After leaving the onsen, Saki and Elsa return to Nidou Castle. Since Jin was already up…
“Jin-nii, I want to go to the viewing platform again.”
Elsa asks him for permission to go all the way up to the sixth floor.
Then…
“…”
“Ahh, phew.”
“…You two sure are slow.”
Elsa has the most physical resistance out of the three.
“Ooh, this is a nice view.”
“Yeah, it looks nice from here.”
The mountains in the east are covered by the fresh greenery of early summer. The Erme River extends over the south, and the Togo Pass can be seen far away.
A virgin forest extends across the west. Kaina Village can be seen up north, and a high glacial mountain is even further away.
“Such a quiet and nice view.”
Saki corrects her glasses’ position as she says that.
“Saki-nee, could I see those ‘glasses’ of yours?”
“Huh? Ah, sure. Here.”
“Thanks.”
Elsa checks the glasses’ structure as soon as she receives them.
“I see. It’s the first time I see something like this. So these concave lenses are used to correct myopia…”
And she continues.
“… But…”
“Huh?”
“They don’t really look that good on you, Saki.”
“… Uh.”
Those words hit Jin like a truck. He had been just made self-conscious of his own lack of sense of design.
“Jin-nii, can you change their design a little?”
After hearing that, Jin suggests Elsa does it instead. It will be a good opportunity for practice.
“Sure, I’ll give it a try.”
But that will have to wait until they’ve finished their breakfast.
They have tamagoyaki and barley porridge for breakfast. Then grilled river fish. And citran for dessert. Bere was in charge of preparing breakfast.
“Hmm, a sweet omelet?”
As Saki commented on the tamagoyaki, Jin seemed to savor it as if it were something he hasn’t eaten in a long time. Elsa notices this, and says:
“Hey, Jin-nii, is this a dish from your country?”
“Huh? Ah, yeah. It’s a very popular dish.”
Though he seems sad that there is no soy sauce to season it. It would really bring out its flavor.
“Hmm, citran? They’re really tasty.”
The citran have been brought from Hourai Island. Their flavor is the real deal.
With the exception of the citran, the whole breakfast clearly shows how much Bere’s culinary skills have improved.
Jin calls Bere and makes sure to praise her for her improvement. Elsa and Saki also tell her they really enjoyed their meal.
“Thank you very much! I have been practicing and I’m really glad it’s paying off!”
Bere welcomes their compliments with a smile and bows to the three of them.
“Well then, let’s see if I can make these glasses.”
They’re now at Jin’s workshop, which is in Martha’s house, in Kaina Village.
First, Elsa checks the materials. There are some rare materials brought all the way from Hourai Island.
Among them, Elsa finds some aluminum.
“Hmm, so that caught your eye, huh?”
Jin is impressed. Instead of aluminum, nowadays in Earth people use titanium as it is unlikely to cause allergies to metal, plus it’s a light material, making it perfect for making frames for eyeglasses.
Then, Elsa chooses the material she’ll be using for the lenses: the same crystal that Jin chose back when he made Saki’s glasses.
“‘Separation’. ‘Forming’.”
After setting aside the necessary amount of aluminum, she begins to process it. The basic structure is based off the glasses made by Jin.
“…Hmmm.”
Jin is impressed by the design. A rounded, horizontal elliptical shape. Close to an oval-like design.
Jin’s prototype was made from 925 silver, but these are made from aluminum, which is stronger and allows for a slender finish.
It is clear that Elsa’s design is far superior than Jin’s. This is a bit different than engineering, so it is no wonder than Jin loses this match.
“‘Separation’. ‘Forming’.”
Next are the lenses. Elsa transforms the crystals into concave lenses, but…
“…?”
Not knowing what to do about the lenses’ optical power, she silently stares at Jin. Noticing what she was trying to do, Jin offers his advice.
“First make a rough shape, then adjust it accordingly.”
“…Got it. ‘Forming’.”
Elsa start reworking her lenses. Then, Jin intercedes again.
“Wait, Elsa. Try to create a ‘meniscus’.”
“‘Meniscus’?”
The one to make that question is Saki.
“Yeah. A meniscus is like a crescent moon.”
“Crescent moon?”
The moon of this world does not have phases. Saki is even more confused now.
“Ah… Reiko, please explain for me.”
“Yes, Father.”
Leaving the explanation to Reiko, who was feeling rather lonely for not having participated so far, Jin gives preference to offer guidance to Elsa. This is not to say that he’s ignoring Saki. After all, these glasses are for Saki.
“Well, this is how you create a meniscus. ‘Forming’.”
“… I see.”
It seems that during the TransInfo from the other day, she learned how to bend lenses easily.
Still, while Jin seems to have understood something himself, Elsa quickly makes the lenses as she is being thought.
Seeing that, Jin suddenly thinks of something.
“Oh, I see. Safety glasses.”
When operating certain machinery, such as lathe and milling machines, small metal or wood chippings may come flying out. Safety glasses are useful to guard one’s eyes from such hazards.
These glasses seem to be indispensable for an alchemist like Saki. Of course, they would be useful for Elsa and Jin, too.
Leaving the making of Saki’s glasses entirely in Elsa’s hands, Jin decides to create some safety glasses.
He will be using the usual Muscovite as a material. Using ‘Purify’ he removes all of the impurities, making it as transparent as possible.
“All right, like this.”
They don’t have any optical power, so they’re easier to make. Lastly, since Muscovite is a soft material, he uses ‘Hardening’ and ‘Toughen’.
Having the safety glasses break and their fragments getting into one’s eyes simply because they’re not hard nor tough enough is no laughing matter.
Jin makes about 10 of those glasses in the same way.
As soon as Reiko finished her explanation, Saki casually looks at Jin, and a tear escapes from her round eyes.
“… Haah… I knew that Jin was different, but it seems that I’m getting soft…”
Saki lets out a sigh.
“…Done.”
At about the same time, Elsa finishes her glasses.
“Please try them on, Saki-nee.”
“Ooh, so these are the glasses you made for me, Elsa? I’m so happy!”
After saying that, Saki puts the glasses on.
“What do you think?”
“Hmm… I’m so sorry, but it was easier for me to see with the other ones.”
Hearing that, Elsa’s shoulders drop down. To encourage her, Jin says:
“Elsa, if the glasses don’t fit her face properly, it’ll be harder to see with them. That’s why fine tuning is important.”
“How do I do that?”
Since Jin doesn’t have a clear theory to explain it easily with words, he decides to show what he means in a practical way.
For that, he asks Reiko for assistance.
“Please sit here, Saki. Reiko, stand in front of her.”
“Yes, Father.”
Reiko stands in front of Saki, who is now sitting down.
“Okay, Reiko. Check the center of the lenses against the center of Saki’s pupils.”
“Understood.”
After his first attempt at making eyeglasses, Jin had been wondering how to adjust them so that they suited Saki’s eyesight better.
Jin could have done the explanation himself, but since it he feels a little embarrassed to stare at the eyes of a young woman for too long, he chose to leave it to Reiko.
This time, he’s being more earnest than ever. Reiko’s eyes have many functions, one of them being the ability to measure with great precision. That ability is up to par to a Magi Craft Meister such as Jin.
“The left lens needs to go down by 5 milimeters. The right lens is fine where it is now.”
It is fundamental to minimize the deviation between the center of the lens and the center of the pupil.
“Elsa, have Saki put them on and make your adjustments from there.”
“Sure.”
Under Jin’s guidance, Elsa adjusts the lenses, corrects the frame’s angles, and repositions the nose pads.
“How about now?”
“Yes, this is much better. I can see clearly now!”
Since both lenses have the same optical power, they shouldn’t feel uncomfortable at all.
“Thank you, Elsa.”
“I’m glad you like them!”
“So I guess you don’t need those old glasses anymore, huh?”
Saki excitedly waves her head in denial to Jin’s comment.
“Nonsense! These are the glasses that you made for me, Jin. I’ll always treasure them!”
“I… I see.”
Knowing the things they make are being treasured is the greatest joy for anyone who makes things.
Though he won’t say it, deep inside Jin feels very happy that Saki said that.