"Now then, let’s figure out what we can actually sell."
"Right. Like you said, Jin, we have to keep the user in mind."
Beena seemed to be catching on.
"Is there anything in particular?"
Jin recalled an idea he’d had before but hadn't been able to realize.
"Hey, Beena. It’s pretty warm around here, isn't it?"
"I suppose so."
"It doesn't snow here, does it?"
"No. I’ve never even seen the real thing—just the distant mountains turning white in winter. Why do you ask?"
Jin asked, testing her. "Well, how long do you think those Persica fruits from earlier will stay good?"
"Eh? Let's see... they’re quite ripe, so maybe two days at most."
"And can’t they be preserved for longer?"
Beena fell into thought for a moment, then her face suddenly lit up. "I’ve got it! A magic tool for preserving food!"
"Correct," Jin said with a smile.
"You're right... I haven't heard much about tools like that."
"In the first place, how do you usually preserve food?"
"Well, by drying it or salting it."
"In regions where it snows, there are places where they bury vegetables in the snowbanks to keep them fresh."
"I see," Beena replied. "So cooling them is an option. But that’s difficult. Continuous use of ice magic consumes an incredible amount of mana."
Jin gave a wry grin. "That’s exactly why we do it. Taking on challenges like that is what makes one a Magi Craft... a magi craftman, isn't it?"
Jin had almost said Magi Craft Meister. Beena didn't notice the slip.
"You're right! I'll give it a shot!" Beena started off with enthusiasm, but then slumped. "Ah... no, it's no good. I don't have any magi-stones left in stock. And I don't have the money to buy more."
She hung her head, muttering dejectedly.
"You can use these."
Jin placed two of the magi-stones Reiko had brought onto the workbench. One was fire-attribute, and the other was earth attribute.
"What? No, I can't let you do that much for me."
Beena tried to refuse, but Jin insisted. "Then let's say you'll pay me back once the new magic tool is finished and you’ve made a profit from selling it. How does that sound?"
"Ugh... I'm just getting deeper into debt... but at this point, I suppose I have to take the leap. I'll use them, and thank you."
"Good. That's the spirit. Now, let's figure out the design."
To Jin, who knew exactly what a refrigerator was, the project was practically half-finished, but it was a different story for Beena.
"Right. For the shape, a box, I think. With a lid for opening and closing, and room inside for vegetables. Then, the interior gets cooled..."
"Yeah, that’s the basic idea."
"The box and the cooling magic—those are the two essentials."
"I agree. We should make the box so it doesn't conduct heat as much as possible."
Beena showed a flash of intuition. "Why... oh, I see. We only want to cool the inside, after all."
"Exactly. So we’ll make the walls thick and, if we have the capacity, install a fire-attribute barrier."
"Fire?"
"Yeah. Did you know a fire-attribute barrier can actually insulate against the cold as well?"
In short, it acted as thermal insulation.
"Is that so... I never realized," Beena muttered, staring at Jin. "Are you... actually someone amazing?"
Reiko was the one who answered. "Father is the best in the world."
"Yes, yes. I'm sure he is. Your father is the best in the world... So then, the problem is the cooling magic." Beena brushed the comment off, making Reiko’s expression sour slightly.
Jin continued at his own pace. "If it's just cooling, it’s simple, right? There's magic to produce ice."
"The simplest is Ice. The literal thing."
Ice was a spell used to freeze water or objects.
"Wouldn't that work? You create ice inside the box, and when it's gone, you just make more."
"Ah, of course! If we do that, we don't have to keep the magic active constantly!"
Beena's concept was finally taking shape.
"Yeah. So..."
Just as Jin was about to dictate the magi-sequence, Beena cut in.
"Wait, let me try. Uh... Create Ice, Monitor Ice, Create Ice—repeat. And the instruction for Monitor Ice is to trigger Create Ice once the ice is gone."
After a moment of thought, Jin added a suggestion. "Right. But I think it would be better to trigger it slightly before the ice is completely gone. Other than that, it sounds perfect."
"Yeah, yeah! I think I can do this!"
They started by building the box. They made the frame out of wood, reinforcing key sections with bronze. It was a vertical unit—effectively the shape of a modern refrigerator—with an ice chamber at the very top.
"So we produce the ice here."
"Right. Cold air sinks, so putting the ice at the top is standard."
"I'm so jealous of your knowledge, Jin."
Next was the crucial cooling component. It involved writing the magi-formula onto a magi-plate.
"Like this... then this... and this goes here..."
Though she racked her brain, Beena wrote the code in bit by bit. This "writing" was also performed using magic.
"I think it would be better to do it this way here."
"Ah, you're right. That's much more efficient."
Before the final searing process, they could make as many corrections as needed. Under Jin's supervision, Beena constructed a respectable magi-formula.
"Alright, all done. How does it look, Jin?"
Jin scanned the magi-formula. "Yeah, looks good. With this, we should have enough room to add a simple barrier to the box as well."
"You're right. I never knew that the quality of a magi-formula could make such a massive difference in mana consumption."
Finally, they installed the magi-plate and set the magi-stone power source.
"It's finished!"
"Good work. Let's test it out immediately. We can use those Persicas."
"Right."
They placed the remaining twelve Persica fruits inside.
"Cooling."
They activated the device immediately. After a short wait, they opened the door to find ice had formed in the top chamber. It looked like a success.
"Well, it'll be dark soon, so I'll head back for today."
"Already? Thanks for everything today, Jin. Will you come back tomorrow?"
"Yeah. See ya."
With that, Jin left Beena's workshop with Reiko in tow.
"...Wait."
A few moments after Jin had gone, Beena realized something.
"Come to think of it, I wonder where Jin actually lives."
There was no one left to answer her.