As I thought, were you surprised, Jin?”
Jin and Reinhart were relaxing in the reception room which Jin was in before going to the emperor.
“Yeah, I didn’t think it would be a woman.”
“Yea, it isn’t really a secret but I guess we kinda have this custom of not letting the foreigners know. Even I hesitated to tell. Sorry if that bothered you.”
Jin stopped Reinhart by raising his hand.
“No, don’t worry about it. As for me, I think I was more surprised by how frank she was.”
She told Jin, who she just met today, about the matters related to the inheritance. Moreover, although it was for the country, she even lowered her head to Jin.
“Her majesty is always saying stuff like ‘I don’t want to dislike lowering my head if it’s for something important’ after all.”
“……”
“Well, now that I am officially in charge of showing you around, we will stay here for a while and I will guide you through Rozaito tomorrow or the day after. And after that, I guess more discussions?”
The dinner after that was grand.
It was mainly just Jin and Reinhart, with two female attendants and one butler to attend to their needs.
“It’s relaxing to have dinner with less people.”
Jin said.
“Haha, I thought you would feel that way and so I proposed it. But in the morning tomorrow, the prime minister or the magic minister might come, so I want you to bear that for me.”
“Well, yea… That’s the normal reception as a country, after all.”
Jin wasn’t very good at those as they felt uncomfortable to him. Reinhart probably knew that as he spoke of the good news right after.
“Well, you could say, as return for that, I have made it so that we can go look at that huge golem in the afternoon.”
“Really?!”
With just that, Jin’s mood lightened up. He is not good at dealing with formal situations but it’s different if the topic is about techniques.
After that, he heard a lot about the country and the organizations from Reinhart till it got late at night.
The following day.
After having breakfast, Jin met with the prime minister Yung Fours Fon Kevsla and the magic minister Degauz Fult Fon Manishras. Reinhart was also there.
“I have got the gist of things from Reinhart and have also received information via pigeon from Hatata and Anbelk’s guild.”
Prime minister Yung was talking now. He had a similar physique to Reinhart, in other words, he was quite slim.
“You have contributed heavily to our country. As such, we would like to bestow the title of ‘Honorary citizen’ upon you.”
“Jin, in our country, the title of honorary citizen doesn’t make it obligatory for you to pay taxes. However, as it is just an honorary title, you also don’t get the right to residence. But, you will be able to go and visit or use various facilities without much trouble.”
Reinhart added supplementary details.
“In other words, it is a necessary measure for you to look at that relic.”
He said that last bit in a lower voice. Jin had understood that this was a necessary step because surely they wouldn’t show the country’s secret readily to just any foreign traveller.
“I will accept it gratefully.”
Jin answered. The prime minister nodded in silence.
And next, magic minister Degauz opened his mouth. He was 44 years old and had blonde hair and blue eyes. His big, hook nose stood out.
“I have heard from Reinhart that Mr. Jin has interest in our country’s artifacts. I was thinking of taking you there this afternoon.”
“Yes, I look forward to it.”
Jin answered. He got excited as he wondered how it differed from his creation-Titan and Daidara.
After that, idle talk continued and the prime minister left midway and Jin talked with the magic minister the whole morning.
And it seems like the magic minister felt something from Jin from that talk as well as-
“Mr. Jin, it sure was fortunate for us to have you come over to our country.”
Degauz muttered while leaving.
Reiko, feeling that Jin was being judged rightly, was in high spirits throughout the whole talk.
She was silently passing on the conversation to Laojun.
Laojun also analyzed the conversation and said,
[There doesn’t seem to be a hidden side to this. I would even say it is better compared to the other countries he has visited uptil now. However, we can’t relax completely just yet. Ms. Reiko, I leave my lord to you.]
“Of course.”
Saying that, Reiko was on alert to protect Jin from everything along with the SP hidden in the surroundings.
“So I will finally get to see this huge golem, eh? I am looking forward to it.”
He was talking to Reinhart about it enthusiastically.
＊ ＊ ＊
And at last, afternoon came.
Jin, Reiko and Reinhart went down the stairs which led to the castle’s underground.
Seems like the antique, huge golem is underground.
“I look forward to it.”
How many times does that make?
“Haha, that’s just like you. But I feel you. I was also like that when they showed it to me first time.”
Seems like that was the first time Reinhart came to the castle.
“I think even you will be surprised, Mr. Jin.”
Degauz said, leading the group. And the other 2 guards were following behind.
Degauz had a magic lamp with him. It was a slightly less brighter than the light ball but according to Degauz, it seems like it gets extremely hard to use magic underground.
(I wonder if there’s something blocking it or……)
After crossing the third underground floor, Jin felt the atmosphere change. Or rather, it was pretty clear that the ether there was low.
That’s probably it was difficult to use magic there. On the other hand, magic tools which have mana stored in them work normally.
(Reiko, don’t let the SP come down.)
He said with such a low voice that no one could hear him except Reiko. Reiko nodded as reply.
Reiko has a mana tank in her so she is fine even in places with low ether but the SPs do not have that.
If they were to come down, there was a risk of their actions being interrupted, so Jin stopped them.
And finally, they reached the fifth underground floor. A huge, iron door was there.
“It is beyond this door.”
Saying that, Degauz took the magi crystal and inserted it into a hole beside the door.
Immediately after, the door slowly began to open.
(I see, so they brought a mana source from outside to move the otherwise unmovable door without a golem, eh?)
Jin saw through the structure at a glance.
“Now then, Mr. Jin, please come on inside.”
Degauz called him with hand gestures after getting in himself. Jin also hurried in.
“Oohh…”
There was a huge space there. The height of the room probably went up to the third underground floor.
And then, illuminated by the dim light from the magic lamp, a truly huge golem could be seen.
It was probably at least 20 meters tall.
It was even bigger than the titans Jin built.
However,
(Iron… eh? Or maybe steel.)
Rust could be seen on its surface. The corrosion had already begun.
It was probably due to the high level of humidity in this fifth underground floor. Iron is weak to humidity.
It’s shape was like a gigas. In other words, the lower portion was strangely big. This was probably to balance.
(But, there’s also the fact that it would be easier to handle dynamic balance if its center of gravity was high.)
If it’s just an immovable object, then certainly it would be more stable if the center of gravity was lower. But what about if it moves?
[This is called dynamic stability.]
Jin could hear the words of his physics teacher from the part time school. It is much easier to balance while moving if the center of gravity is further away from the contact surface.
[You all have at least tried to balance a broom on your palm while cleaning, right? It’s like that. Even if you were able to do it with a broom, what about a brush?]
It was the same as a pendulum. The further away the center of gravity is from the contact surface, the longer are its cycles and because it moves slowly, it is easier to recover.
(Well, it doesn’t seem like this moves now, though.)
Judging from the rust, the internal structure (if it has one) must be quite damaged, making it unable to endure serial movement.
“It is overwhelming no matter how many times I see it.”
Jin thought the impression the empress had on him yesterday was much more striking.