On September 19th, Jin received a report from Laojun regarding the resources of Kutsudo Mine.
"My Lord, I have an interim report for you."
"Yeah, go ahead."
"Understood. As expected, the shallow ore veins have been almost entirely exhausted, and what little remains has low metal content."
"I figured as much."
"At medium depths... up to about 100 meters underground, a decent amount of ore veins remained."
"Oh, that's good news."
"Yes. Therefore, I used the Moles to excavate tunnels: one set for golems and one for humans. The ones for golems were dug without special care, while the human-use tunnels were excavated at a five percent gradient, making them quite long."
Laojun explained that they had advanced the excavation in a zigzag pattern.
"The ore veins consist mostly of iron and copper ore, along with small amounts of gold and silver ore."
"We already have plenty of that on Hourai Island, so there's no need to go out of our way to secure it."
"Yes. Beyond that, the area past 300 meters underground was undeveloped, so we are securing the useful ores as we dig the tunnels."
"Sounds good. And what did you find?"
"Yes. There were veins of white gold group elements such as iridium, osmium, and rhodium, as well as adamantite. In addition, all-attribute magi-crystals can be mined."
"Oh, that's great. Especially the white gold group elements—since they have no practical use in this era, let's secure them on our end."
Due to their high melting points, white gold group elements tended to be treated as useless metals or ores that people simply did not know what to do with.
Platinum, iridium, osmium, palladium, rhodium, and ruthenium all belonged to the white gold group, but even palladium, which had the lowest melting point among them, melted at 1,555 degrees Celsius.
Osmium, the highest, reached 2,697 degrees Celsius.
Considering gold melted at 1,063 degrees Celsius and silver at 961 degrees Celsius, one could easily see just how high those melting points were.
Of course, for Jin, armed with his magi-craft, it posed no problem at all.
Such white gold group elements often occurred as alloys, and on Planet Ars today, no one could isolate them into pure elements outside of Hourai Island, the Nord Federation, and the laboratory in Avalon.
Therefore, the term "platinum" usually referred to an alloy. While "platinum coins" existed, they were treated more like commemorative medals than actual currency.
Digressions aside.
As far as Jin was concerned, more than half the purpose of redeveloping Kutsudo Mine was to revitalize Toka Village, so that objective could largely be considered achieved.
Incidentally, the settlement closest to Kutsudo Mine was not Toka Village, but a town named Doppa.
Doppa was the next town along the route after Kaina Village, Toka Village, and the town of Rakuno. Beyond that lay the town of Charles.
Consequently, the ores and ingots from Kutsudo Mine would be shipped to Doppa.
"The goal was to improve the Klein Kingdom's economic situation and get them to maintain the road at least up to Doppa, right?"
"Yes, My Lord. Exactly as you say."
However, while a path existed from the town of Doppa to Kutsudo Mine, it was a steep uphill climb that carriages could hardly traverse.
Transporting ores and ingots had to be done via packhorses.
"From the town of Doppa to Toka Village is about a day and a half's journey by carriage, right?"
"Yes, My Lord. It is roughly 50 kilometers. The town of Rakuno lies in between, but it is quite deserted as well."
Laojun believed that maintaining this highway could not be accomplished by redeveloping Toka Village alone; unless the towns along the way also saw reasonable activity, any temporary boom would quickly fade back into desolation.
"We concluded that this was why Toka Village fell into decline in the first place, didn't we?"
"Yes, that is correct."
For that reason, though it would take some time, they were attempting to revitalize the towns and villages north of the town of Charles to a moderate degree.
The redevelopment of Kutsudo Mine was one step toward that end.
It would indirectly benefit Toka Village.
Of course, the newly built airfield was expected to bring direct benefits as well.
"All that's left are the lodging facilities, then."
Jin was referring to the hotel currently under construction by the Klein Kingdom on the outskirts of Toka Village.
"That's modeled after the Jade Villa, right?"
"Yes, My Lord. However, most of the stone being used is granite."
"Is the structural strength going to be all right?"
Jade possessed a dense structure and exceptional toughness, meaning it would not easily shatter even under a heavy hammer blow, but granite was brittle and prone to cracking.
"It appears they are adding reinforcements, but..."
"...I should probably go take a look."
It would be a disaster if a floor collapsed after guests arrived.
Jin resolved to inspect it in the near future.
"Is there anything else?"
"As for Toka Village's hot spring facilities, those are fully maintained. The discharge volume is also more than sufficient."
"I see, that's good."
Less than a month remained until the 1st Marikka Cup air race.
Intending to focus entirely on support this time, Jin was doing everything he could to ensure the event went off without a hitch.
"Working behind the scenes like this is pretty interesting too."
Finding it a fresh experience, Jin was thoroughly enjoying himself.
Knowing this, neither Laojun nor Reiko said anything unnecessary, quietly assisting him.
"It's come along quite nicely."
On the western outskirts of Toka Village, hotel construction was proceeding at a brisk pace.
Viscount Gillet Feza Lutria, head of the 3rd Technology Department of the Ministry of Magi Technology who had been tasked with supervising the construction, muttered to himself.
Beside him stood his subordinate, Ritz Rakuka, holding a schedule and asking with a worried expression,
"Still, is using only granite really acceptable?"
Granite is brittle, after all, his tone implied.
"You worry too much. Of course I know that. That is precisely why we are strengthening the key structural points with steel frames, are we not?"
"The question is whether that will truly be sufficient."
The Jade Villa on Kunlun Island, which served as their model, was made entirely of jade as its name suggested, and was renowned for its durability.
"Once an accident happens, it will be too late."
"I understand your point, certainly. However, considering our schedule..."
"In that case, let us request more magi!"
"If that were possible, we wouldn't be having this trouble in the first place."
This exchange was being observed by Laojun via a Peeper.
"I see. A shortage of personnel. Yet the schedule cannot be delayed....The strain in such a situation will inevitably fall upon..."
Naturally, it would affect the quality of the building.
"It seems necessary to have My Lord inspect the construction site in Toka Village tomorrow."
Such was Laojun's conclusion.
"Hmm, I wonder if it would help to have a Toughening magi-device for construction purposes."
Having heard Laojun's report, Jin was pondering countermeasures.
"Four hundred years ago, My Lord created such a magi-device at the age of forty-three."
"Ah, figures."
Upon hearing more details from Laojun, it turned out there had once been a construction boom where interior designs using marble and granite were all the rage.
"I see. They really are brittle on their own, so it makes sense why someone would want to reinforce them with magic."
It was reasoning Jin could easily get behind.
"And that magi-device has been forgotten by now, right?"
"Yes, My Lord. Due to the end of that architectural trend, and at the hands of the Magic Federation."
"Just as I thought..."
In that case, there was no harm in reviving it once more.
Jin immediately set to work on crafting it.