Chapter 212: Flight

Translator: Tseirp

After leaving Meratoni’s Adventurer’s Guild and exiting the city, we walked for another 300 meters via the highway and then further stepped into a gra.s.sland a distance away from the highway.

Then, Lionel extracted the flying s.h.i.+p from his magic bag but from my viewpoint, it looked like the flying s.h.i.+p popped out of his magic bag instead.

It was surprising how such a large object could fit inside the bag.

I was once again amazed by the wonders of the magic bag but that feeling was extinguished by the cheerful voice beside me.

“Ooo! This is amazing. Can it really fly? Master Dolan made such an incredible construct.”

“Hmm. It was Luciel-sama who prepared the materials though. And it is also an achievement by Broad-dono who trained Luciel-sama.”

s.h.i.+sho cheerfully complimented Dolan and the embarra.s.sed Dolan also extravagantly praised s.h.i.+sho who trained me so it looked like the two of them were getting along quite well.

“s.h.i.+sho, are you really going to the Holy Capital with me?”

s.h.i.+sho pulled an all-nighter to finish his paperwork and slept after fighting with me but he woke up when Garba-san went to report to him.

And he was reluctant to let me return to the Holy Capital. However, when the flying s.h.i.+p was mentioned, he immediately invoked his authority to forcefully tag along.

However, even though Garba-san and Grulga-san severely rebuked s.h.i.+sho last night, s.h.i.+sho was obstinate.

I don’t think I was the only person who felt that it would actually be best if Grulga-san just becomes Meratoni Adventurers Guild’s guildmaster instead.

“Ou. I’ve told Grulga already so it’s all right.”

“You got his approval?”

“I’ll do something about it when the time comes. Furthermore, I’d love to quickly see Garba’s panicked look again.”

Behind s.h.i.+sho who was grinning, a face with a smile that could freeze the air appeared.

“Such bad taste Broad. If you’re so free, I’m not going to help with the paperwork you push to me with the excuse that you need to undergo training.”

That’s right, it was Garba-san.

Despite it being a bright day with the morning sun out, I didn’t notice Garba-san until halfway through the conversation.

” … When did you appear behind me?”

“When you were in high-spirits Broad. You sure have done a bad thing to Grulga this time.”

“It’s all right as long as I buy some souvenirs from the Holy Capital right?”

s.h.i.+sho was unperturbed as he indifferently asked Garba-san that.

Garba-san could only smile at s.h.i.+sho’s simplistic way of thinking.

Sensing that I would only be bringing trouble to myself if I join their conversation, I turned to ask Dolan something that I was curious about the flying s.h.i.+p.

“Yesterday, when I saw it flying in the sky, it looked like it was very steady so it won’t sway much when we are inside as well?”

“Firstly, as there is a wind barrier spread across this flying s.h.i.+p, there is virtually no swaying. However, that would make it defenseless against any flying monsters. In the worst case, somebody would have to head out to defeat it so please keep that in mind.”

Something terribly important came out of Dolan’s mouth. Aren’t I the only one capable of flying in the sky? For now, I kept quiet and pondered.

If s.h.i.+sho and Lionel didn’t drop in level, we would probably be fine with their flying slashes.

As it wasn’t possible now, I guess I don’t have any choice … no, maybe I’ll try tackling it in a different aspect.

“If I apply Area Barrier on this flying s.h.i.+p, would we be able to escape?”

“Nope. It might be possible if we are up against regular monsters but if something like a Wyvern appears, I don’t know if it would work.”

“I will head out if it’s a wyvern so for everything else, I’ll leave it to you.”

I definitely won’t have a problem if it’s a dragon species.

I indeed held such confidence.

However, I certainly don’t want to fight if I don’t have to.

I also thought of scattering Object X as we fly to ward off monsters but I realized that it was something that shouldn’t be done as a human being.

If we accidentally pa.s.sed by humans with our flying s.h.i.+p while doing so, there’s a possibility that we might indiscriminately destroy their noses and eyes and there’s even the danger of causing the mutation of strange plant life.

I better keep the idea of scattering Object X to myself.

After Lionel and the others finished their safety checks to ensure the flying s.h.i.+p won’t malfunction, they gave me the signal.

“Well then, let me guide you in.”

With Dolan in the lead, everyone boarded the flying s.h.i.+p.

When we approached the flying s.h.i.+p, as if it had a personnel sensor, a round platform for entering and exiting descended.

“Does this work similar in principle with the Magic-guided elevator?”

“That’s right. Paula and Rician remodeled it without letting me know and I got a shock.”

It was a prank that required quite high technical skills but it certainly does make it more convenient so he probably couldn’t even get mad at them.

The lift could only support about 5 to 6 people at one go and I got on together with the first group.

When the lift ascended, I was shocked by the s.p.a.ciousness of the flying s.h.i.+p interior.

The interior was wider, no … abnormally more s.p.a.cious, compared to when seen from outside.

“By any chance is this …”

“Spatial expansion!”

Paula answered the question I muttered to myself with a smug look.

However, after smiling lightly in reply to Paula’s smug look, I was slightly confused.

I was sure that I was riding the lift with s.h.i.+sho and Dolan but now I was riding it with Paula, Rician, Nadia, and Lydia.

“Eh, where’s s.h.i.+sho and Dolan?”

“Apart from Luciel who is the owner, it’s ladies first. Grandpa and Uncle would be with the second group.”

To address s.h.i.+sho as Uncle, Paula really is amazingly frank.

But when did they swap places? I had my eyes on the flying s.h.i.+p the whole time so I didn’t notice at all.

I convinced myself that it would be meaningless to be bothered by something like that as the dwarves have many mysterious ways so I asked about the interior instead.

“Even though you’ve learned Spatial Expansion, this can’t be compared to something like expanding a horse carriage right? Just how s.p.a.cious is it?”

“The surface area was expanded 5 times so it is quite wide.”

From the looks of it outside, its total length was just short of 10 meters and its width was about 7 meters so taking that into consideration, this s.p.a.ce would be about 350 square meters.

It was about 3 times wider than the Adventurers Guild’s training ground.

“It’s way too s.p.a.cious!”

It’s as if I had a cla.s.s change from a private jet to a jumbo jet.

Paula flinched at my retort but she didn’t drop her smug look.

” … Sorry. I was just a little surprised. Are any of the other specifications made with advanced technology as well?”

When I asked that after I gathered myself, Paula and Rician competed to show me the interior.

Firstly, in each of the private rooms, the double beds and wardrobe were expected but I was shocked to find that they were even installed with a unit bath.

There were 10 of such rooms, a dining hall, a storeroom, a place for dismantling monsters for some reason as well as installations that would serve as Paula and Rician’s magic tool workshop.

” … Were these necessary?”

“Of course.”

“We plan to design the magic-driven cannon here in the future and also plan to develop simple items here.”

“I see ….”

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything more.

After they gave me a tour of each and everything, we finally moved to the c.o.c.kpit.

The entrance to the c.o.c.kpit was an automatic door and I also felt like it was a waste of advanced technology but I decided to let it slide.

s.h.i.+sho and the others were already in the c.o.c.kpit and were all sitting freely at any of the available seats.

“So slow, Luciel.”

“Luciel-kun, I’d prefer if you came here sooner if possible.”

s.h.i.+sho couldn’t wait to lift off and Garba-san probably wanted to get to the Holy Capital as soon as possible.

“Sorry. Then, shall we set off?”

“Luciel-sama, then please come over here. I’ll set up your personal authentication before you begin piloting.”

“All right … eh? I’m piloting?”

“Of course, it is Luciel-sama’s property after all. Don’t be so stiff. It’s not that difficult so don’t worry.”

Dolan said like it was nothing but everyone’s lives would be in danger if we crash.

The anxiety I felt was unbearable when I thought of that.

“We’ll set up your personal authentication first. Please channel magical power into this crystal.”

Following Dolan’s instructions, I placed my hand on the semi-spherical crystal embedded inside a cylindrical column and allowed my magical power to flow into it.

Upon doing so, the crystal lit up before quickly losing its radiance.

“Did it fail?”

“No, it’s done with that. Please channel your magic power into it once again.”

After channeling magical power as I was told, at the same time the flying s.h.i.+p started up, the exterior which couldn’t be seen just now came into view.

It was clearly a wall until moments ago but it turned into tempered gla.s.s before I noticed and I could look around to see 180 degrees in front of us.

Stunned at the seriously outrageous technology they installed, Dolan looked at me with a smug look and continued his explanation to me.

“If you place your hand on the crystal, you can utilize the magic power stored within. We adopted a mechanism whereby magical power replenishment can be done through that crystal as well as through the core in the technology warehouse.”

“This wasn’t made by just Dolan but also with the help of the engineers at Rockford right?”

“Yeah. It was thanks to Luciel-sama’s efforts that Rockford was not overrun by ants after all. So everyone put in their best efforts.”

“It shows that all the engineers at Rockford are outstanding engineers.”

Rockford and Nelldal that Rainstar-dono made have certainly shown results.

The Church is probably the only one that failed to meet his expectations. Be it that there are no longer many people who Pope-sama or because of Pope-sama’s personality, the biggest problem might be because he didn’t create an escape route for Pope-sama.

Such thoughts vaguely floated through my mind.

“Lastly, piloting, the operation is the same for both levitation and landing, push the crystal down lightly. If the s.h.i.+p is levitating, it would land and vice versa. For movement, it is set with a five-speed settings. If you slide your hand towards the direction you wish to move in, the speed will increase one step. If you slide it in the opposite direction, the speed will decrease. Also, if there is an obstacle like a mountain ahead, pulling the lever on your left would make the s.h.i.+p float further up while pus.h.i.+ng down will lower the alt.i.tude.”

It felt like it was easier compared to operating a manual car but I may need to get used to it first.

” … It sounds difficult but I’ll give it a try. But what should I do if a monster appears like you mentioned earlier?”

“As the s.h.i.+p is capable of stopping in midair, please defeat the monsters before the flying s.h.i.+p runs out of magical power.”

Dolan replied with a serious expression.

” … Dolan, I look forward to your magic-driven cannons.”

“Kukuku. Leave it to me. And also, if possible, please name this flying s.h.i.+p.”

“Hmm, I’ll give it some thought.”

I turned to everyone and spoke.

“Everyone, thanks for waiting. We will now be heading for the Holy Capital. It will be my first flight so there might be turbulence so please bear with me.”

Taking a deep breath, I pressed the crystal.

I could tell that the aircraft was floating upwards from how the outside scenery was gradually moving upward.

There was a surprising lack of sound and vibrations.

And then, it stopped at a certain height.

Along with my loudly beating heart, I placed my palm on the crystal and moved it.

“Flying s.h.i.+p, setting off towards the Holy Capital!” (TL: It’s similar to what the Gundam operators say before they launch off.)

I somehow couldn’t refrain from saying that but I didn’t mind it as the flying s.h.i.+p began flying true to its name.

Author’s note:

Thank you for reading.

I plan to alter the description of the flying s.h.i.+p in the future.

The reference I use for the flying s.h.i.+p is Ragnarok from FF8.

Also, thinking of what to name the flying s.h.i.+p has been troubling me.