The morning of February 9th dawned clear and bright.
The sight of the snow-covered mountains through the bedroom window was breathtaking, their silver peaks bathed in the morning sun and flushed with a deep rosy madder. Such a view was a rarity near Roizart, the capital of the Shouro Empire, making the scene all the more special.
After rinsing their mouths and washing their faces, the two quickly finished getting ready and sat by the window to take it in.
"It’s beautiful..."
"Yeah."
For a long while, Jin and Elsa remained captivated by the scenery.
"Onii-chan! Breakfast is ready!"
Hanna’s voice drifted up from below. Jin and Elsa pulled themselves away from the view and headed downstairs toward the Martha residence. By then, the rosy mountains had already shifted their hue back to a brilliant silver.
After enjoying a heartfelt breakfast prepared by Martha, Mine, and Hanna, Jin and Elsa said their temporary goodbyes to Kaina Village and returned home.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Now then, what should we prepare?"
Back on Hourai Island, Jin began his consultation with Elsa. Just as they started, a report arrived from Laojun.
『My Lord, I apologize for the interruption, but there is one matter I must report.』
"Go ahead. What is it?"
『Yes. The Allied Kingdoms—consisting of the Klein Kingdom, the Franz Kingdom, the Kingdom of Egerea, the Kingdom of Elias, and the Celuroa Kingdom—have formed a coalition to begin an investigation into the Former Leonard Kingdom.』
"I see... Wait, what about the Shouro Empire?"
『The Shouro Empire is currently occupied with the matter of the foreign tribes. Consequently, they have decided to limit themselves to a support role and leave the practical operations to the five nations of the Allied Kingdoms.』
"I understand..."
Jin figured the wise Empress had decided it was better for the Shouro Empire not to appear too dominant by monopolizing the glory.
"Got it. Keep me updated on the progress of the investigation and report back whenever anything happens."
『Understood.』
Though briefly interrupted, Jin and Elsa resumed their discussion.
"I’m imagining something like a 'hobby craft class,'" Jin explained.
Elsa tilted her head. "A hobby...?"
Seeing that the concept hadn't quite landed, Jin added a bit more detail. "I suppose you could call it a class that teaches various crafts to people who want to pursue a hobby in their spare time."
"I think... I get it."
Since Elsa seemed to have the gist of it, Jin moved the conversation forward.
"The crafts could cover a wide range of things, but there’s no point in offering too many from the start. How about we limit it to two to four subjects and let them choose whichever one they like?"
"Mm, I think that's good. But since it's the very beginning, maybe we should have everyone do the same things together first to teach them the basics across the board."
Essentially, an "arts and crafts" period, Elsa concluded.
"Ah, I see. That’s a good idea too."
Until now, the lessons in the village had focused on reading, writing, and arithmetic, much like a traditional temple school. Jin agreed that introducing an arts and crafts class at this point would be a welcome change.
"And this will also serve as a test case for when we open the academy in Avalon."
"Ah, you’re right."
That realization gave them even more motivation.
"Arts and crafts, huh..."
It had always been one of Jin's favorite subjects. Drawing pictures, carving woodblock prints, kneading clay, making bookends... As he reminisced about his childhood, he began picking out activities that would be appropriate for this world. Having inherited much of Jin's knowledge, Elsa was able to offer her own suggestions.
"Drawing is essential for studying design," she noted.
"Making plates out of clay might be good too," Jin added.
"I believe making chairs would also be appropriate," Reiko suggested.
"For woodworking, maybe we should start with assembling pre-made parts," Jin said.
"And drawing should probably start with basic sketching," Elsa suggested.
"As for the clay, I believe it would be best if we fired the pieces for them," Reiko added.
Following this discussion, they decided to start with three subjects: drawing (sketching), making plates with clay, and assembling wooden chairs.
"Using saws, chisels, needles, thread, and scissors can wait until the next stage."
"Mm, agreed."
With the curriculum set, they immediately began the preliminary preparations. It was an enjoyable time for Elsa, but for Jin, it was even more nostalgic and fun. It reminded him of his days as an elementary school student, back when life was simple and free of complicated worries.
"Should we prepare some drawing paper too?"
By researching the wood-paper of Mitsuho, the researchers on Hourai Island had successfully developed a high-quality paper similar to western-style paper. Since the base was wood-paper—essentially the same composition as washi—it possessed excellent durability.
"Will we need pencils?"
"Something dark, like a 4B, would be best. And erasers too."
They were already capable of making pencils by hardening graphite. While these were intended for future use at the Avalon academy, Jin felt it would be fine to introduce them in Kaina Village first.
The development of the erasers had proven somewhat problematic. If they used plain rubber, it wouldn't produce crumbs when rubbed against the paper and would instead damage the surface.
"It seems they couldn't find an additive to make the rubber sufficiently brittle, so they used magic to process it," Reiko informed him.
"So they used Embrittlement...?"
"Yes. Apparently, fine-tuning the degree of the effect was quite difficult."
As the name implied, Embrittlement was a craft magic that made substances brittle. If applied to a shield or sword, it could cause them to shatter easily.
"But this is a clever application for it," Jin remarked.
"Indeed, Father. Please be sure to praise Amez and her team."
"So it was Amez's group? Got it. I’ll tell her directly later, but let Laojun know that I’m impressed."
『As you wish.』
The clay for the second task was no issue. The residents of Kaina Village already made a small amount of unglazed earthenware themselves.
"We can save glazing for the next step."
"Mm, I think that's best."
Then came the wooden chairs.
"Let’s make sturdy stools that can also be used as stepladders."
Jin decided on a method where the components would be fitted together. The key was that no nails would be used in the construction.
"I hope that by showing them a construction method different from what they're used to, it'll pique their interest."
"Mm, I think it will."
The preparations were finally complete. They officially dubbed the program the "arts and crafts class."
"There’s still some time left in the day. Let's ask the Village Chief to notify everyone. If we’re quick, we can probably start as early as tomorrow."
Jin was perhaps being a bit impatient, but he figured it wouldn't be an issue since the children were usually bored during the winter anyway. He decided to leave the task of visiting the individual houses to the golems.
"Let’s entrust the announcements to Butler B and C."
And so, the decision was made to hold an arts and crafts class in Kaina Village. The only oversight in Jin's plan was that it wasn't just the children who were interested; once the word got out, several of the village wives also expressed an enthusiastic desire to participate.