Magicraft Meister Part 1

The village of Ulun had about 30 households, about the same size as the village of Kaina.

A wooden stake had been driven as a simple boundary, and Guth got out of the car just before the stake,

"I know the village chief here, so I'll go talk to him.

He told Jin and entered the village.

They waited for about 10 minutes. The stakes were about one meter high and 30 centimeters apart.

Jin and the others were in full view from between and above the stakes.

Villagers, especially children, look at the cars with interest.

"The people here are just like Mitsuho, aren't they?"

Their skin color, like coffee milk, indicated that they were of the same blood.

Most of them have dark brown hair, but sometimes some of them have light brown hair, which makes me wonder if they are half-Japanese or quarter-Japanese.

On the other hand, some of them had hair as dark as Jin's.

The clothes they wore were not Mitsuho-style, but were similar to those commonly worn in the Shoro Kingdom and the Koguryo Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Goose returned. He was accompanied by what appeared to be the village chief.

He is an elderly man of about the same build as Goose. He has a thin head of hair and no beard.

"Jin, this is the village head of Ulun.

Nice to meet you. My name is Romies.

I'm Hitoshi Nido.

Nido is my first name and Jin is my last name, is that correct?

Uh, yes.

The accent was quite thick, and the pronunciation was not very good, but the fact that they were able to distinguish the first name from the last made Jin even more curious about the northern culture.

"It's a small village, so we don't have any accommodations, but if you want to stay with us, you can come to my house. There is only a room available.

"Thank you very much."

So Jin and the others were invited to stay at the chief's house.

"I'm going to boil a bath now," he said.

Goose told Jin that the village had a custom of taking a bath because of the abundance of water in the area.

"Oh, in that case, I will help you boil the water.

Jin offered, since it seemed to be heated with wood. Engineering magic does not need fuel to heat the water.

"Oh, that's very kind of you.

The chief had been told by Goose that Jin was a mage called , so he gratefully accepted the offer.

"<>"

The bathtub was large, but after about five seconds of heating, the water was just the right temperature.

"Oh ......!"

The village chief, who was watching from the side, looked impressed.

"Mages are very good at this ......."

"Speaking of which, are there any mages in this village?

"Yes, there are a lot of mages not only in this village but also in Huso.

Then how do you know about the existence of mages? The question remains, why are they not surprised when they see magic?

Jin asks her,

"As a <>, I am visited from time to time by some people. They are rare, but not the first time.

Jin answered. Jin understood.

However, the identity of <> remains unknown.

"Ah, it feels so good."

The chief's house has a large bath for guests, so Jin and Goose bathe together.

"You need to wash yourself first.

Jin warned Goose, who had not washed his body for several months, if not days.

"I know that.

Goose seemed to know what he was talking about, and washed his body after pouring hot water over it. .

Jin donated a box (about 10 kg) of this soap as a thank-you for letting him stay here.

Saki and Aaru knew how to make it, and especially Aaru's memory information had already been delivered to the old man, and experiments to make soap from baking soda and seaweed ash had started on Horai Island.

"<>, this is good!　It's even better than Rita's fruit."

Like a naturalist, Guth seems to know about Rita's fruit.

As a side note, the box of soap given to the village chief is now used to cleanse the body during the New Year holidays and celebrations.

Erza and the others also used the hot water, and after being refreshed, they were welcomed by the chief.

"I can't thank you enough for the soap, but please keep eating it.

"It's soap!"

Goose warned.

"Oh, yes. That soap is wonderful. I'll take good care of it."

The chief looked happy. Jin, however, was concerned about the meal and the bowl in which it was served.

"This bowl is ......."

The fabric is made of wood. The wood is light and sturdy. The grain of the wood is clear.

But the problem is the paint applied.

"...... lacquer?"

A clear, reddish-brown, or perhaps candy-colored, coating. The color is darker on the annual rings and lighter on the outer rings to accentuate the grain of the wood.

The color is very elegant.

The bowls are made by rubbing the sap of the toxoco tree on them.

The spoons and shallow plates were also painted with the same lacquer.

"The paint I know called 'urushi' is black. It is made from sap, after all.

Yes, both the lacquer-like lacquer from Horaijima and the sap similar to the lacquer that Saki had been exposed to before were black in color.

Jin thought that this might be due to the different kinds of trees. This one may be more similar to the Japanese lacquer.

Goose bites into Jin's words.

"Oh, you have a tree that produces black sap in your area. That's interesting.

"Ha, let's have a meal anyway.

"Yes, I agree with that."

So we all agreed to have a meal.

"Oh, this is delicious.

Erza seemed to like the vinegared dish.

"Kuhu, this is the first time I've tasted this, but it's not bad!

Saki also liked the vinegared dish.

"I like this one!"

Hannah seemed to like the soup. According to Jin, the soup is made from dried fish.

Jin was surprised to see rice here, too, and tucked into a bowl of white rice.

"There are a lot of wetlands around here, so this kind of grass grows well," Guth explained.

Guth was chewing his meal with such explanation. He is feeling much better now.

"Your wild plants are nunawa. It is a water plant that often grows in shallow ponds.

It seems that the wild plant used in both vinegared dishes and soup is called nunawa.

Hitoshi liked the soup.

The slightly slimy texture was interesting.

Although there were only a few dishes, Jin and the others were able to relax with the hearty hospitality.

"I guess it's all thanks to Goose."

After the meal, Jin thanked Goose in his assigned room.

"If we had come here alone, it might not have been like this.

"Well, I guess you could say that. It is very rare to have guests from abroad.

Still, there have been a few cases in the past, and it still seems to happen once every ten years or so, Guth added.

"Most recently, a guy named <> said he was here.

He was billed as an engineer, but since no magic tools are used here and there is no need for ordinary tools, there was no chance for him to be of any use, so he went up north.

"If you guys go up north, maybe we can meet somewhere."

Jin was wondering whether he would like to meet him or not.

<.