Since then, Jin and Elsa spent half of their days in Kaina Village and half on Horai Island .
On one such day, Jin brought a basket full of fruit to Kaina Village .
âBig brother, are these what you called plumes?â
âYeah, thatâs right . They grow natively further south in the Klein kingdom, but Iâm hoping they can be grown in the village . â
âAre they tasty?â
They were a round yellowish green fruit, about 3 cm in diameter .
âHmm, they might be sour as is . Theyâre meant to be salted or candied . â
Plumes were a type of plum . Quinta had originally found the fruit . Jin bought a lot of them in Horai Island . He did so to make umeboshi, dried fermented plums .
He brought some of them to Kaina village because he thought that if the villagers liked them, he would start growing them there .
After washing them with water and removing any dirt, they were normally wiped with alcohol to remove germs, but Jin replaced this step with his magic âsterilizationâ .
Then, they were put in a bottle, filled with salt equal to about 18% of their weight, and then a stone weighted cover was placed on top of them .  This cover weighed about double the weight of the plums .
Once plum vinegar rose in a few days, the weighted cover was switched out for a lighter one .
The plums were then taken out in the middle of summer, dried for three days and nights, and then put back into their plum vinegar to make dried pickled plums .
This was the umeboshi making method Jin had mastered at the orphanage . Mold was more likely to grow the lower the salt content, but the plums would keep for years with the 18% ratio he used .
Plus, if plums washed and sterilized in the same manner were covered with the same amount of sugar instead of salt and stored in a bottle, plum extract would seep out due to osmotic pressure, and the sugar would dissolve in it .
The sugar in the bottle needed to be shaken occasionally so that mold didnât grow, but once it was completely dissolved, the plum extract was ready to drink .
If watered down with cold water, it was very delicious on a hot summer day .
Jin made these two types of plum products in both Horai Island and Kaina Village .
He was instructing Sarah on how to do so . At the same time, he taught Mine how as well .
âItâs quite neat how you make all this Jin . Iâve preserved fruit in sugar before, but why are you using salt? â
It seemed it was Mineâs first time hearing about umeboshi .
Normally, plumes were used to make jam in the south of Klein .  Sour fruit was delicious when made into jam .
Since Horai Island had begun to produce distilled spirits, they were already using the fruit to make plum wine .
This practice had yet to travel to Kaina village however . This was because distilled spirits were uncommon in this world .
Returning to what was happening .
Jin took out a different fruit heâd procured . âQuery fruitâ, which was basically a type of cherry .
He had gotten Reiko to gather them for him, because he didnât have the time to gather them himself .
The query trees that grew around the village of Kaina were mountain cherry blossoms with only small fruit, but Jin (well Reiko) managed to procure large edible cherries Quinta had located in the Leonard Kingdom .
âHanna, try one of theseâ
âOkayâ
Hanna said to Jin, putting a cherry in her mouth,
âYUM!â
She raised her voice happily .
âBecause we have so many, letâs share them with Martha too . Oh and theyâre even more delicious when cooled in the snow room .  â
âOkay!â
After seeing Hannaâs beaming face, Jin naturally smiled too .
At teatime that day, Jin, Hanna, Martha, Mine and Elsa all enjoyed the cherries together .
âThese are yummy, huh Jin? Are they also queries? Theyâre similar, but their pits are so big .
Martha liked them as well .
âYeah, theyâre queries, but their variety seem different . Iâd like to see about growing them here in Kaina . ââGood idea . Iâll talk to the mayor about it later . â
âThanks Marthaâ
Jin thought it would be best if Martha discussed it to the village chief, Giebec, because the chief knew more about the villageâs agriculture than Jin .
There were dozens of seedlings and some mature trees he could bring to the village later to plant .
He was not only preparing for the technology expo, but also thinking about the future of Kaina Village .
âHmm, itâs difficultâ
Elsa, on the other hand, was struggling to make magic tools on Horai Island .
âWhat would I do if I were Jin?â
She did her best to put this question out of her mind .
âNo, Iâm always depending on Jin every time something happens . â
Elsa told herself and returned to thinking again .
âHmm âŠâ
Elsaâs mutters echoed through the quiet studio .
âWhatâs up?â
âHee!â
Elsa suddenly heard a voice from behind, and let out a strange yelp .
â⊠Oh, big brotherâŠâ
She whirled around, trying to control her pounding heart, before realizing it was just Jin .
âSorry, I didnât think youâd be so surprised . I spoke up because you looked concerned about something . â
âUh, well . âElsa wondered whether to talk to Jin it . She decided it was better to rely on him that be stuck even longer than she already had been .
âWell, um . I was thinking about a special jewelry box . â
âA special jewelry box?â
Jin parroted her words . They seemed meaningless to him .
âYup . Itâs not exactly meant to prevent thefts, but I was thinking of something that makes a sound when opened up ⊠â
Hearing this, Jin scratched his head as if remembering something .
â⊠You mean like a music box?â
He uttered slowly .
âA music box ⊠So, there is such a thing . Thank you Jin . â
It seemed a music box had been what Elsa was really trying to create . Elsa reflected that she had been too focused on the box being anti-theft and overlooked what its real charm was .
âIâll try making it myself later . If I really canât do it, Iâll come ask you for help . â
Upon hearing that, Jin gave a gentle smile .
âAlright then . Do your best? But donât overdo it . âŠâŠ Edgar, you watch out for her for me . â
âYes, Lord Jinâ
Edgar, who was watching Elsa from nearby, thanked Jin for his advice and bowed deeply .
There was one week left until the technology expo .
The plan to return Elsa and Mine home was well in the works now . Jin had consulted Laojun and Anne, notified Elsa and the Reinhardts, and gotten everyoneâs consent on the matter .
â⊠Elsa is working hard, huh . Maybe I should make something else too? â
Jin murmured to himself and began to work on a new concept . âI guess Iâll see about making a mini golem after all . â
It was an idea Saki had given him the other day . A golem that looked âlike it could fit in the palm of your handâ .
âItâd literally be a moving doll, huhâŠâ
It was a subject that was rarely studied because it wasnât very practical .
âBut a golem that size could be great for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering . â
Small things were convenient in that they were less noticeable . Also, it seemed that it could be used for highly intricate work a normal sized human or golem couldnât perform .
âFirst, how small can its magic device be âŠ?â
Jin carefully looked for a magic crystal .
While doing so, he suddenly realized something .
âI see! I donât have to make the golem directly . â
If Jin could make a golem precise enough to function, it needed to be about 40cm or more . Reiko, on the other hand, could manage to make one around 20cm .
âIn other words, if I make small âsmith golemsâŠâ
Running with this idea, Jin built ten 40 cm tall smith golems with Reikoâs help .
âOkay, letâs name them âLittle Smithsâ . I want you guys to make me ten 10 cm golems . â
âYes, Master . â
Because they were so small, it was inevitable that their voices were high pitched . Jin had even adjusted their voices to be as low as possible, but still it was higher than a childâs .
The Little Smiths took about three hours to build ten new 10-cm golems .
âOkay, letâs see ⊠Should we name these ones âMini Smiths? â
âThank you for creating us, Masterâ
They spoke at an even higher pitch than the previous batch, but Jin decided there wasnât much he could do about it .