After receiving the adamantite sphere, Jin checked on the status of the Factory just to be sure.
"Yes. Since you repaired it, Jin-sama, it has undergone regular self-maintenance, so there are no malfunctions. The maintenance golems have been doing a fine job."
"I see. That’s good to hear."
Jin felt a weight lift from his chest at the report. Pocketing the fifty-gram adamantite sphere, he made his way leisurely back toward the inn. It was nearly noon. Once Lordtoss returned, they would be ready to depart.
"Jin-san, are you just getting back?"
Jin turned at the voice from behind him to see Lordtoss approaching.
"I just returned. I also managed to sell the Golem horses to a secondhand shop."
The Golem horses had served them well over their brief journey, and selling them off felt somewhat cold to Jin. He reminded himself, however, that it was likely common practice in this era.
"Let’s head out once we’ve had lunch."
＊ ＊ ＊
Jin and Lordtoss arrived at the airport. Once Lordtoss paid the usage fee to the official, the lock on their storage area was released. They pulled out the Blow Floater they had left in storage and boarded the craft along with Hanako and Hope.
"Well then, let's go."
Lordtoss started up the Blow Engine. The gas bag inflated rapidly, and as the craft lifted off, the propulsion Blow Engine hummed to life. The Blow Floater began a slow, diagonal ascent into the sky.
(...Mitsuho, until the day we meet again.)
Jin didn't know if such a day would ever come, but in his heart, he bid the nation farewell with the hope of a future return. He had wanted to explore more, but a concern regarding a "time paradox" had flickered in his mind—the worry that if he gained too much information he wasn't supposed to have, he might never be able to return to his original time. Despite his curiosity, he had forced himself to hold back.
As they flew, a massive desert came into view on their left. It was the Sahara. Looking down at the sands, Jin remembered Akitsu. He thought of the Magus who had traveled the world over a thousand years ago to enlighten the people, and of Akitsu, who had been created by his disciples. She was the automata who inherited the knowledge of the Magus, Shuuki Tsetse, to pass it on to the people of Mitsuho.
(Didn't Akitsu call it the 'Sahara Desert' too?)
Carrying Jin's wandering thoughts, the Blow Floater soared toward the east.
"We have entered the Shouro Empire."
The Sahara was now far behind them, and ahead to the left, a formidable mountain reached toward the clouds.
"If I remember correctly, was that Mount Bakusa?"
If they maintained their current course, they would reach the capital, Loizart, but Lordtoss offered a suggestion.
"Jin-san, getting in and out of Loizart is a hassle. I was thinking of landing in a regional city or town instead."
"That's fine with me."
Jin was curious to see how the Loizart he once knew had changed, but he reconsidered; seeing his old home unrecognizable would be its own kind of lonely.
(After all... I’m a person who shouldn't even be here.)
"Understood. In that case, let's land in the town of Beams, on the north shore of Lake Tosmo."
As dusk approached, the Blow Floater descended toward the town. Since there was no formal airfield, they touched down on an open beach by the lakeside. A VTOL was undeniably convenient for such landings.
The craft settled onto a beach of fine gravel. Lake Tosmo was beautiful in the twilight, the afterglow of the sun shimmering on the calm surface. Lordtoss worked quickly to perform the decomposition of the Blow Floater, packing it into a compact bundle.
"Ah, let Hope carry that."
"Thank you. Well then, let's go find a place to stay."
The group—Jin, Lordtoss, Hanako, and Hope—headed into Beams. They found an inn in less than five minutes: a mid-level establishment called the Sunset Lakeside Inn. It faced the water, boasting views of the sunrise and sunset.
"There's something nostalgic about the air here."
Across the lake lay Loizart, and somewhere over there was the mansion where Jin and Elsa had lived for so long.
"I’d love to see it... but I’ll pass. If I can get back to my own time, I'll be able to visit it properly then."
At this point, Jin had no concrete idea how to return to his original era. There was a very real possibility he never would—in fact, the odds of a return were slim. He sensed this deep down, but he made a conscious effort to push the thought aside.
While the room wasn't a Japanese-style room, it was on the second floor with a magnificent view of the lake. To Jin’s delight, dinner featured the familiar "Shouro Empire flavors" he hadn't tasted in centuries.
"The flavor is even more refined than I remember... they must have made great strides in the use of seasonings and dashi."
Jin smiled with satisfaction as he sipped his post-meal hojicha.
After a relaxing soak in the bath, Jin spent his evening in the room performing maintenance on Hope. He used the adamantite he had acquired in Miyako to apply a coating to the golem's joints and sliding parts. This single modification would improve the durability of those components by more than four times.
"There, that's done. I hope to keep upgrading you bit by bit."
"Thank you, Jin-sama."
Just then, a commotion broke out downstairs. Amidst the raised voices, Jin could hear the clattering of metal on metal. Hope used his superior hearing to assess the situation.
"Jin-sama, there seems to be some kind of emergency. What are your orders?"
"...Let's go see what's happening."
If lives were at stake, Jin knew he couldn't simply look the other way. He peeked down from the landing to see two broken golems and three men covered in injuries. They were soaking wet, as if they had just been pulled from the water, and all three appeared to be unconscious. While the men were receiving medical attention, the golems had been pushed aside and ignored.
"What happened?" Jin asked one of the onlookers.
"Ah, looks like an accident out on Lake Tosmo."
"Two river shrimp boats collided in the dark and sank."
Lake Tosmo was a haven for freshwater life, particularly long-armed shrimp. It was common for fishermen to go out after dark, using lights to attract the shrimp before hauling them in. The darkness must have led to the collision.
From Jin's perspective, the two golems looked like the boatmen or rowers. They were built with lightweight frames, likely to minimize the boats' displacement.
"Ugh..."
One of the men groaned, his eyes fluttering open. When he realized only the three of them had been rescued, his pale face went white with terror.
"A-Ah...! P-Please, help! My daughter... she's still in the lake...!"
"What!?"
The rescue had only accounted for three people. They had been fishing in pairs, and this man had been out with his daughter. Since she wasn't among the survivors, she had likely gone down with the vessel.
"Even if you say that, we don't even know where the boat went down!" someone shouted.
Lake Tosmo was a void of pitch blackness at night. Without a starting point, a search was impossible.
"Wait, ask the golems!" someone else suggested.
"It's no use. They were pushed to their limits just getting these men back to shore. They've stopped moving entirely."
Hearing that, Jin could no longer remain a bystander.
"Let me take a look. I'm a magi-engineer."