Magi Craft Meister

Magi Craft Meister 588

18 Further Progress Arc

18-08 Sightseeing on Blueland

"There you are."

Jin, Elsa, Reiko, and Edgar walked out of Earl Kuzuma's residence and met Regulus 5 (Beat) on the outskirts of the aristocratic district.

Jin and Elsa were planning to do a little sightseeing around Blueland. Regulus 5 would be acting as their tour guide.

On this occasion, Beat was dressed like a wealthy merchant. There was an entire district in Blueland that would house such wealthy people.

He had dark blond hair and gray eyes. Ordinary features for discreet activities.

"Okay, show us around, Beat."

"Let's go."

The five of them began their leisurely walk around town. The passers-by they came across were dressed in autumn attire, creating a serene atmosphere.

"The people here have a good sense of design… Oh?"

Elsa was drawn in by the clothing of a certain passer-by.

The woman was wearing a dark navy dress and a slightly darkened yellow cardigan, which was fairly standard. But what stood out the most was the scarf wrapped around her collar.

This scarf was different from anything Elsa had ever seen.

Its fabric was rainbow-colored. Whether it was dyed or woven like that, it was certainly eye-catching.

"That's the rainbow dye that's in vogue these days."

Its color would change depending on the surrounding lighting. More than iridescence, its rainbow coloring made it look like it was shining like an opal.

"It looks like a pearl that is constantly changing colors…"

Jin muttered that, but he noticed that Elsa was still following the woman with her eyes.

"Elsa, would you like a scarf like that?"

"Huh? Ah, no…"

Elsa's words said now, but her sideway glancing eyes were saying otherwise.

"Beat, can you take us to a store that sells those?"

"Yes, please follow me."

Beat already knew exactly where to take them, and escorted Jin and Elsa to a certain clothing store.

"Welcome. How can I help you?"

They were soon met by a lady clerk in her mid-twenties.

"We're looking for rainbow-colored things. Do you have any scarves like that?"

"Sure! Right away, sir."

The clerk then retreated to the back and returned immediately with several scarves.

"This is this year's trend. These are quite popular with young people…"

She then laid out the scarves she had brought with her over the desk. Plain ones like the one the woman from earlier was wearing and light colored ones with patterns. All of them had a subtle rainbow coloring that would change depending on the lighting conditions of the room.

(Hmm, the fabric is silk, isn't it? And the pigment… has large particles. More like dyeing, it looks as if it's been painted over.)

Jin secretly analyzed them with Engineering Magic. Elsa, on the other hand, was looking at the scarf Jin had picked up.

"I think that'll look great on you."

Elsa wasn't wearing her usual bright green one-piece. Since the autumn days had started to get chilly, she was instead wearing a long-sleeved, ankle-long, dark purple dress, and a beige hat. Though it wasn't chilly enough for her to consider wearing a cardigan.

The rainbow-dyed scarf that Jin had chosen had a light-blue base coloring.

The reason for his pick was that, to him, it somehow matched the autumn sky.

"You think? Let me try it on then…"

Elsa then wrapped the scarf around her neck.

"Oh, yes. It does suit you very well."

The clerk nodded as if trying to say that it was as if the scarf had been made especially for Elsa.

When Jin offered to pay for the scarf, Elsa hesitated a bit at first, but eventually gave up and accepted his offer.

The scarf had cost 3,500 tolls, which was roughly 35,000 yen……approximately 35,000 yen. Jin has no idea if it had been expensive or cheap for a scarf, but considering the uniqueness of the dyeing process, he figured the price might have been reasonable.

"Thank you, Brother Jin."

As he was about to leave the store, Jin caught a glimpse of a scarf that seemed to be made of wool. It was light brown in color and seemed to be very soft to the touch.

"Oh, this one looks good too."

Jin quickly bought this scarf as well. It cost 1,200 tolls.

"Here you go, Reiko."

"Father? I…"

Jin interrupted Reiko, who was about to say something, and continued.

"I know you're not cold. But I still think this would look nice on you as you walk with us around the city."

"…Thank you very much."

Elsa then turned towards Reiko.

"Brother Jin is so kind, isn't he, Reiko?"

"Yes……"

Reiko's black dress and white apron matched well with the bright brown scarf.

And Elsa was also looking very cheerful with her new scarf around her neck.

"So, where should we go next?"

"Let's see.. How about a store that sells daily necessities?"

Jin was also interested in seeing the daily necessities because they would reflect the people's level of culture and lifestyles.

"In that case, there's a good place this way."

Beat guided them to a large hardware store, which seemed to deal in both Magic Tools and regular appliances.

"Oh, they have refrigerators."

The initial design, which had looked like a rugged square, had been slightly rounded around the edges. Its price had also dropped to 8,000 tolls… which was equivalent to around 80,000 yen.

"Oh, this is a Magic Tool made by Lady Beana, who is Earl Kuzuma's soon-to-be wife. This refrigerator is our top selling item at the moment."

The store clerk began to show them some more products.

"And this lighter. And this water heater. This over here is an electric kettle. All of these were made by Lady Beana."

Beana seemed to have made quite a good reputation for herself. She had continued to develop Magic Tools even after the Golem Party.

Shortly after that, Jin and Elsa left the hardware store after shaking off the clerk -who was adamantly trying to sell them a refrigerator- with the excuse that they were traveling.

"Hmm, what is that?"

A familiar-looking interior that was under construction in a vacant lot in town had drawn their attention. A flat stone floor with a square recess…

"It's a public bath that uses hot springs. It's an ongoing project that Beana proposed, and with Earl Kuzuma's recommendation, Duke Blue began the construction of this place."

So not only would they have their own hot-springs bath at home, but Earl Kuzuma and Beana were also working to make them accessible to the general public. Jin thought this was a very good move in terms of welfare for the residents.

"Now, where shall we go for lunch?"

"If I may suggest a place…"

As Beat was about to take them somewhere, the sharp sighted Elsa spotted one particular market stall.

A certain scent was in the air.

"…Popcorn, huh?"

More like vegetable oil, it smelled like it was being made with butter. Feeling nostalgic, Jin headed to the stall.

"Welcome!"

Since the customer base was a little different from outside the castle walls, where Beana had once set up her own shop, this place had a slightly high-class feeling to it.

The popcorn maker also looked really elegant, and instead of popcorn cups made out of tree leaves, this place used ones made with paper-thin wood sheets.

The price per serving here was 20 tolls as opposed to the 5 tolls it would normally cost outside the walls. It was only natural since this place used butter, which was regarded as a high-class ingredient, more appealing to the wealthy people that resided within the castle walls.

"Yeah, it really is much better with butter, huh?"

"So tasty…"

Jin bought two, one for Elsa and one for himself, and had started snacking on it while walking. Compared to vegetable oil, popcorn made with butter was much tastier.

"Should we sit down at a stall while we're here?"

Jin suggested they sit at a spit-roasting stall he found, and Elsa happily tagged along. He then ordered two things that looked a lot like hot dogs, one for each of them.

"Oh, this is very good."

The meat, which was sandwiched between two halves of bread, had a texture similar to bacon, and although it wasn't exactly a sausage, it had a perfectly balanced flavor.

Elsa seemed to like it too, and ate it up in no time.

"Here you go, Father. …Elsa."

After they were done eating, Reiko had brought a glass of juice for each of them. The thoughtful Reiko seemed to have bought them while they were distracted eating.

"Ah, thank you, Reiko. …Mmm, this is good too."

"Delicious."

It was a fruit flavored juice. It seemed to be a mixture of citran, applue, and others.

"So, what's next…?"

"I'd like to try that."

Elsa pointed at a boiled ear of corn.

"Okay, let's have one of those too."

Thus Jin and Elsa enjoyed sightseeing.

"So, what about the gift?"

The current time was around 2:00 PM.

Jin had instructed Laojun to send the parcel over later. However…

"Father, I received a call from Laojun. He said that he has already sent it to your room in the residence of Earl Kuzuma via transfer machine."

"Is that so?"

Jin was impressed by Laojun's preparedness. The Covert Units Lily and Rose should be watching over that room, so there should be no problem to have the gift already been sent while Jin was away.

The gift had already been sent over, and Laojun had sent them their formal clothes as well, so there was no need to worry about that either.

"Then, should we do a little more sightseeing around Blueland?"

"Yeah!"

And so, Jin and Elsa's return to Earl Kuzuma's residence waited until the sun had started to set.