"Jin, look at this!　<!　That's very rare!"

Saki, who was looking through the inventory, shouted out.

"Mercury?"

Jin was also surprised. He had never seen mercury outside of Horai Island, although it was used in the mercury thermometer in Capricorn 1.

Either the production area is limited, or the existence of mercury itself is unknown.

Jin thought it might be both.

Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature, and is mainly produced as cinnabar (sulfide) or natural mercury (solid).

When gold is dissolved in mercury and heated, only the mercury evaporates, leaving the gold, which was used for gold plating in ancient times.

However, this method is not used today because it produces toxic mercury vapor and causes heavy metal pollution.

Note that although metallic mercury has a high boiling point, air saturated with mercury vapor contains several times the amount that is toxic.

As someone who has worked with metals, Jin knew this much. ......

"I wonder what kind of use is being made of it?"

Jin was concerned, "I hope it is not used in a dangerous way.

"I'm also interested in this. <

"Heh..."

As they say, different things come from different places, and the western side of the Hariri Desert was a different kind of environment.

"I wonder if alum is used in pickles to improve the color of eggplant or to reduce body odor. ......

This knowledge was like a piece of wisdom from my grandmother.

Since there seems to be very little aluminum in this world, alum containing aluminum must be rare.

Although it is now chemically synthesized, until recently it was mined in Beppu and Myoban hot springs in Oita Prefecture.

It is said that it is now being mined in Mitsuho as well.

"I hear it is used for dyeing."

Saki was interested in the alum, though she did not know much about it other than that it was used for color fixing, since cotton was the main fabric used for clothes.

I'd love to have this alum!"

Other items of interest were <> and <>.

"Hmmm, I guess must have been from the same town as me, and must have been a chemist."

Jin is getting more and more curious about this.

"But ......"

There is one contradiction that Jin is struggling with.

"I can't connect it with magical engineering. ......

If Shuki Tsetsi is related to Adriana Barbora Tsetsi, there is a discrepancy.

In Jin's image, Shuki Tsetsi is a chemical engineer and Adriana Barbora Tsetsi is a magical engineer.

Considering the fact that Adriana lived alone on what is now Horai Island, it is highly possible that Shuki Tsetsi is older than Adriana.

If so, could he be her father?　If so, I feel that there is too little knowledge of chemistry in the inheritance from Adriana.

"...... still not enough information?"

If we were talking about a puzzle, we would say that there are not enough pieces and we cannot see the picture.

"I wonder if there is anything left in the north ......."

Jin was still concerned about the northern area.

* * * *

The night goes on peacefully.

After eating dinner and taking a bath, we all had a chat.

"Brother Jin, I borrowed this.

When Elsa finally returned from the bath, she was holding a small box in her hand.

When she passed by the lobby, one of the staff members recommended this kind of game to her.

She forgot to ask how to play and just took it.

"Here."

Jin picked up the box.

"...... Hanafuda?"

He thought it was playing cards, but it turned out to be Hanafuda.

He took out an extra cushion and scattered them on it.

Although the patterns are simplified, it is still a Hanafuda card. The director of the school taught me how to play it, and Jin remembers how to play it.

"......, but it looks like it was drawn from memory. ......"

I wonder if this is also brought by <>.

Hanafuda cards are made up of four cards of different value, with a different theme for each season from January to December, and each month is represented by only a picture from 1 to 12. Hanafuda is a Japanese card game that has been played since around the Edo period (1603-1867).

(I heard that there was a theory that it was created because the shogunate forbade playing card gambling. ......)

) But the origin of the game is not important. With Hannah's eyes shining, Jin started to explain the game to her, saying that he had to teach her how to play.

"We divide the months of January through December by pattern. Remember that first. January is pine trees, February is plum blossoms, and March is cherry blossoms. ......"

"I see, that's why they are called cards, isn't it?"

"Jin-bro, the monk in August and the rain in November are not flowers, right?"

Saki was impressed and Erza asked the same question that anyone would ask.

"Yeah, August is probably the . But isn't the moon more impressive?　Where I come from, the moon is commonly compared to the head of a monk.

November is probably willow, but rain is more common, Jin adds.

"I'm not that familiar with it myself. So, there are 20 sentences, 10 sentences, 5 sentences, and the scum, and I need you to memorize this one too. ......"

"Yes, I memorized it!"

Hannah was the first to learn it. Then Elsa and Saki learned it, too.

"All right, let's try the easiest one, the one with no hand, the bakakka. It's called "hand seven field six. ......"

Jin explained the rules.

"In the case of four players, the players can decide whether to play or not, starting with the player with the highest hand. In the end, three players play. In this case, the player with the highest hand has the right to play the first hand. The next one is called chuya, and the last one is called bike.

The rules are quite local, but Jin taught the rules he knew to everyone.

"Turn over the cards in the deck in order, and if the moon matches the card in the deck, the card is yours.

"Let's try ...... once, shall we?"

Jin looked at the cards in everyone's hands and explained them to them, while the three women played.

"Well, I understand much better now. In other words, if there is a card of the same month as the card in hand on the table, you can take it. If not, you have to discard it."

"At ......, you turn over a card in the pile, and the card that appears there determines whether or not you get another card in the field."

"Yes, yes. Good memory. Let's try the real thing, shall we?

"Up. ......, let's see, 85 points."

"Hannah, when we play hanafuda, we call it 85 sentences. I'm full of 80 sentences, so Saki's 75 sentences is 5 sentences less than me. That's a short win for Hannah.

"Brother Jin, what do you mean by <>?"

Erza tilted her head.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You see, every five-sentence bill has a <> on it.　That's why a five-sentence bill is also called a bill. That's why it's called ."

"...... interesting."

"Okay, so Hannah's the parent, she's going to cut the cards. ...... mix them up and then deal them out."

"Yes!"

Hannah cut the cards with great dexterity, and dealt them correctly in hand seven, place six, although it was a little too much for her small hands.

"Okay, I won't lose this time!"

"...... Saki, I won't lose either."

"I'm out. I'm getting out.

When a player is dealt a bad hand, the right to exit the game goes to the player with the best hand first, and then to the player with the worst hand. If the dealer's hand is not good, the next player in position has the right to get out of the game.

"All right, here we go!"

"Wow, Hannah, you took the ticket I wanted to get!"

"...... woke up."

"Elsa, you're up!"

When I say awake, I mean that when I turned over the pile, it was just in front of me.

"......, this time I win by 20 sentences."

"Hmmm, next time!　Elsa, please distribute them quickly!"

The players lost track of time and enjoyed playing hanafuda (Japanese playing cards).

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

"Erza-sama, it's morning. Please wake up."

Edgar's voice wakes me up.

"I'm ...... sleepy."

Erza rubs her eyes and lazily pulls herself up from the covers.

She had played Hanafuda (Japanese playing cards) until after midnight last night, so she was a little sleep deprived.

"Saki-sama, please wake up."

"......, mmm, a little more ......."

Next to me, Saki had pulled up the covers and was about to fall asleep.

"Hey, girls!　It's morning!"

Hannah, who had fallen asleep before midnight, was the only one who hadn't had enough sleep, and she was full of energy in the morning.