I received a number of petitions by mail.
Quite a few of them, actually.
The first letter was from Rorone, the beastman girl I’ve entrusted as the Acting Shop Manager of the Western Confectionery Shop Fairy Fairi in Village Five.
“I saw the Tracking Cart production factory. Those golems are incredible. To think they can repeat the same task over and over with such precision. Regarding that, well... in cake making, there are tasks like sifting wheat and kneading dough that are extremely strenuous. Some of our craftsmen have even injured their arms or shoulders from the repetition. I would like to request that Fairy Fairi be allowed to install golems that can perform this kind of labor.”
This letter arrived alongside a new type of fruit cake.
The Fairy Queen made off with the cake while I was busy reading the letter. I later received feedback that it was delicious and quite popular with the children, as well. I had intended for everyone to share it, so that was fine, but I would have liked to try some myself.
Wait, what? The children said they saved a piece for the Village Head? Thank you. What wonderful children they are.
The second letter was from Eliza, one of the Civil Official Girls whom I’ve entrusted as the Acting Representative of Delzen Papermaking and Delzen Printing in Village Five.
“I saw the Tracking Cart production factory. Surely those are exactly the kind of things that should be installed in our papermaking and printing factories? No, they absolutely must be. I have enclosed a proposal for their installation, so I look forward to your favorable consideration.”
The words “favorable consideration” were written in an incredibly bold hand. And the bold text was actually sparkly. Is this a new ink they developed for printing?
The enclosed proposal was written on the sturdy, highly water-resistant paper we use for paper boxes. Ah, so they want to use golems to increase the production of these boxes.
The third letter was from Miyo, who handles various affairs in the city of Shashato.
“The staff at Ifuls Academy are in a state of excitement after seeing the Tracking Cart production factory. They say they would dearly love to observe the process of how the golems are actually being manufactured.”
Ifuls Academy is located in the city of Shashato. Apparently, they teach and research things at a much more advanced level than a standard academy; if a normal academy is a high school, this place feels more like a university or a graduate school. Since Lu was involved in the academy’s founding and serves as its Honorary Academy Director, the village provides them with materials on an irregular basis.
Specifically, we send things like dragon scales that have been ground into powder. Apparently, the scales are too difficult for them to process in their raw state. Of course, we provide other materials too—parts harvested from magic beasts or monsters, magic stones, and the like. We also send food ingredients produced in the village.
As for medicinal herbs, I leave those to Lu, so I don’t know exactly what she hands over, but the academy is reportedly very grateful. From time to time, they even deliver new or improved medicines to Lu.
So, Ifuls Academy has taken an interest in the factory... or rather, the golems. Personally, I think it would be faster if they spoke directly to Lu instead of Miyo or me. Still, since I received the letter, I’ll be sure to pass the word along.
The fourth letter was from Seles, the Acting Shop Manager of the Korin Sweets Shop in Village Five. Actually, this wasn’t a petition. It was a letter of thanks. She was thanking me for the installation of the golem for kneading an and the golem for cleaning.
I hadn’t heard anything about this. Had they already been installed? I had a hunch, so when I asked Lu and Tia, they apologized, admitting they had made a thoughtless promise. It seems the golems haven't actually been installed yet. In other words, this letter was a firm nudge to make sure they followed through.
Well, if Lu and the others have already agreed to it and are doing the work themselves, I have no complaints. I would prefer it if they consulted with me beforehand next time, though. It’s not that I’m angry, but if they take on separate projects, there’s a chance we might run low on the Magic Composite Iron they use as material for the golems, right?
Since Domaime brought us a mountain of it recently and we have prospects for procuring more, I’m not too worried this time.
The fifth letter was from the three Angels I put in charge of the Tracking Cart production factory. Let’s see...
“We are short-handed. Please grant us the budget and permission to hire local staff.”
...I’ll grant the permission, but I want them to consult with Youko regarding the screening of candidates. I’ll prepare the budget.
“We are short-handed. Specifically, we want a golem to manage the other golems.”
I should decide on this after consulting with Lu, Tia, and the Mountain Elves. I want to avoid making calls based on my own amateur judgment.
“We discovered one of the missing trash-cleaning golems.”
Oh, that’s good news. I see, it had fallen into a hollow behind the storehouse and gotten stuck. I hope they find the remaining two as well.
...Wait, they were so moved by the fact that it kept cleaning even after falling into the hollow that they gave it a name? Well, that’s fine if they’re going to treasure it, but they shouldn’t start treating it as their personal property.
The sixth letter was handed to me by Youko during dinner. This wasn’t a petition, but rather a proposal for a plan that had already been slated for execution.
“The Village Council has been inundated with petitions from the residents,” Youko said. “Every last one of them is related to those golems at the production factory. My secretaries are screaming in despair.”
“What’s the gist of them?”
“Broadly speaking, a mix of hope and anxiety.”
The hope would be people wanting golems for their own use, right? What are they worried about?
“That their jobs will be stolen.”
Ah, I see.
“One would think that if they considered the manufacturing costs of a golem, they would realize that won’t happen... but these fears are rarely grounded in logic.”
That was true. Golems were convenient, but they were anything but cheap.
First of all, people who can actually build golems are incredibly rare. We have Tia in the Village of the Great Tree, but even if you searched all of Village Five or the city of Shashato, you would be lucky to find ten people capable of making even a palm-sized golem. Finding someone who can build a golem large enough for actual labor is a miracle in itself. Consequently, the cost of hiring such a person is astronomical—assuming you can even find one.
Then there are the magic stones that serve as the power source. These are harvested from magic beasts and monsters. Even a reasonably dangerous beast might only yield a magic stone the size of a fingernail. The large stones required for labor-capable golems can only be taken from extremely dangerous monsters, making them precious and incredibly expensive. Of course, we have piles of them back in the Village of the Great Tree.
While the materials for the body can be cheap, using common soil leads to durability issues. If you want a golem to work long hours, you need specialized engineering, and that engineering costs money. The golems in the Tracking Cart production factory use an abundance of the precious Magic Composite Iron. If you were to calculate the market price... the total would be staggering.
Normally, most plans to introduce golems are abandoned at the drafting stage for these very reasons. However, we went ahead with them at the Tracking Cart factory regardless of the budget, simply to lighten the load for Lu, Tia, and the Mountain Elves. Because she understands this, Miyo hasn’t asked for golems in Shashato, and Michael-san hasn't suggested using them in his own factories.
“It is not as if shops using golems were unheard of before,” Youko continued, “but it was always the pastime of nobles or wealthy eccentrics.”
“And that’s why it never caused a stir?”
“Precisely.”
“But this time it has?”
“One could argue the golems at the factory are also your pastime, Village Head... but because it is you, the people suspect you intend to spread them throughout the entire village.”
I have no intention of doing that whatsoever.
“Based on your track record, that is what people assume. In fact, the majority of the secretaries believed you would spread them as well.”
That was quite a regrettable misunderstanding.
“Even so, consider how many you have used already: the Vending Machine Golem, the Shaved Ice-making Golem, the Golem Carriage, the ones built into the game tables, the golems you had fight in the Village Five stadium, and so on.”
“Ugh...”
“If you start using them on a grand scale in a factory, it is only natural for people to worry that you might use them elsewhere, as well.”
“Ngh.”
“If you have no intention of spreading them, I would like you to take some sort of action.”
“And that’s why you brought this proposal?”
“Umu. We must reassure them that their jobs will not be stolen by machines.”
“...Understood. I’ll read it over.”
“I’m counting on you.”
The golems at the factory had clearly made a much bigger impact than I had anticipated. For the time being, the use of golems would have to be limited to the areas I was directly involved in.
Still, the interior of the Tracking Cart production factory was supposed to be closed to the public. Even if we showed it to people connected to the village, wasn’t word spreading to the general public a bit too fast? I know Miyo escorted the people from Ifuls Academy, but still... Was it just because a golem-powered factory was such a novelty?
My question was answered almost immediately. The three Angels I had put in charge of management had set up a tour route and opened the factory to the general public.
“Eh? Was it supposed to be a secret?”
“W-We are very sorry! There were just so many people who wanted to see it.”
“Plus, we thought it would help increase the sales of the lunch boxes.”
Well, I suppose I hadn't explicitly told them that the factory had to be strictly private. I settled for giving them a stern warning this time.
Actually, I told them they could keep the tour route as it is. It seems they aren't letting anyone into the actual lunch box factory itself. Besides, given how many people have already seen it, trying to keep it private now would be pointless.
I simply instructed them to make the management of the magic stones even more rigorous and to double down on security to prevent the theft of golems or Tracking Carts. They needed to keep a sharp eye on those things.
The cleaning golem’s name is Fupadina. The second one, yet to be found, will be named Kaldobina, and the third will be Propashya, though there’s no guarantee they’ll ever turn up.