Journey to the Royal Capital
Satou here. When I first sat near the wing of an airplane, I remember being alarmed by how the wing moved in the wind so much more than I expected. But I got used to it eventually, and just enjoyed the scenery.
“Duke Vistall, it is a pleasure to see you in such high spirits.”
“You as well, Baronet Mosaddo.”
Not long after the airship took off from Labyrinth City, I was summoned to the VIP noble visitors’ room along with the Scarlet Nobleman Baronet Jelil Mosaddo and other nobility.
There were other mithril-badge explorers who were being honored in the royal capital, too, but no commoners were invited into this room.
But aside from Baronet Jelil, most of the nobles here had just honorary titles or were children of nobles.
Kneeling at the foot of the table, I snuck a peek at Duke Vistall, who entered the room after us.
Like his uncle General Erthal, he was a man in the prime of his life with stern features and a hawklike nose. In fact, despite being the general’s nephew, he seemed quite close in age to him.
Since Duke Vistall wasn’t royalty, the etiquette of Shiga Kingdom didn’t require a bow. However, whether it was due to his lineage as the king’s cousin or to his sheer authority, everyone who had already entered the room knelt upon his entrance, so I followed suit like a proper Japanese person.
“I heard from Laberre that you did a stellar job.”
Duke Vistall praised Baronet Jelil for his fine commanding and strategies in defeating the powerful floormaster of the labyrinth’s Middle Stratum.
“Perhaps you will lead our army one day—ah, or will you join the Shiga Eight to build up your accomplishments first?”
“That is an honor I would not dare dream of, but as one who walks the path of a warrior in the Shiga Kingdom, I would certainly hope to have that honor someday.”
Baronet Jelil responded nervously to Duke Vistall’s lavish praise.
I was fairly bored, so I searched the unfamiliar name of “Laberre” on the map and found one of Duke Vistall’s subordinates, an Earth Magic user who had also defeated the floormaster with Baronet Jelil.
Duke Vistall must have sent this person to help Baronet Jelil conquer the floormaster. Maybe Duke Vistall was on this particular airship in order to congratulate Baronet Jelil.
Eventually, Duke Vistall and Baronet Jelil’s conversation ended, and the duke addressed the other noble-descended explorers to congratulate them one by one for defeating the floormaster.
Next, he gave some slightly shorter words of congratulation to the honorary nobles, and finally it was my turn.
Judging by his expression, I got the feeling he wasn’t thrilled to be talking to me.
“I enjoyed your little acrobatics performance earlier. Perhaps you have the makings of a better street performer than an explorer?”
Karina would probably fly off the handle if she heard him call it an “acrobatics performance.”
But actually, touring the continent as a performing act with Mia’s music, Arisa’s singing, and Pochi’s and Tama’s dancing really did sound fun.
Maybe I wasn’t supposed to take it that way, but…
“That certainly sounds fun. When we retire from exploring, we’ll be sure to take our show on tour in your castle town, Your Excellency.”
…I accidentally blurted out an honest response, and earned a scowl from the duke.
> Title Acquired: Innocent Agitator
I got a weird title for my trouble, but I decided to ignore it.
The duke probably intended to be rude, so maybe my earnest reply came off as sarcastic to him.
And here I thought he’d just call me an “upstart peasant” and sneer or whatever…
“It seems Duke Ougoch intends to recommend you as a successor to Sir Torel, but the Shiga Eight is no place for one without any real strength.”
I wasn’t sure who Sir Torel was at first, but given the context, he must have been someone retiring from the Shiga Eight.
Come to think of it, Zena had mentioned someone by the name of Sir Torel when she told me about their journey, too. If I remembered right, he challenged a lesser dragon and got severely injured.
Still, even if he saw me as a political enemy, I think claiming that a mithril-badge explorer has no “real strength” is a bit of a stretch.
“Your Excellency…”
An aide of the duke’s with the “Analyze Person” skill whispered in his ear.
The duke raised an eyebrow slightly, looked at me, and tsked irritably.
“Besides, deeds of arms alone are not enough to become a warrior who represents the Shiga Kingdom. You must have the elegance and refinement to set an example for the people.”
He must have shifted the direction of his criticism because the aide told him my level.
Not my absurdly high real level of 311, of course—the official level I set in my social networking tab.
Before I beat the Dogheaded Demon Lord, my publicly shown level was set around 30, but now I had raised it to 45. That was around the same level as Baronet Jelil’s, which would explain why the duke abruptly changed his perceived requirements for a member of the Shiga Eight.
“There are few people who possess all those traits.”
The duke cast a glance at Baronet Jelil and nodded solemnly.
Ah, so he was planning to counter Duke Ougoch by nominating Baronet Jelil.
I didn’t really want to be a pawn in this political battle.
If I got stuck in the Shiga Eight, I wouldn’t be able to go sightseeing anymore.
Besides, it’d be stressful knowing that one misstep might make me a bunch of enemies.
“I appreciate the advice, Your Excellency.” For the time being, I tried to make up for my inadvertent rudeness with an inoffensive response.
If sparks really started flying, I could always take on a new fake name, show up as a mysterious third-party candidate, and steal the seat on the Shiga Eight that way.
Then, once things got settled, my mystery swordsman persona would just challenge a dragon and die tragically in battle.
Then Baronet Jelil could take over, and everything would work out fine.
“I can’t believe Duke Visty has it in for you, master. That’s just asking for trouble, y’know?”
“Honestly. The poor fool.”
Liza nodded along with Arisa’s statement, while Mia seemed unconcerned.
When I returned to our assigned cabin, I told Arisa and the others what had happened in the VIP room, but for some reason they seemed more concerned for Duke Vistall than for anyone else.
They didn’t seem worried about any danger, so I warned them to let me know if any strange people approached them.
Meanwhile, Lulu and Nana were observing in the galley, while Pochi and Tama went to check on how Karina was recovering from her loss in our showdown.
“What if you join the Shiga Eight for real?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. If you were in that position, you’d get the same treatment as a minister or a count!”
“I’m not interested in those kinds of titles.”
I didn’t see any benefit to becoming a high-ranking noble.
Besides, if I really wanted peerage, I’m sure I could talk to the king about it as Nanashi. A marquis might be too much, but I bet he’d be happy to make me a count or something.
“Aaaargh! I swear! Where’s your sense of ambition?! Don’t you want to use your cheat-like powers to get ahead in life, like a normal isekai protagonist? If you became a count, you could marry as many nobles’ daughters as you wanted, you know!”
“Calm down, Arisa.”
Arisa was getting all worked up for some reason.
She tended to get a little out of control when it came to tropes like this. Why would she want me to get a bunch of other wives when she’s normally trying to get me to marry her?
Just then, Mia came to the rescue.
“Adultery is bad. Really bad, okay? Besides, he doesn’t need any more wives. He’s already got one, you know?”
“All right, all right! I’m sorry, Mia! Forgive meee!”
Arisa scrambled to apologize in the face of Mia’s menacing expression.
Truthfully, the only person I’d want as my wife is Miss Aaze, but I decided not to clarify who Mia was referring to, since it would undoubtedly only lead to more trouble.
Liza didn’t offer any opinion, but judging from her expression and mannerisms, she probably agreed with Arisa that I should join the Shiga Eight.
Personally, though, I thought Liza would be a better fit for that role.
She was definitely stronger than the third crown prince, who was formerly one of the Shiga Eight.
Pochi and Tama were also stronger than the prince, but they were still way too young for a role like that, I thought.
“We’re baaack?”
“We’re back, sir.”
Pochi and Tama entered the room, looking exhausted.
That was unusual, since they were normally so energetic.
“How was Lady Karina?”
“Shut-iiin?”
“She won’t come out of her room, sir!”
Pochi and Tama slumped onto the sofa. I decided to relieve their exhaustion by popping a piece of their beloved whale jerky into each of their mouths.
That was the last of the two hundred pounds of jerky I had stocked up, so I would have to make more soon.
“I-it can’t be!”
“Whale jerkyyy!”
“My energy’s back, sir!”
The two of them hopped up and struck their trademark poses, the jerky still sticking out of their mouths.
I patted them both on the head to reward their hard work.
They both fidgeted bashfully but squinted and made happy noises.
“All right, then…”
“Are you going to go see Miss Boobs?”
…No, I wasn’t planning on it…
I opened my mouth to say as much, but decided against it.
I guess it would be a little cruel to leave Karina alone when she was clearly depressed.
My original plan was to take this opportunity to get everyone to exchange information with the other mithril explorers, but that would have to wait.
“Good idea. I’ll give it a little more time, then go check on her.”
There was a knock at the door, and Liza stood up.
It was Karina’s guardian maids, Erina and the newbie, along with Lulu and Nana.
Her lady-in-waiting, Pina, was still in the room with Karina, they said.
“Sir Knight, you gotta help us…”
“Please!”
The pair of maids bowed their heads and begged me to do something about Miss Karina.
I thought they were worrying a bit more than necessary, but they insisted the situation was very unusual in their experience.
“I mean, we put the plate of fried chicken that we had Lulu make for her in front of her door, and she still didn’t come out!”
Erina, that would only work on you.
Pochi, Tama, and even Liza were nodding solemnly behind me, but I ignored them.
“Even when Viscount Nina scolds her, or Captain Zotol kicks her butt, the smell of Chef Gert’s fried chicken has always been enough to cheer her up! But now…”
Erina pressed toward me desperately.
I understood they were worried about Miss Karina, but I wished she wouldn’t keep pressing her slim chest against my arm. The newbie was even starting to copy her.
“Guilty.”
“Hey, don’t get so close.”
Arisa and Mia pried the two maids off my arms.
I was already planning to see Miss Karina, so we ended up agreeing to follow the maids back to her room.
“Lady Karina, I heard that you haven’t left your room. Are you feeling all right?”
I knocked on the door of Miss Karina’s quarters.
Of course, there was no response.
“I didn’t realize Lady Karina liked Sir Knight so much that she would get this depressed about it…”
“Well yeah. Since Sir Knight rejected her, she’ll have to deal with marriage hunting in the royal capital.”
“Right. Lord Baron aside, I’m sure Viscount Nina could set up an engagement with an influential noble in no time flat.”
“No doubt about it. She’s right on the edge of gettin’ too old to be married. I’m sure she’d much rather be Sir Knight’s wife than have to hunt for a fiancé in the royal capital. ’Specially since it’d mean she could keep fighting in the labyrinth with Pochi and Tama.”
My “Keen Hearing” skill picked up on a private conversation between the newbie and Erina behind me. They definitely seemed to know Miss Karina well after all their time together.
More importantly, though, what should I do now?
“We’ll go with the Ama-no-Iwato strategy here!”
“Ama… What?”
“The cave of the sun god! In the hero’s world, there’s a myth about a goddess who holed up in a cave! So we’ll use the same strategy the gods used to get the goddess to come out!”
Arisa stood valiantly on top of the table, huffing and puffing.
“Arisa, mind your manners.”
“Bah-ha-ha-ha, sorry, sorry…”
After Liza’s scolding prompted her to step down onto the floor, Arisa eagerly explained the Ama-no-Iwato strategy again and dragged everyone away to the kitchen to prepare a banquet.
If you ask me, though, having a party right outside the room of a human who’s genuinely depressed would just be mean, and probably make them want to come out even less.
I sat near the door to Miss Karina’s room and racked my brains.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Nana in the role of Ame-no-Uzume, the scantily clad goddess who did a seductive dance to draw Amaterasu from her cave in the legend, but knowing Arisa, she would probably take that role herself or give it to one of the other kids.
Standing up resolutely, I walked to the door separating Miss Karina from the rest of us and used Clairvoyance to see what was going on in her room.
To be honest, peeping into the room of a young lady of a certain age is definitely not good behavior, but I decided to put my moral reservations aside just this once.
Unfort—I mean, luckily, Miss Karina was still wearing the same clothes as before, lying facedown where she had flung herself into bed.
According to my map, she didn’t have the Sleeping status condition, so she must have still been awake.
Once I confirmed that, I used the Magic Hand spell to unlock the door from the inside, activating Secret Field to keep any sound from escaping.
It’d be terrifying if anyone used this combo for criminal activity, but anyone who can use Wind Magic, Space Magic, and Practical Magic wouldn’t need to resort to crime to be successful in the first place.
Putting such silly thoughts aside, I entered the bedroom.
Raka pulsed blue on the table. Judging by the pattern of the light, it had probably noticed me, but it didn’t seem to be inclined to alert Miss Karina.
“Lady Karina, I heard you’re not feeling well. Are you all right?”
I leaned down and whispered to her next to her pillow.
Startled, Karina jumped up and scrabbled to the other side of the large bed, pressing her back against the headboard.
Whoops. Since I’d silenced the noise of the door unlocking, I’d also automatically snuck over on tiptoe…
Well, I’d better just play dumb.
“Sorry, did I startle you?”
Karina’s face was so flushed that the reddening around her eyes was almost indistinguishable, her lips flapping open and shut silently.
…Was it really that shocking?
Her eyes were wet with tears, presumably from frustration at losing the battle, which made her look all the more appealing. I summoned up a mental image of Miss Aaze to keep my desires on track.
“Hold still, please.”
“…’kaaay…”
Karina looked around the room wildly, then seemed to steady her resolve and closed her eyes.
I produced a handkerchief and wiped away the tears, then used magic to heal them. There, much better.
It should have been perfectly safe, since Karina’s eyes were closed and my body blocked the magic from Raka’s view.
But even after I finished doing that, she still didn’t open her eyes.
…She’s so vulnerable.
If I were a more predatory man, this would have been the perfect chance to go for a kiss or who knows what else.
“All done. You can open your eyes now.”
Karina blinked a few times, then stared at me in disbelief.
Making eye contact with me seemed to displease her somehow; she puffed up her cheeks.
“Satou, you are such a bully, I swear!”
With that, she threw her pillow right at my face.
As my vision was otherwise blocked by the pillow, I noticed a few new titles in my log in the corner.
> Title Acquired: Magic Thief
> Title Acquired: Silent Intruder
> Title Acquired: Heart Stealer
…I don’t think I really want that last one, thanks.
“The food has arrived, sir!”
“Mountain of chickennn?”
Pochi and Tama flew into the room, shouting excitedly.
I was honestly grateful, since I had no idea how to deal with Karina making a show of being angry while somehow acting enticing at the same time.
“Karinaaa?”
“Karina opened the door, sir! The Amayno strategy worked, sir!”
No, the Ama-no-Iwato strategy hasn’t even started yet.
Tama and Pochi threw their arms around Karina happily.
As Karina apologized to the pair of them, I glanced at the huge plate of food they’d brought in.
“Wow, smells good.”
“No snacking, sir!”
I went to investigate the quality of the cooking, but Pochi scolded me.
“I’m just taste-testing, that’s all.”
“Oh, then I guess it’s fine, sir.”
“Tama’s taste-testing, too?”
“Pochi’s not obverse to taste-testing, either, sir.”
You mean “averse,” Pochi.
I popped a small piece of chicken from Tama’s plate into each of their mouths, then one for myself.
Lulu’s cooking really did keep improving. It might even be better than mine at this point, and my “Cooking” skill is maxed-out.
Karina watched Pochi and Tama enviously, with her mouth slightly open, so I gave her a little piece of chicken, too.
Startled by the unexpected food, I assume, Karina twitched in protest.
She didn’t object strenuously, though, so I assume she took no issue with the food itself.
Just then, Mia returned, followed shortly thereafter by Arisa.
Both of them were wearing full-body cloaks. I was afraid to ask what was underneath.
“Guilty.”
Taking measure of the mood Karina was giving off, Mia started accusing us of all kinds of things. But if anything, she and Arisa were the guilty ones.
“Oh dear, did you already lure Miss B… I mean, Madame Karina, out of her room?”
I wasn’t a big fan of how she phrased that, but I nodded anyway.
“Aw, we got all gussied up in these seductive outfits for nothing.”
“Nighttime.”
“O-of course!”
I heard Arisa and Mia whispering conspiratorially, but I ignored them with all my might.
Now then, since everyone else went to all this trouble, we might as well have that banquet, right?
“Hoh-hoh. So this is the work of the greatest chef in Labyrinth City.”
“It’s delicious. I never dreamed that the legendary chef would cook for us on an airship.”
The mithril explorers all gave Lulu’s party food high praise as they ate.
There was plenty of food, so I invited the other explorers on the airship to the main dining hall for a party.
More people came than I expected, so I had the airship cooks help me provide backup in the kitchen. Most of the ingredients were from my Storage.
The majority of the mithril explorers on the airship were men, but there were seven or eight women in the mix, too.
I was hoping Karina might be willing to make friends with her fellow female explorers, but I was sorely mistaken.
She was set up at the corner of her table, using Erina and the newbie as barriers on either side as she dug into the food.
At first, some of the male explorers had been lured in by her lovely features and magic boobs and gathered around her, but Karina only got frightened when too many of them crowded her at once, so I got stuck with the manager-like job of making sure no more than one or two approached at a time.
Before too long, the men mostly figured out that Karina wasn’t remotely receptive to them and started flirting with the waitresses instead.
Some of the male explorers followed Nana around, too, but she dealt with them in her usual deadpan way. Clearly, only children could break through her iron defenses.
Once the male explorers finally backed off, I tried to introduce Karina to some of the female explorers I’d befriended during the party, but for some reason she was short and snippy with them.
Why would she be so hostile toward women who were being nothing but friendly to her?
Fortunately, the female explorers just laughed it off and didn’t seem particularly offended.
“Hey, keep your hands off our master!”
“Mm. No touchy-feely.”
Arisa and Mia popped up between me and the friendly female explorers.
Hmm, were they really being that touchy-feely?
Maybe it was just my imagination, but Karina seemed to cheer up a bit when she saw Arisa and Mia.
Perhaps she acted salty toward those women because she felt like they were getting too close to me.
Next time I tried to introduce new friends to Karina, I would have to be more mindful of keeping my distance.
Mia performed some music in a corner of the relatively large dining hall.
She was playing a famous song that was often used for social dances in the Shiga Kingdom, probably a request from one of the explorers.
The men and women alike started dancing to the music, although neither seemed particularly used to it.
“Promise not to laugh at us, mister. Unlike you and Baronet Jelil, we’re just commoners. We’ve gotta get some practice in before we reach the royal capital.”
“I wouldn’t laugh at you. Everyone’s a beginner at some point, after all.”
One of the female explorers, probably in her early thirties, sheepishly explained why the explorers weren’t very good dancers.
Once we reached the royal capital, they would likely be invited to all kinds of nobles’ parties. They probably wanted to practice social dancing so they wouldn’t embarrass themselves there.
Oh, that’s perfect.
I might as well use this chance to have Miss Karina practice, too.
We’d had a few chances to dance together in the old capital, but I couldn’t exactly say she was an expert dancer by any stretch of the imagination.
Since dancing was a necessary skill for finding a marriage partner in the Shiga Kingdom, I wanted to make sure she worked hard at it.
“Now then, Lady Karina. May I have this dance?”
“I—I don’t feel like dancing.”
“Come on, now, you have to practice. Besides, even if you step on my feet, no one’s going to scold you or laugh at you here.”
“But…”
I took Karina’s hand as she stubbornly stuck to her seat.
“Or do you find me that disagreeable as a dance partner?”
I leaned in closer, taking a serious tone.
“N-n-no, I… Oh, all right.”
Karina turned bright red as she tried to object, then reluctantly agreed to it in a barely audible whisper.
That wasn’t quite the reaction I was expecting, but it was fine with me as long as she was willing to practice.
Arisa and Mia started to protest, but I pacified them by promising to dance with them next, once Karina’s dance practice was done.
I wanted to make sure I danced with Lulu, too, since she’d worked so hard to prepare for this party.
“Lady Karina, come a little closer.”
“V-very well… Good heavens, this is so embarrassing.”
Karina’s flustered face was definitely a little exciting, but I had to focus on teaching her to dance.
Keep it together, Satou.
Don’t get distracted by the two miracles brushing against your chest. Nnnope. Don’t do it.
Feeling Mia’s sharp gaze boring holes into my back, I continued teaching Miss Karina to dance.
“Yes, just like that. Very good.”
“…N-not at all.”
Whenever she did even remotely well, I made sure to praise her right away, trying to alleviate her fears about being bad at dancing.
“Don’t get distracted because you can’t see your feet. It’s all right.”
Karina’s bust was so large that it completely obscured her view of her lower body, so she couldn’t watch her steps while dancing. That seemed to contribute to her anxiety.
How can I help her stop worrying…? Oh, I know!
“Think of it like your footwork in battle.”
“L-like this?”
“Yes, exactly.”
When I framed it in terms of combat, she finally started to get the hang of it. She was still far from being a master of dancing, but her movements had become a lot sharper.
The rest was probably just a matter of getting more experience.
After Karina, I danced with Lulu and each of the other girls in turn, then wound up dancing with Karina’s maids and the female explorers, too.
When I was done with all that, I was put in charge of teaching the male explorers how to dance.
It was tough going for a while, but well worth the effort if it meant the explorers would be willing to help us in the future.
Arisa’s heavy breathing as she watched me practice dance steps with the male explorers was a little annoying, though.
“Hey, mister, the observation deck’s open! We’re going to check it out. Want to come along?”
Eventually, the dancing died down. We were about to call it a night when one of the female explorers invited us along to the observation deck.
“Sure, that sounds good.”
Excited, we all headed to the observation deck on the bow.
The dining hall we were using was all the way back at the stern, so it took a while to get there.
As we headed down some narrow corridors that reminded me of a submarine, I saw a few red dots on the radar that was always displayed in the corner of my vision. It must be some monsters or criminals on the ground below.
I opened the radar settings window and, for the time being, tweaked it to only display red dots of flying monsters level 10 or above that might be a threat to the airship.
I left the setting that displayed red dots for individuals who were hostile toward me intact, just in case.
…Hmm?
There were still some red dots nearby.
Inspecting the map, I found that the three red dots actually belonged to the wyvern mounts of the knights flying next to the airship as guards.
I must have forgotten to exclude tamed monsters when I changed the settings.
Chuckling at my own mistake, I adjusted the settings again.
While we were walking to the observation deck, a flying monster approached the airship, but the flying knights drove it away before it could get too close.
“So biiig?”
“Pretty glass, sir.”
“Why, it’s beautiful!”
The two-floor observation deck was fitted with glass.
Instead of regular glass, it was made with steel wire netting covered in crystal in order to minimize bird strikes.
I had equipped the airship itself with a magic barrier device modeled after the Practical Magic spell Defense Wall, too, but since it consumed a lot of magic, that was only for use in combat.
Anyway, if it weren’t for the convenient Earth Magic spell Stone Object, I might not have managed to make the observation deck with crystal like this.
Although it was technically two stories high, it was a vaulted atrium shape, so the hanging garden-style terrace of the second floor was only about a sixth of the size of the main first floor.
“This kinda reminds me of Rei’s old home.”
Arisa was referring to Reiaane, who we met during the Lalakie incident in the southern seas.
“Once we’ve finished our business in the royal capital, we should go visit them again.”
Whenever I did my daily goodnight call with Aaze by way of the Space Magic spell Telephone, I also called Rei and her sister to catch up, but we hadn’t actually gone to see them in person since we stopped by on the way to Bolenan Forest when the girls were training to defeat a floormaster.
“Master, I was told the second-floor terrace is off-limits, I report.”
Nana came over, looking disappointed.
Glancing in the direction she came from, I saw some knights from Vistall Duchy standing guard in front of the stairs to the second floor.
It appeared that Duke Vistall’s multiple wives, along with some nobles’ daughters and important officials, were monopolizing the second-floor terrace. Baronet Jelil was there too, presumably invited by one of the wives.
I saw Duke’s Wife come up a lot in my AR display; searching the map with that keyword, I got eleven matches in total.
Three of them were women around the duke’s age, but the overall range of ages was quite large. From below, the youngest-looking woman I could see had features about as youthful as Nana’s. My map information confirmed that she was seventeen years old, several years younger than the oldest of the duke’s daughters.
In fact, he had seven daughters on the airship, averaging around Lulu’s age, at fourteen or so.
Well, that’s probably enough research on the duke’s impressive family tree.
“We can go up there later. I’m sure they’ll get bored eventually.”
“Yes, master.”
Nana nodded and walked over to join Arisa and the others looking out the window.
“Mother, do all airship observation decks have such a magnificent view?”
“Not quite, dear. I’ve been on all the airships in the Shiga Kingdom, and this terrace has the finest harmony of light, greenery, and sky that I have ever laid eyes on.”
“Perhaps His Majesty has hired a new artist?”
“I should like to have a terrace like this in our castle villa, too.”
My “Keen Hearing” skill caught the noble wives and daughters praising the view from the terrace.
I’d gone through a lot of trial and error to perfect that setup, so I felt a little proud to hear their earnest compliments.
“Byootiful?”
“Very hurri-sky high-cane, sir!”
Tama and Pochi stuck their faces against the glass, gazing outside happily.
I wasn’t quite sure what Pochi was trying to say there.
Miss Karina and her guardian maids were looking out the window with sparkling eyes as well.
“Satou.”
“Master, it appears that we can go out on the deck through that door.”
Mia and Liza approached me.
“Is it really safe to go out there?”
“It is windy outside, I report.”
Lulu and Nana pointed at the signal flag whipping in the wind in front of the deck.
“It should be fine, don’t you think? Look at that person on the balcony—her hair’s not even moving in the wind.”
Arisa’s observation was correct. I used my recently acquired “Wind Reading” skill to check the flow of the wind.
It appeared that the area around the balcony was being protected from the worst of the wind pressure by Wind Magic.
“Looks like it’s safe. Let’s go check it out.”
I led the way through the double doors of the observation deck onto the balcony that overlooked the deck, which was just six feet or so below.
“Master! The view from here is remarkable, I report.”
Nana called me over to the end of the balcony that jutted from the ship’s side.
From there, it was possible to see all the ground below us.
Tama and Pochi were too short to see, so they climbed onto the railing to join in on looking down below. The fearless Karina tried to get onto the railing, too, but her lady-in-waiting Pina reprimanded her.
“Très bieeen?”
“It’s super, super high-high, sir!”
Maybe Pochi was trying to say “sky high.”
“That’s dangerous,” Liza warned the pair, grabbing them by their belts.
“…… Summon Vision Denshobato Shoukan.”
When my “Keen Hearing” skill picked up a spell being chanted, I looked up to see one of Duke Vistall’s officials summoning a pigeon in the sky.
According to my AR display, he had the Summoning Magic skill.
As I looked on, he informed me without my asking, “It’s a routine communication to our royal capital estate,” and hurried back onto the observation deck.
Just as that slightly sketchy man was leaving, a young girl came running onto the balcony in an expensive-looking dress.
“Wooow, this is even more amazing than the terrace! Don’t you agree, Nanny?”
“It is dangerous to run in a place like this, young madam.”
“Verily, there is no need to fret. If anything should happen, I shall save the young madam at once.”
Behind her was an older wet nurse and a female knight.
My AR display informed me that the girl was Duke Vistall’s youngest daughter.
Brimming with curiosity, the young noble girl’s eyes fixed squarely on me—no, behind me.
“Animal-eared folk!”
With that cry, she ran right past me up to Tama and Pochi, staring at them impolitely.
“Are they real?”
“Reeeal?”
“Are you really, really animal-eared folk?”
“Of course we’re real, sir! Pochi is a dog-eared folk, sir.”
“Tama is cat-eared fooolk?”
At first Tama and Pochi seemed nervous, but once they sensed that the young girl meant no harm, they responded to her normally.
“You mustn’t be so overly familiar with demi-humans, young madam.”
The wet nurse, who must have some prejudice against demi-humans, tried to pull the duke’s young daughter away from Tama and Pochi as she reached out to touch their ears.
“Big Brother Torriel says it’s wrong to look down on people just because their race is different from ours, though.”
“That nonsense again… I shan’t come to your rescue if your father scolds you, you know.”
“Don’t worry! Father would never scold me.”
The little girl grinned confidently.
“Oh, Somienna, there you are.”
“They said we’re allowed to observe the combat bridge. You wanted to see it, didn’t you?”
“My, how wonderful!”
The girl’s two older sisters, who looked to be just a little older than Arisa, came to invite her to look at the bridge.
“Oh, I know! Pochi and Tama, you should come, too!”
“Mew?”
“Can we, sir?”
Tama and Pochi looked up at me hopefully.
I certainly wanted to let them play with children their own age, but sending them off alone with an upper noble they’d just met—especially the daughter of Duke Vistall, who seemed to have it in for me—seemed like it might be asking for trouble.
“I’m afraid we mustn’t impose on Lady Somienna. I’m terribly sorry, but…”
“Hey, what’s your name?” The little girl interrupted me.
“I am Satou Pendragon, hereditary knight and vassal of the Muno Barony.”
“Oh, so your name’s Satou? You can come, too. Then you’ll have nothing to worry about, right? That’s okay, isn’t it, dear sisters?”
She’s pretty quick-thinking for such a little girl.
Since I no longer had any reason to refuse, and the two sisters gave their permission with reluctant smiles, I ended up getting dragged along.
The rest of our group couldn’t come along, as the guide in charge of the visit said it would be too many people.
He agreed to show the others around once the princess’s group was done observing the bridge.
“Master, I’m sure I don’t need to worry about this, but no fooling around.”
“Mm. Forbidden.”
Arisa and Mia glanced at the fairly flat-chested female knight.
I assured them they had nothing to fear, and went off to observe the deck with Tama and Pochi.
The arrival of the duke’s daughter had distracted me, but I did a quick investigation of the official who’d summoned the pigeon earlier.
He was only level 7, but he had a good deal of administration-related skills in addition to Summoning Magic. According to Arisa, magic skills required a lot of skill points, so there was probably nothing to worry about.
Just in case, though, I put a marker on him for the duration of the trip.
“This is the bridge from which the airship is steered.”
We were guided to the bridge at the bow first.
Though it couldn’t be seen from the balcony due to the shape of the hull, this bridge wasn’t far from the observation deck.
“Goodness, even the floor is glass.”
“My, how frightening.”
The bridge was surrounded by a glass, boxlike construction for maximum visibility while steering.
In battle with monsters, the hull would close around the bridge, and lookouts would report to the helmsman through small windows.
“Unlike other airships, this state-of-the-art design…”
The captain told us more about the airship as he showed us around.
He enthusiastically explained how the latest technology allowed the entire ship to be controlled from the bridge, but to his disappointment, the young noble girls didn’t seem at all interested.
Still, I wished he wouldn’t direct jealous glares at the people manning the radar and the helm just because they did get the girls’ attention.
“W-well, then, we mustn’t disrupt the steering of the ship. Let’s move on, shall we?”
Wisely reading the room, the guide escorted the girls toward the next room.
When we left the bridge and headed down the next corridor…
“Your Excellency, please reconsider disinheriting Lord Torriel. Your eldest son ought to inherit reign of the duchy—”
“Enough! As if I could trust a fool who blindly trusts savages and puts our villages in danger to carry on my legacy!”
I faintly overheard an argument coming from around the corner.
One of the voices sounded familiar: It was Duke Vistall.
Since the others didn’t have the “Keen Hearing” skill, they didn’t seem to have heard the details. They were anxious, though, because it was clear from the tone that this was a tense exchange. The female knight moved in front of her wards.
“But those were thieves who had been driven out of their tribes, not the sav—erm, the monkeyfolk—”
“Save such feeble excuses for the villagers whose parents or children were killed! Perhaps their spades and hoes will be enough to clear that field of flowers you call a brain!”
The duke stormed around the corner, accompanied by several members of his entourage.
Even taking the sound of the airship into account, it was strange how difficult it was to hear his voice from this short distance.
“Deactivate the security device.” Once the duke said this, his voice became audible. “…Somienna, are you touring the ship?”
His wrathful expression vanishing abruptly, he addressed his youngest daughter in a sweet, cloying voice.
“Y-yes. My elder sisters here invited me along.”
“How nice. You enjoy yourself, now.”
“Yes, Father.”
With that, the duke patted his daughter on the head and turned toward the bridge with his knights and officials in tow.
He addressed his two older girls, too, but not as dotingly as he had the littlest one. His youngest daughter must be the favorite.
The duke then proceeded to glare daggers at me as he passed—either because I was too close to his favorite daughter, or because he just hated me on sight.
“Shall we continue?”
The guide, who’d been pressed against the wall almost invisibly, resumed the tour.
When we turned the corner, we passed the high official who had just angered the duke so much, and was now being addressed by one of his colleagues.
I was already aware, thanks to the marker on my radar, that it was the same Summoning Magic user who sent up the pigeon from the balcony earlier.
After his colleague left, the man stayed behind, and I overheard a murmur that aroused my suspicion: “Perhaps there is truly no other way…”
I wish these people would keep their family quarrels out of the sky.
“Verily, the security in this area seems quite strict.”
“It has to be, since the airship’s magic barrier device is here. It’s set up so that no burglars can possibly infiltrate this room.”
The guide explained the nature of the room to the female guard.
“Verily, it is a rather large device. Perhaps even bigger than the magic barrier in the fort.”
“Indeed. The heavier the airship, the more fuel is required for its flight, so it is better to have a barrier like this that can produce a shield if the need arises rather than make the hull denser and heavier.”
The knight nodded thoughtfully at the guide’s explanation.
As a soldier, she seemed to be very interested in equipment like this.
“Verily, may I ask what that large tubelike device might be?”
“That? I’m sorry, I’m not entirely sure. I’ll ask someone with more expertise about it later.”
The pipe the guide couldn’t identify was a magic-conducting cable connected to an emergency altitude control booster.
The booster was one-use-only, but it was meant to help evade attacks that the rudder alone couldn’t deal with. Although it produced a considerable amount of speed, the propulsion didn’t last long, so the only passengers who might risk injury would be anyone in a large space like the observation deck or the hangar. Normally, there would be an emergency notification before using the booster anyway.
“And here we have the crown jewel of this cutting-edge airship: the latest coaxial skypower engine. Through alternating rotations…”
Next, we moved to the engine room, where we observed the Magic Furnace, the coaxial skypower engines, and finally the propellers.
At the skypower engines, the chief engineer made the same mistake as the captain. I certainly understood his desire to talk about the technology. Maybe once we reached the royal capital, I could invite him out for drinks and have a good in-depth discussion about airships.
“Flappyyyy?”
“So shaky, sir.”
“Yes, that’s the airship’s rudder. By pushing air from the propellers against the rudder, the airship can change direction.”
The guide explained the workings of the rudder, or tail fin, to Tama and Pochi, who were glued eagerly to a small window in the corridor.
Since the rudder could easily be broken by a magic attack, I’d made it from a material with strong magic resistance. It could resist multiple intermediate (or stronger) attack spells, and even my Magic Hand couldn’t meddle with it.
I used the same material for the flaps on the stabilizing fin and the rotating ailerons.
“In case of emergency, the control room above the rudder can steer it directly by pulling on a wire.”
Of course, the wire was made from this material as well.
It was a shame that I couldn’t brag to anyone about it, since it was a secret that I built this airship.
For the propellers, I used a generous amount of the giant wind stones that I found in the windy cave in the Black Dragon Mountains.
“Oh? What’s that little thing that looks like a small ship?”
“That’s a lifeboat for evacuating important persons to safety in case of emergency.”
In the hangar at the rear deck were two sixteen-person lifeboats.
I reused fans that didn’t meet the skypower engine’s standards to make a magic device to reduce fall speed, so they could safely drop from a considerable height.
Unlike with a sea vessel, it would be difficult to deploy these in the unlikely event of a crash with no time for an emergency landing, so I put only a minimal number of lifeboats on board.
That seemed to be the end of the tour. We went around through the rear corridors and returned to the observation deck.
…Hmm?
Looking at my radar, I saw a marker on the rear deck.
It was the high official who’d angered the duke earlier.
Worried that he was up to no good, I peered through a small window in the corridor and saw that there was a woman with him.
According to my map information, the woman was named Leda, and she was one of Duke Vistall’s wives.
At first, I thought she was the mother of the eldest son, Torriel, who was about to get disowned, but I was wrong—she was one of the younger ones.
“…Ew.”
After the official gave the wife some kind of present, she embraced him passionately, and an intense makeout session ensued. I was witnessing an extramarital affair.
“Satou, is something interesting happening out there?”
“No, you just missed it.”
I hustled the curious children away from the window, and we returned to the observation deck.
“We will now be entering the territory of Vanwing Pass. Our wind mages will be performing a ritual spell to ward off monsters, so we kindly ask those with sensitive hearing to enter the soundproof room in the bridge or return to the noble visitors’ room.”
After this announcement repeated three times, the wind mages emerged onto the deck with safety ropes.
The dots on my radar informed me that the wives who had taken over the terrace were withdrawing to their quarters.
I leaned over the balcony railing to listen, and transcribed the Ritual Magic spell as I waited for it to activate.
PYWEEEE.
Just as the spell was completed, there was a loud shriek like the cry of a bird monster.
That was probably to keep the real monsters away.
Checking my map, I saw the dots that indicated monsters stopping or moving away from us.
The spell seemed to be pretty effective. Our airship safely crossed the mountains, the most dangerous part of the journey to the royal capital, without being attacked by any monsters.
As we flew above the Vanwing Pass fort, I saw a big, blue field in the distance.
“Prettyyy… So many flowerrrs!”
“Those blue blobs are flowers? I wonder what kind…”
I sensed Arisa using Space Magic without a chant, probably the Clairvoyance spell.
“They sort of look like lotus flowers, but light blue instead of purple.”
The detailed information on my map labeled them as blue lotus flowers. “You’re right, they are lotuses,” I informed Arisa.
“Oh? Master, can you tell what those telephone-pole-like things are?”
Arisa pointed at a line of columns in front of the field.
“Those are barrier posts. That barrier forms a circle with the royal capital at the center. I’ve heard they gradually widened the ring over hundreds of years, gradually making a bigger safe area for cultivated land.”
The Echigoya Company folks in the royal capital had told me about this.
However, some monsters could break through the barrier posts’ monster-repellent effect, and others had been left inside the area when the barrier was erected, so the area wasn’t completely free of danger.
In fact, I had even come across a government-sponsored ranch being attacked by monsters before.
Still, I had never seen such large and abundant fields, even in the Ougoch Duchy.
As far as I could tell from the rivers and canals, these were primarily wheat fields as opposed to rice paddy fields. Either way, all this farmland should be enough to easily feed the population of the royal capital.
“Master, our altitude has decreased, I report.”
The airship had been flying at a high altitude up until we flew over Vanwing Pass, but now we had lowered to an altitude of about 600 feet.
“You’re right. Maybe there’s no need to keep a high altitude since there are so few monsters near the royal capital.”
Even if there was anyone crazy enough to try attacking an airship, we were still high enough to be well out of the range of any arrows or spells.
A military Magic Cannon might reach, but I can’t imagine how anyone would smuggle in a cannon with a huge Magic Furnace without being noticed by the royal army.
“You can see the ground a lot more clearly now,” Lulu commented.
“Indeed. I believe I spy a big, round wild boar in the forest there.”
Liza’s eyes glittered, while Lulu smiled awkwardly.
While the land around the royal capital was mostly flat, there were still a few more mountains and valleys along the way that kept the capital itself out of sight, but the main road to the royal capital was full of carriages and travelers coming and going.
“So peaceful…”
“Relaaax…”
“Nice and calm, sir.”
Sitting on a bench on the balcony, my young friends gazed warmly at the peaceful scene.
Barring any dramatic incidents, we would land in the royal capital very soon.
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