The exchange meeting continued.
The entire morning leading up to lunch was dedicated to technical instruction and a question-and-answer session regarding magi-devices.
Jin and Illumina Ratkin took the lead on this.
Representing the Norha Principality were Minister of Magic Miko Bee Saffron and Minister of Technology Jarbee Keef.
"First, I must explain that the vast majority of magi-devices in our country have fallen into disrepair," Jarbee Keef began. "Many are completely out of commission due to a lack of magi-stones and magi-crystals to power them."
He continued, "Thanks to the magi-stones we received recently and those gifted today, over thirty percent of our devices are functional again. However, due to age and wear, half of those operate unstably."
"I see..."
Understanding how dire the situation was, both Jin and Illumina Ratkin frowned.
"Approximately how many technicians do you have who can perform repairs?" Illumina asked.
The Minister of Technology looked down, his voice dropping.
"...About three."
He added in an almost inaudible murmur that their skills were slightly... no, considerably lacking.
"That's so few... It must be nearly impossible to keep up with maintenance."
Jin felt a mix of exasperation and sympathy.
Given the sheer volume of broken equipment, even Jin would struggle to fix everything in half a day—unless it was all gathered in one spot. The travel time between locations would be the real bottleneck, far more than the repairs themselves.
"In that case, we will likely need to dispatch technicians from Avalon," Illumina Ratkin suggested.
"Oh, that would be an immense help!" Minister of Technology Jarbee Keef said, visibly overjoyed.
"We can hammer out the specific schedule and details at a later date."
And with that, the matter was settled.
"...For now, do you have any broken magi-devices that can be brought here immediately?" Jin asked.
"There are several, but... would you truly be willing to repair them for us?"
"Yes. I'll inspect them, and if they can be fixed, I'll see what I can do."
"Oh, thank you so much!"
The Minister of Technology immediately ordered his subordinates to bring over whatever portable magi-devices they could find.
"Come to think of it, you also repaired our golem carriage earlier. Please allow me to express my gratitude once again."
"Don't mention it." There hadn't really been an option to leave it broken anyway, Jin noted.
Before long, the first batch arrived.
There were nine small devices in total.
"Six magi-lamps and three blowers, I see."
Lining up all six magi-lamps on the table, Jin performed a quick diagnostic to assess their condition.
"'Analyze'... Aha, I see."
Jin set two of the six aside and cast 'Analyze' on them once more.
"Right, that makes sense."
He removed the outer casings of the two he had separated, exposing the internal Plates.
"'Fusion', 'Purely'..."
Then he applied magic directly to the remaining four without disassembling them.
"'Toughening'... That should do it."
"Ohh..."
Most of the onlookers couldn't comprehend what Jin was doing, but Illumina Ratkin, Minister of Technology Jarbee Keef, and Minister of Magic Miko Bee Saffron watched in astonishment.
"Incredible..."
"To do that so effortlessly..."
They were utterly floored by his working speed.
"That fixes them. The Plates in these two were degraded and cracked, so I repaired them and improved the material quality."
"Y-Yes..."
"As for these four, I lightly reinforced their overall construction. Both sets should easily last another twenty years now."
"Th-Thank you very much!"
Next, Jin analyzed and repaired the three blowers using the same method.
The entire process took seven minutes flat. Even then, he had deliberately held back his speed so they could somewhat follow his actions with the naked eye.
"Do you have anything else?"
Just then, three rather large magi-devices were carried into the room.
"Ah, air conditioners this time."
They appeared to have been unmounted from the walls. Jin set to work analyzing them right away.
"'Analyze'... Hmm, the Link Boards are worn down. The areas around the magi-circuits, which handle the heaviest load, are especially degraded... 'Fusion', 'Forming', 'Toughening'."
Locating the defects in thirty seconds, Jin completed the repairs in a single minute.
"..."
"..."
The onlookers stood with their mouths hanging open.
"Are there any more?" Jin asked.
The Minister of Technology replied weakly, "The rest are all fixtures that would be extremely difficult to remove..."
"Understood. In that case, I suppose that will suffice for now?"
"Y-Yes. More than enough! We wouldn't dream of making further demands when you've already done so much out of pure goodwill."
Minister of Technology Jarbee Keef bowed his head, overwhelmed with gratitude.
"U-Um, may I ask a question?" Minister of Magic Miko Bee Saffron piped up, raising her hand.
Jin turned to her immediately. "Yes, what is it?"
"Well, you pinpointed the defects so quickly just now. Is there a trick to it?"
"There is. Let's see... how should I explain it? Right—you watch the flow and intensity of the magical energy."
"The flow and intensity?"
Miko Bee Saffron tilted her head, not quite understanding.
"Wherever the flow stagnates, there is a very high probability of a crack in the Link Board. And wherever the magical energy is weak, it means magical resistance has built up, which indicates the molecular structure has degraded."
With that explanation, the Minister of Magic finally looked enlightened.
"...I understand now. That is why you used 'Fusion' and 'Toughening'."
"Exactly."
Illumina Ratkin added, "Avalon regularly holds technical lectures on these principles, so once our formal treaty is established, please feel free to attend."
Upon hearing that, Minister of Technology Jarbee Keef and Minister of Magic Miko Bee Saffron beamed with excitement.
"Oh, that is wonderful news!"
"I would love nothing more than to attend!"
"If such lectures are commonplace, the Conference Countries must truly be remarkably advanced," Chancellor Premus Hai Yasuna murmured with a quiet sigh.
"On that note, what may we offer you in return for the repairs you performed today?" asked Minister of General Affairs Kaimu Law Hasta. "We cannot simply accept your services for free."
"Let's see... In that case," Jin said, "I would like permission to freely enter and leave the Norha Principality."
"I see! If that is all you require, it is easily granted."
The Chancellor readily gave his word.