The following morning, Jin received word that the materials had arrived.
"Already? It's only eight in the morning."
"Lorenz must have rushed to meet the request."
Jin suspected it was actually Paerova who had pestered the man, but he kept that thought to himself. He headed to the side entrance—which functioned as a service door—alongside Jed Alamold to collect the supplies.
"Master Alamold. And Jin-dono." Lorenz greeted them with a bow. "Jin-dono, congratulations on your national certification. I look forward to our continued acquaintance."
"Ah, thank you for the kind words."
"Lorenz, how much of the material list were you able to fulfill?" Jed asked.
"Yes, sir. Here is the delivery note. It might actually be faster to mention the items I couldn't provide."
"I see. Jin-dono, have a look."
"Right. Let's see... Oh, you've gathered quite a bit."
Scanning the delivery note, Jin saw the following:
- Magi-crystals (High Quality): 4 (Short by 4)
- Mithril: 300 grams (Short by 200 grams)
- Adamantite: None (Short by 10 grams)
- Iron (Steel): 3 kilograms (six 500-gram ingots)
- Bronze: 10 kilograms (twenty 500-gram ingots)
- Nickel: 200 grams
- Chromium: 100 grams
"I can manage without the adamantite. As for the magi-crystals and mithril, I can make do since I was given permission for the two-in-one plan last night."
Jed Alamold nodded. "Right. That 'two-in-one' involves combining several units into one, correct?"
"Yes, exactly."
"Excellent. Lorenz, you've done well to get this much on such short notice. When can we expect the backordered items?"
"Well... it is likely impossible to obtain magi-crystals without going to the royal capital. The same applies to the adamantite. I should be able to source mithril via the regular shipments, but if anyone is heading to the royal capital, it would be faster to pick it all up at once."
Jed nodded, satisfied. "Understood. I shall inform Lord Paerova. I'll sign the invoice now, so please take it to the accounting department."
With the necessary materials in hand, Jin's repair work progressed at an even faster pace.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Now, how should I handle this?"
Back in the golem warehouse, Jin crossed his arms and began planning his next steps. He was determined to use this opportunity to create a personal assistant golem for himself.
He didn't need something with the extreme high performance of Reiko; for now, he just wanted a unit that could serve as a genuine helper.
"Maybe I'll consult them during lunch."
Jin guessed that Paerova would likely join him for lunch to check on his progress. He hoped to gain permission then to use the three golems that were too damaged to fully restore as the basis for his own unit.
"To get a 'yes,' I'll need to show significant progress on the others first."
He wanted to demonstrate the superiority of a properly maintained golem so they would see his quick fixes as merely a temporary solution.
"Alright."
With his strategy set, he didn't hesitate. Jin immediately set to work.
"Now that I have mithril, I can fix the magical muscles."
Since these were metal-based magical muscles, they were much easier to repair than biological ones.
"I'll just compensate for the low mithril content in these sections. 'Alloying'."
Even a 0.1 percent difference in composition could drastically change performance.
"That's it. Now I can reinforce the thin sections of the magi-nerve lines too."
One by one, Jin applied permanent repairs to the six units he had previously only patched up. By the time he finished, he had consumed 70 grams of mithril.
"Since I don't have adamantite, I'll have to use 'Hardening' on the joints."
By using a 'magi' type material alloyed with mithril for the joints, he could amplify the effects of the 'Hardening' spell significantly. After fixing the magi-nerve lines and magical muscles of the first six units, he began tackling their individual defects.
"Let's see, this one... Ah, right. The structural support was lacking."
He used steel, nickel, and chromium to repair a golem with broken lumbar vertebrae.
"There we go. Next is... the one with the cracked link board."
This golem had more damage to its external plating than its internal components, so he used bronze to patch it up. The link board itself was easily restored to its original state using Jin's magi-craft.
With that, the six units that had previously only received emergency repairs were now as good as new. Jin didn't pause, immediately moving to the next task.
"Of the remaining nine, I'll start with the ones that have damaged skeletons."
Two units had broken or warped internal frames. He could have fused the broken parts together, but the missing fragments had been nowhere to be found, which had stalled the repairs until now.
"'Analyze'... As I thought, it's a 13-chromium type."
The skeleton was a type of stainless steel containing thirteen percent chromium and no nickel.
"'Alloying'... 'Fusion'... 'Forming'... Done. And to finish, 'Toughening'."
He applied a light toughening spell to increase its overall durability.
"Seven left. Excluding the three I want for myself..."
Right then, someone called out.
"Jin-dono, how is it—Wh-what is this?!"
Jed Alamold had come to check on the progress and cried out in shock when he saw eight golems standing there, looking like they had just come off the assembly line.
"I was able to get this far thanks to the materials you provided. These eight are practically brand new."
"Incredible... This is truly amazing..." Jed's face flushed with excitement as he inspected the machines. "Oh, that's right. It's a bit early, but Lord Paerova was wondering if you would care to join him for lunch."
Things were proceeding exactly as Jin had hoped. He cheered inwardly.
"Yes, I would be honored to join him."
＊ ＊ ＊
"Eight units restored to new! I knew I was right to bring you here, Jin-dono!"
Paerova shouted with excitement, barely touching his food.
"About the three heavily damaged units," Jin said. "As I mentioned before, I'd like to salvage the usable parts and combine them into one functional machine. Would that be acceptable?"
"Hmm... I think it's a fine idea. Jed, your thoughts?"
"I agree. A single unit in perfect working order is far more valuable than three that are non-functional or half-broken."
With Jed's support, Paerova made his decision.
"Very well, Jin-dono. You have my permission. I'm counting on you."
"Understood. Using those three, I'll finish a unit that is as good as new—no, I'll make it better than new."
"Hoh! I look forward to seeing the result. I'll leave it in your hands."