Volume 4 Chapter 4 Part5 (1/2)

Translator

Corner

Minasan oideyasu. This is Yukkuri demasu!

Well, sorry for being very late releasing

this.

You can’t fight Real Life after all.

Resistance is futile.

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:

Online Grammar

Editor

Enlightenment Arc

Chapter 4 FDF E

The elevator door opened, and the

place we get off to was a rather large room with a high ceiling. There was the

same scene just like what I had seen at Ginya’s dungeon workshop. A large

amount of equipment, incomprehensible experiment apparatuses, and a ”thing”

that looked like was under construction at the moment…… The difference would be

in the number of the people. There were people wearing white robes, who really

looked like researchers, went back and forth in this room. I began to explain

to the other three.

「This

place is where the military research and development department is located. And

that 『Susumu-kun Mark V – Light』 for the wyverns are also manufactured in this place.」(Souma)

「So we

are manufacturing them on this island? But I believe this place would be an inconvenient

place to establish something like a military a.r.s.enal……」(Castor)

Castor questioned. Yeah, his viewpoint

is not wrong.

「That

is certainly true, but this was because it will be really bad if the military

technologies are leaked to other countries. A location surrounded by seas like

this place is convenient to thwart an invasion from the outside and smuggling

items from the inside. …… Anyway, since it's getting too cramped here, I am

thinking of eventually transferring it to a larger location.」(Souma)

While we were walking and talking

like this, we arrived at a small room with a gla.s.s where we could look into.

Inside, researchers were conducting a motion test for the 『Susumu-kun

Mark V – Light』. More or less, this gla.s.s was a tempered gla.s.s (strengthened

by support magic), so if even if by some chance, the equipment ran amuck or the

researcher got inhaled and then expelled forward by it, there would be no

damage on the outside (since we don’t know how much the damage on the interior will

be, I hope the researchers pay utmost careful when experimenting).

「This

is an a.r.s.enal as well as a research inst.i.tution. Although, most of what we are conducting

right now is inspecting Ginya Maxwell’s inventions. The creator of 『Susumu-Kun』,

Ginya, is a typical genius-like person, she is satisfied by just inventing something

and doesn’t research it in greater detail or further improve it. It seemed

that, rather than doing something like that, she is more interested in inventing

another new object.」(Souma)

「That

is certainly…… felt wasteful somehow.」(Juna)

Juna-san told me while tilting her

head. Yeah, I thought so too. As a fact, we had successfully developed the

lightweight 『Lite』 version from 『Susumu-kun · Mark V』……

However,

「Perhaps

this is an efficient course of action for Ginya. Since it’s natural for people

to have something they suitable or unsuitable for. Just like there are genius-type

people like Ginya who invented many things unpredictably and haphazardly, there

are also artisan-type people like the researcher in this place who studied

things thoroughly. I valued both of these people in an equal manner.」(Souma)

「Fufu, I

think that is a wonderful way of thinking, Your Majesty」(Ex)

Excel spoke to me while smiling.

Contrary to her appearance that is of a lady in her mid-20s, she was a senior

stateswoman who had supported this country for close to 500 years. To hear words

of praise she relinquished, for some reason, I became embarra.s.sed.

「……Well......

Everything considered, it’s not like that this would be effective.」(Souma)

「Hm? What

do you mean?」(Castor)

「To

explain that…… Hmmm, perhaps this direction?」(Souma)

「Why are

you not that sure?」(Castor)

「It’s

the first time I am in this place even if I had reviewed it on the blueprint. Even

if I have a good grasp on the surface locations, the interior part is a jumble

of things and rather difficult hard to be remembered.」(Souma)

Relying on the map inside my vague

memory, we walked for awhile before reaching the designation. It was a field

surrounded by walls and nets. There was a bow hung on the wall, but there were

two leather armors placed on the target for some reason. The room length was roughly

only 10 meters.

「So

there is an archery range. However, if the target is too close like this, it won’t

be a good training.」(Castor)

Castor spoke this as he observed on

the target area. I also nodded.

「Well

this room is not for training. If it’s training, then it could be done on the surface

locations.」(Souma)

「That’s

true……」(Castor)

「This

place is a place to perform a test for bow, arrows, or armor’s durability.」(Souma)

While explaining in this way, I

handed the bow and arrows to Castor.

「Castor,

how’s your bow skill?」(Souma)

「Don’t

underestimate me, I had learned all kinds of martial arts.」(Castor)

「Then

that’s good. First, try to normally shoot the right armor.」(Souma)

「Shooting

is it? Well then.」(Castor)

Castor drew the bow and released

the arrow. Just as the bow made its “tw.a.n.g” sound, the arrow flew straight

towards the leather armor and pierced it. But it didn’t penetrate it. Castor

tilted his head.

「That

leather armor…… Did you inserted something in there?」(Castor)

「Ah,

there is a thin iron plate behind the leather. Now then, this time, please

shoot the arrow loaded with magic power, just like in a real battle.」(Souma)

「……Alright.」(Castor)

Castor drew the bow again. There

was no change in his appearance, but this time the arrows he shot penetrated

the previous leather armor. Magic with a Magic Attributes other than Water would

be weakened when near the ocean, but it looked like enchanting a Magic Attributes

into the weapon like this could be performed normally (what was weakened would

be magics like launching flames or shooting wind blades). Was there any particular

reason for this difference?

In any case, if it is an arrow enchanted

with a Magic Attribute, it was normal that it could penetrate even an iron-reinforced

armor.

「Now,

next, please try to shoot the left armor in the same way with magic power」(Souma)

「Understood.」(Castor)

Castor shot the arrow in the same

way. However, with a “clink” sound, the arrow was flicked away. There was no chip

on the leather armor.

「The

armor of the Magic Armored Corps of the Empire…… an imitation, though.」(Souma)

「Imitation?」(Castor)

「It

seemed that our technology couldn’t reproduce it that far. However, this armor

had been crammed with layers of defense-type magic. In practice, the magic cladding

the arrow will be negated and the arrow will be flicked away in return, right? ……

And then, devised to counter this type of armor and then failed to do so, is

this arrow.」(Souma)

I gave Castor an arrow with a

black arrowhead.

「What

with this arrow?」(Castor)

「I

call this 『Magicbane Arrow』[1]. The arrowhead is made from Curse Ore.」(Souma)

「Curse

Ore!」(Castor)

Castor looked stupefied at the arrowhead.

Well, after all, it was something that is called “the cursed ore”.

「The Curse

Ore has a mana absorption effect, so I thought that we could absorb the magic

power that was enchanted into the equipment from the support magic. So we experimented……

and this arrow is the result.」(Souma)

「Isn’t

this really amazing! If this is true, then we don’t need to be afraid of the Magic

Armored Corps!」(Castor)

Castor spoke excitedly, but I feebly

shook my head.

「I had

said this before that this is a failed creation, remember? The Curse Ore didn’t

only absorb the enemy’s magic power. You also couldn’t enchant this arrow with any

attributes magic.」(Souma)

「Hey,

then that means……」(Castor)

「Try to

shoot with this.」(Souma)

「A-alright.」(Castor)

Castor shot the 『Magicbane

Arrow』. Then the Magicbane Arrow slightly scratched the

surface of the support magic-enchanted armor, but the moment it hit, the arrowhead

shattered into pieces. Castors and the others were dumbfounded and I shrugged

my shoulders.

「To put

it simply, it will return back into the situation similar when you shoot a

normal arrow at a normal armor you had done in the beginning. Not only that,

this Curse Ore is quite fragile. It couldn’t be useful as an arrowhead on its own.

But if we melt it and mixed it in a metal arrowhead, the effect will be decreased

as we decrease the proportion of the Curse Ore. However, if we increased the proportion,

it will become too heavy and big that it would stop functioning as an arrow.

Honestly saying, it’s a dead-end.」(Souma)

「……So,

that’s why this is a failed creation?」(Castor)

「Yes……」(Souma)

…… Well, although there were

hardly any result from its creation, it was not completely zero either. The

arrow could slightly scratch the support magic enchanted armor. The smashed

Curse Ore pieces were sticking at the armor and caused it to lose the support

magic enchantment. In this state, if we could shot something with a high

penetrating power, even without magic power, such as bullets, we could penetrate

that armor.

Yes, the reason why I thought

about developing this magicbane arrow was to introduction 『Firearm』

which didn’t get develop that much because it wasn’t that useful in this world.

When I realized the existence of the Curse Ore, I thought that perhaps we could

make a bullet from this so that we could even shoot the h.e.l.l out of the Magic

Armored Corps. However, the result was just like this.

Perhaps, to make the firearms play

a greater part in the battle, then the wyverns would need to scatter crushed

Curse Ore from the sky, or we guide the enemy to a location where the Curse Ore

had been scattered beforehand, but…… This is a clearly unproductive effort. Even

if we could mine them in great numbers in the Kingdom, we shouldn’t be wasting

them in that way. Furthermore, after scattering the Curse Ore, we wouldn’t be able

to use magic for a while in that area. For this world where magic was used in every

facet of daily life would mean that that land is no longer a livable environment

for citizen anymore.

Even if this effect wasn’t that lethal,

it was troublesome just like cl.u.s.ter bombs or depleted uranium rounds, in the

sense that they will remain after the war and would affect the civilian life.

That’s why it is necessary to be careful in handling it and perform additional researches.

「…… Well,

just like, we are repeating successes and failures every day in this place. Even

if it is just a single step at a time, but we are steadily advancing the era.」(Souma)

「Just

like this country?」(Castor)

Castor asked me with a really serious

expression. I firmly nodded.

「Yes,

just like this country.」(Souma)

「I

see……」(Castor)

「Yes.

Now then, shall we go up this time?」(Souma)

「…… There

still more?」(Castor)

Castor looked a bit had enough of

being surprised after seeing many things until now, so I laughed while replying

to him.

「What

are you talking about? The next one is the main dish for today.」(Souma)

「You said

we will go up? Will we be climbing the rocky mountain this time?」(Castor)

Castor asked me so I waved my index

finger and clicked my tongue (is this kinda old fas.h.i.+oned?).

「Tsk-tsk-tsk.

It's more “up” than that.」(Souma)

◇ ◇ ◇

We returned to the ground level and

boarded the Royal Gondola Wyvern that we used when we came to this place. This time

Castor wasn’t blindfolded. Castor made an expression as if asking “what in the

world, do you want to show me”, but as the alt.i.tude increased and he was able

to see the scenery with one sweep of his eyes, he gasped. The scenery spreading

under his eyes was the ocean and

――― A huge s.h.i.+p that was floating

on it.

There was soil covering the

surface deck of the s.h.i.+p, with rocky mountains, forests, gra.s.slands and red clay

grounds. From above, it would appear as just as every other island on the ocean.

But under that soil was a huge ma.s.s of metal. Observed closely, there was a

bridge for this s.h.i.+p on the rocky mountain. Yes. The location we walked until a

while ago, is not an ”island”, but that s.h.i.+p.

「Wyverns

are afraid of the sea.」(Souma)

I began to speak with Castor who was

in loss of word from this spectacle.

「This

is because the wyverns that have a cruising range inferior to the true Dragon couldn’t

cross the ocean, right? To be more accurately, what the wyverns hate of is a “sea

where land couldn’t be seen”. For this reason, the wyverns couldn’t attack the

wars.h.i.+p on the ocean…… Isn’t it?」(Souma)

「Y-Yes……」(Castor)

Castor nodded. For true Dragons, their

cruising range is outstanding, they could cross the sea with just a single

flight, so they aren’t afraid of the ocean. However, if wyverns with low

cruising range, they could exhaust all of their energy midways when crossing

the ocean. Because of that, they are afraid of “sea where land couldn’t be seen”

that has no place for them to rest their wings. The Gryphon Squadrons of the Empire

has even more inferior cruising range than the Wyverns and so they have a similar

situation (or rather, they even afraid of large rivers where the opposite sh.o.r.e

couldn’t be seen, so they are more severe in this matter).

「!? That

reminds me, the Wyverns are flying in formation, right!? No, wait, isn’t this Royal

Gondola Wyverns is also flying in the middle of the ocean without being afraid!?」(Castor)

Castor seemed to finally caught

on to the situation, but the more he understood the situation, the more his

eyes opened from surprise. His mouth was trembling all over.

「YOU……

what in the world you had created……?」(Castor)

「A

s.h.i.+p that could transport air and naval forces and also serves as their base. In

the world where I came from, this kind of s.h.i.+p is called an 『Aircraft

Carrier』.」[2](Souma)