In the women's bath, Helga and Kachea were having a leisurely soak.
"Ah, this feels heavenly."
"It reminds me of when Jin-san visited Fan Village's communal bath on his way to Rofon and asked, 'Is this a hot spring?'"
"Oh? That happened?"
"Yes, Jin-san really loves hot springs, you know."
"I can totally see why. Soaking in a spacious hot spring like this just lets you completely unwind."
Later on, a proper bathhouse was built around this hot spring, and it became a famous local attraction of Taji Village.
The following morning, on the 6th, Jin and Kachea set off on schedule, seen off by the villagers of Taji Village.
Their pilot this time was Sky 900.
Jin planned to carry out maintenance on Hope along the way.
"I'm sure you wanted to relax a bit longer. Sorry about that."
Jin offered an apology to Kachea.
"Not at all. Getting to visit home was just a nice bonus that came with work in the first place."
Kachea smiled warmly as she answered.
"Eventually, a magic circle will probably be installed on the Pandor Continent as well. Once that happens, traveling back and forth will be so much easier."
The Warp Gate that had previously been used to send Jin to the Jags Principality had been destroyed by Markitus. Even if it were intact, it had only connected to the Jags Principality, rendering it useless for general travel anyway.
For now, setting up teleportation-based transit routes required approval from the World Conference, and such permission would not be granted unless a nation demonstrated a stable domestic situation.
"All the more reason it'll be great once every last one of those bandits is rounded up and the mastermind pulling the strings is dragged into the open."
"Yeah, that's true..."
Four hundred years ago, Jin had resolved an immense amount of trouble behind the scenes, yet the current state of the world was the ultimate result.
Granted, the anomalous existence known as 'Markitus' had undoubtedly played a major role in that.
Even so, Jin couldn't help but lament how fragile their culture, civilization, and everyday human livelihood had been—collapsing so readily at the hands of the Magic Federation.
If they were going to rebuild it all, this time it had to be done by the hands of the people as much as possible... That was what Jin had come to firmly believe.
"So, where are we heading first?"
Kachea asked once more to verify their plans.
"Well, like I mentioned yesterday, I was thinking Rofon, and then Mahalig."
"You did say that. But I actually think we ought to put Rofon on the back burner."
"Why's that?"
"Well, you see..."
According to Kachea's explanation, reconstruction in Rofon was severely lagging behind.
The reason was that top priority had been assigned to the royal capital, Mahalig.
"Even though the rural villages are making solid progress?"
She explained that it came down strictly to manpower allocation.
If the manpower needed to rebuild a rural village was represented as 1, Rofon required 40, and Mahalig took a whopping 100.
Consequently, in an effort to restore the functions of the royal capital first, residents of Rofon had been temporarily relocated to Mahalig so concentrated construction efforts could take place.
"I see."
There were roughly fifteen villages in the Mercana Principality. Even added together, their required reconstruction manpower amounted to less than half of what Rofon alone demanded.
One could say that authority had been heavily concentrated in the central government to that degree, or perhaps that Markitus had prioritized the destruction of major cities.
At any rate, Kachea maintained that heading to Mahalig right now would yield far more useful information.
Since she had accompanied him as their local guide, Jin decided to heed her advice.
Mahalig lay less than two hundred kilometers from Taji Village as the crow flies. The Hurricane crossed the distance in just an hour.
"Oh, looks like it's about two-thirds rebuilt."
Gazing down from the sky, Jin saw that Mahalig was being reconstructed into a layout far closer to what he was familiar with, unlike its past state.
In other words, a neatly organized grid of streets.
"As for landing... Ah, there's an airfield."
Moored in a plaza on the west side of the city was an airship that appeared to belong to Avalon.
"Sky 900, bring us down over there, please."
"Understood."
Sky 900 would remain behind to guard the ship, while Hope would accompany Jin outside.
Hope had ties to this city after all... though with how drastically the city's scenery had transformed, Jin couldn't help but wonder if that even mattered anymore.
The moment the Hurricane touched down, a guard came jogging over.
"Magi Craft Meister Lord Jin Nidou, welcome to Mahalig!"
Apparently, word had been dispatched ahead of time by Tomax Bartman.
Jin noted how meticulous Tomax was with such arrangements. Then again, it was likely due to the competent support of his secretaries, Manon and Simone.
"...Wait a second."
The secretary automata Jin had gifted to Tomax Bartman consisted of two units: Manon and Simone.
Whenever he met with Tomax, Manon was almost always by his side, but Jin had no recollection of Simone ever being present.
"Hey, Kachea, that secretary automaton, Simone, whom I gave to Tomax-san back then..."
Jin was just about to ask Kachea when a voice interjected.
"If it is me you seek, I am right here."
"Huh?"
Turning toward the sound, he found an automata with long green hair tied neatly into a ponytail.
"As Tomax-sama's representative, I am overseeing the reconstruction guidance for the former Mercana Principality."
"So that was it."
With Simone's advanced processing capabilities, she was certainly well-suited for the role, Jin reasoned in understanding.
In truth, it would have caused far more problems had Tomax Bartman attempted to oversee both Avalon and this region simultaneously.
He almost certainly would have ended up doing a half-baked job with both.
After all, if you chase two hares, you catch neither.
Furthermore, though Tomax Bartman was likely unaware, Simone and Manon could communicate seamlessly via their built-in manacams.
In other words, Simone was able to keep abreast of Tomax's thoughts through his secretary, Manon.
Jin imagined that by quietly executing measures aligned with his intentions on that basis, she had succeeded in lightening Tomax Bartman's burden considerably.
"I see. So you've been the one managing things here, Simone. Thank you for your hard work."
"Not at all. This is simply my duty as Tomax-sama's secretary."
Jin decided to take this opportunity to inquire about the state of Mahalig's reconstruction from Simone directly.
"Understood. Please, right this way."
Simone led Jin and the others toward a simple prefabricated building adjacent to the airfield. From what she explained, it served as her office.
Since Simone had no need to sleep or rest, a modest structure was more than sufficient for her to carry out her duties without a hitch.
"Sorry to intrude. Weren't you in the middle of something?"
"No, it is quite all right. The paperwork has tapered off considerably as of late."
In the initial stages, there had been an overwhelming barrage of 'complaints' and 'petitions', making the mere task of prioritizing them an enormous undertaking.
Now, however, her workload consisted primarily of 'progress reports' and 'requests for lacking materials'.
"Vague 'complaints' and 'petitions' are terribly difficult to address, as they often amount to nothing more than venting dissatisfaction."
"That makes sense."
"In contrast, if people clearly specify 'what', 'how much', and 'by when' something is required, it becomes exceedingly straightforward to handle."
"Ah, I completely get that."
Kachea, who routinely dealt with accounting tasks, nodded in deep agreement.
"Well then, taking you up on that offer, there's something I'd like to check with you, Simone-san."
"Yes, what might that be?"
"What has become of the magi-device and theory that Jin-san and Eira-san co-developed?"