Volume 4 Chapter 4 Part3 (1/2)

Translator

Corner

Minasan oideyasu. This is Yukkuri demasu!

It’s a day of another release!

Without furtherado…

DISCLAIMER: There is no

guarantee that my translation is 100% correct. Please correct me if I was

wrong.

Author:

Dozeumaru(どぜう丸)

Translator:

Yukkuri Oniisan

Editor:

So-Chintzy

Enlightenment Arc

Chapter 4 FDF C

「You

may take off your blindfold now」(Souma)

「……What’s

with these high-handed measures?」(Castor)

Castor grumbled while he took off

his blindfold, and he found out that he was in a forest. There were only four

people at this place, Juna-san, Castor and Excel and me. Around us, there were only

trees. 「Where is this place……?」, said

Castor while making a puzzled expression, but he suddenly knitted his brow as

if he noticed something. Then he threw a question to me.

「Is

this place…… an island?」(Castor)

「Oh……

Why do you think so?」(Souma)

「There

is the scent of salt from all sides, so the ocean should be near.」(Castor)

「……

How perceptive.」(Souma)

Castor had been blindfolded the entire

time and we also travelled by using the Royal Wyvern Gondola, so he shouldn’t have

known where he was going. Despite all that, he was able to guess that this

place was surrounded by the sea from all sides. This might be because of the

results from his experiences in the Navy. Then, I noticed that Juna-san was in

a stunned daze.

「Is there

something wrong?」(Souma)

「Ah,

no…… It’s just, I had seen some amazing things enroute……」(Juna)

Juna-san, who realized that her shocked

state was seen by me, answered in a slightly shy demeanor. Ah, that reminds me,

I haven’t told Juna-san about 「this place」 until now. After all, I had entrusted this matter to Excel’s group all this

time. Seeing Juna-san’s reaction, Castor asked me with an even more puzzled face.

「My King,

just what kind of place is this?」(Castor)

「Hmm?

Well, to put it simply... this place is a secret weapons and military testing facility?」(Souma)

「Secret

weapon?」(Castor)

「It will

be faster for you to see it yourself. Please follow me.」(Souma)

Under my guidance, we started to

walk. After walking for awhile, the forest ended and we arrived at an open location.

It was a empty plain that was thickly covered with short gra.s.s. There was nothing

high around us, so the blue sky was spread out over our head. When we looked at

the blue sky, there were Wyvern Knights flying in formations. I pointed at those

Wyverns.

「Castor.

Try to look at that, what do you think?」(Souma)

「So……

fast ……」(Castor)

Castor said while squinting his

eyes.

「Or

rather, they are too fast. That is not a speed that a wyvern could make. Did

they use magic?」(Castor)

「No, they

didn’t. I mean, if they were using magic to make a tailwind blow, do you think they

could fly in a formation like that?」(Souma)

「…… That

would be impossible. If they were accelerating due to magic, their formation should

be more disorderly.」(Castor)

Just like what Castor had said, there

were individual differences in magic abilities. Even if they can use the same type

of magic, the power, the range and the consumption would depend on the person.

So even if we gathered people who had the same 『wind

manipulation』 ability, they

wouldn’t be able to fly in such an ordered formation like that if they

accelerated using magic. That's why that speed was not due to 『magic』,

but rather, due to 『technology』.

「Look

at the place behind the wyvern’s saddle」(Souma)

「…… There

is something attached. Is that…… A ring?」(Castor)

Just like he said, behind the Dragoon's

saddle, there were two rings on both sides. I answered while looking up at the

sky.

「The

thing that is attached to the back of the saddle is a compact and lightweight

modified version of 『Susumu-kun · Mark V Maxwell-type propeller』. By

equipping this ring, the flying dragon is able to reach a higher speed and

range than before.」

◇　◇　◇

It was the day when I, guided by

Ludwin, visited Ginya’s Dungeon Workshop. I had been shown with inventions like

『Susumu-kun

Mark V』 and 『Mechadora』. Although there was some uneasiness that remained (especially

about how to deal with 『Mechadora』), I had the conviction that we could reform this

country, and just when I was about to contentedly return home, I came up with

something.

「……

Hey Ginya. Is it possible to ma.s.s-produce『Susumu-kun Mark V』?

Then can you modify it to reduce its size and weight?」(Souma)

「Well……

Let’s see…… The only problem was whether or not we could secure the special

metals, but if we could, then it is possible to ma.s.s-produce it. Reducing the

size and weight…… It’s not impossible, but then the output will decrease, you

know?」(G)

After Ginya thought about it for

a while, she answered. So, special metals, right? The mineral resource output

of our country is extremely small. In that case, it might be difficult…… While I

was thinking about this, Ginya tilted her head in confusion.

「What

are you using it for?」(G)

「Well,

if it could suck and expel air, then I was thinking if we could put it under a wyvern’s

belly or behind the saddle.」(Souma)

「!? I

see! I had never thought about that!」(G)

There were 3 creatures that were treated

as the aircraft in this world: the common and widely used wyverns, the gryphons,

which had only been successfully bred by the Empire, and the dragons of the

Star Dragon Mountains. If their flight speed, turning ability, and cruising

range was put into statistics, then it will be as follows.

【Wyvern】          Flight

speed B          Turning ability C      Cruising range A

【Griffon】           Flight speed A          Turning ability S       Cruising range C

【Dragon】          Flight speed S          Turning ability A       Cruising range S

…… It will roughly be like this. Seeing

these statistics, wyverns can fly long distances, but their air-fighting prowess

wasn’t that strong, just like bomber planes, while Griffons can’t fly long

distances, but their air-fighting prowess is strong, like fighter planes.

Dragons are the “Almighty”-type, but their numbers are overwhelmingly small

compared to the other two species and they were also sapient, so they couldn’t

be enslaved/tamed (although there is a certain country where dragons and

knights were bounded by contract, but this is an extremely exceptional

exception).

In other words, if we fought with

the Empire, then our Wyverns wouldn’t be able to deal with the griffon squadrons.

But what if we were able to reduce the size and weight of the propulsion device

that Ginya developed and equip the wyverns with it? Perhaps, other than its turning

ability, won’t their other stats be increased?

【Wyvern (with equipment)】  Flight speed B (Souma)      Turning ability C (C)            Cruising range A (S+)

…… Perhaps, if we were able to do

this, then even if we can’t toe-to-toe with the gryphon squadrons, we might be

able to withdraw after attacking. So I had thought. However, because it seemed

that there were no prospects to secure the special metals for the ma.s.s

production, this case was shelved away, but the situation changed when Roroa pushed

Amidonia to me.

Amidonia had a low food

self-sufficiency rate, but it had abundant mineral resources. Those resources

also included the special metals we needed. Since there was the possibility

that we could have a stable supply of the special metals that were the cause of

concern, once again I asked Ginya to develop the 「Susumu-kun