The next morning.

Jin, are you there?

After breakfast, the village chief came to Marthas house.

Yes?

Oh, Jin, do you have a moment?

Yes, what do you need?

The village chief wryly smiled.

Haha, its nothing much. Roland, the pedlar staying here wanted to have a little talk with you

Oh, so thats it. Its fine with me

I see, then is alright if we go immediately?

Thus Jin headed to the village chiefs house.

Nice to meet you, Im the pedlar Roland. Thank you for accepting my invitation

Im his son Eric, it is an honour to meet you

Roland and Eric who were waiting at the village chiefs house politely greeted Jin when he came. They were definitely merchants.

Yes, nice to meet you. Im called Jin Nidoh

The three men then sat around the table. The village chief was also there. Right after that, a young girl came along carrying tea.

Here you go

Oh, thank you Barbara

Jin remembered in the corner of his mind that she was the village chiefs niece, but then immediately shifted his attention back to the others.

So, what was it you wanted to talk about?

Jin was the first to talk. Then Roland answered him.

Well its nothing much the things that werent here two months ago when I last visited have me curious

Ahhh, the hot spring you mean

Yes. Theres also the pump, that water drawing tool. Are you really the one who made those?

Thats right, is there something about it?

With a face that held some suspicion, he asked Jin.

Uhh no, umm, Jin-san was it? Youre quite a young lad. Where did such a young Magic Craftsman learn from?

Magic Craftsman?

It was the first time he heard of that term. He knew of the title Magi Craft Meister that he succeeded, but he had not heard of the title Magic Craftsman.

Oh? Have you not heard of it? That is unexpected. Magic Craftsman is the general term for people who make tools using magic

I see

Indifferent to his reply, Roland changes the topic.

Come to think of it, where did you come from?

Jin used this opportunity to confirm his thoughts.

Umm, well you see I found a Warp Gate by chance, and as a result I was transferred here. Because of that, I do not know where I was sent and neither do I know where my home is exactly

Warp Gate? I feel like I may have heard of it before Eric, do you know about it?

If I remember correctly, I think that was a name of an Artifact I learnt about. It allows you to transfer between two points

That was the first time Eric opened his mouth since his greeting.

This guy attended Cecilio Magic School until just last year so he knows a little bit about magic.

The father, Roland seem to be proud of it.

Well, putting aside the Artifact, it malfunctioned and before I knew it, I lost consciousness near the village. Since then, Ive been indebted to Martha-san who picked me up, and this village for taking care of me

One part was a lie but it was not completely a lie. Eric then spoke,

That is unfortunate. There are many things that we dont know about Artifacts so such a situation is possible

Roland then took over speaking,

So is what youre saying that you dont know where your hometown is?

Thats right. You probably dont know Japan do you?

Japan is it? It is certainly not a name of a place I have heard of before. Is that your

Yes, it is my hometown

Roland began to ponder. In the meantime, Eric wanted to listen to more.

Im guessing that the magic Jin-san uses to make tools is from Jin-sans town, am I right?

That is right

When Jin nods in assent, Eric excitedly,

Magnificent! By all means, please teach me how to make that pump!

To that, Roland reproved.

Hey hey, dont get too excited. Jin-san, Id like to pay for the information, please also teach me how to make a Pump

Jin thought about what to do. There was no problem in teaching them, but he would like for the village to profit from this if possible.

Lets see how much would you pay for the information? Oh, and I dont know about the currency around here so please teach me about it.

I see. I guess thatd be the case. How about 100,000 torr for the information? That is the common currency in this kingdom. 1 copper coin is 1 torr, 1 silver coin is 100 torr, and 1 gold coin is 10000 torr. You can get 10 kilos of wheat for about 300 torr, that is 3 silver coins.

Jin began to calculate. Although it may fluctuate, based on the wheat, 1 torr is probably about 10 yen. That is to say, the pay for the information is a million yen.

I have one more question before I answer. In this country is there something called a Patent, have you heard of it before?

Patent? What is that?

From that reply, there probably wasnt.

A patent is the first thing that comes to mind to protect the rights of a person. The patent is valid for a fixed period and the person who uses the patent must pay a royalty, that is the kind of system it is

Hearing that, Roland thinks for a little bit.

I see, that is a good system. It is designed to protect the profit of the person who invents something new while allowing it to be widely available. Because of that, the opportunity to make the new thing will not rise

As expected from a merchant, he understood quickly. But,

However, unfortunately there is no such system

Is that so thats is regrettable

Well then

Although Roland had a disappointed face on,

Hmm, lets sell that information with a certain condition. However, there will only be one condition.

Th- that is!?

Roland was eager to gain the information for selling the pump.

Id like for the pump and other things like it be in your name. If possible, please make it hard to imitate

Indeed, differentiate from similar products

Roland quickly understood.

Thats right. Sooner or later counterfeits and imitations will appear on the market, it will be good if people understood the original is from Rolands place

Hehehe, but the true original is by you Jin-san

If that was said, people will know that the original is from my country

With that kind of understanding, a contract was made. In charge of it is Eric. Jin immediately made a pump for them to see, he then handed it over as a sample.

That afternoon, Jin made a demonstration using the little remaining bronze.

During that afternoon, while Jin was working,

Wh-what kind of method is that?!

Erics shout sounded.