Magi Craft Meister

Magi Craft Meister 587

18　Further Progress Arc

18-07　Elsa And Jin

"Well, I'd love for us to keep on talking, but it's getting late, so what do you think about leaving things here for today?"

Earl Kuzuma sounded reluctant. The time was just a few minutes after 10 PM.

"And please let me apologize in advance. Tomorrow I'll be busy with the preparations for the ceremony, so I don't think I'll be able to join you for too long. I'm sorry."

"I understand. The wedding is the day after tomorrow, right? Don't worry about that, do what you have to do."

"Thank you. …Still I'm surprised that you came to visit us in a moment as auspicious as this."

"Well, I guess we were just lucky."

But the truth was that the Quinta Regulus 5 had caught wind of the news about the wedding and informed Jin about it, so it was no wonder that they had gone to visit Earl Kuzuma and Beana just at the right time.

"I think I should be able to join you for breakfast tomorrow, at the very least."

Jin and Elsa replied that they would look forward to that, and left the dining room to return to their rooms.

Earl Kuzuma offered to have a maid take them back to their rooms, but since they already knew the way there, they turned the offer down.

Reiko walked ahead of them, while Edgar followed behind them.

On the way, Elsa noticed that Jin's steps were a bit unsteady.

"Brother Jin, what's wrong?"

"…It seems I had too much wine."

His face had turned slightly pale.

"Are you okay, Father?"

Reiko had stopped to turn to Jin with a worried expression on her face.

"Y-Yeah… It's just that… it seems that now that my body is fully active, it's more prone to external stimuli… So I guess now it's easier for me to get drunk."

The unexpected drawbacks from the activation of Jin's cells had started to become apparent. Now that he was more susceptible to alcohol, it would be safe to assume that the resistance to poison he used to have would be gone as well.

"'Verheile'."

Elsa cast Healing Magic on Jin. It was the same spell she used on him back when he got carriage sickness. In addition to healing injuries, it also cures nausea, so it would help alleviate some of the dizziness he was feeling at the moment.

"…I'm feeling a bit better now. Thank you, Elsa."

"You're welcome."

The two of them smiled at each other. Seeing this, Reiko's face changed into an intricate expression that looked both happy and sad at the same time.

When they arrived at the guest room area, they were greeted by Barrow and Belle.

"Welcome home, Master Jin, Lady Elsa."

Instead of going to bed, they seemed to have decided to wait for Jin and Elsa.

"Ah, so you've been waiting for us. Thank you. But don't worry about us, please go get some rest."

After Jin said that, the two of them bowed and left.

"Very well, good night then."

"Good night."

Jin leaned back on the sofa in the living room and took a deep breath.

"Phew…"

A cup filled with water was brought before Jin.

"Here you go, Brother Jin."

"Ah, thank you, Elsa."

The thirsty Jin happily drank the water. It was exactly at the right chilly temperature that he liked.

"Oh, so refreshing. Thank you so much."

"Mm-hmm."

After taking the empty glass off Jin's hands, Elsa sat down on the chair opposite to Jin.

"Beana looks so beautiful… And quite elegant as well."

Elsa put together her words with deep emotion as she stared a little further into the distance.

"Yeah, she really has. It's all thanks to the Earl. Beana's manners training must have been quite intense."

Jin made a face that said "had it been me, I would certainly have not been able to teach her this well."

"Do you not like formalities, Brother Jin?"

"Thing is, back in my country, we didn't have anything like the nobles and commoners of this world. Of course, you had to mind your manners, but social standings played a rather small part in comparison to how things are here."

"…Oh, that sounds intriguing."

"Well, I'm probably dead back in my world, and it's not like I have any means to go back there, let alone take you with me…"

"…Yeah."

Elsa stood up, went around the table, and sat down next to Jin on the sofa.

"Elsa?"

"…I want to always be by your side, Brother Jin. …Will you let me?"

After saying that, Elsa, who had just sat down, jumped up and rushed into her room. Edgar followed suit.

Elsa's face was completely red, but Jin didn't notice.

"…Elsa?"

Jin, who still hadn't completely sobered up, stared blankly at the darkness outside the window, trying to figure out the meaning of what Elsa had just said, but Reiko's voice brought him back to reality.

"…Father."

"What's wrong, Reiko?"

This time, it was Reiko who sat next to Jin.

"…"

Without saying anything else, Reiko leant against Jin. Feeling Reiko's warmth, Jin continued to stare into the darkness of the night in silence.

"Autumn nights make us long for company". Those words had suddenly come to Jin's mind.

"Should we go to sleep?"

Jin also thought it was time to head to his own bedroom.

Several stars were beginning to twinkle in the sky, which had finally cleared up.

The next morning, after Earl Kuzuma apologized to Jin and the others for not being able to keep them company for much longer after breakfast since he had some preparations to do for the next day and Jin and the others replying that he shouldn't worry about it, the two returned to the guest room area.

"Barrow, Belle, like I said yesterday, you two are free to do as you please today. Is there anything you'd like to do?"

Half of the purpose for this trip was for Barrow and Belle to take a vacation after all.

"Yes, actually, we've become good friends with Lady Beana's younger siblings, so they're going to show us around Blueland today."

Beana's younger siblings used to help with cleaning the garden, but now that they're completely healthy, it looked like Nana was training to become a maid, and Raldo was training to become a butler.

Apparently, Barrow and Belle met them during dinner on the previous day and quickly became friends.

"I see, that sounds nice. Do take care."

"We will. Thank you."

Then they heard a knock on the door, and when Belle opened it, Nana and Raldo were standing there.

"It's big bro Jin! Good morning!"

"Oh, long time no see. You seem to be much better now!"

"Yes! Thank you very much for your help back then!"

Jin rejoiced at the reunion with the two, who had grown taller and looked much healthier than ever.

"I hear you're getting along well with Barrow and Belle."

"Yeah!"

Nana replied cheerfully. Barrow was 15, and Behle was 14. Nana and Raldo were both 12 years old. In a sense, it would be inevitable that they would become friends, considering the four of them were the only ones to be relatively close in age at the Earl's residence, which was full of adults.

"So you're going to show them around?"

"Yep!"

Jin smiled and took out four gold coins from his pocket.

"Then let me give each of you one of these. Here you go. Nana, Raldo, you can think of this as your payment for offering to show them around. Barrow, Belle, think of this as pocket money for you to spend however you want."

"But this…"

"Is this really ok?"

Jin handed over the gold coins to the hesitant Nana and Rald, almost pressing them into their hands.

"Thank you, Master Jin!"

Barrow and Belle, who were deeply aware of Jin's non-standard behavior, accepted the gold coins without question.

"Well, what should we do?"

After Barrow and the others left, Jin sat on the sofa and started thinking.

"Brother Jin, what are we going to do with the gift?"

The wedding gift that Jin had prepared for the next day was still on Hourai Island. Jin thought it would be a bother to be carrying it around with them, so he hadn't loaded it on the blimp.

"Hmm, I'll take care of that in the evening."

After hearing Jin's answer, Elsa made a proposal.

"…Then, why don't we take a look around Blueland together?"