Jin finished his duties that day after repairing one more mana stand.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Jin-dono, excellent work. Thanks to you, the operation of this town's Magi Machines and magi-devices will proceed much more smoothly."
At dinner, Paerova was in high spirits again upon receiving the report.
"I heard from Jed that you visited the research wing today. That's perfect timing. Starting tomorrow, we will provide you with a room there, so could you move in?"
"Yes."
To be honest, Jin was grateful to have a private space where he could do as he pleased. He readily agreed.
"Kachea as well. Tomorrow is moving day."
"Y-Yes..."
True to those words, on the following day, the 28th, Jin and Kachea moved from Paerova's mansion to the research wing.
"Jin-san, you're... a lifesaver."
Jin had very few belongings, so his move was finished in no time. Consequently, he decided to help Kachea, who was struggling with a mountain of luggage.
Of course, the heaviest items were carried by the golem, Hope. Jin and Kachea only had to carry one medium-sized load each.
"I see... I thought you had a lot of stuff, but I guess it makes sense if it was under the premise of settling down here."
Jin remarked that he had thought her luggage was excessive, even for a girl.
"Jin-san, you're... way too slow to notice."
She felt he should have realized it the moment they discussed needing to become independent the other day.
"Ahaha... Apparently, I can be a bit thick sometimes."
"That... might be true..."
"Hey, you're supposed to deny it."
"No, because it's the truth..."
"That's harsh."
Amidst such conversation, the move was completed without a hitch.
"Well then."
Jin looked around the room.
As it was part of a research wing, the layout included one large room for research. It was about the size of a high school classroom, and Jin intended to turn this into his workshop.
Then there was a living room. This was about the size of eight tatami mats, featuring one large table and four chairs, making it suitable for meetings.
Finally, there was the bedroom, which was about four and a half tatami mats in size with a built-in bed. Jin didn't feel at ease in overly large rooms, so this was just right.
It appeared that Jin was the first person to use these quarters.
However...
(...What is this? This magi-device...)
Inside each room—or rather, embedded within the walls—were magi-devices.
"Analyze."
Naturally, Jin investigated them. His suspicions were immediately confirmed.
(Eavesdropping?...Essentially surveillance, then.)
Considering the nature of this country, it wasn't surprising that they existed.
(But I don't like it... Right!)
"Erase!"
At the very least, he wanted to secure his bedroom as a private space. Jin left the magi-device itself intact but erased its contents from outside the wall.
Unless someone was capable of "Write In" or "Overwrite" from a distance like Jin, it would be impossible to restore the functions. And to do that, they would have to perform construction work to repair it, which would be tantamount to announcing they had planted a bug in the wall.
(I'll leave the living room and the workshop alone for now.)
If all three rooms "malfunctioned" at once, there was a high probability they would grow suspicious. Jin decided to settle for just the bedroom.
(Kachea's room... No, I can't do that there.)
For the same reason, Jin figured it would be bad if several rooms experienced the same failure simultaneously.
(Ah, but maybe I can just lower the sensitivity.)
If it was just a matter of it being difficult to hear conversations, it probably wouldn't be seen as suspicious. Jin decided to visit Kachea's room. His nominal reason was "helping her unpack." For that purpose, he brought Hope along.
＊ ＊ ＊
Kachea's room was next to Jin's.
As it happened, Eira was at the very end of the first floor of the research wing, Jin was next to her, and Kachea was next to him. Whether they were simply filling the rooms from the end or if there was some underlying intent, Jin wasn't sure.
While pondering this, Jin knocked on Kachea's door.
"Ah, Jin-san."
"I thought you might be having a hard time unpacking, so I came to help."
"That would be a huge help....Um, well..."
"Right, let's have Hope help with anything you don't want people to see."
"Ah, thank you so much..."
Under the pretext of helping with the cleaning, Jin wiped down the living room and then the bedroom, which hadn't been touched yet.
(Analyze... There it is....Overwrite!...That's that.)
He had reduced its functionality to one-third, so unless someone shouted, they shouldn't be able to hear anything clearly.
"I've finished the wiping."
"Thank you, Jin-san."
Taking his place, Kachea began carrying her luggage into the bedroom with Hope. Jin also located the magi-device in the living room.
(Might as well do this one too... Overwrite!)
He tinkered with it so that it would pick up a bit of static.
＊ ＊ ＊
"We finished tidying up before lunch. Thank you very much."
At 11:30 AM, Jin and Kachea were in the cafeteria located at the back of the research wing.
They were told they could eat here for free from 7:00 to 8:30 AM, 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM, and 5:30 to 7:00 PM. However, the only thing served was a daily set meal. If they wanted to eat something else, they apparently had to go out.
Today's menu consisted of bread, a cold vegetable soup, and ginger pork made with smoked meat. The portions were somewhat small. Since they could ask for seconds if it wasn't enough, Jin figured it was a measure to minimize food waste.
Since it was still early, only Jin and Kachea were eating.
"It's actually quite tasty."
"Yes, it is... isn't it?"
"The fact that this is free means the state must be funding it."
Jin felt that while he couldn't point out specifically how or why, the system of this country felt slightly different from the monarchies he had experienced before.
However, while eating, he suddenly noticed another part of that sense of discomfort. He realized that surveillance magi-devices were also embedded in this cafeteria.
(...Management and surveillance, huh. Perhaps it's this system where the state manages its citizens—skilled citizens—that's rubbing me the wrong way.)
As someone who was born and raised in modern Japan, there was no doubt that this was a system he couldn't get used to.
(Still, I have to endure it for now.)
Now was the time to gather strength. Jin decided to just accept it.
"Oh, if it isn't Jin and Kachea."
Eira arrived at the cafeteria.
"I see, I see, you two have become residents here as well? This is going to be fun."
Even though she said "you two," Eira's gaze was fixed squarely on Jin.
"Jin, to get straight to the point, I want to have a discussion with you once you're finished eating. That's fine, right?"
Eira told Jin with an intensity that brooked no refusal. Jin nodded and finished off the rest of his soup.