Chapter 437: The Meaning Of “Partners”

“Well, next up is…”

“T-There’s more…?”

It was Mine who asked that in such a pitiful voice. It was only natural, as she was the farthest from grasping the concept of Magi Craft from the group.

“We’ll finish right after this next one for now, Mine.”

“For now, you say…?”

They headed towards the laboratory, walking down the stairs that led to the first bas.e.m.e.nt floor.

Just above the room where Laojun was enshrined.

“This is the Control room. I used this place during the fight against the Unifiers, but what I want to show you now is this Magi Radar”.

“Magi Radar?”

“Yeah. This can tell wherever a registered magic pattern appears.”

It was a rather simple explanation, but Reinhardt was surprised to see what it meant.

“What!?”

Then, he sighed deeply.

“Phew, really! How much can you surprise me in a day… No, half a day…”

“What do you mean, dear? What’s this Magi Radar…?”

“…Let’s say we go missing. This device could be used to quickly pinpoint our location.”

The one who explained was Elsa.

“…Right? Brother Jin.”

Jin nodded.

“Exactly. In fact, back when Elsa was kidnapped by the Unifiers, I used this in order to find her, by locating the magical power of the brooch I had given her as a present.”

“…Ah, so that was how you did it.”

Mine was at a loss for words. Back when she took Elsa in, she had made her leave her dagger, her ring, and most of her magic tools behind.

If Elsa hadn’t secretly kept her brooch with her… That thought made Mine s.h.i.+ver.

“B-But how does it work? How does it find you?”

Stearleana seemed to be quite intrigued by it, but she asked that question because she didn’t understand the principles behind the Magi Radar.

“I don’t know if the word triangulation would make it any clearer, but there’s a thing called Magi Detector that can be used to detect magical power. That device can be used to know the direction from where magic flows.”

“Ah, I seem to understand. We can use those to sense strong magical power. So this Magi Radar works in a similar way?”

Jin nodded. Of course she would know that, since she was the Celuroa Kingdom’s second strongest Magi Craftswoman.

“Using one of those Magi Detectors, you can tell the direction from where magic comes, but not the distance. But if you were to use two, or preferably three or more…”

“Ah! I see! So it’s like having multiple Magi Detectors? So wherever the lines that can be drawn with each detector intersect, that’s where you should look for the source of the magical power, right?”

She seemed to have gotten the general gist of it.

“Ah, it’s wonderful! I feel as if the entire world had been remade in just half a day!”

Stearleana was trembling with excitement. Everyone seemed to be surprised to find that someone could be so expressive with their emotions.

“You look like you’ve been restraining yourself for quite some time, huh?”

Mine seemed to know all too well about Stearleana’s feelings. Could it be that she could relate to her restraint?

＊ ＊ ＊

“Phew…”

Since it was nearly impossible to show them the whole picture of Hourai Island in a single day, they rounded it up at an appropriate place and went for a tea break at the dining room.

“I was very surprised by the things Jin was able to make, but the legacy of Adrianna Balbora Ceci is awesome.”

Reinhardt said that earnestly after having settled down from his amazement at the things he had seen.

“All this magic and Magi Craft the world has lost to this day… How much of that is there?”

“That’s true… Even though we have a Warp Gate, we wouldn’t know how to make them. And all of these artifacts and ancient relics have been scattered throughout this world… This is amazing…”

Stearleana’s voice sounded a bit tired as well.

“This island’s resources are really something else, Jin. Just how much does it have?”

As an alchemist, the amount of materials made Saki’s heart flutter.

“There’s no facility like this in any country of this world.”

Reinhardt sighed as he muttered that.

“And Jin made all this in a little over a year? That’s impressive.”

Stearleana was still a little excited.

“But his predecessor left him this laboratory, right?”

However, Reinhardt was of a different opinion.

“No, but Jin said he arrived here almost a year ago, didn’t he? And this year he’s been traveling with us since the Golem boat compet.i.tion at Potlock. I can only say that to weave his way in such a short time and manage to accomplish so much has to be some kind of divine work.”

“You’re exaggerating. I didn’t do this all by myself. Reiko, the other golems, and Laojun were there to help me.”

“But you made those golems, Jin. In the end, it was all done by your hand.”

“Kuhuhu, I think he’s right, Jin. I think it’s safe to say you have built an actual paradise on earth here. An engineer’s paradise.”

Saki also praised both Jin and Hourai Island.

“…Thanks for your kind words.”

“Kuhuhu, you’re really shy, Jin.”

Saki laughed mischievously and had a sip of tea.

“I think my predecessor wanted to make a sanctuary for Magi Craft in this place. I want to carry out her wishes.”

Berthie was the one who responded to that.

“This may be a little awkward, but I’d like to say a few words. From my point of view, this Hourai Island is strange. I mean this both in a good way and in a bad way. But when I say in a bad way, I mean as in that it can easily upset the common sense of this world, nothing more.”

Taking over from Berthie’s words, Mine also had something to say.

“Yes, I’m sorry, but I think so too. What do you think everyday people will think when they see the technology you have here? Anyone would see an influential person like you, and all this, and instantly a.s.sume you want to grow in power. Your airplanes, your golems, your abundant resources…”

Everyone seemed to feel the same way.

“Of course, with this Hourai Island, Jin would probably be able to repel any attack, even if the whole world were to join forces against him. Hmm, and if he really felt like it, he could conquer this world, or even destroy it.”

Stearleana a.n.a.lyzed Jin’s war potential.

“But Brother Jin is too lazy to do such a thing, right?”

Elsa replied, staring at Jin with hopeful eyes.

“Well, why would I need to conquer the world? For power? That’s a ha.s.sle. For money? I have as much as I need.”

He would have continued with “For women?”, but didn’t. Elsa unintentionally let out a quiet laugh…

“I knew you’d say something like that, Brother Jin.”

…And her face showed that she seemed relieved to hear that.

“Well, let me give you my opinion.”

Reinhardt corrected his posture and then made his remark.

“This place is wonderful. There are so many things you can try, learn, and build. It really is a sacred place.”

“It is, isn’t it? I never thought that there would be a place like this.”

Stearleana agreed with him.

“Thank you very much for having us in today, Jin.”

Saki bowed her head.

“Yeah. You found me and helped me a lot, too. Thank you, Brother Jin.”

Next was Elsa.

“So…”

Reinhardt looked at Jin straight in the eye, and continued.

“Jin, you did all this in such a short amount of time. No one in this world could ever hope to accomplish what you have done so far. You should be proud of it.”

“Kuhuhu, that’s right. But Jin, don’t you think you’re rus.h.i.+ng things a little bit too much?”

“Huh?”

Saki’s words puzzled Jin.

“You might not even understand even if I tried to explain. There’s simply no one to compare you with.”

Still smiling at the speechless Jin’s face, Saki pa.s.sed the baton to Elsa.

“So, Elsa, please explain.”

“!?”

“You understand what I’m trying to say, right?”

“…”

After silently looking at Jin, Elsa followed Saki’s indications, and suddenly started to speak.

“…I think I’ve said this before, but you’re taking too much upon yourself, Brother Jin. I understand that you can do anything. But that doesn’t mean that you have to.”

“Hey, Elsa, that’s…”

Saki was trying to tell her that that wasn’t what she was talking about, but Reinhardt touched her shoulder so as to tell her to let Elsa finish.

“Really, think about the things only you can do, Brother Jin. You could always count on Reiko, Laojun and the golems. And now, you can count on us, too.”

Jin was listening quietly.

“We’ll help each other whenever we’re stumped. Wait, it’s not just that. We’ll share the fun moments and feel true happiness together. We’ll support each other through thick and thin, and comfort each other when we’re feeling down. That’s what we’re here for… Right?”

Even though it had been completely off the point, Reinhardt thought her speech was heartwarming, and said nothing about it. What he wanted to say to Jin was something along those lines, too.

“You’re always taking things upon yourself and yourself alone…”

“Well, well! Seems everybody here loves you very much, Jin.”

Reiko, who was looking at their conversation from the side, knew that all too well.

Jin’s own lonely past caused him to come clean with them.

Except for the director, no one could rely on Jin… At least, that he was aware of. Jin was someone who could be relied on but had no one to rely on in turn.

“We’re not partners… We’re family.”

Reiko’s voice was so soft that no one could actually hear her say that.

“I think Father doesn’t need partners, but a family…”