The car carrying Jin and his group continued on its way.

As the sun began to set, they saw what looked like a block of rock in their path.

"Oh?　That's ......."

It looked like a building.

As I got closer, I could see that it appeared to be a building.

"Is it made of stone and then piled up with more stones?

It looks like a small rocky hill. The group stops the car and looks at it.

It is about the size of a two-story house, standing against the dusk sky. The entrance is wide open.

It looks like a large stone kamakura or igloo.

"Was this an old rest house, Jin?"

"Yes, I think Saki was right.

"Brother Jin, would you like to stay here for the night?"

"...... no, ...... not inside, no."

It seems to be well built, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep well in case it collapses while I'm sleeping.

"Oh?"

Saki, who was looking inside, seemed to have found something.

"Saki, what's wrong?"

"I think there's someone in ......."

"What?"

Jin also looked in the dark, and sure enough, he saw what appeared to be a human figure.

"I don't think it's dead. ......

"No, I think it is alive because it has a body temperature.

It was already dark and even darker inside, so Reiko, who had switched her vision to infrared mode for observation, must have been sure of what she was saying.

"...... Hey, are you alive?"

Saki called from the entrance.

The reply came in the form of a thin voice.

"Jin, you're definitely alive."

Saki stepped inside with Aaru.

Jin also went inside with Reiko. He ordered Reiko to observe the ceiling and, if the need arises, to put up a solid barrier to prevent it from collapsing.

"Brother Jin, aren't you too worried?"

Erza tells him, but Jin is not at ease unless he is thinking of all possible contingencies. After all, Saki, Erza, and Hannah all came inside.

In order to protect his precious , Jin puts himself aside and becomes cautious.

"Hello, can I help you?"

Saki calls out to the person. <

"......, you ......, you ......, you ......."

"What?"

"...... hehe ...... heh ...... heh ...... heh ...... heh ...... heh ...... heh ...... heh ...... heh ...... heh ...... heh ......

"What?"

Jin had the man taken outside because he felt uncomfortable in the artificial stone room.

He was dressed in clothes similar to those of Jin's group, but his face was somewhat similar to that of the residents of Mitsuho. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes.

Outside, the sun is setting and the stars are beginning to twinkle. The temperature is dropping.

"It's too cramped in the car. ...... what should we do?"

"Father, I'll tell the old man to send a tent for us.

In Penglai Island, materials are often temporarily stored outdoors, and tents of various sizes are available.

"Yes, let's do that. Let me send you a suitable sized one."

Two minutes later, a tent arrived.

It was not a camping tent, but a house-shaped tent, like the ones guests sit in at events.

It had a light silver frame and fabric made of ground spider.

It has walls as well as a roof, and is so comfortable that one can stand and walk inside.

The floor is covered with a thick mat with a buffer of goulashvam, so that it does not hurt to sleep on it.

"...... this is also ......"

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Saki is slightly stunned and Hannah's eyes light up.

"...... you have the same personality as my brother Jin, after all."

Erza sounded resigned.

"Come on, come on, let's go inside.

"Persica juice, I suppose, in times like this."

"Yeah."

After consulting with Elsa, Jin brought the man inside, took out a glass of Persica juice and offered it to him.

"...... can you drink it?"

The man gulped down the contents in one gulp. The way he drank it made me think that he would have drank it even if it had been poisoned.

"...... refill."

The man, feeling a little more energetic, asks for a refill. Jin laughed and poured him a second glass.

The man sighs deeply as he downs another glass of Persian juice.

"Thank you. ...... Who are you guys, by the way?

"There you go."

Saki, who had been watching him, burst out laughing.

I'm Jin Nido. This is Hannah and that is Erza. And the one laughing is Saki who found you.

"...... I see. My name is Goose Minakata. I'm a natural history major.

Goose introduced himself.

"Jin Nido, you say? Nido is the family name, is that correct?"

"Oh, yes, that's right."

To my surprise, this man, who introduced himself as Goose, not only pronounced the name "Jin Nido" natively, but also distinguished between his first and last name without fail.

"So, Mr. Nido, thank you for your help. Well, we went on a research trip to the Great Sahara Desert, but we ran out of food, so we finally came back here, but we couldn't eat or move for four days.

"It's a good thing we happened to be passing by, otherwise what would you have done?"

"I don't know. We would have dried up here ...... so thank you for your help.

Goose says something amazing without hesitation.

"I totally screwed up this time. I've already given up halfway and have no choice but to take responsibility for it."

"...... huh?"

He is a very strange man, Jin thought. I've never met anyone like him before.

"So, where did you guys come from and where are you going?"

"We're from a town called Miyako, and we're heading north."

Goose's face lit up at Jin's explanation.

"I see!　That's perfect. I know the way, and I can take you with me.　I know the way, and from the looks of it, you're not from <>, are you?"

Fusor?

"I knew it. You don't even know the name of the country. <, aren't you?

Goose's mind is not bad, apparently. He seems to have learned quite a bit in a short conversation.

"I don't know what your business is, but I like your spirit for the unknown.

When Goose had gotten to that point, Saki, who had been laughing and listening to him, spoke up.

"What's the big deal about a guy who almost died because of inadequate equipment?"

"Oh, come on."

The words were quite harsh, even for Saki.

"What?　Are you making fun of my pursuit of knowledge?

To which Guth replies.

"No!　I don't know who you are, but I don't like the way you talk down to Jin. I don't know who you are, but I don't like the way you talk down to Jin.

I've already said thank you.

You don't thank me like that, do you?

Hey, Saki!

Jin is surprised to see Saki's passionate reaction. Erza rolls her eyes too.

Don't fight, girl!

Hannah is also worried.

"Oh, I'm sorry, guys. I'm so angry. I'm sorry about that, ...... Minakata-sama."

Saki said and left the tent. Aru followed her.

"Erza, take care of this.

Concerned, Jin followed Saki out of the tent.