On May 2 at 10:00 AM, seen off by members of the Go-lab, Tomax Bartman, Manon, Fione Fias, and others, the Hurricane carrying Jin and Kachea departed Avalon and soared into the sky.
"Take care!"
"Have a safe trip!"
"Jin-dono, I leave everything in your hands."
The Hurricane moved with incredible speed, climbing swiftly until it vanished from the sight of the well-wishers below.
"Woooow..."
Looking down at the world below through the window of the Hurricane, Kachea marveled in admiration.
"You took an airship the last time you went home too, didn't you?" Jin asked.
"That was a shared flight, so I couldn't get up and walk around from takeoff to landing," came her reply.
"Huh? But I wouldn't think there'd be that many people traveling from Avalon to the Pandor Continent."
"No, that's not quite true. Aside from me, there were fifteen other passengers on my last trip home."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, indeed. On top of that, there were ten relief personnel sent to swap out with people serving in various acting roles locally."
"Ah, so there are people like that too."
Jin nodded in understanding. Then, a thought crossed his mind, and he voiced it without thinking:
"Knowing you, Kachea, you were probably tense the entire time, surrounded by complete strangers."
"Ugh... that's exactly right," Kachea murmured, blushing and looking down.
I'd better stop teasing her; I don't want Berlich holding a grudge against me later, Jin hurriedly resolved.
"A-At any rate, you're free to walk around inside the Hurricane as much as you like," he told her.
"Though you'll need to be in your seat during takeoff and landing for safety's sake," he added, stating the obvious.
"Yes, I understand," Kachea nodded.
She walked over to peek into the cockpit.
"Hope-san, it's been a while. Thank you for piloting today," she called out.
Watching her, Jin was glad to see she was actually enjoying herself this time around.
"...Still, traveling all the way to the Pandor Continent must have taken quite a long time, right?"
The distance between Avalon and the Pandor Continent was roughly four thousand kilometers.
Even at a speed of one hundred kilometers per hour, covering that distance would take forty hours—in other words, nearly two full days.
And that was via the eastern route.
Taking the western route—passing through the four principalities of Mimaka, Darato, Jagus, and Norha—allowed for stopovers to stay overnight on the ground in either the Shouro Empire or one of the four principalities. While that made for an easier trip, it took considerably more time.
"Yes, it took a full two days," Kachea answered, leading Jin to guess that she had taken the eastern route.
"We're taking the same route this time, but I expect we'll arrive in about thirteen hours."
"T-That fast?!"
The maximum cruising speed of the Hurricane was four hundred kilometers per hour without using the barrier projector. Calculated out, it could cover the distance in ten hours.
Since there was an approximate thirteen-hour time difference between the two locations, taking the eastern route would result in the strange phenomenon of arriving at an earlier local time than when they had departed.
Therefore, Jin explained that they would adjust their pace so they arrived at the same time of day.
"Ah, I see. That makes sense."
Kachea was naturally gifted with numbers. Furthermore, she was currently receiving an education at Avalon, so she easily grasped Jin's explanation regarding the time difference and flight plan.
However, because the eastern route involved flying mostly over open ocean, the scenery below rarely changed, making the journey rather monotonous.
Jin decided to pass the time by asking Kachea how things were going at the Go-lab.
"It was quite chaotic at first. The budget management was sloppy—people bought things unnecessarily and never used them, or purchased three or four of the exact same item."
"Ah, the classic sign of failing at inventory control."
"Yes, exactly!"
Jin had managed inventory as part of his work in the past, so he recognized how vital it was for businesses and organizations.
To achieve results within a limited budget, redundancy had to be minimized.
Of course, whether the current Jin—with all the vast resources of Hourai Island at his disposal—actually practiced that himself was exceedingly doubtful.
"...Now, the storehouse and workshop are well organized... Well, maybe not entirely perfect, but they're kept in fairly good shape, so managing things is much easier."
"You must have had a rough time of it."
"No, not particularly."
Kachea had a natural aptitude for this kind of work—or rather, she genuinely enjoyed doing it. She was an indoor type of person... though whether that was the right way to put it, she wasn't entirely sure.
"Lately, everyone reports the materials they need well in advance, which makes things much simpler. Thanks to that, I've even been able to offer advice when neighboring labs come to consult me."
"You've gone that far...?"
Researchers, as a general rule, tended to be somewhat slovenly—at least, that was Jin's personal view, and looking at the laboratories in Avalon, it didn't seem far off the mark.
Jin imagined that once people saw how rapidly the Go-lab's management had improved and learned Kachea was the driving force behind it, they had likely hoped to borrow even a fraction of her expertise.
"I hear you were giving advice on running the Berlich Workshop too," Jin casually murmured.
"Whaaat?! You knew about that?!" Kachea exclaimed, flustered.
"Well, I did hear about it last time."
"I-Is that so?"
While they chatted back and forth, shipboard time reached noon.
"Let us have lunch."
Reiko served sandwiches, a standard light meal aboard the ship.
"Ah, thank you."
"...To be able to eat something this delicious on board an airship—you really are extraordinary, Jin-san."
To Kachea's murmuring praise, Jin replied:
"You think so? I merely gave shape to the desire to travel as comfortably as possible."
However, Kachea countered his modesty.
"'Giving shape' to it is the hardest part of all."
"Is that how it is...? Well, I suppose it is."
Jin possessed the vision, the technique, and the materials.
Normally, people lacked one or all of those elements and were forced to give up.
"Still, striving to make it happen is what human beings do, right?"
"Of course it is. Eira-san and the others at the Go-lab are working hard to give shape to their dreams as well."
"Yeah. That's why you can't help but want to root for them."
Crossing the vast ocean, the Hurricane steadily drew closer to the Pandor Continent.