"Did everyone sleep well?...Wait, what's wrong? You all look quite sleep-deprived. Was there some sort of problem?"
Mii came by after breakfast and spoke up when she saw how drowsy Saki and Elsa still appeared.
As it happened, Jin had once worked for an exploitative company back on Earth, so he was perfectly capable of functioning after two straight all-nighters. It wasn't exactly something to be proud of, though.
"Ah, well, we just got a bit carried away talking last night... We were up quite late."
When Jin said that, Mii nodded to herself repeatedly as if she understood perfectly.
"You were looking through the catalog, then?"
Since there was no point in correcting her, Jin simply gave a vague smile and left it at that.
"So, what shall we do today? Should we cancel the city tour?"
"Actually, I'd like to see the regular shops and such."
"Ah, me too!"
"...I'm coming too."
"Me as well."
Since the two sleep-deprived women insisted on going, Mii stood up, saying she would call for a rickshaw. Jin stopped her.
"No, if we do that, word about me will spread immediately. I'd rather go on foot."
However, Mii laughed and shook her head at Jin's concerns.
"I don't think that will make much difference... After all, Jin-sama, your skin color is completely different from ours."
Ah, right, Jin thought, finding the reasoning sound. This was one thing he couldn't change on short notice.
"Then maybe we should just go around in the automobile..."
As the words left his mouth, Jin seemed to suddenly realize something. He spoke up with renewed energy.
"That's it! Let's switch the tires to rubber!"
The current tires used elastic oak with magical beast leather wrapped around the surface for long-distance durability. However, Jin figured rubber tires would provide a much smoother ride.
He added, "I'll go to the Factory this morning to handle the modifications. Elsa, Saki, you two can stay here and rest."
It was a subtle way for Jin to show consideration for the two exhausted women.
And so, it was decided that Jin, Hanna, and Reiko would head to the Factory. For this group, Reiko would handle the driving, meaning Edgar would remain by Elsa's side.
"...Take care."
"See you at lunch, Jin."
With the two of them seeing the group off, Jin departed from the Guest House.
The automobile was impossible to miss. The whole city already knew that Jin had arrived in it, so onlookers appeared everywhere they went. Many people even bowed toward the vehicle as it passed.
"...We’re standing out even more than I expected."
"Well, you are amazing, Onii-chan," Hanna said with straightforward praise.
The automobile crossed the moat and arrived at the entrance to the Factory.
"Welcome. What is your order?"
The Factory Manager automaton came out to greet them. This was likely its programmed procedure.
"I want rubber tires," Jin stated. He also wanted to gauge just how much of a response the unit was capable of.
The Factory Manager responded professionally.
"You wish to manufacture tires out of rubber? My apologies. Our stock of gutta-peruhya is currently insufficient, so you will have to wait."
"I see. We'll wait a bit then. Hanna, why don't we take a tour while we're here?...Is that all right?"
"Yes, of course. One adult and two children, then. I shall guide you."
It seemed Reiko was also being counted as one of the children.
"Lead the way."
Jin nodded, and the three of them followed behind the Factory Manager automaton.
"This is the Metalworking Department."
The room contained simple lathes, drill presses, and metal bandsaws. Currently, they were in the middle of fabricating bicycle frames.
"This is the Stone Processing Department."
No work was currently being performed there. However, the stone cutters and chisels had been properly maintained compared to when Jin had first seen them.
"This is the Woodworking Department."
Work wasn't being done here either, but the maintenance of the tools and machinery was thorough.
Next, the group headed up to the second floor.
"This is the Chemical Processing Department."
They were in the middle of vulcanizing a small batch of gutta-peruhya that had arrived to manufacture brake pads.
Jin was impressed not only by their processing technology but also by the fact that the term "chemical" actually existed in this world's vocabulary.
＊ ＊ ＊
Meanwhile, Jin had secretly ordered Reiko to contact Laojun.
The request was for a "temporary increase in gutta-peruhya production."
Upon receiving these instructions, Laojun immediately dispatched Smith 11 via transporter to the forest west of Lake Sayama.
Smith 11 confirmed that the trees being tapped for sap were the same species as the tea trees—the Peruhya—found in Kaina Village and on Hourai Island.
In that case, we can spare a bit of Hourai Island's stock.
Since the goal was simply to manufacture the tires for Jin's automobile on-site, Laojun did not hesitate. He placed a quantity of Peruhya rubber into a container and warped it to the forest west of Lake Sayama.
Receiving the shipment, Smith 11 slipped the materials into the piles being gathered by the local working golems.
From what he could observe, the intelligence of the working golems was not particularly high. They possessed the knowledge and judgment necessary for their specific tasks, but they were almost entirely ignorant regarding anything else.
Smith 11 watched from the shadows and confirmed that while they could judge the quality of the newly added Peruhya rubber, they didn't care where it had come from.
As expected, they didn't harbor any doubts about the sudden increase in materials.
It seems their logical circuits for judgment are underdeveloped. This is a bit of a flaw. However, considering they are early-model golems, perhaps it is unavoidable.
Laojun deduced that when the autonomy of these working golems was being designed, the creators likely never anticipated a situation where materials would be provided by an outside party. He reasoned that the designers probably felt no major problems would arise as long as the golems could perform the essential task of judging material quality.
In any case, this should ensure My Lord receives what he needs.
＊ ＊ ＊
The volume of Peruhya rubber arriving through the resource Warp Gate increased dramatically.
The Factory Manager didn't harbor any suspicions as to why this was happening and immediately moved the materials to the production line.
(Ah, even though it's an autonomous type, its judgment domain is very narrow... I suppose it's limited by its low information capacity.)
Since the Factory Manager likewise didn't question the sudden influx of resources, Jin reached a conclusion similar to Laojun's.
While "perfect division of labor" sounded efficient, the lack of mutual checks between departments made the whole system extremely precarious.
(Well, I can't really interfere that much...)
Jin reconciled his feelings by deciding that, for now, having the system back in operation was good enough.
"Onii-chan, the Factory Manager is back."
Jin, who had been lost in thought, was snapped back to reality by Hanna's voice.
"I apologize for the wait. As of this moment, the stock of gutta-peruhya has exceeded the required amount, so we are now able to accept your order."
"Oh, good. In that case..."
Jin relayed the specifications for the tires he wanted to the Factory Manager: the outer diameter, inner diameter, width, hardness, and cross-sectional shape.
"Understood. Thank you for the detailed information. I shall begin production immediately."
The Factory Manager automaton called over a supervisor golem and gave it the instructions. The supervisor golem headed to the gutta-peruhya processing line and gave orders to the working golems. The working golems then followed the instructions and began processing the gutta-peruhya... and so the work flowed.
"Hmm, how should I put it... it's a bit inefficient."
On Hourai Island, information could be transmitted in an instant using manacams. Or rather, because information was shared, the "explanation" step only needed to happen once at the very beginning.
"But Father, since there are no manacams, isn't this only natural?"
"Well, I suppose so."
What Reiko said was true. He couldn't judge a factory established over a thousand years ago by the same standards as Hourai Island.
"In that sense, this factory really is impressive."
If one didn't use Hourai Island as a point of comparison, these were production facilities unparalleled anywhere else in this world.
Jin felt his interest in the "magus" grow even more.
Thirty minutes later, four gutta-peruhya tires, crafted exactly to his requirements, were brought before him.