"Yes, smile ......OK"

September 21 was Vivian's birthday.

The whole , including Milowina and Martha, had gathered on Horai Island.

Jin is taking a commemorative photo with his newly completed camera.

First, a group photo of all the members. Edgar is pressing the shutter.

"Say cheese."

"Cheese."

"One plus one?"

"Two!"

As they exchange these words, Jin now begins to take portraits of each one of us.

Edgar and Reiko are given cameras as well, and they are allowed to take relatively free snapshots.

The <>, which he received from No. 700672, is similar to an instant camera and produces a picture as soon as it is picked up. However, it does not have a negative, so it is difficult to make prints.

However, the <> developed by Jin was a so-called (=slide photograph) made of a transparent base material impregnated with , and the idea was to use this film to make additional prints.

Therefore, the number of people in the group would be increased as soon as the film was re-burned.

Moreover, since it was done with <> and not <>, there was a big advantage of not needing a darkroom.

"Wow, this is fantastic!

"It looks so real!"

"It's not a picture, it's a ...... picture!"

"It's great that we can document it together like this."

They were all surprised and pleased.

"Jin, this is very versatile, isn't it?"

Marcia asked.

"Such as?"

"For example, it would be useful to keep a record of the production process so that I can teach it to my students.

"Yes, there are technical uses."

Rodrigo agreed with Marcia's words.

"Yes, but it's nice to be able to keep a record of the children.

Reinhardt showed his parental foolishness.

"Yes. Even in my former world, parents kept records of their children's growth like that ......."

"......"

Erza sensed the slight sadness on Jin's face when he said that, and gently took his hand in hers without saying a word.

"I'll develop a personalized version, just give me a minute.

But Jin didn't show any such sign and explained cheerfully.

"I'm looking forward to it. I'm counting on you, Jin.

I'll take care of it."

And now a few of us took pictures of the group.

"Hannah, line up next to Martha."

"Yes!　Then I want to take a picture with you and your sister.

"Luis, hold Beena by the waist. ......

"Hey, I'm a little embarrassed."

"Come on, Saki and Goose, get tight."

"Come on, get close to me. ......"

Bertje, snuggle up to Reinhardt. ...... yes, yes, yes."

"Come on, Mr. Toa, don't be shy, put your hands on your wife's shoulders."

Like this?

Marcia, come closer to Mr. Rodrigo.

"Yes, ...... more?"

Marcia?

I'm just kidding, Dad.

I'm just kidding, Dad." * * * *

After a great deal of fuss, everyone is finally satisfied.

"Oh, this has been such a fun birthday! Thank you, Mr. Jin.

Vivian said.

"No, what?"

Jin answered while scratching his head and held out a small package.

"Happy birthday, Vivian."

"Thank you, Jin-kun."

Vivian accepted the package, and judging by its weight and shape, as well as by the birthdays of the other members who had attended the party,

"This is the ...... clock, right?　Thank you!"

He had guessed exactly what was in the watch.

"I'll take good care of it."

Vivienne said to Jin with a big smile when she opened the package and confirmed that it was a pocket watch.

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

The birthday celebration was drawing to a close.

"Hey, did you find out anything about that ?

Vivian asked.

"Yeah, a little. We're all here today, so I thought we could talk about it later.

"Oh!　Then I'd like to hear about it right away.

Toa said with great enthusiasm, and the other members agreed.

"Okay. Well, some of you may not know what's going on. ......"

Jin began by telling the story of how the Land team had found a mysterious substance during their investigation of <>.

"It was a molecularly compressed azurite ...... lead ore."

Jin then explained that even the old man couldn't guess more than that because of the lack of original information, and that he went to No. 7006 to report the marriage as well. I explain that I went to No. 700672 to report my marriage.

"Planet modification ......?"

"I didn't know that was possible ......."

Everyone seemed surprised.

"Can Jin do it too?"

"No, I don't think so.

"<> ......"

And then, each of them was filled with emotion, ruminating over what they had heard.

"So, why is there so little free magic element (ether) in the south?"

Goose asks.

"No, I didn't ask that. Maybe, but I don't think 700672 knows either.

He even said that he didn't have any information before the 500000 series.

"I guess you'll have to find that out for yourself."

"I see. So the fleet just kept going, right?　What happened?

"Oh, that's what I was going to tell you."

After a pause, Jin began to speak.