Because Lordtoss was joining them, Jin remained in the All-Creation clan territory for about half a day.
During that time, he was bombarded with questions from Marikka’s disciples.
“Jin-sama, what is the design intent behind this particular structure?”
“Jin-sama, what effect were you aiming for with this component?”
“Jin-sama, this material isn't just ordinary light silver, is it? Could it be the legendary 64 light silver?”
Jin answered each of them patiently.
“This section is vital for stability. That’s why…”
“This part is designed to suppress torsion in the main wing…”
“Legendary? 64 light silver is just regular light silver with six percent aluminum and four percent vanadium mixed in.”
“Do you know what aluminum and vanadium are?” Jin asked.
“Ah, yes!”
“We know them!”
“We’ve studied that!”
“I see. In that case…”
Watching the scene, Marikka wore a gentle smile, reminiscing about her own younger days.
＊ ＊ ＊
Once Lordtoss’s preparations were complete and lunch was finished, Jin finally prepared to depart.
“Well then, we’re off.”
“Great-grandmother, Marikka-sama, we are leaving,” Lordtoss added.
“Safe travels.”
“Take care, both of you.”
With those final goodbyes, Jin’s Blow Floater took flight.
The distance to Kaina Village was roughly three hundred kilometers. Traveling at a speed of two hundred kilometers per hour, the Blow Floater would complete the journey in just an hour and a half.
During the flight, Lordtoss peppered Jin with various questions.
“Why didn’t you return to your own time four hundred years ago?”
Jin couldn’t provide a perfectly accurate answer to that.
Presumably, the other Jin had already returned, but he had no way to prove it. Instead, he offered a hypothesis: that since returning to the past is prone to causing contradictions, his presence here was a byproduct that resulted in two versions of himself.
“……”
Whether he was satisfied with the explanation or simply unable to grasp the concept, Lordtoss remained lost in thought from that point on. He didn't speak again until the Blow Floater crossed the Pazdext Great Isthmus and Kaina Village finally came into view.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Ah, so that’s Kaina Village…”
A nostalgic landscape filled Jin’s vision.
It hadn’t changed much. A few more houses had been built, and the fields seemed slightly larger, but that was all.
“Land in the front yard of Jin Castle,” Jin instructed Hope, the pilot.
Since Jin Castle now served as a lodging facility for foreign travelers, Laojun had already contacted the castle’s administrators—Butler B and C—as well as the 102 series 5-Color Golem Maids.
Perhaps such visitors were rare, as the village children pointed up and chased after the Blow Floater as it descended for its landing.
Jin found himself reflexively scanning the crowd of children, half-expecting to see Hanna among them.
“Welcome back to Kaina Village, Master.”
As the Blow Floater touched down in the castle's front yard, Butler B came out to greet them.
“Good work over these many years. I’m counting on you from here on, too.”
“Yes, Master.”
Jin then gave the golem a specific instruction.
“For the time being, address me by my name in front of others.”
“Understood, Jin-sama.”
“Make sure the others know as well.”
“As you wish, Jin-sama.”
Leaving the storage of the Blow Floater to Butler B, Jin, Reiko, Hope, and Lordtoss headed into the castle.
“It hasn’t changed much at all.”
There was almost no difference from the Jin Castle Jin remembered.
The version of himself from four hundred years ago probably hadn’t added much to it. While there must have been four centuries of wear and tear, it had been maintained so meticulously that Jin could hardly tell the difference.
“Yes. We were fundamentally instructed to maintain the status quo,” the butler explained.
“Yeah, that’s for the best.”
Even for Jin, seeing a familiar place frequently remodeled was unsettling.
With those thoughts in mind, he stepped inside—after removing his shoes, of course.
Lordtoss followed suit, knowing the custom well enough to take off his shoes before the butler could even ask. Reiko, naturally, needed no instruction.
As for Hope, he applied a Cleanup magi-craft to his feet before putting on the provided slippers.
As a side note, almost all of Jin’s golems followed this protocol. The Golem Maids were the exception, as they were designed to wear clothes and shoes.
“Ah—there are a few more things in here.”
Jin headed up to the living quarters on the fifth floor.
Thanks to the Golem Maids, the room was cleaned so thoroughly there wasn't a speck of dust to be found.
On the bookshelf, he noticed about ten books he didn’t recognize. They were made of wood-paper, each about a hundred pages long, bound with leather covers and spines.
Jin casually pulled one out and opened it.
“An album?”
It was indeed a photo album. And inside…
“Elsa… Hanna…”
He saw photographs of faces he missed dearly.
“Reinhard… Berche… Saki… Lishia… Marcia…”
The pages were filled with photographs that appeared to have been taken in Kaina Village.
And then…
“This is…?”
He saw a photo of Elsa and himself holding a tiny infant.
“Is this… my child?”
In that moment…
“Ah…?”
A single tear spilled from Jin’s eye and traced a path down his cheek.
He had told himself he had no lingering regrets, and he truly had no desire to return to the past. However, he realized that such logic was entirely separate from the weight of nostalgia.
“Elsa… you look so happy.”
In the photo, Elsa was smiling radiantly beside him. And the Jin standing next to her was laughing, too.
“I… must have been happy, too.”
The thought sent a wave of warmth spreading through his chest.
This was proof. Evidence that he had truly lived in that era, and proof that he had found happiness there.
“I see. I was happy. Then… that’s good.”
He hadn’t checked yet, but he suspected similar albums were waiting for him in the study of his laboratory as well.
Jin decided he would look for them once he had settled in. He chuckled softly to himself, thinking that he might have even recorded videos or moving images; knowing himself, it was exactly the kind of thing he would do.