After finishing lunch at the World Security Guard headquarters, Jin parted ways with Eira and the others and headed over to meet Elsa.
People were coming and going along the hallway leading to the waiting room, making the scene appear even livelier than the previous day.
"Elsa, are you ready?"
"Ah, Jin-nii."
Entering the room, he found Elsa alone, organizing her handout materials. Just as he was about to ask where Fifi-san was, the woman herself entered through the door connected to the stage.
"Ah, Jin-sama, you're here."
It appeared she had been busy making preparations by the podium.
"We have quite a turnout today as well. Attendance is up by twenty percent compared to yesterday."
"That's great to hear."
Knowledge is a treasure; knowledge is power—or so Jin believed.
Of course, the wisdom to apply that knowledge was just as essential...
At any rate, she had apparently printed extra handouts to accommodate those who hadn't attended the previous day.
Printing a few dozen extra copies was simple enough, but they certainly didn't have the capacity to handle hundreds.
"Fifteen minutes until we start."
"Right."
Elsa remained completely composed.
"What are you covering today?...Wait, did I already ask? It was internal organs, right?"
"Mm."
Elsa explained that she intended to focus primarily on the digestive and circulatory systems.
"Because the subjective symptoms are easier to recognize."
"Good point."
People in the audience had likely experienced stomachaches or heart palpitations before. Jin figured the material would be genuinely practical for them.
As for cranial nerves, Elsa was skipping them for now, as that would suddenly raise the bar far too high.
"From what I heard from Fione-san, they seem to be doing fine when it comes to first aid for injuries."
"Ah, because of the World Security Guard, right?"
It seemed techniques for treating external trauma hadn't regressed over the years.
"...It's proof of how hard Fritz-nii-sama and Sister-in-law Gloria worked."
"Yeah."
For a fleeting moment, Jin and Elsa allowed their thoughts to drift to the distant past.
At 1:00 PM, Elsa stepped up onto the podium.
"Thank you all for coming today. This afternoon's lecture will focus on internal organs. Please be advised that the imagery projected today may be even more likely to cause discomfort than yesterday's."
Following her opening greeting, Elsa delivered her disclaimer.
"While our limited time will not allow me to cover everything, I hope this information proves valuable to all of you moving forward."
With that, Elsa began her lecture.
On the large magi-screen behind her, a schematic diagram of the digestive system appeared.
"Digestion begins with mastication. As food is broken down through chewing, enzymes in the saliva begin to act upon it..."
Elsa's lecture smoothly progressed.
Watching from the waiting room, Jin was once again struck by how comfortable she was delivering presentations, just as she had been yesterday.
She really is incredible.
While he couldn't help but remember how quiet she normally was, seeing her rise to the occasion and handle her duties flawlessly was truly inspiring.
The lecture ran for two hours, concluding at 3:00 PM.
A question-and-answer session was scheduled next, preceded by a fifteen-minute intermission.
"Great work, Elsa."
Elsa had stepped back into the waiting room for a moment and was sipping some water.
Thanks to her homunculus body, she didn't experience physical fatigue, but she was resting like this because she felt a bit mentally drained.
"I managed to finish right on schedule today."
"Yeah. That's no small feat."
Keeping a presentation strictly within its time limit was surprisingly difficult.
Speak too quickly and the talk ends prematurely; speak too slowly and it runs over time.
Back when Jin had first entered the corporate workforce, he used to divide his presentations into distinct sections, assign target times to each, and constantly pace himself accordingly... at least early on.
However, whether his presentations ran long or finished early, the evaluation he received never changed. In fact, once he repeatedly received instructions that completely disregarded the content of his presentations, he had started just phoning them in.
In short, no one had ever taken a newcomer's presentations seriously. The prevailing mindset was that rather than investing money in improvements, it was better to simply work employees through unpaid overtime.
Compared to those cynical days, seeing how eager and engaged the audience was here made Jin feel once again that coming to Avalon had truly been worth the trip.
The question-and-answer session following the break wrapped up without a hitch at 5:00 PM.
"Elsa-sama, thank you so much."
Fione Fias and Tomax Bartman came to greet Elsa as she returned to the waiting room.
"Thank you for all your hard work over these past two days."
"I believe it was immensely informative for everyone."
"The pleasure was mine. Thank you very much for providing such a wonderful opportunity."
Elsa shook hands with Tomax Bartman.
"Jin-dono, thank you as well for lending your support to the Aviation Research Lab and the Go-lab."
"Oh, no, I didn't really do much of anything this time..."
Jin humbly demurred, but Tomax smiled.
"Not from what I've heard. I understand you unveiled a new Blow Floater called the 'Southern Cross'?"
"Well, yes, something like that."
"I'm certain it gave our researchers plenty of inspiration."
Turning to both Jin and Elsa, Tomax Bartman added, "Please feel free to visit us anytime."
With that, he returned to his duties.
Since they still had plenty of time before dinner, the two of them unwound by taking baths in their guest quarters.
Elsa took her turn first.
"Well, I suppose we should head back home tomorrow....Come to think of it, are you satisfied with leaving things as they are with Najas?"
Part of their reason for coming had been to check up on Najas Kahn and see how she was faring.
"Mm, she'll be fine. Right now, she is studying with everything she has."
Elsa explained that she didn't want to become a distraction during such an important period.
Najas was pushing forward through her own determination. While Elsa and Jin could easily lend her a helping hand, Elsa had judged that now was not the right time to intervene.
"I see. That makes sense."
After all, they could return to Avalon whenever they wished.