"Hmm, what should I do?"
On Onogoro Island, Rubina Garrett was agonizing over the design of her automata.
"Is something the matter, Rubina?"
Sion arrived at her workstation. She was making her way around the area, visiting the competitors as they crafted their automata—partly to inspect their progress, and partly to offer encouragement.
"Ah, Sion-sama."
"Everyone else has already started building, you know?"
"..."
"What is it?" Sion asked again.
"The truth is..."
Rubina unburdened her heart, explaining exactly what was troubling her.
"I see. So that's how it is."
Sion smiled gently and patted Rubina on the head.
"That hesitation is proof of how much you have grown. A year ago, you would have charged ahead without a second thought and built the whole thing in one go."
Sion concluded that Rubina had clearly matured, both technically and mentally, through the various events of the competition.
"It’s true that I don't know much about the technical side of things, but... why do you think Reiko-chan is so trusted by Jin?"
"Eh?...Because she's strong?"
Sion shook her head at the answer.
"No. Well, that might be a small part of it, but the primary reason is because she understands Jin."
"She understands him?"
"Yes. Reiko-chan was the first automata Jin ever worked on, and she has been by his side ever since."
During that time, she had supported Jin through his hardships, eliminated the dangers that threatened him, and shared in his joys. Reiko was an automata who had shared an immense span of time with her master.
Jin cherished Reiko, and because of that, he had endowed her with performance capabilities that ensured she would never lose, no matter the circumstances.
"For Jin, those upgrades weren't just about having her protect him; they were a testament to his desire to protect Reiko-chan, even as she protected him."
"..."
"That is why Reiko-chan is strong. Her strength isn't just about her individual specs; it's the strength of their bond."
"I think... I'm starting to understand."
Rubina fell back into contemplation. However, her expression was no longer one of distress. Instead, a faint smile played upon her lips.
Seeing this, Sion quietly slipped away from the scene.
Among the competitors, only Shu Nidou and Natalia possessed automata or golems that had once belonged to the First Class Jin Family.
As for Shu...
"Hmm, I suppose a girl-type is the way to go after all."
He was finalizing his basic configuration before a mountain of raw materials.
"Will she be... my second cousin, I wonder?" Edgar asked.
"I guess so. For you, Edgar, she'd be a distant relative."
Edgar had been created by Elsa, Jin's beloved wife from four hundred years ago. Later, Jin had collaborated on improving him, which effectively made Jin and Elsa his "parents."
"This time, I'm going to create an automata that I'm truly satisfied with."
Having settled on his general concept, Shu reached out for the materials.
Meanwhile, Natalia—who owned the trio of Arrow, Alco, and Veil—was also hard at work.
"Examining her like this makes me realize all over again how incredible Jin-sama is..."
Natalia let out a soft sigh as she performed a disassembly inspection while maintaining Arrow.
"I don't know how close I can get to his level, but..."
Since she was a young girl, Natalia had listened to Arrow's stories about the Golem Boat Race, where her ancestor Marcia had competed alongside Jin and Reiko. She had admired them for as long as she could remember.
That admiration had driven her to focus on shipbuilding as she grew older, but since participating in the Magi Craft King/Queen Championship organized by Jin, she had rediscovered the pure joy of making things.
"Crafting while having fun—I think that's the most important thing. Don't you agree, Arrow?"
When she posed the question to the rebooted Arrow, the machine replied:
"Yes, Natalia-sama. Jin-sama always, without exception, enjoyed the act of crafting."
"You're right. Alright, let's do our best!"
Of course, even those who did not "yet" inherit an automata or golem had spent their lives watching them.
Sireen Eschenbach, as a member of the Eschenbach lineage, had grown up watching the automata Aaru. Werner Randol had been raised in the presence of Schwarzritter, the traditional golem of House Randol.
Furthermore, Greena Kuzuma had been cared for by the automata Neon since she was an infant.
Even for those whose immediate families didn't own one, many had seen them in the homes of relatives.
Ultimately, opportunities to witness the automata and golems created by Jin and his companions were numerous, and almost everyone harbored a degree of admiration or a desire to own one themselves.
For these people, the automata competition was the perfect stage to express that long-held yearning. Consequently, every participant was immersed in their work with absolute, unwavering devotion.
"As I thought, the main material has to be light silver... no, 64 light silver."
"I need to be extremely selective with the muscle materials."
"Jin-sama uses adamantite coating on the joints. I'll use that as a reference."
Each competitor was exercising their own ingenuity.
Among them, Rubina was employing a particularly novel approach.
"X-1, help me with this."
"Yes, Rubina-sama."
Rubina had first constructed an assistant golem to help with her tasks. Her reasoning was as follows:
"The control core is the most important part. It seems best to spend as much time as possible 'growing' it. That means I should build a temporary vessel early on and slowly bring it closer to the final form."
She had arrived at this idea after hearing Sion's words about Reiko being the automata who had been with Jin for the longest time.
"X-1, once this is finished, this will become your new body."
"Yes. I am looking forward to it."
In other words, even if the timeframe was short, she intended to keep the control core consistent and upgrade the body as she went, just as Jin had done with Reiko.
"Now, it's finally time for the finish!"
The light in Rubina's eyes was so bright that her previous worries seemed like a distant memory.
"Hanako, how are you feeling?"
"I feel very good, Marikka-sama. Thank you very much."
Marikka had been maintaining and upgrading Hanako, the automata she had originally built out of admiration for Reiko.
"I've poured everything I'm currently capable of into you. Please spend the time until the competition getting used to your new body."
"Yes, I understand."
"Hmm, if I do this here like this..."
Lordtoss, too, was struggling day and night to create his own supreme automata.
Twenty-five days remained until the automata competition.