After hearing that question about her eyes from Jin, Saki smiled and nodded.
“Ohoho, you found out, huh? You noticed my habit of frowning. I’ve always been able to see nearby things clearly, but for a long time far away things seem to get blurry.”
It was just as Jin had thought.
“Reinhart, are there eyeglasses in the Shouro Empire?”
“Eyeglasses? What do you mean by ‘eyeglasses’?”
From that answer, it appeared that there were no such things as glasses to correct vision impairments in this world.
That was a surprising fact, especially knowing that on Earth, even lenses are said to have been used as early as before the Christian era.
Jin had read somewhere that Aristotle, or Archimedes, had used a giant lens to burn down an army of assaulting enemies, and that monocles had been used as eyeglasses since as early as the Middle Ages.
However, this magical world does not seem to follow the same way of development as the Earth. Jin also remembered that people here did not know what a microscope was.
“Umm, I think it’s best if I show you rather than just explaining. Saki, could I use some of your raw materials?”
Before Saki could reply, Jin was already walking towards the raw materials rack from before and took some transparent crystal, silver, and copper.
“Separation. Forming. Separation. Forming. Alloying. Forming. Finish.”
Once again, he began to use Engineering magic in succession.
The materials began shining faintly as they transformed. The crystal became two lenses, and the silver and copper had alloyed into 925 silver, which then transformed into a thin frame.
Since he was unable to create screws, he could not make the frame foldable, so something like hanging them from a shirt’s collar when not in use would not be possible. So he made them in such a way that they could be kept in place with a pin. Furthermore, he added pieces of previously prepared natural rubber to the nose pad to prevent slipping.
“These are eyeglasses.”
The silver-framed eyeglasses with round lenses were completed. They had an antique-ish design, however, that was not intentional. It was Jin’s sense of design that had determined the level of style for the eyeglasses.
“What do you mean? Let me see if I get this straight. Are those for seeing things?”
Saki said this looking at the eyeglasses in Jin’s hands.
“That’s right. Please try them on.”
As he said that, he had Saki put on the eyeglasses. He then used alteration magic to adjust them to fit her ears, nose, and face size.
“Well, how are they? I didn’t make them too powerful, though.”
Since there was no eyesight testing involved, both crystals had the same corrective power, and they were not that strong, to begin with. They were made like that because when people who are not used to wear eyeglasses suddenly put on eyeglasses that are too strong, they tend to experience headaches or dizziness.
“First, close one eye… Ah, yes, just like that… Can you read the cover on that book’s back on that shelf?”
“Huh? Yeah, for some reason, I can…”
Translations by AsianHobbyist Website
Then, Jin asked her to do the same thing with her other eye closed. She could read that just as well. So it would appear that both eyes needed the same degree of correction.
“Alright then, please try to take a look outside.”
“Yeah… Th… This is great! I can see so well! These eyeglasses are amazing…!”
Saki then went over to the window and looked outside.
“Waah! I can see everything! I can even see the small birds perched on those branches! I can also see clearly the leaves on every tree! Has the world always been this beautiful!?”
At first, Saki was overwhelmed by the fact that her field of vision had just gotten better. After a little while, her emotions settled in, and she hurriedly went over to where Jin was and took his hands.
“Jin, thank you so, so much! How can I repay you? Just name it! If it is within my power, I’ll do it!”
Jin accepted her thanks with a smile.
“Haha, it’s my pleasure! That being said, there’s a purpose behind my interest in alchemy. I would like you to help me with that.”
“Ohoho! I’d be honored! I wish to do research together with a Magi Engineer such as you, Jin. So, what do you want to do?”
At that moment, Saki’s stomach rumbled.
“… That was a shameful display, huh? … I’m sorry, Reinhart, but could you get me something to eat? Actually, I haven’t eaten anything since last night.”
“Huh?”
“I’m embarrassed to say, but the servants left the day before yesterday. I’ve been staving off hunger with leftovers, but I ended up running out of them during yesterday’s lunch.”
Saki’s coming out was unexpected. Both Jin and Reinhart were shocked.
At that time, a voice began to come out from Reiko.
“Father, it appears it should be okay soon.”
The maple syrup seems to have boiled down.
“Oh, is that so? Let me see.”
Taking the ladle back from Reiko, Jin scooped up a bit of syrup from it with one of his fingertips and licked it.
“Mmm, it’s good!”
Translations by AsianHobbyist Website
“What’s that now? Come on, Jin! Let me try some too!”
Saki had come along as well, and after dipping her own fingertips on the syrup-filled ladle that Jin was holding, she too tasted the finished product.
“Mmm! This is so good! This is definitely good enough for selling! … Reinhart, without a doubt this will a specialty in this region!
Reinhart tasted the syrup as well, and then made a face as if agreeing.
“Hmm, this will definitely become a specialty! Let’s consult this with my father at once.”
