Once Jin finished explaining everything about the Southern Cross to the assembled group, he turned toward the craft.
"Well then, let's start with a flight demonstration. Hope, if you would."
"Yes, Master."
Hope launched into a demonstration flight while Jin pointed along, explaining the mechanics.
"...And as you can see, the piloting is handled entirely by a dedicated pilot golem. Frankly, I'm not especially skilled at this kind of piloting myself. Besides, human reflexes and split-second judgment simply can't match a golem's."
Hearing Jin's explanation, Rasnat Heilbronn from the Go-lab muttered under his breath, "I see... It seems we'll need to move forward with developing our own pilot golems as well."
Meanwhile, Roa Eisker from the Aviation Research Lab stared wide-eyed in awe at the performance of the Southern Cross.
"This is... truly a design engineered purely for speed and agility."
Following a three-minute demonstration flight, the Southern Cross made a gentle, floating touchdown onto the airfield.
"Well then, we don't have much time, but if anyone wants to go for a ride..."
Before Jin could even finish his sentence, seventeen hands shot into the air.
Between nine researchers from the Go-lab and eight from the Aviation Research Lab, every single person present had volunteered.
"All right. The Southern Cross has a seating capacity of six, so excluding Hope as the pilot, we can take five passengers at a time."
As expected of the finest minds on Planet Ars, they sorted out the boarding order without a single quarrel.
Since Jin would be riding along on the first run, four people from Avalon would join him.
Those four were Eira, Kachea, Groma, and Roa Eisker—Jin having prioritized his three friends alongside the head of the Aviation Research Lab.
"All right, Hope. Take it away."
"Yes, Master."
Hope started up the Blow Engine, demonstrating a crisp vertical ascent right off the ground.
After climbing to an altitude of roughly thirty meters, the craft leveled out into horizontal flight.
"The top speed of the Southern Cross is well over one hundred kilometers per hour, but for today's run, we'll keep it capped at fifty," Jin explained. In truth, it was fully capable of exceeding three hundred kilometers per hour, but he saw no need to share that detail.
After cruising straight, the aircraft transitioned into zigzagging maneuvers, followed by sharp climbs and steep dives.
"Mm, so those circular wings fore and aft are there for attitude control!" Roa Eisker murmured in sheer admiration.
Even though it was a biplane configuration, the circular wings allowed the craft to fly while remaining fundamentally level.
Climbing to an altitude of roughly one hundred meters, the aircraft traced a wide, graceful turn through the skies over Avalon.
"Wow, what an incredible view!" Kachea exclaimed happily.
"Man, flying through the sky really is the best!"
It was Eira's very first time riding in a small aircraft.
To capture the sheer exhilaration she felt, one might compare it to the contrast between flying on a commercial jetliner versus an open-cockpit Cessna.
"I got to ride in Master's Blow Floater a couple of times, but the comfort on this thing is on a whole different level..."
"Ah, that's probably because the craft Lordtoss brought over was designed to be modular and easy to dismantle. That's likely the reason."
In short, Jin noted, because it had been stripped down and simplified as much as possible, the ride comfort had suffered.
Listening in on their conversation, Roa Eisker chimed in with a question for Jin.
"...Jin-dono, what sort of parameters influence ride comfort the most?"
"Let's see... Vibration, without question."
"Vibration, is it...? Yes, that makes complete sense."
That single hint seemed to be all Roa needed. He immediately began muttering to himself, deep in thought. "If the moment arm length is... and if we optimize the distance to the center of gravity..."
With each flight lasting roughly ten minutes, all four runs were completed in under an hour, giving everyone a turn.
"Thank you so much! This is a memory I'll treasure."
"Getting to ride in Jin-san's Blow Plane will be a badge of honor for the rest of my life!"
Jin was met with an overwhelming outpouring of gratitude.
With noon fast approaching, they decided to wrap up on the spot and break for lunch.
"Jin-san, would you like to grab lunch with us?"
"Sure, I'd love to. Is there a good dining hall around here you'd recommend?"
Jin readily accepted Kachea's invitation.
"Well, the World Security Guard headquarters' cafeteria is actually quite close to here."
"Ah, I see."
The building visible just past the airfield was indeed that very facility.
It couldn't have been more than five hundred meters away.
"It does cost money for those of us from the academy and outside visitors, though..."
"Oh, don't worry about that. I'll treat everyone."
"Jin, you really don't have to. We'd feel bad."
Eira hesitated out of politeness, but Jin waved it off with a smile.
"Don't worry about it, really. My pockets have been feeling pretty full lately."
With that, he gently shut down any further protests.
Indeed, ever since returning to Hourai Island, he had full access to his vast personal funds, so it was hardly an exaggeration.
After instructing Hope to secure the Southern Cross back in storage, Jin set off for the World Security Guard headquarters' cafeteria alongside Eira and the others.
The group of five consisted of Jin, Reiko, Eira, Kachea, and Groma.
A five-minute stroll brought them to the front of the World Security Guard headquarters. Aside from Jin's party, other students and researchers could be seen milling about, proving that plenty of people came here when they wanted a change of pace from their usual meals.
"Here we are."
Any resident of Avalon had open access to the ground floor of the headquarters—barring emergencies, of course.
The cafeteria was tucked away at the back of the ground floor.
"It's not too crowded yet."
About half the tables were still open.
"They serve set meals here," Groma explained, glancing at the bulletin board. A hand-drawn diagram titled 'Today's Menu' was displayed upon it.
"Set A comes with rice, turnip miso soup, plain croquette, vegetable salad, kinpira, and oshinko, huh."
"Set B is... a bread roll with passa raisins, a plain omelet, Devil's Potato soup, sliced cheese, and a vegetable salad."
"Set C is tempura udon with oshinko."
"They even have a Set D. Let's see... it says daily special sandwich."
It looked like diners had four choices of set meals, Jin noted.
"These drawings are remarkably good."
Though quickly sketched onto a whiteboard, Jin was genuinely impressed by how clearly the dishes could be recognized at a single glance.
"All right, I'll go with Set A."
"I'm getting Set B."
"I think I'll have Set A as well."
"Set B for me."
In the end, Jin and Kachea chose Set A, while Eira and Groma opted for Set B.
After purchasing meal tickets and handing them over at the respective counters, their loaded trays were served in roughly twenty seconds flat.
That's even faster than a train-station noodle stand, Jin marveled inwardly.
With only about ten people ahead of them in line, the entire group was seated around a six-person table in less than five minutes.
Reiko took the seat beside Jin, sitting quietly even though she did not eat.
"Oh, this is quite good."
Jin took a sip of the miso soup, finding the seasoning thoroughly to his taste.
"Right? The food here is cheap and delicious!"
Eira beamed proudly, boasting as if she had cooked the meal herself.