July 27.
While the rest of the world was in the height of summer, Hourai Island was likewise experiencing sweltering heat.
Day after day, Marcia took the Hydro, Stream, and Shark out on the water, conducting research on their hulls.
The other members of the Jin Family were enjoying themselves as well, playing in the sea or climbing Mount Hourai.
"Come to think of it, it's winter on Onogoro Island, isn't it...?"
Onogoro Island sat on the opposite side of Planet Ars. Being located in the Southern Hemisphere, it was naturally winter there right now.
That said, its latitude made it subtropical, so it was hardly cold.
As Jin pondered this, a thought suddenly struck him.
"I should probably take Marikka with me..."
Testa was the former Supervising Brain and current management magi-brain of Onogoro Island.
It had sworn its loyalty exclusively to Marikka.
Don't tell me it went berserk after Marikka passed away...?
No messages had arrived from Onogoro Island, so Jin wanted to believe that wasn't the case.
"Or rather, the fact that Laojun hasn't brought anything up means there isn't a problem, right...?"
Jin panicked all by himself before quickly talking himself down.
In the first place, Testa had functioned without a master for a very long time, so Jin figured it wouldn't easily succumb to Master Loss Syndrome.
Even so, just in case, he felt he ought to visit Onogoro Island without delay. Naturally, with Marikka by his side.
With that decided, he figured he would consult Marikka first.
"Laojun, where is Marikka right now?"
"Yes, My Lord. Marikka-sama is currently hiking on Mount Hourai."
Thanks to the Fellowship Bracelets, Laojun could easily pinpoint the location of any Jin Family member.
"I see, Mount Hourai... Must be nice and cool up there."
"Indeed. Near an altitude of 2,000 meters, the high temperature is around 24 degrees Celsius."
On Planet Ars as well, the temperature dropped by roughly 0.6 degrees for every 100 meters gained in elevation.
If the laboratory at an altitude of 1,000 meters sat at 30 degrees Celsius, then the 2,000-meter mark would be around 24 degrees.
Taking advantage of the cooler climate at 2,000 meters, they even cultivated crops that favored lower temperatures up there.
Setting that aside for now, Jin decided to go fetch Marikka and enjoy the cool air while he was at it.
"Reiko, what's the best way to get up there?"
"Let's see. At around 2,000 meters, altitude sickness should not be a concern, so allow me to carry you."
In other words, Reiko would hold Jin and fly up using a force generator.
"That'd probably be the quickest way."
Taking an aircraft felt a bit excessive, so Jin readily agreed.
"Yeah... Eventually, it might be nice to build a personal flight unit just for use on Hourai Island and Planet Hehl."
Since Jin was a Duplicate, no amount of training would increase his muscle mass. Conversely, that also meant his physical strength wouldn't deteriorate even if he slacked off.
The same held true for homunculi. Their physical stats would never deviate from their initial settings.
"Well, that's a project for another day....All right, Reiko, lead the way."
"Understood."
Held securely from behind by Reiko, Jin took off from the laboratory. Their destination was the peak towering over the center of Hourai Island: Mount Hourai.
"There are a lot of shrubs around here."
The southwestern slope of Mount Hourai was rocky and barren of natural vegetation, so they had cultivated the area into farmland.
"Doesn't look like she's here."
Cruising about ten meters above the mountainside, Jin circled Mount Hourai, but Marikka was nowhere in sight.
"Father, if we have Laojun check her coordinates, we can locate her immediately, you know?"
"Only if we can't spot her after searching a bit longer," Jin replied. Truth be told, he simply wanted to enjoy the novelty of soaring through the open air.
"Ah, could that be them over there?"
Spotting figures on the eastern slope of Mount Hourai, Jin headed in their direction. As they drew closer, he saw that it was indeed Marikka, Milowina, Hanako, and Topaz 51 and 52.
"Heeey!"
Worrying that landing abruptly in front of them might startle the group, Jin called out from above.
"?"
At first, Marikka and Milowina looked around in confusion, unsure where the voice was coming from, but the Topaz units spotted Jin and Reiko and waved.
"Ah... Up in the sky. It's Jin-san."
Milowina looked up and waved back, followed closely by Marikka.
Jin and Reiko touched down gently on the slope.
"Hey there, Marikka, Milowina."
"J-Jin-shama, is something the matter?"
Even after undergoing homunculus transformation, Marikka's habit of tripping over her words whenever she was flustered remained completely intact.
"Well, there was something I wanted to run by you, Marikka....Plus, it was pretty hot down below today, so I figured I'd come up to cool off." Jin gave a light chuckle.
"So that's why you came in person instead of calling through the bracelet, Jin-san," Milowina teased with a smile.
"That's pretty much it....Anyway, what I wanted to ask Marikka about..."
"Yes?"
"...is Testa back on Onogoro Island."
Jin explained that Testa only knew Marikka had passed away, and had no way of knowing she had been revived as a homunculus.
"I got a little worried about leaving things as they are."
"That is a valid concern. Toward the end of my life, I repeatedly instructed Testa to protect Onogoro Island and its people, but..."
"Right. Still, seeing how Hanako fell into Master Loss Syndrome, I was worried Testa might become unstable too..."
Marikka gave an understanding nod.
"I share your concern, Jin-sama. In that case, let us head to Onogoro Island at once."
"Are you sure?" Jin asked, glancing between Marikka and Milowina.
"Yes, of course."
"Go right ahead," Milowina chimed in. "We have all the time in the world now, after all."
With both of them on board, Jin decided to use a transporter to return to the laboratory without delay.
A transporter was a magi-device designed to teleport its user to a set destination.
While it lacked the extreme range of a Warp Gate, traversing distances of ten-odd kilometers was well within its limits.
Though meant primarily for emergency evacuations, they decided to take advantage of it to get back down the mountain quickly.
Every golem and automaton on Hourai Island was currently equipped with one.
However, since a unit could only transport itself plus one or two passengers, Reiko took Jin, Topaz 51 took Marikka and Hanako, and Topaz 52 accompanied Milowina.
In the blink of an eye, the group materialized back inside the laboratory.
Milowina retired to her quarters, while Jin and Marikka began making preparations for their journey to Onogoro Island.
That said, there wasn't much to prepare beyond changing clothes and gathering a few personal belongings.
Having gotten a bit dusty from her hike on Mount Hourai, Marikka took a quick shower before changing into fresh attire.
An hour later, Jin, Marikka, Reiko, and Hanako stepped into the Warp Gate bound for Onogoro Island.
Routing through the safety relay base Shinkai, they set foot on Onogoro Island's soil in less than a minute.
"All right, let's head out."
"Yes, Jin-sama."
With their objective clear, Jin and the others set off to reunite Testa with Marikka.