When Jin replied that it would depend on the conditions, the princess nodded, completely agreeing and said,
“Hmm, of course. Is it the compensation? Or the time needed? Ask anything because I am going to ask this of my father, the King.”
“No, it’s nothing that big. If you just promise to not constraint us, that will be fine.”
‘Of course!’ the princess promised, putting her honor on the line. Jessica and Gloria also agreed.
“The country might go under if we went against you, after all.”
The princess said jokingly but the fact that that was indeed no joke, was not known to anyone there. Even Eliza wasn’t aware of Hourai island’s real strength.
“Then, I am sorry but, could you come to the castle again after this?”
“I guess I have no choice.”
When you think about the terms and conditions, he couldn’t once take the option of returning to Kaina village. Since if they were to ask something like ‘Where are you going?’, he would be at a loss for words.
If he were to ask Laojun, he would probably be able to convey it to the Kaina village in some way.
“Eliza, Hanna, it looks like we will be a day or two late, is that okay?”
Jin asked them both with an apologetic face. But, both Eliza and Hanna accepted it with a smile.
“It’s something Jin-nii decided, after all.”
“To the princess’ place again? I am okay with that!”
Hearing that, Jin was relieved.
“Then, please get on the carriage again…. Gloria, sorry but could you look over these bandits? I will send people over immediately.”
“Yes, princess!”
Getting back on the carriage, Jin and the others once again headed for the imperial castle.
They were guided to the guest room and served tea, after which they had to wait for about 30 minutes.
During that time, Jin instructed Laojun and Reiko to explain the situation to the Kaina village.
When that was done, Eliza asked,
“Jin-nii, I also want to ask you. That black golem which saved Hanna before, what was that?”
“Yes, yes, onii-chan, I want to know too!”
Jin had thought that they would come asking that sooner or later, so he explained simply,
“They don’t show themselves normally but they are guardian golems always by your sides.”
“Ohhhh! I see! Thank you, onii-chan!”
Looks like Hanna was convinced with that explanation.
“They can disappear?”
Looked like Eliza was curious about that part.
“Ahh. Reiko uses that too, right? It’s a high level magic called ‘hide’.”
“I see…. Got it.”
When Jin was about to say something back, Reiko pulled on his sleeve,
“Reiko?”
“Father, Kaina village is in a terrible state. It seems like recruitment order has just arrived now.”
“What?!”
Jin thought back, that it was probably 21st of April when Kurain kingdom had announced state emergency and ordered the nobles with land to form armies — it was something he heard from L
aojun. That has now…
The only relief is that the war has ended.
“Onii-chan….?”
Hanna was wearing a worried expression, hearing the word ‘terrible’. Eliza, too, was worried.
To both of them, Jin explained the situation.
The war had already ended so even if they were recruiting, it wouldn’t mean danger. Moreover, he said that they would also be released soon.
Hearing that, Hanna was relieved.
“But, if only I can properly utilize the fact that I am here….”
Jin had started pondering something but at that moment, the door was opened and Lieschen princess came in.
“Jin, there’s great news! My father just said that he will meet you now!”
“Eh?”
He had hesitated for a moment there but if the king was going to come meet him directly, he could demand various things really quickly.
“Ah, also, I am sorry little sisters but please wait here… I guarantee your safety. We won’t do anything.”
Jin hadn’t even said anything yet but as if she had read his state of mind, the princess said that while patting his back. ‘They won’t do anything like taking them hostage to threaten Jin’–that was what the last bit sounded like.
“I won’t do anything that would turn you against me. I promise you, with my pride on the line.”
And so, Jin headed for the royal palace bringing only Reiko with him. Jessica accompanied them. And Gloria was with Hanna and Eliza.
After walking through a passage for about 5 minutes, they were already inside the royal palace territory.
After walking for a further 5 minutes, Jin and the others had arrived in front of a marvelous door.
MCM 286
Dark Theme
“This is father’s office. The prime minister is with him now.”
Saying that, Lieschen princess informed them that she had brought Jin and
instructed Jessica to open the door.
From inside the room, a voice said ‘Come in’ and the princess urged Jin to enter. Reiko was close to Jin like a shadow.
“Father, I have brought the Honorary Magi Craft Man from Egelia kingdom, Jin-dono.”
“Hmm.”
On the other side of a thick wooden office desk was the Kurain kingdom’s king, Alois the Third.
The princess whispered to Jin to introduce himself.
“I am Jin Nidou. This is Reiko, an automata.”
Jin bowed. Reiko was still standing beside. As they weren’t expecting any courtesy from an automata, nobody there said anything.
“I am Alois the Third, King of the Kurain kingdom.”
The king introduced himself.
Alois the Third was a man of about 50 years old with a sturdy physique, being about 75 kgs and 175 cm tall.
He had dark-brown hair which had resembled those of Lieschen princess. His eyes were grey, brimming with strictness.
On his right hand side, a skinny middle aged man was standing. On his left was a big muscular man.
“I am the prime minister, Powell. He is the Imperial Guard Leader, Gren Dabrode.”
The prime minister did give a slight bow but the man called Gren Dabrode just stood there.
But Jin wasn’t someone who would be mindful of such trivial matters. Rather, he didn’t even care about the leader.
And then, the place was silent for a while.
Standing in the middle, just when the princess was about to say something, Alois the Third opened his mouth.
“…..Just when I thought we would finally meet… to think you had become Egelia kingdom’s property.”
“Ha?”
“Firstly, sorry. Although it was because of a misunderstanding, I ended up chasing you away from the Kaina village. I apologize for that.”
Saying that, even though it was just a little, Alois the Third bowed his head. Seeing that, the prime minister and the imperial guard leader were a little flustered.
A king of a country, bowing his head out of apology to a normal citizen–
“You have created the pump, developed the gas burner and repelled the golems which were a hindrance to tax collecting — that much is certain, yes?”
“…..Yes.”
Jin couldn’t help but nod.
“As I thought. I heard about you from Lishia Farheight. I wanted to welcome you as the Honorary Magi Craft Man but due to an unfortunate blunder — no, because of our ineptitude, we ended up bothering you.”
He was probably talking about that time when Count Walter came to arrest Jin as if he was a criminal.
“Because of that, you had gone to Egelia, eh… I heard that there was an incident of golems going berserk, right? I have heard that there the Magi craft man and his golem played a very active part in stopping it.”
And there Lieschen princess complemented,
“Father, I have heard from Jin. That the one who did a lot of the work there was also that automata over there, Reiko.”
“Oho? As I thought. Her appearance is like a charming lady but she’s hiding absurd amount of strength, eh?”
The king gazed at Reiko with admiration. Even receiving that gaze, Reiko was as calm as ever.
“You have my gratitude, Reiko. I have heard from Lies just now. That you had neutralized 50 bandits and a golem who were about to attack the city.”
Being told that, Reiko opened her mouth for the first time after entering,
“I just followed my father’s order, that’s all.”
“Hmm, I am also grateful to you too, Jin.”
And so the king finally moved onto the main topic,
“Jin-dono, I want you to use your abilities to make high efficiency golems for our country. You might have already noticed but, we are lacking both labour and talented people. Just that day, our strife with the neighboring country, Francis kingdom, ended but still, as expected, we couldn’t fill that hole.”
And then he exchanged looks with the minister. The minister slightly nodded and looked over the memo in his hand and said,
“According to the reports, 100 tons of steel and bronze, 25 tons of aluminium, few tons of adamantine and misril, etc, are being transported from Tetrada to here. It will probably arrive tomorrow or the day after.”
There, he looked at Jin and said,
“In other words, even if you use that much material, it wouldn’t hurt the country’s reserves.”
He paused. However, Jin also knew that that wasn’t the exact value. Because a part of the transported materials were the Kurain kingdoms’ soldiers’ arsenal.
And then, the king continued again,
“And so, Jin, I want to ask you to make 100 steel swords and 20 general purpose golems which can also endure battles.”