Volume 8 - Chapter 5 – Regret (1/2)
08-05 Regret
The time for regrets would be later.
“Is that so, Jin, you could make one…My goodness. The person I’ve been searching for was this close.”
Reinhardt was crestfallen and hung his head down. It was understandable.
A tool that only releases Magic Energy would be possible for Reinhardt too to make. However, with just that the problem would become Magic Energy exhaustion.
Well, maybe an easy-to-understand illustration would be something like diabetes caused by Magic Energy.
Having more than the required level of Magic Energy harms the body, while running out of it also results in a bad condition.
It was natural for him to come to the conclusion that there’s no one who could build a Magi Tool that keeps Magic Energy at precisely the right level.
However, if you thought about it, it was probably only normal to not openly share secrets about Elsa’s body, her being a viscount’s daughter, with Jin whose origin and nature had been doubtful and unknown until only as of late. She was a relative but she also was another house’s daughter. Just her having an illness would ordinarily be enough so that no one would marry her.
“If Elsa had just been my sister instead of my cousin, I would’ve long ago wanted to consult you about it, wouldn’t I.”
Reinhardt said, mocking himself. But now was too late.
At that time, once more there was a knock on the door. This time Ann opened it.
“So you were her after all, Reinhardt.”
The knocker was Fritz.
“Of course I know you’ve already heard, but Elsa’s gone. Along with her nanny Mine. I will search for the two’s whereabouts. That’s why, Reinhardt, you can go now. ”
“Eh?”
Reinhardt couldn’t really understand what Fritz meant. It was unusual for the quick-witted man.
“In other words, I’m saying it’s fine for you to no longer take care of Elsa. Sorry for your trouble.”
Saying just that Fritz turned and left without waiting for Reinhardt’s answer. From beginning to end he had ignored Jin.
“…”
“……”
There was silence between the two. Then one of them sighed and,
“So, that’s the situation. Jin, as a result, we’ll be leaving here tomorrow. Do you still think you want to visit my country?”
With a lonely smile on his face, Reinhardt threw a question towards Jin. Jin immediately replied.
“Yeah. Of course. In that case it should be fine to leave tomorrow morning, right? Today’s plans are?”
Being asked that, this time Reinhardt smiled happily.
“Really! Thanks, Jin. I was worried that you’d come to dislike my country because of this series of complications. I’ll not be around for the morning because of the legal formalities. I expect to be back in the afternoon.”
“Got it. I’ll kill time as I see fit until evening.”
Jin replied to Reinhardt’s explanation. The two then parted ways.
＊ ＊ ＊
After having a proper breakfast in the hotel, Jin once more warped to Hourai Island.
The reason being something had come to Jin’s mind.
That was a Magi Tool to find Elsa’s whereabouts. Assuming Elsa had the dagger and brooch Jin had made on her, Jin’s Magic Energy pattern was surely recorded in them.
The Ring of Protection was an exception as it had probably adapted completely to its owner’s Magic Energy.
In other words, what he thought about was trying to build a high-power Magic Energy detector.
“My Lord, you’re not continuing the armor today?”
Laozi asked. Jin nodded,
“Yeah. There’s a small idea that I had, so. Please prepare the materials.”
“Understood.”
What Jin thought to build was a superior version of the Magic Energy detector. A Magi Tool, no, a Magi Device that could sense the Magic Energy of an individual and pinpoint the location.
As a matter of fact, after the predecessor had died, to find a successor the Automata that was Reiko’s previous body had spent 50 years developing such a device.
However, because of the thousand-year-long search, after finding Jin that device broke completely apart without leaving a trace, a part of the Automata’s information was also lost, and at present there was no way of reproducing it. More than that, all traces of such a device ever existing had vanished. Including memories.
And that’s why once more Jin had to build one from scratch.
The foundation was the built-in sensor in Reiko. It could tune for a particular Magic Energy and discern the direction and strength. Its precision wasn’t very good.
He planned to install three large-scale versions of it on Hourai Island.
If you knew the direction, then by drawing two straight lines from two different points the location would be shown at their intersection. Because the two points can’t be moved, to prepare against the worst case that the lines to the target overlap, Jin thought that a rather good precision could be expected by adding one more for a total of three sensors.
Like with radio waves, conforming Magic Energies would resonate, and he utilized that principle of resonation. Instead of a coil he inscribed a Magi Formula into a Magi Crystal. Jin wrote the Magi Formula carefully.
On the side, Reiko was building the sensor’s chassis and support beams according to Jin’s instructions.
Looking at the situation was Hourai Island’s brain, Laozi, thinking that if only he had arms and legs he could be more helpful for Jin.
Next, Jin was stumped by how to quantify the direction of the detected Magic Energy. If this was his original world he would have the compass or even the location of the North Star.
“Ah, a compass is required for navigating with ships and planes too, huh.”
And so he temporarily stopped the construction of the sensors, and tried making a compass.
First he decided to try experimentally magnetizing a steel needle, pricking it through paper and having that float in a wash bowl filled with water. He had a needle, paper, and a wash bowl, but magnetizing would be difficult.