Chapter 490: Entering The Atmosphere (2/2)
The Hydro units rushed to Reiko’s exact location since they had detected her magical response.
They were quickly able to find her as she emerged on the water’s surface.
On the other hand, the Mermaid units were successful in recovering the Falcon 1 that had sunk into the sea, and were also able to retrieve nearly 80% of the scattered parts it had lost, such as its wings.
“…”
The exhausted Jin was still in the control room in Hourai Island.
“What happened, Jin?”
“Did something go wrong?”
Before he realized, Stearleana and Toa were already there as well.
They seemed to have gone to the control room because they were worried about Jin being so flustered.
“Ah, my mistake has caused Reiko to walk a dangerous tightrope…”
Jin briefly explained what happened.
Thanks to her basic knowledge, Stearlena managed to understand to some extent, but Toa was unable to make heads nor tails from it.
＊ ＊ ＊
In the evening, Reiko returned, along with the wreckage of Falcon 1.
Looking upon the face of Jin, who had remained by himself in the control room, Reiko’s first words were…
“Father, I’m sorry for ruining Falcon 1.”
“You idiot!!”
Jin yelled louder than ever. Reiko was completely taken aback.
“I’m sorry, Father! I really didn’t mean to ruin it, but…”
Jin silently approached Reiko, who had lowered her head as she tried to explain herself.
As her shoulders dropped even lower, Jin placed his hands on them.
“I’m glad you’re safe, Reiko.”
“F… Father…”
“All of this happened because of my own naivety. I’m not going to blame you for trying your best to help me. But I can’t help getting a bit angry to see you taking it too far.”
Having said that, Jin softly bonked Reiko on the head with his fist.
“It’s not just the Falcon. I can’t bear the thought of you getting hurt for my sake.”
Reiko, who also has the sense of touch, could feel that Jin’s fist hadn’t hit her with too much force. And she could also understand Jin’s affection for her.
“…Sorry…”
Jin hugged Reiko, who had been barely able to apologize, so as to console her.
“Sorry for yelling at you. You’re always doing everything in your power to help me.”
“That is my purpose, after all.”
With a worried expression on his face, Jin started to gently stroke Reiko’s head.
“How’s your body? Does anything feel out of place?”
“No, I’m fine. The fall was nothing for this body you’ve given me, Father.”
After examining Reiko’s body with “Analyze,” Jin confirmed that she wasn’t just putting on a brave front, and sighed with relief. Then…
“Laojun, how’s the status on the retrieved Falcon 1?”
At last, he could afford to worry about other things.
“The fuselage is relatively unharmed. We have recovered both of the damaged wings. It is possible to completely repair the Falcon 1.”
“I see, that’s great.”
Jin quickly instructed Laojun to begin repairing Falcon 1.
In the meantime, he would analyze the Control Core of the retrieved Satellite 001 in order to identify the problems.
“Let me help you, Father.”
Of course, Reiko would act as an assistant.
In this way, Jin and Hourai Island would accumulate more strength, despite Satellite 001’s failure, as encouragement to face new challenges.
But not before Jin gave both Laojun and Reiko a scolding that lasted nearly three hours.