“This is my workshop. It’s small, though.”
Jin followed Beena as she led him to her workshop. It was located on the outskirts of Blue Land—or rather, quite a distance away from the city proper. According to Beena:
“Inside the city? Only the rich and the nobles live there. Commoners all live outside the castle walls.”
Jin felt a twinge of distaste at the blatant political corruption, but he decided it was none of his business and put it out of his mind.
Beena’s workshop was about ten tatami mats in size. For a private workshop, it was a standard size, but it was sparsely equipped with tools and equipment.
“More importantly, where are your siblings?”
Jin was more concerned about the brother and sister who were supposedly ill.
“Their living quarters are in the back. You don't need to worry about them.”
“I can’t just do that. Let me see how they’re doing, just in case.”
Beena looked at Jin’s persistent expression. “Do you even know anything about medicine?”
“I know enough to have some common sense about it.”
“R-really? Well, I guess I’ll let you take a look then, just to be sure.”
They headed toward the house behind the workshop. Calling it a house was being generous; it was closer to a shack.
“I spent all my money on the workshop,” Beena said, looking a bit sheepish.
“Nana, Raldo, how are you feeling?”
Entering the house, Beena opened the door to the room where the two were lying and called out to them.
“Big sis, you’re home early today.”
This was the younger sister, Nana. She looked to be about twelve years old and had the same red hair as Beena.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Same as usual.”
The one who answered was the younger brother, Raldo. He also appeared to be about twelve, though he had brown hair. Both children were dangerously thin.
“Who’s that?” Nana asked, noticing Jin behind her sister.
Jin introduced himself. “I’m Jin. I’m an acquaintance of Beena’s, and I’m helping out at the workshop.”
At that, Raldo’s eyes lit up. “Is that so? Big sis’s teacher is a famous magi craftman. That means Big sis is an amazing magi craftman too!”
Seeing how proud the boy was, Jin smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m learning a lot from her myself.”
As Jin said this, he caught a glimpse of Reiko standing outside the room; her face seemed to twitch.
After leaving the house, Jin and Beena returned to the workshop.
“So? Did you figure out what’s wrong with them?”
Based on their lethargy and the bleeding from their gums, Jin had a strong suspicion it was scurvy. However, since he wasn't entirely certain, he kept his answer vague.
“Hmm, I have an idea, but I’m not confident yet.”
“I see. Well, I wasn’t really expecting much anyway, so it’s fine.”
With that, Beena went to warm up some soup for her siblings’ lunch.
Jin took the opportunity to give Reiko instructions.
“Reiko, hurry back to the laboratory and find some magi-stones. Also, I want you to bring back a lot of those peach-like fruits.”
“But then Father will be left alone.”
“It’ll be fine,” Jin reassured the worried Reiko. “I don’t think there’s any danger here. Just go and come back as fast as you can.”
“Understood. I shall go with the utmost haste. Please, do not do anything dangerous while I am gone.”
With those words, Reiko vanished like a gust of wind. A moment later, Beena returned.
“Huh? Where’s Reiko?”
“Oh, I sent her on a little errand. She’ll be back soon. More importantly, let’s get started.”
“Hmm? Well, alright. Have a seat over there.”
The two sat down across from each other at a workbench made of thick wood.
“So, where should we start? I’ll leave the choice to you, Beena.”
“In that case, take a look at this.”
Beena placed a lamp on the workbench. It was a common item that could be found in almost any household.
“A magi-lamp, huh?”
“They teach you how to make these first at the teacher’s workshop. Since it’s a basic item, I want you to critique it.”
“Understood.”
Jin took it in his hands and examined it. It was a device designed to convert the mana of a magi-stone into light via a magi-formula engraved onto a magi-plate. Generally, any attribute of magi-stone would work for this.
“Hmm... the construction of the housing is amateurish. And the magi-formula is sloppy, which makes for poor conversion efficiency.”
“You mentioned the magi-formula being careless earlier, too. Fine then, show me how it’s supposed to look.”
Jin figured that if he demonstrated his skill now, she would be more inclined to listen to his advice later.
“Do you have a spare magi-plate for the magi-formula?...Ah, this will do.”
The magi-plate acted as a catalyst to trigger the magic when it touched the magi-stone. Jin began to engrave a new magi-formula into it.
“Mana suction, mana storage, mana stabilization, mana conversion, mana activation.”
“W-wait a second! What are ‘mana storage’ and ‘mana stabilization’? I was never taught anything like that!”
Jin finished the engraving and showed the magi-plate to Beena.
“The mana inside a magi-stone isn't pure, so there's a lot of fluctuation. If you convert it to light immediately after drawing it out, the lamp ends up flickering.”
Beena seemed to have an epiphany as she listened to Jin’s explanation.
“Ah, you’re right, lamps do flicker. Is that why?”
“Exactly. Here, swap this magi-plate in and try lighting it.”
Beena installed the magi-plate Jin had engraved and activated the lamp.
“On.”
The lamp emitted a bright, steady glow. Beena watched it for a long moment before speaking.
“Off.”
The lamp went dark. She turned toward Jin and said, “It’s true. There’s no flickering at all, and it’s much brighter. You really aren't just all talk.”
Jin gave a wry smile. “If you’re planning to sell these, you have to put more effort into the housing, too. If you were a famous magi craftman, that would be one thing, but as an unknown newcomer, you need something that catches the eye.”
“I see...”
She was finally listening with an open mind. Jin pressed his advantage.
“The same goes for your other items. It looks like you’re just making whatever pops into your head. If you were famous, customers would scramble to buy anything you made, but since you aren't, you have to think about what the customers actually want first.”
“You’re right... Jin, you’re amazing.”
It was basic business logic, but it seemed like a revelation to Beena. She began to think seriously. Then, she pulled out another magic tool to show him.
“Well then, this one is a magic tool that generates a barrier.”
“Okay.”
Jin took it to examine it, but his hands suddenly stopped and he frowned.
“...”
“What?”
“What is this supposed to be used for?”
“For setting up a barrier, obviously.”
“I get that. But a barrier against what? And for what purpose?”
“Eh?” Beena found herself unable to answer.
“Sigh... You really did make this without thinking. From the look on your face, I’m guessing you haven't even tested it yet?”
“W-well, yeah. It’s my newest piece.”
Jin pulled the magi-plate out of the barrier-generating tool.
“Look at this part of the formula. This generates a barrier that blocks almost everything, right?”
“Yes, exactly. Physical impact, water, fire, lightning, wind.”
“That’s the problem,” Jin pointed out. “Look, a barrier that blocks all that is impressive, sure. But with a magi-stone of this size, you can’t generate a very large barrier, right?”
“I guess. It’s meant to be used on something like luggage.”
“And that’s the issue. Since it’s a barrier that blocks physical objects, people can't reach inside it. Once you turn it on, you won't be able to turn it off until the magi-stone runs out of mana.”
“Huh? Oh... you’re right. I didn't even notice...”
Jin’s critique continued.