Before sunset, Jin and his crew arrive at Leusert, the capital of the Shoro Kingdom.
It lands on the rooftop of Jin's residence. The size of the airship is the same as the one in the picture, which is convenient in such a case.
"Welcome home, Jin-sama, Erza-sama, Reiko-sama!
Barrow and Behrle greeted us.
After much discussion, they both expressed their desire to work at the Shoro Palace, their birthplace, and we respected their wishes. The village of Kaina will be ...... in the near future.
"I'm home. Is there anything unusual?"
"Yes, nothing much, but there is an asylum seeker from abroad in the house across the street."
An exile?
Yes. A man named Eckart Tecles and his family are said to be from the Kingdom of Celuloa.
Jin nodded. Across the street was the residence of Viscount Jorgens Heckerath von Paddock, Undersecretary of the Minister of Industry of the Kingdom of Shoro.
He thought that it would be an appropriate place for Eckert, who was a great merchant of the Kingdom of Celuloa, to temporarily reside.
After taking a bath and washing off the sweat and dust, it was time for dinner.
White rice, miso soup with topopo (potatoes) and onions, fried eggs, and fried horse mackerel.
"Yes, it's cooked well.
Jin likes his rice cooked a little hard. However, if the rice is not cooked properly, the core of the rice tends to remain.
He had no complaints about the miso soup, which was made from dried bonito flakes.
Erza seemed to enjoy the food as well, since she and Jin generally share similar tastes.
"Thanks for the food."
After the meal, hojicha tea was served. Drinking it slowly, Jin felt at ease.
"Tomorrow morning, I'll go to the castle first thing in the morning to unveil .
He mumbled to himself without saying anything to anyone. Erza responded.
"...... I'm sure His Majesty would like to ride on it."
"Indeed.
Jin chuckles.
"Well, the new airship is much safer and has a larger capacity.
"...... to take the leaders to Kunlun Island someday?"
Erza guessed correctly about the capacity of the <>, which is 30 people.
"Very perceptive. Well, I don't know when that will be.
Jin stared out the window into the darkness, muttering to himself, "When the world is a little more peaceful.
The next morning, Jin launched the to Miyagi, Japan, when the time was right. The crew consists of Jin, Reiko, and Elsa.
The time is 9:00 am.
Her Majesty the Queen had arrived at the landing pad in front of the palace, as expected.
"<> Sir Jin Nido, welcome! You've built something amazing! I wonder if I can ride in it?"
His words were as expected.
He had probably heard that Prince Ernest and Marquis Florenziano had ridden on the manaphone.
Jin smiled and said "Come in" to the reluctant Prime Minister and to Flora, the female knight of the Kingsguard, who was still attached to the Emperor.
The airship carrying them soars into the sky. The emperor is excited and the prime minister is impressed.
"Wow, it's amazing! I love that it hardly shakes at all!"
"......Wow, this is really great. I can't even feel the wind. Jin-dono, how fast can it go?"
Jin answers the Prime Minister's question.
"It can reach a speed of about 200 kilometers per hour.
Even Flora is surprised at this figure.
"So you can make a round trip between the Shoro Kingdom and the Elias Kingdom in one day!
"That's right. You have seen the map, haven't you?
Although the map was not to scale and did not include longitude and latitude lines, the locations were fairly accurate. Therefore, it is not difficult to calculate the distance between any two points from the distance between two known points.
However, the higher the latitude, the more the east-west (latitudinal) direction is distorted.
"Hmmm. Everyone above the rank of Kings of the Kingsguard has seen it. That map is wonderful. I suppose it is possible only for Jin-sama, who has such an airship."
Jin scratched his head at Flora's words.
"We should follow the example of Sir Jin and strive to improve ourselves.
The Prime Minister concluded. The airship is now slowing down and heading back to Miyagi.
"Call me naive, but ....... I can't help but hope that we can improve ourselves without starting a war.
The passengers on board nodded in agreement as the Empress murmured.
After landing safely on the ground, the Empress thanked Jin.
Jin-kun, no, <> Sir Jin Nido, thank you very much. It was a very pleasant time. In return, I will treat you to lunch.
The Empress nods lightly, turns on her heel, and heads back to the castle. The Prime Minister and Flora flanked her as if to protect her.
Jin, Reiko, and Elsa followed close behind.
Lunch was to be taken by the emperor, Hitoshi, Elsa, and Flora.
The menu consisted of porridge, miso soup, and tea. The accompaniment was, to Jin's surprise, pickles.
"This is a rare food that was delivered to us by an advance party that went to a different ethnic ...... mitsho."
The emperor smiles as he points to the pickled vegetables.
"It goes very well with porridge. Would you like to try some?"
"Yes, I'll try it."
After taking a bite, Jin confirmed that it was a pickled vegetable similar to eggplant. They make a small amount of it in Horai Island, but this one tastes better.
"It is delicious.
"Yes, that's good. Flora doesn't like this taste.
It is true that some people do not like the sour taste obtained by lactobacillus fermentation. On the other hand, Elsa seemed to like this taste.
The miso soup was a vegetable miso soup similar to that of turnips. The soup stock seemed to be made from dried bonito flakes.
"What do you think of the taste? The dried bonito flakes that Jin asked me about before? "I shaved it and made dashi? I shaved it and made a kind of dashi.
"It's delicious."
It's a cliché, but that's all I can say. It was a nostalgic taste. I don't know if it was the season or its rarity, but this turnip-like vegetable had never been mentioned by John Dinney.
Jin is hoping to get the seed somehow. At the same time, the old man was secretly planning to do the same thing.
As Jin was able to finish his meal without any tension due to the small size of the group, he was sipping green tea slowly after the meal when the emperor asked him, "Actually, I'm here to see Mr. Jin,
As he was drinking green tea after the meal, the female emperor said, "Actually, there is someone I want you to meet, Jin-kun.
Who is it?
Who is it?
Jin looks doubtful. I have no idea.
"May I call him?"
"Yes, please."
When Jin nodded, the emperor rang the doorbell on the table.
The door opened with a clear ringing sound, and a maid appeared. The emperor nodded to her, and the lady-in-waiting quickly withdrew, as if they had agreed beforehand.
A minute later, she appeared with a man. Jin recognized the man.
"Mr. Eckert!
Yes, the man was Eckart Tecles. He was a former wealthy merchant of the Kingdom of Celuloa, and the builder of the giant ship Bridget.
"Jin-dono, it's been a long time.
Eckhart looked a little gaunt after meeting him for the first time in half a year.
"He, you know, he built a large ship ...... that was as good as ours, but it was confiscated by the Kingdom of Cerroa, and even his family possessions were taken from him, so he went into exile.
"I see. ......"
Jin nodded his head, blurting out what he knew from the old man.
"I had also heard his name from Jin-kun, so I immediately took him into my custody. Now I'm just asking him a few questions as his guest.
"Yes, it's a life or death situation. Thanks to the magecraftsman I hired, I was able to get my whole family out of the country.
Eckart smiles a little sadly.
"Who is this Magecraftsman?"
Jin asks knowingly.
"Yes, he disappeared just before we were taken into custody in our country.
The automata, Regulus 50 and Deneb 30, created by Jin, disappeared, telling him that there was nothing more to worry about.
"I don't know if I'll stay in the service or if I'll go back to business somewhere else," said Eckert.
Eckhart continues. The Empress continues.
"It would be a shame to let his legacy as a merchant die out."
Eckert's connections are not limited to the Kingdom of Cerroa. They extended to the Kingdom of Shawlo and the Kingdom of Egelea.
"I'm thinking of having him work as a quasi-minister for a few years, and then he could go out on his own later with a salary."