On August 2, Marikka appeared to have made a smooth debut on Onogoro Island.
"It was an overwhelming welcome..."
Having returned to Hourai Island, Marikka wore an exhausted look on her face.
"Yeah, I was watching on the monitor."
Every last resident of Onogoro Island had embraced the rejuvenated Marikka, welcoming her with joyous cheers.
"Everyone welcomed you with open arms, didn't they?"
When Laojun conducted an opinion poll, not a single soul had rejected Marikka.
"I am truly grateful for that."
It was no exaggeration to say that Onogoro Island was united under Marikka's name. That fact had now been proven beyond doubt.
"Well, now that things on Onogoro Island have settled down, next up is Saki," Jin murmured over lunch in the laboratory's dining hall.
Saki looked up at his words.
"Eh? Something about me?"
"What I mentioned the other day. About relocating your childhood home, Saki."
"Ah, you did say that."
"Laojun has already arranged the replacement duplication. All that's left is deciding where to put it."
"Kufu, that's true."
Hourai Island, or Planet Hehl? Even the Moon was an option.
"...Reinhard, if you were to relocate Rankenhaus, where would you put it?"
At a loss, Saki turned to Reinhard for advice.
"Hmm, let's see. I suppose Hourai Island after all."
"I see....Jin, let's go with Hourai Island, please."
"Understood."
Saki made up her mind without hesitation.
With that settled, Jin issued instructions to Laojun.
"Next is the exact spot. Is near the laboratory all right?"
"Yeah, that sounds great."
Saki's father, Toa, and his second wife, Stearena, lived in Stearena's house, which Jin had previously relocated.
The plan was to move Saki's childhood home close to them.
As for the method, the Smith squad would dismantle the building, transport the components through a Warp Gate, and reassemble it on-site.
The chosen location was the flatland south of the laboratory.
Close to the laboratory stood Jin's House, and roughly two hundred meters away from it stood Stearena's house.
Because hinoki and cedar trees had been planted on the north side like a natural screen, the house could not be seen from the laboratory.
The plan was to place Saki's childhood home about a hundred meters further south from there.
"Recreate the terrain's natural contours within a fifty-meter radius around the house as well."
"Understood."
Jin wanted to make the surroundings as faithful to Saki's original environment as possible.
However, the tricky part was the vegetation. While the original home stood in a cool temperate zone, Hourai Island was subtropical.
"Kufu, as long as the trees look similar, it's fine by me," Saki offered generously, but Jin remained determined to make it as close to the original as possible.
As he pondered this, Laojun chimed in.
"In that case, My Lord, rather than the 'present day', I recommend matching the vegetation found in Lady Saki's memories."
"Ah, good point. After all, three hundred and fifty years have passed since Saki lived there."
"Precisely."
Conveniently, Saki's memories had been preserved in Laojun's library as a backup.
Using that data as a blueprint, Laojun set about planting trees and transplanting grasses.
That same night—local time in the Shouro Empire, that is.
After casting a soundproofing barrier around the area, one hundred Smith units sprang into action to dismantle Saki's childhood home.
Making full use of magi-craft, the structure transformed before their eyes in no time at all.
The dismantled materials were sent to Hourai Island via Warp Gate. For this operation alone, direct transport was enabled without routing through Shinkai.
Thanks to their efficiency, just ten minutes after starting, Saki's childhood home had vanished completely.
At that exact same moment, two hundred Smith units were working at a furious pace on Hourai Island.
One hundred of them fabricated replacement parts identical in every detail to the incoming materials and shipped them back through the gate.
Through this process, an exact replica of Saki's house rose upon the original site.
Meanwhile, the other hundred units were naturally tasked with reconstructing Saki's authentic home on Hourai Island.
"Yeah, they're doing a fantastic job."
"Kufu, it leaves me utterly speechless."
Jin and Saki watched the entire operation unfold on-site.
"Still, to think your home was preserved so well after all this time."
"Yeah, I'm amazed too."
A house left uninhabited usually falls into ruin.
It often becomes a haven for wild animals, vagrants, or even criminals.
Yet Saki's childhood home had suffered no such fate, having been meticulously maintained for 350 years.
All thanks to the golems dispatched by Laojun.
These golems possessed capabilities on par with a Smith, tasked solely with keeping the interior pristine. There were three of them in all.
Performing maintenance on one another, they had quietly fulfilled their duty across three and a half centuries.
"Maybe I should give them a thorough tune-up and assign them as dedicated maintenance golems for Saki's house."
"Ah, that sounds wonderful! I owe them a huge debt of gratitude!"
Even while they chatted, the house continued to come together.
Taking about thirty minutes—three times longer than the decomposition—Saki's childhood home was successfully rebuilt on Hourai Island.
"During the reassembly, I added some internal reinforcement," Jin explained.
"I'd estimate the overall durability is about two and a half times higher."
On top of that, Jin personally cast Hardening, Toughening, and Stabilize across the entire structure.
"Kufu, that's incredible!"
"Take a look inside. If there's anything you don't like, I'll fix it right away."
"All right, let's see!"
Saki walked through the rooms together with Jin.
"Ah, this scratch on the pillar is from when I was little! I wanted to see if a knife could carve stone."
Saki smiled fondly over the traces of her childhood mischief.
"And these horizontal notches on the wall are where Father measured my height as I grew!"
"Ah, I remember those."
Toa, who had come by to check on the progress, narrowed his eyes in warm nostalgia.
In Japanese terms, it was just like the marks measured against a wooden pillar.
"Yeah, it's exactly as I remember it! You really are amazing, Jin!"
"Haha, hearing you say that takes a huge weight off my shoulders."
Seeing Saki in such high spirits brought a genuine smile to Jin's face.
At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy, reflecting on how the home one grew up in was truly something beyond price...
Whether aware of Jin's wistful thoughts or not, Saki continued to explore her rebuilt home with childlike delight.