59 Chapter 59: Maximum Carnage (1/2)
Aboard the airship, I relaxed as our trip to pendragon went smoothly.
”You're telling me you actually managed to build an airship here in Restia? From scratch?”
I was still mired in disbelief, despite hearing the details from Nagano. The builder of the airship herself was looking all smug as she placed her hands on her hips and showing off on the deck.
”Of course. I'm the Sacred Swordsmith. I can forge anything.”
I wondered how the heck a swordsmith could forge something as different from a sword as an airship. I mean, I understood that we had some leeway with our abilities. My Summon special ability allowed me to summon weapons in addition to monsters and zombies, so there was a huge amount of flexibility and leeway granted to us in terms of what we could do with our abilities.
But for a swordsmith to craft a bloody airship…that was just ridiculous.
”I developed this airship by relying on ancient schematics and memory of how planes and airships worked in our world, then combining it with magic. So this airship runs on a fusion of helium gas in the ballons, turbofans propellors from hover seaplanes in our world and an engine that runs on mana crystals…”
”Yeah, you told me all that earlier.”
”I did?” Nagano tilted her head. ”Hmm. Well, let me tell you again.”
I groaned inwardly at that, not at all enthusiastic to listen to Nagano Nanaka boasting about her forging achievements for the tenth time. Or was it eleven?
I had never pegged Nagano to be an engineering otaku who was obsessed with mechanical planes and vehicles. She was also calm and composed in class, and to see her bragging about her engineering achievements was…interesting, to say the least.
But after hearing her speak about how mana crystal-powered engines worked for the tenth time, my interest had dropped to boredom. Trying to remain polite, I peered into the distance from the deck and tactfully changed the topic.
”How far are we from our destination?”
”Oh, don't worry. We should only take a couple of hours at most. From the capital of Legnica, which is Havia, to Pendragon, which lies somewhere between Helsreach and Ragalon, it'll only take two hours, give and take.”
”Flying really makes a whole lot of difference. Having an airship is really convenient.”
”UGHHHHHHHH!”
Unfortunately, there was someone who disagreed vehemently with my remark, and expressed her protests by puking all over the deck.
”Could you please stop puking all over my airship?”
Despite the smile, Nagano's eyes were so cold I could almost feel the air around us chilling over. And it wasn't caused by the wind.
”Why did you even bother to bring her along?” Nagano leaned over and whispered to me, exasperated. ”Can she really do the job?”
”…nope.”
”Huh?!”
”She's just an extra. I wanted her teammates.”
Nagano sighed, trying to hold in her annoyance. ”Yeah, speaking of which, I thought you recruited a party. Where's the rest of them? Why is she the only one…?”
”The rest of her party is waiting in Ragalon, remember?” I reminded the impatient swordsmith. ”Her boyfriend is garrisoned in Ragalon, so we're meeting up with them there before we set off to the Pendragon Mountains.”
”Right.” Nagano stared at me worriedly. ”Are you really, really sure they will be of any help? This girl doesn't look that strong.”
”She isn't,” I replied flatly. ”She's actually useless. But at least I can trust her – and the rest of her party – not to backstab or betray me.”
Nagano said nothing to that, having been aware of how the rest of the class abused and bullied me. Not to mention, Kobayashi's attempt to murder me when we were first transported to Restia. She and the other Iron Knights didn't seem aware of Tsukishima and the others' attempts to kill me when they find out I had survived, though.
”Don't worry. Worst case scenario, I'll take care of the dragon myself.”
Nagano gave me a look. ”Can you really? Even we heroes have trouble fighting dragons, so what do you think you can do?”
”My best.”
”…”
Nagano turned away and shook her head.
”I really hope you aren't bragging because this will be a tough battle. Well, I suppose that you're technically a hero as well…”
The hero for demons, thanks to my alter ego of Major Tanaka. Nagano and the Iron Knights probably already knew about that, though.
”Do you have medicine for her airsickness?”
Nagano frowned. ”Aoyama-kun might, but I don't. I'm not a doctor or a healer.”
Regeneration wouldn't work on airsickness, unfortunately, and even if it did, I had no intention of wasting my energy casting it on the useless Alicia. After bragging so much, she was putting on quite the pathetic display, especially in front of her beloved hero.
”Well, then we'll find some way to clean up the deck after she's done with it.”
”That's what the crews are for.” Snapping her fingers, Nagano gestured to the air stewardess, who was on standby. Dressed in a maid uniform, she stood with impeccable discipline, waiting for Alicia to throw up while holding a mop and a pail.
I felt sorry more for the maid than for Alicia. The poor girl was forced to clean up after the mess that other people made.
”Don't worry, we're almost at Ragalon,” I called out to her, but kept my distance from her and her vomit-covered self. ”You'll be able to rest there.”
”…and how is she going to survive the rest of the journey to Pendragon?” Nagano asked grumpily. I shrugged.
”We'll worry about it when we depart.”
”You're postponing the problem!?”
”We're already dealing with the problem,” I pointed out warily, trying not to look at Alicia and her stained surroundings.
”My crew is! You brought her along! Take responsibility!”
I sighed and then turned to glare at Alicia.
”If you throw up again, we'll kick you off the airship.”
Alicia turned green, but she didn't throw up again for the rest of the journey. To cheer her up, I casually threw a remark at her.
”Don't worry. We'll be meeting your boyfriend soon.”
”I told you not to mention him!” Alicia yelled, only to fall on fours again, her face as pale as a ghost's.
”We're not in school, remember?”
”Can you not talk about our relationship in public, please?!”
Even if I didn't, the public was pretty aware. Did you think the innkeepers and other guests wouldn't notice when you had all those…uh…sessions inside the makeshift love hotels or something? Your moans were so loud you were disturbing the other guests!
Then I realized that she really didn't know about that. Best not to tell her, then. Or she would literally die from embarrassment. Actually, maybe that would solve a lot of problems. I would very much prefer her to die so that I could wash my hands off her.
Still…
It's not like we're in the academy. Nobody here cares about that.
Nagano certainly didn't. She shared the same values as me, coming from the same world, after all. Rather, she seemed pretty invested in Alicia's romance in Alan. Typical of girls, always gossiping about other people's love troubles.
Fortunately, she was paying more attention to the fact that Alicia throwing up would dirty her precious airship than the Romeo and Juliet scenario the troubled couple were locked in at the moment. Crossing her arms, she turned away.
I shrugged.
”Then your party…”
”Right.” Alicia nodded as she checked her communication device and forced herself to her feet, still wobbling. ”Alan's regiment is working together with the magical knights to maintain security at the border. They're gathering intelligence on the demons.”
Nagano and I exchanged glances. Alicia and the humans didn't know that we were planning to help the demons against Kobayashi, and we planned to keep it that way. Ignorance was bliss, and knowledge was power.
Best to deprive our potential enemies of such power.
Then I suddenly realized what Alicia had just said, and the image of a blue-haired girl floated to the top of my mind.
”I see. Magical knights, huh? So I'm guessing Sophia-san is there as well?”
I nodded in relief.
”That's good. Her magic would be useful. I hope.”
”Of course!” Alicia proudly puffed out her ample chest. ”When the three of us are together, there's nothing that can beat is! Not even a dragon…”
Bad mistake…
The moment she started bragging, the nausea struck her and she collapsed, gagging. I looked at her sympathetically, but couldn't resist a dig.
”Yet the three of you couldn't defeat a single high orc. I wonder, will you three really be all right against a dragon that's several times stronger?”
”T…that was…an accident!”
”I'm sure it was.” Turning to Nagano, I sighed. ”Maybe we should lock her up in the restroom. You do have a restroom aboard the airship, right?”
”…yes, I do…”
Nagano gestured to the air stewardess and whispered seveal instructions. Nodding, the air stewardess disappeared. Several moments later, a few members of the air crew appeared and lifted the flailing Alicia up, ferrying her toward the nearest restroom.
The poor girl spent the rest of the journey locked up inside the cubicle.
About an hour and a half passed before we finally reached Ragalon City. From the deck of the airship, I could see the houses surrounding the garrison. As the shadow of the titanic airship spread and engulfed the city below in darkness, the human soldiers looked up to stare at the massive hovering craft in awe.
”Isn't that…Nagano-sama's airship?!”
”This is the first time I've seen it!”
Excited murmurs ran through the soldiers as Nagano's airship descended, landing right in front of the military barracks of the regiment garrisoned there.
The soldiers then gathered around to ensure we weren't the enemies, but the moment Nagano Nanaka popped her head out over the edge of the airship, the entire platoon of soldiers fell to their knees in deference.
”Hero-sama!”
”Pardon our rudeness, Hero-sama!”
”No, no. it's my fault for arriving unannounced. Sorry, but could you put up with our intrusion for a while? Don't worry, we'll be leaving immediately. We're just here to pick up our comrades”
”Yes, Hero-sama!”
I watched Nagano in awe before glancing at the soldiers running off to comply with her requests. It must be great being a hero and everything.
If Kobayashi hadn't thrown me off the transportation spell, would I be as well-respected and well treated like the rest of the class?
Well, whatever happened had already happened. There was no use thinking about what could have been or dwelling in the past. My only path was to continue looking forward.
We descended into the hull of the ship, where a door magically folded out and transformed into a flight of stairs for us to descend.
”Great!” I cheered as I bounced down the stairs. ”Seems like we've arrived!”
”Yes, we have,” Nagano agreed calmly as she stepped off the stairs. ”So where's the rest of your party members? Can you please gather them? I'll be waiting here in the airship, so once you've found them, bring them back here.”
I gave her a mock salute. ”Understood, Hero-sama!”
”Don't you start that…”
Nagano scowled. I snickered and began to approach one of the overawed soldiers, his attention still riveted on the esteemed hero.
”W…wait!”
Alicia staggered out from the top of the stairs, trying to catch up.
”Slow down a bit! I'm not feeling well, you know?!”
”I know, that's why I'm going on ahead. You wait here and rest a bit until you get better.”
”N…no…ugh!”
Alicia turned pale, but she determinedly tried to pursue me. Having enough of her nonsense and utter incompetence, I waited for her to stumble toward my position before I delivered a chop to her neck, knocking her out.
Nagano stared at me in shock. ”Was that really necessary?!”
”Trust me, it is.”
It was a complete waste of time.
”Kirlia-chan, could you please bring this girl back to the airship? Get a bed ready for her. She needs some rest.”
”I'll cast a spell on her to keep her asleep for the rest of the journey so that she won't be puking all over your airship,” I offered. Nagano rolled her eyes.
”No need for that. And since when do you know sleeping spells?”
”The moment I became the protagonist.”
”What's that supposed to mean!?”
”Nothing…”
”Um…excuse me for interrupting, Hero-sama…”
A soldier had timidly approached us while we were bantering. Judging from his chevrons, I could tell that he was a sergeant, and he seemed to be in charge of the soldiers who were running around the airship.
”…but could you please inform us of the purpose of your visit? For recording purposes, you understand…”
”Oh, I'm so sorry!”
”No, not at all! There is nothing for you to apologize for. I just need to record your visit in the log, that's all. For official bookkeeping purposes…”
”We're on a mission,” I explained when Nagano deferred to me. ”We're supposed to meet the rest of our group here. We're looking for a knight named Alan-san, so if you could lead us to him, it would be much appreciated.”
”Huh?” the soldier tried to scratch his head, but he only succeeded in bumping his fingers against his helmet. ”If you mean the captain, then he is currently resting in the barracks. Is it an urgent matter?”
”Yes, it's urgent.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, and then turned to gesture at the gigantic airship.