CH 378

Chapter 378 – Royal Capital of Drado

The magic airship carrying the delegation from the Merinard Kingdom arrived in Drado, the capital of the Dragon Mountain Kingdom, without any particular problems, such as being attacked by monsters. The only thing that was a little unusual was that a dozen dragon cavalrymen took off from Drado to pick us up.

I think they were very suspicious of us at first, but they welcomed us. That was nice, right?

Anyway, we arrived in Drado, and I was actually a bit impressed by its unusual and otherworldly appearance. The royal capital of Drado, a city built on a huge rocky mountain.

A magnificent royal castle was built at the top of the mountain, and various buildings were constructed to cling to the outside of the mountain. It seems that the city was also built inside the rocky mountain.

And right next to the castle is the landing place of the flying dragon.

“All right, cut thrust. Maintain altitude and stand by. Land as soon as the landing site below is cleared. All hands prepare for landing.”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

“I’ll leave you in control of the ship, Isla. I’ll take the airboat down to secure the landing zone.”

“Then I’ll go with you.”

Driada-san comes forward to accompany me. Well, is that reasonable? I’ll leave the negotiations for securing the landing site to Driada-san.

“It would be better for me to go as well.”

“It would be helpful in case of an emergency.

“Umu, you can rely on me completely.”

Even if the small airboat has trouble and crashes, Grande can carry the small airboat and fly it. Even if Driada-san or I was on board, there would be no problem.

“It would be better to have Caltas-dono come along to discuss things, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right. But we should also take an escort or a servant with us.”

“Gerda can do both, can’t she?”

“Yes… Since this is also a goodwill visit, it might not be a good idea to make the escort more conspicuous than necessary. Let’s take her with us.”

“OK, then let’s call her up on deck.”

I call Gerda up to the deck using the bridge’s magic transmission tube, and with Grande and Driada-san in tow, we head up to the deck as well. I think Caltas-dono is on the deck, commanding the dragon cavalry. We also have a small airboat on deck, so it’s convenient for us.

“Oh, you’re all together… I’ll contact them now about the landing.”

“Yes, about that. We’re going down now.”

“Going down…? But with the size of this deck, the flying dragon might be able to land, but… will it be able to withstand the weight of the flying dragon?”

“That’s probably okay, but I’m afraid of accidents if we do it haphazardly. So I’ll use something that has been on and off the ground many times.”

Saying this, I pointed to a small airboat at the back of the deck near the bridge. Unfortunately, there are only two of them installed, one on each side, which is not enough for the entire crew to board. Well, all the crew members are equipped with magic tools containing fall control magic, so it is as if they are all equipped with parachutes at all times.

“Is that it? I was curious about that since it also flies?”

“Well, to the extent that it can transport a small number of people to and from the ground. It is not at all suitable for long-distance flights. Defensive measures are also scarce.”

“Certainly. It would disintegrate just by being hit by a wyvern’s body.”

While we were talking, Gerda appeared on the deck. When she saw my figure already on the deck, she rushed over as fast as she could. Hey, hey, don’t fall off the deck with too much momentum, okay?

“I-I’m sorry, I’m late!”

“No, it’s just a matter of distance and speed of information transmission. No need to apologize.”

“Ugh… sorry!”

I know she blames herself for making me, Driada-san, and Grande wait for the guest of honor, Caltas-dono, but there’s really no need to worry about it… Well, I’ll tell her again later that it’s okay.

“Now, we’ll go down and talk to them about expanding the Flying Dragon Landing Site. Driada-san, you will deal with them directly. Gerda, you will follow her. Can you do that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Grande, stay with me. If I step out of line or fall while I’m working, you’ll be there to help me.”

“Yes, leave it to me.”

As we talked, we boarded the small airboat. There were only women in the airboat except me, and Caltas-dono looked a little uncomfortable, but I’d like him to bear it for a while.

“Everyone, please fasten your seat belts. And, Caltas-dono, take this.”

I took a fall control bracelet from my inventory and handed it to Caltas-dono.

“What is this?”

“That’s a bracelet with fall control magic in it. It’s an insurance policy in case this airboat falls.”

“I pray it won’t come in handy. How do you use it?”

“The bracelet is activated simply by channeling magic power into the bracelet or by touching the silver-white part at the top of the bracelet. In that case, it will forcefully absorb the user’s magic power. The amount of magic power used is apparently not so significant that even a non-magician can safely descend from such a height.”

“What about you, Kosuke-dono…?”

“I don’t have any magic power, so I can’t use it.”

If it is a type that uses an external source of magic power, such as magic crystals or magic stones, it can be managed, but then it would be difficult to make it the size of a bracelet. It is necessary to install a mechanism to accommodate the external source of magic power.

“Well, I have a reliable partner.”

“Kosuke, we’re not partners. We’re a couple.”

“Yes, that’s right. We are more than partners, aren’t we?”

“Yes.”

Grande seemed very pleased with my complete affirmation. In fact, Grande has been very helpful to me, and in a way, it might be a bit lukewarm to use the word “partner” to describe our relationship.

“I am glad to hear that Dragon-sama and her companion are getting along very well.”

While saying this, Caltas-dono looks as if he has had sugar shoved into his mouth. Isn’t that what Grande looks like in her spoiling mode?

“Kosuke-kun, I think we should go down there as soon as possible, don’t you?”

“That’s right too. Then let’s go.”

After activating the fall control device, use the lever on the side of the small airboat to detach it from the magic airship. All right, let’s go down safely.

☆★☆

“Kosuke-dono. It’s been a long time.”

“And you too, Rezarus-dono. Thank you for your hospitality this time.”

We landed at the Flying Dragon’s landing site in a small airboat and were greeted by Rezarus-dono, who had previously visited Merinesburg as an envoy of the Dragon Mountain Kingdom. He was, as always, a handsome man with fine horns.

“I heard from the envoy that the ship… is an airship. Do you want to offer us something to land that thing?”

“Yes, that’s right. During your stay in Merinesburg, have you seen or heard from anyone that I am constructing various buildings?”

“Yes, well. It was also my mission to gather information. I see… Is it using Kosuke-dono’s ability?”

“That’s what I mean. In the meantime, I’d like to expand this arrival/departure area just enough to allow for temporary ship disembarkation.”

As I said that, I looked around the landing area of the flying dragon. It’s quite a big place. I know that a flying dragon needs some run-up to take to the sky.

Well, it is still pretty big, even if only a little. It is probably bigger than an elephant on Earth. It was 13 to 15 meters long and 7 to 8 meters high. It is hard to believe that such a huge creature can fly in the sky and move around so nimbly on the ground, but since it is a dragon, it must have strengthened its body with magic power and used magic power when it flew. Biologists in my former world would probably be very excited to see a flying dragon.

Well, with such a huge body, even a short flight is still quite a long distance. This landing place is also quite long, probably more than 100 meters, to compensate for the running distance.

“Is that possible? Even if you use magic, it is difficult to expand it further, so the expansion work has been postponed many times.”

“With me, there will be no problem. If it fails, I will just be laughed at, right?”

“No, we’d be in big trouble if the current landing area was damaged.”

“If Kosuke takes care of it, there will be no problem. Let him do it.”

“If Grande-sama says so, then we have no choice.”

I thought he was reluctant, but he agreed with a single word from Grande. Seeing this, Driada-san is quietly thinking about something. 

How can I put it? It makes me feel uncomfortable. When Grande says it, even black becomes white. I feel a little bit of an unspeakable sense of danger. I don’t know if I should call it fanaticism.

“Now that we have the green light, let’s get to work, shall we?”

“Go ahead. Caltas, please stand by Kosuke-dono’s side and give him some advice regarding the landing place of the flying dragon.”

“Yes, sir.”

Caltas-dono nodded.

Well, after we use it, it will be used as a landing place for the flying dragons. Should I listen to the opinions of the users?