CH 158

Chapter 158 – Hard-Headed Oni

“What is this!? What is this!?”

“It’s a prototype for a new vehicle that Isla and I have been working on. Prototype air bike… No, airboard? It’s not a hoverboard because it’s not really hovering… And a levitation board is too long. So just air board is fine, I guess.”

Bella is very excited in front of the prototype air bike or airboard, and Shumel and Tozume are looking at it with indescribable expressions. Ms. Zamir is also looking at the prototype airboard with great interest.

“Is this a vehicle?”

“It does have a seat or something like that.”

“How does it work?”

“…?”

“The vehicle …… my specialty has been taken away…”

The Harpies seemed to be looking at the prototype airboard from a distance. You know what I mean, you guys. When I say prototype, I really mean that it was made for testing purposes and not for safety reasons.

And, Grande, you don’t have to look so desperate. Not that I mean to, but you don’t have to find your worth in the vehicle aspect.

The reason why there is such a commotion is because Isla stopped moving as she started to think about the new magic, and I was working on developing goggles and such. Then everyone who had been investigating the ruins and the surrounding area came back and found the prototype airboard. And that is how we ended up here.

“Let’s see it in action, shall we?”

With that, I put on my goggles and mask, turned on the prototype airboard, and slowly started running around.

“Ooohh! That’s amazing! It floats and moves so fast!”

Thanks for the intuitive explanation. Maybe it’s because there is no friction with the ground since it’s not touching the ground, but once it reaches a certain speed, it can move a lot due to inertia. If you incorporate wind barrier magic that can reduce air resistance, you can travel long distances with outstanding fuel efficiency.

The Levitation doesn’t seem to be floating in the same way as a hover, but how is it floating? Is it falsifying its mass? Or is it some kind of anti-gravity method? Is it giving the object buoyancy…?

It’s a mystery. Is it better not to think about the details because it’s magic? Maybe it’s better not to think about it, but to feel it? I think I’m beginning to understand why Isla calls my abilities “absurd.” Magic is absurd. If I said this to Isla, she would probably punch me in the stomach with all her might.

I returned to the others, slowed down while using reverse thrust, grounded, and applied the brakes. The brakes are the problem, after all.

“This is how it works. We built it to be able to move at high speed over rough terrain. As you can see, we’ve got a rough sketch, and now we just need to work out the details!”

“I want to ride it too!”

Bella raises her hand in excitement. It’s a prototype, so it’s not very safe, and I don’t want it to get destroyed, so please refrain from using it.

“…..”

She looked at me with a huge sparkle in her eyes. I can’t help when people look at me with such sparkling anticipation.

“…Don’t crash it.”

“It’s okay!”

“Don’t ever crash it. It’s just a prototype.”

“It’s okay!”

I taught Bella how to operate the prototype airboard, which she got into with great enthusiasm. She’s listening to me, but I’m not sure if she understands what I’m saying. I’m very worried… No, it has only two levers, and the only thing you can do with them is to fold them forward, backward, both outward and inward.

“I’ll tell you again, don’t ever bump it. Don’t pretend to, okay? Don’t ever hit anything! Drive safely!”

“It’s okay! Alright, I’ll start!”

“Oh, you idiot! Why would you suddenly go all out on both sides? Get more altitude!”

The propulsion devices installed on the left and right of the prototype airboard spewed out the wind with great force, accelerating the prototype airboard with Bella on board to launch at great speed. And then…

“Whoaaaaaa!?”

“Aaaaahhhh!”

The airboard crashed into a rock. It took less than ten seconds from the start to the crash.

☆★☆

“Ugh… I hope you’ll forgive me.”

“Huh?”

“Ugh…”

An Oni dressed in a mini-skirt maid’s uniform with a wooden tag around her neck that reads “I destroyed a valuable prototype” was sitting on the ground with her face down. Next to her, I was repairing a prototype airboard that had been badly damaged.

I rarely get angry, but this time I’m really upset. I was furious. I’ve warned her repeatedly, and yet this happened. It was unforgivable. Isn’t it too light a punishment to make her wear a mini-skirt maid outfit and sit on the ground? Maybe I should put some gravel underneath and put a heavy stone on her knees.

“This might be the first time I’ve seen Kosuke-san this angry.”

“That’s right. He’s really angry…”

At some distance away, Shumel and Pirna are watching us.

The wreckage of the prototype airboard is… well, the damage to the board itself is nothing. It’s just a wooden board. However, it was troublesome that the propulsion device on the left side and the circuit that transmits magic power to the propulsion device were broken.

Well, the repair itself is not so bad because it seems to be able to be repaired with the repair function of the blacksmithing facility. It takes time, though.

“You know, I’m mad at you for breaking it, but I’m even madder because it was a close call. It’s fortunate that it was a rock that you struck, but if it had been Isla or the Harpies, they could have been killed instantly. It’s also dangerous for you to be on it. If there was a rock in the way you were thrown out, you could have been seriously injured. A bad hit could have killed you.”

“I’m so sorry…”

If it had been the petite and slender Isla and the Harpies, they might have died instantly, no joke. Despite all of my warnings, this Oni is such a hard-headed girl.

Should I stop making vehicles that can travel at high speed? I can see a future where serious traffic accidents will occur here and there. It would be better if it could be treated like a horse-drawn carriage, but since it is easier to speed up than a horse-drawn carriage… if it is to be mass-produced and deployed in the Liberation Army, it might require a training school and a licensing system.

“Well, I think I can manage to fix it… You’re going to sit there for a while. So, how was the exploration?”

“As far as I could see from the sky, there is no entrance to the underground.”

“I guess we’ll have to dig.”

“I see. How did the surface team do?”

“We checked the remains, and it looks like it was a pretty big facility. The rear base was definitely the former royal castle and considering that it is about a day and a half to two days’ walk from there, it might be the remains of a satellite city or a lodging town or something.”

“It’s hard to imagine… a facility in the royal capital.”

“Because the distance is too great. I thought it might be a defense facility, but if it was a defense facility, I think the Elves at the time would have thoroughly destroyed it, so it’s not like the remains are still there. The same reason I don’t think it was a political facility such as a lord’s mansion.”

“I see.”

I nodded in agreement with Ms. Zamir’s report. Those elders would indeed destroy any defense facility or lord’s mansion without mercy. The quirkiest place to start is… with an orphanage, hospital, or educational facility. If so, maybe we’ll find what we’re looking for.

“I’ve been exploring the basement a bit, and I’ve found a few things that seem to be man-made spaces. As a Grand Dragon, I’m very good at finding such things.”

Grande puffed out her chest as she continued to follow Ms. Zamir’s words.

“However, many of them are old and fragile. I didn’t dig them up because I’m not very good at delicate work. But I did mark them out for you.”

“Oh, that’s great. Well done! As expected of Grande!”

“Mufufu, that’s right, that’s right. You can praise me more for being reliable, can’t you?”

As she approached me, I stroked her horned head. She seemed to be happy. Her tail is thumping against the ground. Grande is so cute and easy to understand.

“We will have cheeseburgers for dinner tonight. And for dessert, we’ll have pancakes with lots of cream and jam.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Yay!”

Grande spun around on the spot to show her joy. Then I was hit by the spinning tail and blown away. It hurts a lot.

“I’m sorry…”

“Ha-haha… it’s nothing. Just be careful next time.”

I think I heard a terrible sound coming from my ribs, but it was probably just my imagination. It doesn’t hurt to breathe. Since I came to this world and my level has risen, my body has become more and more inhuman, so it is possible that I am healing at a faster rate. The survivor skill has also increased my recovery speed.

I’ll drink a life potion later, just in case.

“This way, too, the maintenance of the base has been completed. As you can see, it’s quite a large base on stilts. There are ladders on each pillar, so use them to climb up.”

Gizma can’t climb ladders. It would not be a good idea to have ladders on every pillar if you are dealing with humans, but there will be no one attacking here, so we will focus on convenience.

I led everyone up to the top. It would be a pity to leave her alone, so I let the hard-headed Oni come up too. The first one to go up.

“Haha, you wore something pretty cute.”

“Is it a cat?”

“Ugh… it’s humiliating.”

“Not that I want to see it either, but…”

The hard-head Oni, who had everyone admiring her underwear with a cute cat back print, was sulking in the corner of the dining room. This is about a good punishment for her. I’m not going to do anything devilish as to make her skip meals or anything like that. She would have to spend the rest of the day in her mini-skirt maid outfit, though!

The rest of the day’s work ended with a quick tour of the facility. I asked everyone to take off their gear and rest in something comfortable. Everyone seems to be keeping their weapons close at hand, though, as you never know what might happen in the middle of the wilderness.

What about Isla, you ask? I don’t know, but she’s been whispering and thinking of new magic. She said she’s going to come up with something revolutionary, but I wonder what kind of magic she’ll come up with.