Immediately upon hearing about the cave-in, Jin contacted Laojun through Reiko.
Laojun determined that this was an occasion where Avalon should take action, and mobilized Deus Ex Machina.
Transferring Maquina's Aristotle near Avalon via transporter, Maquina contacted Avalon's Chief Administrator, Tomax Bertman.
"What did you say?! A cave-in in the Shouro Empire?...And you require medical personnel. Understood!"
Tomax Bertman immediately issued orders to his secretary automaton, Manon.
"This is an emergency. How many personnel can we dispatch right now?"
"Yes, sir. One healing master and three healers. There are also five apprentice students. As for healing automata, we have two units available."
"All right, notify everyone. Tell them to board Maquina-dono's Aristotle. Leave one healing automaton here and dispatch the other."
Incidentally, both healing master and healer were national qualifications, and while both were practitioners of Healing magic, a healing "master" held a higher certification requiring profound scientific knowledge, literally carrying the qualification to educate healers as well.
Avalon was home to numerous healing masters, healers, and students in training. Boarding those who were ready to mobilize immediately, the Aristotle soared into the sky.
"Maximum speed!"
As Maquina gave the brief command, the Aristotle surged to its emergency maximum speed of 600 kilometers per hour.
This speed could only be maintained for roughly two hours, after which the entire propulsion system would require a complete overhaul—or so went the official pretext.
The distance between Avalon and Loizart in the Shouro Empire was approximately 600 kilometers. The Aristotle covered that distance in a single hour.
Then, it touched down slowly and deliberately.
The moment it landed, the medical personnel rushed toward the readily identifiable rescue area.
"Elsa-sama!"
"We have arrived from Avalon!"
Reinforcements arrived for Elsa, who had been waging an uphill battle all on her own: one healing master, three healers, five apprentice healers, and one healing automaton, Lise.
By that time, the number of rescued patients had climbed to thirty-five. Seven patients had completed treatment under Elsa, while sixteen critical and severe cases were currently undergoing emergency care.
The local healer already stationed on-site possessed skills seemingly below that of an apprentice and had been of little help, leaving Elsa to handle almost everything by herself for the past hour and a half.
Had it not been for her fatigue-resistant homunculus body, she would have reached her limit long ago.
"Thank you. Triage is already complete, so please begin with the critical patients....Lise, assist me over here."
"Understood!"
"Leave it to us!"
With that, the healing automaton Lise hurried to Elsa's side.
Presently, Elsa was attending to a patient suffering from a head injury.
"Most likely an intracerebral hemorrhage. Consciousness is clouded. We must operate immediately."
The procedure involved making a small incision in the scalp, evacuating the pooled blood, and then applying Healing magic to mend both the internal trauma and the incised opening simultaneously.
"Understood. Leave the assisting to me."
"Mm."
At long last, Elsa was able to devote her full focus to the surgery.
Meanwhile, in the collapsed mine shafts, desperate rescue operations continued, spearheaded by Reiko and the Smiths.
Taking full advantage of her diminutive frame, Reiko ventured deep into the tunnels ahead of the rest.
For Reiko, whether the tunnel caved in or boulders pinned her down made no difference at all.
A collapsed shaft was no more perilous than a casual stroll, and any rock trapping her could be pulverized with ease.
"...There is someone two meters ahead."
Pushing through the debris with her immense strength and force generators, Reiko pressed onward.
Upon locating the trapped miner, she erected a barrier around them and carried them back out.
"Ooh! Lady Reiko has rescued yet another one!"
Ernst II, Emperor of the Shouro Empire, had not returned to the Royal Palace, choosing instead to remain at the disaster site to oversee the situation.
He stood inside the tent that served as the disaster response headquarters, acting as the supreme authority on-site.
The rescued victims were promptly handed over to the medical team led by Elsa.
As for Jin, he moved about providing general support.
Presently, he was primarily procuring and supplying provisions to Elsa and the medical staff.
In addition to medical supplies such as purified water, clean cloth, and disinfectant, he supplied potable water, oral rehydration solutions, and light snacks, as well as Persica juice to restore the mana of the healing masters and healers from Avalon.
Thanks to the dedicated efforts of everyone involved, four hours after the disaster struck, the mine shaft was completely excavated, and every last victim had been rescued.
In a stroke of good fortune amidst misfortune, because the shaft primarily ran through soft aluminum oxide, there were no fatalities. The workers had been spared instant death from falling rock.
And through Elsa's tireless efforts, even those who had hovered on the brink of death had regained consciousness.
That night.
A ritter order dispatched from Loizart guarded the perimeter, while an imperial medical corps tended to the wounded.
Inside one of the many pitched tents:
"Jin-dono, Elsa-dono, Maquina-dono, we are truly indebted to you for your assistance!"
Having rushed to the scene as well, Chancellor Roderich Barberas von Heiser bowed his head deeply.
"No, we simply happened to be nearby."
"I... merely did what I could as well."
"I was only acting upon a request from Avalon, after all."
All three humbly deflected the praise in unison.
"Furthermore, the Honorary Squire Lady Reiko, and Jin-dono's golems! You have been a tremendous help."
This time, Magic Technology Minister Reglei Gibbs von Besuvius spoke.
"Thanks to all of you, we were able to rescue everyone in such a short amount of time."
Minister of General Affairs Schrotgen Domel von Kabastan, who had also rushed over, demonstrated his immediate drive:
"The cause of this accident is currently under investigation. We are determined to ensure such a disaster never occurs again, but we would also like to hear Jin-dono's thoughts. What do you believe caused the cave-in?"
"Let's see. The primary resource mined here was aluminum oxide, was it not?"
"That is correct."
"As you know, aluminum oxide is earthy and forms brittle veins, so it seems only natural to suspect insufficient reinforcement of the walls and ceilings."
The minister of general affairs nodded.
"We considered that as well. However, we questioned the workers on-site and inspected the other three shafts, yet found no evidence of faulty construction."
At that moment, Reiko raised her hand.
"Permission to speak, please."
Naturally, no one objected.
"...In that case, it is almost certainly sabotage. Some of the rubble I excavated bore unnatural signs of intentional destruction."
It was a bombshell statement.
"Wh-What do you mean by that?"
The Chancellor leaned forward, eyes wide. The others were equally eager to hear more.
"Yes. Several structural components that appeared to have originally been support pillars bore deep gouges that seemed to have been inflicted from the inside."
From the inside meant they were inflicted from within the mine shaft itself. Since workers moved back and forth constantly, superficial scrapes were to be expected.
However, if deep gouges were inflicted, standard protocol should have required reporting to a supervisor and conducting immediate repairs.
If that had been neglected, leading directly to the collapse...
"I will have it investigated at once."
The minister of general affairs summoned a subordinate and whispered a series of orders into his ear.
Afterward, he turned back to the group.
"Jin-dono, even if this was an act of sabotage, we shall handle the investigation ourselves. Please proceed with the construction of the memorial hall as scheduled."
After pondering for a moment, Jin replied,
"Understood. Since we cannot predict what might happen, we will stay here tonight and return to the construction site tomorrow."