「Onii-chan, over here!」
「Hanna-chan, wait up…」
Today, Jin and Hanna are hiking together… or rather, they came to the mountains to harvest medical herbs.
「Haa… haa… Hanna-chan sure is lively…」
「Yep!」
As expected from someone who grew up here, the foundation of her physique seemed to be different to Jin. Although, Jin had the handicap of carrying the basket.
Furthermore, when he was transferred, his physical strength, stamina, and all that for the supplemented parts of his body that was burnt to tatters were reset to their initial values. In other words, those parts were reverted to the state before his training and the person in question did not notice that.
「Haa… finally reached the top…」
A slightly elevated mountain to the north of the village. The elevation is probably about 200 metres. After an hour of climbing, the scenery came into view.
「Look, there’s the village!」
The wind blew Hanna’s hair while she pointed into the distance, there he could see a small Kaina Village.
「Ohh, this is a good view」
「Of course!」
The area around the summit is a prairie and looking down, one could get a clear view of the village. Looking back towards the north is a range of tall snow mountains.
「Ahhh, so there’s an abundance of water because of this snow」
Although it seemed like a land with little rain, because of the snow on the tall mountains there is plenty of underground water, is what Jin assessed.
And to the west.
「… a bare mountain, huh?」
There was one mountain where neither grass nor trees grew. Looking closely, the mountain surface was yellow in some places and something like steam rose form there.
「Could that be a volcano?」
was what he thought when Hanna,
「Onii-chan, here, take this」
returned with a lot of medical herbs.
「This is a medical herb?」
「Yep. You grind it up and apply it to wounds. Drying this one here will make medicine」
It seems to be called a salve and decoction. Jin used what Hanna had brought as a sample to search for medical herbs.
The two were able to harvest the target amount immediately. Although they were prohibited from being greedy and taking too much.
「Well then, shall we have lunch?」
「Yeah!」
Bread and a fruit like an apple. He shared it with her and ate.
「It’s delicious」
「Yes it is. As expected, eating it in this place makes no difference」
Jin observed the volcano and its topography while eating. Hanna noticed where he was looked.
「Onii-chan, are you looking at the Mountain of Death」
「Mountain of Death?」
「Yep. The birds that approach the mountain fall down. Sometimes there’s also a strange smell. The adults said it was 『Miasma』」
「Miasma?」
Volcano gas. Hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide is poisonous to living things that inhale it. It isn’t funny even with that kind of name.
「I see, it’s alright as long as we don’t get close to it. Well then, let’s go home」
「Yeah!」
The objective to harvest the medical herb was finished and having just eaten lunch, they slowly descended. Dangerous beasts don’t appear in this region so it is an important harvesting ground for the village.
「Also demons won’t appear」
Because from the story he heard from Martha, at the time of the 『Magic War』, it seems that most of the demons and beasts that lived on this continent were destroyed. The remaining demons retreated to the north.
「We’re home grandma」
「Welcome back Hanna, Jin」
Martha welcomed us home.
「Ah, you’re covered in sweat」
「Go fetch some water over there and wipe your body.」
「Yesss」
Hanna quickly took off her clothes and began wiping her body. She was only 8 years old and Jin was able to watch her calmly. Jin had bathed the children at the orphanage and he was not fazed. There wasn’t any feeling of them growing up.
「After all, I want to take a bath」
Although drawing water is now easier with the installation of the pump, fuel is valuable. It is a luxury to be able to bathe in hot water.
「Could it perhaps be a hot spring?」
Jin finished wiping his body and looked towards the mountain. Based on the topography of the volcano, there must be a hot spring underground with a hot spring vein.
「I guess there’s no other choice but to check it with magic, huh?」
Even if he has the knowledge, Jin was still not accustomed to the thought of using magic.
「Hmm… I think there was something in the earth attribute magic」
He searched for the necessary magic as if turning the pages of a dictionary in his brain and he found the magic he needed.
「… alright. 《Grand Search》. Modifying Target 《Hot Spring》」
Originally this magic is for finding ore veins, but it was rearranged a little to find hot spring veins. The title of 《Magi Craft Meister》 is not just for show.
「There. One… two… alright, lets go with this one」
Of the hot spring veins flowing underground, he selected those that flowed near the village with an abundance of hot spring water. Next was to decide a location.
「Onii-chan, where are you going?」
Finding Jin who was about to head out, Hanna drew close.
「Yeah, I’m going to make a hot spring. Want to come?」
「Yup!」
Although she didn’t know what a hot spring was, Hanna was happy she got to go out together with Jin.
「Well, I can’t just make a hot spring without permission」
With that said, Jin first headed to the village chief’s house.
「Ah! It’s Jin-niichan!」
「Jin-niichan, where are you heading to?」
In regards to the pump, the village was grateful for it and is already familiar with him. The children are especially attached to Jin.
One after another, the children followed Jin who knocked on the village chief’s door.
「What is it? Oh? It’s Jin! Do you need something?」
A middle-aged man appeared. He is the Chief of Kaina Village, Gibekku.
「Yes, I’d like to ask you a little something」
「What do you want to ask?」
Jin explained about digging up a hot spring and building a cabin there as well as the materials he needed.
「I see, so what you’re saying is that you want to dig up a well of hot water and build a cabin there, right? There is no reason for me to object. Rather, by all means I want you to build it. Is there anything in particular you need?」
Because the village chief understood the usefulness of a bathhouse, the discussion ended quickly.
「Hmm, I’ll need wood to build the cabin」
「A simple request. Go ahead and take some from the lumber yard! 」
「Thank you for your help」
Having received permission, Jin immediately headed to the site he chose. In the middle of the village was a place that was slightly hollow.
「Alright. This is definitely it!」
After confirming the hot spring vein with 《Grand Search》 he first made a bathtub with earth magic. Second is to cool it down from hot to lukewarm. Extending it out, he made it shallow, enough to cover the body.
「Ohhhhhh! Amazing!!!」
「Jin is amazing!」
The children that followed him looked with interest and were not afraid of Jin using magic. Because they’ve never seen a race of magicians before, they did not hold any prejudice.
「Alright, with this the bathtub is OK」
Next is the cabin. Although it’s really just four standing pillars with a roof placed on. The children that came, helped carry the logs together.
「One, two! One, two」
「Be careful not to let it fall!」
「It’s fine~」
「Well then, please hold it down for a moment」
The children helped a little with various things to complete the cabin. For now a wooden board was set on top for a roof
「It’s about time I dig up the hot spring. I’ll continue 《Digging》 then 《Hardening》」
He dug a hole to the hot spring vein while hardening the exterior as a substitute for a pipe. Hot water seethed out right away.
「Yep, the temperature is hot enough. Or rather, it’s too hot! Owowowow!」
The hot water started rushing up and quickly accumulated. Meanwhile, he dug a hole to a water vein, mixing the hot water with cold water.
Using the pipe he poured a reasonable ratio of hot water and cold water into the bathtub.
「Okay, the hot spring is now complete!」
「Ohhh!」
「Nii-chan, can you swim here?」
To the children that didn’t know,
「No no. This is a place where you clean your body and wash away fatigue. Thus by helping me, you have the privilege to be the first to bathe in it」
「Oooh~」
「Hooray!」
The children immediately take off their clothes and rush stark naked towards the bathtub. Both boys and girls. Well they are children, is the strange understanding Jin came to.
「Before you enter, pour some hot water on your body」
While paying attention, Jin also took off his clothes.
「Uwaaaaa, it feels so good!」
「Hey hey, don’t frolic around too much」
The children were delighted with their first hot spring, swimming, running and frolicking about in the bathtub.
「Onii-chan」
Hanna came over to Jin.
「Obaa-chan will definitely be pleased!」
「Yeah, I hope so」
The village gladly accepted the hot spring Jin made and furthermore, a decision was made to increase the number of bathtubs.
The properties of the hot spring that made the skin smooth became very popular with the women, and the cabin was simple yet sturdy.
Men and women were separated as well as the dressing rooms, it had become completely like an actual hot spring.
