Saki nodded with a laugh when Jin asked about her eyesight.
"Kufufu, you caught me. Was it the squinting? Ever since I was a child, I’ve been able to see things up close perfectly fine, but anything at a distance is just a blur."
It was just as Jin had suspected.
"Reinhard, does the Shouro Empire not have glasses?"
"Glasses? What are those?"
Based on that response, it seemed corrective lenses didn't exist here.
Jin found it quite surprising. On Earth, lenses had allegedly been in use since before the Common Era. He recalled reading somewhere that Aristotle or Archimedes—he couldn't remember which—had supposedly used a massive lens to incinerate invading enemies. Even in the Middle Ages, monocles and spectacles were a known technology.
However, Jin reminded himself that a world shaped by magic wouldn't necessarily follow the same technological trajectory as Earth. After all, they had been astonished by his microscope.
"Well, seeing is believing. Just watch. Saki, I’m going to use some of your materials."
Without waiting for an answer, Jin walked over to her supply shelf and gathered transparent quartz, silver, and copper.
"『Separation』. 『Forming』. 『Separation』. 『Forming』. 『Alloying』. 『Forming』. 『Finish』."
Jin unleashed a rapid-fire sequence of Craft Magic. The materials in his palms pulsed with a faint light, shifting and reshaping. The quartz split into two precisely curved lenses. The silver and copper merged into sterling silver, which then thinned out to form the frames.
He couldn't fabricate precision screws for the hinges on the fly, so he opted for a pin-fastening system. He also applied a bit of the natural rubber he’d just made to the nose pads to act as a grip.
"These are glasses."
He held up a pair of round, silver-framed spectacles. They had an antique aesthetic, though that was unintentional; the design simply reflected the limits of Jin’s immediate creative intuition.
"And what do I do with them?" Saki asked, staring at the device in his hand. "Going by the name, do I put them over my eyes?"
"Exactly. Here, let’s try them on."
Jin carefully placed the glasses on Saki's face, using a touch of Forming magic to adjust the temples for a perfect fit behind her ears.
"How’s that? I kept the prescription fairly weak."
Since he couldn't perform a proper eye exam, he gave both lenses the same mild strength. He knew that someone unaccustomed to glasses could suffer from headaches or vertigo if the correction was too aggressive from the start.
"First, close one eye... right, just like that. Can you read the titles on the book spines over on that shelf?"
"Wait... yes! I can actually read them!"
He had her test the other eye with the same result. The equalized strength seemed to be a good fit for her.
"Great. Now, take a look outside."
"Alright... Oh! This is incredible! I can see so clearly! So this is what glasses do...!"
Saki rushed to the window and stared out at the landscape.
"Wow! Look at that! I can see the tiny bird on that branch! I can see the individual leaves on the trees in the distance! I had no idea the world was this beautiful!"
She spent a few moments lost in the wonder of her restored vision. Once the initial shock subsided, she hurried back to Jin and grabbed his hand.
"Jin, I can't thank you enough! How can I repay you? Just name it! I’ll do anything within my power!"
Jin smiled, accepting her gratitude. "I'm glad you're happy with them. To be honest, my interest in alchemy stems from a specific project. I’d like your help with it."
"Kufufu, the honor is mine. I’d love nothing more than to research alongside a magi engineer of your caliber. So, what’s the—"
Saki’s sentence was cut short by a loud, echoing growl from her stomach.
"...Well, that was embarrassing. Forgive me, Reinhard, but would you mind treating me to lunch? Truth be told, I haven't eaten since yesterday evening."
"What?" Reinhard blinked.
"I’m ashamed to admit it, but my servants left two days ago. I was scraping by on leftovers, but I finally ran out of those yesterday afternoon."
It was a shocking revelation. Both Jin and Reinhard looked at her, completely exasperated.
In the midst of the silence, Reiko spoke up. "Father, I believe it is ready."
The maple syrup had finally boiled down.
"Oh, right. Let's see."
Jin took the ladle from Reiko, dipped a finger into the liquid, and took a taste. "Yeah, that’s sweet."
"Me too! Jin, let me try!"
Saki hurried over, took a drop of syrup from the ladle, and licked her finger. "Mmm! This is amazing! It’s definitely sweet enough to sell. Reinhard, this is going to be a regional treasure!"
Reinhard took a taste as well, his expression turning into one of deep satisfaction. "You’re right. This will absolutely be a specialty product. I’ll talk to my father immediately."
Saki beamed. "Please do. I’d be delighted if this helps the region prosper."
"Leave it to me. We'll need to refine the harvesting method, but for the production, we just remove the impurities and boil it down, right?"
"Exactly. Here, take the whole pot as a sample... actually, better make it half."
Being famished, she clearly wanted to keep some for herself. Saki scratched her head, looking a bit sheepish. Reinhard let out a laugh.
"Haha, understood. You still have such a massive sweet tooth, Saki."
Jin, however, had a more pressing concern. "Saki, do you really have no food left at all?"
He wondered if there wasn't even a scrap of barley, flour, or a stray egg in the pantry.
"Hmm? I think there’s probably something left... but I’m afraid I’m quite hopeless at cooking."
That was her second confession of the day.
"Alchemy and cooking are entirely different skill sets!" she added defensively before anyone could even comment.
Reinhard, who evidently already knew this, could only manage a wry smile.
"...It's true, Jin. Saki’s cooking isn't just bad; it’s practically lethal. Homicidal, even."
"R-Reinhard, 'homicidal' is a bit much, isn't it? 'Disastrous' would suffice..."
Saki’s voice trailed off under Reinhard’s pointed glare.
"Who was it that used salt and sugar interchangeably without checking? Who dumped an entire jar of spices into a single pot? And who, pray tell, served the result without tasting it even once?"
"Ugh... bringing up things from years ago..."
"It wasn't that long ago! You made that as a 'parting gift' before I left on a trip! It was traumatic, Saki. It nearly delayed my entire journey."
Reinhard's voice was unusually sharp. Jin felt a wave of genuine sympathy for him; he must have been through a lot.
Jin knew the type. Back at the orphanage, he’d seen it many times. Cooking was a craft that required mastering the basics before experimenting, yet so many kids tried to get creative without even reading the recipe—and always without measuring.
The results were usually dense sponge cakes or salted chocolates. The scariest incident involved a peppermint tea laced with a massive dose of mint oil. A single drop on a toothpick would have been enough for a whole pot, but they had dumped in an entire teaspoon. Jin hadn't been able to eat for two days, and he’d smelled faintly of peppermint for a week.
Some people were simply culinary-impaired. And since they usually lacked any ill intent, they were the hardest to deal with.
In any case, Saki was starving, she couldn't cook, and she was currently living alone.
"...Where's the kitchen?" Jin asked.
Going all the way back to the Randol estate would take too long, so he wanted to see if he could whip something up quickly.
To Saki, Jin’s question must have sounded like the voice of a savior.
"The—the kitchen! It’s right this way!"
She practically hauled Jin out of the lab. Reinhard followed behind, chuckling to himself. It seemed he wasn't truly angry after all.
"Let’s see... flour, eggs, and... is this milk?"
There were no vegetables or barley to be found. All he could find were some cooking oil and a substance resembling butter.
"Well, I’ll see what I can do with this."
Jin sent Reiko to fetch the maple syrup and the magic stove. While she was gone, he whisked the flour, eggs, and milk into a smooth batter.
"Father, I have returned."
Reiko walked in, effortlessly carrying the heavy pot of syrup in one hand. Saki’s eyes went wide.
"I didn't notice before because I couldn't see, but is this Reiko-chan? She’s a magnificent Automata!"
It seemed that with her poor vision, Saki had assumed Reiko was just a high-end girl-type Golem.
Jin told her they could discuss Reiko later and set to work. He heated a large pan, added a dash of oil, and poured in the batter. The kitchen filled with a pleasant sizzle and a savory, toasted aroma.
What Jin was making was essentially a makeshift pancake. Since he lacked baking powder or baking soda, they didn't rise, making them closer to thick crepes.
He slid the finished cakes onto plates and sliced them. One for himself, one for Reinhard, and two for Saki. He spread the butter-like fat over them and finished each with a generous drizzle of the fresh maple syrup.
"Alright, dig in."
Saki’s reaction to the crepe-like pancakes was nothing short of explosive.
"Wh-what is this?! It’s delicious! It’s too good!"
She stopped short of asking Jin to cook for her every day, but she inhaled her portion in seconds. When she began eyeing Jin’s and Reinhard’s plates with a look of pure longing, Jin sighed and fried up another small batch just for her.