On June 10, Jin paid a visit to Avalon. Accompanied solely by Reiko, he traveled aboard Hurricane.
Though he had several items on his agenda, he went first to pay his respects to Chief Administrator Tomax Bartman.
"It has been a while. The World Conference is just around the corner, isn't it?"
"Indeed it is. I'm busy enough that my head is spinning... or so I'd like to say, but thanks to how capable Manon is, it hasn't been nearly that bad."
"That's good to hear....On that note, I'd like to perform a maintenance check on Manon."
When Jin explained that he had heard about her recent sham fight, Tomax Bartman was delighted.
"I cannot thank you enough. Having you keep Manon in peak condition is an absolute blessing."
With that settled, Jin borrowed a Small Conference Room to conduct a full overhaul.
Reiko served as his assistant.
While he could have easily asked Laojun to transfer any necessary materials from Hourai Island, none were needed this time.
"Not a single issue."
Her joints were completely solid, with no play in them, and her skeletal frame showed no distortion. Her artificial muscles and skin had suffered no wear or degradation either.
"Thank you very much, Jin-sama."
"Of course. Keep up the good work going forward."
"Yes, I will do my best."
Tomax Bartman then spoke up.
"By the way, Jin-dono, the World Conference will likely dispatch an official goodwill mission to the Four Principalities. Would it be possible for you to join the delegation?"
Here it comes, Jin thought. He had already learned through Laojun, courtesy of Manon, that the Jagus Principality had made such a request.
"Yes, that should be fine."
Hearing his agreement, Tomax Bartman breathed a visible sigh of relief.
"That is a tremendous help. Once the dates are set, I will contact you through Maquina-dono."
"Understood."
For the time being, there was no direct line of communication to reach Jin.
As far as the public knew, everything went through Maquina.
Of course, Maquina was essentially Jin himself.
His next stop was the academy.
Waiting in the Academy President's office was Illumina Ratkin.
With her predecessor having reached retirement age, she was serving as the interim Academy President until an official appointment could be made at the upcoming World Conference.
"Jin-sama, welcome. Thank you for coming."
"I stopped by today because I have a proposal."
As one of Marikka's former students, she possessed a deep knowledge of magi-craft.
Jin decided to explain the secondary objective of his visit to her.
In short:
"You have completed a magi-device utilizing a three-dimensional magic circle, and you want Avalon to mass-produce it for the public good?"
That was the crux of the matter.
"This is the device in question."
From his luggage, Jin produced a "Magi-Device Set That Produces Fresh Water from Seawater While Simultaneously Refining Salt."
After extensive discussions within the Jin Family, someone had suggested that extracting salt while desalinating seawater would kill two birds with one stone. That idea evolved into a design capable of filtering out even minute traces of harmful heavy metals and other impurities.
Jin outlined the operating procedure:
First, locate a site with access to clean seawater.
Next, craft and install the magi-device. Its dimensions were roughly comparable to a standard household washing machine.
From there, submerge the unit's two hoses into the sea. One hose drew in seawater, while the other returned the unfiltered excess back to the ocean.
Upon waking up the device, it would pump up seawater and separate it into fresh water and salt internally.
Other trace minerals were not isolated in this prototype and were simply flushed back into the sea.
The intake hose featured a mesh filter designed to screen out physical debris—scraps of seaweed, drift leaves, sand, and the like.
The main housing contained a massive reservoir—taking up ninety percent of the unit's volume—that automatically triggered a temporary stop once full.
However, because the resulting salt was refined into pure sodium chloride, it lacked a certain depth of flavor.
...That was the overall design.
"Ahhh... This is magnificent! Truly worthy of the Magi Craft Meister, Jin-sama!"
"Actually, the core concept comes from the First Generation's records of extracting useful metals from seawater."
"By the First Generation, you mean... Adriana Barbora Tsetse-sama?!"
"Precisely."
Illumina Ratkin was visibly moved by the revelation.
"Incredible! That is truly remarkable, Lord Magi Craft Meister!"
Catching herself, she hastily smoothed over her outburst.
"Ah, p-please forgive me."
I can certainly tell she studied under Marikka, Jin thought with a wry smile.
His third destination was the Go-lab.
He had come here to discuss three-dimensional magic circles as well.
Rather than presenting a finished magi-device, however, he had come to share ideas on boosting efficiency.
"I've kept up my own research since we last spoke, and I found that efficiency varies depending on the medium the magic circle is drawn upon."
"Oh, as expected of Jin."
"We've been focused on golem research as well, so we haven't made nearly as much headway."
Eira and Kachea chimed in one after the other.
"I see. That must keep you busy."
"It does, but it's very rewarding."
Though looking slightly weary, Groma Tray offered a bright smile, saying the work was well worth the effort.
"So, getting to the point. Rather than drawing magic circles on standard paper and superposing them, impregnating the sheets with magi-resin significantly improves efficiency."
"Aha, I see..."
"Because it reduces magical resistance, right?"
"And it won't drive up costs all that much either!"
Eira, Groma, and Kachea voiced their thoughts in rapid succession.
"I tested magical beast leather as well, but the performance gains didn't justify the steep increase in cost."
"Ah, figures you'd test that too....So, can I ask something?"
Eira raised a hand.
"Sure, what is it?"
"Look, if you want to combine multiple magic circles to increase the output, is it better to stack them, enlarge them, or draw them side by side on the same sheet? Which works best?"
That's a very practical question, just like Eira, Jin thought.
"Well, out of those options, enlarging them should technically be the most efficient. But that makes the whole assembly bulky and awkward to handle, doesn't it?"
To keep a device compact, it was best for the length, width, and height to remain roughly proportional.
That practical requirement was what made stacking layers so appealing.
"Between drawing them side by side and stacking them, stacking is definitely the way to go."
"Just as I thought. When combining magic circles, keeping the distance between them as short as possible yields the best results."
"Exactly."
A side-by-side layout spaced the circles apart by their own diameter, whereas stacking separated them only by the thickness of a single sheet of paper. That minimal gap translated to far greater efficiency.
"Also, while I'm still verifying the results, I'm looking into using muscovite."
He had asked Saki and Hanna to investigate the material, though they had yet to reach a definitive conclusion.
"Unlike a simple stack of paper, muscovite has a natural crystalline structure, so its bonding properties should be exceptionally high."
Jin gave a brief overview.
"Aha, makes sense. Leave it to Jin to come up with an idea like that."
"I can't take all the credit, though."
Jin couldn't exactly bring himself to mention that the concept had been hashed out by the Jin Family.
Since this was strictly a day trip, Jin returned to Chief Administrator Tomax Bartman's office at 6:00 PM local time.
"Ah, Jin-dono, leaving already?"
"Yes, right on schedule."
"Thank you for taking the time to visit. You are welcome here anytime."
"Thank you very much."
With their farewells exchanged, Jin boarded Hurricane.
"A visit to the Four Principalities, huh..."
Jin found himself recalling the time he had spent working at a laboratory in the Jagus Principality before Hourai Island had been liberated.
"I wonder if any of the old faces are still around."
The past was the past.
While they weren't particularly fond memories, those people had still been acquaintances.
Pondering what they might think if they saw him as he was now, Jin made his journey back to Hourai Island.