On April 8, Jin was relaxing on Hourai Island.
"Father, are you tired?"
Reiko, who had brought him tea, asked with a hint of concern.
"No, not at all. I was just thinking about what to do next."
"What to do next, Father?"
"Yeah. Circuit construction has started in the Kingdom of Franz as well. I'm thinking of loaning them power assists for civil engineering and construction, with an eye toward eventually enabling them to manufacture the units themselves."
"Is that so?"
Rather than elevating everything overnight, the goal was to gradually improve things, allowing the technology and its benefits to take root naturally.
Four hundred years ago, Jin had felt that he rushed things far too much, and this approach was born from that reflection.
There was also the fact that Jin and the Jin Family now possessed extraordinarily long lifespans, meaning there was no reason to rush.
"Though I haven't decided yet whether I'll oversee everything all the way through to the end."
Once the path was paved, he wanted to encourage voluntary initiative and let them proceed steadily on their own.
"After all, people don't truly value what they obtain too easily."
Of course, he knew that the Magic Federation's interference—or rather, their outright sabotage—was to blame, but Jin could not help feeling that if the craft had taken deeper root in daily life, recovery might have been possible even after appearing lost.
"As of right now, there aren't many skilled magi craftsmen in the Kingdom of Franz, you see."
Jin assessed that, in addition to being primarily an agricultural nation, its technical development had stagnated under the influence of the Magic Federation.
"Come to think of it, did that girl... Najas Kahn go to study abroad in Avalon?"
Jin checked with Laojun.
"Yes, My Lord. She enrolled as a special transfer student this past February. It seems she is applying herself diligently."
"I see. That's good to hear. Elsa will be pleased, too."
Elsa had taken quite a liking to Najas, whose circumstances somewhat mirrored her own.
"Setting that aside, should I start by meeting with the minister of general affairs, Chro de Schone? Would that be best?"
"I believe that would be most appropriate."
"All right. In that case, have the local Quinta get in touch with him."
"Understood."
"Ah, please make sure to let him know that the exact schedule is still to be determined."
"Yes, My Lord."
"Next, we should probably prepare five units of the power assists for civil engineering and construction..."
"Please leave that to me."
"Thanks. I'll leave the preparations in your hands."
Entrusting the production of the power assists for civil engineering and construction to Laojun and the Smiths, Jin decided to check on the status of Arcadia.
"Regarding Arcadia, there are no issues whatsoever."
Arcadia was an artificial island—and the base of operations for Deus Ex Machina.
"Management magi-brain Poseidon is overseeing operations smoothly."
"Good. That leaves the timing for unveiling it to the public, huh..."
Jin felt that making an announcement out of the blue would seem awkward, so he wanted some sort of natural pretext.
When he voiced this to Laojun, the reply came promptly:
"A pretext, is it?...Perhaps when Deus Ex Machina takes an active public role, or when dignitaries gather in large numbers at Avalon, would serve as suitable occasions."
"I see. That makes sense. Inviting them for about half a day after the World Conference concludes sounds promising as well."
Even so, the nagging question of "Why now?" would likely linger.
"How about the backstory that it had fallen into disrepair during the interim between the previous Maquina and the current Maquina?"
"So we claim it was undergoing restoration? Hmm..."
It was a solid idea, but Jin had one lingering concern.
"What kind of background should we establish for Maquina's lineage?"
The same question applied to Jin himself, as the precise manner in which the title of Magi Craft Meister was passed down had never been publicly disclosed.
"We need to sort that out before the Adriana Memorial Hall—tentatively named—is completed."
He intended to display a chronological chart outlining the historical lineage starting from the First Generation, Adriana Barbora Tsetse.
At the very least, he genuinely wanted Adriana Barbora Tsetse's monumental achievements to be recognized by the world at large.
"It should suffice to state that the Magi Craft Meister is inherited through aptitude and ability."
"That works."
The key was Reiko. The lore would dictate that Reiko, created by the First Generation—Adriana Barbora Tsetse—would seek out a worthy successor and grant them authorization to use the base.
Since that was roughly eighty percent true, people would easily accept it.
There were only two actual falsehoods—or rather, hidden truths:
The location of the base, Hourai Island, and the fact that the Third Generation and the Second Generation were the very same person.
"As for the base, we can get by with calling it an ancient hereditary secret. As for being the same person... well, under normal circumstances, no one would believe it anyway."
Jin figured that even if he went around shouting that he was the Second Generation, virtually no one would take him seriously.
They would simply assume he was joking or trying to pull a fast one.
"Even if I were one of the Northern People, keeping the exact same appearance for four hundred years would be impossible."
There was no reason to go out of his way to spread such a claim.
Still, it was a minor disappointment that he could not openly exercise the privileges granted to the Second Generation.
"Then what should we do about Maquina...?"
Since they were framed as fellow disciples under the same master, being of roughly the same generation presented no contradiction, neatly explaining why they had appeared in the same era.
"My Lord, how about establishing him as an offshoot of the Magi Craft Meister tradition?"
"An offshoot?"
"Yes....The premise would be that you studied together at the base, and through an aptitude assessment of sorts, My Lord inherited the title of Magi Craft Meister, while Maquina became Deus Ex Machina."
"I see."
Jin weighed the concept carefully.
"Not bad. Let's run with that," he decided.
"That way, it won't seem strange for Maquina to know where my base is, and it explains why he commands similar technology."
"Furthermore, how about establishing that Arcadia was constructed jointly by the Second Generation Maquina and the Second Generation Magi Craft Meister?"
"Good idea."
If they claimed it was built some three hundred years ago, there would be no way for anyone today to verify it.
And—most importantly—he could state with absolute certainty that it did not exist back in the era of the First Generation, Adriana Barbora Tsetse.
Jin refused to spin baseless fabrications about the First Generation.
"All that's left is the personal background."
From whom did he learn magi-craft?
Who were his parents?
Those were the two essential points. On top of that, Elsa's backstory would also need to be ironed out.
"Even if we claim to be orphans, people will ask who took us in."
"I believe stating that you were raised and educated by a magi-brain, a golem, or an automata would be entirely sufficient."
Since assistant automata were an established concept, that wouldn't raise any eyebrows.
"...Should we say that the Second Generation's descendants remained quietly on Hourai Island, and the successor was ultimately chosen from among them...?"
If they needed to flesh out the lore, claiming the bloodline had carried on in seclusion would work nicely.
In the year 3459, Yuu and Mio were born.
Twenty-five years later, around 3484, came the next generation; around 3510, the next; in 3535, the one after that...
Roughly seventeen or eighteen generations would have passed by now.
"Which means that during all that time, not a single descendant possessed enough talent to claim the title of Third Generation."
Jin concluded that this, too, presented no issues, as no one alive could possibly investigate that far back into the past.
With that, he decided to move forward using this general framework.