Chapter 743

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

I thought it would take at least a day to finish all the miscellaneous preparations for the journey, so I originally planned to depart the morning after next… but Leopold had already taken care of all those trivial preparations.

So, there was no need to wait two whole days; we could leave immediately. His thoroughness is truly impressive.

Well, saving two days is a good thing, right?

I gathered everyone to inform them that the schedule had been moved up, and even called Asha, who was grinding her teeth in anticipation of tearing Nidhogg apart, to form the Insect-Dragon Subjugation Team.

Though, calling it a “team” was a stretch—it was only eight of us.

Me, Damien, Milia, Ophelia, Nigel, Ja-han, Rana, and Asha.

In terms of quality, we were an elite group that could surpass the entire Imperial Army, but when it came to facing a battlefield tangled with dragons, fairies, and dragonkin, our numbers were laughably small.

…Well, what can you do? There’s no spare manpower.

Floheta, the Tower Master, who had collapsed like a broken puppet after completing the airship, had been forcibly awakened thanks to a healing miracle and was now busy restoring the underground waterways, making her participation impossible.

She reportedly cursed at the priest who healed her. Not the most admirable attitude, but I could understand her feelings.

Everyone else was equally busy.

The high-ranking paladins of the Astraea Church Order, like Bels Rugnar, and the Empire’s masters were already stretched thin dealing with monsters.

Even Duke Bien was struggling to afford the luxury of using master-level knights as his personal guards, so he had to entrust his protection to a mere average knight.

So, as Leopold said, we had no choice but to handle this ourselves.

—

Ferne and Hersh didn’t join the subjugation team.

Ferne, who had weakened to the level of an average knight after losing the Blessing of the World Tree, would only be a liability, and Hersh had to stay behind at the mansion to take care of the drunk Ferne and the regressed Claire.

Babysitting two overgrown children. It’s a pretty thankless task… but still, better than fighting dragons or fairy guardians, right?

“Wait, then why am I not going?”

And then there was Leonor, the last person not joining the team, who asked me with a puzzled expression why she was being left out.

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

Defending the Imperial Capital and the mansion, political discussions regarding the founding of the new kingdom, maintaining relations with the Astraea Church Order…

Even excluding the Insect-Dragon subjugation, the pile of tasks I had to handle was mountainous, and Leonor was the only one who could handle them in my stead.

Her combat prowess, which ranked among the top of the masters.

Her refined upbringing and knowledge, ingrained from her childhood education.

And her bloodline authority as a former direct member of the Imperial Royal Family.

Where else would you find such a capable proxy?

Sure, there was the drawback of her mixed witch blood, but she had proven her innocence by defeating Isabella, and Archbishop Lacey had acknowledged it, so that wasn’t an issue.

“Wait, so you’re dumping all your responsibilities on me? Cabinet formation, capital selection, alliance treaties—all of it?”

Leonor’s jaw dropped in disbelief as I explained.

“What can I do…? Those matters are just as urgent as the Insect-Dragon issue, and there’s no one else I can entrust them to.”

I patted Leonor’s shoulder and grinned.

It was true that I was dumping things on her, but it was also true that the matters were urgent and she was the only suitable person, so I had no qualms about it.

“So, take care of it, okay?”

“I should’ve just joined a monastery…”

Leonor sighed deeply and shook her head.

Well, tough luck. Since you chose to become my vassal instead of holing up in a monastery, you’ll have to bear with this. It was your choice, after all.

—

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

“It’s an honor to meet you, Marquis Median!”

The mage waiting at the hangar bowed deeply upon seeing me and guided us inside.

Though it was late at night and dark outside, the hangar was as bright as day thanks to over twenty mana lamps.

The massive warehouse, large enough to accommodate hundreds of people, was illuminated by mana lamps placed throughout, shining on the imposing structure at the center.

“Behold, this is the Mage Tower’s masterpiece, the Empire’s first airship—the Tears of the Tower Master!”

The mage spread his arms proudly as he introduced the structure.

Tears of the Tower Master, huh? I can feel Floheta’s heartfelt emotions in that name.

“Wow…”

“This thing can fly…?”

“…Impressive.”

The group marveled at the Empire’s first airship.

Milia and Rana were simply amazed, while Ophelia looked a bit skeptical.

Ja-han and Nigel seemed to grasp the military value of the airship and couldn’t hide their admiration.

“Not bad for a human prototype. Though there’s still plenty of room for improvement.”

Asha stroked her chin and observed the airship with a sharp gaze.

Unlike the dwarves’ airships, which were the pinnacle of mechanical engineering, the Empire’s airship was a product of magic technology, making it quite intriguing to her.

“Hmm…”

I took a deep drag of my cigarette and surveyed the newly born airship.

Being a prototype, it was somewhat crude and smaller compared to the airships I’d seen before.

About 25 meters long, it resembled a sailing ship but with a pointed bow and a large propeller at the stern.

On either side were massive sails resembling dragon wings, and below them were cylindrical metal structures resembling airplane engines. There were also propellers facing backward, sideways, and downward scattered across the hull.

In short, it looked like a small sailing ship mixed with a helicopter and a passenger plane.

During discussions about the concept of the airship, I thought it would use levitation magic to float, but judging by the completed structure, it seemed they opted for a method of using mana to rotate propellers and generate lift and thrust.

So… using the propellers’ wind pressure to lift the ship, and the wing-like sails on the sides and the large triangular sail covering the deck to control balance and direction?

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

It seemed there was still some time before the airship was ready for departure, so to kill time, I struck up a casual conversation with the mage who had guided us here.

“It’s quite different from the design I saw before. Back then, it was much larger and… how should I put it? More like a cylindrical airbag, wasn’t it?”

Like Earth’s airships.

“Yes, originally we were researching a method of filling a large envelope with heated air to increase flight efficiency using buoyancy… but it was abandoned due to the fatal flaw of crashing with even minor damage.”

Ah, right, that’s the fatal flaw of airships. A few bullets could bring it down.

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

The mage, glowing with pride, continued his explanation with an excited expression.

Both Asha and this guy have a habit of enthusiastically explaining technical details that ordinary people can’t understand. Is it some kind of engineer’s occupational disease?

“Although we were prohibited from disassembling the engine, we were able to understand that it uses pressure or heat to rotate or reciprocate metal devices.”

“Impressive.”

The Mage Tower folks are more capable than I thought. They figured out the engine’s principles without even disassembling it.

“That was enough. We couldn’t figure out how to generate the power needed to move the engine, but we could replace that part with magic. Especially rune magic technology, which was a huge help.”

“Rune magic?”

“Yes. It was nothing short of revolutionary!”

The mage exclaimed with passion.

“Traditional mana stones required complex magical formulas to be engraved within small structures, and once the stored mana was depleted, magicians had to recharge them. But rune magic is different!”

I started to regret striking up this conversation as I flicked off cigarette ash. This guy’s as talkative as Ludwig, Leopold, and Asha combined.

“With rune magic, a spell that would fill an entire sheet of paper can be implemented with a single character, and it can automatically recharge by absorbing mana from the atmosphere! Is there anything more amazing than this?”

“Uh… so?”

“We applied rune magic to create a new type of mana stone and implemented it in the airship. The results were astounding. We reduced the manpower needed for mana recharging to a tenth of what it was before. We even managed to significantly reduce the size of the mana stones. And thus, the Tears of the Tower Master was born.”

The mage trembled as if moved by his own words.

He looked as if he were in ecstasy, like a priest facing a god or a man embracing a peerless beauty. His legs seemed to be trembling slightly too.

…This guy’s insane.

Well, of course he is. What did I expect?

There’s no mage who isn’t insane, and being a research student at the Mage Tower, which is like a graduate school, makes him doubly insane.

I took a step back from him and summarized his long, rambling explanation in one sentence.

“So… thanks to rune magic and the engine, this ship can be flown with just a few magicians, right?”

“Exactly!”

Then say that from the start. Why waste time explaining magical engineering to someone who’s not a mage?

I sighed deeply and stomped out my finished cigarette.

“So, how long until we can depart?”

“Boarding is possible right now. As for flight preparations… it should take about twenty minutes. Would you like to tour the cabins in the meantime?”

Twenty minutes, huh? That’s just enough time to unpack in the cabins.

“Sure, that sounds good. Everyone, let’s go.”

I nodded in agreement with the mage’s suggestion and boarded the airship with the group.

The interior was… underwhelming. Or rather, it lacked any real impact.

The deck and cabins weren’t much different from a regular sailing ship, and the engine room, the heart of the airship, was off-limits due to its complexity and danger.

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

Twenty minutes later, the airship’s propellers began to rotate with a loud roar.