CH 359

Chapter 359 – Airship Development: Concept No.1

“After much deliberation, I saw the possibility in the falling-control magic.”

While I was discussing with dwarves and lamia blacksmiths and carpenters about points to keep in mind when designing, Isla, who was talking with a group of mages, said so.

“Falling control.”

“Hmm, fall control. You should actually see it in action.”

Saying so, Isla tossed an empty teacup toward the ceiling. The tossed teacups rose to the ceiling, spinning and spinning, and then began to fall.

“Fall control.”

The teacup stopped just as it began to fall. The rotation also seems to have stopped.

“A magic that can control the speed of fall like this. In addition, the posture is fixed in the same state as at the moment the magic was cast.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s the kind of magic it is.”

“Ah, yes.”

When I first showed my ability to Isla, I think she said I was being unreasonable and absurd, but from my point of view, I think the magic that completely ignores the laws of physics is just about the same.

“This is magic. A phenomenon that was caused by paying a firm price for magic power. It is fundamentally different from Kosuke’s.”

“Oh, yes. So, this one certainly seems to be useful. As long as you can ascend, you can use this magic to fix the height and posture and then use the propulsion system to move around.”

I tapped the teacup with my fingertip, which came down softly, and it went forward in the direction I pushed it.

“But if it gets caught in a crosswind, it will probably be swept away by that much. Should we take measures against crosswinds? Hmm? I thought you said it was supposed to have a fixed posture, but does external force change that to some extent?”

I grabbed the teacup that was still floating in the air and applied force to it, and the teacup turned. However, it stopped again. I applied force to the teacup as if I was spinning a top, but it did not spin around in the air and stopped immediately. What is this interesting? How does it work?

“It doesn’t seem to have much resistance to external forces, but does it have a strong moment-killing force? I don’t get it.”

It seems to behave strangely, like an object floating in a weightless space or not. The magic power is amazing.

“But, as the object gets bigger, there will be problems with the amount of magic power consumed, and the bigger the object gets, the greater the effect of crosswinds and air resistance will be.”

“Regarding the effects of crosswinds and air resistance, it will be fine if we deploy a wind barrier. The cost of fall control magic is not that big. It is also possible to make it into a magic tool.”

“I see. The airship’s shape is good for productivity and functionality if it’s not affected by crosswinds. However, since it is necessary to gain altitude first, it would be better if the top surface is not flat. And considering stability during landing, it would be better to keep the center of gravity down… Oh, no, wait? Can we apply fall control on the ground and then use the propulsion system to gain altitude?”

“Maybe we can do that too.”

Saying that, Isla grabbed the teacup that had fallen to her hand with her own hand, jumped up, and pushed it much higher than her own head. Well, it’s still about the same height as my face.

“I see. But is this really going to work? It looks useful as a teacup by itself, but will it behave the same way as this with multiple people and cargo inside a structure of a certain size? Something about just walking, flying, and bouncing around inside the structure seems to cause a bumpy altitude drop.”

“…We’ll just have to experiment with that.”

“I see… Then I’ll ask Grande and the harpies to do it for us.”

“Hmm, that’s a good idea. I’ll think of another way.”

“Let’s do that. The effect of killing this moment is quite useful even if the fall control doesn’t work. It might be good if we can use this alone.”

If we can do it right, we might be able to reduce the effort of attitude control a lot.

“If it works with fall control magic, that would be best, but if it doesn’t, we’ll still need to keep applying upward force with strong propulsive force. I’ve heard that the effects of crosswinds can be managed by a wind magic barrier, so we should proceed with a design that uses a wind magic propulsion system and sails.”

We have plenty of time and budget. It will take time to develop, but this kind of basic research will surely be useful someday.

☆★☆

While we were discussing and experimenting, the sun was setting, and the Research and Development Department members dismissed, leaving Isla and me to go to the cafeteria together. Sylphy and Melty were already waiting for their meals to be served in the cafeteria. It seemed that they didn’t have much work to do today.

“I thought you were taking the day off.”

“I’m having fun.”

“That’s not a reply, is it?”

With a troubled smile on her face, Melty shifted one seat to make room for me, so I sat between Melty and Sylphy. Yes, it’s a little warm because of Melty’s body heat remaining on the seat.

Incidentally, this is the dining room used by Sylphy, Melty, Isla, Grande, Ellen, and other women who are closely related to me―or, rather, the higher-ups in the Merinard Kingdom. Sylphy said that it would be fine to have the same dining room as the people working at the castle, but that would make the other people feel uncomfortable, so I prepared this dining room exclusively for them.

“It’s fun to start something new.”

“That may be so, but don’t push yourself too hard, Kosuke.”

Isla, who sat down next to Sylphy, nodded in reply with a “Hmm.”

“So, what have you started building today?”

“Well, we were thinking of building a large airship that could carry large quantities of supplies and personnel.”

“An airship?”

I explained the outline of the airship to Sylphy, who tilted her head.

“I see, it’s a flying ship, so it’s an airship. But is it safe?”

“If you ask me if it is safe or not, it is not safe. If it were to crash, there is no way it would survive.”

“If the ship sinks offshore, it will not be able to save itself in the end. The danger is the same as with a ship.”

“Even a carriage is dangerous if it is attacked by monsters or bandits. It would be good if we could reduce the probability of an airship accident to less than that.”

However, if airships are actually built and put into operation, the amount of cargo and the number of people they can handle will be quite large, and if they crash, it would be a terrible thing. It would be better to have double or triple safety mechanisms to function in the event of a crash and to have at least two emergency magic power sources in addition to the main power source.

“The budget is…”

“I’ll pay for it. Isla can charge Melty as much as she needs. I’ll cover the cost.”

“Hmm, okay.”

“Well… that’s okay. The majority of the treasury’s resources come from Kosuke’s earnings.”

The large number of crops that continue to be produced at the food production bases that I built in various places during the time of the Liberation Army, a large amount of gemstones and rare metal ingots that I provided, gold, silver, copper, a large amount of iron, and finally, weapons made of magic sparkling stone and mithril. The value of a large magic sparkling stone is at the level of a national budget, and a piece as small as the tip of a pinky fingernail is worth enough to buy the mansion of a noble family. And a piece of pure mithril armor is worth enough to become a national treasure. Both are not only valuable as mere commodities but are also valuable enough to be used in political transactions. I can make as many of these items in a day.

“If we get used to this kind of reckless budget management, it’s going to destroy our country someday. I don’t want to say too much, but please be careful.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“Hmm, I understand.”

But if we think about the future, now is the time to be reckless. If we develop this country’s technology with this reckless budget management, it will surely help our children one day.

There is still a lot of underdeveloped land in the Kingdom of Merinard, so there is still a lot of room for growth even if we do things the usual way. Now that food production is so excessive, if we do well, we can even expect an increase in population. However, it is difficult to stand out from the rest of the world by itself. And without something outstanding, it is difficult to survive. Nations without something outstanding will eventually be eliminated.

I believe that someday, the technology that Isla, myself, and the Research and Development Department have poured our hearts and souls into will support the future of the Merinard Kingdom.

“It’s still in the conceptual stage, but if the development of airships goes smoothly, it will be useful in many ways.”

“Certainly, if it becomes possible to transport large quantities of goods and personnel from the sky, logistics will change drastically. But isn’t there any way to transport them by land?”

“Well, by land…”

Speaking of mass transportation over land, railroads would still be the way to go, but in this world, there are monsters, and there are also bandits. I think it is likely that the railroads that have been laid will be destroyed or the rails will be stolen. But that’s the thing, right?　It might be possible to build a dedicated road for air boards instead of laying tracks and use freight cars that only float cargo and high-thrust vehicles to tow the freight cars for mass transportation. No, that would be tough with air boards that have brake problems.

“I’ll think about it.”

“I would like you to do so. I would also ask you to develop air boards for civilian use.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

As Isla and I each responded, dinner was brought in. I think I’ll just have dinner and be thankful for today’s sustenance. After finishing dinner, let’s go check on Ellen and the others again.