Chapter 483: Above The Sky (1/2)
After they had all arrived at the public square in front of the Imperial Palace, Jin began his explanation. Elsa worked as his assistant.
“I’ll briefly explain how it’s made. First of all, this ‘air sac’ is essentially a bag that stores hot air. Any cloth that is light, durable and heat resistant will do just fine, but this one uses sandworm hide.”
Sandworms were monsters that were local to the Shouro Empire, and lived in the western Baribari Desert. Their hide was durable enough to withstand Reiko’s blows.
“I see, you’ve chosen a material that could be obtained in this country.”
The Minister of Magi Technology, Degauss, nodded profusely in agreement. Jin’s airship used rare materials, such as Ground Spider threads, which couldn’t be easily replicated.
“Then, I’ve used these ropes to attach an elliptical gondola to it. That’s all for the materials used to make the hot-air balloons’ structure. Next, I’ll be explaining how to actually use them.”
Jin pointed at the Magic Tool attached underneath the air sac.
“This reacts to the Engineering Magic spell, ‘Heat’. A fire-based Magi Stone serves as an engine. All you need to do to start it up is to operate this lever here.”
Raising the lever attached to the heating magic tool would start heating the air, and lowering it stopped it. By adjusting to the right position, one could keep the altitude constant to some extent.
“I see, so it ascends by applying the principle that air becomes lighter and rises as its temperature increases. I’ve just recently learned about that from Fuhrer.”
It seemed that Fuhrer was being able to pass on his knowledge without issues, as Jin had hoped.
“Just in case, it’s perfectly safe to have someone who can use the ‘Heat’ spell on board. This is Engineering Magic, and at the same time, it is a beginner spell of the fire attribute, so there will definitely be some people who can use it.”
“Hmm, that’s right. Just from our sorcerers, 1 out of every 3 of them can use that spell.”
Degauss spoke confidently.
“And this is the hot-air balloon’s propulsion device, ‘Wind Thruster’.”
Back when he was making his airship, these devices used to be called “Magi Propeller”.
“Propulsion is gained by using the ‘Blower’ spell to narrow down the wind in the desired direction.”
As Jin verified long ago, regular wind magic had the ability to negate recoil.
However, if the wind speed were to be increased by passing the generated wind through the duct then narrowing said duct, the increased wind speed would generate a certain amount of recoil.
As a result, it was possible for Jin’s hot-air balloons to achieve a maximum speed of about three times that of the Unifier’s ‘flying balloon’, which were mainly at the wind’s mercy.
“If you ride the tailwind and use its wind thruster, it’s possible to get a velocity over 50 km/h. It should reach a speed of 30 km/h when there’s no wind.”
“Hmm, it’s pretty fast. It’s also very efficient since it can move freely, without being obstructed by the city buildings.”
“Yes. However, it may be too dangerous to fly on this when the wind is too strong”
“That’s understandable. We’ll be careful.”
“Also, I have prepared this heavy bolt attached to a strong rope. In case of an emergency, you can use this ballista to shoot the bolt into the ground, effectively anchoring the hot-air balloon.”
“I see, that works just like a boat’s anchor.”
After giving a detailed explanation of how to operate the hot-air balloon and its precautions, Jin decided it was time to get some actual flying.
Chancellor Jung Fowles and Minister Degauss boarded one of the balloons. Jin, Reiko, and Elsa would follow them on the other balloon.
The empress herself wanted to get on a balloon as well, but after hearing the protest from the chancellor, the minister, and the captain of the Imperial Guards, she reluctantly refrained from doing so.
“Okay, now please raise the lever all the way up.”
Jin activated the heating device of the hot-air balloon he was riding. Then, Degauss raised the lever on his side as well.
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As a result, the device immediately started heating the air, and the heated air began to accumulate inside the air sacs due to the effect of the “Blower” spell stored in the Magic Tool.
The air sacs became inflated very quickly.
The inflated air sacs slowly began to rise. Then, thanks to the tight ropes that connected them, the gondolas started to shake.
More and more heat was sent in. The air sac, filled to the brim with lightened hot air, finally lifted the gondola from the ground, thus officially starting to float in the air.
“It’s flying! Ah, they’re leaving… I wanted to fly too…”
The empress, showing traces of regret, had no choice but to see them off as they started to fly away.
“Your Majesty, please consider your position…”
The captain of the Imperial Guard said that with a slightly tired-sounding voice.
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“I want to get on one of those hot-air balloons, no matter what!”
As the chancellor and the minister of Magi Technology returned to the ground after having learned the basics of how to operate a hot-air balloon, the empress said that almost as if begging to everyone around her.
“Back when Jin showed us his airship, I was able to get on it, but I couldn’t get higher than a few meters, remember? I thought I’d get the chance to fly in the sky for real this time…”
“Your Highness…”
Both the chancellor and the minister of Magi Technology, who had just returned from their flight, could sympathize with the empress’ feelings.
“…”
And they came to a conclusion after some careful consideration.
“Your Majesty, if you really want to get on a hot-air balloon, perhaps connecting both of them with a rope would considerably reduce the risk of something going wrong.”
They considered the fact that even if one of the balloons were to be about to crash, the other one would be able to soften its fall.
“To make it as light as possible, Your Majesty should go together with Jin and his automata, Reiko. Degauss should go on the other one.
This was the chancellor’s proposition.
“Yes, that’s fine. At last I’ll be able to soar high into the sky!”
“Well, I see you are in very good spirits. Jin Nidou, please take good care of Her Majesty.”
“S-Sure.”