May 3460.

"Come on, Mio, this way!"

"Come on, Yu, come here, come here."

In the meadow in the village of Kaina, Jin and Erza were letting Yu and Mio play.

They are not yet one year old and can only waddle around.

Their faltering steps as they walked on the young grass toward their parents were nothing short of smiling.

"Aboooo!"

"Duh!"

The grass is so soft that even if I fall down, it won't hurt, and with Elsa around, I can quickly heal any scratches I might have.

The early May sun was still soft, making it a perfect day to play outside.

"Oh, Mi-"

"Oh, Mio wins!"

Mio jumped into Jin's arms a second faster than Chloe.

"Woo!"

Chloe also jumped into Erza's arms.

Chloe is a blonde with light blue eyes, just like Elsa. Mio had dark eyes and black hair just like Jin.

"Hey, little girl, it's almost time to eat, okay?"

"Oh, is it that time already?"

Thanks to Hannah who came to call them, Jin and Erza, who had been preoccupied with playing with them, realized that it was lunch time.

"Oh, you're back. Hey!"

Saki, who was visiting the village of Kaina, spotted them and waved from the dining room window.

"Hey Saki, sorry to keep you waiting."

"Yes, I'm here. You've been waiting a long time.

I'm sorry. But Saki came back earlier than expected, didn't she?

Saki had gone to the mountains this morning to look for rare materials with Hannah's help. Of course, using a golem horse.

"Yes. That horse is good. Even I could easily make the rounds in the backcountry.

"So, did you find anything?"

Saki smiled at Jin's question.

"Well, I'm glad you asked. Look at this!

Saki took out a bag from under her feet and laid it on the table, which looked like some kind of ore.

"This one is silver ore and this one is zinc ore. This one is silver and this one is zinc, which means there is a high possibility to develop the mine!"

"Oh, Saki, don't put rocks on the table where we are going to have lunch, okay?

Martha brought a pot and chided Saki with a wry smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll clean it up right away!"

Saki hurriedly put the ore in her bag.

Hannah wiped the table without saying a word. Martha put the pot down with a thud.

"Jin taught me how to make oden!　Take the plate in your hand and eat as much as you like. ...... Oh, and Saki, go wash your hands again."

"Yes, sir!"

Martha told Saki, and Saki hurried out of the diner to wash her hands.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Even though it was May, oden was still delicious in the high latitudes of Kaina village.

"Oh, this is delicious!

Saki had a chikuwabu and seemed to like it.

I like this!

Hannah is eating a kelp roll.

"I like this one!"

Martha seems to like hanpen.

"I like this dipping sauce soaked daikon radish.

Jin ate the daikon while letting it cool because he has a cat tongue.

I like tsumire.

Erza seemed to prefer tsumire.

Chloe and Mio were happy to have Reiko and Anne feed them Persica and Apurul paste as baby food now.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

After the meal, we had a leisurely chat.

Chloe and Mio are now hungry and it's time for a nap. Elsa and Anne are with them.

"How is Saki?　I haven't seen her recently, is she busy?"

Jin asked.

"Yes, you are busy. I've been asked by the government to develop a new material.

"Really? What kind of material?"

"It's a light buffer material. It's supposed to be used for hot air balloons and the like.

"Lightweight, huh? ......"

Percha rubber and natural rubber are already available, and it is becoming common knowledge among some alchemists that the hardness of rubber can be changed by adjusting the amount of sulfur in the mixture.

However, rubber is <.

This is not a problem for ground use, but for hot air balloons, ship seats, etc., lightweight materials are required.

The specific gravity of rubber is about 0.9 to 1.2, depending on the type (some are heavier than others). In other words, it is almost the same as water, and some even sink.

"I'm wondering if we can do something good with the Maggi polyethylene we developed before."

"That would be great."

Polyethylene has a specific gravity of about 0.9 to 0.97 (depending on density). However, it absorbs very little water and is not easily affected by humidity.

The physical properties of magi polyethylene are the same as those of ordinary polyethylene. However, when it is reinforced with magic power, its durability is dramatically increased.

"I wish we could make it as scabrous as goulashvam," he says.

"Oh, a foam material!"

Hannah, who was listening to the conversation beside me, said.

"Oh, yes. I want to make a foam material.

Saki replies.

"I thought we could melt it and mix it with air. ......"

"Saki, why don't you try applying pressure?"

"What?"

"This is just my imagination, but we can put pressure on the melted Maggi polyethylene and then put it back together. I think that would create a lot of bubbles like soda water.

"That's it!"

Saki clapped her hands happily.

"If we use a pressure cooker, we can do the experiment!"

Saki was about to run to the warp gate when Jin grabbed her by the shoulder and stopped her.

"Wait. ...... you've come here to rest after a long day of work, right?　I can forgive you for looking for minerals, but you're going to stay here for the rest of the day.

"Ugh ...... Jin, you're killing ...... me, let me go home ......."

"No... no..."

Hannah consoled Saki, who sank to her knees.

"Saki, cheer up. I'll show you the way to the east forest this time."

Saki's face lit up at those words.

"The east forest......is where there are a lot of trees, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Hannah, please show us the way!

So Saki and Hannah set off for the eastern forest.

Jin ordered Golem Gon, the guardian of the village of Kaina, to guard them.