The day after his warm reception, Reinhard’s brothers returned to their respective posts and workplaces.
Jin didn’t pry into their individual affairs. He had something else on his mind entirely.
Specifically, he wanted to meet the alchemist Toa Eschenbach.
When he brought it up with Reinhard over breakfast, his friend nodded knowingly.
"The Eschenbachs are our neighbors, so don't worry," Reinhard said. He started to order a carriage from the household, but then reconsidered. "Actually, let's go in your carriage, Jin."
Steward took the reins according to Reinhard’s directions. As they rode, Jin looked at his friend with an apologetic expression.
"…Reinhard, you finally made it back home. You should be spending time with your mother or Lady Berche instead of looking after me."
"Haha, thank you for your concern. To be honest, they are on my mind, but Her Majesty personally charged me with the duty of hosting you."
"I’m sorry."
While they were talking, they arrived at the Eschenbach estate. It was barely five minutes by carriage, or perhaps ten minutes on foot—they were neighbors in the truest sense of the word.
The Eschenbach estate consisted of a small mansion set within a large plot of land. The garden was lush with a wide variety of trees and plants—or rather, they had been intentionally planted there.
"I mentioned this a bit in the carriage, but he's quite an eccentric," Reinhard said as they walked toward the front door. Jin felt a surge of excitement, wondering what kind of person Toa Eschenbach would be.
"I hope he's in," Reinhard muttered as he struck the door knocker.
"……"
They waited for about two minutes, but there was no response. He knocked again. And then once more.
On the third attempt, the door finally creaked open.
"…So noisy. And right when I'm busy, too.…Oh, I wondered who it was, but it's only Reinhard. For you, I'll make an exception."
The person who stepped out and spoke in a blunt tone was… presumably a woman.
The "presumably" was because she was wearing a shirt, trousers, and a grime-stained, gray apron that looked like a pair of overalls, making her physique difficult to discern. Furthermore, she wore no makeup, and her hair was a disaster.
Her dark brown hair was cut to about shoulder length, but it was hacked so unevenly that it was clear no professional had ever touched it. It looked as though it hadn't seen a comb or brush in ages—dry, frizzy, and sticking out in every direction.
Her eyes were a beautiful purple-gray, but she seemed to have poor eyesight; she frequently squinted, which gave her a prickly, cranky impression. However, her voice was definitely that of a woman.
She was about the same height as Jin or perhaps slightly shorter. She was on the thin side, with a chest so slight that Reinhard didn't even give it a second glance.
As for her age… she looked to be around the same age as Jin.
To Jin’s surprise, the right half of her face was red and swollen, and her visible right arm was similarly inflamed.
"Sa-Saki! Your face! Your hand! What on earth happened?!"
Reinhard panicked. Deciding that treatment was the priority, Jin stepped past Reinhard and cast a spell.
"Cure."
However, the redness only faded slightly and did not disappear. The standard healing magic wasn't the right fit for the injury. Jin looked back at Reiko.
"Reiko, if you would."
"Yes, Father.…Heilverfahren."
It was a high-level healing spell. Under its influence, the red, swollen skin returned to its original color, and the areas that had been on the verge of ulcerating were completely restored.
"…I'm impressed. That was high-level healing magic just now. And it used our empire’s style of incantation! Reiko-chan, when did you learn that?"
It was the magic Elsa had used during the outbreak of magical consumption fever, and Reiko had acquired it as well. She had even become capable of using the highest tier of healing magic, Genesung.
Before Jin could answer, the woman—apparently named Saki—offered her thanks to Jin.
"Well, well, you've healed me up perfectly. My thanks to you, guest.…Reinhard, won't you introduce us?"
Reinhard regained his composure and cleared his throat to start over.
"Right. This is Jin. He is my friend, an Honorary Magi Craftman of the Kingdom of Egerea, and recently became an Honorary Member of the Magi Engineer Guild. He's even more skilled than I am."
"Oho! Is that so? Nice to meet you, Jin! I'm Saki. Saki Eschenbach. I'm Reinhard's childhood friend. Just call me Saki."
Jin introduced himself, thinking to himself, So "boku" girls actually exist in the flesh.
"I'm Jin Nidou. It's a pleasure."
"You're so stiff! Please, use a more casual way of speaking. I'm not good with formalities—in fact, I hate them."
"All right. Saki, I look forward to getting to know you."
When Jin adjusted his tone, Saki nodded happily.
"Yes, yes, that's better.…So, Reinhard, did you have business with my father today?"
"Yeah, is he at home?"
Saki shook her head.
"Father is the same as ever. He dashed out the day before yesterday. By now, he's probably in the Harihari Desert or the Kruger Mountains…"
"He really hasn't changed at all…" Reinhard looked exasperated.
"So, what was your business with Father?" Saki asked, looking back and forth between Jin and Reinhard.
Reinhard was the one who answered.
"Actually, I came to introduce Jin since he mentioned he was interested in alchemy."
Saki practically pounced on that.
"Is that so! You're interested in alchemy too, Jin? Then this is perfect! Both of you, come inside."
Without waiting for a reply, Saki ducked back into the house. Jin and Reinhard followed her with wry smiles.
"By the way, Reinhard, I see you made it back safely. Good, good," Saki remarked as they walked down the hallway, as if she had only just remembered to be relieved.
"You're the same as ever, Saki. You'll never find a husband acting like this," Reinhard teased. Even though such a comment might have been considered harassment elsewhere, Saki just laughed it off.
"Hehehe, there's no need to worry about that. After all, I don't have the slightest intention of ever getting married."
Having said that, Saki suddenly turned around.
"That reminds me, you got engaged to Lady Berche, didn't you? Congratulations are in order."
"Haha, thanks, Saki."
Reinhard laughed as he replied, but Jin felt that the smile on Saki's face when she turned around was somehow tinged with sadness. However, she immediately turned forward again, so he figured it might have been his imagination and kept quiet.
Saki opened a door at the end of the hallway.
"Well, we're here. This is my laboratory," she told Jin. Reinhard seemed to have been there many times before.
"It's been a while since I was last here," he muttered.
As they stepped inside, a pungent, peculiar smell hit their noses.
Several containers about the size of buckets were lined up on a workbench, filled with various liquids. The smell wafted from those buckets—a unique, sour scent born from various mixed odors.
"……"
Amidst the clash of smells, Jin identified a familiar scent and approached the table.
"Ah, Jin, be careful. The reason I ended up looking like a beet was because I touched the tree sap in the bucket on the far left."
"Eh?"
Jin peeked into that bucket. It was filled with a black liquid. When he gently shook it, he realized it was quite viscous.
"Hmm…"
He had an idea of what that might be, but it wasn't what Jin—or rather, Jin's nose—had detected. It was the bucket two spots over.
Inside was a slightly amber-colored liquid. Jin took another long sniff.
"…Yeah, no mistake. I don't even need to use Analyze on this—this is maple syrup!"
Upon hearing this, Saki hurried over and grabbed Jin by both shoulders.
"Jin, you know what this is?!"
"A-Ah. Where I come from, it's called maple syrup. It's a sweetener made by boiling down the sap of sugar maple trees…"
Saki let go of his shoulders and shouted toward Reinhard.
"Reinhard! You heard him! This 'maple syrup' can be a substitute for sugar, or at least a sweetener on par with it!"
Reinhard, apparently used to her outbursts, replied with a wry smile.
"Yes, I understand. You want me to provide the funding and set up a mass-production system, right?"
Saki seemed satisfied with that.
"Hehehe, you catch on quick. As expected of my childhood friend. Listen, those 'sugar maple' trees grow in abundance along the shores of Lake Tosmo. All we have to do is boil down the sap we collect from them!"
Saki spoke excitedly, but Jin couldn't help but interject.
"Er, if you're going to use it as a sweetener, I think you need to boil it down even more."