On November 9th, Hourai Island Time, Jin’s Doppel was busy performing maintenance on new facilities on Onogoro Island.
《Splendid work, Lord of Kunlun.》
Even Helente, who was watching over him under the official pretext of being his monitor, couldn't hide her admiration.
However, Jin had not yet been granted access to the ether transporter.
《That is an advanced-level facility, after all.》
For now, he was entrusted only with mid-level facilities. Among these were five Flying Discs.
《These Flying Discs... well, I am sure you already understand. They are intended for simple missions.》
Jin took this opportunity to ask a question that had been on his mind.
"By the way, what is the general consensus here regarding the long-period planet... Modenu?"
《Only that 'someone seems to have handled it.'》
"Is that it?"
《It seems that while we were under Domination, our judgment and values were incredibly vague—riddled with contradictions.》
"I see... Wait, have your memories from that time returned?"
《It's not so much that they returned, but rather that I can now access the memories of Helente’ as well.》
"So that was it."
Jin surmised that the removal of the primary Micro-Magi Machine governing her memory allowed for this integration.
《The situation was quite precarious. The neglect of maintenance here and the complete lack of concern regarding the threat from Modenu were all caused by those Micro-Magi Machines.》
If that was the case, Jin could only conclude that whoever created those machines didn't care if Ars was destroyed—or perhaps they even desired its destruction.
"Just who is the mastermind behind this...?"
He had already dismantled and analyzed a Micro-Magi Machine back on Hourai, but he had failed to extract any such information. The device was nothing more than a terminal unit.
However, there was no doubt that the ultra-high-precision technology used to create it was at a level equal to or greater than his own.
"I won't let them win."
While his Doppel worked on the island, the real Jin remained on Hourai Island, continuing his analysis to see if he could squeeze any more secrets from the Micro-Magi Machine.
"There's a faint reaction from a mental catalyst in this one as well... I wonder if it's meant to act upon the ether, or perhaps..."
Just then, Elsa walked in.
"Jin-nii, how is the research going?"
"Ah, Elsa. There hasn't been much progress. There was nothing particularly special about this Micro-Magi Machine, either. It just uses a trace amount of mental catalyst."
"Does that mean it interacts with the ether?"
"Yeah. Or perhaps it makes Domination easier to establish."
"Ah, that makes sense."
Since mana waves propagate through ether, Jin speculated that by skillfully utilizing a mental catalyst, one could delve "deeper" into a control core.
"If that's the case, is it more dangerous than Master-Slave Rewrite Magic?"
Jin nodded, his brow furrowed in thought.
"Yeah, there's a good chance of it."
"Wh-what are we going to do?"
"I'm trying to figure that out right now."
A simple shield case wasn't enough to put his mind at ease. Jin wanted a much more powerful method of shielding.
"At the very least, I need to apply it to Laojun and Reiko."
Even if all of Hourai Island's forces combined to stop her, Reiko would likely still find a way through. To put it another way, if Reiko were ever compromised, there would be no stopping her.
"Hmm..."
As Jin fell into a deep silence, Elsa spoke up hesitantly.
"U-um, Jin-nii? I'm sorry to interrupt your thinking, but there's something I need to tell you."
"...Eh?"
Jin looked up at Elsa.
"Well, right now, Sion and Marikka-chan are in Kaina Village, and they're researching ether transfer together with Hanna-chan."
"What?"
"Sion and Marikka-chan knew you were worried about it, so they told Hanna-chan."
"..."
"Jin-nii?"
Elsa peered into his face, worried by his silence, only to see Jin wearing a slightly bittersweet smile.
"I'm really grateful. They're reminding me that I'm not alone....I could have consulted Saki about the magi-plastic, too."
Due to his upbringing, Jin had a strong tendency to try to handle everything himself. While he relied on Reiko and Laojun constantly, he viewed them as extensions of himself. A lifetime of being unable to truly lean on others had left a deep mark on his personality.
"...That's right. So, when you're about to forget, we'll be here to remind you."
Elsa stepped closer and gently pulled his head into a warm embrace.
"Thank you, Elsa."
The sound of Elsa's heartbeat against his ear was a soothing reminder that he wasn't alone, and it filled him with a sense of peace.
＊ ＊ ＊
"An eye for an eye, I suppose."
"What does that mean?"
With Elsa sitting beside him, Jin set back to work on refining his countermeasures. The phrase had suddenly surfaced in his mind during the process.
"Well, it's... a saying from my old world."
It was used in many contexts with various meanings, but for Jin, it meant that the only way to counter a mental catalyst was with another mental catalyst.
"In other words..."
"If we add a mental catalyst to the metal itself, wouldn't that increase the shielding effect?"
"...That sounds plausible."
『My Lord, I believe that is an excellent idea.』
Laojun, who had been keeping quiet to avoid interrupting the mood, chimed in with his agreement.
"We still have plenty of the mental catalyst derived from the Gigant Peeder. Let's start the experiments."
"Reiko-chan isn't here, so I'll help you."
"Yeah, I'm counting on you."
And so, Jin and Elsa threw themselves into their research. It was late that night when they finally determined that a formula with a 0.000001 percent weight ratio of catalyst added to mithril was the most effective.
"One in a hundred million, huh?"
"Given the potency of a mental catalyst, that seems about right."
"I suppose so."
Previously, when he had treated Elsa's Mana Overload Syndrome, they had only needed one-millionth of a gram of mental catalyst. Relative to body weight, that was on the order of one in a hundred billion. Considering this was a thousand times that amount... it seemed like a reasonable ratio, Jin thought.
"I'll name it... psi-mithril."
"Let's start by replacing Laojun's shield case with it."
『Thank you, My Lord.』
Since Reiko was currently on Onogoro Island, they couldn't swap hers out immediately.
"Let's prepare it so we can change it the moment she returns."
The dimensions were already on file. Jin used the psi-mithril to fabricate a new shield case for Reiko.
"Jin-nii, I just thought of something good."
"What is it?"
"Well..."
"Ah, I see! That's perfect. Let's get to work on that right away."
Jin and Elsa whispered their new plan to each other, their faces lighting up with shared laughter.