When Jin asked Marcia if she needed an assistant golem, she paused in thought.
"Hmm, let me see. Honestly, I miss Arrow, Arco, and Veil....So, instead of a golem, do you think you could make me an automaton?"
Marcia explained that Arrow and the others were more than enough as assistant golems. If he was going to craft a new assistant for her, she wanted it built around a completely different concept.
"All right, you got it."
With that settled, Jin checked on her preferences regarding its appearance.
After all, Arrow, her very first assistant golem, had been crafted to look identical to Marcia herself.
"Let's see... You don't need to make it look like me. Also, I think a female-type would be best."
She added that having a male-type automaton as an assistant might feel a bit awkward.
"Understood. In that case, let's go in the same direction as Manon."
"Who's Manon?"
"Ah, you wouldn't know her, Marcia. She's the secretary automaton gifted to the Chief Administrator of Avalon. She's modeled after Anne, Loll, and Refa."
"Oh, I get it now....Yeah, that sounds good. But as for clothes, something easy to move around in would be best."
"Got it."
Having noted all of Marcia's requests, Jin immediately headed for the workshop.
It was 6:30 PM; there was still plenty of time left in the evening.
"Sounds interesting. Mind if I tag along and watch?"
Reinhard followed close behind him.
"The design base is already completed, after all."
From preliminary preparations to base assembly, the work proceeded swiftly. Because Reiko and Laojun had already prepared the materials, the rough silhouette took shape in just ten minutes.
"Faster than ever, as always."
Reinhard looked on with a mix of exasperation and genuine admiration.
"Now, since this is for Marcia, I need to make several customizations."
He imparted knowledge of precision crafting and boosted its physical strength for handling transport tasks.
He also equipped it with a high-output transporter so it could perform emergency teleportation together with an entire boat.
Although it was not built for combat, he fitted it with a Paralyzer for self-defense and a laser gun capable of instantly taking down a creature like a Bowall.
"Jin, it might be a good idea to let it use Freeze."
Reinhard, watching from the side, offered a suggestion.
"Magical beasts in the water are vulnerable to low temperatures, after all."
"Good point. Let's do that."
After that, perhaps giving it weapons like a harpoon would be enough, Jin considered.
Naturally, he was fine-tuning its systems to excel at underwater operations as well.
"Lastly, the appearance."
Jin looked toward Elsa, who had just walked in.
"Mm, leave it to me."
"Make the hair green."
"Mm."
Leaving it at that, Jin entrusted the rest to Elsa and sat down beside Reinhard.
"How are things for you and Berche, Reinhard?"
Currently, Neon was with Reinhard's descendant, Edith Kuzuma of House Kuzuma, while the Schwarzritter belonged to Stephanie Randol.
"Let's see... We don't really find it inconvenient."
"Well, if you ever needed one, Reinhard, you'd probably just build it yourself anyway."
"Well, that's true."
Still, Jin wondered about the other members of their group.
Saki was looked after by the Five-Color Golem Maids.
Hanna did not seem to experience any particular inconvenience, and the same went for Vivienne.
Beena and Stearena would likely craft their own if the need ever arose.
And Lishia hadn't had a designated servant four centuries ago either.
"...Still, the Jin Family, huh..."
Jin thought back to the companions he had met in this era.
"Maybe I should inform Lordtoss and Ludmila..."
It was a difficult dilemma.
Informing those two meant informing Sion as well. After all, Sion was undeniably a member of the Jin Family.
"...I suppose I'll have to make a decision soon."
"...Jin?"
"Ah, sorry. I'll sort through my thoughts tonight and talk it over with everyone tomorrow morning."
Reminding himself that he needed to finish Marcia's automaton first, Jin went over to help Elsa with the finishing touches.
"How does it look?"
"Mm, this is what I came up with."
"Oho."
The hair was green, tied back into a slightly long ponytail.
The facial features were Elsa's original design, bearing a subtle resemblance to Anne.
"I went with a safe, modest look."
It certainly gave that impression, Jin thought. He himself was skilled at replicating existing models, but struggled when it came to creating original faces from scratch.
"Yeah, that looks great."
Reinhard was equally impressed.
"For this kind of assistant or secretary, it's generally best not to give them too distinctive of an appearance."
A safe, unremarkable look allowed the master to stand out more, Reinhard explained.
"Well, assuming it's a noble's servant, of course."
"Good to keep in mind."
Even for commoners, when keeping a servant constantly by one's side, whether it drew more attention than its master would be a matter of preference, Jin thought.
In his own case with Reiko, he didn't mind in the slightest if she became more famous than him. But for a female owner, having a servant of the same gender outshine her might prove somewhat vexing.
As for clothing, Jin had considered giving it a jumpsuit to match Marcia's request, but Elsa objected.
If it was workwear, a shirt and overalls would be far better, she insisted.
"I can't say I really understand the difference in nuance."
Overalls were also a one-piece upper-and-lower garment, after all, and were often called jumpsuits themselves.
"Because you can add variety with the shirt underneath," Elsa explained.
Jin simply accepted it, figuring that must be how fashion logic worked.
About thirty minutes had passed up to this point.
"Now then, as for the name... let's have Marcia decide."
After Jin finished running diagnostic checks on every part of the automaton, he nodded.
"All right, let's call everyone in."
He contacted the others through his bracelet.
In less than five minutes, everyone had gathered in the workshop.
Jin and Elsa unveiled the new automaton.
"Whoa, is this my new partner?! It's exactly what I asked for, Jin!"
Marcia took an immediate liking to the automaton the moment she laid eyes on it.
"Go ahead and give her a name, Marcia."
With that, Jin woke the automaton up.
The command hierarchy had already been set with Marcia as first priority, followed by Rodrigo in second, Elsa in third, and Reinhard in fourth.
"A name, huh... Let's see... How about 'Balka'!"
The name seemed to be derived from the word for "small boat" or "skiff" in the Kingdom of Elias.
"Yes, I am Balka. Marcia-sama, I look forward to working with you."
"Yeah, likewise!"
And so, on this day, Balka became Marcia's brand-new partner.