Leaving Reinhard’s booth behind, Jin and Elsa set off to explore the rest of the venue.
Reinhard had looked like he wanted to join them, but a group of visitors had arrived at that exact moment, leaving him busy attending to them.
The next place Jin and Elsa headed was Stearena’s booth.
“Oh, Jin-kun, you came! Elsa-san, welcome.”
The star of Stearena’s booth was, without a doubt, the crystal golem—or rather, the blue topaz golem, Selene.
With her smooth, feminine silhouette and transparent blue body, she looked positively mystical.
The booth also featured statues, vases, and accessories made of crystal, making it clear that Stearena’s specialty lay in the processing of gemstones and precious stones.
“This pendant is so beautiful,” Elsa remarked.
It was a pendant head made of a pale light-blue stone, perhaps aquamarine. It was cut into what was known as a pear shape—resembling a pear or a teardrop.
“Oh, that? I made that pendant from the leftovers after I finished Selene.”
Though it looked like aquamarine, it was apparently blue topaz. Regardless, the color was stunning, and Elsa stood there captivated by it.
“Ah, I see how it is.”
Stearena looked back and forth between Elsa and Jin, a knowing smile playing on her lips.
“Jin-kun, as a thank-you for all your help in the past, you can have this.”
Stearena held the pendant head out to Jin.
“Eh?”
“Just take it, go on.”
She all but forced it into Jin’s hand and gave him a wink.
“If you don't want it, Jin-kun, you're free to give it to someone else.”
With that, she ushered Jin and Elsa out of the booth. Just then, two women arrived and began peppered Stearena with questions, so Jin and Elsa were left standing out in the aisle.
“...”
Jin stared at the pendant head in his palm for a moment. Finally, he seemed to grasp Stearena’s intention.
“This stone is almost the exact same color as your eyes, Elsa. If you’d like it, I’ll give this pendant head to you.”
He held it out to her.
“Yes! Thank you, Jin-nii.”
Elsa accepted it with a radiant smile.
It seemed he had made the right choice; Stearena, watching them from the corner of her eye, allowed a soft smile to cross her face.
“Oh, hello, Jin. And Elsa.”
“Hey, Saki.”
As they walked along, wondering where to head next, the two ran right into Saki.
“Would you like to walk around with us?” Jin invited.
“Yeah, I’d love to. I’d appreciate having someone who can explain all this to me.”
And so, the three of them—plus one golem—decided to tour the venue as a group.
“What about Ar?”
“Oh, she’s watching my booth for me.”
It seemed Saki had also left her automaton behind to come out and explore the exhibition, just like Jin and the others.
“I wonder what’s going on over there?” Saki pointed toward a booth where a large crowd of young men had gathered.
“Shall we go see?”
They pushed through the bustling crowd to get closer. There, they found dolls of all sizes—though mostly on the smaller side—crammed into every available space.
“This is...”
They were dolls that the term “figure” would fit perfectly.
The small ones were about ten centimeters tall, while the largest were around fifty. They were crafted from a variety of materials: gold, silver, copper, marble, and crystal.
Most of them were statues of young girls, and nearly all were unclad. However, they were posed in ways that cleverly concealed the most sensitive parts.
“They’re cute, but this is a bit... how should I put it?” Saki’s face was slightly flushed.
“...Jin-nii’s kindred spirit?” Elsa said, her voice unusually mischievous.
“Hey!”
When Jin complained, Elsa let out a little chuckle.
“Just kidding. I’m sorry.”
Jin and Saki were both surprised to hear Elsa crack a joke like that.
But Jin figured it was because she had finally returned to her home country. He felt a quiet sense of relief, thinking he had been right to bring her along.
“Oh! Is that not Jin-dono I see there?”
A voice called out to Jin while he was lost in thought. The speaker was at the back of the booth—the creator of the dolls.
“I am a Magi Craftman of the Celuroa Kingdom, Clark Lambda.”
Lambda—meaning he was the eleventh technician. He appeared to be in his late twenties.
He had short-cropped brown hair and brown eyes. His face was so plain that its lack of defining characteristics was its only notable feature, and he was of average height and build. At a glance, he left a very thin impression.
His craftsmanship was remarkable, though Jin privately and somewhat rudely wondered if his specialization in such niche subjects was why his rank stopped at eleventh.
Still, Jin kept his thoughts to himself and exchanged greetings.
“I am Jin Nidou.”
“My, it’s an honor to speak with you directly! Those Mini-Smiths, was it? I’m so envious that you can create golems that small.”
Clark paused for a moment, then clenched both of his fists.
“...If only these dolls would move!” he cried out, as if from his very soul.
“Jin-nii, that side over there looks interesting too.”
“You’re right, Jin. I think I’ll head over that way,” Saki added.
Elsa and Saki were already making a tactical retreat. Realizing what they were doing, Jin quickly moved to follow them.
“Clark-san, I still have a lot of the venue to see, so I’ll be going now. Perhaps we’ll meet again.”
“Ah, Jin-dono!”
Pretending not to hear the man’s attempt to stop him, Jin hurried away.
“Hehe, there really are all sorts of people in this world, aren’t there?” Saki laughed as Jin caught up to them.
They toured several more booths after that, but since time was growing short, they decided to head over to the alchemists’ section.
It was located within the same grand hall. Naturally, the first place they stopped was Saki’s booth. Ar was there, diligently watching over the exhibit.
“So, these are your exhibits?”
Lined up in the booth were the rare minerals Saki had collected over the years.
“Yeah. My main entry is my thesis, after all.”
She explained that she had already submitted the paper and would receive her evaluation at the end of the expo.
“I collected these because I thought it was fascinating how certain stones always break into the same shapes,” Saki said, pointing to her collection.
There was octahedral fluorite, slightly distorted rectangular blocks of calcite, dice-shaped galena, and micaceous biotite that peeled away in thin sheets.
“And then there are these. Even though they formed naturally, they have such magnificent shapes...”
She showed them hexagonal prisms of quartz, cubic pyrite, and rounded garnet crystals. All of them were classic examples of crystals often found in science classrooms.
“Lastly, these are the stones with the beautiful colors.”
Purple amethyst, blue sapphire, green emerald, yellow citrine, red garnet, and two-toned watermelon tourmaline.
Looking at the vast collection of raw gemstones and precious stones, Jin privately thought it was no wonder she couldn't afford to pay her servants.
“Aren't you going to exhibit the rubber, lacquer, or maple syrup?” Jin asked as the thought occurred to him.
Saki replied with a smile.
“Ah, those are things you taught me, Jin. I couldn't help it with the thesis, but for the exhibition itself, I wanted to show things that belonged only to me.”
It seemed Saki had her own sense of pride as a researcher.