Laboratory Chief Rasnat Heilbronn, Jin, Reiko, and the accountant Kachea—the four of them took the small golem and set off for the Aviation Research Lab.
Everyone who was awake had wanted to come along, but Rasnat had forbidden it, pointing out that barging in as a crowd would only cause trouble for their hosts.
They took a leisurely walk through the morning light toward the Aviation Research Lab.
"Oh, you're finally here!"
Inside the Aviation Research Lab, the staff had been waiting on pins and needles for the group to arrive.
"I see, so this is the small golem!"
"It's kind of cute."
"At that size, it seems like it'll come in handy for all sorts of things."
A flurry of varied reactions greeted them.
"So, the craft this little guy is going to pilot is... ah, that one over there?"
Resting outside the workshop was a biplane-type circular wing aircraft.
"Indeed it is! It's a scale model of the latest Blow Floater we've crafted!"
Roa Eisker, the head of the Aviation Research Lab, declared proudly.
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you....So this small golem is going to fly that thing, right?...You're sure it won't crash?"
"What?! You should be worrying about whether your golem will botch the controls and crash it!"
"Hmph, are you just laying the groundwork to blame the pilot if it goes down?"
"That's our line! Don't you dare blame the airframe when you botch the controls!"
"What did you say?"
"What did you say?"
"..."
Jin watched the two lab chiefs bicker, thoroughly dumbfounded.
Leaning in, he asked the deputy laboratory chief standing nearby, Zora Himmel, in a hushed voice:
"...Is that, uh, normal?"
To his surprise, she gave an unfazed response.
"It's fine. That's just how they always are."
"Huh?"
According to Zora, Rasnat Heilbronn and Roa Eisker had been classmates from the same year, making them longtime friends as well as rivals.
Whenever anything came up, they invariably ended up locking horns like this.
"That's why I was the one who came to place the request."
"Ah, I see."
Indeed, if they had acted like this during the initial request, no progress would have ever been made... Jin thought with a wry smile, watching the two continue their squabble.
"Chief, we're going to run out of time, so please give it a rest! Chief Roa, you too!!"
When the petite Zora Himmel barked at them in a sharp tone, their arguing cut off instantly.
"Y-Yeah."
"O-Oh."
Letting out a small sigh of relief, Zora Himmel was glad they could finally move on.
"Now then, let's start by waking it up....'Start.'"
Next came a demonstration of its basic operational checks.
"Prototype No. 4, run through the movement check routine."
"UNDERSTOOD."
Prototype No. 4 began going through motions reminiscent of radio calisthenics.
"Ohh, not bad at all."
The members of the Aviation Research Lab nodded in satisfied approval.
"Well? How's that?"
"Yeah, it's decent enough, I suppose."
"Hmph, you just can't bring yourself to be honest, can you?"
"What was that?"
Just as another spat was about to erupt, Zora Himmel smoothly cut in.
"Chief, seeing this, I assume it's fine to issue the receipt?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Understood....Kachea, please handle the paperwork."
"Already done."
Kachea, who had accompanied them, produced the receipt.
"Chief, your signature, please."
"...Understood."
Roa Eisker scribbled his signature in a fluid sweep.
"This should do....Now, please transfer the ownership."
He turned to Rasnat Heilbronn.
"Very well....'Master-Slave' First Priority: Roa Eisker. Second Priority: Zora Himmel. Third Priority and below..."
The remaining members of the Aviation Research Lab were designated for the lower priority slots.
"That settles it....Here is the delivery slip."
"Yes. Thank you."
With the exchange of the receipt and the delivery slip, the formal transfer of the small golem was complete.
"It ought to have a name. 'Prototype No. 4' is a mouthful....Right, from this moment on, your name is 'Pilota.'"
"YES, I AM 'PILOTA.'"
Laboratory Chief Roa Eisker officially bestowed a name upon Prototype No. 4.
"Hmm, sounds like a name from the Kingdom of Elias. Meant 'pilot,' didn't it?...Well, I'll be heading back. Give us a shout when you're ready to fly it, all right?"
"Of course. Look forward to it."
With that, Rasnat Heilbronn and Kachea took their leave.
"Now then, Pilota, learn how to operate this Blow Floater."
"YES, MASTER ROA."
Naturally, Pilota was a quick study. After roughly an hour of instruction, it seemed to have mastered the controls completely.
Given that most of the mechanisms were entirely novel, there were no veteran pilots to be found anywhere in the first place.
"Well then, shall we give it a test flight?"
"Ah, Chief. We need to let the Go-lab know."
"Hm, true enough....Zora, would you mind going to fetch them?"
"Yes, right away."
Deputy Laboratory Chief Zora Himmel dashed off.
By then, the Go-lab researchers who had collapsed from exhaustion had all awakened, their vitality restored thanks to the Persica juice.
"We'll conduct a final check while we wait for the Go-lab crew to arrive. Jin-dono, would you mind keeping an eye on things?"
"Sure, understood."
Even without lending a direct hand, Jin's mere presence as an observer provided immense reassurance.
Roa Eisker thoroughly inspected every inch of the quarter-scale model.
Seeing no apparent issues from his perspective either, Jin simply asked:
"Aren't you going to name the aircraft?"
"A name? I'd like to wait until this test flight succeeds before naming it."
Roa Eisker looked around at the faces of his team.
"Is that all right with everyone?"
No one seemed to have any objections.
Just then, Zora Himmel returned accompanied by several members of the Go-lab.
Rasnat Heilbronn was among them, of course, alongside Eira, Groma, and Kachea.
"Looks like everyone is here. In that case, let's begin the test flight."
The venue was the open plaza behind the academy. The air was practically dead calm—an ideal day for a test flight.