From that point forward, Jin and Elsa split their time, spending half of each day in Kaina Village and the other half on Hourai Island. One such day...
"Honi-hyan, is thith what you call a plume?"
Jin had arrived in Kaina Village with a basket overflowing with fruit.
"That's right. They're grown further south in the Klein Kingdom, but I think they'll do just fine if we cultivate them here in the village too."
"Ith it yummy?"
The fruits were round, roughly three centimeters in diameter, and a pale green color with a hint of yellow.
"Well, they might be a bit too sour to eat raw. You usually preserve them in salt or sugar."
Plumes were essentially plums. The Quinta had located them and purchased a massive quantity to bring back to Hourai Island. Naturally, the goal was to produce umeboshi.
Jin had brought a small batch to Kaina Village to see if the villagers would take to the taste. If they did, he planned to introduce the trees to the local orchards.
Normally, one would wash the fruit to remove dirt and then rinse them with shochu to kill any bacteria. Jin simply substituted the latter step with Craft Magic, casting Sterilization.
Next, he packed them into jars, sprinkling them with salt—roughly eighteen percent of the plums' total weight—and topped them with a heavy stone. The standard practice was for the weight to be double that of the fruit.
After a few days, once the plum vinegar had risen to the top, he would reduce the weight.
When the height of summer arrived, the plums would be taken out to dry in the sun for three days and nights before being returned to the vinegar to finish the pickling process.
This was the same umeboshi-making method Jin had practiced countless times back at the orphanage. If the salt content was too low, the batch would mold easily, but at this concentration, they would keep for years.
In another jar, he prepared a different treat. He took the washed and sterilized plums, coated them in an equal weight of sugar, and set them aside. Through osmosis, the plum essence would seep out, gradually dissolving the sugar.
By shaking the jars occasionally to keep the plums coated, the sugar eventually turned into a thick syrup. Diluted with cold water, it made for an exceptionally refreshing drink during the sweltering summer months.
Jin was producing both types on Hourai Island as well as in Kaina Village.
In practice, he had delegated the work to Sara. At the same time, he took the opportunity to teach Mine the preservation techniques.
"Jin-sama, what a fascinating method. I have worked with sugar preserves before, but salt is a new concept for me."
It seemed umeboshi was a novelty to Mine as well.
In the southern regions of the Klein Kingdom, these plume fruits were typically turned into jam, as the tartness made for a wonderful preserve.
Furthermore, since Hourai Island had begun distilling wine into a high-proof spirit similar to shochu, they were also steeping plumes to create plume wine—in other words, plum liqueur.
He hadn't shared that particular craft with Kaina Village yet, as high-proof spirits were not common in this world.
But that was a matter for another time.
Since most of these projects took quite a while to bear fruit, Jin pulled out a different treat he’d had Reiko bring along.
"Query fruits"—otherwise known as cherries.
The query trees growing wild around Kaina Village were mountain cherries that produced only tiny, meager fruit. However, the ones Jin and Reiko had brought were large, plump cherries discovered by the Quinta in the Leonard Kingdom.
"Hanna, give one of these a try."
"Okay!"
Following Jin's lead, Hanna popped a cherry into her mouth. Her eyes went wide.
"It'th delithiouth!" she squealed with delight.
"We have plenty, so make sure to share some with Martha. They're even better if you chill them in the cold storage room first."
"Yeah!"
Seeing Hanna’s beaming smile, Jin found himself grinning as well.
During tea time that afternoon, the group of five—Jin, Hanna, Martha, Mine, and Elsa—sat together and savored the cherries.
"These are wonderful, Jin. You say these are queries too? They certainly look the part, but I've never seen them this big," Martha said, clearly impressed.
"Yes, they're the same species, just a different variety. I'd like to try growing these in the village."
"That sounds like a grand idea. I'll have a word with the Village Chief about it later."
"I’d appreciate that."
Jin figured that Giebeck was far better suited to handle the village's agricultural affairs than he was, so he was grateful to have Martha act as the intermediary.
He already had dozens of seedlings and several mature trees ready to go; he just needed to have them delivered to the village later.
Even while occupied with preparations for the Technology Expo, Jin made sure he didn't neglect the welfare of Kaina Village.
"No... this is too difficult."
Meanwhile, Elsa had hit a roadblock with her magic tool crafting back on Hourai Island.
"I wonder... what Jin-nii would do..."
She caught herself and suppressed the urge to ask.
"No. I can't keep running to Jin-nii every time I have a problem."
Steeling her resolve, Elsa returned to her meditations.
"Hmm..."
Her soft sighs echoed through the quiet workshop.
"Something wrong?"
"Hyaah!"
The sudden sound of Jin's voice coming from right behind her caused Elsa to let out an undignified squeak.
"...Ah, Jin-nii..."
Clutching her racing heart, Elsa turned around to find Jin standing there with a concerned look.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. You just looked like you were wrestling with something."
"U-Um..."
Elsa hesitated, torn between her desire for independence and the hurdle before her. Eventually, she decided that being stubborn wouldn't get the work done.
"The thing is... I was trying to design a special jewelry box."
"A special jewelry box?" Jin repeated. It wasn't exactly the kind of item he had much experience with.
"Yes. Not exactly a security vault, but... I wanted something that would play a sound if it was opened without permission..."
Upon hearing that, Jin's expression shifted as he recalled something from his own world.
"...A music box, perhaps?" he murmured.
"A music box... Of course! That'it. Thank you, Jin-nii."
The concept of a music box had been included in the knowledge Jin had shared with her, but she had been so fixated on the "anti-theft" aspect that she'd overlooked the obvious solution.
"I'll handle the rest myself. If I truly get stuck, I'll come find you."
Jin gave her a warm, encouraging smile.
"Fair enough. Good luck. Just don't push yourself too hard....Edgar, keep a close eye on her."
"Understood, Jin-sama."
Edgar, who had been silently standing by, bowed deeply in acknowledgment of Jin's instruction.
Only one week remained until the Technology Expo.
By this point, Jin had finalized the logistical plan for Elsa and Mine’s return to the empire, incorporating advice from Laojun and Anne. He had already shared the details with Elsa, Reinhard, and the others, and everyone was in agreement.
"...Elsa is certainly working hard. I suppose I should come up with one more thing myself."
Jin whispered to himself as he began to turn over new ideas.
"It has to be a mini-golem."
He remembered Saki's words from the other day—her description of something "that could fit in the palm of one's hand."
"Essentially, a living doll..."
Because such things were seen as toys with no practical application, it was a field that had seen almost no research in this world.
"But they'd be perfect for reconnaissance or gathering intel."
When it came to staying hidden, being small was an immense advantage. They could also be used for extremely delicate precision work.
"First, I need to see just how much I can miniaturize a magi-device..."
Jin began the painstaking process of selecting the right magi-crystals.
Midway through, a thought struck him.
"Wait, I don't actually have to craft them all myself."
If the limit of Jin's precision was a golem about forty centimeters tall, Reiko could manage down to twenty centimeters.
"Which means, if I create a smaller class of smith golems..."
Working with Reiko as his assistant, Jin first constructed ten smiths, each forty centimeters tall.
"Alright, I'll call you 'Little Smiths.' Now, your first task is to show me you can create ten golems that are only ten centimeters tall."
"Yes, Go-shujin-sama!"
Given their small size, their voices were naturally high-pitched. Even though Jin had tuned their vocal oscillators to the lowest possible frequency, they still sounded more shrill than a young child.
It took the Little Smiths about three hours to finish the ten-centimeter models.
"Excellent. For these... let's go with 'Mini Smiths.'"
"We are at your service, Go-shujin-sama!"
Their voices were even more piercing, but Jin sighed and accepted that there was simply no way around the physics of it.