"What!?"
Liberate Hourai Island.
Jin heard the words clearly.
"Liberate Hourai Island," Sion repeated slowly, emphasizing each word.
"Liberate... Hourai Island?" Jin echoed, weighing the syllables.
"Yes, exactly."
"...What on earth happened to Hourai Island?"
"I'm going to explain everything now."
Sion took a sip of her tea, paused for a moment, and then began her tale.
"First, the current situation. Everything related to Hourai Island is either 'blockaded' or 'sealed.' That includes the Watcher and the Quinta units."
"What!? Why?"
As Jin reacted in shock, Sion gestured with her hand for him to calm down.
"I’m going to explain that. Though, deciding where to begin is difficult, considering the version of you that returned to your original time."
"Which means... if I made it back to my own era, then you've already spoken with that version of me?"
"..."
"You have, haven't you?"
"...Yes. But I think it's better if I don't tell the 'current' you everything."
Jin sensed a complex set of circumstances at play. He also suspected she was hesitant to reveal too much to him because he was destined to return to the 'past'—his own present—and she didn't want to interfere with the timeline.
"I understand. If I’ll find out eventually anyway... I won't force you to tell me now."
"That’s a help."
Jin let out a small sigh. Anything involving time was complicated beyond belief.
"And so," Sion continued, "what the Jin who returned four hundred years ago asked of me was to show you the way. 'Liberate Hourai Island.' That is what you must do, Jin."
"Right."
"And to do that, you must 'Find Reiko-chan.'"
"Huh? Reiko? I know where Hourai Island is, so that’s fine, but... what do you mean?"
Sion’s answer to that question came as a total shock to Jin.
"Reiko-chan has been missing for a hundred and fifty years. At the time, she was living with your descendants."
"Mine?"
"Yes. Quite a few generations down... long after your great-grandchildren."
That made sense, Jin thought. A human generation was roughly twenty-five to thirty years. A hundred and fifty years ago would have been two hundred and fifty years after Jin’s original era—making them his eighth or ninth generation of descendants.
"Wasn't she living on Hourai Island?"
"No. That place was treated as 'sacred ground'."
"Sacred ground?"
"Yes. The sacred ground of the Magi Craft Meister."
"Hmm... Then how are my descendants doing now? Just tell me the parts that won't cause any problems."
Jin had a premonition that if he heard too many details, he might end up trying to twist fate to avoid some misfortune.
"Let’s see... Not a single Magi Craft Meister has emerged since you, Jin. And as of now... your descendants are gone."
"What!?"
Jin felt a wave of disappointment, thinking the line had died out. He immediately regretted asking.
However, Sion quickly added a clarification.
"Oh, when I say they're 'gone,' I don't mean the bloodline died out. I mean they literally vanished."
"What do you mean?"
"One day, quite suddenly, they were just gone."
"..."
Jin considered the possibility of interdimensional teleportation via superposition contact following a space vibration—much like what had happened to him. Or perhaps it was something else entirely. Even if he asked now, there was nothing he could do. Despite his concern, he decided not to press the issue.
"...But you heard the details from the 'me' who returned four hundred years ago, didn't you?"
"...That's the thing. It couldn't be any more complicated."
Jin could only agree with that.
Sion had told him to find Reiko, but she likely knew exactly where she was, what state she was in, and what she was doing. She was currently agonizing over how much of that she should explain to him.
"The 'me' who returned to the original era... didn't explain that much to you, then?"
"...That seems to be the case."
Jin frowned. Even if the Jin who knew that information returned to his original era and entrusted the future four hundred years later to Sion, had he not specified how much he was allowed to reveal? In essence, he hadn't told her how much 'spoiling' was permitted.
Or perhaps things would end up this way no matter what he did. Even Jin didn't know the answer to that.
He pulled himself together and decided to continue with his questions. In the end, what would be, would be.
"Then, I'll ask the questions. Just answer the ones you can."
Jin chose to clear up his biggest doubts first.
"Yes, let's start with that."
"Sealing Hourai Island... who was the cause of that?"
"Golbart Marukitasu. He was a magi from about a hundred and fifty years ago."
"Who was he?"
"The leader of the magic supremacists."
"Magic supremacists?"
"A group obsessed with the ideology of running the world solely through magic. They rejected the science that had begun to spread."
"...I see."
With that, the background of the situation became a bit clearer.
"Why did that lead to the sealing of Hourai Island?"
"Yes, that's what I'm struggling to explain. As for how Golbart Marukitasu sniffed out the existence of Hourai Island... well, never mind that for now."
"Fair enough."
Jin let it slide, knowing there was nothing he could do about it at this moment.
"Um... apparently, he was originally a student at Avalon. A few years after leaving, he founded the Magic Federation."
"The Magic Federation? Is that the group of magic supremacists you mentioned?"
"Half of it, yes. It was the predecessor to the current organization."
"Hmm..."
Jin fell into thought. He could understand the emergence of such an ideology. It was only natural for various principles and claims to exist.
"...Which means science was being taught at Avalon, then?"
"Yes, of course. Originally, you and Laojun were the ones who designed the curriculum."
Jin silently closed his eyes and organized his thoughts.
"In other words, this Golbart Marukitasu fellow learned science at Avalon and decided it was unnecessary?"
"Exactly. And then he turned against us."
"That’s the part I don’t understand. Was there something that could actually threaten Hourai Island? It shouldn’t be vulnerable to anything ordinary... unless he’s a magi who far surpasses even me."
"I think so too. As for why... I'll explain that in order."
"Yeah, please."
Jin nodded and prompted Sion to continue.
"Then, next. Any clues about Reiko? To begin with, what was Reiko doing?"