The golem Jin and his team were building was nearly ninety percent finished when Laojun's voice chimed in.
"My Lord, it is almost five o'clock in the afternoon."
"Oh, is it that time already?"
"The time just flew by, didn't it?"
Jin stretched his arms over his head.
"Hmm, it would be finished with one more hour of work, but... well, it can't be helped."
He shifted gears and decided to call it a day. Marikka, Rubina, Greena, and Freddie all let out long, relieved sighs; they were clearly exhausted.
After washing away their fatigue with a long soak in the bath, they sat down for dinner. The menu featured a Japanese-style set meal, and everyone savored every bite.
"Freddie, how was your day?"
"Yes, it was very productive. How about you, Grandmother?"
"Laozi and the others were kind enough to show me around the island."
Indeed, Eris had been escorted across the reaches of Hourai Island by Laozi, Soleil, and Luna.
"I even climbed halfway up Mount Hourai. The scenery was breathtaking."
Since Eris had spent so long suffering from a heart condition, she was overjoyed to finally do the things she had previously been denied.
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Grandmother."
Seeing Eris so happy brought a smile to Freddie’s face as well.
(It’s good to see Hourai Island filled with smiles like this...)
Watching them, Jin found himself thinking back on the island's earlier days.
The next morning, Jin, Marikka, Rubina, Greena, and Freddie headed to the workshop immediately after breakfast. Eris followed along as well.
"Alright, let's get this finished."
Jin was brimming with motivation.
"Yes, sir!"
The other four were just as eager. The remaining tasks were attaching the exterior plating and then performing the test run. Since the plating was already complete, it was simply a matter of making fine adjustments as they assembled the pieces.
"Alright, Freddie, you give it a try. Greena, support him."
"Y-Yes, sir."
Jin gave his instructions and stepped back to watch over them.
"Let's see... I think this piece goes here?"
Since the exterior was essentially structured like a suit of full-body armor, the assembly was fairly intuitive.
"Oh, wait, you have that on the wrong side."
"Huh? Oh, you're right... T-Thank you."
"Y-You're welcome."
Though the two were a bit awkward at first, they found their rhythm as the assembly progressed.
"Here, this is the right arm."
"Thanks....So I just fit it like this?"
"That's it. Okay, now the left arm."
"Got it."
They began to work together in perfect harmony.
"My, to think that boy would be working so well with a girl..." Eris murmured softly from where she stood watching.
Jin didn't miss her comment. He approached her quietly and asked in a low voice, "Eris-san, is that unusual for him?"
"Yes, it is," Eris replied, matching his volume. "Because of his Magi Craft Meister bloodline, he was pampered when he was a child. He was constantly hounded by self-proclaimed or family-recommended fiancées."
"I see..."
Certainly, perhaps owing to his Randol heritage, Freddie was quite handsome; it was easy to see why he would be popular.
"But the moment they realized he had no talent for magi-craft, everyone changed their tune and turned their backs on him."
"Ah..."
Jin felt he finally understood why Freddie might have become so distrustful of people—and women in particular.
"Okay, this is the last one."
"Thank you."
While Jin and Eris watched, Freddie and Greena finished attaching the golem's exterior.
"Ngh... it's a bit stiff."
"When that happens, you adjust the fit with Forming."
"I see, I'll try it. Forming!"
"Yes, exactly like that. You're quite good at this."
"Jin-sama made me practice it until I could do it in my sleep."
With that, the plating was complete.
"Greena-san, could you check it for me?"
Freddie showed the humility to ask Greena, whose skills were superior to his own, to verify the work.
"Understood....Inspection."
Since the magi-circuits were integrated into the exterior as well, an Inspection could reveal almost everything about the golem's state.
"It looks perfect."
"Thank you....Jin-sama, we're finished."
By then, Jin had stepped away from Eris and returned to the golem.
"Yes, you pass. Well done."
Both of them beamed with joy at his praise.
"Now for the final Finish. Since this is an official offering, I'll handle this last part."
This wasn't just because he was more technically skilled, but because he was the one ultimately responsible for the project. Jin went over the surface for the final Finish and Toughening, meticulously adjusting the tolerances of every joint.
"That's it. Laojun, transfer the motion sequence."
"Yes, My Lord....Trans Info... Complete."
"Thanks. Now to tweak the parameters... Overwrite... Overwrite... and Overwrite."
Jin rewrote several parameters. This placed a limiter on the golem's output, ensuring it would only exert its strength within a safe, reasonable range.
"There we go. Shall we try a test run?...Let's see, Greena, why don't you act as the temporary Master?"
Greena was taken aback by Jin’s sudden request.
"M-Me!?"
"Yes. I'll Erase the data before we present the offering anyway, so don't worry about it."
"U-Understood....Master-Slave Magic. Priority one: myself. Priority two: Jin-sama. Priority three... Freddie."
(Hmm?)
Jin understood why she set him as second, but he wondered about the feelings that prompted her to place Freddie third.
(Well, that's between them, I suppose...)
Greena proceeded to set Marikka as fourth, Rubina as fifth, and Eris as sixth. Finally, she began the startup sequence.
"Ether converter, check. Mana driver, check. Emergency mana tank, fully charged."
As a side note, this golem did not run on the Hourai Island standard magi-reactor; instead, it utilized the previous generation's technology: the ether converter and mana driver. Even so, it was cutting-edge for the current era.
Furthermore, pre-filling the emergency mana tank with mana served to reduce the time lag between activation and the first movement. When Jin had first built Reiko, there had been a noticeable delay because the ether converter needed time to accumulate enough mana, and that mana then needed time to permeate and settle into every part of her body.
But that was a story for another time.
Now, at last, the new magic-frame style golem was about to wake up.