After returning from the hot spring to Nidou Castle, Saki and Elsa found that Jin was already awake.
"Jin-nii, I want to go back to the observatory," Elsa requested, so they headed up to the sixth floor.
Once they arrived...
"..."
"Haa... whew..."
"...You’re both slow."
Elsa clearly had the most stamina of the three.
"Oh, this is a magnificent view."
"Yes, a beautiful sight."
To the east, the mountain ranges were draped in the fresh greenery of early summer. To the south, the Erme River flowed directly below them, with the Togo Pass visible in the distance. To the west stretched a vast old-growth forest, while to the north lay Kaina Village, framed by high, glacier-capped mountains far beyond.
"It’s so quiet. What a lovely environment," Saki said, adjusting her glasses.
"...Saki-nee, could you let me see those 'glasses' for a moment?"
"Hmm? Oh, sure... Here."
"Thank you."
After taking the glasses, Elsa examined their construction. "I see. This is the first time I've seen the real thing. A tool that uses concave lenses to correct nearsightedness."
However...
"But..."
"Eh?"
"They don't really suit you, Saki-nee."
"...Guh."
The one most devastated by those words was Jin. He was painfully aware that he possessed zero design sense.
"Jin-nii, you should change the design a bit more."
When Elsa said that, Jin retorted, "Then why don't you try it, Elsa?" It was the perfect opportunity for her to practice.
"Okay, I'll try."
In any case, they needed to finish breakfast first.
The morning meal consisted of barley porridge, a rolled omelet, and salted, grilled river fish. For dessert, they had citran. Belle was in charge of the cooking.
"Hmm, a sweet plain omelet, is it?"
While Saki offered that assessment, Jin was savoring the taste with a look of nostalgia. Elsa noticed.
"Jin-nii, is this a flavor from your country?"
"Eh? Ah, yes. It's a very common egg dish back home."
It was a shame he didn't have any soy sauce to use as a secret ingredient.
"Hmph, citran. This is delicious."
The citran had been brought in from Hourai Island, and its quality was guaranteed.
Aside from the fruit, the meal clearly demonstrated how much Belle's culinary skills had improved. Jin made sure to call Belle over and praise her for her progress. Elsa and Saki joined in, telling her how delicious it was.
"Thank you very much. All that practice was worth it."
Beaming with joy at the praise from all three, Belle bowed and withdrew.
Later, in Jin's workshop at Martha’s house in Kaina Village...
"Now then, let's try making those glasses."
Elsa began by carefully examining the materials. A few rare items brought from Hourai Island were stored here as well. From among them, Elsa selected light silver.
"Hmm, so you’ve got your eye on that?"
Jin was impressed. Light silver was the equivalent of titanium on modern Earth—a metal unlikely to cause allergies. Moreover, it was light, making it the perfect choice for spectacle frames.
Next, Elsa chose crystal for the lens material, just as Jin had done.
"Separation. Forming."
She secured the necessary amount of light silver and began processing it. The basic structure followed the glasses Jin had previously made.
"...Hmm."
Jin was struck by the design. It was a wide, rounded oval—very close to what was known as an "oval" frame back on Earth.
The prototype Jin had made used 925 silver, but since this was light silver, it was stronger, allowing her to give it a much more slender, elegant finish. Even now, it was clear that Elsa's design sense far outstripped Jin's. Since it was a different discipline from pure engineering, Jin accepted the defeat.
"Separation. Forming."
Next came the lenses. She transformed the crystal into concave lenses, which went well enough, but...
"...?..."
Unsure how to determine the correct lens power, Elsa looked at Jin in silence. Seeing through her intent, Jin offered some advice.
"First, make them roughly correct, then have her try them on so you can make fine adjustments."
"...Understood. Forming."
As Elsa began reprocessing them, Jin interjected. "Wait, Elsa. Try making them with a 'meniscus' shape."
"A 'meniscus'?" Saki asked, her voice filled with curiosity.
"Ah, meniscus means a crescent moon shape."
"A crescent moon?"
Since the moon in this world did not wax or wane, Saki was even more confused.
"Ah... Reiko, please explain it to her."
"Yes, Father."
Assigning the explanation to Reiko, who had looked a bit lonely without a task, Jin prioritized Elsa’s instruction. He wasn't neglecting Saki; after all, these were her glasses.
"Look, this kind of shape is a meniscus. Forming."
"...I see."
It seemed that during the Trans Info session the other day, Elsa’s understanding had been limited to the fact that spectacle lenses were curved. However, she grasped Jin's meaning quickly and immediately set about producing the lenses in that style.
As Jin watched her, a sudden thought occurred to him.
"Right. Protective glasses."
These were goggles meant to protect the eyes from flying metal chips and debris when using machine tools like lathes or milling machines. They would be essential for Saki, who worked with alchemy, and useful for Jin and Elsa as well.
Leaving the fitting of Saki’s glasses to Elsa, Jin decided to manufacture some protective glasses.
The material was his usual muscovite. Using Purification, he stripped away the impurities, raising the transparency to the absolute limit.
"Alright, this should do."
Since they didn't require a prescription, they were simple to make. Finally, because muscovite was relatively soft, he layered Hardening and Toughening on them. It was no laughing matter for shards to fly into one’s eyes because of broken goggles.
Jin produced about ten identical pairs in short order.
Having just finished listening to Reiko's explanation, Saki happened to glance over at Jin, and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head.
"...Haa. I thought I understood that you were outside the norm, Jin, but it seems I was still being too naive." Saki let out a long sigh.
"...Finished."
Almost simultaneously, Elsa completed her work.
"Saki-nee, try them on."
"Yes, yes. Glasses that Elsa made just for me. I’m so happy." Saki slipped the glasses on.
"How are they?"
"...Hmm. I hate to say it, but I think the ones I had before were easier to see through."
Elsa’s shoulders slumped. Jin encouraged her. "Elsa, glasses actually make things harder to see if they don't fit the eyes perfectly. That's why fine-tuning is necessary."
"How do I do that?"
Since this wasn't part of her knowledge yet, Jin decided to demonstrate. He called Reiko over to assist.
"Saki, please sit there. Reiko, stand in front of her."
"Yes, Father."
Reiko stood directly in front of the seated Saki.
"Now, Reiko, check the misalignment between the center of the lenses and the center of Saki's pupils."
"Understood."
Ever since he had made the first pair, Jin had been pondering how to adjust glasses to perfectly match one's vision. He could have done it himself, but he felt bashful about staring intently at the face of a young woman from such a close distance, so he left it to Reiko.
This time, the process was more professional. Numerous functions were built into Reiko's eyes, one of which was precision measurement. Her analytical capabilities were not inferior even to Jin's as a Magi Craft Meister.
"...The left lens is five millimeters too low. The right lens appears to be correct."
Aligning the lens center with the pupil was the most fundamental step.
"Elsa, try adjusting them while Saki is wearing them."
"Mhm."
Under Jin's guidance, Elsa performed the lens adjustments, tweaked the frame angles, and fitted the nose pads.
"How about now?"
"Yes, this is perfect. I can see everything clearly now."
Since the prescription for the left and right eyes remained the same as before, there was no sense of discomfort.
"Thank you, Elsa."
"Mhm."
"Then, I suppose you won't be needing the old glasses anymore?" Jin asked.
Saki denied it in a great hurry. "Not at all! These are something you made for me, Jin. I will treasure them forever."
"I-I see."
To have one's creations cherished so deeply was the greatest joy for a craftsman. Though he didn't say it aloud, Jin felt a genuine swell of affection for Saki for her kind words.