In the early morning of the day after Elsa moved to Kaina Village, the seventh space vibration occurred.
This time, it lasted for 0.027 seconds—the longest duration recorded so far. Once again, the point of origin was the old relay base located at Lagrange point L4.
The real issue, however, was that a portion of the relay base had vanished.
"Laojun, is that true?"
『Yes, My Lord. I confirmed it with the Peeping Telescope.』
"What exactly vanished?"
『It appears to have been waste material.』
The answer was unexpected. "Waste?"
『Yes. Upon inspecting the waste collection site, I discovered an unnatural void in the middle of a massive heap of refuse. It is approximately three meters in diameter. Based on the surrounding conditions, I presume it was "spirited away."』
While the idea of trash being spirited away was almost bizarre, Jin found no humor in the situation. "It happened inside the base, then?"
『Yes. Since the duration of the event was relatively long, the accuracy in identifying the point of origin has improved. We can say with certainty that it occurred within the relay base.』
"And what about the damage from gravity fluctuations?"
Jin suspected that while the object itself might vanish during such an event, the surrounding area would still suffer from the resulting gravitational stresses.
『Regarding this specific instance, the damage was nonexistent.』
"Nonexistent?"
Jin pondered how to interpret this. It was merely a hypothesis, but he voiced it anyway. "Does a longer duration mean the gravity fluctuation is smaller?"
『Perhaps the act of being "spirited away" itself prevents gravity fluctuations from occurring.』
Certainly, in the tales of being "spirited away" that Jin knew from Earth, he hadn't heard of objects being physically destroyed in the process—assuming the phenomena were the same.
『It would be logical to assume that the energy from the gravity fluctuations is being consumed to tear a hole in space instead,』 Laojun added.
"That makes sense. And perhaps these events are more likely to occur when the duration is longer."
Or perhaps a larger hole is opened, Jin thought.
"Looking at it this way, we've gathered more data than we had at the start, but there's still so much we don't know."
『Indeed....My Lord, I have a proposal. How about dispersing markers in the sectors where these events are likely to occur?』
If they could track a position across dimensions, it might eventually allow for teleportation into that alternate space.
"That sounds interesting. But wouldn't we need a massive number of them?"
『Regarding that, I believe they only need to remain functional for a short period—five to ten days at most.』
Laojun explained that if any were caught in a "spirited away" event during that window, they could verify whether the markers could maintain their function.
"I see. In that case, fragments of magi-crystals... no, even dust would be sufficient."
They would simply need to engrave a magi-formula into them to act as markers. Since the task involved processing magi-crystals with a diameter of only one millimeter, Jin decided that the Inch-Smiths were the perfect choice.
Standing only 25 millimeters tall, a one-millimeter grain was the equivalent of 64 millimeters to them—a perfectly manageable size for precision work.
"Should we scatter them between the relay base and Ars?"
『That would be ideal.』
Jin immediately issued the orders and began production of the marker particles.
"Alright, the instructions are set. A thousand Inch-Smiths should be able to produce them in an hour. Let's start with ten thousand grains."
Jin’s estimate—which included the time needed to process high-purity magi-crystals into one-millimeter spheres—turned out to be exactly right. One hour later, the report came in that ten thousand marker particles were complete.
"Good. Teleport and disperse them into the designated sectors."
『Understood.』
The task of teleporting ten thousand grains to slightly staggered coordinates in space was tedious and required immense patience. However, Laojun, the magi-brain of Hourai Island, performed the task effortlessly, completing the deployment in three hours.
That averaged out to slightly more than one grain teleported every second.
The grains were designed to emit a position signal via free ether waves while gradually decaying. After one week, they would revert back into free ether and atoms, ensuring they would not become permanent space debris.
In parallel with these efforts, Jin continued to consult with Laojun on further precautions.
"Hey, Laojun. Do you think it's selfish of me to bring Milowina here until this settles down?"
『No, My Lord. I believe it is a clear expression of your desire to ensure Milowina-san’s safety.』
"I hope so....The problem is, we don't actually know if Ars is any safer than the Moon."
『That is true. If we understood the regularity or the laws governing where these events occur, we could make an informed judgment.』
Jin nodded regretfully. "Exactly. We still just don't have enough data."
While diversifying the risk was one strategy, Jin simply wanted her where he could keep an eye on her. He wondered if this was just a manifestation of his dislike for being alone.
『If it concerns you that much, why not leave the decision to Milowina-san?』 Laojun suggested to the wavering Jin. He proposed that Jin speak honestly about his concerns and let her decide whether to stay on the Moon or come to the island.
She wasn't a child, after all. Jin decided that was the best course of action and contacted Milowina immediately.
『Oh, Jin-kun, what is it?』
"Well, the truth is..."
Jin explained his thoughts.
『...Thank you for worrying about me. Yes, if that is how you feel, then perhaps I shall come and visit for a while.』
"You will?"
Jin had a faint inkling that Milowina was being considerate of his feelings, but he felt a wave of relief regardless.
『My Lord, Milowina-san has arrived.』
"Jin-kun, I’m here. I’ll be in your care for a bit."
"I’m sorry for making such a sudden request."
"Please, don't worry about it. I know you were only thinking of me."
"Hearing you say that makes me feel much better."
Since Milowina was used to a quiet life, she settled comfortably into a guest room within the laboratory.
"The view from the window is wonderful," she said with a smile, noting that on the Moon, there was never anything to see but the stars.
"Father, I have a progress report."
"Ah, Reiko. How is it going?"
Jin had tasked Reiko with investigating the summoning magic used to bring him to this world, as well as the long-range Search magic.
It appeared that Reiko—or more accurately, her previous iteration—had developed these techniques after the death of the Predecessor. However, due to the heavy strain of their use and subsequent core damage, the knowledge had become lost technology.
Jin had reasoned that if they had been developed once, they could be developed again.
"I am terribly sorry. So far, I have no results to show," Reiko said, hanging her head.
Jin reached out and stroked her hair. "Don't worry about it. I didn't expect you to figure it out in a single day."
"...Thank you, Father."
"I wonder if the Predecessor... or rather, Adriana Tierra, might have left something behind."
"Grandmother did?"
They knew that Adriana Tierra had been researching ways to return Shuuki Tsetse to his original world. Jin wondered if her research results—even if incomplete—might serve as a reference.
"But there is nothing like that here, is there?"
"That's the problem."
The most likely place to find such records would be Adriana Tierra's original laboratory, but it was unlikely that Reiko’s previous version had ever visited that location.
"There might be a hint somewhere closer to home," Jin mused.
"I will look further," Reiko promised.