Homecoming

Since the ‘Scarlet Trail’ was too fast for the other luggage boats to keep up with it, whenever they would be in free waters, Reinhardt decided to run several tests.

Things like maneuverability, acceleration and deceleration, and stability.

“Alright, except for stability, I’d say that’s enough for now.”

He was now able to do very tight turns thanks to his ability to control a normal rudder and paddle wheel.

Still, his stability was still lacking. The ship rocked a bit more than what he had anticipated.

This could be said to be an adverse effect of having narrowed the ship’s width.

If one uses too much force when trying to level the hull back when turning, it could end up throwing itself to the opposite side. Then one would need to try to level the hull back again and again until it’s leveled.

“That’s it! All I need is to add something that acts as a shock-absorbent!”

The pondering Reinhardt finally arrived at a solution. Ships were really something flexible to work with.

There are extensions one can add to both sides of a ship called ‘bilge’ and ‘bilge keel’, which when set up diagonally and downwards under the ship’s hull, can help prevent the water rolling under the ship when turning, which prevents shaking.

“Well then, let’s give that a go once we reach our destination!”

The paddle wheel was excellent in terms of acceleration and deceleration, especially deceleration.

And…

“Okay, this is how powerful it is without Lorelei pushing it…”

When sailing with genuine paddle wheels, the maximum speed it could reach was about 20 kilometers per hour, about half as good as before.

One could easily understand just how superior Lorelei’s swimming ability was.

After performing several tests and having a light meal onboard, they finally arrived on Koju a little earlier than the luggage boats. That ended up being very convenient when it came to picking up their luggage.

There were no complaints from Berthie nor Jin about him doing some sightseeing on the lake.

“Here’s the lodging house.”

Reinhardt’s butler, Claude, who had safely managed to carry their luggage, took the party to the lodging house.

It was a high-class hotel in the middle of downtown Koju. There was a reception hall right next to it.

“The Expo will be held at a multipurpose facility that has been built recently near the harbor.”

It seems that such a facility was built there since Koju was close to the capital city Roizart, and as a means to create a front door to promote the development of the area around Lake Tosmo.

It reminded Jin of the buildings found in the Makuhari and Ariake districts in Tokyo, though he had never actually been to any of those districts before.

Jin and Reinhardt carried their display items as they headed for their designated place at the facility where the Expo would be held.

By the time they were finished carrying them, it was already nighttime.

Then the two returned to the hotel and enjoyed a wonderful dinner together with Berthie and Saki.

“Tomorrow’s the big day, huh?”

After the meal, Jin said those words while enjoying a cup of tea in his room, filled with anticipation.

Jin’s room had a living room in addition to two separate bedrooms, one of which had already been prepared by the hotel’s employees. Each of the bedrooms was for two people. This was very convenient.

He had plans to bring Elsa along early on the next day.

The night in Koju went on quietly.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

The time difference between Koju and Kaina Village is about 3 hours and a half. It was 5 AM in Koju, so it would be about 8:30 PM in Kaina village.

Jin and Reiko went to the Warp Gate inside the carriage they had left at the hotel and teleported to Kaina Village.

“Morning, Jin.”

“Good morning, Master Jin.”

He had already talked to Elsa and Mine beforehand, so they were already ready and waiting for him to arrive.

Elsa had brought her best clothes when she came to Kaina Village. It was the same dress she wore when she went to Alban, the capital of the Klein Kingdom. Mine would be wearing her usual maid clothes.

“I also gave this to Mine.”

She was wearing the same Guard Ring Elsa had on.

“And I gave these to Elsa.”

The first item was a brown wig. Magic dye can’t change one’s hair length, so she chose to wear a wig for this event.

Just by changing her usual semi-short hair to shoulder-length drastically changed her looks.

Next were protective glasses. These also changed the way she looked by quite a bit. They stood out a bit compared to Saki’s own glasses.

Seeing that, Jin decided to also wear protective glasses himself.

“Alright, shall we go then?”

“Yeah.”

“…”

The two of them were a bit nervous about returning to their homeland. Jin gave them both a light tap on the shoulder so as to reassure them, and then walked through the Warp Gate located in the underground workshop. The other two soon followed him. Then, Reiko and Edgar walked through as well.

Then all of them emerged on the other side, at the Shouro Empire’s city of Koju.

“Well, this is Koju. Here’s the carriage we left at the hotel that’s next to the reception hall.”

“… Yeah, I’ve been here before, once.”

She must have been here during her last travel. However, since both Elsa and Mine suddenly fell silent after saying that, Jin chose to not ask them anything about it.

A small trickle of tears fell from both Elsa and Mine’s eyes.

Elsa wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and said:

“Big brother Jin… thank… you…”

Her voice cracked due to being overcome with emotion.

“…Thank you very much, Master Jin.”

Mine also expressed her gratitude while moved to tears.

“No need to thank me.”

After saying that, Jin guided the two of them to his room at the hotel.

Out of Jin’s two bedrooms for two, one was for Elsa and Mine.

“Well, today is finally the day of the Technology Expo. I have something to do now, so please wait for me here. It won’t take long, so please bear with me, Elsa.”

“…Okay.”

“Understood.”

At that moment there was a knock at the door. Reiko walked over to it and opened it. Reinhardt was standing on the other side.

“Ah, so you brought them as planned, Jin.”

Then Reinhardt closed one eye as if winking and said:

“We have about 2 hours before we have to go to our place at the Expo. Let’s have breakfast first.”

“Sure.”

Since Elsa and Mine already had breakfast back on Kaina Village, only Jin left the room.

“It seems everything is going according to plan.”

“So today it should go like this then: First, the opening ceremony. Then, the introduction of the participants.”

“That’s right. They didn’t say anything about having the assistants come along, so Elsa should just stay on standby for now.”

They were going over their schedule while having breakfast.

“By the way, where’s Berthie?”

He hadn’t seen her together with Reinhardt as she always was, so Jin was curious.”

“Ah, she’s already had breakfast, so she’s greeting her acquaintances who are also staying at this hotel.”

“Shouldn’t you go as well then, Reinhardt?”

Hearing that, Reinhardt smiled bitterly and answered:

“Hey, hey! Don’t you know what is my role here? I’ve been your guide all this time, you know?”

Jin remembered, thinking, ‘Ah, that’s right’. He had forgotten since he had been coming and going from Kaina Village to Hourai Island as he pleased.

After their conversation, Jin and Reinhardt finished their breakfast, and each returned to their room to double-check if there was anything they might have forgotten before their meeting.

Out of boredom, Reinhardt went back to Jin’s bedroom and a trifling conversation took place.

“So where’s Saki?”

Elsa asked since he hadn’t seen Saki around.

“Ah, the alchemists seem to have gotten together about an hour ago. She had an early breakfast and left.”

“I see.”

Reinhardt stared fixedly at Elsa’s face. When she noticed, she lowered her head a bit and asked ‘What?’.

“It’s nothing, I was just thinking you look very fresh! If you hadn’t said anything I probably would have not recognized you.”

After all, Elsa’s hair was brown and at shoulder-length, and she was wearing protective glasses. She looked really different than usual.

“Ah, that’s right! You should wear protective glasses too, Reinhardt. That way, Elsa won’t stand out as much.”

Having said that, Jin took an extra pair of protective glasses out of his luggage and handed them to Reinhardt.

“Oh, sure. Though magic does most of the work for us, it doesn’t hurt to keep our eyes safe.”

Reinhardt laughed as he put on the glasses. All three of them, no, four if you count Saki, were wearing glasses now. Perhaps Elsa wouldn’t bring as much attention to her now.

Time went by and eventually a man who seemed to be an executive member of the Expo came calling for them.

“Alright then, let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, we’re off.”

The two of them stood up as Elsa and Mine saw them off.

Reinhardt stopped by his room to get his hand luggage and to bring Schwartz Ritter Noir along.

It was finally time for the Technology Expo.

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