"Whoa!"
A loud splash followed the scream.
This was Kaina Village. A human voice echoed across the Erme River, which flowed along the village’s southern edge.
"Ma—Marcia!"
Rodrigo called out, his voice laced with concern. He was worried about his daughter, who had just tumbled into the river.
However, Marcia popped her head above the water with a loud "Pwah!" and waved from the middle of the current.
"I'm fine, Father!"
While attending Jin's birthday party recently, girls living in Kaina Village—including Luluna and Kune—had asked Marcia if she could build a boat suitable for use on the Erme River. That request was what had brought her here.
As a starting point, she had attempted to navigate the Erme River on a raft, but its orientation was far less stable than she had anticipated. The rapids had toyed with the craft, sending it spinning across the water's surface until Marcia was finally thrown overboard.
Even for someone as seasoned on the high seas as Marcia, a river was an entirely different beast.
"See? I'm wearing a wetsuit, so the cold doesn't even bother me."
Marcia was currently wearing a suit made of "expanded magi-polyethylene," a material developed by Saki.
Its official name was expanded magi-polyethylene, abbreviated as EMPE.
It was produced by applying pressure to molten magi-polyethylene and then suddenly releasing it to create a foam—a process Saki had successfully developed following a suggestion from Hanna.
Thanks to its foamed structure, the material possessed excellent insulation properties and shock absorption.
However, the skin-tight wetsuit inevitably accentuated Marcia’s athletic figure more than she might have liked.
Her father, Rodrigo, watched her with a mix of worry for her safety and a heavy heart over the fact that his daughter showed no signs of considering marriage, despite turning thirty this year.
The raft, which had begun to drift away, was recovered by Aqua 101, a golem maid stationed at Jin Castle.
Golems like Arrow, Alco, and Veil were currently looking after the shop in Port Rock Town, so Aqua 101 had been assigned to assist Marcia during her stay in Kaina Village.
"Alright, let's try that one more time."
Working with Rodrigo, Marcia began attaching various fixtures to the recovered raft—additions she believed would improve the vessel’s stability.
This time, she tried extending floats out to the sides to increase directional stability.
"Okay, I'm heading back out."
"Be careful!"
＊ ＊ ＊
"...Whew, I’m exhausted."
"Good work today, Marcia."
After a full day of riding the raft—or more accurately, spending half the time being bucked off and swimming—Marcia was understandably drained. She was currently stretching her weary limbs in the Kaina Village hot spring.
Sharing the bath with her was one of her clients, Barbara. In fact, while the request had come from several of the village girls, Barbara was essentially acting as their patron.
This meant the Erik Company was footed the bill for the project.
Barbara gently stroked her belly; she was currently pregnant with her second child.
"It was a lot harder than I expected."
"Oh... sorry about that?"
"No, no, it’s fun, so there's no need to apologize. It’s rewarding work."
Marcia laughed as she reassured the slightly apologetic Barbara.
"Is that so? Well, I'm glad to hear it."
"Besides, after today, I’ve already got a general concept in mind."
"What, already?" Barbara asked, her eyes wide with surprise. Marcia gave her a confident, broad grin.
"Hey, I am a professional, you know."
Her smile was one of genuine enjoyment.
Marcia was staying at Jin Castle during her visit.
Not only was she considered part of the "Jin Family," but the location offered the advantage of being close to the Erme River.
Furthermore, the castle housed a small workshop equipped with various materials. As long as she asked Jin first, she was free to use them as she pleased.
As Marcia reached the entrance of Jin Castle later that evening...
"Welcome back, Marcia."
"Jin!?"
Jin himself was there to meet her.
"What's going on? Why the greeting?"
"Well, I’ve brought a guest to see you."
"A guest?"
"Good evening."
Sion stepped out from behind Jin.
"Oh, Sion! So you're the guest?"
But there was someone else standing behind Sion as well.
"Actually, there's someone I’d like to introduce to you."
"Pleased to meet you. I am Tiberio of the Divergence clan."
Tiberio gave a polite bow.
He stood 180 centimeters tall and weighed 78 kilograms, with gray hair and gray eyes. As a quarter-blood, he looked exactly his actual age: twenty-eight.
"Ah... h-hello. I'm Marcia."
Jin urged everyone inside and led them to the small conference room.
"Welcome back, Marcia."
"Rodrigo, do you have a moment?"
Marcia's father, Rodrigo, had already returned as well, so they invited him to join the meeting in the conference room.
"This is Tiberio, from the Divergence clan," Jin explained.
"I'm Tiberio. It’s an honor."
"I'm Rodrigo. Likewise."
After the brief introductions, they moved on to the main topic.
"According to Sion, Tiberio has a deep interest in shipbuilding," Jin said.
"That's right. We don't use ships much in the Nord Federation, but I believe it would be best for us to start heading out to sea from here on out."
It was true that maritime transportation had never flourished in the Nord Federation.
Since there were those capable of using Teleportation magic, travel between clans had never been inconvenient.
Furthermore, with the Golem horses Jin had donated in recent years, the reality was that the people had no reason to complain about their means of travel.
"...Doesn't the Divergence clan live far inland?"
Reiko, who had been listening in silence until now, spoke up softly.
Tiberio turned to her. "Yes, you are exactly right. But the truth is... well, I'm a quarter-blood, and I don't actually spend much time in the clan territory."
Tiberio explained his background with a touch of melancholy.
According to him, his grandmother had been a human from the Lauren Continent. She had already passed away, and he had never learned the name of her home country.
Jin wondered to himself if she might have been someone from Kaina Village in the distant past.
In any case, perhaps because of his mixed blood, Tiberio had always felt somewhat out of place in the clan territory and had spent his life wandering from place to place. Now that formal diplomatic relations with the Lauren Continent had been established, he had even begun to say he wanted to live here permanently—a revelation that seemed to surprise even Sion.
"So, that's the situation. I hate to impose on you and Rodrigo, but would you mind letting Tiberio... well, observe your work for a while?"
Jin explained that he wanted to give the young man a chance to see the actual development of a ship.
"Oh, of course. I don't mind at all," Marcia agreed readily.
"I'm always happy to see more shipwrights," Rodrigo added, having clearly taken a liking to Tiberio. "Does this mean he'll be the very first shipwright among the Northern People?"
"Alright, now that that's settled, tell me more about your progress," Jin said, getting the discussion back on track.
He claimed that since the request had come from Kaina Village, he wanted to stay informed as the local lord, even if he didn't plan to interfere directly.
However, everyone in the room suspected—no, they knew—that this was merely a polite excuse. In truth, Jin was clearly itching to roll up his sleeves and join in the fun himself.