Her figure and build had been made almost identical to her own according to Elsa's wishes, so all that remained were her hair color and length, eye color, and the like.
"Let's keep the voice the same."
On this point, Jin wanted it to have Elsa's voice. Besides, if her vocal tone were different, there was a risk of slipping up at a critical moment.
The facial features were kept the same as well. Hardly anyone knew Elsa's face—and even if someone did, it would only be people affiliated with Hourai Island. So that posed no issue. However, since records of her hair and eye colors likely remained, those needed to be changed.
"I'll make the color black. The same as Jin-nii. The eyes too."
"I see."
Just as Jin was thinking that would make them look like brother and sister, she spoke up.
"We can just say we're from the same hometown."
The backstory was childhood friends. Hence, the explanation would be that she still called him "Jin-nii."
"Doesn't sound bad."
Reinhard seemed to have no objections either.
"Besides, black hair and black eyes leave a strong impression, so it should be easy to remember."
"Yeah. Also, I was thinking of having her wear glasses, but..."
"Kufu, then she'll match me."
Saying that, Saki smiled brightly.
"That's true. Though Erna's will just be for show."
Jin replied while shaping an oval frame. The frame material was 64 light silver—in other words, titanium. The lenses were quartz glass. They carried no corrective prescription, but by making them curved rather than flat, they appeared to onlookers as though they had a slight prescription.
"Kufu, mine are just for show now too, you know?"
"Ah, that's right."
Having become a homunculus, Saki's nearsightedness had been completely cured.
Meanwhile, Elsa had finished customizing the exterior appearance.
"Mm, this looks good."
"All right, let's put the glasses on her, and... Oh, they suit her quite well."
Perhaps because the thin frames were black, they went well with the black hair and black eyes.
"Doesn't look half bad, does it?"
Reinhard's words voiced the sentiments of everyone present.
Next, they checked its operation.
"...This works great. In perfect condition."
Since she could use healing magic and magi-craft just like her real self, it looked like the body double would come in handy for experiments as well.
"The sensors inside the mouth and nose are made especially high-performance. Though they have limiters on them normally, of course," Jin said.
If the sensors were too sensitive, it would interfere with daily life.
"Mm, that's fine."
Elsa nodded in agreement.
"Ah, I got some good work done today."
Having crafted what he wanted to make, Jin was well satisfied. He soaked in the hot spring of Hourai Island, relaxing.
"Jin, a thought just crossed my mind," Reinhard said while soaking beside him.
"Hm?"
"About the general-purpose Doppels for the Jin Family that you made a little while back."
Wondering what Reinhard was getting at, Jin listened closely.
"You know how you gave them all matching features, like their skin tone?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"With those, don't you think that if two or three people travel together, they'll look far too similar even though they aren't siblings or relatives?"
"Ah."
A single one was fine on its own, but Reinhard was pointing out that it might raise questions if several people went out together.
"...Maybe we should just go ahead and make a custom one for every single person."
At Jin's suggestion, Reinhard chuckled and nodded.
"Now that sounds more like you, Jin."
Jin also ate dinner together with everyone on Hourai Island.
"...No offense to anyone else, but the food on Hourai Island really is the most delicious."
Hearing this, Soleil and Luna, who were in charge of the cooking today, beamed with smiles.
"Well, that's because they know your tastes inside and out, Jin."
Reinhard laughed.
"So, things seem to be reasonably peaceful in the Klein Kingdom right now, don't they?" Louis asked.
"Though measures against rural depopulation and redevelopment don't seem to be making much progress," Lishia remarked somewhat regretfully.
"As the population grows in those areas, won't people naturally spread out into the provinces... or is that not how it works?"
When Toa posed the question, Goose immediately shot it down.
"Father-in-law, even if the population grows, that doesn't necessarily mean people will move to the provinces. An extreme concentration into the cities is far more likely."
"Is that so?"
"Kufu, even when Father travels around, he never shows interest in anything besides alchemy, after all."
Even though both had similarly wandered through various lands, Goose seemed to have a much better grasp of the ways of the world than Toa... Saki gave a wry smile at the thought.
"I've thought about this a little bit too, but I believe transportation methods really need to develop to prevent overconcentration in the cities," Jin voiced his opinion as well.
"If Warp Gates could be used free of charge, people could live wherever they liked, after all."
"I certainly see your point, Jin. If that were possible, people would naturally want to live in places with pleasant environments or beautiful scenery."
"But things won't reach that stage all at once, will they? That's why we had you develop the 'bus' as part of Toka Village's redevelopment for now."
Lishia sighed softly in regret.
"...We're beings who shouldn't exist in the first place, after all. Changing the world is the role of the people living in this era."
Jin said.
"Giving a little bit of assistance to those kinds of people is probably just about right."
"Kufu, though it feels like you tend to overdo it sometimes."
"Don't tease me."
Jin gave a wry smile at Saki's banter.
After staying the night on Hourai Island, Jin took his time setting out the following day.
The time difference between Hourai Island and Alban, the royal capital of the Klein Kingdom, was roughly two hours and forty minutes.
Since the Aristotle remained stationary at an altitude of about 5,000 meters above the Klein Kingdom, the timing was just right for Jin to eat a light lunch on Hourai Island before heading back.
The reason it was "light" was that lunch would likely be served to him in the Klein Kingdom as well.
"Should I bring Elsa... Erna along, or what should I do?"
That was his immediate dilemma.