"Hmm? You use the berries too?"
"Yes, these berries right here."
"You certainly know your plants. We use them for fragrance ourselves," Hazavans replied.
Jin was discussing the berries Gawel had brought back, which appeared to be Japanese pepper.
"How do you usually eat them?"
Jin knew that Japanese pepper berries were used as a spice, but he didn't know the specifics of how they were processed.
"There are a few ways," Anette answered for him. "We take the green berries harvested before summer, wash them, boil them, and then drain the water before using them."
"I see."
In modern Japan, this was exactly what was used for tsukudani like "Japanese pepper kombu."
"Also, we harvest the ripe berries, remove the seeds, and then grind the skins to sprinkle over grilled meat."
"Oh!"
Once, back in modern Japan, Jin’s boss had treated him to a bowl of unagi-don—just the standard grade—and he had sprinkled powdered Japanese pepper over it. He had been fond of that fragrance ever since.
"If possible, I'd like to have a bit of that powder as well."
When Jin made the request, Anette nodded. "Oh, that's fine. We have some that was recently made."
It seemed they had produced a batch quite recently.
"But you know, it has a better fragrance if you grind it right before you use it."
"Ah, in that case, please give me the berries before they're ground rather than the powder. And if you can, I'd like some seeds as well."
"Certainly."
Thus, Jin obtained both the powdered Japanese pepper and the seeds of the tree. He would likely cultivate them on Hourai Island eventually.
Furthermore, Laojun was considering obtaining a few saplings from a location that wouldn't inconvenience the residents.
The day Japanese pepper would be added to the dining table on Hourai Island was fast approaching.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Thank you for everything."
"No, no, the pleasure was ours. You've been a great help."
A little after 2:00 PM, Jin and his party took their leave from the Elder's retreat.
After walking for a bit, they returned to Konron 3. Activating the Invisible function, Konron 3 slowly soared into the sky.
"Kufu! Come to think of it, Goose, you were screaming your head off the first time you rode this, weren't you?" Saki said teasingly to Goose, who was sitting next to her.
"T-That was... because it was my first time flying...!"
"Kufufu, you should have seen your face back then."
"S-Shut up! I'm used to it now!"
"Oh? Then why aren't you trying to look outside?"
"..."
"...They get along well," Elsa whispered as she watched their banter.
"Yeah, they do."
Jin thought that Goose was a good match for Saki, being someone she could be so emotionally open with.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Alright, now I can finally get started."
Having returned to Hourai Island, Jin brought the dye powder into his workshop.
He left the Rayochiworm pupae and the Japanese pepper seeds entirely to Topaz.
The powdered Japanese pepper was entrusted to Perido. He would likely be able to eat grilled eel kabayaki sometime soon.
"First, an experiment."
He dissolved a small amount of the dye powder in water and impregnated some wood-paper with it.
"Does the color stop changing once this dries?"
"Father, that is the problem, isn't it?"
With Reiko assisting him—unaffected by the dye even if it got on her hands—Jin proceeded with the experiment. Elsa and Saki watched on as spectators.
Jin wondered if this would be considered a "wet" photography method.
The first photographs on Earth were called "wet plates," where a colorless, transparent glass plate was dipped in a silver nitrate solution to create a photosensitive film.
As the name implied, they had to be used while still wet, which made them inconvenient. They were eventually replaced by the "dry plate" method developed later.
Those dry plates were then replaced by celluloid film, and now, digital technology reigned supreme.
But back to the matter at hand.
While it was slightly different from a "wet plate," the current method would only result in an extremely difficult-to-handle camera, which left Jin deep in thought.
"Jin, why don't you try dissolving it in ethenol?" Saki suggested.
Ethenol was a synthetic substance made from water composed of magi-isotopes with free ether dissolved into it, serving as a super-powerful energy source.
Assuming that the color stabilization upon drying was caused by the evaporation of mana, then using paper impregnated with ethenol as photographic paper and Erasing the free ether after the "shot" might work.
"I think you could try diluting it with water instead of using pure ethenol."
"That might actually be a good idea."
Jin was also curious about how the free ether and the Rayochiworm dye powder would react when combined.
"I will try it then."
Reiko prepared pure ethenol, as well as ethenol diluted by 10, 50, and 100 times, dissolving the dye powder into each.
She then applied each solution to wood-paper and let them dry.
"Father, please try applying mana."
"Got it."
Just as he had done at Hazavans's place, Jin channeled mana into his outstretched hand.
"Oh!"
Both the undiluted and the diluted versions changed color in the same way.
"You did it, Jin!"
"Yeah, thanks to you, Saki. Thank you."
"Kufu, that's embarrassing. But I'm just glad I could be of help."
This kind of mutual exchange and supplementation of ideas was exactly what Jin desired.
"...With this, I think I've moved one step closer to my goal."
"Hmm? What goal?" Goose asked, having overheard Jin's murmur.
"The technology of the Progenitors."
"That's quite the..."
Goose started to say "monumental task," but then fell silent. He had a feeling that if it was Jin, he might actually achieve it one day.
"Once the camera is finished, I want to take a picture of everyone in the Family."
"Mhm. I agree."
"Kufu, that sounds great!"
Elsa and Saki agreed without hesitation.
"Wait? Is it not called a Realism Machine?"
Goose caught the slight difference in the name.
"Ah, yes. A similar machine in my world was called a 'camera'."
"I see. Since you're the one who made it, you're calling it by the name from your world."
"That's right."
As he answered, Jin had a premonition that he would finally be focusing his efforts on the long-period planet.
It was a day when the breeze blowing across Hourai Island carried a faint hint of autumn.