October 1, 3459.
Jin was feeling the weight of the "corrective force" more than ever.
Whenever he tried to lay the groundwork for the future, his efforts almost always failed—or more accurately, he found himself unable to even begin.
For instance, when he attempted to create a magi-certifier to counter the Magi Emulator...
"Ugh... I can't think of how to do it at all."
To Jin, these were undoubtedly things he had crafted in the "past," yet for some reason, the moment he tried to reconstruct them, his mind became shrouded in a thick, impenetrable fog.
The same happened when he thought he could make his life easier by building a Rocket Mole in advance.
"Dear, could you watch Mio for a moment?"
"Eh? Oh... right."
Some interruption would inevitably occur, pulling him away from his work until the opportunity was lost.
To top it all off, he eventually lost the motivation to even create an automata to serve as his double.
After such occurrences repeated time and again, Jin finally gave up on trying to force the future to change.
Hanna, with her extraordinary imagination, had been the one to hit the nail on the head regarding the phenomenon.
"I’m sure the future can be changed," she had told him. "But for you, Onii-chan, that future has already become your past. I don't think the world will let you change things that have already happened."
"I suppose it can't be helped... I'll stop pushing myself and just take things easy for a while."
"Abuu."
"Daa."
Yielding to the flow of time, Jin devoted himself to the humble task of changing Mio and Yuu's diapers.
＊ ＊ ＊
October 1, 3899.
"So, my descendants have all taken refuge on Onogoro Island?"
"Yes, My Lord."
The Jin "of the future" had finally learned the truth he had been seeking.
"Please, do not judge Marikka-sama too harshly," Laojun advised.
"Yeah, I know. It's not like Marikka was hiding it out of malice."
If anything, Jin felt he owed her a debt of gratitude for sheltering his family for so long.
"But why did they have to go into hiding in the first place?"
"In all likelihood, it was out of fear that the Magic Federation would use them as hostages."
"Hostages?"
"Yes. My Lord, the version of myself from that era would likely have been unable to strike back if descendants carrying your blood were used as shields."
"Ah, I see..."
Jin nodded. If it had come to that, Hourai Island would have been easily overrun.
"Which means unless we do something about the Magic Federation, they won't even be able to leave Onogoro Island."
Jin fell into deep thought.
"Hmm... there are so many things I want to do and so much I want to know. I’m not sure where to start."
"Father, why don't you go and pay your respects to Sion and the others?" Reiko suggested as she watched him struggle.
"You're right. They've done a lot for me, so I should start there."
Once a single decision is made, everything else often falls into place. Jin began his preparations, hoping for exactly that.
The preparations themselves were simple, mostly involving loading a shipment of ripe Persica to serve as gifts.
The Persica grown on Hourai Island possessed a much higher free ether content and nutritional value than any harvested elsewhere. Such fruit was kept in the mana tanks—literally "mountains" of it.
The mana tank was a refrigerated storage unit where the free ether ratio was maintained at over twenty percent, allowing for the semi-permanent preservation of magical materials. Crops and materials from the last century were stockpiled there in abundance.
＊ ＊ ＊
Ordering the pilot, Hope, to take the controls, Jin directed Pegasus 2 toward the Nord Federation.
His companion was, naturally, Reiko.
Inside the cabin, Jin finally voiced a question that had been on his mind. By now, he felt he could ask her anything.
"By the way, Reiko, what's Edgar doing these days?"
The Edgar he remembered had served as the pilot for Konron 3.
"Yes. Edgar is currently serving your descendants, Father."
"Ah, I see."
They were Jin's descendants, but they were Elsa's as well. It felt right that Edgar would be there to serve them.
"I wonder if I'll get to see him soon."
"Yes, I believe you will."
Pegasus 2 soared through the blue sky at a subsonic speed of one thousand kilometers per hour.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Jin! You didn't go back!?"
When he arrived at Sion's home, her reaction was exactly what he had expected.
"Well, I did... or at least, I should have. A lot happened..."
As Jin trailed off, Sion gestured for him, Reiko, and Hope to come inside.
"Fine, then. Let's hear the whole story."
Jin explained the situation to her, mixing his own theories with the facts of what had transpired.
"So, in other words, something happened during the transfer and Jin was split into two? One returned to four hundred years ago, and the other is you?"
"Well, to put it bluntly, yeah."
Jin suspected that the commemorative stone he had brought from the other world might have played a role, but there was no way to confirm it now. The stone was gone.
"But looking at the result, perhaps it's for the best?" Sion said. "This means you'll still be here in this world with us, Jin."
"I'm happy to hear you say that."
Just then, Lordtoss, All-Creation, and Marikka arrived.
"Jin-sama!"
"Jin-sama!"
"Jin-shama!"
After giving them the same explanation he had given Sion, he was met with nothing but bright, relieved faces.
"As long as we can assume the other Jin-sama returned safely to his own era, we couldn't be happier," Lordtoss said.
He suggested that the fact that the Jin standing before them felt no strong urge to return was proof enough that the Jin who "could return" already existed.
"If that's the case, then I'm satisfied. Since Pegasus 2 exists, I have to believe the version of me who returned to the past built it as planned."
"Ugh, it's so confusing!" All-Creation said with a grimace.
"Anyway... once again, Marikka, thank you."
"Eh?"
"For sheltering my descendants on Onogoro Island."
"Oh... U-Um, you're not angry?"
"Why would I be angry? You protected my family."
"I am so relieved to hear you say that." Marikka breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
"So, what do you intend to do now?" she asked.
"I plan to go and see No. 700672 to pay my respects, and after that, I'll start prioritizing what needs to be done next."
With that, Jin had Reiko bring in the Persica they had brought as gifts.