Chapter 370 – Departure

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m fine.”

On the morning of our departure, Ted, the first magic rifle platoon leader, was worried about me as soon as we saw each other. The second platoon leader, Darko, didn’t say anything either, but she also looked worried. Is my current complexion so bad that I look like this, or am I so exhausted… or maybe it’s both. My maximum health and stamina are at 20% of normal. Isn’t that a state of great weakness? I can’t help but think that if I eat right, I’ll recover in about two hours, so there’s no problem. No problem at all.

“Forget about me; check on the crew. If anyone is missing after the flight, we’ll be in trouble.”

“Yes, sir.”

The two of them spread out on the deck. I am standing on the aft deck, on the tower deck at the stern of the ship. From here, I can see the entire deck, and as captain, this is where I usually stand when the ship is moving.

“Isla, what is the condition of the magic engine?”

“Both engines are stable. We can fly at any time without any problems.”

Next to me, Isla looks at one of the many crystals on the pedestal. Besides Isla, several other mages are also looking at the crystals on the pedestal. These crystals are connected to the two magic sparkling stone furnaces and the magic tools installed in various parts of the ship, and their status can be checked. In addition, the aft deck also functions as a bridge, as it is also equipped with a rudder, wind-magic propulsion system throttles installed in various parts of the ship, and an improved fall control system, etc.――but this location is also a weak point of the prototype airship. If this area is destroyed, the ship will be out of control.

Well, it would be the same for an ordinary ship, but for a magic airship equipped with a magic sparkling stone furnace, it would be fatal. Even though the magic sparkling stone furnace has ten or twenty layers of safety measures, it might explode and disperse before the ship crashes if the ship is not properly secured. In the meantime, a roof of mithril-silver armor has been added to the top to provide some defense.

No, if we did not do this, a monster of a certain mass, such as a wyvern, could easily break through the wind magic barrier used during the battle and attack the aft tower deck. I can’t tell you how many times we shot down wyverns attacking us during our familiarization training in the Sorel Mountains.

It’s also a weakness or bottleneck from an operational standpoint. It seems that in order to fully monitor and control each part with crystals, a mage with a certain level of competence is required.

Of course, there are not so many of them. No, there are plenty in the R&D department, right? Generally speaking, there are not that many. As for the selection of the user, this magic airship is a complete failure as a weapon. A weapon should be something that ordinary people without special talents can use to their full potential.

“Well, it’s a prototype…”

“? What’s wrong?”

“No, I’m talking to myself.”

Whether it failed as a weapon or not, this time, it would be enough if it flew and demonstrated its power without a regrettable failure. I’ll leave it to the future me―or maybe Isla and the others―to perfect it as a weapon. Yes.

While I was thinking about the future, the crew seemed to have finished boarding. Ted and Darko, who had finished the roll call not only for the magic rifle platoon under their command but also for all the other personnel, waved their hands in a broad gesture toward me.

“Then let’s fly.”

I had already greeted Sylphy and the others before boarding the ship. They are probably sitting on the balcony of the office, waiting for us to take off.

“All right, let’s get this ship moving! All hands, notify all units to prepare for takeoff and be aware of any turbulence.”

“Hmm, copy that.”

Isla nodded and began to announce to the magical sound tube near the crystal she was operating that takeoff was about to begin and to be aware of the turbulence that would accompany it. Isla is not a very talkative person, but her voice itself has a distinctive calm that makes it very easy to understand. Perhaps this role suits her better than expected.

“Now, let’s begin our climb. Altitude one thousand, heading 2-7-0, start moving at cruising speed.”

“Altitude 1,000. Copy that.”

“Copy that. After altitude is secured, turn to heading 2-7-0.”

The magicians in charge of altitude and course―they are from the Research and Development Department―each concentrates on their own work while reciting my orders. Isla monitors them both and points out any errors in their operations. This is how we operate the ship at the moment. Since they had no operational know-how at all, even after the familiarization training, there were still many areas where they were still groping their way.

By the way, 2-7-0 is the value for due west when due north is 0 degrees, 0-0-0 is due north, 0-9-0 is due east, and 1-8-0 is due south.

As I looked from the deck of the airship, which was slowly rising, toward the Royal Castle, I saw Sylphy and the others waving to us from the balcony of the office. Since a wind barrier had already been erected to prevent crosswinds, their voices could not reach us. So I waved back.

“Shall we go then?”

“Hmm, let’s fly safely.”

The prototype airship continued to climb. As we rose 1,000 meters above the ground, the scenery was a world apart from the one on the ground.

“Start turning.”

“Yes, we are beginning our turn.”

The airship gradually begins to turn with a distinctive jet noise.

Well, I hope the trip will be trouble-free, but what do you think?