What appeared was a microscope.

To Ekaterina, it looked somewhat retro, but its shape was clearly recognizable as a microscope. But Isaac nodded his head curiously.

“I don’t know what this is, I’ve never seen it before. But it looks like a research instrument.”

Isaac said this because, although microscopes do exist in this world, they were different from those in her previous life in terms of shape and are quite difficult to use.

They didn’t have preparation plates yet, so the objects to be magnified were placed on a table or something similar. So, it was quite difficult to see.

Igor Toma, a lens craftsman hired by the Murano Workshop in the Imperial Capital, was asked to make this microscope and also to manufacture a glass slide for the glass preparatory plate, which he sent to us.

By setting the object to be magnified on the glass slides and reflecting the light from the mirror below to brighten the field of view, the microscope was much easier to use than the existing microscopes in this world.

Toma also told me that he had devised various ways to make the magnification higher than that of the microscope in the duke’s residence in the imperial capital. It was apparently true that he called himself an enthusiast.

“This is a microscope. It is an improved version made in the glassworks purchased by the Yurinova family in the imperial capital. We use it like this.”

I took a piece of finely ground rock powder from the table and put it on a glass slide.

In my previous life, a drop of water or something like that was placed in the preparatory plate and covered glass, but ultra-thin cover glass was still a bit difficult to make. I think it was amazing that they even made glass slides that were quite nice and clear and uniform in thickness.

I set it on the stand and looked into the lens. After adjusting the mirror below to brighten the view with reflected light and turning the adjustment screw to focus, the powder appeared completely different.

Mixed in with the blackish, clumpy stuff, I could see a number of bright, clear, beautifully colored crystalline-looking things. Some of them looked like beautiful snow crystals. Judging from the shape, they did not appear to be crystals.

“Please, take a look, Great-Uncle.”

“Thank you.”

Isaac, who had been watching Ekaterina’s operations with wide-eyed amazement, hurriedly peered into the lens.

“Oh!”

Isaac exclaimed at first glance.

“Wow! I’ve never seen such brightness…such magnification. How clear it looks. Oh, it almost seems like it is speaking to me…”

The excitement turned into an enraptured murmur, and Isaac began to stare at the microscope in silence, holding his breath.

Then, he took his eyes off the microscope and fidgeted, as if looking for something.

Aaron, with a knowing look on his face, held out a notebook, a quill pen, and an inkwell to Isaac. It seems that he had somehow brought them from another place, where he had left them on the table.

“Oh, thank you, Aaron.”

Isaac took it happily and began sketching and making notes in the notebook.

Aaron watched Isaac with satisfaction as he immersed himself in his work, forgetting everything else, his assistant skills seemed to be perfect.

Aaron was certainly not a prodigy, nor did he possess the connections to be a mine manager at such a young age.

Despite that, he managed to keep track of all the mines in Yurinova, and kept a vast amount of data in his brain.

That included the output and estimated reserves of each mine, the topography and transportation routes around each mine, the approximate costs, profits, the number of people employed, the correlation between the key players and their relationships, and much more.

If the mines’ “haves and have-nots” were inflating costs or not delivering results as instructed, he would smirk and inform something outside the normal chain of command, which would somehow improve the problem, even causing a somewhat scary phenomenon.