Magi Craft Meister

Magi Craft Meister 625

18　King Klein’s Treatment Arc

19-12　Vow

“Oof, I shouldn’t have said that…”

Reinhardt scratched his head in frustration. Elsa puffed out her cheeks and turned away.

“… What do you mean by ‘Vow of Bare Hands’?”

Naturally, this new concept intrigued Jin. Elsa was looking to her side with her face as red as a tomato, while Reinhardt seemed embarrassed.

“…Oh well. Elsa, I’m sorry for my husband’s slip of the tongue. Would it be okay if I explained the meaning of this to Jin?”

Looking away, Elsa silently shook her head.

“To put it simply, for an adult aristocratic woman to attend a public event without wearing gloves is seen as proof that she is helping with the household chores. It is basically the same as saying ‘I have someone I want to do the chores for’, and by extension, ‘I have someone special in my heart’…”

A clatter was heard, and looking at its source, they found Elsa, who had suddenly gotten up from her chair before leaving the room. Her face was even redder than before.

“Ah… I’ll apologize later.”

Reinhardt bowed to Jin with a sorry look on his face.

“Maybe, for Elsa, this was a vow to herself. And all I did was call her out on that. …Sorry, Jin.”

Reinhardt lowered his head again. But Jin told him not to worry about it.

“…I have to face Elsa’s feelings.”

Said Jin as in a murmur while staring at the door Elsa left.

“Jin, do you still think of Elsa as a ‘clumsy little sister’?”

It seemed that Reinhardt remembered what Jin had answered back when he asked him about it back when they were at the hot spring on Kunlun Island.

“…No.”

Jin replied while shaking his head.

“I don’t think she’s clumsy anymore. She’s a fine woman.”

“I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear that from you.”

“…Can we stop talking about this, please?”

“Yes, I understand. Just make sure to be direct about it when the time comes, Jin.”

“…Someday, once my feelings are sorted out.”

When Jin answered so, Reinhardt and Berthie couldn’t help but let out a small sigh.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

The next morning, Jin prepared the blimp and boarded it with Reiko, Elsa, Hanna, and Edgar.

But Elsa was acting like she was avoiding Jin, and didn’t really give him any chance for conversation.

Jin was somewhat optimistic that he would be able to do something about it once they arrived at Hourai Island.

First, they stopped by the Imperial Palace for a brief moment. Waiting for them were both Chancellor Jung and the Minister of Magi Technology Degauss.

“Miss Elsa, Lord Jin Nido, we’re counting on you.”

Chancellor Jung handed Elsa a cream-colored robe that indicated that she was the “Reichsarzt”, the Imperial Doctor sent by the Shouro Empire.

“Thank you. I will do everything I can.”

Afterwards, the chancellor talked to Elsa about some considerations to be taken during her visit to the Klein Kingdom. Taking advantage of that time, Jin asked Degauss if he could send a sample of the desiccant.

“Hmm, good idea. I’ll get someone to bring some right away.”

While they were doing that, the empress also came running.

“…Ah, I made it in time. Elsa, we’re counting on you. Jin, take care of her, will you?”

The empress then handed out a letter to Elsa.

“You should show this when you go to the Klein Kingdom. Do your best.”

“Thank you.”

It seemed to be an official letter in the empress’ handwriting. Apparently, she had been talking with the Chancellor of the Klein Kingdom through the Mana Phone until just now.

“Just to make sure there are no mistakes.”

In the meantime, a desiccant sample was brought in. Degauss explained to the empress what Jin was trying to do.

“…I see, that’s a good idea, Jin. Thank you.”

After the 60 kilograms of desiccant were loaded up, the blimp was ready to depart.

“Take care, Jin. Elsa, stay strong. And Hanna, see you again soon, okay?”

The empress once again turned to Jin and the others.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Jin had the blimp’s mooring ropes released. The blimp slowly began to rise, increasing its speed as it continued to rise. A strong westerly wind was blowing that day.

The empress, the chancellor, and the minister all looked up at the sky until the blimp disappeared.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

Riding the tailwind, the blimp flew east at about 60 kilometers per hour, and reached an altitude of about 3000m.

After flying for an hour, a sea of clouds could be seen spreading out below the blimp.

“Wow, it’s so pretty!”

Hanna was in high spirits. Jin muttered while gently stroking her head…

“It’ll be here soon.

“Huh? What’ll be here soon, Big Brother?”

Hanna was now curious. Jin smiled mischievously and continued stroking her head.

“Well, just watch.”

As he said that, a huge object appeared about 500 meters ahead.

It was Condor 3, which was equipped with a Warp Gate. It had been sent here via transfer machine.

“Oh, that’s a plane I’ve seen before!”

Hanna seemed to remember boarding it to return from another earlier visit to the Klein Kingdom.

The blimp slowly approached Condor 3’s huge Warp Gate.

“…Hmm, I wonder if this is a bit too dangerous…”

However, Jin decided to stop plunging the entire blimp into the Warp Gate.

“What’s the matter, Brother Jin?”

Because of her embarrassment, Elsa had been avoiding Jin since the night before, but it seemed she couldn’t help but ask him what was going on at the moment.

“The wind is a bit strong today, so it could get a little bit dangerous because of all the shaking.”

Blimps and hot air balloons were susceptible against wind. Of course, this applies to all sorts of aircrafts, but blimps at hot air balloons were especially vulnerable.

“We’ll anchor the blimp to Condor 3 and enter its Warp Gate on foot.”

While thinking that he might have to look into ways to deal with strong winds in the future, Jin lowered the blimp onto Condor 3.

Sky 21 and 22 came out and firmly moored the blimp.

After that was done, Jin got off the gondola before helping Elsa and Hanna get off as well. Reiko and Edgar followed.

“Okay, let’s go”

After Jin and the others crossed the Warp Gate’s threshold, Condor 3 started transporting the blimp to Hourai Island.

Jin and the others went from Shinkai to Hourai Island. It seemed that Hanna had already gotten used to it after having used the Warp Gate a few times herself.

“Wow, we’re already on Hourai Island!”

Hanna then ran out of the lab, energetic as always.

Hanna’s dedicated Covert Units, Iris and Azalea, reunited with her here. Since Jin couldn’t get them on the blimp, they instead used the Warp Gate that was hidden in the Loizart mansion to return to Hourai Island ahead of the others.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

Alban, the capital of the Klein Kingdom, was about 800 kilometers away from Loizart, the capital of the Shouro Empire.

Although it was possible to make that distance in one day, Jin left Loizart planning to get there on the following day.

In other words, they could afford to spend a whole day on Hourai Island.

Jin planned to use this time to get a few things done.

“Well then, let’s get started.”

Jin took out a Magi Crystal and presented it to Elsa.

“…What’s this, Brother Jin?”

Jin then explained to the confused Elsa.

“This is a key to unlock further knowledge.”

Right after saying that, Jin realized that he had said that in a rather weird way, and immediately felt embarrassed. However, Elsa had her serious eyes fixed on him.

“Does this Magi Crystal contain more scientific knowledge, Brother Jin…?”

Elsa had understood the meaning of Jin’s words.

“That’s right. The one we used some time ago contained elementary level knowledge. This one is intermediate level.”

The elementary level Magi Crystal had knowledge up to what would be taught in junior high school, but the intermediate level was equivalent to senior high school knowledge. It also included knowledge of kanji, as well as part of Adriana Balbora Ceci’s Magi Engineering knowledge.”

“I’m sure you’re now more than able to handle this knowledge, Elsa.”

“Brother Jin…”

“Think of it as a gift to commemorate your decision to go to the Klein Kingdom of your own free will, Elsa.”

Jin wanted to do whatever he could for Elsa’s safety.

“…I’m so happy…”

Elsa shyly accepted Jin’s Magi Crystal.

“’Transinfo’”

After copying the knowledge contained in it into her own Magi Crystal, she began to absorb its contents.

Once the transfer was done, Elsa staggered for a moment due to having suddenly received a surge of knowledge that was more advanced than the elementary level knowledge she had, but quickly recovered.

“Are you okay?”

“…Yeah.”

Looking after Elsa, Jin took her to a chair.

“…”

For about 10 minutes, Elsa kept looking down as if going over her newly increased knowledge, but then lifted her head and met Jin’s eyes, who were looking worriedly at her, and smiled.

“Thank you, Brother Jin.”