Ch.743Don’t Talk to the Engineering Nerd

That evening, we were guided to the large hangar of the magic tower where the completed airship was stored.

I had thought it would take at least a day to finish all our travel preparations, so I originally planned to depart the day after tomorrow… but Leopold had already completed all those miscellaneous preparations.

So, there was no need to wait two whole days—we could depart right away. His thoroughness in preparation was truly impressive.

Well, if we could save two days, wasn’t that a good thing?

I gathered everyone in our party to inform them of the accelerated schedule, and even called in Asha, who had been grinding her teeth in anticipation of tearing Nidhogg to shreds, to form our dragon subjugation team.

Though our team consisted of only eight people.

Myself, Demian, Millia, Ophelia, Nigel, Jahan, Lena, and Asha.

In terms of quality, we were an elite force powerful enough to surpass the entire Imperial Army, but it was still a ridiculously small number to take on a battlefield entangled with dragons, fairies, and dragonborn.

…Well, what could we do? There were no available forces to spare.

The tower master Floheta, who had collapsed like a cut kite string right after completing the airship, had been forcibly awakened thanks to a healing miracle and was now being mobilized for the restoration work on the underground waterways, making her participation impossible.

I heard she cursed at the priest who healed her, forgetting all dignity. Though not commendable behavior, I could understand her feelings.

Others were equally busy.

The high paladins of the church, including Belth Rugna, and the Empire’s Masters were already overwhelmed just dealing with monsters.

Things were so bad that even Lord Wien couldn’t afford the luxury of using Master-level knights as his guards and had to entrust his protection to an ordinary knight.

So, as Leopold said, we had no choice but to manage with just our team.

—-

I didn’t include Perneisia and Hush in the subjugation team.

There was no point bringing Perneisia, who had weakened to the level of an ordinary knight after losing the World Tree’s blessing—it would only put her in danger. And Hush needed to stay at the mansion to look after the drunken Perneisia and the infantilized Claire.

Being a nanny to two overgrown children. Quite a troublesome task… but still better than fighting dragons and fairy guardians, wouldn’t you say?

“Wait, then why not me?”

And the last person excluded from the subjugation team, Leonore, asked me with a face that couldn’t understand why she was left out.

“Well… I need someone to act as my proxy while I’m away… and you’re the only suitable person.”

Defense of the island and mansion, political discussions related to the establishment of the new kingdom, maintaining relations with the Church of Astraea, and so on.

Even excluding the dragon subjugation, the tasks I needed to handle were piled up like mountains, and Leonore was the only one who could resolve them in my place.

Combat prowess that reached the highest ranks among Masters.

Knowledge and refinement that seemed ingrained in her, probably due to the education she received in her childhood, though she didn’t particularly try to show it off.

And on top of that, the bloodline authority of having once been a direct imperial princess.

Where else could I find such a talented person to be my proxy?

She did have the flaw of having witch’s blood mixed in, but she had proven her innocence through Isabella’s subjugation, which was acknowledged by Archbishop Lacy, so that part wasn’t an issue at all.

“Wait, so you’re dumping all your duties on me? All the discussion items like cabinet formation plans, capital selection, alliance treaties—everything?”

Leonore gaped with an incredulous expression after hearing my explanation.

“What can I do… those matters are just as urgent as the dragon issue, and there’s no one else I can entrust them to.”

I patted Leonore’s shoulder and curled up the corners of my mouth.

It was true that I was dumping things on her, but it was also true that the matters were urgent and there was no one more suitable than Leonore, so I felt no guilt whatsoever.

“So I’m counting on you, okay?”

“I should have entered a monastery instead…”

Leonore sighed deeply and shook her head.

Well, what could she do even if she felt wronged? Having chosen to become my vassal instead of being confined to a monastery, she had to accept this much. It was her choice, after all.

—-

And so, leaving behind one human, one fairy, and one half-black dragon half-fairy at the mansion, we headed to the tower’s hangar to face the prototype airship.

“It is an honor to meet you, Baron Median!”

The mage who had been waiting in front of the hangar bowed deeply with an extremely polite attitude as soon as he saw me, then guided us inside.

Though it was already dark outside due to the late hour, the interior of the hangar was as bright as day thanks to more than twenty mana lamps. The mana lamps, placed throughout the huge warehouse that could accommodate hundreds of people with room to spare, illuminated the strange structure proudly positioned in the center of the hangar.

“Behold, this is the masterpiece created by our tower, the Empire’s first airship, the ‘Tower Master’s Tears’!”

The mage introduced the identity of the structure with arms spread wide, as if proud of their achievement.

Tower Master’s Tears. A name that truly reflects Floheta’s tribulations.

“Wow…”

“This thing can fly…?”

“…Impressive.”

My companions evaluated the Empire’s first airship with sparkling eyes.

Millia and Lena simply marveled without much thought, while Ophelia looked somewhat skeptical.

Jahan and Nigel couldn’t contain their amazement, seemingly understanding the military value of the airship.

“It’s fairly decent for a human prototype. Though there are still plenty of areas that need improvement.”

Asha observed the airship with a sharp gaze while gently stroking her lower jaw. Unlike the dwarven aerial warships, which were the culmination of mechanical engineering, the Empire’s airship was a product of magical engineering, which seemed quite interesting to her.

“Hmm…”

I took a deep drag from the cigarette in my mouth as I examined the finally completed airship.

Perhaps because it was a prototype, it had a somewhat crude and small form compared to the airships I had seen before. About 25 meters in length. Its overall appearance resembled a sailing ship, but the bow was pointed like a spear, and a huge propeller was attached to the wide stern.

On both sides were large horizontal sails resembling dragon wings, and below them were cylindrical metal pieces resembling aircraft engines. Additionally, propellers facing backward, sideways, and downward were installed throughout the hull.

To describe it in one phrase, it looked like a small sailing ship mixed with a helicopter and a passenger plane.

When we were discussing the concept of an airship, I thought they would float the ship using levitation magic, but looking at the structure of the completed airship, it seemed they had chosen to generate lift and propulsion by rotating propellers with mana.

So… they lift the ship with the wind pressure from the propellers, and control the balance and direction of the ship with the wing-like sails on both sides and the large triangular sail covering the upper deck?

Well, considering the mana consumption of levitation magic, this method would be much more efficient.

Since it seemed that more time was needed before the airship would be ready for departure, I made some idle small talk with the mage who had guided us here, partly to kill time.

“This is completely different from the design I saw before. Back then, wasn’t it larger and… how should I put it, shaped like a cylindrical water container?”

Like an Earth airship, I mean.

“Yes, originally we were researching a method that would improve flight efficiency by filling a huge gas bag with heated air… but it was rejected due to the fatal flaw that even slight damage could cause it to crash.”

Ah, right, that is the critical weakness of airships. With bad luck, just a few bullets could bring it down.

“Development stagnated for a while after that… but thanks to the engine technology provided by the dwarves and the rune magic handed over from the Danes, we finally succeeded in developing a new type of flight device. Do you see that metal structure resembling windmill blades over there? That’s the new flight device.”

The guide mage continued his explanation with a flushed face, as if he couldn’t contain his pride in their research achievements. Is it an occupational disease of engineers, like Asha and this gentleman, to enthusiastically explain technical details that ordinary people wouldn’t understand?

“Although we were prohibited from disassembling the engine, so we couldn’t perfectly identify its operating principles, we could understand that it was a structure that rotated or reciprocated metal devices using pressure or heat.”

“That’s impressive.”

So the tower people were more capable than I thought. To be able to figure out the principles without even disassembling the engine.

“That was enough for us. Pressure and heat… we couldn’t figure out how to generate the power to move the engine, but we could simply replace that part with magic. In particular, rune magic technology was a great help.”

“Rune magic?”

“Yes. It was literally revolutionary!”

The mage shouted with a passionate tone.

“Traditional mana stones required complex magical formulas to be engraved in small structures, and when the stored mana was depleted, mages had to recharge them—a fundamental drawback. But rune magic is different!”

I felt a growing regret for having started this conversation as I tapped off my cigarette ash. I had no idea he would be so talkative. This was like combining Ludwig and Leopold and multiplying by Asha.

“Magic that would fill an entire page with formulas can be implemented with just a single character, and it even automatically recharges depleted mana by absorbing mana from the atmosphere! What could be more amazing than that?”

“Um… so?”

“We created new mana stones by applying rune magic and applied them to the airship. The results were astonishing. We could reduce the manpower needed for mana charging to one-fifth of what was previously required. We could even significantly reduce the size of the mana stones. And thus, the Tower Master’s Tears was born.”

The mage shuddered as if moved by his own words.

His expression was one of ecstasy, like a priest facing a deity, or a man embracing a peerless beauty. At a glance, something between his legs also seemed to be bulging.

…Is this guy crazy?

Ah, what am I saying? Of course he’s crazy.

There’s no mage who isn’t crazy, and being a research student affiliated with the magic tower, which is no different from a graduate school, he must be twice as crazy.

I stepped back a couple of paces from him and tried to summarize the long and verbose story he had been spouting like a speech.

“So… thanks to rune magic and the engine, you can now float this ship with just a few mages, is that it?”

“That’s exactly it!”

Then say that from the beginning. What’s with the useless magical engineering explanation to someone who isn’t even a mage?

I exhaled deeply and stamped out my finished cigarette.

“So, how long until we can depart?”

“Boarding is possible right now. Flight preparations will take about twenty minutes, so how about taking a look around the cabin interior in the meantime?”

Twenty minutes. Just the right amount of time to go up to the cabin and unpack.

“Sure, that sounds good. Everyone heard that? Let’s go.”

I nodded in agreement with the mage’s suggestion, then boarded the airship with my companions.

The interior was nothing special. Or more precisely, it didn’t evoke any particular feeling.

The deck and cabin weren’t much different from an ordinary sailing ship, and we were asked to refrain from entering the engine room, which was said to be complicated and dangerous, so we couldn’t even see the core of the airship.

We each chose our rooms, unpacked our belongings, and spent time sharing our impressions of the airship.

Until twenty minutes later, when the airship’s propellers began to rotate with a thunderous sound.