"No, it's fine.

Hannah replied in a nonchalant manner to Jin, who was apologizing for not celebrating her birthday with her head down on her knees.

She told him that in the village of Kaina, it was not customary to celebrate birthdays.

The only simple celebration is when a person turns 15 years old.

"...... but I'm sorry, Hannah."

Jin knows the loneliness of such a birthday celebration more than anyone else, since he himself did not receive many birthday celebrations in his former world. That is why he could not forgive himself for being so careless.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"

"Okay, sweetie."

After explaining to Hanna what he was doing and where he was going, Jin left the village of Kaina with a sense of regret.

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

Erza welcomed Jin back to the Kingdom of Selroa.

"Welcome back. A little while ago, I received a message that the raw materials for the wine had arrived.

The timing seemed to be just right.

The two finished their lunch and went to the designated laboratory.

"Welcome, Mr. Jin, Miss Elsa.

They were greeted by Mr. Latant, Director General of the First Ministry of Technology. At first glance, he appeared to have a kindly appearance, but his gray eyes were sharp.

"I just received this. These are the herbs used in the wine.

In front of Latant were nearly ten ...... herbs, nine to be exact. Three of them are aromatic.

This one is mint. This is jhanji, and this is ramong bark."

Jin looked at the jhanji, wondering what it was, and saw that it looked just like twisted ginger. Perhaps it was ginger.

（Mint is mint, itself. Ramon peel......Oh, they use the peel of a lemon-like fruit.)

"...... this is lavandula. That's pelargo."

Some of the plants were unknown to Jin, but Elsa seemed to know them.

And the ninth.

"...... Eryx," she said.

Latant had never seen this plant before. Of course, Jin and Elsa had never seen it either.

"This is suspicious, isn't it?"

The other herbs and medicinal plants were known, common and non-toxic.

"<>"

Elsa examined the leaves of the plant called .

"......This is probably it."

The leaves contained a large amount of the same substance that had been found in the brain and internal organs of Richard the Great when he had been examined.

"Hmm, <>, huh? Are you sure?"

"Yes. Eighteen or nine out of ten.

Since Elsa had examined and treated the previous king, Latant trusted her for the time being.

"So, do you think we should put some restrictions on this plant?"

"I think so. However, there is a fine line between poison and medicine.

"Hmm. ......"

Latant ponders over Erza's comment. In the meantime, Jin also checks up on Eriks with . I have Reiko and Edgar do the same.

In this way, we will be able to obtain information on Eriks, which will be useful in various ways in the future.

It was decided that further investigation would be left to the professional staff, and Jin and Erza were released.

"I don't think there is anyone who can investigate this more than your father and Elsa-san.

Reiko said firmly as she returned to her room.

"Oh, thank you, Reiko. Well, I guess this country has its pride.

But I've got information on the drug's composition.

I see. Reiko, please pass on the information about the Eriks to the old man.

Yes, sir.

Thus, another important piece of information was stored in Horai Island.

Jin and Erza spent the rest of the day relaxing, and when dusk was approaching, they received a call from the old man.

"What is it, what happened?"

<

The old man started to report.

* * * * * *

On the morning of the 6th, the information that Oranje was at Fort Crau on the frontier was brought to the command of the partisan liberation army.

Since the command was busy following up the replaced king, they decided to leave the matter to the local branch.

Pigeons were sent for communication and the head of the Southeastern Branch of the Liberation Army (partisans) started to work.

"I'm going to draw out Oranje, the wicked vassal holed up in Fort Crow!"

The Southeast Branch chief, a rather radical man, headed for the fort himself with 30 men under his command.

While the afternoon sun was still high in the sky, they saw the fort.

"So that's Fort Crau. It's a small fort.

The area of the fort was roughly 50 meters square, which was not a large fort.

"How to attack ......"

The head of the southeastern partisan branch of the Liberation Army is not a military man. He has no experience in sieges.

"Let's start with a golem as a small measure. ......"

The partisans have dozens of golems provided by their supporters, both for combat and for miscellaneous use. He had brought several of them with him.

"Let's send out two of them first and see what happens."

At the order of the branch manager, the two combat golems with hammers in their hands advance forward. They head straight for the fort.

The two golems arrive in front of the outer wall that surrounds the fort. The two golems aim their hammers at the gate in front of the fortress.

Two blows, three blows, and still the door is not distorted.

The door is still intact. It seems to be made of sturdy metal.

Keep going!

After four or five ...... dozen blows, the hammer finally breaks .......

"What?

The door is so strong that the steel hammer broke first. The branch manager was no soldier, but he was no fool either.

"Pull them back!"

He realized that attacking in the dark would not help.

"Report to the command center. This is not a fortress that one branch can handle."

He then decided to send out an emergency pigeon. There was still some time before dusk, and he thought that the pigeons would be able to reach the headquarters by the end of the day.

"Fall back one kilometer!"

He then retreated with 30 of his men and decided to watch the fort from a distance.

* * * * *

.

The old man finished his explanation.

"Well, it is a fortress from the time of the Great Magic War, so I wonder if its defense is incomparably stronger than it is now.

"What? ......"

But it is possible. It is not surprising that such an alloy was developed 700 years after the time of Adriana Barbora Zetsi.

And after the magic war, with the decline of the population, it is likely that it has been forgotten, just like other technologies.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see until there is a major movement. ......"

A tired-looking Jin let out a single loud sigh.

Even Jin is not omniscient. Nor is he so arrogant as to think that he can make the world go round by himself.

"But what is the best thing ......?"

Jin had no one to tell him. Erza, too, remains silent, pondering.

This could be called a compromise, but it sounded like the best plan to Jin.

"Yes, let's do that.