"Everyone, it’s cleared up!"
Jin and the others were in the middle of discussing the Kunlun brand when Mine, who happened to glance out the window, called out to the group.
"Oh!"
"Finally, some sun."
At her call, everyone looked outside. The rain had indeed stopped, revealing patches of blue sky and bright sunlight pouring down onto the deck.
"Perfect timing," Jin remarked. The others nodded in agreement.
"Well, this seems like a good place to stop. Let's have lunch. We should be reaching the islands soon anyway."
"Heh, count me in," Saki agreed immediately, with the others chiming in a moment later.
Lunch consisted of sandwiches, but the group was so restless with anticipation that they wolfed them down in record time. As soon as they finished, they began filtering out onto the deck.
"Oh, I see it! There it is!"
A small silhouette of an island had appeared on the horizon. As they watched, the shape grew steadily larger.
Suddenly, Laojun’s voice echoed through the ship’s speakers.
"Everyone, we have received word from the advance party. Please report to the bridge."
"Oh, let's go."
"Right."
The group hurried toward the bridge.
"I’m first!"
The nimble Hanna reached the bridge at the head of the pack, followed closely by Marcia, then Lishia and Goose. Martha brought up the rear, and once everyone was gathered, Laojun began the briefing.
"I shall now begin the explanation."
A map was projected onto a large magi-screen, showing a cluster of six islands of various sizes.
"It appears these six islands form a single group. How would you like to name them, My Lord?"
"Hmm... since there are six, how about the Pleiades Archipelago?"
The Pleiades was a star cluster known in Japan as Subaru. In Greek mythology, they represented seven sisters, yet only six bright stars are clearly visible to the naked eye. In ancient Japan, they were often referred to as Mutsuraboshi—the Six Linked Stars.
Jin had always been surprisingly fond of such lore.
"Heh, mythology from your homeland? You should have shared stories like that sooner, Jin-kun!" Vivienne chirped, her interest clearly piqued by the legends of another world.
After promising Vivienne he would share more later, Jin proceeded to name the individual islands of the Pleiades Archipelago.
"Let’s see... Electra Island, Taygeta Island, Atlas Island, Merope Island, Maia Island, and Alcyone Island."
"Those are lovely names," Lishia said.
"Indeed. I find myself quite intrigued by your homeland, Jin," Goose added.
"I actually think your naming sense was quite tasteful for once, Jin-nii," Elsa teased.
"That's harsh."
Jin protested with a wry smile, but inwardly, he let out a sigh of relief.
(I’m glad I didn't just go with 'Firsty Island, Secondy Island, Thirdy Island' and call it a day...)
"To continue with the report," Laojun said, "the preliminary survey of Electra Island, the easternmost of the Pleiades Archipelago, has been completed."
The investigation had been carried out by the advance units, including the Mermaid unit, the Stream unit, and the Raptor unit.
"The vegetation is largely identical to the islands in the southern Kingdom of Elias. It is currently unknown if there are any unique endemic species."
"The southern islands... you mean like Hamill Island or Aof Island? I’ve been to Hamill Island before," Marcia noted.
Rodrigo added a word of caution. "There’s a tree there that produces a black sap. If you touch it carelessly, you'll get a terrible rash, so be careful."
"Eh...?" Saki frowned. "Could that be the lacquer tree you mentioned before?"
"It might be," Jin replied. "If we find any, we’ll have the golems collect samples."
"Heh, that would be much safer," Saki said, sounding relieved.
Exploring an unknown island brought these kinds of interesting discoveries.
"Perhaps we might even find rare ores!" Toa said, his face beaming with excitement.
"My Lord, may I finish the report?"
"Ah, right. Sorry, Laojun. Go ahead."
Laojun resumed the briefing, which had been momentarily derailed by the group's enthusiasm.
"Thank you. As for the environment... the free ether is somewhat sparse. It is about a ten percent reduction compared to the area around Port Rock Town. Likely because of this, there are no magical beasts."
Whether a ten percent decrease felt like a lot depended on the perspective; if one replaced free ether with oxygen concentration, it was roughly equivalent to the physical burden of taking a tourist ropeway to the top of a high mountain.
"No magical beasts? That’s good news," Jin said.
"Yes. Even the largest of the normal animals are only about a meter long. There are also numerous birds and small insects."
"Insects... are there any blood-suckers?" Jin asked. In the south, the first things that came to mind regarding insect-borne illnesses were malaria and dengue fever.
"Yes. We have identified insects similar to mosquitoes, so countermeasures will be necessary."
"I figured as much..."
To handle this, Jin had prepared a weak barrier based on the Sterilization Barrier he had previously designed for Milowina. It was a physical barrier capable of repelling insects and small animals. Because it also worked against pathogens, it would protect them from unknown tropical fevers as well.
"The barrier might feel a bit strange at first, though..." Jin explained. Since it was a physical barrier strong enough to block small animals, it had a tactile presence. "Think of it like the sensation of wearing a thin pair of gloves."
Jin explained that while their sense of touch would remain, it would feel as though they were wearing a single layer of thin fabric.
"Heh, if that’s all it takes to keep us safe from diseases and pests, I’ll take it any day," Saki said.
"Indeed! I couldn't agree more."
"Jin-kun, your ingenuity never ceases to amaze me," Toa added.
Saki, Goose, and Toa—the three most likely to benefit from the protection—were full of praise.
"It’s not a big deal. I just need to perform a firmware upgrade on the Fellowship Bracelets."
The bracelets had more than enough processing capacity and memory to handle the additional functions.
As the preparations for landing on the unknown island continued, the Hourai Island Honeymoon Fleet drew ever closer to the shore.
"Hoho, those are some rare trees indeed," Goose murmured, his naturalist’s curiosity getting the better of him.
"Heh, I wonder what the soil is like," Saki added, her mind already on potential alchemical resources.
The Hourai Island Honeymoon Fleet was only minutes away from docking.