January 30th.
At the appointed time, Reinhard went to meet with the Chief of Mitsuho, Hiro Mutu, in his official capacity as a diplomat.
"I have been expecting you."
Hiro Mutu opened the door himself to welcome Reinhard.
"We have decided to accept all the proposals put forth by Her Majesty the Empress of the Shouro Empire."
"Oh, that is wonderful news."
"In connection with this, I have one request for Jin-sama."
"What might that be?"
In this formal setting, Jin was being treated as a member of the diplomatic suite.
"I would like to receive a commitment from Jin-sama, in his capacity as the Magi Craft Meister, that this 'World Conference' is truly intended to seek peace for the entire world."
"Of course. That is my own wish as well."
Jin immediately affirmed Hiro Mutu's request.
"Thank you very much."
Thus, the first step was taken toward building a lasting cooperative relationship between Mitsuho—once dismissed as a 'foreign tribe'—and the Eastern Countries.
＊ ＊ ＊
"I say, Jin, that was a resounding success!"
At noon that same day, Konron 3 departed from Miyako.
"But your popularity is truly something else, Jin."
Even though Jin felt he hadn't done much of anything this time, the send-off had been even more grand than his previous visit.
"I enjoyed it, though."
Reinhard closed his eyes, lost in thought.
"This is the best part of being a diplomat."
Jin watched him, thinking that Reinhard—who had once traveled all the way to the Kingdom of Elias and back—was surely reminiscing about those days.
"Jin-nii, Rai-nii. We'll be crossing over the Sahara soon."
Elsa's voice called out to them. Flying at ultra-high speed, Konron 3 had returned to the airspace of the Shouro Empire in just over an hour.
As they crossed the border, they reduced their speed to less than half.
In the end, it took about two hours from the time they left the town of Miyako for Jin and the others to return to Loizart.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Reinhard, well done."
After receiving the reply from Hiro Mutu and confirming its contents, the Empress was in high spirits.
"Jin-kun and Elsa, thank you for your hard work as well."
The Empress gave them a soft, gentle smile. It seemed her public persona was finished for the day.
"So, did anything interesting happen?"
It was 5:00 PM, the time when her administrative duties ended.
"Why don't we have a meal together? You can tell me all about your trip while we eat."
Jin, Elsa, Reinhard, Reiko, and Edgar moved to a reception room in the Imperial Palace along with the Empress.
"Influenced by you, Jin-kun, the menu here has expanded quite a bit."
The Empress looked somewhat pleased with the spread. However...
"But you see... the taste still can't compare to what I've eaten at your place. And besides..."
"Besides? Is something wrong?"
"...It’s cold."
"...Ah."
Since these were meals served to the Empress of a nation, poison testing was an absolute necessity. By the time the food finally reached her table, it was only natural that it had gone cold.
To make matters worse, the dishes served were grilled fish and tempura. Both were the types of food whose quality plummeted once they lost their heat.
"...At least a 'He—' no, 'Electromagnetic Wave Heating (Microwave).'"
Thinking it would be better to heat the entire dish from the inside rather than just warming the surface, Jin used his original Craft Magic, 'Electromagnetic Wave Heating (Microwave).'
It was a spell that warmed the target using electromagnetic waves, much like a microwave oven. He used it specifically because the food was served on ceramic plates rather than silver ones.
"...Oh, it's warm."
"Is that a little better, Your Majesty?"
Reheated grilled fish tended to become tough, but it was still better than eating it cold. The same applied to the tempura. It was fundamentally unavoidable for the flavor of reheated food to decline slightly.
(Hmm, I wish I could do something about this.)
Jin pondered the problem as he ate a piece of the reheated tempura. Eventually, he reached a conclusion.
"An insulation barrier!"
"Eh?"
"W-What was that?"
"...Did you think of something?"
Reinhard and the Empress were startled by Jin's sudden outburst after his period of silence, but Elsa remained perfectly calm. She knew that when Jin went quiet, it was because he was deep in thought, and he had a habit of suddenly 'waking up' when he found an answer.
"Yeah....Let's see, since the magi-sequence of that control flow is like this, if I take this magi-formula and that magi-formula over there and combine them like this... yeah, it looks possible."
This time, everyone waited patiently for Jin to explain himself.
"Well, what I just thought of is an 'insulation barrier.' By minimizing conduction, convection, and radiation except during the poison testing, it will keep the food from cooling down as quickly. At the same time, it should be able to keep cold things from becoming lukewarm."
"I don't quite understand the details, but that sounds wonderful, Jin-kun! Please, you must make it for me!"
The Empress practically jumped at Jin's proposal.
"As you wish."
Jin accepted the task immediately.
"Then, I will come to report to you as soon as it's completed."
"I'm counting on you."
At 7:00 PM, Jin and the others left the Imperial Palace. Reinhard remained behind to stay overnight, as he still had the task of providing a detailed official report.
With a quick flight, Konron 3 landed on the roof of the mansion.
"Ah, we're home."
"Mm."
Hourai Island, Kunlun Island, Kaina Village, and this mansion in Loizart. The time Jin spent with Elsa was overwhelmingly concentrated here and on Hourai Island. To them, this was a 'home' where they could truly relax.
"Father, Elsa-sama, why don't you take a bath?"
And anytime, anywhere, Reiko remained Jin's devoted primary servant.
"Good idea. I'd like to use the bath at home for the first time in a while."
"Mm."
"I shall wash your back for you."
"I'll leave it to you, then."
The frantic pace of the past few days had finally reached a stopping point. Jin slowly soaked away the fatigue of his journey in the familiar comfort of his home.