The next day, June 24th. Jin informed Her Majesty the Empress before heading for Exxi, where Elsa’s hometown was.
At that time,
“I want to change our agreement a little. That being said, I only would like to cancel the given title of Magi Engineer Maestro.”
The Empress explained to Jin. The reason being, it would be redundant for Jin had already received the title of Magi Craft Meister.
“But please consider my offer to have you serve as a government officer.”
Jin was reminded and urged regarding that offer, but he already had a rough idea of how he would respond.
Before he had a chance to give the Empress his response, Jin had already departed Koju. The airship was left in Koju after the helium was drawn out.
Jin, Elsa, Mine, Reinhardt, and Berthie. Reiko, Edgar, Noir, Neon.
Reinhardt’s paddle steamer, the “Scarlet Trail” barely accommodated all of us crossing Lake Tosmo.
“I think it would be better for us to go directly to Exxi instead of through Banne.”
“We’ll be in your care.”
Reinhardt was briefed regarding the reason for heading to Exxi.
Saki was the only absent “Family” member. Reinhardt knew the reason for her absence.
“Saki went home with the Marquess yesterday.”
“I see. Well, that’s a good thing … isn’t it?”
During the one-hour boat trip, they were having such conversation. The party approached Exxi on the opposite bank of the lake.
“Hmm, the town is lively in its own way.”
It wasn’t as big as Banne, where Reinhardt’s hometown was, but it was crowded because it was along the highway.
Upon entering the harbor, the manager’s boat approached. It was a routine check for regular flights and ships of non-residents.
“All right, please proceed to No. 3 East.”
They were informed of the pier number. Following the instructions, the Scarlet Trail came alongside.
“Hmm, in the case of this boat, it seems more convenient to get on and off from the stern because there are paddle wheels that we can step on …”
Reinhardt mumbled while giving his beloved wife, Berthie, a hand to alight the boat. Certainly, the water turbines on both sides of the paddle steamer got in the way.
It seemed that Reinhardt was thinking about improvements even in such a situation.
“Master, I’ve been waiting.”
Steward greeted them. He went ahead in a carriage the day before.
“Thank you. Alright, let’s go.”
Jin’s carriage could accommodate eight people, excluding Steward who was the coachman. Their party consisted of nine people, but it would be all right for one person to ride a horse Golem.
After consulting with each other, it was decided that Noir, who was familiar with the location of Elsa’s home, would ride a horse Golem.
The appearance of the Schwarz Ritter Noir straddling a horse Golem was a masterpiece.
“H-hey, look …”
“W-whoa, amazing!”
Passers-by who saw were whispering in awe.
* * *
The residence of Viscount Georg Randol was on the northern outskirts of Exxi.
“It’s not in the central part of town, right?”
“Yeah, the town hall is at the central part of town, where the town mayor is.”
Reinhardt explained when Jin expressed his thoughts. The feudal lord did not directly govern the town.
Since the Viscount came from a military background, the mayor was assuming the governing position in his place.
Jin’s carriage arrived at the Viscount’s residence about 20 minutes from the port. The residence was about twice as small as Reinhardt’s home, but the architectural style was similar.
There was a large front yard with trees planted around it.
“… How nostalgic.”
Elsa felt so nostalgic that she stared at the house for a while. Mine was quiet.
Both Jin and Reinhardt understood that feeling, so they let Elsa be with the carriage standing by, while they were being ushered into the Viscount’s residence.
A slender young man came to welcome the party. He had light ginger hair with blue eyes, similar to Elsa’s.
“Reinhardt, it’s been a while. And you must be Sir Jin Nidou. I’m Moritz Randol Von Amber, nice to meet you.”
Moritz was Elsa’s older brother and Georg’s eldest son.
“Brother Moritz …”
Upon hearing her brother’s voice, Elsa snapped back to reality and was about to rush up to him, but hesitated and stopped halfway.
“Oh, Elsa! Welcome home! You look well!”
Moritz extended his hands as a gesture for Elsa to reciprocate. Elsa hesitated but came closer one step at a time.
“… Brother. … I’m back.”
She stood in front of Moritz and greeted him. Moritz took Elsa’s hand and welcomed his sister.
“I’m glad you’re home. I heard you’ve been through a lot. Anyway, welcome back. Reinhardt, Berthie, I wish you a belated congratulations on your marriage.”
“Thank you. Umm, how is the Viscount’s condition?”
“Well, let’s go inside and talk. I’m greeting you the last, but Mine, welcome home.”
“… Thank you.”
And as such, the party was shown into the Viscount’s residence through a large living room.
“… What about mother?”
Elsa asked while looking around. This “mother” Elsa referred to obviously was not Mine, but the Viscountess Marlene Randol Von Nefra.
“Oh, mom is at the villa on the shore of Lake Wass for medical treatment.”
Marlene’s body was frail. After giving birth to Fritz, she was told by the Healer that it would not be possible for her to give birth to another child.
For that very reason, Viscount Georg Randall had Mine bare Elsa and took custody of her. … Using marriage as a tool to control Mine.
“… I see.”
Elsa was a little disappointed. Even though they were not blood-related, she wanted to meet the mother that raised her with kindness.
“Well, I have a lot to ask you about. I’m sure you have a lot to tell as well. But first, let’s get the top priority matter out of the way. Shall we?”
Like a sharp and able person he is, Moritz went straight to the point.
“I’ve heard about the purpose of your visit this time from the forerunner. Visiting and diagnosing father, also to talk about the matter regarding Marcus, about sums it up, I believe?”
“Yes.”
Jin replied on behalf of everyone.
“Well, there’s no need for a daughter to hesitate in visiting her father … Elsa, would you tell me everything later on?”
“Yes, brother.”
Moritz seemed to be stifling his eagerness to ask Elsa a lot of questions. Unlike the second son Fritz, he was an intellect. But his body seemed so weak.
“Last time … he immediately regained consciousness when this happened two years ago. But now, he’s still in a coma …”
Moritz spoke with a depressed face as he invited the party to the room where Georg was resting.
“Father …”
“My husband …”
Seeing Georg lying in a vegetative state, Elsa and Mine were speechless.
“Elsa, diagnose and see.”
Had Jin not prompted her to do so, she might have still been in a daze.
“Okay, I got it. … ‘Diagnose’.”
For an instant, Moritz was surprized seeing Elsa utilized an advanced Healing magic, but he kept watching without saying a word.
“… ‘Diagnose’.”
Elsa had to utilize Diangone several times in order to find out what was wrong with her father. In the end, she put her palm on Georg’s forehead.
“’Genesis’.”
She cast the highest degree of Healing magic. As expected, Moritz seemed to be unable to inhibit his amazement at that point.
“E-Elsa! Since when you could …?!”
He blurted out.
“… And, how was it?”
More importantly, Jin was curious about Elsa’s expression. So he wanted to know the result of her diagnosis as soon as possible.
“… There’s a blood clot in here. The clot seems to put pressure on the brain.”
Elsa explained while pointing at his forehead.
“Hmm, the frontal lobe … uh, what was it?”
Even Jin did not know everything. He tried to remember what role the frontal lobe of the brain played, but his memory was hazy.
“Anyway, there is no doubt that his brain is not in good condition.”
“Yup. And I tried using Genesis, but it was barely effective.”
Hearing the conversation between Jin and Elsa, Moritz expressed his thoughts in a roundabout fashion.
“I’m confident that I’ve learned a lot of knowledge, but I can’t keep up with the conversation between the two of you. However, if Genesis isn’t effective, then father is already …”
“No, that’s not it.”
Jin interjected as if not allowing Moritz to feel depressed.
“Elsa, isn’t Genesis for internal medical treatment?”
“… Yeah, you can call it that.”
“What type of external medical treatment magic can you utilize?”
“… I don’t know if I can use … Complete Genesis, but I’ll give it a shot.”
Complete Genesis was a highly advanced external Healing magic equivalent to surgery.
“Healing power, please heal him ‘Complete Genesis’ …”
At that moment, the magic was certainly activated. However, Elsa ran out of power and collapsed, just like when she learned to use Genesis for the first time in the past.
Author’s note:
When utilizing a magic skill for the first time, in addition to incantation, I added a chant to emphasize the user’s strong hope to change reality.
