Luke finished its self-check.
Its movements closely mirrored those of Hourai Island's Land squad. The only noticeable difference was that it moved slightly slower due to its larger build.
Next came the alternating cross-check with its brother unit, Sovereign. In other words, a very light mock battle.
"Sovereign, come here."
"Yes, Creator."
"This is your brother unit, Luke. Luke, this is Sovereign, who is your elder brother."
"Nice to meet you, Luke."
"Nice to meet you, Sovereign."
Having exchanged brief greetings, the two units proceeded to engage in a light hand-to-hand spar under Jin's instructions.
"All right, begin!"
The two golems slowly closed the distance and locked up in a grapple.
Under current tuning, Luke had been finished to a level equivalent to Sovereign. The only difference lay inside their control cores.
They were evenly matched in the clinch.
After grappling for about a minute, the two judged that they were getting nowhere at this rate and broke apart to put some distance between them.
Next came an exchange of punches and kicks.
Both were only outputting enough power to avoid damaging their exterior armor, so it was not particularly thrilling to watch... though Jin realized he felt that way only because he had grown accustomed to watching Reiko and the Land units spar.
Compared to a human bout, the two were fighting at four to five times the speed.
"Reiko, what do you think?"
Jin asked for the opinion of Reiko, whose dynamic visual acuity and reaction speed were hundreds of times greater than a human's.
"Let's see. There are no issues with either unit's movements. However, likely due to the difference in their control cores, Luke seems to have more leeway."
"Got it....All right, that's enough!"
At Jin's command, the two brother golems ceased their movements instantly.
"Next, try it with swords."
Jin handed each of them a steel sword that Reiko had been holding. Naturally, the blades were blunted and had been treated with Toughening.
"Begin!"
This time, the clash of steel rang out, sending sparks flying.
According to Reiko's assessment of this exchange as well, while their precision of movement was equal, Luke demonstrated greater composure.
With that, the operational checks were concluded.
"Well, that said, delivering them today would probably be too soon and raise suspicions."
"Mm, I agree."
"I think you should wait at least three days."
Elsa and Reinhard offered their advice as well.
"True. All right, then."
In the meantime, Jin decided to let Sovereign and Luke gain various experiences on Hourai Island.
They stood guard alongside the Land squad and learned how to drive automobiles.
They patrolled the seas with the Marine squad and learned how to operate boats.
They carried out reconnaissance with the Sky squad and learned how to pilot aircraft.
They performed household chores, agriculture, and forestry alongside the Golem Maids, learning their respective tasks.
They acted as Jin's assistants, crafting magi-devices and magi machines.
Over the course of two and a half days, they were given a taste of all these duties.
On the morning of December 13th.
"Well, I'm heading off to deliver them."
"Mm, take care."
Jin decided to deliver Sovereign to the Kingdom of Franz aboard the Hurricane.
Taking the time difference into account, he departed Hourai Island at 9:00 AM.
With a difference of about three and a half hours, it was currently 5:30 AM in the Kingdom of Franz.
If he flew leisurely at about 300 kilometers per hour, he would arrive at roughly 9:00 AM local time.
As for Luke, he was aboard the Hurricane in a deactivated state alongside Sovereign.
When Jin had consulted the members of the Jin Family about what to do with Luke, they had almost unanimously agreed that it would be best to entrust both units together to the Kingdom of Franz.
Therefore, Jin had erased confidential information concerning Hourai Island from both of their control cores.
Neither unit had been restarted since.
Naturally, Luke's activation key had also been fashioned into a dagger.
It seemed Jin's Hurricane was already known in the Kingdom of Franz, as he was able to land in the Royal Palace courtyard without any issues.
"Hope, I'll leave you to watch the ship."
"Understood."
Since there were no facilities to moor an airship here, Jin asked Hope to keep watch just in case.
When Jin stepped outside accompanied by Reiko, Queen Caroline de Lafayette, Chancellor Joachims de Drow, Minister of General Affairs Crow de Shaune, Minister of Magic Jonas Tigrina, and Minister of Finance Oneca de Cleo were there to welcome them.
"Welcome, Magi Craft Meister Lord Jin Nidou."
Jin returned the courtesy.
"Thank you for taking the trouble to come out and welcome me....Your Majesty, I have brought Sovereign. Could you please provide some personnel to help transport him?"
"Understood....Chancellor, how many people do you think we will need?"
"Let us see....Jin-dono, approximately how much does it weigh now?"
"Well, it is around 150 kilograms."
When Jin crafted a golem to standard Hourai Island specifications, its specific gravity came out to around 1.5.
"Then five people should be plenty."
"No, there are two units, so please provide ten people."
"Two units?! Jin-dono, what do you mean by two units?!"
Queen Caroline de Lafayette cried out in surprise.
"Yes, I will explain shortly."
For the time being, with the ten personnel arranged, Sovereign and Luke were moved to the multipurpose hall on the first floor of the Royal Palace.
"I have named the gold one Sovereign and the silver one Luke. They share the same specifications, but Sovereign has his original control system transplanted into him."
"How magnificent..."
"What a spectacular sight."
From the Queen on down, everyone was deeply moved by the sight of the two units.
"These are the activation keys. Naturally, the gold sheath belongs to Sovereign, and the silver sheath belongs to Luke."
Jin presented them to Queen Caroline de Lafayette.
"Th-Thank you, Lord Jin Nidou."
"Please go ahead and activate them."
"Very well....'Start'!...'Start'!"
"Yes, Master."
"Yes, Master."
The two three-meter-class golems rose to their feet.
"Ohh!!"
"This is truly incredible..."
Those present were completely awed by their imposing majesty.
Incidentally, Queen Caroline de Lafayette decided to pay for the two units on a five-year loan.