The trio returned home with twelve whetstones in total, four each.
Jin gave one coarse and one medium-grade stone to Isaac and Helga, then brought the rest to the general store.
"My, these look like quality stones. I'll take them off your hands... Let's see, how does fifty Toll each sound?"
Since he didn't yet grasp the local currency's value, Jin simply agreed. He sold four coarse and four medium stones for a total of four hundred Toll.
(The currency units are the same... This really might be a world very similar to my own,) Jin thought as he accepted the money.
At the very least, he now had a little pocket money of his own.
"Looking to buy anything today?" Sonya, the shopkeeper, asked with a shrewd, businesslike smile.
"And then, get this!"
Over dinner, Helga regaled her father, Sergei, and her mother, Mina, with an animated account of the day's events.
"My, you certainly are capable, Jin-san," Mina said, sounding genuinely impressed.
"In that case, why don't you open a workshop of your own?" Sergei suggested, looking toward the future.
"A workshop...?"
This was exactly what Jin had been hoping for. It would give him a place to belong in this world.
"I expect it'll mostly be repair work at first," Sergei added.
Since resources were scarce, that was only natural. Jin understood the situation well.
"I can provide the startup funds from the village budget. I'm sure someone like you will be able to pay it back in no time, Jin-kun."
"I see. I'll do my best, then."
The arrangements were moving along with remarkable speed.
"But are you sure you should trust me this much?" Jin asked, feeling a slight pang of guilt.
"If you turn out to be a fraud, then it just means I'm a poor judge of character," Sergei laughed.
"Jin fixed our kitchen knife, and he went out of his way to find whetstones for Isaac. A bad person wouldn't do things like that," Helga insisted.
Jin wasn't so sure about that logic, but he kept the thought to himself.
"Thank you very much," he said, bowing his head.
One week later, Jin's workshop was complete.
The speed of the construction wasn't due to magic; they had simply found a suitable vacant house and renovated it.
The location was prime: a corner lot where the radial road extending west from the Village Chief's house intersected with the first ring road.
"A place this nice... I feel like I'm imposing," Jin said, feeling somewhat humbled.
"Nonsense. You're the only magi in the village. This is the least we can do," Sergei replied, half-joking. Mina stood beside him, smiling warmly.
Just then, a visitor arrived.
"Yo, Jin."
"Oh, Isaac," Helga answered before Jin could.
"Congrats on the opening. I've got a job for you right away."
Isaac held out a knife with a badly chipped blade.
"Helga told me you fixed a chipped kitchen knife. Think you can handle this one? It's too much trouble to grind down myself."
Jin took the knife and inspected it. The damage was significant; it would indeed be an ordeal to fix by hand-sharpening.
"Let's see. 'Analyze.'...Yeah, I can fix this."
"That's a relief. This is my favorite knife. So, when will it be ready? Tomorrow? The day after?"
"I'll do it right now."
"Huh?"
While Isaac stood there looking dazed, Jin began a rapid-fire sequence of craft magic.
"'Forming.' 'Heat Treatment.' 'Shaping.' And a little 'Toughening' to finish."
"Wh-wh-what in the world?!"
"It's a well-used knife, so the carbon content was a solid one percent. However, it was a bit too brittle from over-tempering, so I adjusted it. I threw in a 'Toughening' spell too, so it shouldn't chip as easily now."
"That's great, but—that's not the point!"
Even though this was his second time seeing Jin's magic, Isaac couldn't contain his shock.
"Honestly, Isaac, this is just how Jin is. You'd better get used to it," Helga said.
Despite knowing him only a short time, Helga seemed to have already accepted Jin's extraordinary nature. Perhaps, having no preconceived notions about what a magi was supposed to be like, she simply took him as he was.
"...Alright, fine. I get that you're amazing, Jin. So, what do I owe you?"
"Um..." Jin hesitated. Pricing such a task was difficult.
"You haven't set your rates yet? Well, how about three hundred Toll—half the price of a new one? Does that sound fair, Helga?"
"Yeah, half seems about right."
And so, the price was decided.
"Now, Jin-san, I say this for your own good: you need to hire an assistant," Mina spoke up once Isaac had left.
"Eh?"
"It doesn't seem like Jin-kun is particularly suited for the business side of things," Sergei added.
Jin had no defense against that.
"Is there anyone who might be available?" Sergei asked his wife.
"How about Kachea-chan?" Mina suggested.
"Ah, Tanya's daughter? Sonya's niece from the general store?"
"That's the one. She's good with numbers and very reliable. She'd be perfect, wouldn't she?"
"Kachea? Yeah, I think she'd be a great choice," Helga agreed.
"Um..."
Jin watched, bewildered, as the decision was made without him.
"Ah, sorry, Jin-kun. Kachea is a friend of Helga's and the niece of Sonya, who runs the general store."
"I see."
"She's a quiet girl, but very bright. What do you say to having her help you out?"
"Well, I'm not really in a position to judge, so I'll leave it to your discretion, Sergei-san."
It was all he could say.
"Understood. We'll go talk to her immediately."
"My name is Kachea. I... I look forward to working with you."
"L-likewise."
After reaching an agreement with her parents that same day, Jin's workshop gained its first employee on its very first day of business.