After dinner, Jin returned to the debris yard.
When he informed the administrator that he had separated the materials into their individual components, the man was struck with such astonishment that he rushed off to alert his superior. By the time Jin arrived, Kelichdore, the minister of magic, was already there accompanied by another noble of high standing.
"Oh, so you are Jin-dono? I heard from the man in charge that you separated these yourself?"
The noble whose name Jin didn't know addressed him. He was a tall, thin man in his 40s with thinning hair slicked back. He introduced himself to Jin with a polite nod.
"I am William, the minister of internal affairs for this kingdom."
"Y-yes. Regarding that, I must offer an apology to Minister Kelichdore."
"What for?"
Jin pulled the Elradrite from his pocket.
"This is the Elradrite I confiscated from Dominique. To be honest, I was only able to perform this separation with its help."
The two men frowned slightly for a moment, but their expressions quickly smoothed over.
"I see. So you used the Elradrite to amplify your Craft Magic to perform this feat."
The misunderstanding went exactly as Jin had hoped.
"And so, I must return this to you."
With that, he handed the Elradrite back to Kelichdore.
"Hm, I have certainly received it. Being a little late is of no consequence after seeing this mountain of processed materials, wouldn't you agree, Minister William?"
"Indeed. We can reuse these without wasting any resources. The Minister of Finance isn't here, but he would be delighted. Jin-dono, I heard you were looking for some materials yourself?"
William, the minister of internal affairs, asked about Jin's objective. Jin honestly told them that he wanted some mithril and a few other small items.
"I see. If that is all, you may take whatever you need right here. I will have the rest of these materials transported out afterward."
With the minister's permission, Jin excitedly set about securing his supplies.
He took enough mithril to make a dagger and a brooch. He also gathered some light silver, copper, zinc, a little tin, and various fragments of magi-crystals.
Magi-crystals lose their value once they are shattered. Even if they are fused back together with Craft Magic, the mana can no longer be extracted properly.
The principle is similar to a magnet. A magnet has North and South poles that attract or repel. Magi-crystals emit mana lines, similar to magnetic lines, though they generate almost no physical force on their own. When a magi-crystal is shattered and gathered back together, the directions of the mana lines become random, interfering with and canceling each other out. As a result, the extractable magical power becomes severely weakened.
"Hm, is that all you require? Please let me know if there is anything else. Prince Ernest asked me to facilitate whatever you might need."
"Huh? From His Highness?"
It seemed he had earned the prince's favor following the repairs to Lotte.
"Thank you very much. But this is more than enough."
"Is that so? Then we shall have the remaining materials moved out."
"Yes, thank you."
After thanking them, Jin left the yard. The materials were heavy, but once he reached a spot out of sight of the two ministers, Reiko deactivated her Stealth and appeared, taking the load from him.
"Now then..."
Just as he piled the materials in his room and prepared to start crafting, there was a knock at the door.
"Yes, who is it?"
Reiko answered in Jin's place.
"Good evening. Is Jin-kun there?"
It was Stearena Gamma.
"Ah, Stearena-san."
Jin stood up to greet her.
"Is now a good time?"
"Yes, please come in."
"Then, I'll intrude for a bit."
With Jin's permission, Stearena entered the room.
No one noticed the person watching this... or rather, no one except Reiko. And Reiko had judged that it wasn't something worth reporting. Reporting every minor detail of daily life to Jin would only serve to distract him from his work. Therefore, she decided the fact that their friend Elsa was standing further down the hallway was not a matter that required his attention.
Reiko simply assumed that if Elsa had business with Jin, she would eventually come to the door herself.
"Is that... Stearena-san?"
Elsa had stepped into the hallway to visit Jin's room, but she had stopped just in time to see Stearena entering.
"Jin-kun... with Stearena-san?"
Having been beaten to it, Elsa returned to her room, but a strange uneasiness lingered in her chest. She found herself heading back out into the hallway. Creeping toward Jin's room without making a sound, she hesitated.
(I... I shouldn't be doing this, but...)
After a brief internal conflict, she pressed her ear against the door.
"...That's right. I can't believe this is your first time."
"Please, don't flatter me."
"I'm not flattering you. Jin-kun, you're really good. You've got me beat."
"...!"
Elsa reflexively pulled back.
(What... what kind of conversation is that?)
Timidly, she brought her ear close to the door once more.
"It's amazing. It gets so hard... I've never seen anything like this before."
"Is it usually different?"
"Jin-kun, you're exactly the man I thought you were. I'm sure any girl would be thrilled with this."
"Haha, I hope so."
"I can guarantee it."
For some reason, Elsa couldn't listen anymore. She turned and fled, rushing back to her room and throwing herself onto her bed.
"Milady? Is something the matter?"
Mine, her wet nurse, called out in a worried voice, but Elsa didn't answer, remaining buried in her pillows.
"Normally, mithril doesn't get this hard, you know?"
To Stearena, who spoke with genuine surprise, Jin replied, "Ah, that's because I mixed in just a tiny bit of copper."
"Wait, really?"
"Yes. Silver hardens significantly when you add a bit of copper."
This alloy, known as 925 silver, hardens if heated to about 500 degrees and held at 250 degrees for a while; it becomes even harder if left at room temperature afterward. Furthermore, it is more resistant to tarnishing than pure silver.
Jin knew this from studying the properties of metals during his training as a new recruit, but it seemed such knowledge was unknown in this world. Generally, even when people made alloys here, they didn't strictly manage the composition ratios.
"And then you apply Hardening and Surface Treatment on top of that. It's... how should I put it, it's incredible."
The finished dagger was about forty centimeters long and a brilliant silver color. It was slender and light. Because Jin had given it his absolute best Finish, it was a masterpiece far stronger than any ordinary steel sword.
"This shape, size, and weight... even a girl could handle this easily. She'll be happy."
"I hope so. Next are the scabbard and the hilt."
Jin picked up the light silver and began Forming it. He made it the perfect size to fit the blade, and as a final touch, he inlaid fragments of magi-crystals into the scabbard. He added fine engravings to the hilt to serve as a grip and embedded a magi-crystal into the pommel.
"With this, it's complete."
A magnificent dagger lay before them. The scabbard was a soft gold color made of light silver, studded with small magi-crystals. When drawn, it revealed a blade of pure, chilling white silver.
"I wouldn't hesitate to pay a million Toll for a piece like this," was Stearena's final evaluation.