09-25 Martha and Mine

On the day they had a good time on Kunlun Island, Hannah decided to stay there overnight.

Contact with Martha was arranged through Gon and Gen.

“I’ll have a sleepover at auntie’s place today~”

Jin felt peaceful looking at Hannah who had thoroughly taken to Mine.

Tired from playing for a day Hannah seemed to have gotten tired after having dinner and began nodding off.

Mine then carried her and laid her down on the futon spread out in Elsa’s and hers room.

She’s just like a mother huh, Jin thought and felt impressed as he watched them.

“Well then, I’ll be returning to Hourai Island so please take care of Hannah. I’ll come back to pick her up tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, Jin-sama, thank you for today.”

“Jin-nii, see you tomorrow.”

“Mh-hm, good night then.”

Jin said and returned to Hourai Island with Reiko.

He got out of the Warp Gate and Topaz-43 was standing there.

“Welcome back, master.”

“Ah, Topaz. What’s the matter?”

“According to Laojin’s orders, we are to be stationed here by turns.”

Jin got it when he heard her. He understood that Laojin arranged this so Elsa’s disappearance incident wouldn’t occur again.

“So that’s what it was, good work.”

Jin said and headed back to the workshop.

“Laojin, you dealt with that problem quickly, huh.”

Jin conveyed his grat.i.tude to Laojin through a ManaCom installed there.

“Yes. I decided to temporarily station the maid golems there. I was thinking that in the near future having full-time golems dedicated for that task would be preferred.”

Jin agreed with him.

“Mh-hm, that’s right. Once the current mess is over with let’s make them without rus.h.i.+ng.”

Then,

“Have you got anything regarding the weapons for the golems?”

Jin asked.

“Yes, I think that swords and s.h.i.+elds are needed after all.”

“Mh-hm, it’s orthodox but good. But a normal sword would be boring, huh…”

Jin who had completely relaxed suddenly had a good idea.

“A Vibration Sword…Let’s make the Magi Adamant.i.te blade vibrate at an ultra high speed.”

With Magi Adamant.i.te he could make a sword thinner than usual with no worry of the blade chipping. By making it vibrate at an ultra high speed using magic techniques he should be able to make a sword that cuts through anything, right? That’s how Jin was thinking.

If Jin added a security feature that made them usable only by golems they probably couldn’t be misused, and without diffusing Magic Energy into it Magi Adamant.i.te was weaker than regular Adamant.i.te.

“A Vibration Blade, is it? Understood, I will try.”

For a weapon like this, with permission from Jin Laojin could do the development without bothering Jin about it.

“My Lord, Reinhardt-san made contact as arranged. It appears that today he met with a Magi Craftsman from Celuroa Kingdom and had a somewhat interesting time.”

“Huh, I want to ask Reinhardt about it later.”

Jin said while yawning.

“My Lord, you must be tired, please rest.”

The night came an hour earlier on Hourai Island than Kunlun Island. Jin was also a little bit worn out.

“Father, even Laojin thinks so. Please go to so sleep for the night.”

Reiko suggested, being also worried about Jin’s health. Jin obediently did as told.

“Ah, I’ll do so.”

Reiko followed him to the bedroom. Then,

“It seems Father has completely returned to normal, I’m glad.”

She muttered in a voice so hushed no one could hear it.

＊ ＊ ＊

The next morning, Jin warped to Kunlun Island before breakfast.

The local time on Kunlun Island was six o’clock. That was just after when Hannah had woke up.

They met in the mansion’s washroom. Even though Hannah was surprised, she continued was.h.i.+ng her face with the water from the tap.

“Good morning, onii-chan.”

“Good morning, Hannah.”

Jin and Hannah exchanged morning greetings.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah! You know what, I slept with auntie!”

“With Mine? I see, that’s good.”

“Yeah.”

Then Mine and Elsa also arrived.

“Good morning, Jin-sama.”

“Jin-nii, good morning.”

“Good morning.”

After exchanging morning greetings, the four went to look outside. Today too the weather was clear.

“Ya~y, good weather!”

Hannah was running around happily in the garden in front of the mansion.

“Jin-sama, are you perhaps going to see off Hanna-chan today?”

Mine came over and asked. Jin nodded.

“In that case, I would like to go too to express my thanks for taking care of Elsa.”

“I see. Sure, let’s go together.”

As he knew what Mine was feeling, it was decided that after breakfast Jin, Hannah, Mine, and Elsa would all go to Kaina Village.

The breakfast was bread with thin slices of smoked meat, salad, and Citran juice.

Hannah helped with making the salad, while Elsa sliced the smoked meat and squeezed juice out of the Citran.

“It would be good to bring some Citran as a souvenir too.”

That’s what Jin was thinking about. On this island, or rather on both Hourai Island and Kunlun Island Citran, Pelshka, Appleles, and so on grew fruit during all four seasons. It was unknown whether that was because of the climate or some other reason.

Although Jin’s guess was that maybe it was the effect of the Mana contained underground.

“Itadakima~su!”

Hannah started the breakfast for everyone.

“Hannah, after breakfast I’ll be taking you back to Kaina Village.”

“…Okay, got it.”

She looked a little lonesome, but Hannah meekly agreed. Mine saw Hannah like that and,

“It’s alright, Hannah-chan. Because Auntie and Elsa will also come along.”

She said to comfort her.

“Eh, really? Auntie too? Ya~y!”

She seemed to have become surprisingly attached to Mine in a day.

After relaxedly tidying up post-meal Jin went to get Citrans from the refrigerator and put them in a basket. At the very least there should be enough for everyone, Jin thought.

Kaina Village had 29 houses. If each house had an average of three to four people, if he brought 120 fruit that should be enough.

It wasn’t an amount a single person could carry, but by splitting up the amount with four people– no, five people including Reiko carrying it wasn’t a big deal.

But as Jin was carrying Hannah on his back, in the end Reiko ended up carrying three people’s worth fruit.

“Did you forget anything?”

Jin tried asking.

“Nope!”

Hannah’s lively reply could be heard.

“Well then, shall we go?”

And with that, the group headed to the Warp Gate room. Hannah of course was blindfolded and on Jin’s back.

They warped in an instant.

Once they exited they found that the weather was clear in Kaina Village too. The time was around half past seven.

First they headed towards the village chief’s house. Gheebeck was sweeping the front of his house with a broom.

“Oh my, Jin, what’s the matter? Who is she?”

Gheebeck asked about Mine. Mine bowed courteously and spoke.

“Chief-sama, I presume. My name is Mine and I’m Elsa’s mother. It appeared that earlier my daughter received your favour, so I thought I would come to offer my thanks.”

“Very polite of you. In that case, Mine-sama and Jin are…?”

“Well, as Elsa is Jin-sama’s informally adopted sister I have no blood relation with him.”

“So that’s how it was. It seems you’ve got your own circ.u.mstances too.”

Perhaps due to wisdom brought by age, Gheebeck didn’t pry any further than that into the matter.

“And so, it’s not much but we’ve brought these as souvenirs. I hope you’ll like them.”

Three baskets full of Citran were presented. The village chief stared at them in wonder.

“Oh, these are terrific. I’ve never seen this fruit before. I’ll gladly accept them. Should I distribute them to the villagers too?”

“Yes, if you would like.”

Then Barbara turned up.

“Ah, good morning. Now, just what is this fruit?”

“They’re called Citran. They’re bittersweet and delicious!”

Hannah had been quiet while the village chief and Mine were talking, but now that Barbara came she replied with a lively voice.

“Huh, Citran. Ah, they smell nice.”

Barbara took one and gave it a sniff, which made her smile. Jin thought this was the right time and asked,

“Well then chief-san, could I ask you to distribute them?”

The village chief agreed with a ‘leave it to me’.

“In that case, I’ll be taking Hannah home after this. And so I’ll hand over the Citran to Martha-san myself.”

“Hm, I understand.”

And thus, Jin’s group went to Hannah’s home. Just then Martha was finis.h.i.+ng putting the laundry to dry.

“Granny, I’m back~!”

“Oh my, welcome home Hannah. Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, a lot! You know, we went to the sea, and got onto a boat! It was fast!”

“Is that so, sounds fine. …Jin, she is?”

Martha also looked at Mine and asked who she was.

“Martha-san, I presume. My name is Mine. I’m Elsa’s mother. Thank you for taking care of Elsa.”

Next to her, Elsa also bowed her head.

“Huh, so you’re Elsa-chan’s mother. You certainly look similar. But you don’t look like Jin, do you?”

“Well, the truth is…”

Mine explained his relation with Jin to Martha too.

Meanwhile, Hannah brought the basket of Citran to the kitchen, then turned to Jin who went there with her and,

“Can I eat one?”

She asked with upturned eyes. Jin smiled and nodded.

“Hooray~! Then, I’ll peel one for granny too!”

Hannah said and began peeling the Citran. The ripened Citran’s skin peeled off easily even in Hannah’s hands.

After quickly peeling one she took it and went to where Martha was.

“Granny, here, a souvenir!”

Martha and Mine had been talking about some things but when Hannah called out they looked at her.

“Hannah, what’s this?”

“It’s a very delicious fruit, you know!”

“Is that so, thank you. …Uh huh, it is delicious indeed.”

“Right? We brought a lot so we can eat them later too!”

Hannah said and returned to the kitchen.

“What a good child, isn’t she.”

Mine said a few words while watching her go.

“Uh huh, I think she doesn’t look bad either, but if she stays in this village she’ll probably just end up like me.”

Martha looked a little regretful. When she heard that, Mine began pondering a little.