Ch.168The Stairway Cliff. Maximus Canyon (3)

“So, did you get any information?”

After a quick breakfast, I asked Simon, who had said he would gather information at the library yesterday.

“I got enough to be satisfied. It seems there’s an airship route that offers a full view of these cliffs.”

Airship…

That’s a word I’ve never heard before.

I’ve seen plenty of airplanes and helicopters, but this must be something different.

“An airship… Is that different from an airplane?”

“It’s a hot air balloon with propulsion devices attached.”

“Isn’t that just an airplane then?”

“Well… you’ll understand when you see it.”

“Hmm… where do we board it?”

“Here… do you know where this is?”

I looked at the map Simon showed me.

I could roughly figure out how to get there by turning here and going around there, but there was no need to bother.

“No?”

“Then follow me…”

“Rickshaw!”

I called for a rickshaw, and soon a rickshaw puller who had been waiting for customers in the distance came running over.

“Where would you like to go, sir?”

“Here. Do you know this place?”

“Ah! Yes, I do! That’s the airship boarding area, isn’t it? Many tourists visit there, so I know it well. Shall we go there?”

“Yes. How much for five people?”

“Hehe… since you don’t have much luggage, just five silver coins, please.”

As the rickshaw puller rubbed his hands together, I took five silver coins from my spatial storage and placed them in his palm.

“What are you waiting for? Get in.”

After I sat down in the rickshaw seat, my party members hurriedly climbed aboard.

Despite carrying the weight of five people plus all our equipment—easily over half a ton (about 500kg)—the rickshaw puller pulled without even panting. After about 20 minutes, we arrived at the airship boarding area.

“Farewell, my lords!”

“Thank you for your service.”

I waved goodbye to the rickshaw puller.

Then, turning back to Simon, I whispered:

“If one doesn’t know how to read a map, hiring someone who does… isn’t that the virtue of nobility?”

Hearing my words, Simon’s face contorted strangely, and he sighed.

“This isn’t ‘The Prince and the Pauper’… if you were actually nobility, your subordinates would be dying left and right.”

“As long as I’m not the one dying, it’s fine.”

When I said that, Lucia, licking a seven-layer ice cream that she had bought from who knows where, muttered:

“Is this what they call an overflow? When vulgarity hits rock bottom, it becomes indistinguishable from nobility.”

“You brat.”

Thump.

After giving Lucia a light knock on the head, I turned back to Simon.

“So what do we do now?”

“Just wait. I’ll go get the tickets.”

Simon extended his hand toward me.

I handed him the money pouch, and he went to the ticket booth, exchanged a few words, then returned and distributed tickets to us.

“I got first class.”

“As expected of a sage, you’ve got good sense.”

“Hey, this is tourism, not adventure.”

“First class means we’ll get good food, right?”

“Probably? Even business class gets welcome drinks. First class might have welcome steaks and stuff like that.”

To be honest, I don’t really know.

I’ve never been on an airplane, so whether it’s first class, business class, or economy class, I only know what I’ve heard.

Still, since it’s called first class, we should be able to enjoy all the amenities available on the airship.

“But why first class specifically? I didn’t even hint at it.”

“Well, you’re a knight. When commoners and nobility are together, it’s uncomfortable for everyone. Rather than that, it’s better to spend a bit more for first class tickets that commoners can hardly afford.”

“Hooo…”

Whether knights belong to the nobility or the commoner class is a subject of much debate, but most people treat knights as the lowest rank of nobility.

It was advantageous to treat them as nobility since anyone’s son or daughter could potentially rise to become a knight. Knights were also seen much more frequently than the traditional nobility—dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons—commonly known as the five ranks.

“When does the airship depart?”

“I got the earliest one. In an hour.”

“An hour, huh…”

I tossed the change Simon gave me to Lucia.

“What’s this? A bonus?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“Go buy seven-layer ice cream for everyone. As nobility, I can’t be bothered with such menial tasks.”

“Ugh. So gross.”

Though Lucia said that, proving the adage that actions speak louder than words, she dashed off and returned with seven-layer ice creams.

It was a bit annoying that she seemed to have completely forgotten about the ice cream she had just been eating and bought new ones for everyone including herself, but since I had said “everyone” rather than “us,” the primary fault was mine, so I gave up on complaining.

“Hmm… a taste beyond description.”

With seven layers of ice cream stacked up, it was quite heavy.

A burdensome weight for children who would be crazy about such things. Probably more children end up dropping or spilling it and crying than actually finishing it.

As for the taste… it was sticky, so perhaps this was what they call gelato?

It was different from what I had imagined, but quite edible.

If I had to rate it, it was the kind of food you might occasionally think about but wouldn’t go out of your way to make or buy… typical tourist food.

“We should start the boarding process soon. First class requires thorough identity checks, so it takes longer.”

“Alright, let’s do that. Is there anything specific we need to bring?”

“We need identification, but our adventurer licenses should suffice.”

“That should be fine then. If there’s any issue, I can always pull rank.”

Even if there were people of higher status than me, it wouldn’t matter.

The Sun is my backer, and no matter how high they are, they’re still under the Sun.

[Don’t use my protection for such trivial matters.]

Oh, come on, let me use it for things like this. You’ve just been moping in your wife’s bosom for 50,000 years.

[…]

The Sun spoke no more.

Silence means consent, which means I can do whatever the hell I want!

With such inflated spirits(?), we headed to the check-in counter.

*

“Yes, identity confirmed. It is our honor to welcome you to Maximus Airways’ first class.”

“Please allow me to show you to your seats. This way…”

“Hmm.”

Disappointingly, there were no issues during the identity verification process.

Of course, I know that’s for the best, but I would have preferred a more thrilling identity check.

For instance, failing if you couldn’t recite your family lineage within a minute.

I could set a record for the shortest time since I have no family.

Oh, I have a wife now, so maybe not.

Feeling a bit mischievous, I stretched my wife’s cheeks and found that her soft lower body was still the best.

Raisha was always stuck to my side like glue, always providing a soft touch, and I could freely knead her ample lower body whenever I reached out.

“I don’t know why Medina doesn’t arrest you for public indecency.”

“Husband and wife are one body, so this is no different from touching my own butt.”

“How does that make any sense?”

“Then does it make sense that I smashed your head?”

As soon as the head-smashing story came up, Lucia promptly shut her precious mouth.

Hmm… it seems people do quiet down when you smash their heads.

If they’re dead, they can’t speak, and if they’re alive but their mouth is smashed, how could they talk?

Violence may not be the answer to all problems, but most problems can be solved with violence.

“Anyway… so this is what an airship looks like.”

“This is my first time on an airship too. I’ve seen diagrams a few times, but… it’s quite peculiar to be under a giant balloon.”

An airship is essentially a vessel suspended beneath a large balloon.

The balloon is filled with flammable substances like hydrogen or helium, but they claim it’s safe.

Well… even if it falls, we could probably survive somehow. We’re all aura users, except for Simon.

“What happens if we fall from here?”

“What do you think? I’d use magic to rescue each of our party members one by one.”

“Like picking out pieces from a stew?”

“Exactly. That’s quite an amusing analogy.”

Simon chuckled heartily while stroking his beard.

“Let’s look around now. Being first class, there should be plenty of interesting things and nothing boring, right?”

Saying that, I explored the first-class section with my wife.

The airship was much wider inside compared to an airplane, likely due to the unique structure of airships that can substitute propulsion and lift with buoyancy.

“A theater… a cinema… large windows… they’ve got everything.”

I ordered an apple brandy at the wine bar located right next to the window.

The bartender was uniquely a dwarf, who wore specially made tall shoes to compensate for his short stature, creating quite a distinctive appearance.

“When can we see a play here?”

“About two hours after departure, sir. When plays or movies are showing, the airship stops moving, so you needn’t worry about missing the scenery.”

“That’s good to know.”

I shared a drink with my wife as we watched the ground gradually recede from inside the slowly ascending airship.

-Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for choosing Maximus Airways today. Our airship will now…-

And the captain’s voice began to flow from the ceiling speakers, announcing our departure.

Now we were heading into the Tiered Cliffs.