Since the glasses were completed, they leave the workshop and head towards mayor Gibbeckâs house .
The reason for that is that today is the âgroup studyâ day . Itâs too bad that Elsa is not around, being that she is one of the teachers .
âJin, what is this âgroup studyâ?â
Jin has a simple answer to Sakiâs question .
âAh, you see, there are no schools in this village . Because of that, children come here for their basic studies . Reading, writing, mathematics, and stuff like that . â
âOoh, thatâs very interesting! So Elsa and Mine are the teachers?
âYes, thatâs right . â
After that, seemingly deeply interested in the group study session, Saki says that she wants to go check it out . Since thereâs no harm doing that, and Saki is so eager to see the class, they decide to visit the group study class .
âPatty, whatâs 23 plus 8?â
âUmm⊠31!â
âCorrect . And 57 plus 6? Umm⊠Mario?â
âUhh⊠63!â
âYes, thatâs right . â
Today is math day . All the kids are adding two-digit numbers and 1-digit numbers without any problem .
âVery well . Then we will be starting to do some subtractions . Open your textbooks at page 21 . â
The textbooks are written by a high-speed copying golem . Thin wood shavings are used as paper . This paper substitute is called âKyougiâ .
They are reinforced with engineering magic so that they can be used as proper paper .
Jin wanted to create actual paper for the books, but pulp alone does not do well when mixed with water . For this reason, Jin is still looking for some tree similar to the âsunset hibiscusâ so that he can make Japanese-styled paper .
The reason for that is that he doesnât really know the proper way to make paper . The only time heâs ever made paper, it was from recycling milk cartons, and even then he had to mix it with a bit of laundry starch .
âI want something that is water-soluble, but that after drying it becomes water-resistantâŠâ
It was hard to find such a thing here . If he were to find that kind of material, it would create a huge source of industry for Kaina Village .
ââŠJin? Hey, Jin!â
Sakiâs voice brings Jin back to reality .
âAh, wha⊠what?â
âDonât âwhat?â me! The class is already over, and everyone went home for lunch . Shouldnât we head back as well?â
Then, after finishing tidying up the materials, Elsa and Mine show up .
âShall we go back, Jin-nii?â
âLetâs head back, big brother!â
And so, together with Hanna, Saki, Elsa, Mine, and Reiko, Jin heads back to Marthaâs house .
âWelcome back, everyone . The food is already on the table . â
Sara, the golem, stands by after having finished her preparations .
Itâs a standard Kaina Village lunch . A specialty bread and smoked beef, with a siding of vegetable salad .
Jin had started to eat fruit and vegetables just to get a better vitamin intake, but nowadays heâs eating them because he enjoys them .
âMmm, this bread really is delicious . Itâs not really purely white, but maybe it looks white now because thereâs almost no crust in it?â
âAh, thatâs because it has flour on it . â
âI did the sieving today!â
âAh, so you did that, Hanna?â
They continue to enjoy their lunch while chatting cheerfully .
Â
 After finishing their lunch, Saki asks Hanna to show her how she sieves the flour .
âUmm, you put the flour in here and then you shake it . â
Hanna makes her demonstration using whole wheat flour .
âOh! I see! Thanks, Hanna!â
Saki seems to have hit on a good idea . After gently brushing Hannaâs head and thanking her, Saki turns to Jin and Elsa .
âJin, Elsa, I want your opinion on something . â
The three of them go back to Jinâs workshop .
âAfter looking at that sieve, I had an idea . â
Saki begins her explanation .
âI understand that sieves are used to separate big things from small things . â
Saki looks straight at Jin as she speaks . Agreeing with her reasoning, Jin nods .
âSo I thought that it could be used for things other than flour . Like tea, for example . â
âAh, I see . â
Tea leaves are always inevitably mixed with small pieces of leaf dust . When leaves are stored, sometimes by friction or shaking, the leaves break apart into leaf dust, which is almost impossible to remove completely from the rest of the whole leaves .
When this dust is mixed along with the tea leaves, they give a certain degree of unwanted bitterness to the resulting tea .
âIf you sieve the tea leaves to remove the dust before making the tea, it should make it tastier . â
Jin is impressed . Saki has a broad field of vision for finding many practical uses for things .
âAnd thereâs more . It can be used to sieve soil and remove its impurities, you can make well-drained soil . â
Thatâs something that horticulturists do nowadays on Earth .
âThe key component of the sieve is its net . If one were to stretch a net like this and attach it to the window, wouldnât it serve as a screen to keep bugs out?â
In other words, a bug screen . âThose are great ideas, Saki . Well done!â
âOho! Iâm glad to receive such praise from you, Jin . Well, I still need to think about how to make this net . â
Here, when people speak of nets, all they can think about are things like fishing nets . Making nets out of wire is not a common technique here . Since there is no nylon, the concept of a bug screen does not exist .
âWell, yes . But the first step is to come up with the idea . After thatâs done, itâs up to us engineers to think about how to bring those ideas into reality . â
âIâm sure Jin-nii can produce the nets, but then again, theyâre not that popular, arenât they?â
Elsa shares her sharp opinion .
âRight . Unlike pen nibs and balls, itâs useless if we donât mass-produce these nets . â
âThatâs right . â
This makes Jin think that heâd wish there were merchants in Kaina Village .
And that wish would come true through Laojun in the near future .
Now, returning to the main topic .
This time, Jin has a question for Saki . What he wants to know is if there is any sticky chemical agent that could be used to produce paper .
âHmm, I think that thereâs a fruit from a certain plant that can produce that kind of stickiness . â
âDo you mean âoguraâ?â
Mine comes in with tea for everyone, and says the name of the fruit Saki mentioned .
âAh, thatâs it . Ogura . Are those in bloom now?â
âNo, they bloom during midsummer . â
âMine, please tell me what you know about this ogura plant . â
Mine seems to know quite a bit about the topic, so Jin asks her many questions . It seems to be similar to Earthâs okra .
Since Jin knows that okra and sunset hibiscus are both from the same mallow species, he decides to ask Laojun to get some through Reiko . Â
âReiko, come here . â
âYes, Father . â
âListen, I need to get some oguraâŠâ
Saki smiles as she looks at Jin give out his indications in such a calm voice .
âJin seems to be so affectionate towards Reiko⊠Itâs a little different to how Ehr and I get along . How should I put it⊠Ehr wants to take care of me . â
Without a momentâs delay, Elsa takes the opportunity to say something .
âYes . Jin-nii is really close to Reiko . He even hugs her sometimes . â
âOho, that makes me feel a little jealous . â
âHuh?â
âWhat?â
Elsaâs face is full of suspicion, and at the same time, Sakiâs face shows that sheâs unable to understand her reaction .
Their reactions are similar, but the feelings within are completely different .
âIf there was a cute girl just like Reiko, even if she were a doll or an automata, would it be her human emotions that he would like to hug? Donât you think that even I could want to hug such cute little kid, like Reiko?â
â⊠Is that so?â
âDidnât you make a mascot doll for Reinhart, Elsa? Arenât dolls cute?â
Elsa canât find the words to return to Sakiâs question .
âWell, sure, I do hug Non from time to time . Is that the same thing as Jin-nii wanting to hug Reiko?â
âWell, grown men getting too close to girl-looking dolls does worry me a little . â
This conversation seems to be getting more and more weird .
âYou girlsâŠâ
Being the subject of the topic at hand, Jin looks at the two of them looking extremely unpleased, as if he had chewed on a bitter bug .