It was still only four in the afternoon. Although the sun was high and the sky remained bright, Jin and the others had returned to the ship, exhausted from their day of play. They headed straight for the baths to wash the sticky saltwater from their skin.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."
Soaking in the tub aboard the Edo, Jin couldn't help but groan as the hot water hit his sunburnt skin.
"Man... even with sunscreen, it just washes off if you stay in the water that long."
"...It hurts."
"It stings a little bit..."
"I'm perfectly fine, though."
Among the women, those who had gone swimming were also suffering from the sun. Only Marcia, who spent most of her time outdoors anyway, looked completely unbothered.
"I'm fine, too!"
Hanna, who was also used to playing outside, seemed equally unfazed.
(I should talk to Jin-nii about this...)
Elsa made up her mind as she applied a quiet Healing spell to her stinging nape.
＊ ＊ ＊
"...And that's the situation."
"Yeah, I get it. My sunburn is killing me, too."
Jin glanced over at Reiko.
"Reiko, could you cast Healing on me?"
"Of course, Father. 'Healing' ."
It was a beginner-level Healing spell for both internal and external ailments, capable of treating light scratches, burns, and nausea. As the magic took effect, the redness visibly faded from Jin's skin.
"That's much better. Thanks."
Jin could have cast a beginner-level spell himself, but he felt there was a certain comfort in having Reiko do it for him.
"Not at all. I am happy to be of help," Reiko replied, beaming with a radiant smile.
"So, here's the thing," Jin continued. "Sunburn is essentially just a radiation burn caused by ultraviolet rays..."
"So we need a barrier to block them?" Elsa asked.
"Exactly."
Jin and Elsa began to hash out the details. The other members of the group were either helping with dinner or hadn't emerged from the baths yet.
"A barrier that filters light, huh?"
Since the spaceship already utilized barriers to block dangerous electromagnetic waves, they could simply adapt that technology.
"If we cut out infrared at the same time, it'll make for a great heat-shielding measure as well."
"...That was easy."
"Right?"
All they had to do was encode the necessary magi-circuit into their Fellowship Bracelets.
"Actually, if we want it active all the time, we should probably limit it to just the ultraviolet spectrum."
Jin realized this would keep mana consumption to a minimum.
"We can set it to a full-spectrum barrier that only lets visible light through when we're in space, and a version limited to harmful UV rays while we're on the surface. How does that sound?"
He decided to make the functions toggleable. Since this barrier wouldn't affect the visible light spectrum, it wouldn't obscure their vision. Furthermore, because it didn't interact with solids, liquids, or gases, it wouldn't hinder their movements in the slightest.
"This should do the trick. We can give it a real test run tomorrow."
"Mm."
"We're home!"
"We've returned."
Saki and Goose, who had been out surveying minerals, stepped back inside.
"Welcome back. Why don't you go take a bath?"
"Yeah, let's do that."
Goose nodded, looking at Jin. "We found some quite rare minerals. I'll give you the full report once I'm out of the tub."
"Great. I'm looking forward to it."
"Hehe, I'm absolutely sticky with sweat and sea breeze. I want to wash it all off as soon as possible!"
Saki and Goose hurried off toward the baths.
＊ ＊ ＊
By the time everyone had finished bathing and gathered together, it was six in the evening. The sky was still light, but everyone was hungry from the day's activities, so they started with dinner.
Tonight's menu was primarily Japanese food. There was white rice (or porridge for those who preferred it), miso soup with tofu and aburaage, grilled fish, ohitashi, oshinko, and Meat-Topopo (nikujaga).
"Mmm, this Meat-Topopo is delicious!"
"Saki, you have to eat your other side dishes, too."
"Oh, Jin-san, this ohitashi is wonderful."
"Tonight's rice is a bit on the soft side to make it easier for everyone to eat."
"You should eat that grilled fish before it gets cold, or it'll get tough."
It was a boisterous dinner. Jin's motto was that meals should be fun, after all. While rowdy, boisterous behavior was out of the question, he welcomed warm, lively conversation. Even Elsa, who had been raised with the strict education of a noble's daughter, had moved past her initial hesitation. Now, she could eat while chatting and smiling with the rest of them. Of course, she still possessed perfect formal manners and could switch back to them whenever the situation required.
"...So, what did you find?"
It was a tradition for their group to save technical or complex discussions for the post-meal tea time. Jin directed the question to Saki and Goose.
"I'm glad you asked!" Goose said by way of introduction. "We found many minerals that aren't common on the continent."
Goose asked Land 401, who had acted as their guard and assistant, to bring in the samples. They were promptly delivered and lined up on the table.
"First, there's this."
It was a rounded, hexagonal columnar crystal that was pointed at both ends.
"Mineralogically speaking, it's quartz—a crystal. But the transparency and smoothness are incredibly high, and it's rare to find them pointed at both ends like this."
"Huh. I didn't know crystals like that existed."
Even Jin seemed surprised. In reality, such crystals are known as Herkimer diamonds on Earth, named after Herkimer, New York, where they are mined. They aren't actually diamonds, but they were given the name because they are far more transparent than typical quartz and their double-terminated shape vaguely resembles the octahedral structure of a diamond crystal.
"Next is this."
Goose presented a pink crystal.
"When I had it Analyzed, it turned out to be composed of aluminum, lithium, silicon, and oxygen."
"Hmm? Lithium? Pink?"
The description rang a bell for Jin.
"...Is that kunzite?"
"Eh? You know what this is, Jin?"
"Yeah. If my memory serves me right."
The only reason Jin knew the name was because of a villain in a shoujo manga back at the orphanage who was named after a gemstone. That had sparked a brief interest that led him to look up various jewels.
"Huh. Kunzite, you say?"
"To be precise, I believe it's called lithia spodumene."
"Wait... 'Lishia'?"
Lishia, who had been listening quietly, spoke up in surprise.
"Yeah. It's called that because it contains lithium. The spelling is probably different from your name, though," Jin explained.
"Even so, it's quite a coincidence."
Lishia stared intently at the pink kunzite, a small smile on her face.