Once Reinhard had departed, Jin set his thoughts aside and made his way toward the debris yard. He figured a change of scenery would do him good, especially since he needed to craft a birthday present for Elsa.
His plan was to scavenge usable materials from the fragments of the destroyed golems.
Ideally, all materials from ruined golems would be recovered and recycled—as they’d say in his old world—but the reality was different. While it was possible to reclaim something like the mithril used in plating, the effort required was so great compared to the meager yield that it wasn't considered practical. Consequently, the yard was piled high with mountains of rubble.
However, an individual could afford to ignore such efficiency. That was exactly why Jin had come to pick through the wreckage, having already secured permission from the yard’s overseer.
"Hmm, it’s almost entirely iron or bronze."
That was to be expected. Any truly precious materials had already been picked clean by the mobilized magi-ritters and magi.
Even so, a diligent search eventually yielded results.
"Oh, this bronze is coated in mithril."
"Jackpot! A fragment of mithril."
Bit by bit, his stash of mithril grew. However, it was still nowhere near enough to forge a full blade.
"Oh, Jin-kun, what are you doing?"
At the sound of the voice, he looked up to find Stearena Gamma, the magi craftman from the Celuroa Kingdom, standing nearby.
"Ah, Stearena-san."
"Scavenging for materials?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"And why at this hour?"
Stearena had a point. It was already past five o'clock, and the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon.
"Well, there's something I want to make in a hurry," Jin replied.
"I see, that sounds like a lot of work," Stearena said. Then she added, "You're a magi craftman too, aren't you? Couldn't you just fuse everything into one mass and then separate the components?"
"I—I see... That’s a great idea."
Jin was genuinely impressed. That method would certainly be thorough.
Watching his reaction, Stearena started to giggle. "...Just kidding. There's no way anyone could actually—"
"Fusion!"
Fully committed, Jin instantly condensed the mountain of debris before him into a single, solid lump.
"Eh?"
"Extraction: copper. Extraction: iron. Extraction: tin. Extraction: zinc. Extraction: mithril. Extraction: light silver..."
"Wait... What?! What are you doing?!"
Before the stunned Stearena could even process what was happening, distinct blocks of copper, iron, zinc, tin, and mithril were forming right in front of her.
"...Whew."
Jin looked a bit drained. The total amount of debris he had just processed must have been well over ten tons. He had used Fusion on the entire pile at once and then performed Extraction for every single component. Since he had compressed a massive amount of work into a few moments, his fatigue was only natural.
"Y-Y-You... do you have any idea what you just did?"
"Huh?"
Jin looked at Stearena with a confused expression, wondering why she was so shocked by her own suggestion.
"To do something in seconds that would take an ordinary magi craftman several days..."
"Wait."
Jin realized too late that he had taken Stearena's joke at face value. He instantly regretted the display of power, but it was too late to take it back. Then, a sudden inspiration struck him.
"Um, Stearena-san?"
As Jin tentatively addressed her, Stearena took a step back. "...What is it, Jin-kun?"
She looked as though she expected him to silence her to keep his secret.
"This is the trick."
Jin held up the object in his hand.
It was a stone that shimmered with a dark, watery blue light in the twilight.
"...Is that, by any chance, Elradrite?"
"Yeah. I actually forgot I still had it after we took it from Dominique. I intend to hand it over to Kelichdore-san later, but surely it’s fine if I use it once, right?"
He offered her a sheepish smile. In reality, while he did possess the Elradrite, he hadn't used it at all. Not knowing this, Stearena let out a breath of relief.
"Oh, so that was it! You gave me quite a shock. I honestly thought you were some kind of monster, Jin-kun."
Hearing that made Jin break out in a cold sweat. At the same time, he realized he desperately wanted a piece of Elradrite for himself—specifically to use as a convenient excuse for his abilities.
"Well, since you've processed the debris into usable materials like this, I'm sure they won't mind if you're a little late handing the stone over. If anything, they'll be thrilled."
Stearena seemed to fully believe that his miraculous feat had been powered by the Elradrite.
"So, what exactly is it you're making?" she asked, returning to her initial curiosity.
Jin decided to be honest. "A dagger. A small one, the kind a lady might carry."
Since she was a talented magi craftman, he figured he might be able to get some professional advice.
"Hmm, did someone ask you for one? Oh, let me guess... is it for that platinum-blonde girl?"
Realizing she meant Elsa, Jin nodded. "Well, she didn't ask, but she seemed interested in daggers before."
When he said that, Stearena’s elegant brows knit together.
"...Are you planning on giving it to her as a gift?" she asked.
Since that was his exact intention, Jin answered truthfully. "Yes. I just found out that tomorrow is her birthday."
Stearena stared at Jin for a long moment, then let out a theatrical sigh.
"You really are a fool," she declared.
"You spend all your time on magi craft and don't know the first thing about how to treat a girl, do you?"
"..."
Unsure how to defend himself, Jin remained silent.
"Listen to me. Giving someone a blade is a sign that you 'want to cut ties' with them. Giving a ring or a necklace means you 'want to bind them'—and no, I don't mean literally tying them up, okay?"
"I-I see."
"Giving clothes means you 'want to undress them,' and inviting them to dinner means 'I want to eat you.'"
The conversation was veering into increasingly dangerous territory, so Jin quickly interrupted. "I—I get it. So a dagger isn't a good birthday present, then?"
"Generally, no. Although, it is acceptable if it's given by a blood relative for self-defense, as it represents an inseparable bond."
That left Jin even more conflicted.
"In that case, I can just have the dagger delivered through Reinhard. But for my own gift... I guess an accessory is the way to go...?"
He thought for a moment before asking, "What about something like a brooch?"
"That would mean, 'I want to live in your heart.'"
That sounded significantly more normal, Jin decided. He resolved to make a brooch as well.
"Jin-kun, it's time for dinner."
Just then, Elsa appeared. Concerned that Jin hadn't returned to his room for the evening meal, she had come looking for him.
"Ah, is it that late already?...Stearena-san, thanks for all the advice."
"Oh, don't mention it. Happy to help, Jin-kun."
She watched as the two of them walked away. Jin was empty-handed for now, intending to collect his processed materials later.
"...To be young again."
Neither of them heard her soft murmur. However, Reiko, who was following Jin while hidden by Stealth, heard it quite clearly.
"Jin-kun, what were you doing?"
It was a natural question, but Jin couldn't exactly tell the truth.
"Uh, just looking to see if I could find anything useful."
"Not wasting things... Mine says that's important. Jin-kun, you're a good person."
Jin found himself receiving praise for a rather unexpected reason.