Having heard that Mine and Elsa were going to hold study sessions, Jin jumped to Hourai Island that night. He brought Elsa along this time as well. Reiko, of course, went with them.
Since he had installed a small Warp Gate in the basement of his new home, he did not need to go all the way to the shelter anymore, which made things far more convenient.
"Welcome back, Master."
Managing the Warp Gate Room was the butler golem commissioned just the day before, Butler 1.
He was based on an adult male-type SP golem from the Secret Mobile Unit, but his output had been tuned slightly higher than a standard SP so he could double as security.
On top of that, he was scheduled to handle various administrative duties around Hourai Island.
『Welcome back, My Lord.』
Hourai Island's brain, Laojun, also greeted Jin.
"Yeah, I'm back. Laojun, right off the bat, could you prepare some cloth woven from ground spider silk?"
『Understood. How much would you like me to prepare?』
"Let's see... If it's woven at a width of one meter, having a length of about five meters should do."
『Understood. I will have it brought over immediately.』
With that arranged, Jin headed to the workshop, where the domestic golem maid Perido 17 had already delivered the cloth.
"Ah, thank you for your hard work."
When Jin thanked her, Perido 17 bowed politely and took her leave.
"Father, what will you be making with the ground spider cloth?"
Reiko, Jin's foremost assistant, asked.
"Hm? I'm going to take advantage of the properties of ground spider silk cloth to make a whiteboard."
Jin answered.
"A whiteboard... I see."
Reiko understood immediately, but Elsa stood there with a giant question mark practically written across her face. Sensing her confusion, Jin began to explain.
"Elsa, a whiteboard is a board used back in my world for teachers to write explanations and notes when instructing students in school."
Blackboards were actually far more common back then, but bringing that up would only complicate the explanation, so he stuck with whiteboards for now.
"Ground spider silk doesn't pick up stains or dirt easily. In fact, Reiko's clothes are made entirely out of it."
Having heard that much, Elsa seemed to grasp the concept and nodded firmly.
"I understand. You write letters on it to explain things. And since it doesn't get dirty, wiping it lightly will erase what was written."
"Spot on."
Elsa was quick on the uptake.
"That's right. If you mount this onto a board, it becomes a whiteboard for the teacher. If you cut it into smaller pieces, the children can use them to practice writing."
"Understood completely. Very convenient."
"Working with the material is still beyond your skill level, Elsa, so just watch how we do it for now....Reiko, let's begin."
"Understood."
And so, Jin and Reiko divided the labor and got to work. Ground spider silk could not be worked with ordinary tools; it required implements made of adamantite or the use of magi-craft.
Jin and Reiko quickly shaped the material with magi-craft, producing one blackboard-sized piece and twenty-seven 30-centimeter square boards.
"Amazing. Will I be able to do that someday too?"
Watching with sparkling eyes, Elsa asked Jin. Jin gave her a reassuring smile.
"Yeah, I'll teach you."
"Mm. I look forward to it."
All that remained were the pens and ink.
Pens existed in this world, but they were quills. He considered making them out of metal, but plain steel would quickly wear down against cloth woven from ground spider silk. Taking weight into consideration as well, he decided to craft them from 64 light silver.
To ensure they could easily be repaired with magi-craft whenever they wore down, he made the entire shaft out of the same material. They were rigid dip pens known as spoon pens. Their relatively simple design made them easy to fashion.
"Why don't you give this one a try, Elsa?"
Handing her a sample along with the necessary amount of 64 light silver, Jin encouraged her to try.
"Mm. 'Forming.'"
The 64 light silver shifted its shape and...
"...Difficult."
It froze in an awkward, distorted state.
"Like I told you before, it's all about the mental image. It might help if you close your eyes and clearly picture the shape of what you want to make before casting."
"Mm. Understood. 'Forming.'"
This time, the result was considerably better, though it was still a bit lopsided.
"Oh, that's much better. Just a little more."
"Mm. I'll do my best."
Elsa practiced again and again. On her tenth-or-so attempt, she finally completed a perfectly usable pen.
"Oh, this will do nicely. Well done."
When Jin praised her, Elsa smiled with genuine delight. Lately, she had become noticeably more expressive.
Next was the ink. Any colored water would have technically worked, but since the Mermaid Squad had recently discovered a fish—or rather, a mollusk—that looked identical to a squid, he decided to use its ink.
It might fade over time, but for practice slates, that was perfectly fine.
Finally, he needed to make a marker for Mine—or rather, for the teacher.
Fashioning light silver into a tube, he tapered the tip and fitted in a nib made of densely felted ground spider silk. Then, filling the body with ink and sealing it with magi-craft, it would be complete.
Or so he thought, until ink came gushing out of the nib. As expected, it needed a cotton-like reservoir inside to hold the ink properly.
Starting over, Jin stuffed the interior with fluffy, cotton-like ground spider silk, successfully preventing the ink from leaking out.
"All right, looks like a success this time."
With the writing utensils all prepared, Jin had Reiko bundle everything into a single package to carry.
『My Lord, I have one final report.』
"Hm, what is it?"
『The aircraft carrier is complete. It is the first vessel, the Hotaka.』
"Oh, that's great news."
『As for the reason completion was delayed, it was due to a process of trial, error, and subsequent modifications.』
Considering Hourai Island's capabilities—having once built an entire submersible base in a single day—taking more than ten days was, in a sense, extraordinarily slow.
Though as usual, there was nobody around to point out the sheer absurdity of that baseline.
『A two-tier deck structure proved ineffective, as it actually increased the time required for landings. Since we can utilize Warp Gates, the number of aircraft stationed on the carrier itself only needs to be minimal.』
Laojun continued its explanation.
『Arranging the flight deck at an angle relative to the ship's centerline proved far more efficient for both launches and landings.』
This was a concept known in practice as an angled flight deck, but since Jin had never known about it, Laojun had arrived at the design entirely through its own calculations.
『The armaments are installed as per your instructions. Various other minor improvements and adjustments have also been applied. Now that the first ship is complete, the second and third vessels should be finished shortly.』
"Understood. Good work. Keep up the progress."
『Yes, by your will.』
By the time they wrapped up their errands, it was nearly midnight.
"Well, so we don't end up sleep-deprived tomorrow, we'd better get to bed soon. Let's head back to Kaina Village....I'll explain all about the aircraft carrier later."
"Mm, Jin-nii."
Stepping out of the Warp Gate in the basement, it was only 9:00 PM by Kaina Village time, and the entire village was fast asleep.
Elsa slipped quietly back into Martha's house so as not to wake Martha, Mine, or Hanna, while Jin headed to his newly built bedroom.
And then it hit him.
"There's no futon."
He had completely forgotten to prepare bedding.
"Father, I will fetch one from the Mansion."
Reiko turned on her heel and jumped back to Hourai Island through the Warp Gate, returning only a few minutes later.
A fresh mattress, a comforter, and a pillow. With these in hand, he could finally turn in for the night.
"Good night, Reiko."
"Good night, Father."
And so, the quiet night deepened.
＊ ＊ ＊
Once Jin was asleep, Reiko—who had no need for sleep herself—settled into her daily routine of consulting with Laojun on various matters via her built-in manacam.
『I received the scheduled transmission from Reinhard-san today as well. There appear to be no major developments, but he remains stuck in Astan.』
"The Celuroa Kingdom had the highest proportion of brainwashed cabinet ministers, after all. Their government functions must be struggling to recover."
Across the continent, various nations were currently in disarray following the effective collapse of Unifilar and the sudden loss of its hidden influence.
The most chaotic by far was the Celuroa Kingdom, where fully three-quarters of the cabinet ministers had served as Unifilar's puppets.
The roster of brainwashed officials had already been leaked to the respective authorities via Quinta, but the responses varied wildly from country to country.
『In the Kingdom of Egerea, they appear to be testing the brainwash-dispelling magic, Shock.』
Information continued to flow in to Laojun through Quinta.
『The Klein Kingdom is doing the same. Countries with an insufficient absolute number of nobles—or rather, capable leadership figures—seem to be having a particularly difficult time.』
"And what about the Kingdom of Franz?"
『Over there, they are simply chopping off heads. Ah, not literally, mind you. I mean they are summarily stripping them of their posts.』
"I know that much, Laojun. The Kingdom of Franz is relatively small, so they can probably manage things that way."
『Indeed. The one truly struggling is the Celuroa Kingdom. They are attempting to purge and replace personnel in the exact same manner, but because the numbers are so overwhelming, countless administrative departments have ground to a total halt.』
"Which is why Reinhard-san cannot depart yet."
『It would seem so. The military sector appears to be suffering the worst of the confusion.』
＊ ＊ ＊
At the Unifilar headquarters, where the repaired and modified Elena had been dispatched by Jin, Chairman Jules and Donald were working together to plan the complete restructuring of their organization.
"Say, Donald... what on earth were we doing all this time?"
"Truly. We were so blinded and shackled by our yearning for the past that we committed unforgivable acts."
"When Elena told me that taking responsibility means neither dying nor stepping down, it hit me like a revelation. To simply give up is nothing more than running away."
A clear voice like a ringing bell joined their exchange.
"Yes, that is correct, My Lord. Bringing an end to this turmoil and actively contributing to the world is the only true way to take responsibility. I shall assist you with every ounce of my strength as well."
"Ah, having you with us, Elena, is as good as having a hundred men."
Aside from Jin, no one in the world knew the exact location of the Unifilar headquarters. Because of this, Jules and Donald were able to operate in total secrecy for the time being.
And so, they resolved to dedicate the remainder of their lives to restructuring Unifilar from the ground up, transforming it into an organization capable of bettering the world.
This development had already been relayed to Laojun through Elena, and with Jin's tacit approval, Laojun would provide whatever covert assistance it could within reasonable bounds.
"With that in mind, as a symbol of our new beginning, I was thinking of discarding the name 'Unifilar' and renaming ourselves 'Nostalgia.'"
"Nostalgia, is it? That has a fine ring to it."
"Yes, I think it sounds wonderful."