"I’m impressed. To think a clan had been living in seclusion for four hundred years," Reinhard remarked.
"And then to simply perish... It doesn't feel like someone else's problem," Milowina added sympathetically.
"It’s a bit unusual for you, though, Jin. Not seeing things through to the very end," Reinhard said, a hint of curiosity on his face.
"I have my reasons. Between the South Pole Investigation Fleet and the long-period planet, my hands are full."
"I suppose that's true."
"Besides, Lance didn't seem particularly interested in being looked after."
"Is that so?" Reinhard looked as if he was struggling to grasp the idea. "Knowing your skills, Jin, you’d think he would realize how much of a blessing your help would be."
"...Well, he seems to have integrated human knowledge. Perhaps because of that, he's quite prideful."
"I see. Is that possible? For one's personality to be dictated by their knowledge?"
"I wanted to examine him in detail, but I couldn't bring myself to do it."
Had they been direct enemies, it might have been different, but Jin felt that performing an analysis out of mere curiosity would be disrespectful to the automaton's creator.
That sentiment seemed to resonate with Reinhard.
"Yeah, I understand how you feel, Jin."
No craftsman would be happy to have their work dismantled and analyzed without permission. It was as simple as that.
"There wasn't any immediate urgency, either. Since those kinds of frictions are so easy to cause, I didn't want to get involved for now."
"That makes sense."
Reinhard smiled and finished his wine.
"Now then, regarding the long-period planet."
The banquet had wound down, and as everyone settled in to relax over tea, Jin decided it was time for his second report. This information had come from the unmanned probe launched from Uni.
"Laojun, if you would."
『Certainly, My Lord.』
The magi-screen installed on the wall of the great dining hall flickered to life.
Displayed against the pitch-black void of space was the approaching long-period planet. It gradually grew larger on the screen.
"Oh!"
『This footage has been compressed at a ratio of one hour per second.』
The long-period planet loomed closer at a rapid pace.
"...Hmm. How should I put it? It looks all pockmarked," Saki offered, giving her honest impression.
Indeed, the planetary surface was incredibly uneven.
"It likely ended up that way from colliding with cosmic dust floating in space," Jin explained.
He noted that at a staggering speed of hundreds of kilometers per second, even the impact of a grain of sand would deliver a tremendous shock.
"Even so, that’s a desolate-looking surface."
Judging by the clarity of the image, there was no atmosphere. There was no sign of ice, either; it was a truly bleak, barren world. It appeared to be rotating slowly, with craters distributed evenly across its entire surface.
"I doubt there's anything living there."
Since it was clearly a vacuum, it was unlikely that even microbes could survive.
As they spoke, the planet in the footage grew larger and larger. Then, its relative speed began to drop. It seemed the probe was synchronizing its velocity.
『It will enter orbit shortly.』
Laojun provided the status update.
"That's right, this is a recording," Jin and the others reminded themselves.
"How many days ago was this recorded?" Lishia asked.
Laojun answered her immediately.
『This footage was taken two days ago.』
"I see. So it's in orbit now?"
『That appears to be the case.』
The footage now showed the surface of the long-period planet from a satellite orbit.
"It really is covered in craters."
"No signs of life."
"Forget life—there's no air, no water, and no ice."
『I will now deploy the miniature probe.』
The group fell silent as they watched Laojun's presentation.
The scene cut, and the ground rushed up to meet them. After what was presumably a landing, the view changed again to show the horizon.
"It seems to have landed," Jin muttered.
The camera panned horizontally, making a full 360-degree rotation. No matter which direction it faced, the view was the same: a desolate wasteland. Next, the camera tilted downward.
The high ground was a mess of craters and collapsed terrain, while the depressions were filled with loose, clattering rock debris.
However...
"Wait, are those... magi-crystals?" Saki cried out, pointing at the debris filling a valley.
『It is exactly as Saki-san says. Approximately ten percent of that rock debris is comprised of magi-crystals.』
"I knew it!...And those silver-colored rocks over there, wouldn't those be mithril ore?"
『That is also correct.』
As a top-tier alchemist and a mineral enthusiast, Saki's keen eye was second to none in the group.
『Because it is a vacuum, the minerals do not oxidize, allowing them to retain their luster.』
While certain metallic minerals like native silver or native copper normally lose their shine and color through oxidation, they would maintain their original brilliance in a vacuum.
"My, the resources seem quite abundant," Toa remarked.
The fact that he was immediately interested in the raw materials proved that he and his daughter were two of a kind when it came to their alchemical pride.
"However, there isn't a single plant to be seen. I suspect there aren't even any microbes," Goose noted.
Laojun confirmed his deduction.
『Yes. At the very least, there appear to be no known organisms or microorganisms present.』
"I thought as much," Milowina agreed. "It's a world of scorching heat when it approaches the Sun, Celane, and extreme cold when it moves away. Not to mention the constant, violent impacts from cosmic dust. It would be more of a miracle if life did exist on such a planet."
"Milowina-san is right. Look, that flat silver surface over there—isn't that a pool where tin or lead melted and then solidified?"
When the planet neared the sun, the surface temperature likely climbed to several hundred degrees Celsius. This would cause metals with low melting points, such as tin or lead, to liquefy. When the planet moved away from the sun, they would cool and harden again. Being able to confirm these environmental details was a massive step forward.
The presence or absence of life drastically changed the options available to them.
『The landing occurred yesterday. The survey is still ongoing, but we have already confirmed an abundance of rare metals, including mithril and adamantite.』
"It would be wonderful if we could mine and recover them," Stearena said.
To a creative engineer, such a wealth of resources was undeniably attractive.
"The main thing is what its trajectory looks like," Jin said, finally voicing his primary concern.
『At its current rate, its closest approach to Ars will be on October 18th. It is projected to pass by at a distance of two to four million kilometers.』
"Two million kilometers..."
By comparison, the average distance between Earth and the Sun in the Solar System is 150 million kilometers. Lexell's Comet, famous for being the comet that made the closest recorded pass to Earth, reached a distance of 2.19 million kilometers.
Given that this planet's mass was likely far greater than that of a comet, it was improbable that Ars would escape entirely unaffected.
"I wonder what we'll need..."
Jin sank into deep thought.