CH 47.1

Research Institute

“You have abandoned both of them without mercy, Princess.”

“I’m busy, too. Besides, I don’t want to work with the Prime Minister when he’s in that state.”

I’m pushing forward with my work without worrying about the cloudy sky. Today, the two people who didn’t want to leave were apparently dragged away to inspect the state of development in the area that was liberated from monsters.

“I’m meeting with Mr. Grantz. He should be arriving in the Capital today.”

Mr. Grantz, one of the Five Dukes, who governs the mining area of Arland, is an acquaintance of mine. Originally, the Five Dukes and the royal family get along well. So I have met him many times. At first, he was angry at me just for approaching him because he was too prideful in his work, but when I gave him a magic tool that could heal a backache, he recognized me. Well, he was the first person who understood me.

“Is that so? I will take your seal just in case, then. If you make another weird deal, I will really send you to Madame, okay?”

Alicia casually threatened me, but I am the Viceroy, in other words, a very important person. I don’t listen to threats from my subordinates.

And since Mr. Grantz happened to be at the castle and not in his mansion, we decided to talk in my workshop. Because Mr. Grantz, who is also a craftsman, would reject me in the reception room.

“Long time no see, Missy. What are you conspiring today?”

Mr. Grantz laughed. His toned body was clearly full of muscles even when covered by clothes. He looked like a typical Dwarf.

“Today, I want to negotiate. I want you to sell me ore, all that you have.”

“Princess!!”

I handed the document to Alicia, who tried to interrupt me. This was a request form from the Royal family.

“N… no way… it’s impossible to make this!!”

Alicia handed the document to Mr. Grantz, who frowned. It was a request to develop airships, after all.

Airships are a product of ancient technology and are rarely found in ruins. Basically, only the nation is allowed to own large airships, but small and medium-sized ones can also be owned by the nobility. This time, the request was to build large-sized airships.

“This is one troublesome request again. This must be the Noble Parliament’s harassment.”

“I was given one of the smaller airships, so we can use that as a reference. This is the blueprint.”

Well, if you ask me if I can make it or not, I can make it, yeah? If you give me the blueprints for a small ship, I can understand the general theory to build a bigger one. The problem that would be the motive power will be solved by the Royal family’s own Dragon magic spheres, so there is no problem at all.

“Astonishing… Alright, with this in hand, we might fly. However, if you’re going to ask me to do this, you know what to do, don’t you? It’s a hassle, but I’m a noble too, so I can’t help you for nothing. Well, personally, I’d like to go along with you, though!!”

Mr. Grantz tossed me a document. He didn’t mean any disrespect or anything. This is how the Five Dukes are, except in public.

“The reward is one large airship. You know what this means, right? The cost of transporting minerals from Mr. Grantz’s territory to the Capital will be cheaper and faster. Here is the draft of the airship to be given to you, Mr. Grantz.”

The industrial area is far away and there are mountains and monster territories in between, so it takes time to transport the goods. Moreover, there is the danger of bandits, but with an airship, there will be no interference along the way.

The Prime Minister has given me permission for this, so there is no problem. If we can mass produce them, some trusted nobles will be allowed to have large airships, too.

And the airship to be given to Mr. Grantz is a cargo type with a higher payload capacity than other airships, although its speed will be inferior to other airships. The purpose of this project is to increase the speed of logistics, but I think it’s just a light harassment and a confirmation of my technical ability, because people don’t it’s possible to build airships in this day and age.

“It’s true that with this, I could transport minerals from my territory faster. Moreover, we could start supplying other territories with weapons and armor. It’s not a bad remuneration. But, we don’t have a place to build something like this, do we?”

There is a facility I am building underground, but I haven’t told anyone about it yet, because they would get angry.

I’m working hard on digging a hole and strengthening the ground, thinking that it would be a cool to have a secret laboratory if I could build a hidden passage that would lead from the basement to the military training grounds.

“That is a secret. Alicia would get angry at me otherwise.”

“You little rascal, you’ll get your ass beat if you misbehave again. But, I like it!! You’re surprisingly good at acting like a noble, aren’t you, Missy? If only you weren’t so shy, you could negotiate like a normal person, but I guess that’s why you have been hiding yourself all this time. Well, as long as you pay the money, minerals are no problem, However!! If you’re going to build this, I’m going to help you!! Ya know, I’m an engineer by trade, so I don’t tend to look after the territory myself and leave it to my subordinates anyway.”

“Then let’s restrain Alicia first. It would be troublesome if she gets in the way.”

Alicia tried to move quickly, but Mr. Grantz took her down even faster. He is a warrior, too. The top leaders of the Five Ducal families are all stronger than Alicia, they are like cheaters in comparison. Alicia, who was caught easily and pathetically, was put to sleep with my magic after taking away her magic tools for self-defense. The Research Institute must be kept in the dark.