The clock turned back slightly to mid-June, a time before the Technology Expo was held in the Shouro Empire.
In the Klein Kingdom, meetings were mired in turmoil day after day.
The current agenda was the Inado Mine, located in the former territory of Earl Walter.
A policy had already been established: the former Walter territory would be partitioned and granted to new nobility who had distinguished themselves.
Toka Village was to be assigned to Baronet Lishia Fahlheit. Furthermore, it had been decided that the Inado Mine to its east would be added to Jin’s leased territory.
The problem lay with that very mine.
The Inado Mine yielded gold, silver, and a small number of magi-crystals. These resources accounted for approximately five percent of the kingdom's total mineral output, serving as both a source of national revenue and a vital industrial resource.
Surrendering a five-percent source of income was a bitter pill for many to swallow.
Even though it was a decision they had made themselves, perhaps it was only human to feel a sudden reluctance to let go when the time actually arrived.
"Then, shall we officially designate August 1st as the start of Jin-dono's lease, and extract as much ore as possible until then?"
This was the proposal.
The King of the Klein Kingdom, Alois III, let out a quiet sigh at the pettiness of his cabinet ministers.
(It seems the corruption of the old nobility wasn't limited to Earl Walter alone...)
However, such was the limit of his sovereignty; he could neither voice these thoughts nor let his frustration show in his demeanor.
"In that case, how shall we handle the miners?"
"Humans are inefficient. This is exactly the sort of situation where we should utilize Golems."
"We happen to have twenty general-purpose Golems on hand, do we not? Sending about ten of them should suffice."
These were the units Jin had manufactured.
Since the suggestion was ostensibly for the good of the country and backed by clear logic, even the King could not flatly refuse.
The next day, ten general-purpose Golems and a wagon train were dispatched. Accompanying them were the leader, Viscount Bayer; Boulton Allstatt; Heinz Rush; and the wagon coachmen.
Viscount Bayer was appointed leader due to his supposed expertise in mine management. Boulton was there to classify the ore with his Microscopic Magic Eye, while Heinz served as security.
The party reached the Inado Mine after six days of travel.
The mine sat atop a small hill, its entrance a gaping maw leading to tunnels that sloped diagonally into the earth.
The surroundings remained untouched since the day Earl Walter—intending to raid Kaina Village—had destroyed the management magic tools to release the criminals serving as miners.
"Right, let's get to work!"
After clearing away the scattered rock debris and shards of broken magic tools, they immediately commenced excavation.
The performance of the general-purpose Golems Jin had created was nothing short of extraordinary.
While they were nowhere near the level of the Golems on Hourai Island, these units possessed roughly ten times the strength of an ordinary human. Gripping pickaxes, chisels, and hammers, they tore through the ore at a furious pace.
They required no air and no food.
Their only need was a daily recharge of mana into their mana tanks. A mana supply device for this purpose had been brought along in the wagons.
They could operate with the absolute bare minimum of light.
All of this was made possible by Jin’s craftsmanship, yet Viscount Bayer failed to appreciate that fact.
He simply stood there with a greedy smirk, watching the piles of ore accumulate.
Boulton appraised the haul, sorting it into gold and silver ore, crystal and quartz, raw magi-crystals, and other categories.
"The vein seems to be thinning out as expected. The yield of gold-bearing ore is dropping," Boulton reported.
In response, Viscount Bayer issued a new command.
"Dig deeper. The Golems should be capable of it."
Even if they hit groundwater, the Golems’ ability to work submerged was a significant advantage. The Viscount ordered them to pursue the vein down to depths that would be impossible for any human.
In one week of this intense labor, they extracted an amount of ore that would normally take two months to mine.
As the work settled into a routine, the Viscount began making frequent trips down to the nearest village—Toka Village.
Geographically, Kaina Village was closer, but he chose Toka instead. Even if the truth would come out eventually, he felt a psychological need to keep the breakneck pace of their mining a secret for as long as possible.
＊ ＊ ＊
However, such precautions were useless against the Kaina Village surveillance system, Koushin.
Ever since Earl Walter’s attempted raid, the Inado Mine had been added to the list of monitored locations.
Additionally, the general-purpose Golems were equipped with a special magical circuit called the Trace System, which linked them to Laojun. Through this system, every movement of the Golems was perfectly transparent.
『They are quite desperate to extract that ore, aren't they?』
『Indeed. They seem determined to line their pockets as much as possible before the deadline.』
『I suppose "petty" is the word. Greedy humans really are the same everywhere.』
『I concur. How shall we proceed?』
『We can leave them be. A meager mine like that makes little difference to us. Besides, knowing My Lord, he might reject the responsibility anyway since management is such a bother.』
Laojun’s assessment of the mine as "meager" was understandable.
The Inado Mine's daily output consisted of roughly 0.5 kilograms of gold, 3 kilograms of silver, 6 kilograms of copper, 4 kilograms of tin, 10 kilograms of zinc, and 0.1 kilograms of mithril. It also yielded about 150 kilograms of crystal and quartz, 15 kilograms of agate, and 0.5 kilograms of magi-crystals.
This was approximately one-five-hundredth of Hourai Island’s production. Furthermore, these figures were only possible because of the efficiency of the general-purpose Golems Jin had built. When humans had worked the mine, the yield hadn't even reached a tenth of these amounts.
『Even so, they have dug remarkably deep.』
The Inado Mine’s highest point was at a higher elevation than Kaina Village. The depth of the main shaft had already surpassed 100 meters and was fast approaching 150 meters.
＊ ＊ ＊
July 1st. This was the day Lishia officially took office as the lord of Toka Village.
Viscount Bayer had left Toka Village on the morning of the previous day to ensure he wouldn't run into her. He was well aware that Lishia maintained a close friendship with Jin.
"Well, I suppose this is the limit."
Four of the five wagons he had brought had already been sent back. The remaining wagon was more than half full. It would likely be topped off in another day or two.
Even with the high-performance Golems, hauling ore up from a depth of over 150 meters was taking more time than anticipated.
"If efficiency drops any lower, it won't be profitable anymore."
The mine had already reached a state where human mining was impossible. Handing over such a depleted mine was essentially an insult to the recipient, but the Viscount gave no thought to such concerns.
That was a problem for the state and the royal family. He had simply carried out his orders.
(Though I did skim a little off the top.)
Viscount Bayer kept that thought to himself. He had used his Smelting magic to secretly process about two kilograms of gold from the extracted ore for his own personal gain.
Then came July 2nd.
The last wagon was nearly full, and the work was set to conclude that day.
Boulton, who had spent every day appraising ore, was the most relieved.
"Finally, we can go home. Honestly, order or not, this was a job I wanted no part of... Now that I think about it, I heard Gloria is in Toka Village. Maybe I can see her tomorrow."
He held onto that small, personal hope.
However.
At 6:00 PM, just as the main shaft was approaching a depth of 200 meters, disaster struck.
The ground suddenly lurched with a violent tremor.
"What happened?"
A thunderous roar followed as clouds of dust came billowing out of the tunnel.
"A cave-in?"
If a shaft over 200 meters deep collapsed, the consequences would be catastrophic. Even Golems would unlikely survive.
Viscount Bayer turned pale, realizing that the loss of ten precious general-purpose Golems would be blamed on him.
But the situation was far more dire than a simple collapse.
A massive volume of rock erupted from the crumbling tunnel. Stones were hurled dozens of meters into the air before crashing back down. The trees surrounding the entrance were snapped like twigs.
The ten general-purpose Golems were spat out along with the debris. Not a single one remained intact; some had lost arms, while others had their legs twisted at impossible angles.
"Th-this is no ordinary cave-in!" Boulton shouted over the unending rumbling.
Heinz took a combat-ready stance, his eyes sharp and focused. Only Viscount Bayer stood paralyzed, unable to process the scale of the event.
And then, it emerged.
"What in the world is that...?"
Something began crawling out of the tunnel.
It was five meters in diameter and fifty meters long. Its surface glinted with a metallic green luster, and countless legs wriggled along its sides. It had four eyes, all glowing a sinister red.
"A centipede...?"
It was a magical beast that bore a terrifying resemblance to a giant centipede.
"W-waaaaaah!"
And it wasn't alone. A second, a third... a total of five giant centipedes dragged themselves out of the earth.