The following morning, Jin headed to Beena’s workshop alone, carrying a basket filled with the orange-like fruit. Reiko had stayed behind on Hourai Island to give new instructions to the golem maids.
"Good morning."
"Oh, good morning, Jin."
"I brought these for you today."
Jin showed her the orange-like fruit in his basket, and Beena tilted her head. "Are those citran?"
"I don't know much about them, but they’re sweet and sour and taste good, so I brought some over."
"These don't grow anywhere around here, you know? Jin, where on earth do you come from, anyway?"
It was a natural question for her to ask.
"Ah—well, let me explain that a bit later. I'll tell you eventually, but for now..."
Beena looked slightly dissatisfied with his vague answer. "Hmph, fine. I’m the one who asked for your help, after all."
She accepted the basket of citran with a small shrug.
"So, how’s the refrigerator doing?"
"Refrigerator?"
"Ah, right. The magic tool we made yesterday."
"Hmm, 'refrigerator,' huh? That’s a good name for it."
Since it wasn't a name Jin had come up with himself, he didn't take credit for it.
"Anyway, about that refrigerator—I found a flaw."
"What is it?"
Beena led Jin into the kitchen where the device was kept. "Look."
"Ah, I see."
The floor beneath the unit was soaked. The ice used for cooling had melted, and the water had dripped out onto the floor.
"Hmm, what should we do?"
"It would be fine if we just kept the meltwater from dripping, but I’m worried that might insulate the ice and reduce the cooling efficiency."
After discussing it, the two decided to place the ice inside a metal container. They could then simply refreeze the meltwater and reuse it.
"Using copper would be best, I think."
"Why copper? Iron is cheaper right now."
"Iron rusts, so it lacks durability. Besides, copper conducts the cold much more efficiently."
"Is that so? You really do know everything, Jin."
"I suppose I do. Well then, let's get to work on the improvements."
Putting minor details aside, the two immediately set to work.
The internal cooling was perfectly fine, so as long as they solved the water leakage, the refrigerator would be essentially complete.
"There, finished."
"Yeah. Well then, let's make about three more."
Since Beena planned to use the prototype herself to check for malfunctions and test various uses, they decided to start on units intended for sale.
"Since we’re going to sell these, we should make the exteriors look presentable."
Saying so, Jin painted the wooden cabinets white. They were now "white goods" in every sense of the term.
"Heh, that looks pretty good."
With a prototype to reference, they managed to complete three units by noon. They weren't operational yet since the magi-stones hadn't been installed.
"All finished."
"Yeah, good work."
"It's already noon. I can't offer anything fancy, but do you want to eat with us?"
"If you don't mind, I'd love to."
Beena headed to the kitchen and started stewing something. After a while, she produced a vegetable soup.
"I’m going to go feed Nana and Raldo, so go ahead and eat first."
"No, I can't do that. I know—I'll peel some citran and bring them over for the kids."
Jin took two citran fruits and accompanied Beena to her siblings' room.
"Ah, Jin Onii-chan!" Raldo called out, spotting Jin behind his sister.
"Hey there. I'm going to peel some citran for you today."
Jin began peeling the fruit. They were as easy to peel by hand as a mandarin orange.
"It's sweet and sour and delicious!" Nana cried out, delighted. Beena watched the two of them eat with a warm smile.
Returning to the kitchen, Jin and Beena sat down for their own meal. It was a soup with various vegetables stewed together, and the seasoning was actually quite good. However...
"Hmm?"
Jin encountered a very hard texture.
"Sorry," Beena said, noticing his expression. "The corn is tough, right? It's the cheapest variety, so it won't get soft no matter how long you boil it."
Jin stared at the corn and tried chewing it slowly.
"This texture... could it be? Beena, do you have more of this corn?"
"E-Eh? Yeah. I buy it by the bag, so I think there’s about eight kilograms left."
Hearing that, Jin finished his soup in a hurry and asked to see the grain. After rolling a kernel around in his palm and inspecting it, he smiled.
"With this, I think I can make something happen."
He hurried Beena through the rest of her meal and pulled her back into the workshop.
"What’s going on?"
To the puzzled Beena, Jin said, "I thought of a way to make some quick money."
He began giving her instructions as they started building a new magic tool.
"Alright. We need one medium-sized shallow pot... and one large deep pot. We'll suspend the shallow pot and install a magi-stone underneath it."
As he spoke, Jin began scribbling a magi-formula onto a magi-plate.
Beena watched him, her eyes wide. "Eh? Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, isn't that a lightning-type formula? If you're heating a pot, shouldn't it be fire-type?"
Jin gave a knowing grin.
"That's the trick to this tool. Watch closely; I'm keeping the lightning output extremely low and switching the frequency at incredibly short intervals."
"Something like that... Oh, it's actually working."
Jin and Beena finished assembling the device. He turned to her again. "Could you give me some of that corn, along with a bit of oil and salt?"
He added the vegetable oil, salt, and corn into the suspended pot.
"If this works, it’ll be a pleasant surprise," he muttered, then activated the tool.
After a moment, a savory aroma began to drift through the air. Suddenly, with a sharp pop, a kernel of corn burst open. Beena jumped.
"W-What was that?!"
"Yes! It's a success."
Once the first one went, the rest of the corn began popping in rapid succession. The white, fluffy kernels tumbled into the large pot waiting underneath. Eventually, when the corn in the top pot was spent, Jin deactivated the device.
"Now, let's try some."
The large pot was filled to the brim with popped corn. Jin picked up a piece and popped it into his mouth.
"Yeah, that’s it. It’s good."
Intrigued, Beena tried a piece herself.
"Oh! It's delicious!"
She immediately began eating with gusto. In no time at all, the pile of popped corn had vanished.
"Whew, that was amazing. It’s so addictive."
"Right? It's called popcorn. I think if you set up a street stall and sell this, you'll make a tidy profit."
"You're right! I'll try it starting tomorrow!"
"We still need to find a buyer for the refrigerators, too. If the popcorn gets popular, it might help us find customers for the bigger items."
"That makes sense. Regardless, I'm just happy to have a way to cover our living expenses. Jin, thank you!"
"Don't mention it... Oh, and remember—this only works with this specific hard-hulled popcorn variety. It won't work the same with other types."
"Really? That's a relief. I was worried I’d have to buy expensive corn to make it taste better."
With a plan in place, Jin and Beena went out to stock up on more corn, oil, and salt.
Since they were all inexpensive items, Beena was able to afford them easily. Jin also received a bag of corn as a gift before he headed home for the day.