Jin began laying out his plan to lower raw material costs to Ernst II.
"You mentioned that raw material prices have skyrocketed, but I believe we first need to understand the exact breakdown of those costs."
"Mm."
"Taking this country's magi-crystals as an example... Daiki, if you would explain."
With that, Jin turned the floor over to Daiki.
"Certainly. Transportation and mining fees make up more than two-thirds of the total price. Mining costs alone account for as much as seventy percent of that portion."
"Mmm..."
That meant nearly half of the entire retail price came down to the cost of extraction.
Methodical by nature, Daiki had a precise grasp of the numbers.
However, formulating and executing a countermeasure based on that data was beyond him. That was where Jin stepped in.
"Which brings us to my part," Jin continued, taking back the conversation. "What I can do is bring those extraction costs down."
Jin explained that by utilizing golems, labor expenses could be drastically cut.
"That is true enough, but doing so requires raw materials in the first place," Magic Technology Minister Reglei pointed out. "To lower labor costs, we need golems. To produce golems, we need materials. And the cost of those materials is precisely what has skyrocketed."
"I understand. That is why I am proposing a rental system."
"A rental, you say? But under our current circumstances, every nation suffers from a severe shortage of both manpower and golem labor as we try to rebuild after the chaos wrought by the Magic Federation."
"Nations do, yes."
Jin grinned. Ernst II instantly understood the implication behind that smile.
"Which means... you have them, Jin-dono?"
"Yes. I have plenty of golems available to lend."
"Ohh...!"
This was the true purpose of Jin's visit: to supply the necessary golems to make up for the labor shortage by leasing them out at bargain rates, or by offering them for sale on installment plans.
As far as Jin was concerned, either option worked.
"Their performance is on par with Hope here."
By "on par with Hope," Jin meant the level of performance Hope had demonstrated during the exhibition at Avalon, which was actually only thirty percent of his true capability.
Even throttled, there was no question that his abilities were extraordinary by the standards of the present world.
Furthermore, using golems for mining eliminated the need to ventilate the shafts, cutting out a massive amount of labor and infrastructure.
"I can lend you twenty units. What do you say?"
"We gladly accept, of course," Ernst II answered without hesitation. "However, whether we lease them or purchase them on installments will depend on the terms. What would the price be?"
"Uh..."
Jin panicked inwardly. Put on the spot, he realized he had completely forgotten to set a price. As always, he had little mind for accounting.
"Per unit, the lease fee is 1,000 Toll per month, or 10,000 Toll under an annual contract. For installment purchases, it would be 3,000 Toll per month across fifty payments."
Reiko stepped in and answered in Jin's stead. It seemed Laojun had fed her the figures via manacam.
"What!...That is remarkably cheap."
Assuming 1 Toll was roughly equivalent to 10 yen, renting would cost 10,000 yen a month, or 100,000 yen a year on an annual contract.
Purchasing on installments would run 30,000 yen a month, totaling 1.5 million yen over fifty payments.
"Of course, it is not as though they are only capable of mining ore," Reiko added.
Being golems of Jin's creation, they could easily handle clerical work and administrative tasks as well.
Having witnessed such versatility during the Avalon demonstrations, the officials were readily convinced.
Ultimately, wanting to deliberate alongside the Minister of Finance and the minister of general affairs, the imperial side decided to deliver their formal answer the following day.
Jin's proposal was not finished yet.
"Next is the issue of transportation."
"Mm."
Whether hauling from the mines of the former Leonard Kingdom or from domestic deposits, transportation currently incurred substantial costs.
"To resolve that, my proposal is simple: smelt on-site."
"A sound idea in theory, but..."
When dealing with metals, the efficiency of hauling raw ore versus refined ingots was night and day.
For example, high-grade hematite iron ore boasted a steel content of around 70 percent, and magnetite reached roughly 72 percent, with the average across various iron ores hovering around 65 percent.
In other words, about 35 percent of the hauled weight was useless rock.
With gold, the usable yield plummeted even further.
To take an example from Earth's Japan, the ore from the Hishikari Mine in Kagoshima Prefecture yielded an average of 50 grams of gold per ton, with a maximum of around 290 grams.
Considering that an ore deposit was deemed commercially viable at just 5 grams per ton, one could easily appreciate just how massive the proportion of waste rock was.
For that reason, establishing a smelter as close to the extraction site as possible was ideal.
Currently, smelting facilities were built on the outskirts of towns somewhat removed from the mountainous mining sites, meaning that simply hauling the raw ore that far required immense effort.
While that might pose logistical hurdles on modern Earth, Planet Ars had access to magic and magi-craft.
Jin offered to lease out high-efficiency magi-devices designed specifically for smelting.
"That would be an immense help!"
In exchange, Jin stated that he would take a one percent cut of the metal processed by each magi-device as a usage fee.
"Are you certain such a small share is sufficient?"
Ernst II agreed on the spot, but the cut was so modest that he could not help asking.
"Yes, that is more than enough. However, I do have one additional condition: I would like permission to claim, free of charge, any trace elements from the slag that I happen to want."
"By all means, you are welcome to them."
For instance, argentite, a common silver ore, often contained antimony, while pyrargyrite was an explicit sulfidation mineral of silver and antimony.
Furthermore, bismuth—which had recently drawn attention for its iridescent crystals—was frequently found alongside adamantite on Planet Ars.
Anticipating that practical applications for these metals would eventually be discovered and drive up demand, Jin wanted to stockpile them rather than let them be discarded as industrial waste.
"Well, that went smoothly enough for starters."
Having concluded his negotiations at the Royal Palace, Jin was unwinding back at his mansion.
"Father, thank you for your hard work."
Sipping the tea Reiko had brewed for him, Jin let out a relaxed sigh.
"Ah, this tea hits the spot."
Through the window, Jin watched the twilight settle over the city.
To be honest, it wasn't as though he had grown entirely accustomed to the void left by Marikka's passing.
Even so, little by little, his heart was finding its footing again.
"It's not that I've forgotten the grief... more like the sharp edge of the sadness is starting to fade, I suppose."
He murmured the thought aloud to no one in particular. Whether the words held any profound meaning hardly mattered.
Reiko said nothing, simply attending to Jin in quiet devotion.
"Then we are agreed: we lease them for one year, evaluate their performance, and then decide on a purchase?"
Over at the Royal Palace, Ernst II was meeting with his cabinet ministers to finalize their stance on the mining golems Jin had offered.
The consensus was to lease the units for a single year first. If their utility proved as great as promised, they would buy them outright; if not, they could extend the lease or terminate the contract entirely.
It was a sensible, measured compromise.
Four hundred years ago, during the reign of the Empress, the crown would likely have bought all twenty units on the spot without a second thought. Unfortunately, the Jin of today lacked that kind of public track record.
On the other hand, the smelting magi-devices raised no objections, and Ernst II's decision to accept them received unanimous support.
With these terms settled, the Empire officially resolved to accept Jin's aid first thing the following morning.