Jin traced the paths of the ladder lottery to see which event it would land on.
"Down here, over here... and there."
"Ah, ah, ah..."
Every time the line seemed poised to land on a favorite category, it took a sharp, unexpected turn.
Then...
"It's the boat race! I did it!" Natalia cried out in joy.
"Very well, that settles it," Marikka said, bringing the meeting to a close. "The first event will be a boat competition."
She added that boats were a wise choice for the inaugural round. They didn't have a dedicated track for automobile racing yet, and airship competitions required extensive safety protocols to handle potential crashes. Since boat races were already a staple in Port Rock Town and other regions, there was a wealth of knowledge regarding event management and safety to draw upon.
"I see. So there aren't any car races yet?" Jin asked, sounding slightly disappointed. He added, "Usually, you have circuits—courses made of combined curves and straightaways—or races held on closed-off public roads, and even off-road races on rough terrain."
Marikka seemed intrigued by his description. "Circuits, you say? That sounds fascinating. Perhaps we should look into building one for the future."
The competition was structured so that whoever achieved the best overall results across all categories would be officially crowned the Craft King or Craft Queen.
"Aw, the first one isn't the giant golem category? What a letdown," Rubina pouted.
Jin looked at her. "If you want to be the Queen, you have to be able to build anything and everything."
His words sent Rubina's energy levels through the roof.
"Y-You're right! I'll do it!"
She practically leaped out of her chair. "I'm starting my build right now!" she shouted, sprinting off toward the workshop. It appeared she had her own workspace within the laboratory facility.
"Jin-sama, please forgive my boisterous granddaughter," Amanda, Rubina's grandmother, said with an apologetic bow.
"No, don't worry about it," Jin replied gently. "Children ought to be that energetic."
"Though we haven't actually settled on the regulations or entry requirements yet," he noted. That was the real hurdle. "I suppose we'll just have to notify everyone once they're finalized."
Jin and Marikka took the lead in hammering out the specific details for the race.
"For the boats... let's say a total length of ten meters or less. For the width... maybe eight meters or less?"
"That sounds fair. As for the crew... one pilot, which can be a person, a golem, or an automata. Assistants should be golems or automata, and we can leave the number open."
Since more crew members meant more weight and less speed, they decided a strict limit wasn't necessary.
"Propulsion should be unrestricted... wait, maybe we should set some boundaries?" Jin mused. He realized that if someone brought a force generator into play, it wouldn't be a boat race anymore. "Should we limit it to screws? Or perhaps only Jet Thrusters?"
Too many restrictions would take the fun out of it, but balancing the rules was tricky.
"Let's stick to Jet Thrusters," Marikka suggested. "Since we're allowing any number of golems, we should use a propulsion system that they can't power directly."
Essentially, she wanted to ensure people couldn't just use a dozen golems to row the boat manually.
"Good point. Let's go with that."
"Also, since it's a boat, it has to stay in contact with the water at all times, barring when it happens to bounce off a wave."
They continued to flesh out the rules, writing them down as they went.
"Material Choice: Free."
"All right, I think that covers the basics."
Jin figured that even if there were a few loopholes, it might make things more interesting. He was genuinely curious to see if anyone would come up with a brilliant, unconventional idea by exploiting the gaps in the rules.
"Now, for the date of the event."
"How about a week from now?"
Trihart made the suggestion. Jin thought it sounded a bit tight, but then again, looking at it from his own perspective, a week was an eternity.
"Two days should be plenty for the actual crafting," Trihart continued. "The rest of the week can be for adjustments and fine-tuning."
"Yeah, that works," Jin agreed.
And so, the First Onogoro Island High-Speed Boat Competition was officially scheduled.
"Now I want to make one, too."
Once the announcement had been broadcast across Onogoro Island, Jin found himself with some downtime.
"You aren't allowed to compete, Jin-sama," Marikka warned.
"No, no, that's not what I meant," Jin explained. "I just thought it would be good to build a demonstration boat—like a 'this is how I'd do it' sort of thing."
"Ah, I see. A reference model."
"Exactly."
"In that case, feel free to use any materials in this lab. There are also several vacant workshops with docks down by the shore if you'd prefer to work there."
"Thanks. I'll take you up on that."
And so, Jin set out to build a boat.
His assistant was, of course, Reiko. However...
"Please, let us watch you work!"
Marikka, Alvin, Edith, and Stephanie all followed him to the workshop.
Jin began by shaping the hull. He decided on a trimaran design for its superior stability. While the extra surface area meant more viscous resistance from the water, he planned to offset that by using a Surface Treatment to add water-repellent properties.
"A trimaran?" Alvin noted, seemingly familiar with the concept.
The framework was made of 64 light silver.
"Reiko, hold this here for me."
"Yes."
The design was based on the Stream class used on Hourai Island, but Jin had refined the form even further.
"The outer plating can be 64 light silver as well."
Using a combination of Forming, Bonding, and Fusion, Jin assembled the vessel at a blistering pace. The observers stood there, wide-eyed, mesmerized by his speed.
"He's so fast... it's incredible..."
"Exactly what I expected from Jin-shama!"
"So this is the true power of... Jin-sama."
Jin finished the hull in roughly an hour. After checking for any warping and making a few minute corrections, he moved on to the propulsion system.
"I'll stick with 64 light silver for this, too."
Constructing everything from a single material had the advantage of eliminating distortion caused by differing rates of thermal expansion. Most craftsmen wouldn't be quite so meticulous, however.
"Three Magi Water Jets for the main engines. Four side thrusters for maneuvering, and one dedicated for reverse."
Jin continued his work with practiced, efficient movements.