The time for the question-and-answer session arrived.
Questions were to be asked from the floor, and the addressed speaker on stage would answer.
Jin and the others sat in chairs arranged on the stage, waiting for the first inquiries.
"We will now begin the question-and-answer session. If you have a question, please raise your hand. You will be called on by your seat number. Please, go ahead."
More than a quarter of the attendees raised their hands.
"All right, the person in seat 467, please."
"Yes. I have a question for Jin-sensei. Regarding alloys as materials, are there any tips or key principles when developing a new one?"
Jin replied:
"Unfortunately, at present, there is no definitive silver bullet. There is no alternative to searching for the optimal compounding ratio through steady trial and error. However, what shortens that process are the magi-craft spells 'Alloying' and 'Add.' When developing alloys, I recommend including a magi-engineer on your team who can cast both."
"Thank you very much."
Hands were invited once again.
"Yes, the person in seat 122, please."
"Yes. I would like to ask Marikka-sensei a question. Regarding the 'standardization of golems,' I believe it is unequivocally inefficient for each nation to develop them separately. However, if every country adopts the same model and shares data through a common 'terminal,' that introduces the risk of confidential leaks. What are your thoughts on that matter?"
The person asking this was not a student, but appeared to be a young cabinet minister from one of the represented nations.
"Allow me to answer. What is shared through the 'terminal' is strictly movement data alone; it will be essential to ensure that knowledge itself cannot be accessed or altered. Furthermore, regarding the risk of someone intentionally inputting corrupted or malicious data, measures such as outfitting the 'terminal' with its own evaluation and filtering functions will likely be necessary."
"That completely satisfies my concern. Thank you very much."
Watching how smoothly the moderation was handled, Jin wondered how the questioners were being chosen so quickly, when—
(Father, it seems she is selecting whoever raises their hand first,)
Reiko informed him mentally.
(The one making the selections appears to be Manon-san.)
(Ah, just as I thought.)
Displaying that level of reaction speed and situational judgment was truly no ordinary feat.
While he was reflecting on that, the next questioner had already been chosen.
"Next, seat number 985, please."
"Yes....I have a question for Freddie-san."
"Huh, me?!"
Freddie looked visibly startled at hearing his name called.
"...You gave an explanation on magi-resin earlier, but could you tell us what specific tests you conducted to assess its properties?"
"Y-Yes. Um, regarding the properties required of magi-resin, right? First, you test to verify those. In other words, physical properties like specific gravity, tensile strength, shearing strength, melting point, and boiling point, as well as magical properties like mana reaction speed, mana contracting force, and mana contraction rate."
Flustered as he was, his delivery stumbled slightly, but there were no flaws in the actual content, and the questioner nodded in satisfaction.
"Thank you very much."
"Seat 771, please."
"Yes. I would like to ask Rubina-san a question. Earlier, you shared one ingenious modification. I am well aware this may be an audacious request, but could you please share just one more detail with us? Specifically, how did you improve the reaction speed of the magi-resin?"
Rubina glanced toward Jin.
Jin instantly understood what the look meant: she was asking for permission to share that technique.
Jin gave a slight nod. With that approval, Rubina stood up and stepped before the microphone—a sound-gathering magi-device known as a voice capacitor.
"Allow me to answer. We designed the skeleton to double as the magi-circuits. By the way, the person who came up with this idea was Freddie."
At that revelation, appreciative murmurs and gasps rippled through the auditorium. The audience was visibly struck by the realization: We never thought of that.
"Incredible! Is that how you did it? Thank you very much!"
(She really didn't have to bring up my name...)
Freddie thought to himself, shrinking slightly.
"Seat 12, please."
"Yes, I would like to ask Jin-sensei. How should one go about studying the 'Adriana-style'? This might diverge slightly from the main theme of today's lecture, but I would truly love to hear your advice."
(Hmm, how should I handle this...?)
Jin stepped up to the microphone, turning over potential answers in his mind.
"Allow me to answer. It would not be an exaggeration to say that, at present, applications of the 'Adriana-style' are essentially limited to high-precision automata. Furthermore, the engineers capable of crafting them are exceedingly few. I can only say that finding such an artisan and apprenticing under them is the quickest path."
"Could you tell us the names of those individuals?"
The questioner pressed on eagerly.
"I cannot answer that here. At this present moment, it is uncertain whether such masters intend to take on pupils, and I cannot cause trouble for them. Please understand."
That was the only answer Jin could reasonably offer under the circumstances.
"I... understand. Thank you very much."
"Seat 390, please."
"Yes, I have a question for Marikka-sensei. I understand the advantages of sharing movement and control data via 'terminals.' However, looking at it from another angle, wouldn't that make developing entirely new models more difficult?"
"Allow me to answer. The architecture of control data must be designed with succession in mind. In other words, it should be built so that at least three generations of upgrades can be accommodated purely by adjusting parameters."
"...What do you mean by that?"
The questioner seemed unable to grasp the concept Marikka had laid out.
"Pardon me, that was perhaps too abstract. To borrow the 'Type 1' phrasing used earlier, I believe an ideal control architecture is one where 'Type 1,' 'Type 1 Custom,' 'Type 1 Custom 2,' and 'Type 1 Custom 3' can all be managed through simple parameter recalibration."
The logic was that such a grace period would afford the next generation ample time for dedicated research and development.
"If I may add, by the time that cycle runs its course, I would hope—no, I believe it is only proper—that an even more advanced system than 'terminals' will have been developed."
This time, the questioner nodded in clear comprehension. Indeed, once five years passed, entirely new paradigms ought to emerge—a sentiment Jin completely agreed with.
"...Thank you very much."
In this manner, questions and answers continued in steady succession.
"Now then, our time is drawing to a close. We will conclude the session with one final question....Seat 56, please."
"Yes....A question for Greena-san. Could you tell us if there are any specific drawbacks inherent to biological materials?"
"Drawbacks, you ask...? That would inevitably be the fact that quality is never entirely uniform. Individual differences among the creatures spinning the silk, environmental variations, regional differences in production—there are many contributing factors. However, as long as you account for those variances and quantify the traits with parameters, I believe they can be compensated for even when sharing data across 'terminals.'"
For instance, if the baseline reaction speed was set to 100, one could slightly delay processing for material testing at 110, while relying on software processing to make up for material at 90. That was the explanation Greena laid out.
"Naturally, an acceptable lower tolerance must be established, and if that threshold is set too low, the overall performance of the entire model line will suffer, so caution is essential. However, I believe that is simply the reality of mass production."
One should never judge mass-manufactured goods by the same standards as high-performance, one-of-a-kind custom builds, Greena concluded.
"I see. That makes perfect sense."
"Now then, since our scheduled time has expired, today's special lecture is officially concluded. Thank you all for your attendance. Please do not push, and exit the auditorium in an orderly fashion."
"Whew, it's finally over."
"Jin-sama, thank you for your hard work."
"Good job, everyone. How did it feel?"
Back in the dressing room, Jin and his group lingered behind, intending to take their time and leave after the crowds cleared.
"I was so nervous."
"Me too."
"Same here."
All three of the younger disciples gave the exact same answer. No surprise there, Jin thought with a wry smile.
"It would be far stranger if you were already accustomed to stages like this at your age. Aside from the nerves, what did you think?"
"It was... surprisingly fun, I think?"
Rubina was the first to speak up.
"Yes. How should I put it... passionate people? Fellow engineers?...Interacting with people like that wasn't bad at all."
Greena agreed.
Having grown up within the closed world of Onogoro Island, both of them found the open exchange quite refreshing.
"...After all the training Jin-sama gave me, I felt like I've finally earned a humble place among real engineers."
Freddie was the last to answer.
"...There were a few familiar faces in the audience, too."
"Is that so? Well, that's bound to happen."
It was hardly surprising that engineers who had once studied alongside him might attend.
"Back then, I couldn't hold a candle to them, and I carried such a deep inferiority complex. But today..."
"And today?"
"I didn't feel anything like that. Just thought, Oh, there's someone I recognize, and that was it."
"I see. That's a good sign."
Without remaining shackled to the past, keeping one's eyes on a broader future while devoting oneself to the present was the path forward, Jin thought, smiling warmly at them.