In addition to the miso soup, they had bread, grilled fish, salad, and fruit for lunch.
“Oh, I’m not used to these luxuries.”
Eckert Techres was enjoying the same food Jin and his friends were having.
After enjoying a leisurely lunch, they had some cold tea. They resumed their conversation while drinking it.
“Well, you said you had a request for me?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Following Eckert’s lead, Jin was finally able to talk about what they had come here for.
“We were wondering if you wouldn’t mind showing us one of your cats.”
“Oh, so you know about cats? Sure, I’d be delighted to.”
Smiling, Eckert signaled at one of the maids with his eyes, who in turn hurriedly left the run only to return just as quickly as she had left.
“This is one of my cats, her name is Aqua.”
She had the same name as a golem maid that Jin had made back on Hourai Island. The reason for the cat’s name could be clearly seen by looking at her.
“She has such lovely eyes, doesn’t she?”
She had beautiful light blue eyes.
“They look like Elsa’s eyes.”
Hearing Reinhardt’s remark, Elsa looked at the cat’s eyes.
“…They do, a bit.”
Noticing that Elsa was looking at her, Aqua meowed at her.
“Would you like to hold her?”
Following Eckert’s words, the maid handed Aqua to Elsa.
Elsa timidly received Aqua in her arms. She could feel the weight and warmth of a living creature.
“…So cute.”
Aqua seemed to be a docile cat, since even though she was being held by Elsa for the first time, she did not show any kind of discomfort. Far from it, she even reached out to Elsa’s face and nuzzled her nose.
“Haha, she seems to have taken a liking to you. She is the most docile and friendly of my cats.”
Eckert was smiling, happy to see that his guests were pleased with her pet cat.
“Can I hold her too?”
Berthie approached Elsa.
“Sure.”
Taking Aqua to her bosom, Berthie’s face couldn’t hold her delight.
“Aww, she’s so cute. I want to hold a baby like this with Reinhardt as soon as possible too.”
Her murmur had come out a little too loud for it not to be heard by the rest.
“Come on, now… humph.”
Saki also fearfully tried to hold Aqua, and feeling the cat in her arms made her face all wobbly.
After Stearleana and Vivian, it was finally Jin’s turn to hold Aqua.
He was able to hold her without her getting her claws out. Then…
“Transinfo Level 3 - Mild.”
He chanted that in a quiet voice so that Eckert wouldn’t hear, and then copied the cat’s behavioral pattern onto a Magi Crystal that he had in his pocket.
The Mild option was a measure to avoid both causing the cat to become startled and his face getting scratched.
Though Level 2 would have been enough, Jin used Level 3 instead. Taking into account that the information copied from a cat would be all jumbled up, he decided to use one level higher just to be sure.
The last of them to hold Aqua in his arms was Reinhardt.
He had feared that she would get so scared that her hair would stand on end, but she proved to be gentle and friendly to him as well.
“Oh, she’s so warm.”
She even began to purr the moment he started to stroke her under the chin.
Aqua seemed to have taken a liking to not only Elsa, but to all of them.
The purpose for their visit had been fulfilled, and there had also been some unexpected results.
The time was 2 PM. Just when Jin was thinking it was about time they headed back…
Suddenly, an uproar seemed to have broken loose inside the residence, and the door of the hall was opened loudly and hurriedly.
“Master! There’s been an emergency!”
“What’s this? We have guests here!”
Eckert yelled severely at the now-seemingly-embarrassed tradesman-looking man who had just stormed into the hall.
“Ah, I’m truly sorry! But sir, the ship…!”
“…Has there been an accident?”
Seeing that the tradesman appeared to be unable to finish speaking, Eckert made a guess, partially as a joke. But unfortunately, his guess had hit the mark.
“Ah, that’s correct, sir!”
“…What!? Tell me more!”
The color on Eckert’s face changed as he urged the tradesman to speak, almost as if he had forgotten that Jin and the others were still present.
“The scaffolding collapsed, trapping ten of our workers under it!”
“What!?”
Eckert got off the chair so fast that it almost fell, and then looked at Jin and the others.
“Please forgive my rudeness. It seems that there’s been an accident. It was truly great to have you all here today. Thank you very much for coming.”
As he tried to excuse himself from the hall with another example of his lighthearted manners, Jin called out to him.
“Wait, please! Is there anything we can do to help?”
Having people trapped under a collapsed scaffolding sounded like the type of accident that was a matter of life and death.
Jin wasn’t so coldhearted that he could simply ignore such a thing. And his friends were the same.
“…We can heal those who were injured in the accident.”
“That’s right, we’ve heard what happened loud and clear. Please let us help in any way we can.”
Elsa, Saki, Reinhardt, and Berthie all expressed their willingness to help. Stearleana and Vivian soon followed.
“You can’t hesitate when something as life-threatening as this happens. If you have any complaints, please save them for later. The lives of those workers should be our first priority!”
After hearing everyone’s thoughts on the matter, Eckert made up his mind.
“Alright. Please bring your attendants along as well!”
Then he finally broke into a run, leaving the room. Jin and the others followed him.
After going through the residence’s back door, a long corridor seemed to lead them towards a huge dock. Screams could be heard from that direction.
As they arrived at the dock, all they could see was a complete disaster.
In the center of the dock, there was a huge wooden ship that seemed to be under construction, and a wooden scaffolding had been built around it. But this very scaffolding seemed to have collapsed halfway, and several workers had been pinned under it.
Some of the ship’s building materials had been knocked over and were about to fall, so if things didn’t go well, a second disaster would be likely to occur.
Even among the workers that hadn’t been caught under the fallen scaffolding, several had sustained slight injuries.
The fallen scaffolding had also trapped several golem workers, which was causing them to malfunction.
“This is terrible…”
A single look at that disastrous scene was enough to make Jin frown. Elsa and Saki had their breath taken away. Biting her lips, Berthie held tightly onto Reinhardt’s arm, and Stearleana and Vivian involuntarily pulled themselves closer together by their arms.
“Those who are safe, clear the debris away! Help those who are trapped under the scaffolding!”
After shouting his command, he himself set out to the collapsed scaffolding and reached out to it as if trying to move some of it out of the way, but at that moment…
The rest of the scaffolding that was still standing also collapsed.
“Watch out!”
Schwartz Ritter had jumped in. His sturdy back caught the falling wooden girders.
“Ah, ah…”
Eckert’s face turned white as a sheet. Had it not been for Schwartz Ritter’s intervention, he would have been hit directly by the falling girders.
“Mr. Techres, please evacuate everyone. We’ll take it from here!”
At first, Eckart was hesitant about Jin’s words, but then…
“It’s much safer if we use our attendants to save the trapped workers!”
Those words had closed the deal, and Eckert finally nodded.
“Everyone, please take refuge outside of the dock!”
At their employer’s command, the laborers and engineers began to evacuate the dock. But Eckert stayed behind.
“Mr. Techres?”
Jin seemed a bit lost, but although Eckert still seemed a bit pale, his next words came out with an undaunting resolve.
“As their employer, I’m responsible for their safety. I will see this through to the end.”
Resonating with his strong determination, Jin called out to his friends.
“Everyone! Let’s help the injured!”
