The airfield in the town of Seki was reasonably busy.
Five wind-powered blow floaters of the Shoro Kingdom and two airships of the Kingdom of Celuloa were moored there.
Jin's was parked at the end of the road.
"......, this is asphalt pavement."
Jin muttered to himself as he landed on the airfield.
"<>"
He secretly examined the structure and found that the asphalt pavement seems to be made of crushed stones laid on top of the cleared ground and hardened firmly.
"This should be very durable," he said.
Then an officer came in.
"Welcome to the town of Seki, the land of Mitsuho. Jin-sama, Erza-sama."
"...... your names?"
Jin is surprised to hear his name called out of the blue.
"Yes, I know very well. <
The officer raised his hand and pointed to the crest of the <>.
"The Nido family is the only family in the world that has two halves of a circle on its crest!
The officer then wrote something on the form in his hand and handed it to Jin.
This is a form for issuing an entry permit. Please go to the immigration building over there.
< was parked.
Jin checked the form, which was signed by the officer and had the date and time entered on it.
The form was signed by the officer, and the date and time were written on it. "Please be careful not to lose it, as the form is invalid if it has not been checked upon arrival.
"Okay. Thank you."
We will take care of your airship. Have a nice trip!
Jin and Elsa leave the airship and walk away. Reiko and Hope follow with their luggage.
The immigration building was empty.
Welcome to Mitsuho!
A receptionist greets Jin and the others. Upon closer inspection, she appears to be an automaton. Although it was not made by Jin, it was quite a good-looking doll.
Please come to window 2.
Jin and the other first-time visitors were guided to the number 2 window.
"You must be Ms. Jin Nido and Ms. Elsa Nido. And Ms. Reiko and Ms. Hope."
After submitting the completed forms, the process was quickly completed.
A card twice the size of a business card was issued. There are cards for Reiko and Hope, too.
"Please make sure you carry it with you at all times."
"Okay. Thank you.
Have a good trip.
The exit on the other side of the immigration building leads to the town of Seki.
Once upon a time, the town was surrounded by a stone wall, but now the atmosphere has changed considerably.
Although the walls remain, the gates are open and the town has become more open.
"Oh, it's so lively!
The town of Seki is one of the most prosperous towns in Mitsuho.
People from outside of Mitsuho visit here constantly. Their purposes vary from tourism to business to research.
For such people, the town of Seki has been given the appearance of a .
There are tourist information centers and what is called in modern Japan, so you can easily find out what places of interest and specialties are in each town.
There are branches of large merchants' associations, so you will have no trouble starting a business transaction.
There is also a library with a large collection of books.
Let's get a place to stay for the time being.
Nope...
Then this would be a good place for you.
Reiko, who had apparently heard from the old man, led Jin and the others to the inn.
The hotel was located a little off the main street. Since there was just one room available, they decided to stay there.
It is a calm, two-story stone structure. It is a Shoro Imperial-style building, which is rare in Mitsuho, where many hotels are a blend of Japanese and Western styles.
"I guess it's for tourists."
Yes, that seems to be the case.
Jin and his friends are in a corner room on the second floor. The view from the second floor corner room is good, as most of the houses around us are single-story.
They leave their luggage behind and head out to see the town.
Half of the trip is for sightseeing, and the other half is to check on Mitsuho.
"Reiko, take this pochette with you.
"Yes, Father."
At first glance, the pochette looks like an ordinary child's pochette, but in fact it is made of sea dragon leather, so it cannot be damaged even a single scratch by an ordinary sword.
Also, inside the pochette is a tiny transfer magic circle, which can send gold coins and Persica juice to the pochette.
In addition, the tote bag that Erza is carrying has a transfer magic circle in the opposite direction, and can send the items in it to Horai Island.
Neither of these bags can deliver items larger than the size of the bag.
As a side note, at the present time, a two-way transfer is not possible with a single bag. It is a one-way transfer, either sending or receiving.
The reason for this is that unlike warp gates, transfer magic circle malfunctions when placed in close proximity due to the mutual interference of magic power.
Even so, with this, they have no shortage of money, and they do not have to worry about their luggage for normal level shopping.
Jin and his friends set out for the town of Seki with such an outfit.
"A lot has changed since the old days, hasn't it?
"Hmm..."
Jin thought that this was a natural progression for a town with so many people coming and going.
The old houses were a blend of Japanese and Western styles, but the new buildings were in the Shoro style. In other words, they were built of solid stone with little ornamentation.
In the midst of all this, there was a dry goods store with an old-fashioned storefront.
"It's not a blend of Japanese and Western styles ....... This is already Japanese style.
Shingle walls and tile roofing. The building is supported by pillars, not walls.
The front is a sliding glass door.
"It's very elaborate."
Curious, Jin decides to enter the store.
"Welcome!
The woman tending the store was an old woman. She must have been in her 80's. Her face was wrinkled deeply, but her back was straight and she was still hale and hearty.
"Oh ......"
It somehow reminds me of a wooden building of the Showa period, Jin thought. Well, Jin himself was born in the Heisei era.
"Bonito flakes...... and is this kelp? Oh, there is dried wakame seaweed. Oh, and dried dried sardines."
It was a dry goods store.
"Customer, I've never seen you before, but you know a lot. You are a man who is particular about dashi, aren't you?
Yes, I am. Dashi is very important in Japanese cuisine, isn't it?
Jin thinks in his mind that for Western-style dishes, dashi should be called "fon" or "bouillon" rather than "soup stock".
"This is a nice dried bonito flake.
The kare-bushi is a little different from the one made in Horaijima.
The katsuobushi is aged with a fungus, and the type of fungus must be slightly different from the one used on Horaijima.
Jin imagined that the same type of mold has been used for 400 years on Horaijima, which is a closed environment, while the type of mold may have changed little by little on Mitsuho.
So,
"Please give me two of each of these kare-bus kare-bus, one male and one female.
"Thank you very much.
The bonito that is cut into three pieces and then further grated into the back and belly is called honsubushi, and among the honsubushi, the one made from the back is called male katsuobushi, while the one made from the belly is called female katsuobushi.
Female joints have a higher fat content, so they are used as broth for thickly seasoned simmered dishes. Male shavings are said to be best used for light seasonings such as soup stock.
Incidentally, commercially available shavings are said to be a mixture of both.
Jin recalled the old days when he had heard such knowledge from the director.