On the 3rd of April, when spring was in full swing, Jin was able to successfully meet up with Reinhart.
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âMatheus, heâs Jin. Although he does have the title of Honorary Magi Craftsman of Egelia kingdom, he is free of restraints.â
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Reinhart introduced Jin to Matheus, who was his friend and escort.
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âJin, heâs Captain Matheus Gaist Fon Rialgar. He is a friend of mine and also the captain of 3rd squad of the Imperial Guards. He will become my brother-in-law soon, as well.â
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âNice to meet you, I am Jin Nidou.â
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âNice to meet you as well, I am Matheus.â
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They greeted each other and shook hands.
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âI have heard a lot about you from Reinhart during our journey. You seem to be a wonderful magi engineer.â
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âHahaha, thatâs right! Jin is a magi engineer whom I canât even hope to reach! That much I can guarantee you!â
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For some reason, Reinhart answered with pride. Seeing that, Matheus raised his eyebrows for a second there but soon went back to normal.
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âI look forward to seeing you in action. And so, is it fine to assume that you will be travelling together with us from now?â
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Reinhart went and answered that question as well.
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âYes, of course. Jin is my guest, after all! âŠJin, so is it okay if I get on your carriage right away?â
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âY-yes, sure. I have a lot to talk about as well.â
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âRight?! And so, letâs depart, Matheus!â
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ââŠ..â
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Slightly astounded by the excited Reinhart, Matheus ordered his subordinates to depart again. And now, 15 people were guarding Reinhart while they were heading towards their country.
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âLetâs go!â
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The carriage Reinhart had been riding on departed without its master. The driver knew Jin so he didnât mind either. After
all, this happened often before too.
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However, that was not true for Matheus. The person he was supposed to guard, his friend, his younger sisterâs to be husband, just went off happily with a person of doubtful origins (although Reinhart did introduce himself as the Honorary Magi Craftsman of Egelia kingdom) he had just met.
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And thereâs also this girl called Reiko riding with them. Seems like she is an automata but that just makes her even more mysterious.
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And not to mention that a iron made golem was driving the carriage, the type of which he had never seen before. It seemed to be inferior to Reinhartâs Schwarz Ritter in every single aspect.
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However, the carriage was being pulled by a golem horse. He was honestly amazed by that.
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(To be able to recreate such horse-like movements⊠I canât measure his ability.)
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âIs Elsa doing fine?â
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âYeah. She is teaching the kids at a village called Kaina at the moment.â
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âI see. Thatâs delightful. Well, as long as sheâs happy.â
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Reinhart said and lowered his voice,
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ââŠJin, Elsaâs brother, Fritz, the reason why he turned weird⊠no, the reason why he returned to normal â you had a hand in it, right?â
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There was a sound-proof barrier spread around Jinâs carriage so there was no need to worry about being wiretapped but he ended up whispering unconsciously.
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âAh. That âhypnotismâ and âseduceâ. Before, Rucall cancelled it by stimulating and stunning him but now I understand that the same thing can be done by a magic called âshockâ.â
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And then, Jin went on and explained how the Unifiers became Nostalgia and how they are now helping each of the countries.
While they were engrossed in their conversation, before they realized, they had reached todayâs destination, the
the city of Ganiz.
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âLooks like we are here.â
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Reinhart said while looking out the window.
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âTime sure passed by quick, huh. We will stay here today and head to Toskoshia tomorrow, which is just before the border. We also have the visa needed to pass through, so they probably wonât make us wait.â
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âAh, yes, I am looking forward to going to Shouro empire.â
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âI am happy you feel that way. Well then, letâs get down for now.â
The carriage stopped at a simple checkpoint just before Ganiz.
Reinhart was the most highest ranked person among them so he had to show his face while passing through.
Matheus surveyed Reinhart as if to make sure everything was alright when he came down from the carriage.
And glared at Jin for a moment, who was still inside the carriage.
âI have some nice magi crystals which were collected from the mines. I will sell them to you cheap, so why donât you buy some?â
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âIf you want to have fun, then please visit âNamiinaâ! All you can drink wine at a cheap price!â
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Matheus went and drove those people away.
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âSeriously⊠this place is always like this. Reinhart, we have already decided on the inn. Letâs hurry.â
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Matheus had sent his subordinates ahead of them to book a proper inn.
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âAh, as expected of Matheus. Youâre very reliable.â
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And then Matheus looked back at Jin and apologized,
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âSorry but we couldnât book a room for you. We didnât know there was going to be more people, after all. Please search for one yourself. I am sorry.â
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âJin, if thatâs the case then why donât you come to myââ
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Reinhart had started talking but Matheus interrupted saying,
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âIf itâs okay with you, would you like to sleep with one of our guards?â
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But Jin refused.
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âNo,
Jin refused.
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âNo, if itâs completely necessary, I can always sleep in my carriage so please donât mind me.â
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âUnderstood.â
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After giving a short reply, he made his subordinates surround Reinhart and advance on. It looked like Reinhart was complaining about something but he didnât lend an ear.
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âWell then, Jin-dono, we depart at 8 in the morning. Donât be late.â
Matheus said and started following Reinhart at a quick pace without even waiting for Jinâs reply.
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(âŠI feel like I am disliked quite a lot hereâŠ)
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Having no memory of saying anything bad to Matheus, Jin just stood there, puzzled.
And even to Jin, the barkers came up.
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âHey fella, why donât ya come have fun at our inn?â
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âHey, wonât you treat me to a drink?â
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âWanna spend the night with me?â
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Well, they werenât even barkers, they were prostitutes.
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âYouâre in the way. Please donât touch father with your dirty hands.â
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Reiko got rid of all those women.
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It took about 30 mins for them to realize that Jin wasnât another easy mark and they went away.
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âItâs my first time in a city like this.â
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Being close to the border, it was a city with little public order. It seems it would be better to not stay long here.
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âDoesnât seem like there are any places worth seeing, so letâs head back to the carriage.â
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âThat would probably be the best.â
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âOi, Matheus.â
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Reinhart found Matheusâ attitude towards Jin a bit intolerable so when he tried to complain, Matheus went ahead and said,
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âReinhart, we will be at our homeland soon. You do understand, right?â
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â? Ah, of course I do.â
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âThen donât do anything that will make Belche cry.â
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âI havenât done anything of the sort, have I?â
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âI know you havenât been to a brothel. ButâŠâ
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âBut?â
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Reinhart asked, being curious. To which Matheus murmured,
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ââŠ.maâŠâ
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âEh?â
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Reinhart tried
Matheus murmured,
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ââŠ.maâŠâ
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âEh?â
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Reinhart tried listening again as he couldnât hear properly. Getting desperate, Matheus said with a loud voice,
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âYou donât need to run after men now, right?!â
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âŠ.It seems, Matheus had misunderstood something.
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While Jin had noticed Matheusâ glance, he didnât understand the reason behind it so he decided to pretend he didnât notice for now.
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The city of Ganiz was not a fortified city. It was surrounded by normal wood fences.
But itâs not like the city was only inside the fences, from the looks of it, it seemed like they were in the middle of expanding the city.
Although, there was no doubt that the part outside the fences were less developed.
The city was in the remote region of Serroa and the reason why it was flourishing lied in the mine halfway up the Karter mountain towards the south.
Mines of valuable mithril metal were found at 3 places, one of which lies along the road used for ore transportation from Bololon.
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âHmmm. Well, I understand how that would make Bololon prosper but why would it make this place prosper as well?â
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Hearing Reinhartâs explanation, Jin asked the obvious question.
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âThatâs because the more important of a point Bololon is, the more stricter the management of Serroa kingdom gets.â
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And with that, Jin could guess the rest. Certainly, it would be hard to develop a business district where most of the countryâs soldiers and officials were.
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âWell, you can also say itâs a very disordered city.â
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After parking the carriage at the carriage point outside the city, Jin and the others started walking to the city of Ganiz.
Reinhart was attracting quite a lot of barkers, as he was well-dressed.
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âSir, we have a very nice inn over her, with the best food and great girls! Please come!â\n