"Now then, Jin, why don't you tell us everything?"
At 9:00 PM, as the celebration party wound down, Reinhard pressed Jin for answers.
"I hear something’s going on? Is that right?"
Every member of the Jin Family was staring at him. Jin realized he couldn't keep them in the dark any longer and began to explain.
"There have been spatial vibrations in the far reaches of space. And well..."
Because the full truth remained elusive, Jin had to weave his own speculations into the account.
"...And that’s the situation."
It was perhaps unavoidable that his audience struggled to grasp the full gravity of the matter.
"Hmm, I don't quite get it, but basically, we're on high alert because something might happen?" Marcia asked, tilting her head.
"Well, to put it simply, yes. But if it does happen, it’ll be a disaster, which is why we’re investigating and preparing countermeasures."
Jin then explained the nature of those countermeasures.
"...Hmm. That's something only you could pull off, Jin..." Reinhard murmured after the explanation. His words likely reflected the feelings of everyone in the room.
"Don't say that. Does anyone have any thoughts that might be helpful?"
"Hmm..."
At Jin's prompting, everyone sank into serious thought. Amidst the silence, Goose spoke up.
"Hey Jin, No. 700672 said that the matter existing there was annihilated, right?"
"Eh? Yeah, that's right. He said the space monitor vanished in an instant, without a trace."
"...Don't you think it sounds like being 'spirited away'?"
"What?"
Goose had spent significant time researching the magus Shuuki Tsetse. He had also been present during the trip to Fusou Island and had accompanied Jin to the ruins associated with the magus and Adriana. He was effectively an authority on the subject.
And it was this Goose who had used the term "spirited away."
"Spirited away, huh... I certainly can't deny the possibility."
In such legends, it was generally presumed that the person or object simply vanished from their original world.
"Furthermore, I don't think it's an 'exchange,'" Goose added.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean it's one-way. Even in the records of Shuuki Tsetse, there was no mention of something else disappearing from Adriana Tierra's laboratory to take his place."
"I see..."
"Hehe, that's a sharp observation."
"Truly. It's certainly similar in that regard."
Everyone, Jin included, was impressed by Goose’s insight.
"Thank you....I’m not well-versed in magi-craft, but among the technologies Jin uses, there are Warp Gates, right? Those are also one-way when they operate, aren't they?"
"That's true."
While the system allowed for two-way travel, it couldn't happen simultaneously. A switch—whether automatic or manual—was required.
"Don't you think being 'spirited away' is a bit like that?"
With this, Goose’s logic became clear.
"I see..."
Jin let his sci-fi imagination run wild.
What if, when two different worlds came into contact, matter moved from the one with higher spatial potential to the one with lower potential? If that were the case, it would explain why the movement was a one-way trip rather than an exchange. If someone asked what "spatial potential" actually was, he wouldn't be able to define it yet, but the theory held weight.
Such contact would be instantaneous and highly localized. That was why, in the past, it had been limited to a single person.
The train of thought was broken by Goose's next words.
"However, this might be on a much larger scale than a simple 'spirited away' event."
"What?"
"I don't know of any historical examples, but it wouldn't be out of the question for such a phenomenon to happen on a scale larger than just one person, right?"
Goose’s imagination was vast. And Jin found himself thinking of a similar phenomenon from his own world.
"The Bermuda Triangle..."
It was a triangular area of the ocean on Earth connecting the tip of the Florida peninsula, Puerto Rico, and the Bermuda Islands. Many speculations existed because ships and aircraft had gone missing there without leaving so much as a scrap of wreckage.
Jin wondered if that place might also be a large-scale spirited away area. And what if an even larger spirited away area was about to manifest here?
Jin shared these thoughts with the group.
"Hmm, I can't rule it out," Goose said, being the first to validate Jin's theory.
"If that’s the case, what will happen?" Beena asked, her face tight with anxiety.
"Hypothetically, if it happened on Ars, there’s a chance an entire town could just disappear."
"No... that’s terrifying."
Beena turned pale and clung to Louis. Everyone else felt the same cold dread.
"In the worst-case scenario, I think we'll be safe if we board the Adriana and evacuate to space," Jin offered as comfort, but the unease in the room didn't lift.
"Once again, we have no choice but to rely on you, Jin," Reinhard muttered, sounding frustrated with his own helplessness.
"That's right. I wish I could do something to help too," Milowina, who lived on the Moon, added with a look of disappointment.
"Thank you, everyone. It makes me happy just to hear you say that."
Jin fully intended to do everything in his power to protect Ars, his second home.
"At any rate, I want to prioritize two things: completing the space isolation barrier and predicting where a spirited away area might manifest. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know."
"Hmm..."
However, a breakthrough wasn't likely to emerge on the spot, and the group fell into a contemplative silence.
Then...
"Ji—Jin-sama, should we try asking Onogoro Island as well?"
Marikka, the Governor of Onogoro Island, spoke up.
"Ah, I hadn't thought of that."
The Progenitors hadn't left many records behind, but their supervising brain might have something stored in its memory banks.
"I’ll check on that later. Marikka, I’ll need your help."
"O-Of course!"
"...Is there anything else? We have to try everything we can."
This time, Hanna spoke up.
"Hey Onii-chan, do we really know nothing about the world that’s touching ours?"
"Yeah, that’s right. It’s completely one-way."
"I see... In that case, it’s a different world from the one Shuuki Tsetse-san or Onii-chan came from, right?"
"I suppose so."
If it were contact with modern Japan, things from Earth would be coming to Ars. Since the opposite was happening, the destination must be different.
"I wonder what kind of world it is. Can't we observe it at the moment it connects?" Hanna pressed.
Jin replied with a regretful sigh. "From what No. 700672 said, it doesn't seem possible."
Assuming the phenomenon was like teleportation via a Warp Gate, the view during transit would likely be pitch black. It was only natural that nothing could be seen.
Hanna seemed to accept this explanation. "Hmm, I see... It’s a problem, not knowing anything about the other side."
Silence settled over the room once more. The situation was grave, and clearly not something that could be solved in a single night.