Lately, one thing had been occupying Jin’s mind: a stove. In Kaina Village—and likely this entire world—using firewood was the standard for cooking.
However, firewood required an immense amount of labor. One had to fell the trees, delimb them, cross-cut the trunks into short logs, dry them, and finally split them into usable pieces. Transporting the wood was back-breaking work, and the drying process alone took nearly half a year. Green wood that hadn't been properly seasoned was difficult to light and produced thick clouds of smoke. Since the concept of making charcoal didn't seem to exist here, the common people relied entirely on firewood as their heat source.
“I really wish I had some magi-crystals... no, even simple magi-stones would do,” Jin muttered regretfully.
In the basement of the laboratory, they had been piled up like mountains. Of course, the resources stored there were so vast that releasing them into the world would have likely collapsed the global economy.
It’s no use pining for what I don't have. Hmmm... according to my hypothesis, there are subatomic particles called magi-particles that attach to protons like neutrons do to form atomic nuclei. I suspect they function similarly to radioisotopes.
Jin’s theory was that among identical elements, those with magi-particles attached to their nuclei possessed magical power. It was a conclusion reached by merging his knowledge as a Magi Craft Meister with the science he’d learned as a modern Japanese high school graduate. No one else in this world had ever even attempted to think of magic in such terms.
In other words, I should be able to concentrate them just like uranium. But I don't have the materials or the equipment here.
If he were back at the laboratory, Jin felt he could have constructed a magi-element concentrator in a single day. In Kaina Village, however, he was at a loss.
“Jin-niichan, want to come play?”
It was Hanna who snapped him out of his thoughts.
“Oh, ah, sure. Where are we headed?”
“It’s so hot, let’s go swimming!”
A large river called the Erme River flowed to the south of the village; according to Roland, it stretched all the way to the royal capital. However, because it was interrupted by several steep waterfalls, it wasn't used for shipping or transport.
“Alright, let’s go.”
The two of them changed and headed for the river. Their "swimwear" was little more than undergarments. Hanna wore only bottoms, but it wasn't an issue for her, and Jin didn't give it a second thought.
Many children were already at the river, including Barbara, the Village Chief’s niece. Given her age, Barbara had a cloth wrapped around her chest as well.
“Ah, it’s Jin-niichan! And Hanna!”
Kurt called out the moment he spotted them. Mario and Jessie waved as well.
“Don’t jump straight in; it’s bad for the heart. Splash some water on yourselves first and get in slowly.”
“Okay!”
After cautioning Hanna, Jin waded into the water. They were swimming in a pool where the current was gentle. It was roughly twenty meters wide, with the deepest sections reaching about three meters down.
“Kyaha! It feels so good!”
“Ah, it really does.”
Jin floated leisurely, letting his mind rest for a while, until a spray of water hit him square in the face.
“Pwah!”
“Hehe! Jin-niichan, what are you spacing out for? Play with us!”
The culprit was the mischievous Kurt.
“Oh, you’re gonna get it now!”
“You can’t catch me!”
“Oh, is it a game of tag? I’m in!”
“Me too! Me too!”
Before he knew it, the children had swarmed him, and a game of underwater tag began. Barbara watched them from the shallows with a warm, maternal smile.
“Hanna-chan, I caught you!”
“Jessie, gotcha!”
“Is Kurt the only one left?”
“Ah, there he is! He dived!”
“Alright.”
Kurt dove toward the bottom of the pool to escape, with Jin and Mario in hot pursuit.
It was Mario, the strongest swimmer among the children, who finally cornered Kurt near the riverbed. As the two thrashed about, they kicked up a cloud of sand from the bottom. Seeing that movement, a sudden flash of inspiration struck Jin.
“Ah, that was fun!”
When they finished playing and climbed out, the sun was high. It was nearly lunchtime, and everyone began heading home.
“You lot, make sure you rinse off in the hot spring before you go back!”
“Okaaay!”
Jin called out to them, worried they might catch a chill. Then again, the children of this village were hardly that fragile.
“Phew.”
As he rinsed himself off, Jin began verifying his idea.
Just as atoms with more neutrons are heavier, atoms with extra magi-particles attached should also have more mass. If that’s the case, I should be able to sift them out in the water, just like panning for gold.
“Jin-niichan, aren't you coming out yet?”
Hanna’s voice snapped him back to reality. He had spent so long lost in thought that he’d nearly overcooked himself in the hot spring. He was still sweating by the time he got back to Martha's house, while Hanna looked perfectly refreshed.
“What’s gotten into you? You look flushed for someone who just went for a swim,” Martha noted.
“Yeah, I was just thinking about a few things.”
When he said that, Martha gave a wry smile, remarking that he was as eccentric as ever.
That afternoon, Jin returned to the Erme River alone while Hanna was taking her nap.
“Right, let’s see if this works.”
Muttering to himself, he stepped into the water holding a large dish.
He started in the shallows, scooping riverbed sand into the dish and swirling it underwater. The lighter sand was washed away by the current, leaving the heavier grains behind.
It was the "panning" technique used by gold miners. Jin didn't have any actual experience, but he remembered seeing it on television once.
After several repetitions, a small amount of reddish sand remained at the bottom of the dish. He stepped out of the water to inspect it with magic.
“Analyze....Yeah, it’s a fire-attribute magi-stone. The quality is better than I expected, too.”
He continued the process, and every successful find turned out to be a red magi-stone.
“Hmm. Maybe it has something to do with the hot springs being nearby. Regardless, this is a stroke of luck.”
A fire-attribute magi-stone was the perfect component for building a stove.
Jin lost himself in the work, collecting stones until evening when Hanna eventually came to fetch him.
The next day, Jin locked himself in his workshop. He would be using iron-based materials this time. Since he’d be working with fire, he told Hanna it was too dangerous and sent her off to play, much to his regret.
“Now then, I’ll base the design on that.”
Visualizing a modern portable gas stove, Jin began reshaping the iron into thin plates. He marveled again at how convenient magic was, though he failed to realize that such precision was only possible because he was the Magi Craft Meister.
He bent the finished iron plates to form the stove’s chassis. He placed a heater made from a processed magi-stone in the burner section, and the fuel canister slot was repurposed as a compartment for the magi-stone power source.
He’d used the portable design for this prototype, but eventually, he hoped to create something more like a permanent kitchen range.
“Alright, it’s finished.”
One thing he had realized during construction was the need for heat control. He solved this by adding a knob that regulated the flow of magical power from the magi-stone to the heater.
“Time for a field test.”
Jin took the completed stove to Martha. She was just starting lunch and had just pulled out some firewood to boil a pot of water.
“Ah, Martha-san, hold on a second.”
Martha stopped, firewood in hand.
“What’ve you got there? You’ve brought another curious little gadget, I see.”
“Yes. It’s called a ‘stove.’ You can use it to cook without needing any firewood.”
“Heeh. So it’s a ‘magic tool’ after all?”
“Exactly. Would you like to try it out?”
“I’d be happy to. What do I need to do?”
Jin set the stove on the cooking counter and placed the pot of water on the trivet.
“It’s simple. First, you lift this lever. Then, you just turn this knob. The heater will get hot and boil the water. You can adjust the flame—well, the heat—by how far you turn the knob.”
Martha’s eyes went wide.
“What a marvelous tool! A ‘stove,’ you called it?...To think I can control the heat this easily! Jin! This is incredible!”
She was so delighted that Jin couldn't help but beam with pride.
Managing heat with firewood was an art form; it required constant attention to the amount and type of wood being used. The fact that Martha could produce such delicious meals despite those limitations was a testament to her skill, though Jin—a total novice in the kitchen—didn't quite grasp the magnitude of her talent.
To someone like Martha, however, this "stove" was nothing short of revolutionary.
After several days of testing and ensuring there were no issues, Jin spent the following weeks crafting enough stoves for the entire village. He even taught the residents how to pan for their own refill magi-stones. For his efforts, every household in Kaina Village offered him their deepest thanks.