"Now, last but not least, I have a question for Elsa."

What?

"It's about Meine."

When Jin said this, Erza leaned forward with great energy,

"Meine!　Are you feeling better already?

she asked hurriedly. Jin was surprised at her vigor,

"Yes. She's already regained consciousness.

Elsa sat down and said, "I'm glad to hear that,

"I'm glad. ......

She said a few words.

"Erza, it could be said that Meine has put you in harm's way. Are you still worried about her?"

Reinhardt said. It's not my imagination that I sense a little anger in him.

"Yes. But Meine took it upon herself to protect me when I was in danger. I'm still worried."

Erza answered, and Reinhard let out a sigh,

"I knew it. I guess it's in the blood.

He muttered in resignation. Erza overheard him and said,

"What do you mean by that, brother Rai?

Reinhardt's face turned serious. Reinhardt's face turned serious,

"I think Meine is your real mother.

He told her so. Erza kicks off the cushion and stands up.

"Brother Rai!　Is that true?

"Yes. That's what he said too.

Hitoshi answered this time.

Again Elsa tried to sit down, but the cushion had bounced off the floor, so she just sat down on the floor and ...... flipped over backwards.

"Ah!"

"Are you okay?"

Jin and Reinhardt ran up to him in concern. Erza and Reinhardt were not good at sitting on the floor, so they had put five cushions on top of each other, so the difference between the two was huge.

"......Your butt hurts ...... but it's okay."

Erza stood up, rubbing her buttocks, pulled the cushions together and sat down on them. Tears welled up in her eyes, either from the pain of the buttocks, or from the joy of knowing her own mother.

"I want to see Meene."

Erza looked at Jin and said. Hitoshi thought about it. Then he came to a conclusion.

"Okay. Erza, you and Meine can live in Kunlun Island. It's safe there and you can come and go easily by the warp gate.

Reiko agrees.

"Yes, there are many problems on this island, but Kunlun Island was originally a dummy of Horai Island. I think it's a good idea.

"The environment is good there. I'll be relieved if you do it that way. I can't afford to hire Meine back now.

Reinhardt agreed, and we decided to bring him to Kunlun Island later.

"Well then, I'm going back to Terlus.

"Okay, take care of the rest. I'll take the wagons and you can tell them that I'm leaving on my way.

Of course. I don't want to go into the special precautionary zone of the Kingdom of Selroa, so I'll tell them we'll take a detour and meet up with them or something.

With that, Jin handed Reinhardt the manacam.

Recently, they had succeeded in adjusting and tuning the magic frequency and were able to talk on about 1,000 channels without interference. It is not a large number of channels compared to the radio waves, but it is significant to be able to cover all the members of Horai Island.

"Now I can contact Lao Tzu in Penglai Island. Lao Tzu can pass the message to me, and if I am not available, you can leave a message with Lao Tzu."

"Yes, that's good. I'll be in touch regularly. Maybe at night."

Reinhard, it will be easier for us to meet up if we are in close contact.

I'm going to pick up Meine and we'll go to Tellurus together.

"Jin, take care of Meine."

So Jin, Reinhardt, and Reiko jumped to Tellurus with Erza seeing them off.

I'm going to go to Meene's.

"It would be better if I didn't see Meene. Tell her I said hello.

"Okay."

Reinhardt returned to the inn and Jin went to the healing center of Sally Mireshan.

"Hello."

There was no patient at the clinic this time.

"Oh, it's you. The patient is much better. Your healing potion is very good.

Sally greeted Jin with these words.

"I see. So it's okay if I discharge him?"

"Yeah?　Well, I think he'll be fine. But don't push yourself too hard, okay?

"Yes, it's all right. I'm going to let them recover at the place where they will be received.

When Jin said this, Sally seemed relieved.

"I see. That's a relief. If she stays quiet for two more days, she will recover.

He said. Jin went to the hospital room.

"Oh, Jin-sama."

She tried to sit up, but Jin stopped her,

"Meine, are you almost ready?"

Jin stopped her as she tried to sit up. Meine smiled,

"Yes, the pain is gone now, thanks to you. I still have a little bit of weakness, but I'm fine now," she said.

But Hitoshi said, "I'm fine now. But Hitoshi says

But Hitoshi says, "No, the most important thing is when you are just starting to heal. This time, I'm going to ask you to move to a different bed.

"Not here, but where?　......?"

Meine's face lit up in anticipation.

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about, don't you?　Where Elsa is."

"Oh, Elsa!　I've been to ......, but will Erza forgive me?"

Meane looks down anxiously. She looks so different that I wonder if this is the same Meine. Maybe this is what it means to be free of possessions, Jin thought.

It's all right. And Erza knows that Meene is her real mother.

When Jin said this, Meane rolled her eyes.

"Come on, you can tell me who your mother and daughter are. So let's go.

"Yes, yes."

So Meane was discharged from the hospital. She was still unsteady on her feet, so she called Elm and Ash of the Secret Service (SP) to carry her out.

"Thank you for your help, doctor."

Jin bowed to Sally as he left.

"No problem, you've helped us a lot too. I'll study the recovery medicine. I'll try it with my own blood first.

Good luck.

They go to the place where the carriage is located, check that there is no one around, and get in.

Jin supported them only when they passed through the warp gate of the carriage, and Meane and Jin once jumped to Horai Island. Elm and Ash guard the carriage.

Reiko stays behind for a while with the SP, and they are to take the carriage to the remains of the Unified Party's fortress, where they are to prepare to build a forward base before returning.

"Come on, let's make this quick for your father's sake.

Reiko tied the golem horses she had brought to the carriage and immediately sat down on the dais and started the carriage at a high speed. The covert task force (SP) follows her, out of sight.

"Oh, hey, what the hell is that?"

"Is that a horse-drawn carriage ......?　It's too fast for that."

Some of the witnesses were surprised and wondered, but nothing more, and Reiko turned the carriage around to the site of the fort in two hours.

* * * *

Jin returns to Horai Island with Meene. Meine was surprised to see the warp gate for the first time.

They went out of the institute and went to the pavilion. It was already dark outside.

And then, she saw a figure in front of the pavilion. It was Erza, of course.

When Meine noticed this, she shivered and stood there, seemingly unable to speak.

Erza also stood there staring at Meene.

Jin quietly left the place.

"Kaa......-sama!"

Erza was the first to move.

She took one step and then another, slowly approaching Meene.

Meine, on the other hand, was a little dismayed and almost backed away.

"Mother!

Finally, Erza ran out of the room. She jumps on Meine and hugs her.

At first, Meine's arms wandered in the air as if she didn't know what to do, but soon her arms were wrapped around Erza in a tight embrace.

"Elsa!"

"Mother ......!"

They both cried.

"I never ...... knew I had a real mother so close to me. I wasn't alone."

"I'm sorry, I'm a bad mother ...... and I don't expect you to forgive me."

"No, no, no,...... it's okay."

They remained there until it was dark, and finally Jin, worried about Meane's illness, called out to her and they finally separated.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

After this, the two go through the warp gate once more to the Kunlun Island pavilion.

Here they are taken care of by the five-colored maid golems Ames, Aqua, Topaz, Perid, and Ruby, each numbering 100.

Erza had been here before, but Meene looked a little, or maybe a lot, more drawn.

"Well, if you need anything, call me on the manacam. Take care of your mother.

Thank you for everything.

Jin-sama, thank you for everything.

Meane, get yourself well soon.

Jin then decided to return to Horai Island.

"Mother, huh? Erza, I'm so happy for you."

He thinks to himself.

On the way to the warp gate, he looks up at the sky and sees a star-filled sky.

Then, Jin returned to Horai Island and finally started to move in earnest.