Half of the island’s prison staff plus the four residential guards had relocated with the prisoners to the new facility in the east. Only the operating personnel had stayed behind. The Yotsuba family had also maintained the residential building to be ready for new occupants to move in at any time.
“This looks more like a condo than a hotel,” Lina commented, glancing around her new home.
Miyuki and Tatsuya didn’t disagree.
“It’s already stocked with food and a fridge, so there shouldn’t be much more you need other than clothes,” Tatsuya said.
“Right…” Lina said awkwardly.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about Tatsuya worrying about her clothes. It probably didn’t help that Milfak made an uncannily similar comment right before her escape from the USNA.
“This facility is not only equipped with residential spaces.” Hyougo spoke like a tour guide. “It also has storage, training rooms, and recreational areas. Would you like to see those as well?”
Tatsuya glanced at Lina to gauge her reaction.
“…Sure,” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “I’d love the grand tour.”
The group had traveled to Miyaki Island to see whether the prison facilities could work as Lina’s hiding place. If she didn’t like it, the Yotsuba family would be happy to prepare another safe house for her, albeit one with potentially lower security. Lina, however, mistakenly assumed she had no other option. She’d asked for the tour mostly out of obligation.
Once the tour of the facilities was over and they returned to her room, she turned to Tatsuya.
“Is it really okay for me to stay here?”
“Of course,” he replied. “I’m glad you like it.”
Considering Tatsuya didn’t own the space, he felt strange relaying the assurance. Not responding to a question so clearly directed at him, however, would have been much more awkward.
“Feels like I’d be punished if I didn’t,” Lina said with a tired sigh.
After all the surprises she had been through, her exhaustion was more mental than physical. The Miyaki Island facilities and her new room were by no means luxurious, but they provided everything she needed and left nothing to be desired. Other than the inability to go outside, her new room was possibly even more comfortable than her quarters at the Stars base. It was also a far cry from the restrictive life on the run she had imagined.
“By the way,” she ventured anxiously, “are you sure it was okay to show me that thing?”
Hyougo’s guided tour didn’t just include the prison facilities. They visited the research labs currently under construction. After touring the residential facilities, Tatsuya, Miyuki, and Lina took a prison helicopter to the eastern part of the island. As usual, Hyougo piloted. He seemed unwilling to entrust his role as Tatsuya’s chauffeur to anyone else. This was not so much because he didn’t trust the prison staff. He was simply dedicated to Tatsuya, despite having served him for only two months.
Hyougo then guided the group to their last location: the reaction stone refinery Tatsuya had noticed from the VTOL. Reaction stones were the core of CAD systems. The basic methods of manufacturing them were widely known. Military CAD technologies developed without patent protection, on the other hand, were not public information. That said, increased tech leaks between allied countries rendered such secrecy meaningless.
Of course, this was still only basic technology. High-performance reaction stones could not be refined using well-known, elementary manufacturing processes. Reaction stones were components used to convert psion signals into electrical signals and vice versa. However, not all stones converted signals in the same way. Their performance and efficiency varied depending on design and level of completion.
Some reaction stones excelled at converting psion signals to electrical signals, while those refined on different production lines excelled more at the inverse—converting electrical signals to psion signals. Other stones were best at converting weak signals, while some were better at faithfully reproducing signals.
Germany’s Rosen Magicraft, followed closely by Britain’s MacGregor Wand and the United States’ Maximilian Devices, were highly acclaimed for the cumulative abilities of their reaction stones. When it came to accurately replicating psion signals, however, Japan’s FLT led the pack. Not much was known about the performance of reaction stones manufactured directly by military or national research institutions.
The stones’ exact design was considered critical intellectual property for each nation’s company, and revealing a reaction stone refinery to outsiders was unthinkable in the magic industry. It made sense that seeing one of Japan’s factories put Lina on edge.
“If you know what it is, then you should know not to approach it irresponsibly,” Tatsuya said.
“I would never,” Lina said, frowning.
Her tone was unsure. There was no telling how long she would need to hide on the island. Should her exile last long enough, her caution was bound to dwindle. Without knowledge of where the reaction stone facility was, she couldn’t entirely dismiss the possibility of inadvertently stepping into it and causing unnecessary trouble.
“Fair enough,” Tatsuya replied casually.
He then signaled silently to Hyougo, who handed the high schooler a stylish envelope.
“Here’s the key to your room.”
“Th-thanks.”
Lina opened the envelope to check its contents and found a single gold IC card.
“That card gives you access to all the facilities on this island, including restaurants and stores,” Tatsuya explained. “We can give you another one if you lose it, but it’d be a bit of a hassle.”
“All right,” Lina replied. “I won’t let it out of my sight.”
She clutched the card like her life depended on it.
“You can use the landline in your room to call if you need anything,” Tatsuya continued. “And I’m not the only one you can call. Feel free to direct your concerns to Miyuki or Ayako. The phone is connected to the Yotsuba main house, too.”
“Got it.”
“Any other questions?”
“Not that I can think of,” Lina said with a shake of her head. “I’ll call if I have any problems.”
“Great.”
Tatsuya turned to Miyuki, who had been standing behind him. She now took a step forward to speak.
“We will see you later, Lina. Take it easy, and I will be sure to visit again.”
“Thank you.” Lina waved shyly. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
Miyuki waved back with a gentle smile.