Responsibility
“Reiko, well done”
Jin praised Reiko, stroking her head . Reiko looked even more happy than usual .
“… Ah, it’s father’s hand . ”
“Edgar and Ehr did well too . ”
Like Jin, Saki and Elsa praised their own automata as well .
“Ehr, good work . ”
“Edgar, that was amazing!”
Jin looked at Jesse and Kurt . Jesse rubbed his elbows and knees . He had scrapped his palm, so Jin went to use healer magic on but abruptly stopped .
If the wound healed without cleaning, sand and soil would remain in his body . Jin used ‘condense’: a spell that collects the moisture in the air .
It doesn’t gather much water, but it would be enough to wash the wound . Jin calmed Jesse, who looked about to cry from the pain of the water flushing the raw injury .
“Just bear it a little longer . ‘Cure’ . ”
With the magic applied to the washed wound, Jesse’s wound closed . Despite being in tears moments ago, Jessie grinned and laughed .
“Thanks, big bro!”
Jin patted Jessie’s head, saying “it was nothing”, before turning to Kurt .
The unconscious Kurt was in Elsa’s care .
Despite being a beginner, Elsa’s acquired modern knowledge allowed her to examined Kurt’s condition through a Shouro Imperial-style “diagnosis” . From this, she could tell Jin that there was no abnormality other than the fracture and the trauma caused by it .
It didn’t look like he had hit his head either . The fracture was internal, with no bones protruding .
Jin had used “analyze” to examine him earlier, but it seemed to line up with Elsa’s diagnosis .
“’Healing’”
Elsa casted Shouro healing magic . It was an intermediate spell that could cure bone fractures even, along with standard wounds . Then:
“’Full Heal’”
Just in case, Elsa used her best magic to protect against damage to Kurt’s internal organs and brain, while also preventing infection from the wound .
“Uhh…”
Thanks to this, Kurt soon came to his senses .
“Huh?”
Eyes open, Kurt looked all around, noticing that everyone was looking down at him .
“I … What happened?”
“Kurt, you fool! We were worried about you!”
Seeing Hannah and Patty cry, he realized,
“Ah, right… I fell off a cliff trying to gather some wiley . ”
“Kurt, didn’t I tell you? Don’t go to dangerous places . ”
“Yeah, sorry big bro . ”
Jin rubbed Kurt’s head, patting it hard .
“It looks like you’re sorry . Don’t make the same mistake again, alright?”
“Yup . ”
Looking at Kurt’s face, Jin felt like Kurt was fully repented for what happened and decided to end the scolding there .
When Kurt got home, his father Dave would probably scold him . Jessie would likely face a similar lecture from his father Howard .
“Alright everyone, we’re going home . ”
“Kay!”
Despite being the one to say this, Jin ended up with Saki heading home behind all the others .
“… and that’s what happened . I was supposed to be looking after him, I’m very sorry!”
Jin went to Dave’s house first and explained what happened .
“Jin, there’s nothing to apologize for . You and Reiko, not to mention Elsa and everyone else, saved my son, right?”
With that, Dave forgave Jin and turned with a scowl towards Kurt .
“Hey, you dumb kid . I don’t remember raising you to not recognize danger . ”
“I’m sorry, Dad”
With a single strike Dave’s scolding ended .
Jin went to Howard’s house with Jesse . Like before, Jin was thanked instead of blamed .
Before they realized, it was evening .
“Huh, I’m kind of tired out”
Again, Jin thought about how challenging it was to lead the children .
Both Dave and Howard believed that, despite being little, it was still the kids’ fault for going to the woods, but Jin felt he was responsible in the end .
If only I have more physical strength, I could have gone into the forest with the children .
Despite knowing “what ifs” were pointless, Jin couldn’t help but think like this in his regret .
Seeing Jin moping, Elsa pulled on his sleeve and called out to him from behind .
“Brother, don’t blame yourself so much . I wish I had watched the children more carefully too . I’m just as much to blame for not doing that as you . ”
Jin heard Elsa’s words and relaxed his face a little bit .
“Yeah, thank you, Elsa . Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to cure Kurt right away . Thanks again . ”
It was true that Reiko had not yet mastered all of Elsa’s healing magic . She was getting there though .
“Nah, that’s fine . I just did what I could do . ”
Elsa shook her head, gesturing that it was nothing .
Watching the exchange between them, Saki spoke up .
“Fufu, Elsa, you’ve really grown . I’m embarrassed cause I can’t really do anything myself . ”
Elsa responded,
“That’s not true . Everyone does what they can, so I did what I could . That’s it”
and took hold of Saki’s hand .
“Well…… I’m no match for you”
A little smile showed on Saki’s face .
“…and that’s what happened”
After dinner, Jin went alone with Reiko to Horai Island to consult with Rou .
“I would like to make a map of dangerous places around Kaina Village and see about reinforcing those that are likely to collapse . ”
“I agree, and it would be best to send Land to these areas . ‘
“Yeah, I’ll look after it . ”
“Understood”
After this, Rou made his surveillance system ‘Koshin’ send Land or at least Gong or Gen to guard villagers when they got close to dangerous areas .
Thus, through implementing these countermeasures as best they could, Jin gradually return to his usual self .
(Phew……)
Internally, Reiko was relieved too .
(Father really is his most alive when making something . )
“My Lord, I have something to report . ”
After a series of meetings, Rou spoke up .
“We’ve been hurrying to stockpile it for a while now . Shouro Imperial Rice that is . As I predicted previously, for each of the 3 types of rice, we have about 1 ton in our warehouses . Additionally, we’ve begun planting seedlings as of today . ”
“What! That’s great news!”
Jin was depressed, but after hearing the positive news about the rice, his spirits lifted . It was the perfect moment for news like this .
“I planted a tea leaf tree as well that should be ready for harvest soon . ”
“Oh, I’ll look forward to trying some . ”
“Plus, we’ve succeeded in making stick agar from a red algae type seaweed . ”
“Oh! That’s the first I’ve heard of this . ”
Various seaweeds can be harvested in Tatsumi Bay . So far, they have harvested konbu, wakame, nori, red algae, and a burnable seaweed used to make salt .
“There’s enough Nori and Konbu for us to mass produce it even . ”
While Jin had been traveling, a considerable number of marine products had been stockpiled on Horai Island .
“The seaweed from Tatsumi Bay is also high in aether, which could be preserved for a long time in an aether stocker . ”
“Great, that’s great . Oh, let’s try making onigiri sometime . The salt and Nori alone sound delicious . ”
Knowing that he could soon enjoy such nostalgic food, Jin’s imagination wondered .
Reiko and Rou were relieved to see Jin like this .
They had both been worried about him .