"I see, this is good."

Jin muttered as he examined the ground.

On March 4, Jin, together with Erza, Licia, and others, had come to the Demon Territory...... or <>.

It was to send Zion and Marikka, whom he had invited to the Dolls' Festival the previous day, on their way.

Or, more precisely, to observe the paving method of the <>.

"Hey, it's nice."

"You don't have to be so hard on yourself, Zion, it wasn't your idea."

Now Jin, together with Zion and Zion's mother, Rorona of Morura, had come to the village square.

"But I was surprised. I thought you knew everything.

"That's not true. There are many things in this world that I don't know.

You are very humble.

"More importantly, how to pave this place ......"

I happened to mention in front of Zion and Maricka that a road was going to run through to the village of Lycia and that it would be nice if it was paved,

He muttered something along the lines of "It would be nice to pave it.　"Can't you just put gravel on the road and pave it?"

I heard Zion say,

"Well, if you put crushed gravel on the ground and push it into the ground, it will harden. I don't know why ......."

I don't know why," I heard Maricka say.

I know a lot about making things, but I'm an amateur in the field of civil engineering.

Lorona explains to me. She had some background in civil engineering as well as agriculture.

"This pavement is made by breaking rocks, scattering the broken stones, and then hardening them.

Lorona thought and thought as she explained.

"Well, I heard from an older colleague that when the crushed stones are pushed together, they engage tightly with each other due to friction or something.

It is said that water is sometimes sprinkled on the stones.

This method corresponds to what is known as "macadam paving" in modern Japan. It was often used before and during the war.

This method is effective because there are no heavy trailers, trucks, or dump trucks running on the road.

"I see, I get it."

Jin thought that if he named this method and spread the word about what he had learned from the northerners, it would be a good opportunity for them to be accepted.

"Licia, this is going to be useful, isn't it?"

"Yes, yes, yes!

It would have been nice if we could have brought Princess Rieschen with us, but it was not possible.

Since Reiko is with her, the information has been sent to the old man.

We'll have to try it out at Horai Island or Kunlun Island soon.

"Are you leaving already?"

Theon says in a frustrated tone.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll come back later.

He had reached the end of his rope with Lysia.

"I'm sorry.

Jin drove Licia back to Toka village by .

* * * * * * * * * * *

......Spring is almost here.

"Hmm."

Jin and Erza took a walk in the village of Kaina.

There were still patches of frozen snow here and there in the shade, but the roads and fields were already covered with soil.

The green buds of wheat were beginning to grow, indicating that spring was definitely on its way.

"There was also a lot of snow in the snow room."

Elsa had looked in the snow room.

"It's been a long time since I've been so relaxed."

"Yes. ......"

The two of them walked slowly through the village, stopping to greet the villagers as they waved back.

The sky was blue, the wind was still cold, but the sun was warm.

"Really, we're taking it easy today.

I had been somewhat busy for the past half month or so, taking care of all the various things I had to do.

"Oh, mommy, Elsa!"

Hannah, who had gone to the bank of the Ermee River to pick newly sprouted mugwort, came back with a basket in her arms.

"Look, there are so many!

"Oh, my gosh!"

Last year, when he took Hannah to visit other ethnic groups, Jin found wormwood in the town of Ismar and made grass cakes with it.

Hanna remembered this and found out that wormwood was also found in Kaina village, so she picked it up.

Of course, we have confirmed that it is non-toxic.

"All right, we can make rice cakes with this.

They rent a kitchen at Martha's house and start to make grass cakes.

The recipe for the grass cakes that Jin made in Ismar is as follows,

1. boil the washed wormwood. Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of baking soda.

2. Soak the boiled mugwort in cold water and grind it in a mortar.

3. Knead up the rice flour and boil it in hot water.

4. Mix the ground mugwort with the flour in a mortar and pestle.

5. roll the dumplings into pieces and eat them with soybean flour or sweet bean paste.

The process is as follows.

The dumplings will not be ready in time for lunch, but they are good enough for a 3 o'clock snack.

Elsa is boiling red bean paste and Reiko is making soybean flour.

After eating lunch while the red bean paste was cooling down, Jin and the others continued to prepare the Kusamochi.

And then...

"Oh, this smells so good, Jin!"

Martha, who had never tasted grass rice cake before, also liked it.

"It's delicious, Jin-sama!"

Erza's mother, Meene, said the same thing.

"I also like it with honey and yellow powder on it!

Hannah is also enjoying the cake.

It is the greatest joy for the bakers to see their customers eating them with such relish.

"I'll make some at Nido Castle and give them out to everyone.

Jin then thinks about spreading the Kusamochi in the village of Kaina.

"Brother Jin, if we don't eat them soon, they will be gone."

"Oops."

The rice cakes were well received and there were only a few left in the pile.

Jin hurriedly put the one with red bean paste in his mouth.

The aroma of mugwort filled his mouth.

"I'm so happy right now. ......"

Jin is deeply moved as he watches Hannah eat the Kusamochi.

Erza, who is sitting next to him, leans her shoulder against him.

(Hopefully, this small happiness will last as long as possible.)

A single white cloud was flowing in the sky of Kaina village.