That night, just as expected, Village Chief Aik put pen to paper.
The subject, naturally, was the accomplishments of Jin (Jin D).
Unaware that his every move was under Laojun's watchful eye, the village chief finished writing what needed to be written and went to bed.
The following morning, early on August 10.
Just like the day before, the village chief tightly rolled the message into a paper cord, tied it to the leg of a homing pigeon, and set it loose.
Naturally, that too remained under Laojun's surveillance.
"Only two pigeons left... At this rate, I'm definitely going to run out."
If he were to report every single one of Jin D's extraordinary feats, no amount of paper would ever suffice.
Because of this, the village chief had no choice but to send only summarized accounts.
Even so, "something" whispered inside Village Chief Aik's mind, insisting that whatever Jin D did next was crucial information that absolutely had to be reported.
About two and a half hours later, the homing pigeon reached the loft of the Public Relations Department in Jagus Region, the royal capital of the Jagus Principality.
Though labeled the Public Relations Department, it was in truth the Intelligence Department.
"Hey, another one came in."
A staff member looking over at the loft called out to a colleague.
"One arrived yesterday, too."
That colleague was a pigeon specialist, effortlessly catching the bird and untying the message from its leg.
It was immediately delivered to their superior, Incal Jarocki, head of the Public Relations Department (Intelligence Department).
"Let's see what we have here... Hmm? Ha, ridiculous."
Having skimmed the contents, Incal Jarocki scoffed.
"What is it?"
Miki Amerin, Director-General of the Information Agency, happened to be passing by and caught wind of his reaction.
Despite being a woman, she was a brilliant talent who had risen to the rank of Director-General.
Incidentally, the Information Agency was directly under the Chancellor's control, serving as a superior authority over the Intelligence Department (the ostensible Public Relations Department was officially treated as a subordinate branch of the First Ministry of Internal Affairs).
"Ah, Excellency Amerin. It's nothing of importance."
"That is not for you to decide. Report what happened."
"Understood... To tell the truth, we received this message."
Finding his female superior a nuisance to deal with, Incal offered no explanation and merely handed over the newly arrived note.
"...Hmm?...This is rather hard to believe."
"Isn't it?"
Incal wore a smug grin at his superior's words, his expression practically boasting, See? You felt the exact same way I did.
However, Miki Amerin had not become Director-General of the Information Agency just for show.
"Where is the message that arrived yesterday?"
"...Right here."
Incal pulled the crumpled note from the back of a drawer and handed it to her.
"'...The Magi Craft Meister has come to our village'...What?!"
Miki Amerin's eyes went wide.
Magi Craft Meister. The phrase was familiar to her.
(If I remember correctly, weren't they called... the Progressers? Rumor had it they were his descendants.)
In principle, the existence of the Progressers was concealed not only from the general populace but from most government officials as well. Yet as Director-General of the Information Agency, she was well aware of them.
(Given the timeline, this wouldn't be their ancestor, but rather his Successor...)
Lost in thought, Miki Amerin took both messages in hand.
"The Information Agency will take custody of these. Report to me if any further communications arrive."
Leaving those instructions behind, she walked away.
"...Tch."
Left alone, Incal Jarocki gave a faint click of his tongue and returned to his routine duties.
"...All of this civil engineering work in a single day? Incredible."
Back in her office, Miki Amerin sighed after rereading the messages multiple times.
"It's true that even among the Progressers, the ancestors passed down tales of performing such feats, but I assumed it was nothing more than semi-deified legend."
She had written it off as the usual sort of wildly exaggerated accomplishments found in folklore.
"If all of this is true... it's terrifying."
Miki Amerin considered how she might gather more detailed intelligence.
A spy manipulated via Seduce was, in a sense, inconvenient to work with; they would merely execute their assigned orders with blind obstinacy.
"I never imagined such a prominent figure would pay a visit, though."
After deep deliberation, the conclusion she reached was simple.
"I must gauge the true capabilities of this Magi Craft Meister."
That was the only way.
"I will test you... and see whether you truly pose a threat to our nation's ambitions. Steel yourself, Magi Craft Meister."
Meanwhile, Jin D was busy constructing the public bathhouse.
Since there were no harvestable forests nearby, a wooden structure was normally out of the question. Nor were there rocky crags to quarry stone from.
"And it's not like there's suitable clay around for baking bricks, either."
With that in mind, since any building material would have to be brought in from the outside regardless, Jin D opted for easy-to-handle wood.
He planned to claim that Hurricane had felled the timber in a distant forest and transported it over. In reality, it was lumber taken straight from Hourai Island's reserves.
"'Forming.' 'Toughening.'"
Processing the lumber, he fashioned planks and pillars.
"Reiko, Hope, hold this steady."
"Right away."
"Yes, Master."
Together, they raised the building.
Working at a deliberate pace because there were onlookers, the structure was finished in just one hour.
The bathing area itself was made of wood, but thanks to Jin D's Toughening spell, it would likely resist rot for fifty years or more.
While the ground around the tub remained hard-packed earth, the changing room was fitted with wooden slatted duckboards. The feel of the smooth timber against bare feet was pleasant.
Naturally, separate bathing areas were provided for men and women.
The water temperature was regulated to remain constant at roughly 42 degrees Celsius.
For the time being, rather than conventional soap, he decided to supply Rita fruit, a natural surfactant.
"Rita fruit, huh? That takes me back."
Long ago, it was the very fruit used as a soap substitute in Kaina Village.
Fortunately, it grew wild around Lake Kotsushi, meaning a fair amount circulated within the Principality.
There had been some concern that it might dry out the skin, but given the warm climate, Jin D figured it would not pose much of an issue.
"All right, that should just about do it."
After putting up a sheet of paper explaining how to use the bathhouse on the wall, Jin D went over the instructions with the village chief.
"Ah, I understand completely. Jin-sama, thank you so much!"
By dusk, the villagers took turns visiting the bathhouse, stepping out with warmly flushed faces and expressing their heartfelt gratitude to Jin D on their way home.