"......<"

Jin, who intended to build a huge space underground, including a hangar, made sure to conduct a search to around 1,000 meters below ground.

It would be best if there was nothing there.

"Yeah, it's basalt all the way down to the basement. ...... what about over here?　"

After a few more detailed searches, which only Jin could do.

"Hmm?"

Jin feels a slight discomfort. So, he repeats the <.

"<>......I knew it. There is a space and ...... something around 700 to 800 meters underground."

Something that is not basalt. And what's more, it's not basalt,

"<>...... no good?"

Even analysis does not tell us what it is. In other words, it is something unknown even to Jin. However, we know that metal and magecrystal are used as materials.

However, we do not know what they are.

only gives us known information, knowledge, and words.

"Father?"

Reiko peeks in anxiously at Jin, who is deep in thought.

"Oh, no, I was just wondering what's down here..."

and his team's survey went down to about 500 meters underground, and they did not survey the entire continent down to the last grain of sand .......

It was no wonder that they missed the pinpoint presence of around 700 meters below the surface.

"Then, would you like to use <>...... or <>?"

Jin nodded at Reiko's words.

"Yes, I think I'll use the <> here."

< is 10 cm in diameter and 30 cm long. It is cylindrical in shape, like a large tea canister.

It does not excavate, but performs <>. In other words, the rock is moved backward from the front, so there is almost no sound.

Propulsion is not mechanical, but a force field generator.

On board are two ultra-compact golems <.

Jin sent two of them from Horai Island.

"Okay, please!"

"Ryoukaidesu!"

Miniature golems <>, each five centimeters tall. One and two responded in high-pitched voices, and then mounted <> one and two, respectively.

The two <> were activated and disappeared underground in a matter of seconds.

"Now we just have to wait and see..."

< depends on the concentration of free magical element (ether), and it can be activated at a rate of 500 meters to 10 00 meters per day.

With Hale's free element concentration, he should be able to go 1000 meters.

So Jin decided to wait for a day.

I see..." * * * *

"I see... So, you came to me..."

Yes, I was wondering if you knew anything.

Not wanting to spend the day in idleness, Jin immediately came to consult with 700672.

The < has been quite well decorated over the past day, and now he is being shown into the living room of the <.

"Seven hundred meters underground. ...... I have no idea."

"I see. ......"

No wonder you have no idea where 700672 is. <.

And then the two of them..,

"Welcome to our office!

Rouge brings them a cup of tea.

"Oh, thank you!

Jin was a bit puzzled. Jin was a bit amazed.

"Well, Jin-dono, Rouge is as happy as ......Neige is to have this ."

We have guests, we entertain them. Just like in a < home.

It was a great pleasure for him to be able to live something that was close to <, something that had been so far away from him.

(Oh, I remember that Rouge was a homunculus based on .)

(Oh, by the way, Rouge was a homunculus based on <>.) Jin wondered how he would look if he brought her to Archel's older brother, Belialus.

If Belialus, who is more of a cis-con than a big-brother idiot......, saw Rouge, who took over her younger sister Archelle's looks when she was a little girl,.......

Jin hoped that one day, when the situation in Hale had settled down, the northerners would be able to come here to visit.

The tea was hojicha. The tea was hojicha, and it was slightly cooled to his liking.

Rouge, who had brought the tea, was staring at Jin as he took a sip,

"Yes, it's delicious," Jin said.

Rouge smiled happily when Jin told her that the tea was delicious,

"Please, take your time.

and left the living room.

"He's kind of a chatty guy, isn't he?

700672 said, but his face was smiling.

Since coming to Hale, even No. 700672 has been constantly surprised by the unexpected aspects of Rouge and Neige.

Of course, it was a pleasant surprise.

Jin, too, has been surprised to see an unexpected aspect of Rouge and Neige that could be described as a < of No. 700672.

"As far as I know, ......<> don't build any kind of facilities ...... under the earth where they live, and deep underground like that. I don't think that they would build any facilities ...... in such deep underground."

Over a cup of tea, No. 700672 choked on his thoughts.

"Just ......."

"Just what?"

Jin looked at 700672, who was unusually brusque, with a curious look in his eyes.

"The history of <> is long. The history of the Masters is long, and what I know of the Masters is only a fraction of that.

Jin understood what No. 700672 meant.

< was still at its peak.

Jin could understand that.

Even in their decadence and lethargy, they did various great projects such as the migration to Ars.

It was difficult even for Jin to imagine them in their prime.

(If it is ......, it might be the remains of those days.)

The truth will be known tomorrow. With this in mind, Jin decided to change the subject.

"By the way, when the <> is completed, will the <> live here?

<......, a room that was once part of the <>?

"Yes,......I was born in that . But this Hale is also my home in the sense that it is the source of the materials that form me."

Jin silently listened to the words of 700672.

"To be honest, there is nothing to do over there. But I'm sure I can find a lot of things I want to do here.

The way he said it was so roundabout, so like No. 700672, that Jin couldn't help but grin inwardly.

"That's over there. This one is a vacation home.

"I see.

When he wants to go back home, he goes back to his parents' house, and usually enjoys his time at the villa.

I guess that's what 700672 wants to do.

If a vacation home is to be spent when the weather is nice, this place has a pleasant climate all year round. He can stay as long as he wants.

"Besides, in Ars I was an alien, but not here."

"Indeed."

He added, "And besides," as if he were adding something else, but Jin wondered if this was his true intention.