Youko’s plan to reassure the residents that golems wouldn't steal their jobs revolved around a single strategy: exposure.
She wanted the people to understand what golems were.
What they could do, and what they couldn't.
She also wanted them to know how difficult they were to manufacture and how high the production costs were. People only fear losing their livelihoods because they don't understand the machines; the idea was that if they knew more about them, they wouldn't be so afraid.
One day, while preparations were proceeding steadily, I found myself sitting in the VIP seats of the stadium at the Village Five Foothills. I was there in the capacity of a judge.
Five golems stood on the stadium stage.
There was a box-type Rust Removal Golem that cleaned swords and blades.
An arm-type Sifting Golem that shook a sieve to remove lumps from wheat flour and other powders.
An arm-type Stirring Golem that mixed things with overwhelming power.
A box-type Packing Golem that placed a fixed number of items into boxes.
And an arm-type Noodle Draining Golem that shook tebo—the mesh baskets used for straining ramen.
Accompanying these five golems were their five operators, all Mountain Elves. Facing them from the opposite side were five craftsmen. They held placards identifying them as the Rust Removal Craftsman, Sifting Craftsman, Stirring Craftsman, Packing Craftsman, and Noodle Draining Craftsman.
...
I suspected the Noodle Draining Craftsman was just a professional ramen chef. I doubted anyone could make a living solely by straining noodles. Following that logic, the Rust Removal Craftsman was likely a blacksmith. I imagined the sifting, stirring, and packing craftsmen all had other primary jobs as well. Youko's secretary must have worked hard to round them all up.
"From this point forward, the golems and the craftsmen will compete in five events!"
the MC standing beside me announced into a magic tool that amplified his voice. A roar of excitement rose from the spectator seats.
...There were several thousand people here, weren't there?
They had certainly managed to pull a crowd. I hadn't expected this event to be such a draw, but then I learned that Five-kun, the Village Five mascot, was scheduled to give a concert afterward.
I see. This whole thing was just the opening act for Five-kun.
Hm? Oh, sorry, Mr. MC. Don't mind me. It's not that I'm unhappy with the arrangement. It’s just that these golems were built in a hurry specifically for this competition, and since I had to push Lu, Tia, and the Mountain Elves quite hard to get them ready, I just wanted them to get a bit more of the spotlight.
So, please, don't force the audience to clap. And we don't need a wave, either.
Wait, what? You practiced it before I arrived, so you want me to see it at least once?
Ugh, if you put it that way, I suppose I have to watch. But just once, okay?
I ended up watching the wave three times.
The competition itself concluded without any issues. Since the goal was to familiarize people with golems and demonstrate that they wouldn't steal human jobs, the golems were purposely pitted against tasks they weren't quite suited for. As a result, they lost every single event.
It went exactly as I had expected, and the audience seemed to enjoy themselves.
If we do this again, I’d like to give them a bit more of a handicap to make it a closer match. Perhaps on a smaller scale, too. Holding a "Golem vs. Craftsman" duel on a street corner might work better; in a stadium, it was hard for people in the far-off seats to see what was actually happening.
At the time, I thought my involvement in the matter was over. Even the plan Youko had given me stated that I was only required for the initial event.
But it didn't end there.
A few nights later, after dinner, I was relaxing in my private room when a few Mountain Elves came to visit. However, it wasn't them who had business with me. Apparently, the parties in question couldn't come to my room, so they were waiting in the workshop.
I wondered who it could be. Since I had nothing pressing to do, I headed over to the workshop.
Inside, the golems from the competition were performing their tasks with surprisingly graceful movements. The Rust Removal Golem was cleaning rust. The Sifting Golem was shaking its sieve, and the Stirring Golem was mixing something. The Packing Golem was... packing what looked like eggs into a box. And the Noodle Draining Golem was, naturally, straining noodles.
It was an impressive sight.
"So, who is it that has business with me?" I asked.
The only ones in the workshop besides the golems were the Mountain Elves assisting them. Since the elves could easily have come to my room themselves, that left only one possibility.
"It’s these golems, Village Head," one of the Mountain Elves informed me with an apologetic look.
I see. But I didn't think these golems had any capacity for speech.
"They answer our questions by moving or remaining still. We only realized what was happening when the golems refused to stop working, and we investigated why."
Oh. So that's how they knew the golems wanted to see me.
"We don't know exactly what they want, but their reaction was quite strong when we mentioned your name. We’re sorry for bothering you, Village Head."
"No, don't worry about it."
More importantly, these golems. What could they possibly want from me?
Even as I asked myself that, I realized it was a silly question. I could feel it. Their feelings were reaching me directly.
I see. You were frustrated, weren't you?
Frustrated that you lost to the craftsmen. And frustrated that the craftsmen and the audience walked away thinking that was all you were capable of.
And so, you want a power-up.
...No?
Ah, you're all in agreement about the frustration, but you're split on how to fix it. Let's see... the Rust Removal, Stirring, and Packing Golems want performance upgrades. The Sifting and Noodle Draining Golems want a place for self-training.
Hmm. I understand your points, but as for the performance upgrades, there's nothing I can do personally. You'll have to consult with Lu, Tia, and the Mountain Elves.
The Mountain Elves had looks on their faces that said "Leave it to us," so that only left my wives. I promised the golems I would speak with Lu and Tia.
As for the place for self-training... you want to be put to work on-site, I take it?
Understood. For starters, here in the Village of the Great Tree... well, there’s plenty of work for the Sifting Golem, but not much for the Noodle Draining Golem. You only get a turn when we're making ramen, after all. I’ll try bringing the idea up to the shops serving ramen in Village Five.
The golems responded to my suggestion with a series of coordinated movements.
"Keep at it, then."
"What are you doing, strengthening the golems? Wasn't the whole point of the plan to reassure residents who are worried about losing their jobs, not to win the competition?"
Youko gave me an earful later.
She was right. I had to apologize; it seemed I had been swept up in the golems' enthusiasm.
"Enthusiasm, is it? It is one of your better qualities to be able to sense such a thing from labor golems, but..."
"Well, about that. It turns out those golems are a bit special."
"?"
To put it simply, Lu and Tia had made a slight error. The primary material for the golems was magic composite iron, but some Dragon Scale powder had gotten mixed in. Apparently, Lu had accidentally used materials she was preparing to send to Ifuls Academy. Furthermore, while the magic stones for the main power source were correct, the stones used for motion assistance in the various joints were one size larger than planned. To make matters worse, they had accidentally used more of them than intended...
"And so the golems have developed emotions?"
"It seems so."
Lu and Tia apologized profusely, but the root cause was their exhaustion. Since I was the one who had pushed them to manufacture the golems while they were already tired, I couldn't be too hard on them. For the time being, I ordered Lu, Tia, and the Mountain Elves to take a mandatory ten-day rest. It’s never good to be so tired that mistakes start happening.
Once they were properly rested, they went ahead and upgraded the Rust Removal, Stirring, and Packing Golems. When the improved golems faced off against the craftsmen in a rematch, they won decisively. This, of course, led to the residents crying out about how amazing the golems were and how they were definitely going to lose their jobs.
This was the source of Youko's grievance. I had completely forgotten the original objective.
"I'm sorry."
"No, I am not seeking an apology. However, since the situation has changed, we must adjust our approach."
Youko presented me with yet another plan. The contents involved... mass-producing and selling magic tools? Specifically, using golems to manufacture magic tools, similar to the Tracking Cart factory.
"Indeed. In particular, a magic tool that acts as a cooling box has been long desired. If we can keep things cold, food spoilage will be delayed."
In other words, by making food last longer, everyone's quality of life would improve.
"We cannot do it all at once, so we will start with shops that handle food. Eventually, I want to make it so every household in Village Five has one."
I see. If these convenient magic tools are helping the residents, and golems are the reason those tools exist, then the people will come to appreciate the golems' work rather than fear it. That was the idea.
"That is exactly the concept."
"Understood. However, we can't let Lu and Tia get so overworked that they start making mistakes again. The same goes for the Mountain Elves."
"I am aware. There is no immediate rush. However, there is another plan waiting in the wings."
"Besides the cooling boxes?"
"Yes. This one involves medicine rather than magic tools. I was wondering what you thought of using golems for pharmaceutical production."
The next proposal suggested using the Sifting, Stirring, and Packing Golems to support the creation of medicine.
"After seeing the demonstration, staff from the Medicinal Herb Garden and various medical experts sent in opinions stating that they could significantly increase production if they had access to those golems."
Even if they produced medicine in bulk, storage would be an issue, but the cooling boxes would solve most of that. This would also be a major benefit to the residents' lives.
"Precisely."
"I see. It’s hard to argue with that."
"My apologies."
"You don't need to apologize for that. It’s my fault for making the residents uneasy with the golems in the first place."
"That is true, though it is a bit awkward for me to agree so readily."
I laughed. "Still, with this much demand for golems, I might eventually have to ask Lu and Tia to build a golem that makes other golems."
"People capable of building them are a scarce resource, after all."
So it seemed. In reality, a golem capable of manufacturing its own kind would probably be incredibly difficult to create. We would just have to take it steady, one step at a time, without any rushing.
"Indeed."