On July 25, slightly ahead of schedule, Jin visited the Darato Principality to provide technical support.
Jin was currently in a meeting with Gilberto de Darato, the Duke of the Darato Principality.
Accompanying Jin was only Reiko. Representing the Darato Principality were Chancellor Gix Yabo Miyata and Minister of Internal Affairs Maise Wai Haga.
"Now then, Jin-dono, while there are many matters on which we hope to rely on your assistance, first and foremost, we would be most grateful if you could overhaul our nation's golems."
The Chancellor spoke first. Seeing that no one else raised an objection, it appeared they had coordinated this request in advance.
"Repairing golems... is it?"
"Indeed."
This time, the Minister of Internal Affairs answered Jin's question.
"In truth, our country possesses a relatively large number of golems."
"Oh?"
"Most of them date back to our early pioneer days, and nearly all of them have fallen into disrepair."
"I see."
"If they could be restored to working order, it would be an immense help to us."
"Understood."
And so, Jin agreed to begin by repairing and reviving the nation's golems.
"This is... quite a collection."
Jin was guided to an old hangar.
It was roughly the size of a school gymnasium, filled with rows of motionless golems lying across the floor.
It was not particularly dusty, suggesting the room was swept regularly.
"Around two hundred units in all, perhaps?" Jin murmured.
"There are 203 in total," informed Magic Technology Minister Maingo Mohm Zeta, who had guided him inside.
"This is the absolute most we can provide in terms of spare materials at present."
Maingo Mohm Zeta pointed toward a modest pile of metal stock, about the volume of a single light truck bed.
"Beyond that, we would be deeply grateful if you could salvage whatever usable parts remain and repair as many as feasible within your means."
In other words, he was asking for a two-in-one salvage restoration.
"...Understood."
Jin assured him that he and Reiko would handle the rest, whereupon Maingo Mohm Zeta bowed respectfully and took his leave.
"Well then, shall we get to work?"
"Yes, Father!"
Reiko answered in a bright, cheerful voice, thrilled at the prospect of working just the two of them for the first time in a while.
Jin, too, prepared to dive in at full throttle.
"Reiko, let Laojun know what materials we're short on and have it send them over."
Even at a glance, he could tell that the majority of breakdowns were due to degraded muscle tissue and severed magi-circuits.
Naturally, the raw materials needed to repair that muscle tissue were not stockpiled here in the Darato Principality.
After all, magical muscle was not metallic, but organic—derived entirely from magical beasts.
"Understood."
Reiko instantaneously calculated the required quantity and transmitted the request to Laojun.
Three seconds later, three large storage bins' worth of Hourai Island-quality magical muscle material appeared beside Jin.
"All right. Let's begin."
"Yes, Father."
True to the notion of taking them down the line one by one, Jin and Reiko set to work repairing the golems.
"Let's integrate the new muscle in tandem with what's already there."
"The joints on this one are completely worn away."
"The magi-circuit is severed right at this junction."
"Looks like the control core is completely shot on this one..."
Inevitably, there were damaged components beyond just the muscle tissue, and all of them had to be addressed.
As an aside, using the new material in tandem with the existing tissue was necessary because using purely Hourai Island-quality muscle would result in excessive output.
The original structural frames would never withstand that kind of torque. In short, it would destroy the machine's balance.
"Forming. Toughening. Plating."
With Jin's seemingly inexhaustible mana paired with Reiko's blindingly fast hands, the two formed an peerless repair team.
"Oxidation. Crystallization. Stabilize."
Distortions were reshaped, severed lines were linked, worn surfaces were restored, and degraded components were revitalized.
"Alloying. Homogenize. Surface Treatment."
On average, a golem was fully repaired every two minutes.
"Well, no use rushing ourselves."
Pacing his full effort with normal human breaks, Jin finished repairing 202 units in about eight hours. As he moved to tackle the very last one, his hands suddenly froze.
"Wait, this one..."
It had not been left for last on purpose, but the 203rd golem was a deeply nostalgic sight.
"...This is one of the units I delivered to the Klein Kingdom."
Long ago, upon request from the king of the Klein Kingdom, Jin had crafted twenty general-purpose golems: the Nick series. This was one of them.
He wondered how on earth it had ended up in such a remote corner of the world, but decided he would restore it first before asking questions.
"Reiko, have Laojun send over an extra thirty grams of adamantite and about a kilogram of chromium."
"Right away, Father."
Four hundred years ago... 444 years ago, to be precise, when Jin built the unit in the Klein Kingdom, material shortages had forced him to fashion the frame from 5.5 nickel steel. Using Alloying with the chromium, he now converted the skeleton into stainless steel.
To maximize joint durability, he applied a fine adamantite coating rather than relying merely on Hardening.
Finally, its magical muscle was entirely replaced with pristine Hourai Island stock.
As a result, despite retaining its foundational Adriana-style Golem design, the unit's overall performance—once bottlenecked by primitive materials—soared to roughly twenty times its original capacity.
"Wake up."
"Awaiting orders, Creator."
Once again, Nick addressed Jin as "Creator."
This was typical of golems whose registered Master was someone other than their maker.
"Are you... Nick 18, by any chance?"
"Affirmative. I am Nick 18. Thank you very much for repairing me."
"How are your systems running?"
"Excellent. Operational condition is higher than baseline records. Output has increased by a factor of 20.5."
"Good....Now, I have to ask: weren't you serving in the Klein Kingdom? How did you end up all the way out here?"
In response to the question, Nick 18 sought to verify its current location first.
"Understood. First, may I confirm if this location is the Dahlat Territory?"
"No, it gained its independence. It's now the Darato Principality."
"Acknowledged....In the year 3616, I accompanied the Princess to this region as her escort. Sometime thereafter, it appears I suffered a critical breakdown due to overwork."
"Which princess was that?"
"The Eighth Princess of the Klein Kingdom."
"I see..."
Upon further inquiry, Jin learned that because she stood low in the line of succession, various political circumstances had led to her marrying into this remote frontier settlement.
However, Nick 18 had never been briefed on the deeper details of the arrangement.
"In that case, from this day forward, I want you to serve the ducal family of the Darato Principality."
"Orders received and understood."
Though the task had brought an unexpected reunion with his past, the grand overhaul of the golems was finally complete.
"H-How in the world are they all repaired?!"
"We are beyond grateful, but this should be physically impossible?!"
"A-As expected of Jin-dono!!"
Needless to say, the officials of the Darato Principality were left in absolute, stunned disbelief.