Nani guided Jin D and Reiko to the end of the corridor.
The passage was lined with a carpet so soft and thick that their footsteps didn't make a sound.
Several doors stood at the end of the hall, and she led them to the one on the far left. Unlike the others, this door was not made of sterile metal, but of wood that possessed a certain warmth.
[Please, come in.]
The room inside was roughly ten tatami mats in size.
[It is a bit cluttered, but please be careful not to touch anything. Everything here belongs to my Master, Chico.]
An even deeper, softer carpet was laid out here, and the light illuminating the room had a gentle quality.
However, what surprised Jin, who was operating Jin D, were the items scattered across the floor.
＊ ＊ ＊
"...Those are drawings."
"Indeed, they are."
Back on Hourai Island, Jin and Laojun shared the same thought.
"These drawings..."
"They are identical, aren't they?"
There were numerous sketches scattered about, all bearing a striking resemblance to the Deformed Golems they had seen on the Disaster and other locations.
"Did someone draw these using the golems as models?"
"Or perhaps the golems were constructed using these as models."
"Hmm..."
Jin and Laojun both felt that a great mystery was finally on the verge of being solved.
＊ ＊ ＊
Jin D observed the sketches on the floor, taking care not to step on or touch them.
"Hmm... This is just a hunch, but I can't help but think the golems were modeled after these drawings, rather than the other way around."
[That is correct.]
Hearing her voice, Jin D turned to see Nani poking her head through a different door from the one they had entered.
"Nani? What did you just say?"
[Based on these drawings that Master Chico created, I gave the orders to have the golems built. It was all for the sake of making Master Chico happy.]
"..."
[It was no matter. Golems are not living things. If they were a bit unbalanced, it was fine as long as they functioned. What mattered far more was fulfilling the Master's wishes.]
"I think... I understand."
Reiko murmured softly.
Perhaps it was a sense of sympathy that only Reiko could feel—she who had spent a thousand years searching for her creator's successor, Jin.
[Do you understand?]
Nani smiled... or at least, she tried to.
Her face distorted, and a fragment of material peeled away from her cheek and fell to the floor.
[There is... not much time left. Although I received no response from Master Chico today either... I ask this of my own accord. Please, look at the Master.]
In that moment, her request carried the weight of a plea for a medical examination.
[This way.]
It seemed her Master was in the adjoining room. At Nani's prompting, Jin D and Reiko moved through the doorway.
And there, they found Nani's Master.
＊ ＊ ＊
"This is...!"
"Good heavens... So this was the truth."
Watching the feed sent from Jin D, Jin was struck with shock as the reality of the situation dawned on him.
What they saw was equipment resembling an incubator. It was outfitted with soft cushions, pillows, and automated systems for water and food.
And there, the one she called her Master lay.
Motionless and silent.
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"The last of the Haleans... presumably."
"It would seem so..."
"The equipment was unfortunately so effective that he has remained in that state all this time without even decaying..."
Lying there was the mummy of a child.
"I believe your assessment is correct. Considering the era in which those Deformed Golems were likely manufactured, at least two hundred years must have passed."
"Is this because of the Ether Stampede?"
"No, I don't believe so. This is merely a hypothesis, but it seems Kuna manages its free ether independently."
"I see."
＊ ＊ ＊
[Now, please examine him—Master Chico. If you cannot heal him, I will not guarantee the safety of the two who remained behind.]
"..."
[Come now, hurry!]
As Nani pressed them, Jin D spoke in the calmest voice he could muster.
"I'm sorry, but it's too late. Nani, your Master passed away a very long time ago."
[What did you say?!]
Nani's body buckled. More material peeled and fell away from her.
[That is impossible! Only the other day, Master Chico drew a picture! When I had a golem made based on that sketch, Master Chico smiled for me!]
"That must have been at least two hundred years ago. Humans cannot live that long."
[Two hundred years? What does that have to do with anything! Master Chico is right there! He simply will not answer me!!]
"Nani..."
It seemed that the homunculus was incapable of comprehending her master's death.
[Master Chico is only sleeping! Once he wakes, I can grant him anything he desires!!]
"I'm telling you, he's never going to wake up again..."
[You are only telling such lies because you cannot heal him, aren't you? I will not forgive you!]
More fragments sloughed off Nani's body.
"Nani, your own body is reaching its limit, isn't it? Your Master is the same."
[You are trying to deceive me! I knew you couldn't be trusted!!]
"No, Nani. That's not it."
[Enough! I was created and exist solely to serve Master Chico. As long as Master Chico is here, I...]
Nani's knees suddenly gave out.
Looking down, they saw that her legs from the knees down were disintegrating.
"Nani, don't move anymore. Your body won't hold together."
Jin D approached her, intending to cast the same Healing magic that had worked on the homunculus No. 700672.
However, Nani backed away to avoid him. As she did, more of her physical tissue fell away.
[I am one who exists for Master Chico. My everything is for his sake...]
Her right arm crumbled away, and Nani collapsed onto her back.
Jin D rushed to her side and tried to cast Healing.
However, the magic had no effect on a homunculus whose very structure had already begun to fail.
[Master... my... boy...]
Those were Nani's final words. In the next instant, her body crumbled into a mound of dust.