Those words echoed the feelings of everyone in the car.
(Come to think of it...)
Jin remembered his time working in modern Japan. There was a period when a major client defaulted on their payments, nearly toppling the company’s management. At the time, some of the managers had argued that "a structure with only one pillar will fall in an emergency. They don't all have to be the same size, but you need at least three to be safe."
(Easier said than done, of course...)
A medium-sized company couldn't simply conjure up multiple major clients. But the principle remained.
(Relying solely on magic is dangerous.)
Just then, Hanna’s voice broke his train of thought.
"Oh, look, Onii-chan! Snow!"
As they traveled further north, patches of lingering snow began to appear. Hanna’s excitement reminded Jin of Kaina Village.
(That’s a village where people can survive even without magic...)
While Jin had installed several Magi Machines and magic tools there, he suspected that even if they all stopped working, the village wouldn't fall into chaos.
(I really do need to establish science as a second fundamental pillar for this world.)
Watching Hanna's innocent face as she marveled at the window, Jin turned that thought over in his mind.
As the party continued north, they passed through towns named Naigo, Tosemo, and Mayan, but all of them lay in ruins. The town of Graciho, where they arrived that night, was no different.
"Next is Daragoma, and then Naminte," Goose muttered, checking the map in his hand—a copy of the one found in Shuuki Tsetse’s records.
"The naming conventions are completely different from Fusou or Mitsuho."
In those two nations, many place names were clearly derived from Japanese locations, but there were none to be found here in New El. Even the name of the country itself was different.
(Perhaps this country was founded by a specific faction of the Origin.)
Jin suspected he would find the answer once they saw the dome-shaped building said to be in Naminte.
"We should arrive by tomorrow around noon," he whispered to himself, looking up at the sky where bright stars peeked through thin clouds.
April 26th.
The group continued their northward journey, passing the abandoned town of Daragoma. Before noon, the silhouette of what appeared to be Naminte came into view.
"Is that it?" Jin asked, shielding his eyes from the sun.
Goose squinted toward the horizon in a similar fashion. "It seems to be surrounded by walls. I wonder if it's the same as it was in Shuuki Tsetse's day."
"The Tierra family home is supposed to be around the outskirts of the town, right?" Elsa asked.
The town drew closer as they spoke.
"It doesn't look particularly ancient," Saki noted.
"I wonder if anyone still lives there?"
Suddenly, the automobile came to a halt.
"Father, there is a barrier here as well," Reiko reported. "It is stronger than the one in Battalf, and the area it covers is much larger. How should we proceed?"
"Let's look for the Tierra house before we worry about the town. Let's go around it."
"Understood."
The automobile began to circle the outside of the barrier, moving to the left.
"Is it just me, or is the wall taller than reported?" Jin asked.
Shuuki’s journal had described it as being about three meters high, but looking at it now, it seemed closer to five.
"It's been over a thousand years," Elsa said. "It wouldn't be strange if they'd added to it over time."
"Fair point."
After a few minutes of driving, a gray dome appeared ahead of them.
"That must be it."
"Now then... I wonder what’s waiting for us."
Jin felt a rare surge of excitement building within him as they approached their goal.