Ch.744Flight

The power room was located in the lower hull of the airship.

The interior was as noisy as a marketplace, with about ten mages running frantically around, focused on flight preparations.

– Woooong!

A massive mechanical device installed on the power room wall—a metal structure of cylinders, numerous pipes, pistons and cranks intricately intertwined—trembled like a giant’s baby, emitting a heavy groan.

This was a magical engine composed of a mana furnace that consumed mana to generate heat and pressure, and a power unit that converted energy into mechanical movement.

It was the culmination of magical engineering, combining dwarven foundational technology with runic magic systems and the magical theory of the Imperial Tower.

“Main mana furnace activation successful! Mana charge at 87%. Power conversion efficiency at 74%! Ready for operation!”

“Auxiliary mana furnace also functioning normally!”

The mages responsible for charging and controlling the output of the metal cylinders—the mana furnaces—shouted with their hands placed on the magical circuits engraved on the front of the furnaces.

“Good. Fold the side levitation wings and activate the side thrusters! Move forward!”

Eduard, a Tower mage serving as temporary captain in charge of the airship’s operation, issued commands while checking the hangar situation through the power room window. Not a command to fly, but to move forward.

It was a logical order. While the Tears of the Tower Master could take off vertically from a stationary position thanks to its rotatable levitation wings on the sides of the hull, activating those wings inside the hangar would only result in hitting the ceiling and sinking.

To soar high into the sky, they first needed to exit the hangar.

“Yes! Side thrusters activated!”

The mages controlling the propulsion systems raised and lowered levers installed throughout the power room, transferring the engine’s power to the thrusters in various parts of the hull.

The dragon wing-like side sails quickly folded and clung tightly to the hull, while the cylindrical thrusters installed beneath them began rotating as they received power from the engine, blasting storm-like winds toward the rear of the vessel.

– Kugugugugung!

Soon after, with a rumbling sound like an earthquake, the airship slowly began to move forward.

The metal-reinforced bottom of the hull roughly scraped the hangar floor as it advanced. Though not particularly fast—using only auxiliary thrusters—the sight was impressive enough to fill the watching mages with awe.

“Wow… it’s really moving…”

“It’s quite a spectacle… It worked during testing too, but back then it was more like a wooden barrel than a ship…”

If Haschal had heard their conversation, wouldn’t he have jumped off the vessel in shock?

The truth, which hadn’t been reported to the higher-ups, was that this was actually the completed Tears of the Tower Master’s maiden flight.

While they had completed test operations to confirm safety and flight performance, at that time the Tears was not in its current completed form, but merely a hastily assembled contraption with an engine and propulsion system installed in a giant wooden barrel.

Creating cabins for long-distance travel, covering the lower hull with metal armor, and installing sails and auxiliary propulsion systems came afterward.

In other words, whether the completed Tears could properly fly and transport passengers to the Sky Mountains was… something no one could guarantee.

According to the Tower’s research mages’ calculations, it was theoretically possible, but theory was just theory after all.

However, once the research mages confirmed there were no theoretical problems, they reported it as a “perfect success.”

Whether this came from the typical arrogance of mages who had absolute confidence in their calculations and theories, or because they were tired of the hellish environment with only six hours of sleep per week, only they would know.

—-

“Stop the sub-thrusters! Activate the flight rotors! Ascend now!”

In any case, the airship—finally completed after the Tower Master’s tears and the research mages’ screams—successfully started up and left the hangar. Immediately afterward, it began activating the levitation rotors positioned two on each side, pouring massive air pressure toward the ground.

– Kugugugugung!

The noise was comparable to when Nidhogg was rampaging—no, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was even louder.

With a tremendous roar loud enough to make city residents who were preparing for bed jump up thinking the dragon had returned, the Tears of the Tower Master began to rise into the air.

“What is that…?!”

“My goodness, a ship is flying in the sky! A ship is flying in the sky!”

“Those Tower people, what have they created…?”

It was unbelievable even to those watching with their own eyes.

Even nobles who had heard about the airship development plan were rubbing their eyes and staring blankly at the sky. How much more shocking must it have been for ordinary people who knew nothing about it?

It was truly a miraculous sight.

Leaving behind their bewilderment, admiration, shock, and praise, the airship soared high into the sky and began flying toward the distant night sky, spreading its dragon-like side sails wide.

Carrying the Empire’s strongest forces on board.

======[ Haschal ]======

“Sister, Sister! Look down below! The islands look smaller than my palm!”

“Lena, I know you’re excited, but don’t lean over the deck railing, okay? If you fall, we won’t even be able to recover your body.”

I grabbed Lena’s shoulder and gently pulled her back as she looked down at the earth with an excited face.

It was understandable that she was excited, experiencing flight for the first time in her life, but if she lost her balance or got caught by the wind and fell over the railing, it would lead to a disaster I didn’t even want to imagine.

If it were just a simple fall, either I or Demian could save her, but in the case of falling from an airship deck, even we would be helpless.

Due to the airship’s characteristic of generating lift through propeller rotation, anyone falling from here would be caught in the air current and sucked toward the propellers.

What would happen next goes without saying. A bright red waterfall would flow.

“Ah, sorry, Sister. It was just so amazing…”

Lena understood my meaning and obediently stepped back with a broad smile.

“It is amazing, isn’t it?”

I raised the corner of my mouth with a cigarette between my lips and added hazy smoke to the clouds that seemed close enough to touch.

We weren’t the only passengers who had come out on deck to enjoy the night view.

After the airship reached a stable altitude, our entire group had come out of the cabin to look at the ground far below, each sharing their feelings about riding an airship for the first time.

“Is this really safe…? It looks like it could crash with just one arrow.”

Millia was examining various parts of the hull, apparently concerned about the airship’s durability.

Certainly, although the lower hull had been reinforced with metal, the armor itself was quite thin, presumably to reduce weight.

As Millia said, it looked like one of her arrows could easily penetrate and shoot it down.

…Of course, we should take into account that her arrows had the power of anti-aircraft artillery.

“Perhaps because it’s a transport vessel, its armament consists of only two dragon-slaying crossbows. Not a single ship cannon. What were they thinking if we encountered flying magical beasts?”

“How could they mount cannons? You people won’t sell them any.”

Asha pointed out the extremely poor armament compared to her country’s aerial warships, but for the Empire, this was probably their best effort.

The dwarves might readily equip their ships with cannons or machine guns, but if the Empire did the same, the dwarves would turn their gun barrels toward them with plenty to spare. Gunpowder manufacturing technology was the dwarves’ top secret.

As long as dwarves existed in this land, no other race could touch gunpowder-related technology.

Even if they somehow developed gunpowder independently and created firearms, the dwarves would never acknowledge it and would insist their technology had been stolen.

And they wouldn’t just argue with words—they would pour bombardments at the city level.

In fact, about two hundred years ago, there was reportedly a case where a tower of Panam alchemists secretly researching gunpowder manufacturing was wiped out along with the entire city.

The dwarves of Himmel denied any involvement, claiming the alchemists who had kidnapped and tortured their kin to extract gunpowder manufacturing methods had received divine punishment… but it was clearly their doing.

However, the humans at that time had no way to pursue the matter.

Due to the bombardment that burned and shattered the entire city, all witnesses and evidence related to the incident were completely destroyed and turned to dust.

So history books recorded it as an “explosion of unknown cause.”

In any case, since then, other countries haven’t even glanced at gunpowder manufacturing technology.

No matter how much time and capital they poured into developing gunpowder, they would be reduced to dust by the dwarves’ hands before it could even be deployed in actual combat.

—-

“To lift such an enormous object high into the sky… the power of sorcerers is truly unbelievable, even as I experience it firsthand.”

Jahan was shaking his head with a blank expression and his mouth half-open.

Perhaps because he had lived a life far removed from magic as a Ka’har warrior, he seemed to feel a kind of reverence before the miracle of the airship created by mages.

“Do you feel the greatness of the Empire, the leader of human civilization? It’s incomparable to the steppes.”

Nigel boasted proudly beside him.

Jahan glanced at her briefly and then—

“Now I understand why the warriors of the west have become so weak. With sorcerers’ power being this mighty, warriors’ martial arts were bound to decline. I see…”

He responded with a provocative answer, smirking.

“W-what? What do you mean by that! How dare you say that after losing!”

“That was thanks to Lady Haschal. When Lady Haschal was absent, weren’t you hopelessly pushed back?”

While Nigel shouted angrily with flaring nostrils, Jahan continued his provocation with a shrug.

In fact, since the situation had indeed looked grim until I joined the battle, Nigel could only flush red and fume without being able to refute.

If they had been on the ground, she might have drawn her spear and challenged him to a duel… but starting a fight on an airship floating in the sky could lead to an accident, so Nigel had no choice but to restrain herself.