Reiko was consulting with Laojun using her built-in manacam.
"Father seems to be having a wonderful time. I haven't seen him look this happy in quite a while."
『I agree. A change of pace is essential, after all.』
"It’s more than just a change of pace. I believe this kind of life is fundamentally what Father is best suited for."
『Indeed. A life of conflict does not suit My Lord.』
"That is why I believe it is necessary to establish a system that can deal with the Unifilar even without Father's direct involvement."
『I see. That is certainly a necessity. It would be for the best if My Lord could rest there for a time.』
"Please handle it. I must stay here to protect Father."
＊ ＊ ＊
And so, it was decided that they would bolster the organization on Hourai Island to reduce Jin's burden in his absence, while also constructing a system to realize Jin's ideas as quickly as possible.
『Five hundred Smiths will not be enough for such a task.』
Laojun decided to produce another five hundred Smith golems.
Since the templates were already available, the work was simple—it was essentially an assembly line process.
By fully utilizing the existing Smith golems, a total force of one thousand Smiths was assembled in what could truly be called the blink of an eye.
Since the control cores were copies, the process could be carried out even without Jin's presence.
『Smiths 101, 201, 301, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, and 901 shall act as unit leaders and command their ninety-nine subordinates.』
『Smiths 11 through 100 shall serve as skilled workers and primarily focus on the production of special magic tools.』
『Smiths 1 through 10 shall be re-educated as Fuhrers.』
Laojun made full use of his granted authority, reorganizing the Smith golems and moving to realize Jin's ideas in the shortest time possible.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Yay! Gon, Gen, it’s been so long!"
It was the afternoon after they returned from their herb-picking picnic.
Hanna was practically jumping for joy at the sight of Gon and Gen, who were now appearing openly.
She frolicked about, hanging from Gon's arms and getting a shoulder ride from Gen.
Jin remained silent for now about the Secret Mobile Unit—the SP—he had assigned specifically to Hanna.
As for Jin, he was currently in the middle of building a washing machine with Elsa as his assistant.
He hadn't noticed it last year, but having made it through the winter, the hands of the women in Kaina Village, Martha included, were rough and chapped.
One of the primary causes was the laundry.
Kaina Village didn't even have washboards; most laundry was done by hand-scrubbing in large tubs. Large items like sheets were trampled with their feet.
Even with access to hot water from the springs, it was undoubtedly an arduous task.
"Oh, it's like this every year. It'll heal once it gets warmer," Martha said with a laugh, but Jin couldn't simply accept that.
Thus, the washing machine.
What he envisioned was a hand-cranked model. It consisted of an egg-shaped container where laundry, detergent, and water were placed; when the handle was turned, the container rotated, agitating the laundry inside.
Jin figured that a standard fully automatic machine would be difficult to power and, perhaps selfishly, he felt it wouldn't quite fit the atmosphere of Kaina Village.
He ordered the missing materials from Hourai Island. However, most of the bronze, copper, and iron left at Martha's house proved sufficient.
Since Elsa was still at a pre-apprentice stage, she was there to observe.
Her eyes were dead serious as she watched Jin process the metal using Forming.
"Mental imagery is vital for Forming. You have to imagine every single detail of the shape you want to create. That's the most important trick to it."
As he spoke, Jin slowly demonstrated the use of Forming while building the washing machine.
"Imagery... that sounds difficult. You mean I have to clearly picture the finished product in my head?"
"That's right. Try starting with simple shapes first."
Elsa had no way of knowing that Jin, who performed Shaping without any incantations while casually chatting, was a complete outlier. She simply strove to eventually do the same.
It was an excessively high goal, but the effort would surely not go to waste.
Before long, the hand-cranked washing machine was complete. Jin had Reiko fetch some magical beast leather to use as packing material. Without it, water would leak and spray everywhere when the drum was turned.
Natural rubber would have worked, but the leather offered superior durability.
"An interesting shape," Elsa remarked honestly upon seeing the finished machine. Hanna also came over, looking on with curiosity.
"Onii-chan, what's this?"
"This is a washing machine. Do you have anything you want to wash?"
Jin asked Hanna if she had anything to test it with.
"Yeah, Atashi does! Atashi's panties that I changed out of yesterday!"
With that, she ran to the laundry area to fetch them. Jin and Elsa watched her go with wry smiles.
Jin had Reiko carry the prototype washing machine over to the well. Since the weather was pleasant, several of the village wives were gathered there, chatting.
"Oh, if it isn't Jin. Have you made something again?"
"Is she your little sister, Jin? You two don't look much alike, but she's certainly a beauty."
They called out to him warmly. Elsa, being called a beauty to her face, was visibly flustered and blushed.
"This is called a washing machine," Jin explained.
He opened the lid, put in Hanna's panties, and poured in water drawn from the well. Finally, he added a small amount of powdered Rita fruit to serve as detergent before closing the lid.
The wives at the well watched with great interest.
"And then, you turn this handle."
As it was a prototype, the washing machine was sized for a single person. Since the volume of laundry in the village wasn't particularly large, Jin thought this size would be sufficient.
If it were larger, the force required to turn it would increase, which would bring its own difficulties—though he could always have Gon or Gen do it.
After cranking it for about three minutes, Jin stopped. The washing tub slowly lost speed and, due to the weight distribution, came to a Stand Still with the lid facing upward.
"Now I open the plug at the bottom to drain the water."
Dirty water poured out. (To be clear, it wasn't "dirty" in a literal sense; it was simply the used wash water.)
"Now for the rinse water."
He closed the bottom plug and poured fresh water in through the lid.
"And turn it again."
As he cranked the handle, Jin added, "By the way, if things aren't very dirty, they'll come clean with just water."
He continued turning it for about a minute.
Jin changed the water one more time and, announcing the final step, turned the handle while leaving the bottom plug open. A little water sprayed out.
"If you do it like this, it wrings them out. Though, of course, you can still wring them by hand."
After completing his explanation, Jin stopped the machine, opened the lid, and retrieved Hanna's panties.
He snapped the fabric to shake off the excess water and smooth the wrinkles.
"After that, you just hang it up to dry."
"What do you think?" Jin asked, looking around at the wives.
"..."
"..."
Just as Jin began to worry the reaction was a bit lackluster—
"Jin! You can wash all sorts of things in this, right?"
"Make one for me too!"
"That looks like fun!"
It seemed they were interested more because it looked "fun" than "convenient," but regardless, the hand-cranked washing machine was a hit in Kaina Village.
"Onii-chan, thanks for washing them!"
Hanna's smile was what made Jin the happiest of all.
Through Reiko, Jin then arranged for the washing machines to be mass-produced on Hourai Island and brought over to the village.
＊ ＊ ＊
Naturally, Jin was staying, and it was decided that Elsa would stay another night as well.
Mine, who had spoken with Elsa over the manacam, had apparently told her, 『Elsa, take this opportunity to see and learn as much as you can.』
"Jin-nii, you had a wonderful look on your face today."
Elsa said this abruptly after dinner.
"Eh?" Jin didn't quite understand.
"For the last few days, Jin-nii, you looked like you were in pain sometimes. But today, you looked like you were having fun all day."
"I... I see..."
Jin fell into thought. Inwardly, he knew she was right.
(I guess I really was stressed by things like the Unifilar.)
He smiled wryly, realizing once again that a life of conflict really didn't suit him.
"Hey, hey, can Big Sister Elsa use magic too?"
Hanna, who had been helping Martha with the dishes, asked Elsa as soon as she finished.
"N. But I'm not as good as Jin-nii."
However, Hanna looked at her with sparkling eyes. "Show me something!"
Being asked so earnestly, Elsa thought for a moment. Noticing that the kitchen had grown dim, she chanted, "Light Ball."
A soft light filled the room. The kitchen became instantly bright, startling Martha.
"Whoa! That gave me a start... Ah, it's Elsa-chan. Is this magic too? What a handy thing."
Seeing the reaction, Elsa muttered softly, "Using magic to make life better... it's rewarding."
Hearing those words, Jin smiled. "You've noticed something important. I'm sure you'll become a fine magi craftman, Elsa."
"Really? Jin-nii, thank you."
Elsa smiled truly happily at his praise. It was a smile that Jin was seeing for the very first time.