CH 148

Our destination is the Great Omit Wilderness. The goal is to find the Adelian scriptures before their teachings were modified. I was accompanied by Isla, Ms. Zamir, several adventurers, the Grand Dragon Grande, the Harpy Pirna, Ygrett, Eyja, and Capri.

Grande and Pirna can fly, which is fine, but of course, me, Isla, Ms. Zamir, and the adventurers can’t fly. So I had to build a gondola to carry us.

“How did you come up with the unusual shape?”

“Considering the air resistance, yes.”

There was something in front of Grande and me. It was a thick, missile-shaped object, to put it simply. It has an overall streamlined body, with round glass windows in some places to look out through. Four stabilizing wings were also attached. Though, I’m not sure how effective they are.

No, I’ll be honest about it. This thing looks like a toy spaceship or rocket. It’s made mainly of wood, though, to make it as light as possible.

It has a door at the back, through which you can get in. There are a total of eight seats inside. The seats are equipped with suspension springs to prevent motion sickness, but I have no idea how effective they are. I’ll just have to ask Grande to do her best not to shake it as much as possible.

“We’re going to fly with this thing…?”

“Is it impossible?”

“No, I’m going to try.”

“Okay. I’ll put on enough weight.”

Eight weights of 50 kg each, for a total of 400 kg, were fixed to the seats with seat belts. I tried to cut down the weight as much as possible, but we’d all be dead if the thing disintegrated in midair. The gondola itself was also quite heavy since I couldn’t make it too thin considering its durability.

“Mmm, it’s quite heavy. But…”

Grande took off her protective bracelets and stored them in her skirt pocket. Today, Grande is wearing a halter-neck shirt and a miniskirt. The other day, when me, Danan, and Sir Leonard were discussing in the lord’s mansion, I was told that the tailor in Erichburg had made it for her.

The reason why no one was present when I woke up that morning was because they had immediately gone to order clothes from the fabric I had brought as a souvenir. Especially Grande, who was wearing a bikini armor because there were no clothes that fit her, so she got this shirt and skirt made right away by modifying the ready-made ones.

Grande has huge claws on her hands and feet, so she can’t wear clothes with sleeves, and because of her wings, she can only wear clothes with an open back. She also can’t wear pants, so naturally, she can only wear skirts. As for underwear, she can only wear string panties, and since she can’t tie the strings, she can’t even put them on by herself. She must have gotten someone to put them on for her today.

“Mmm.”

Grande grabbed the handle of the rocket-shaped gondola, spread her wings wide, and floated up softly.

“Umu, it looks okay. I’m going to fly like this for a bit.”

“Yeah, be careful.”

Grande is flying with the rocket-shaped gondola carrying the weight. As long as I look at it, she seems to be able to fly without wobbling. By the way, Grande’s panties today were white. The skirt is short, so I can see it well. It doesn’t matter that I can see them. There was no sexiness in them.

“The gondola is fine now…”

The rest is supplies and adventurers. If it’s going to be a long stay, I can plant a field over there. I’ll ask them to prepare the seeds and seedlings for the crops. Grande circled around the sky for a while or flew a little farther, and then after watching her return, I decided to head to the Liberation Army’s supply warehouse with Grande after she landed.

“How’s it going? Can you fly long distances?”

“My arms will get tired if I fly too long.”

“We’ll take it easy. I don’t want to overwork Grande that much, and more importantly, if you slip and fall, we’ll all be dead, including me.”

I’ve got a parachute that will keep the speed of the fall down in case of emergency. It can be deployed from inside or outside. I’ll have to actually test this later. When it comes time to use the parachute, it would be trouble if it didn’t open.

We entered Erichburg through the city gates from Grande’s bedroom outside the city and moved to the stockpile warehouse. Melty was just there.

“Melty.”

With her head covered in curly horns, Melty turns at my voice and gives me a soft smile. When I look at her like that, she looks like a gentle sheep beastman Onee-san. But that horn is not a sheep; it’s a demon horn.

“Kosuke-san, huh? Have you completed the test?”

“The flight test is done for now. We haven’t done the drop test yet. I think Grande will get tired if she has to do too many tests in a row, so let’s take a break and place an order.

“An order?”

“I want you to prepare seeds and seedlings for the crops since we might have to stay there for a long time. That way, we won’t have to worry about supplies.”

“Oh, I see. I understand; I’ll prepare them for you.”

Melty took out a note from her pocket and started writing with a ballpoint pen. Of course, that ballpoint pen is something I crafted. One day, I gave it to Melty, who complained about how difficult it was to use a quill pen.

She was so delighted with it that she ordered a hundred of them. Since then, I have been making hundreds of them regularly. Although it is sometimes difficult to write on some of the papers prevalent in this world, they are generally accepted as convenient. The problem is that no one but me seems to be able to make them.

To be more precise, if I wanted to make it, I could, but considering mass-production and cost performance, it seems to be impossible to make. Incidentally, the materials used were iron, wood, and slime material. Apparently, the slime material can be used as a substitute for plastic or as a material for ink. Slime is amazing.

“Speaking of which, how are the arrangements for adventurers going?”

“Oh, we’ve already made the arrangements for that. I’ve set up a quest that will start in three days when the supplies are ready.”

“Adventurers. What kind of people are they?”

“They are trustworthy people. I know them, Kosuke and Isla know them too”.

“…Could it be Shumel and the others?”

“Yes, but…?”

“Oh… then I have to rebuild the gondola.”

Shumel is a red oni, and her two other party members are also red oni and a cyclops. They are all females, but as they are from the oni race, they are taller and have more flesh. They’re not fat, or even partially fat, but they’re simply massive.

“Grande, can you handle more weight?”

“Mmm? I think there’s plenty of room for weight.”

“Apparently, there are three onis accompanying us.”

“Hmm…?”

“They’re three muscular women, about one and a half times taller than me.”

“That sounds heavy.”

“Yeah. Maybe we’ll have to increase the size of the gondola.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if I could somehow turn myself into a dragon?”

“Can you do it in three days?”

“If I focus on it…?”

Grande tilted her head to the side. Yes, it’s cute. But…

“I’ll rebuild the gondola, and you work on the dragon transformation.”

“Umu.”

“Um… I’m sorry, Kosuke-san. I wasn’t thinking it through.”

Melty apologized to me with an apologetic look, but I shook my head at her apology and replied.

“No, I don’t think we have a choice because I don’t think we have nearly enough other options given their competence and reliability. In fact, I was naive for not asking first and not being able to predict. The gondola itself won’t go to waste, so it’s okay. It might be possible to get by with just some modifications.”

As a gondola that can carry up to eight people of normal height, it should have perfect performance, so there is no problem. The eight-seater gondola I made this time can only be modified to carry six people: three onis and three humans. It will be fine. It might get a little cramped, though!

☆★☆

As it turns out, I was successful in modifying the gondola. I think it will be a bit cramped, but I think it’s just about right. There were no problems with procuring supplies. As for Grande, is she able to transform into a dragon?

“It was impossible.”

“You couldn’t?”

“I feel like I’m getting close.”

“I see.”

“Umu.”

Who could blame Grande, who was happily chewing on her pancakes with a muffled smile? I’m sure that if I were to condemn her here, her happy face would turn into one of sadness. I can’t do it, at least not for me.

“If the sky is no longer an option, we can travel by carriage and foot. It will take more time, but you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Yes, I think it’s fine to travel slowly.”

“Yes, there’s no need to rush.”

“That way, we can take our time and enjoy ourselves, right?”

“…..”

Isla, who’s also eating pancakes for breakfast with a muffled smile, and the Harpies Pirna, Ygrett, Capri, and Eyja, all are nodding their heads silently.

“…The sooner, the better, right?”

“Yes, the sooner you start, the sooner things will move, so hurry up as much as you can, okay?”

“Come to think of it, we’ll be there soon enough, and if things go on too long, we can switch sides.”

“Yes!”

Sylphy, Melty, and others complained about the expedition team, which insisted that safety comes first and that it was okay if it took longer. Stop it! Don’t fight for me!

“Even if you’re joking about taking it slow, safety first is a must. If you think it’s going to be too much for you, we’ll consider moving on the ground.”

“That’s right. It’s not just us and Grande-san, but also Kosuke and Isla, because if we fall, we’re finished.”

“I have a parachute just in case.”

I muttered to myself as I sipped my after-dinner tea. The parachute has been tested after the incident to ensure safety. There should be no problem.

“Well, it’s not like you want to free fall, so if it looks bad, just go down to the ground.”

“Umu, leave it to me.”

Grande, who has cream all over her mouth, snorted wildly. Ah, jeez, such a mess. I wipe the sticky mouth with a napkin.

“Grande has a different atmosphere when she interacts with Kosuke… than when she interacts with us.”

“No, it’s not. When I look at him, I feel a warmth deep inside my heart.”

“When he treats Grande-chan, it’s more like he’s treating a child or a daughter than a woman…”

“It’s very fatherly.”

“It’s just that Grande is the only girl I have to take care of. You guys are so independent that there is no room for me to take care of you like this.”

At my words, Sylphy and the others looked at each other. Yeah, you can’t suddenly spill your food or drink out of the corner of your mouth. It’s too obvious.

“That kind of thing will come in time, one of these days.”

“Gnunu.”

“Kuh, I feel defeated.”

“It’s time for us to take our chances.”

“Right.”

“Don’t be so desperate… That’s a little too much.”

“I like to spoil Danna-san instead…”

“…..?”

Sylphy and Melty distort their faces in frustration, and Isla and the others are having a disturbing conversation. Yes, she’s sharp and beautiful, but there’s a certain aura about Eyja that makes me want to take care of her as well as Grande. I’ll definitely try to take care of her during this expedition.

☆★☆

“Hey, boss, long time no see.”

“Long time no see.”

“Long time no see. Please take care of me this time.”

Shumel and the others were waiting at the south gate of Erichburg, which was the meeting place. The one in the front is the red oni Shumel, who has fought with us as a member of the Liberation Army, and behind her are the members of Shumel’s party, a red oni, and a cyclops. I haven’t heard their names mentioned.

“It’s been a while. How are you doing?”

“Not bad. And this one that you made for me is good too.”

Then Shumel grinned and flicked the big gold crusher she was holding with her fingertips, making a nice tinkling sound.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you two. I didn’t get your names the other day, by the way.”

“Oh? You didn’t?”

“Speaking of which, you might be right. Since we knew you, I thought we had already told you our names. My name is Tozume. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“I’m Bella.”

The cyclops carrying a large wooden mallet and the red oni carrying a large axe each introduced themselves to me. Tozume-san is the cool cyclops, and Bella is the subordinate red oni. I will remember them.

[T/n: It seems cyclops such as Tozume and One-Eyed race such as Isla is different, according to Kosuke, cyclops is a race that has a similar build to oni, Author-san also use different words for them, he use Kanji for One-Eyed race and Katakana サイクロプス for cyclops.]

“By the way, where are the carriages? We’re not going on foot, are we?”

Shumel, who placed her hand on the tip of the gold crushing rod and thrust it into the ground, looked around. Yeah, no matter how much you look, there is no carriage.

“We don’t use carriages. And we don’t walk either.”

“Hmm?”

“Let’s go outside the gate for now.”

We all left the south gate together and immediately turned off the road to the grass by the side of the road.

“Kosuke-dono, how can it be that we don’t use carriages or walk…?”

The lizard woman, Ms. Zamir, who carried a long-bladed spear on her shoulder, tilted her head and asked.

“We are going to ride this.”

I answered Ms. Zamir’s question by pulling out the six-seater gondola. It looks completely like a toy rocket thing.

“This is…?”

“Well, it’s like a vehicle. It’s been tested for safety, so it should be fine. In fact, it’s perfectly safe.”

I opened the door of the rocket to show the inside. Looking inside, there were six seats. The one for Ms. Zamil has a tail, so it looks like a stool for one person, but you’ll have to forgive me.

“…Um?”

“Well, well, well… just get in. The three of you can sit here, here, and here for weight balance reasons. Also, as you can see, it’s not very spacious, so I’ll take your weapons.”

“Okay.”

Although Ms. Zamir was a little reluctant, the oni girls obediently handed over their weapons to me. Eventually, Ms. Zamir gave up.

“Has everyone fastened their seatbelts? Except for Ms. Zamir.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Y-yes, I did…”

“I did.”

“Hey, what kind of vehicle is this?”

“…..”

Ms. Zamir must have sensed something because she became restless. Hahaha, that’s impressive. She has good intuition. But it was too late.

“Grande, close the door, please.”

“Umu.”

“Close the door, please.”

“Got it, leave it to me.”

The rear door, or rather the hatch, is closed, and I hear the sound of Grande climbing to the ceiling.

“O-oy, could it be?”

“Okay, let’s take off, Grande!”

“Nojaaaaaa!”

There was a slight creaking sound of wood. Before long, an indescribably soft feeling tickled my insides. The plane seemed to have taken off without a problem.

“Grande, is the weight okay?”

“Yes, no problem. Harpies, don’t be late!”

“Leave it to me!”

“No matter how many dragons we’re up against, we’re not going to be slowed down.”

“…..”

“Be very careful.”

The voices coming from outside are truly heartwarming. Shumel, who is sitting next to me, is trembling, the blood drained from her red face.

“B-boss… C-could it be, this is…”

“Yes, we are flying. Just enjoy the flight.”

I smiled at her. When Shumel heard my reply, she took a short breath, and then…

“Nnoooooooooooo!?”

“Hahahaha, you’re so energetic!”

The dragon express is flying through the sky with Shumel’s shout echoing in the background. Yes, unfortunately, we are not at an altitude where we can descend anymore. So, I want you to give up.