Marukonen looked astonished upon hearing about the Third Generation Magi Craft Meister.
"Goodness, is that so?"
(It seems he is quite out of touch with the current state of the world,) Elena thought to herself before continuing.
"Let me ask you once more. You do not intend to meet the Third Generation Magi Craft Meister to settle an old grudge, correct?"
"No, I swear it."
Besides, Marukonen explained, as the Third Generation Magi Craft Meister, he would naturally be a different person from the Second Generation.
(...He isn't a different person, though... Better keep quiet about that.)
Not knowing what kind of trouble it might cause, Elena held her tongue.
The mood had shifted and was no longer conducive to carrying on the conversation, so Elena and her party decided to take their leave of the Kingdom of Elias.
"Forgive us for failing to offer proper hospitality."
"Not at all, the pleasure was ours."
Turning to Marukonen, Elena added, "Marukonen-dono, I shall be in touch with you in the near future."
With that farewell, she departed.
Laojun, who had observed the entire exchange through a Peeper, organized the information after receiving a follow-up report from Elena.
My Lord, I believe there is no doubt that Marcosius of Frenzy went into hiding and raised disciples.
"Yeah, that's got to be it."
How should we proceed?
Following the Rebellion of the Failures, the lingering resentment the Northern People had harbored toward the Lauren Continentals had dissolved.
Marcosius should have been no exception.
"Even so... when I think about Elsa, it's complicated."
Elsa's father, Georg, had been egged on by Marcus—who was being manipulated by Marcosius—into staging something akin to a rebellion, which had temporarily resulted in that branch of House Randol being stripped of its status.
Later, thanks to Elsa's distinguished service as a Reichsarzt, the family had been restored as a baronet house and eventually elevated to a baron house.
Furthermore, Saki's grandfather, Marquis Gaylen Theoderic von Eisen, had suffered severe liver damage from arsenic-laced wine and would have been in mortal danger if not for Elsa.
There was simply too much history between them.
"We should probably let Sion know about this too, after all."
Yes, My Lord. Sion-sama serves as a central figure for the Northern People, so it would be prudent.
"Right."
And so, Jin relayed a summary of the situation using the Fellowship Bracelet. The very next day, on the 18th, Sion came to Hourai Island in person to discuss the details.
Thanks to the Warp Gates, travel was effortless.
"It's been a while, Jin."
"Yeah, it has. Good to see you doing well."
After exchanging brief greetings, Jin led Sion to the dining hall-cum-meeting room.
All members of the Jin Family on Hourai Island were gathered there.
"Sion-san, it has been a while."
Marikka greeted Sion on behalf of the group.
"Marikka, long time no see. Glad to see you looking well."
Though, being a homunculus, she was incapable of falling ill in the first place.
...And that is the gist of it.
Jin left the explanation to Laojun, knowing it would summarize everything far more neatly.
"I see. So that's where Marcosius of Frenzy was hiding."
During the Rebellion of the Failures, many clans had suffered heavy casualties, with some losing the capacity to function as independent clans altogether.
"Putting that aside, there has been talk that we might as well unite as one rather than remaining divided by clan."
"Oh, really?"
Jin nodded at Sion's explanation.
"The Frenzy clan is no more. It was absorbed into the Puppet clan."
And that Puppet clan would eventually be absorbed into the All-Creation clan as well, Sion added.
"Well, that's probably more than two centuries away, though."
It certainly wouldn't happen in her lifetime, Sion laughed.
"Now then, regarding Marcosius... I'd like to hear Elsa's thoughts."
Of everyone present, Elsa had the deepest history with him.
"Mm....I certainly haven't forgotten what happened. But it's in the past. Neither Father nor Ani-sama is around anymore. House Randol is no longer in my hands. So..."
Elsa explained that she was simply curious to know whether Marcosius truly regretted his past misdeeds.
"Even so, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to meet him as I am now."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
Jin agreed. He then turned to Saki, who also shared a connection to the matter.
"What about you, Saki?"
"Me? Well, I feel pretty much the same as Elsa. My grandfather passed away ages ago, anyway."
Saki stated that she just wanted to know what Marcosius was thinking before anything else.
"That leaves me, then..."
"Hm? What about you, Jin?"
Sion picked up on Jin's murmur.
"Well, Marcosius has a long lifespan, so he probably knows what I looked like in the past, right? As the Second Generation Magi Craft Meister, I mean."
"Ah, good point. If you go as you are, he'll realize you look identical and get suspicious about your identity."
"And explaining all of that would be a huge pain."
Reiko was an automata, so that wouldn't pose any issue.
"Should we send Maquina, or disguise a Doppel?"
"I think lightly disguising a Doppel would work," Reinhard suggested.
"It's not as though Marcosius would remember Jin's face with absolute precision anyway. If you change your hair and eye color and tweak the hairstyle a bit, I doubt he'd ever know."
"Mm, I think that's a good idea."
"But how will people who already know Jin react?" Saki pointed out.
"Ah."
Jin hadn't thought of that, and he fell into contemplation.
"Maybe I'll just wear a hat, change my hair, and throw on some polarized sunglasses."
That alone should make him difficult enough to recognize. Besides, Jin had rarely ever faced Marcosius head-on... or so he seemed to recall.
"That might do the trick. I can cover for you if anything comes up," Sion agreed, so Jin decided to proceed with that plan.
"So, when are we going?"
"Wait, you're coming along too, Sion?"
"Yes. He's one of my people, after all."
"All right. Just make sure to use a general-purpose Doppel."
With that, the plan was settled.
They prepared to coordinate with Marukonen through Elena, but then Reinhard spoke up.
"What about Sanmarco Podium in the Kingdom of Egerea?"
"Ah, come to think of it, we haven't confirmed whether Sanmarco is actually connected to Marcosius yet."
Jin understood what Reinhard was getting at.
"Should we look into it? Though it's not like it's strictly necessary."
After all, the one Marcosius wished to meet was Reiko, not his disciples.
"In that case, why not check with Marukonen, and if it turns out Sanmarco really is a fellow disciple, bring him along too?" Sion suggested as a compromise.
"Hmm, I wonder..."
Jin tilted his head thoughtfully.
"I'm not sure we need to go that far," Reinhard said.
"Yeah, true. There's no reason for us to go out of our way to be that considerate."
After gathering opinions from the rest of the group, they ultimately decided to check only with Marukonen for now.