Chapter 482: One Step Forward (1/2)
The next day, on the noon of July 27th, at the capital city Roizart…
Reinhardt was waiting for Jin at the public square that was in front of the Imperial Palace.
“I thought he’d be here by now…”
Two hours before, Jin had told him via the Mana Comm that he would be arriving around noon.
“Master Reinhardt, over there.”
Noir, who was standing next to him, pointed at the western sky, just above Lake Tosmo.
“A blimp?”
There was something flying in the sky.
“No, it’s a bit too small… And there’s two?”
There were actually two of those flying machines. And they were getting closer and closer.
At that moment, a blue-haired automata appeared beside Reinhardt. It was Ann.
“Master Reinhardt, Lady Elsa and Master Jin are currently riding those ‘flying balloons’. Please tell everyone in the castle.”
“G-Got it.”
Reinhardt hurriedly went to the closest Imperial Guard he could find. He then told him that those were ‘flying balloons’, and that Jin, the Magi Craft Meister, was currently on one of those balloons. Then, he told the guard to relay that information to the other guards.
Since it was Jin, Reinhardt didn’t think his aircrafts would be damaged if the guards were to try to shoot them down, but just to be as sure as he could, he also told the guard to report it to the empress as well.
A few minutes later, the ‘flying balloons’ flew just above Reinhardt’s position.
“…So, you’ve gone and made yet another new thing, Jin…”
Turning around to the familiar voice, Reinhardt found the current Empress of the Shouro Empire, Gelhart Hilde Von Rubies Shouro, standing behind him. Naturally, she was escorted by five Imperial Guards.
“Hmm, aren’t those the same ‘flying balloons’ the Unifiers used to use for aerial transportation?”
The one who said that was the Minister of Magi Technology, Degauss Furt Von Manishlas.
“There are two of those. Lord Jin is in one of them, and in the other one… Lady Elsa, perhaps?”
That was the chancellor, Jung Fowls von Kebsler. There were many other people, including Christoph, who was the Vice-Minister of Magi Technology, and the Captain of the Imperial Guard.
Everyone seemed to have dropped whatever they were doing to come rushing outside upon hearing that Jin was coming from the sky.
The ‘flying balloons’ that Jin and Elsa were flying on slowly began to descend, and finally landed in the middle of the public square that was in front of the Imperial Palace.
The door of their gondolas opened, and Jin and Reiko appeared from one of them, while Elsa and Edgar came out of the other one.
“Welcome, Jin Nidou! What a surprise!”
The empress was the first one to receive them. Jin and Elsa bowed to her in response.
“Your Majesty, I’m sorry for the sudden visit.”
“Don’t worry about it. You the Magi Craft Meister and an Honorary Knight of this Empire. Of course I would personally come here to greet you.”
After the ‘flying balloons’ had deflated, Jin removed something that looked like a Magic Tool from them, and turned to the empress.
“Your Majesty, could I entrust these ‘flying balloons’ to your care?”
“Of course.”
The empress then chose two of her guards and had them take care of the ‘flying balloons’.
After that, everyone went into the Imperial Palace.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Once again, I apologize for the sudden visit.”
The first thing Jin did after they all arrived at the conference room next to the empress’ office and everyone else had taken their seats.
“Don’t worry about it. Is there some pressing matter?”
With a friendly tone of voice, the empress urged Jin to talk.
“Thank you. There are a number of topics I’d like to discuss with you all. …I’ll start with a report about the demons.”
“Yes, I received a letter from Lord Makina last night. A demon had appeared in the Klein Kingdom.”
In order to increase the story’s credibility, Jin had already reported the incident using the Makina alias.
“Is that so? …Well, in fact, the other day, in the Celuroa Kingdom…”
Jin then started to explain the events that occurred in the Celuroa Kingdom, which ultimately resulted in Stearleana’s defection from her own country.
There were no laws in the Shouro Empire criminalizing illegal immigration. Reinhardt had personally verified that as well. For that reason, the empress said nothing to that effect. But she was still skeptical about the news regarding the demons.
“Hmm, I don’t know about that…”
“I know we have no concrete evidence to support this.”