Chapter 487: Gossip 27 - The Ship’s Fate (2/2)

“Can you show me that golem of yours?”

Eckert asked that so as to cement his decision. Geana then left her seat, and headed outside, where their golem had been waiting.

“We can’t have our golem follow us everywhere.”

Eckert agreed with Altaf’s word’s.

“Thanks for waiting.”

Before long, Geana was back with their golem.

“Oh…”

Eckert’s breath had been taken away. The golem was only about 160 cm tall, but had a matte silver gray color, and proportions that were exactly just like those of a human.

Usually, golems would have a physique and proportions that matched their purpose. Those oriented for combat would be generally large and tough-looking, while those designed for boat races would have arms stronger than usual.

But the golem before Eckert’s eyes was dressed like a person, and looked like a human that had their face covered by something.

“Well, looking at your golem I can see just how skilled you two are. I’d be very much obliged if I could count on your abilities from now on.”

Thus the contract was signed, and Altaf, Geana, and their golem became part of Eckert’s staff.

“Hmm, I’m a bit concerned about its strength…”

Altaf and Geana were looking at the blueprints for the ship.

“…Do you think so?”

“Yes. Especially on its bilge.”

Eckert was reminded of Jin’s words, who had also commented on the ship’s bilge. And so, he figured he should rethink that section of the ship, since there were two different Magi Craftsmen who had pointed out the same thing.

“Maybe I should explore other options. What do you suggest?”

“Well, I would put structural materials here and increase the number of partitions. These partitions would also help to improve the bilge’s strength…”

That reminded Eckert of the words of one of Jin’s friends, one named Reinhardt, who also said that the inside of the ship should be divided into sections.

“I see, then please go ahead.”

As a result of the blueprint’s review, the outer shape of the ship remained the same, but its expected weight increased slightly, from the initial 240 tons to nearly 300 tons.

“Hmm, looks like it’s going to be a little heavier than expected.”

“However, it can’t be done in any other way if we want to keep the boat safer.”

“Well, that’s right…”

“I wonder if we couldn’t do something to that effect with propulsion? What do you think we should use?”

“Well, we’d use a combination of wind and magic.”

This was an idea that had been proposed to Eckert by a previous Magi Craftsman, but Eckert began to explain it to Altaf and Geana.

*   *   *

“I see! I would’ve never thought of that!”

Jin was impressed by that idea.

In fact, Altaf and Geana were Quinta who had been sent to Eckert by Jin himself.

Altaf was Regulus 50, and Geana was Deneb 30. And naturally, the golem they had with them was one of the Smith Golems, Smith 40.

Jin had decided to secretly help rebuild the ship that Eckert had been working on with all his heart and soul, considering the facts that he had no choice but to destroy it, he actually liked Eckert’s personality, and the ship’s potential impact in the future.

Apart from that, Jin praised that innovative method of propulsion.

“Wind magic has no recoil, which means that if you use it against a set sail, the ship will advance…”

As Jin once verified, normal magic had an added effect to counteract recoil.

To put it in an easy-to-understand analogy, even if one were to use a huge fan to move a ship with sails, the ship wouldn’t move.

The reason is that the recoil of the wind is generated by the fan and the force that pushes the sail cancel each other out.

However, according to Jin’s verification, wind magic, water magic, and so on, had an added effect that canceled recoil so that the caster wouldn’t be affected by it.

Jin had already been able to complete a Magi Jet Engine that achieved the same results.

However, he couldn’t just slap a Magi Jet Engine onto every ship in the world. Paradoxically, there would be no other choice but to find a solution for the recoil problem that involved the use of normal magic.

The Magi Craftsman who had designed this ship had used that to his advantage and intended to drive the ship by blowing wind directly on its sails.

“I feel a bit bad, lending Mr. Techres a hand in such an underhanded manner…”

It was a method that neither Jin nor Reinhardt could even think of. They instead had speculated that Eckert was planning to install a propulsion engine shaped like a fish’s tail on the sloped section of the ship’s stern.

“My Lord, there are still many more pieces of advice we could offer in regards to navigation, prevention of disease in long-term trips, and spare propulsion devices.”

“Right. Let’s get those suggestions on the table little by little.”

“Understood.”

Thanks to Jin’s help from the shadows, Eckert’s new ship was finally completed four months later.