「Ah, so this is the sea...」
They had taken their time, traveling slowly in the barrier cushion car to enjoy the scenery until they reached Tatsumi Bay.
Since Jin had added a mild deodorant effect to her sterilization barrier to ensure the scent of the tide wasn't too pungent, Milowina was currently enjoying Hourai Island without any discomfort.
She sat in a reclining chair and gazed out at the water.
「This is the sea I've been looking down on from Uni all this time. It's so blue and beautiful. The blue of the sky and the blue of the sea... they are both blue, yet the shades are so different.」
「Are you feeling too warm, Lady Milowina?」 her attendant golem, Kai, asked with concern.
「No, I'm quite alright. The breeze feels lovely.」
With a light-shielding barrier and a large sunshade parasol overhead, the natural sea breeze kept her comfortable as long as she didn't exert herself.
「I would love to try going into the water, but I suppose that's out of the question.」
「Considering your physical condition, I cannot permit it,」 Kai replied firmly. Milowina gave a wry smile.
She had been born and raised in a nearly sterile environment. Without the sterilization barrier developed by Jin and Elsa, inviting her to Ars would have been an impossible dream.
「I suppose it can't be helped. I shall be content just being able to see this view.」
The sea and sky of Hourai Island were a brilliant blue, stretching out forever.
「This is delicious.」
「Please, help yourself to whatever you like.」
A lunch prepared with Perido Leader's full effort was spread before them.
There was congee with umeboshi and nori tsukudani.
Sandwiches filled with egg, ham, and vegetables.
Kamaage udon—thin, Inaniwa-style noodles served with finely chopped mountain leek as a condiment.
「Oh my, I am so very happy. Real ingredients and cooking from the surface.」
Knowing she was a light eater, the portions were kept small.
Milowina's favorite was the congee, followed by the udon. She seemed to have a preference for Japanese-style flavors.
Jin and Elsa finished off the portions Milowina couldn't eat; Jin hated to see food go to waste.
For dessert, they had ripe persica.
「Oh, it's so sweet and delicious!」
They were perfectly ripe, having been picked only moments ago.
「Thank you, Jin-kun. I'm so glad I came.」
Milowina beamed with a soft, genuinely happy smile.
Thinking she might tire of just watching the waves, Jin called for the Azusa, a hundred-meter cruiser.
「My, a ship! Will I be allowed to board it?」
「Yes, of course.」
Milowina wasn't particularly shocked by the Azusa's scale; she had likely developed a tolerance for advanced technology.
Since the ship couldn't dock directly on the beach, they used the barrier cushion car's force generators to fly over to the deck.
「Oh my, this is quite exciting!」
Milowina was as giddy as a young girl.
The massive ship swayed gently, but Jin had used gravity magic on the makeshift rest area on the deck to negate the movement. This was partly for himself, as he was prone to seasickness.
「Azusa, depart.」
Marine 11, the captain, gave the order, and the ship began to move.
「How lovely! The sea is truly wonderful.」
The Azusa's top speed was fifty kilometers per hour using its magi water jet propulsion, though it could reach nearly two hundred using force generators. For this trip, they stuck to the water jet.
「The sea breeze... is that what this is? It feels so good. To think I'd be able to return to Ars in my lifetime... I'm a lucky woman.」
Gazing at the ocean with sparkling eyes, she looked twenty years younger.
After enjoying the two-hour cruise, Jin and Milowina returned to the laboratory via the warp gate.
In the garden, preparations for tea were already complete.
「Oh, how nice.」
Milowina smiled at the golden Soleil and the silver Luna.
「We have prepared a variety of teas for you to try,」 Soleil said.
Green tea, hojicha, brown rice tea, black tea, buckwheat tea, and barley tea.
There was also Peruhya tea and Kuhe.
For snacks, they had popcorn, topopo chips, and candied sweet potatoes.
There were hotcakes, mitsumame, pudding, and senbei.
「Oh my, how wonderful. I don't know what to pick first.」
Despite her words, Milowina sampled a bit of everything.
「I didn't realize there were so many kinds of food and drink...」
Ingredients on Uni were limited, so her menu had been naturally restricted for decades.
「I think the hojicha is my favorite. And this mitsumame is wonderful.」
Seeing her enjoy the freshly made gyuuhi made Jin happy. He now had a much better grasp of her tastes.
All that was left was dinner, but first, she needed a bath.
「Elsa, Reiko, I'll leave her to you.」
「Mm.」
「Yes, Father. Leave it to us.」
Along with Kai, Reiko and Elsa accompanied her as attendants.
「My, so this is a hot spring?」
「Yes, it is. Please be careful with your footing.」
With Kai and Reiko supporting her on either side, Milowina entered the bathroom.
「So one soaks in the warm water?」
On Uni, water was too precious for anything but showers.
After rinsing herself with warm water, Milowina slowly lowered herself into the tub.
「Ah... how relaxing.」
Jin usually liked his water at forty-three to forty-five degrees Celsius, but today it had been set to a milder thirty-nine degrees.
Milowina stretched her limbs out in the water. Elsa joined her.
「It's so mysterious that water like this just flows from the earth.」
Even knowing the science, seeing it for herself was a marvel.
「Yes, I thought the same thing at first,」 Elsa agreed.
「Oh, hehe.」
Milowina's skin was surprisingly supple for a sixty-one-year-old.
「Let me wash your back for you.」
「Oh, thank you.」
Once she was warmed through, Elsa scrubbed Milowina's back in the washing area.
They used soap made from Kaina Village baking soda. Topaz had labored to create it using Jin's memories and samples from Mitsuho.
There were also rice bran bags available—rice bran wrapped in fine cloth. Soaking them in a basin and washing one's face with the water made the skin glow. It also served as a rinse for hair dried out by the sea breeze.
「Ah, this feels so good...」 Milowina murmured, looking perfectly content.
After a long soak of about an hour, she was treated to a glass of cold citran juice.
Drinking too much would be bad for her digestion, so she was limited to one glass. It was lightly carbonated and went down easily.
「Oh, this is delicious.」
She finished the glass without a single cough.
「I'm so glad I came.」
The words came from the bottom of her heart.