Magicraft Meister Part 1

"Is the engagement procedure ......?"

"Yes. I happened to meet Mister Fritz today and we're going to Elsa's parents' house this afternoon. I also have to say hello to Elsa's mother.

"Yes, that's right. ......"

Bertsch took in the situation and thought about it for a moment.

"It is normal for two nobles to have an intermediary or a 'go-between'.

Jin heard this and thought that it was someone like a matchmaker in the modern world.

In our case, it was my brother Matheus.

"Oh, I see."

Jin changed his mind about the matchmaker he knew.

"My brother was a good friend of my husband's, and the three of us used to play together.

Bertsche explained that often someone who was well acquainted with the couple would act as an intermediary.

"In other words, someone who bridges the gap between the two families and the two people."

"That's what I mean. It would be unusual for a man to make an application to a woman's house by the person who is to be engaged."

"Hmm. ......"

In that case, the most suitable intermediary would be Reinhardt, of all people.

"So when will Reinhardt be back?"

"I think he'll be home as early as a little after noon.

It would be around 11:00 a.m. local time.

"Well, I'll come back around that time, so could you talk to Reinhardt when he gets back?

"Yes, I will."

Then Jin remembered that he had one more question he wanted to ask.

"Oh, and will there be some kind of gift for them?"

"Yes, of course. It is customary to give a memento that symbolizes the man's home, but I am not so particular about it now. My husband gave my parents a portrait of me.

"A portrait. ......"

"He had it painted by a top artist, though."

Jin seemed to have made up his mind.

"Thank you, that's very helpful. I'll see you later.

Yes, I wish you the best of luck.

He continued, "I'm sure you'll do your best.

Jin flew to Horai Island instead of Reuthert's house.

"Brother Jin, are you going to cook something?"

Erza, who had followed him, tilted her head.

"Yes. If Reinhardt is a portrait, I'm ......."

"...... are you a doll?"

Erza, sensing Jin's intention, is the first to speak up with an answer.

"Correct. That's why it would be even better if Erza were here."

"......"

"Oh, it's not a figure, okay?　It's a proper plastic statue."

Jin, who understood Erza's feelings, said to her as if to appease her.

"...... like the one you took to the Kingdom of Cerroa?"

"Yeah, well, yeah."

"......"

Jin, who had some idea of what Erza was imagining when she heard the words "your doll," hastened to give a supplementary explanation.

"I'm telling you, it's a proper plastic statue."

"Uh-huh."

He reminds them that it is not something that will show their body lines. Jin ignores the swimsuits for the Golem boat races.

"In the first place, I wouldn't make Erza look like that even though she's a doll, a doll that might be seen by the general public.

"Uh-uh."　

With Erza's cheeks flushed and dismayed, Jin began preparing to make the doll. First, the materials.

"Reiko, I'll need white or clear quartz or crystal. About a hundred kilograms, I think.

"Yes, father."

"And ...... I think the blue is cobalt. ...... I'm not sure, I'll have to experiment."

What Jin is trying to make is a glass figurine. Made of 100 percent quartz (crystal), it is called quartz glass, which has good heat resistance, low thermal shrinkage, and high transparency.

It is difficult to make without magic, but Jin had engineering magic.

<><>"

Fuse a block of quartz into a single piece, remove impurities, and you have transparent quartz glass.

Now comes the problem.

"Old man, you have cobalt, don't you?"

<>

No, we don't need that much. ...... but I have a feeling we shouldn't use the metal as it is."

That is correct. What we need is cobalt ion Co2+ as oxide or chloride, not cobalt metal.

"Yes, we can't stop thinking about it. First, we can powder cobalt metal and apply heat to it. ......<>"

"Father, it has turned black. ......"

Reiko says worriedly. Indeed, the silver-colored cobalt powder had now turned blackish gray.

"This is evidence of oxidation. Add a small amount of this to the glass and ......<<>"

Since this is an experiment, a small amount of cobalt oxide was added to a small piece of quartz glass. However, it is not blue at all.

Rather, it looks like a fine powder has been mixed into the clear glass.

"...... Hmmm, it doesn't work..."

Jin thought about it.

"Brother Jin, why don't we have lunch first?　Perid made delicious soba noodles.

"Yeah. ......"

Jin left the workshop and went to the restaurant.

"Yes, it's delicious.

The buckwheat noodles were white because they were made from carefully hulled flour. They are white because they are made from carefully removed hulled buckwheat flour, and they go well with the light sauce.

The noodles are cooked just right.

Drinking soba-yu (buckwheat water) with the remaining broth, Jin looked out the window. The sky was literally cobalt blue.

"Brother Jin, is it not going well?"

"Yeah, well..."

"Is there anything difficult in engineering magic?

"Ha, yes, I guess there are. Without engineering magic, we would have to heat the glass and melt it ......."

Jin's words were cut off at that point. Jin looked down and thought about it, but before Erza could worry him, he looked up,

"Maybe it's ......!　Thank you, Elsa!

He shouted and ran to the workshop. Reiko follows her, and Elsa rushes after her. Edgar was in last place.

"Oh yes, the heat!　It's only when it melts that it gets that color!　Why didn't I notice it before?

The glaze, the glaze of pottery, also develops color with the heat applied. In the ease of engineering magic, Jin had forgotten about this.

"Well, we don't have time to make a crucible or anything, so ...... Reiko, keep the glass floating with the warding and <>."

"Yes, Father."

Reiko, like a skilled craftsman, uses the force field generator to lift and hold the glass mass encased in the warding successfully in the air.

Jin shoots engineering magic at the glass floating in the air.

<>"　

Heat is applied to the quartz glass until it melts. The temperature is about 2,000 degrees Celsius.

Homogenization

The cobalt added is further homogenized so that it does not become unbalanced.

<>"

Now cool it down. Then .......

"Oh, it's done!"

There it is, a deep blue colored lump of glass.

"Beautiful ......"

The deep blue looked more like the color of the sea than the sky.

"Too much cobalt. Let's reduce it a little more."

Jin made half and a quarter of the colored quartz glass as a coloring sample.

"Okay, this is the color."

The quartered version is a light sky blue, just like aquamarine.

"......"

Elsa watched Jin's work in silence.

First, in a cold state. Next comes the heating.

This time, Reiko fixes a 100-kilogram mass in the air.

<>"

Heated until it softens.

"Okay, <>"

Quartz glass has a low coefficient of thermal expansion. In other words, the heated object will not crack even if it is cooled rapidly.

"It's done!

"Wow, it's beautiful!

A light blue quartz glass block.

"Okay, now I can process it."

Jin multiplied it by <.

The glass block changes its shape like a clay sculpture.

Jin glances at Elsa's face during the process, and continues the transformation.

"It's done!"

It took Jin an unusually long ...... time for him, a full minute, and then it was done.

"Wow. ......"

It was a one-meter tall statue of Elsa in a dress with a long skirt.