Three days had now passed since Reinhardt, Berthie, and Saki were officially welcomed into the Hourai Island family.
It went without saying, that they all enjoyed themselves during that time.
Reinhardt completed the paddleboat that he had wanted to make, and Saki increased her knowledge on various materials.
As for Elsa, she was gaining experience by making magic tools that Jin had made up until now…such as vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, lighters, popcorn makers, distillers, and magic lamps.
As for Berthie, who was neither a Magi Craftsman or an alchemist, she studied under Pelidolida, one of the golem maids. And she learned how to cook new things and expanded her repertoire.
But it was not as if Edgar, Ehr, Neon, and Noir were standing around and doing nothing either.
Edgar was with Laozi, Ehr with Butler 1, and Neon was with Soreiyu and Rulna. And Noir learned a lot from Land 1.
“Hmm. Jin, this development environment is wonderful!”
Reinhardt said happily when he came back from testing his paddleboat at Tatsumi Harbor. For now, he had Marine 50 and 51 driving the boat.
“I don’t think I can go back to using an ordinary workshop…”
Reinhardt muttered with a smile. While he stayed in the workshop during the day, Berthie always dragged him out during the night, so he was getting enough rest at least.
“Reiko. Would you mind helping me?”
It seemed like Elsa was going to start something with her again. Recently, Reiko had been listening to any problems that Elsa had. And Elsa really relied on her.
“What is it?”
“Yes. This time, I’m thinking about making an accessory instead of a magic tool…”
“I understand. You want a design.”
Through Laojun, Reiko had all of the world information that Quinta had gathered.
And that included designs that were popular among noblewomen.
“Jin, I want to talk to you. Is that alright?”
As Saki saw things differently from Magi Craftsmen like Jin, he always found her interesting.
Saki was currently dressed in white. It was made of cloth that was weaved from the webs of a Grand Spider. Jin had given it to her as a present. It stayed clean and was very durable.
She looked like a mad researcher. Her glasses really suited her.
“What is it?”
“Yes, it’s about engineering magic. Uh, what is engineering magic?”
“Hmm? …It’s magic you use for Magi Craft.”
It was the most obvious answer. But Saki was not satisfied with it.
“No, no. That’s not what I want to ask you. Hmm. Maybe I should rephrase it.”
Saki said as she looked out of the crystal window.
“You, Elsa, Reinhardt and Magi Craftsmen can use a magic called ‘Forming,’ right?”
“Ah, that’s right. That is engineering magic.”
“And you can process Adamantite if you can use Forming?”
“Yes.”
“Adamantite is the strongest metal known to man. And you can’t affect it with magical energy. So if they can change its shape, shouldn’t it require incredibly powerful magic?”
“I see.”
Jin understood what Saki was trying to say.
For instance, it required almost limitless power to bend Adamantite. However, Forming made it possible with only a little magic energy. Why was that?
“Hmm. I hadn’t really thought about that…”
Jin had a few theories of his own. He decided to organize them in his head and then explain them.
“Forming is the affecting of atoms or molecules of substances, wherein weakening their binding power, you can change their shape.”
“I don’t really understand. So, are you saying that you weaken it first and then change the shape?”
Saki didn’t really understand terms like atoms and molecules. But she seemed to grasp the general idea.
“Wouldn’t that make Forming one of the strongest kinds of magic? Swords, armor and even castle walls will become useless if you change their shape, right?”
“Hmm. But it doesn’t really work like that. First, the user must be touching the object. And the thing that you can transform must be proportionate in size with the amount of your magic energy.”
“Hmm, hmm. In other words, you must be touching it and have a lot of magic energy.”
“Yes. And it also takes time to activate. You touch it, send the energy into the object, and then change its shape. This is time-consuming. It’s not like unleashing a fireball.”
While Jin was an exception, for most people it would be impossible to use Forming to bend a sword that was swinging towards you. Similarly, making a path through a castle wall would take way too much energy.
“I see. I understand it perfectly now. Thank you.”
They had a lot of small conversations like this.
This one was on the first day. And on the second day…
“Jin. Is it true that engineering magic doesn’t work on living creatures?”
Saki asked him.
“Yes, that’s right. For instance, you can’t use Shaping on a tree. Yet you can use Wind Cutter to cut it down.”
“Then at what point can you use Shaping? Can you use it once it is cut down?”
“Yes, you can. Whether it’s the trunk or branches, you can use Shaping once it is cut down.”
Saki heard Jin’s answer and seemed to be deep in thought. And then she looked up again after having pondered over it for a full minute.
“Let’s leave the difference between a tree and wood aside for a moment. …What is the real reason that you can’t use Shaping on a tree?”
Now it was Jin’s turn to think. He came up with a theory in less than 30 seconds.
“With Shaping and Forming, which we talked about recently, I think they are affected by Ether and not Mana.”
All living creatures in this world carried Mana without exception. They took in the Ether and converted it into Mana inside of their bodies.
Apparently, Mana circulated inside of bodies. So, while this Mana was circulating, engineering magic did not work. That was Jin’s theory.
“Hoho! That’s amazing, Jin! I never heard that theory before! Then that means, in order to become a Magi Engineer…or Magi Craftsman, you need to be able to control Ether!”
That’s how the conversation went.
As for the third day…
“Jin. I just thought of an interesting experiment. Will you please help me?
Saki suggested to him.
“What is it?”
Saki always had interesting ideas. And this seemed like no exception. So Jin had high expectations as he waited for her to explain.
“I was wondering if it is possible to melt Grand Spider webs.”
“What!?”
Grand Spider webs were incredibly strong. And while coming in the shape of threads meant they were easy to use, you were also limited in what you could use them for.
“I see…”
There was a resin known as nylon. Well, it was a polyamide resin, to be precise. Nylon 66 was particularly famous, as it was known for being ‘stronger than steel and thinner than a spider’s web.’
And polyamide reside was not only fiber, but it could also be used like plastic.
“So, you want to know if it can be used like natural resin. I never thought of that.”
Jin was quite enthusiastic about it.
“Grand Spider web is immune to magic, isn’t it?”
Saki’s question hit the nail on the head. The web of a Grand Spider could not be burned even with the most advanced fire magic. It could not be melted.
“Didn’t you say that Grand Spiders eat Ether? So, wouldn’t that mean that Grand Spiders are like great blobs of Ether?”
Jin had thought about it as well. If they lived off of Ether alone, then surely their body must be made of it as well.
“Father. Rulna said that she once inspected a dead Grand Spider.”
Reiko sometimes offered unexpected information out of nowhere.
“Apparently, Grand Spiders have a very long lifespan. But this one had been crushed when the cave it was nesting in collapsed. And so she brought it back to see if it could be used for materials.”
“Th-that! Tell me more!”
Saki said excitedly as she rushed closer. Reiko was unaffected by this and continued to talk calmly.
“According to her, 80% of its body contained Ether.”
The Pelshika of Hourai Island also contained a lot of Ether. So, the same could be said about the Grand Spider.
“Perhaps you could say that the Ether changes shape and turns into the webs.”
Jin said. Saki agreed.
“I think that it’s very possible! Wouldn’t that explain why normal magic is unable to penetrate it?”
Then they noticed that they were being distracted a little. They had originally been talking about the possibility of melting the web.
“Hehe. It’s because it is so fun to talk with you, Jin. I sometimes forget myself.”
“Uhh. You want to know if you can melt the web of a Grand Spider, yes? As you can connect webs through Fusion, it should be possible. Reiko, bring us some Grand Spider web now. It can even be a scrap of cloth.”
“Yes, father.”
Reiko brought an extra scrap that was from the white clothes that had been made for Saki.
“Wait for a minute. …Hmm, you do this here, and… Okay. Dissolute. Forming.”
Saki looked on with surprise as Jin used the original ‘Dissolute’ which was a modified version of ‘Fusion.’ But she pushed that feeling aside and concentrated as she watched him melt the Grand Spider web.
The web was semi-transparent once melted, and Jin used Forming to spread it out like a sheet.
“You did it, Jin!”
“Yes, it went well.”
Saki was happy that her idea had worked. And Jin was happy that they had discovered new possibilities for the Grand Spider web.
＊ ＊ ＊
After that…
“Master Jin. This bathroom. I would like to adopt the same thing for my own house!”
“Jin! Jin! That toilet is wonderful! I want one when I get back as well!”
There were two more people who were now obsessed with the toilet which had features including a washlet, deodorization, sterilization, and decomposition.