Returning to Hourai Island, Jin called out to Reinhard, Louis, and Beena, who had also just returned from Planet Hehl.
"What's the matter, Jin?"
"Did something happen?"
"It's rare for you to ask for our advice, Jin, isn't it?"
Chatting as they walked, the three of them joined him in the dining room they routinely used for meetings.
"I have a rather complicated issue I'd like to consult you about."
Jin had thought it wise to seek counsel from Reinhard and Louis, both of whom possessed political savvy.
"Here you are, everyone."
Reiko made the rounds, serving tea to all present.
Taking a sip, Jin opened the floor.
"The truth is, the world right now seems to be facing a doctor shortage."
He recounted his exchange with Laojun, explaining that while education was underway, projections estimated it would take ten years before new practitioners were truly competent.
"So, what do you plan to do, Jin?" Reinhard asked, having a fair guess as to his answer.
"Well, I'm thinking of creating assistant automata and dispatching them to various regions, but the real question is how to pull it off."
"Quite right... In matters like this, I believe it's easiest to evaluate if we run a simulation in a confined region," remarked Louis—the former Count Kuzuma.
"Ah, spoken like Louis... Jin, with that in mind, why don't we proceed under the assumption of the healthcare conditions in, say... Loizart, for instance?"
"First, as a basic premise: will this healing be offered for a fee, or free of charge?" Louis asked.
"I'd rather not take money, but that would cause problems, wouldn't it?"
"Big problems," Beena replied. "If you do that, civilian healers will all be driven out of business across the board."
"I see... Then we'll have to charge something."
"Exactly... And that amount needs to match the market rate."
Reinhard's advice was easy for Jin to grasp.
"We can find that out with a little research. Setting aside those who price-gouge, of course."
"Precisely."
"Next is what form this enterprise will take," Louis said, chiming in once more.
"Form?" Jin asked, not quite following.
"In other words, whether you'll open practices by buying or leasing buildings."
"Ah, I see..."
Louis continued. "I'm sure you already realize, but if you go that route, the number of healers—or rather, assistant automata—you'll need won't stop at one or two hundred, you know?"
"Yeah."
Cities, towns, villages, hamlets. Even if they only deployed healers to major cities and towns, it was easy to see that an enormous workforce would be required.
"Which means..." Jin pondered. "Home visits? House calls? No... mobile healing?"
He recalled the light trucks he had seen in modern Japan used for mobile vending around depopulated hamlets.
At the same time, the concept of mobile clinic vehicles sprang to mind.
Combining the two yielded healers traveling across regions by automobile.
When he explained the idea, Reinhard, Louis, and Beena all voiced their approval.
"That's good."
"That's a wonderful idea."
"Trust you to think of that, Jin."
"So that means preparing assistant automata who can make the rounds in mobile clinic vehicles..."
"Hold on, Jin. There's still one problem."
Beena cut in just as Jin was about to shift his focus to the crafting phase.
"What is it?"
"Credibility and trust."
"Ah..."
Hearing Beena's words, Jin immediately understood.
Healthcare, after all, was fundamentally built on trust.
"Just suddenly rolling in and saying, 'I'll diagnose your illness, I'll heal you,' won't cut it, huh?"
"Exactly."
"Hmm..."
This was proving trickier than expected.
While Jin could craft golems and automata at will, he could not simply manufacture trust and confidence out of thin air.
Those were things that had to be cultivated over time.
"On that front, perhaps we could ask a renowned healer for their backing...?"
Trading on the name value of being a prominent healer's apprentice or fellow disciple would make it far easier to win the public's confidence.
"Or maybe we use decoys..."
In this context, decoys referred to undercover shills planted to drum up enthusiasm.
Essentially, they would step up to be diagnosed and put on an exaggerated show of joy—"I'm cured!"—to dissolve the suspicions of ordinary folk.
"Hmm..."
Jin could only groan in contemplation.
"I'd really like to borrow the name of a famous healer... Is there anyone out there?"
At that question, Beena looked at him with an exasperated sigh.
"What are you talking about? You have your own wife, don't you?"
"Is Elsa really that famous? Four hundred years ago, sure, but..."
"If you're going to put it like that, there isn't a single famous healer in this day and age."
She pointed out that this was precisely why there was a shortage to begin with.
"Good point."
"All that remains is the method," Louis weighed in again. "Personally, I think the best approach would be to establish a healing organization under Elsa-san's name and present the staff as being dispatched on its behalf."
"I see. That's a solid idea." Jin nodded in appreciation, finding the proposal sound.
"Though I doubt it will gain acceptance overnight," Louis cautioned, noting the likely hurdle.
Reinhard spoke up. "For that, we can simply have the World Conference promote it."
"That's true."
"Then let's outline our plan step by step."
"Right. Will you help me out?"
"Of course."
And so, after roughly half a day of deliberation, a broad course of action took shape.