“Oh, it’s certainly big,” I muttered.
“Well, it is. We’re still a little ways from completion, but it should be done by the end of the year at the latest,” he replied.
“That means the invasion of Abaricia will likely be in the spring, or possibly even summer then?”
“Yes, that’s what we’re planning around.”
Today, I was visiting the new airship dock constructed in Amagi Castle, accompanied by Emperor Reinhardt, Rex, and the Grand Crafter’s Master.
The airship dock is located below Ou Renten Street. It’s large enough to dock up to five airships, each 50 meters in length. Given that Amagi’s trunk is several kilometers in circumference, there’s still ample room for expansion.
Currently, two airships were docked there.
One was the second airship, a dedicated vessel for the Celestial Emperor’s Family, named “Cerejeira.”
The name means “cherry blossom” in Portuguese. Mako suggested it to Emperor Reinhardt because Amagi blooms with flowers very similar to cherry blossoms year-round, and the name was adopted as is.
Mako apparently studied Portuguese, a language similar to Spanish, in addition to German during her student days.
As for me, I only know a little French, and I haven’t used it for about three years, so even casual conversation is shaky.
English, on the other hand, was practically a common language, and classes were regularly incorporated into the curriculum.
The Cerejeira is 55 meters long. Beside it, an airship more than twice its size is docked, with many crafters working on it.
This airship is the Order’s Guild’s ultra-large vessel, intended for mass personnel transport and crucial for the invasion of Abaricia.
Its name is designated to be “Wing of Order,” to be officially christened by Emperor Reinhardt upon its maiden voyage.
The Grand Crafter’s Master explained that the Wing of Order is currently about 70% complete.
“The Helios Orb is concentrated in the main bridge in the center, but the cabins located in the front and rear can also be used as small Multi-functional Beast Carriages, so some are installed there as well.”
I hadn’t expected the Wing of Order to be designed not only as an airship but also to function as a small Multi-functional Beast Carriage.
The front and rear cabins also have sleeping quarters for about 30 people, a dining hall, simple bathing facilities, and toilets.
Apparently, when separated, the floor will extend outwards, adjusting the deck to become wider during use.
The Wing of Order has a total length of 130 meters, and the wood used, including the keel, is from Amagi’s branches.
There are several trees over 100 meters tall, but only Amagi could be used for lumber. Safety was also a significant factor in choosing Amagi.
The cabins, which function as small Multi-functional Beast Carriages, are about 6 meters in length, and there are eight of them.
Furthermore, while the Wing of Order has an extensive Mirror Room below the deck, the upper section is three stories high and also features numerous Mirror Rooms.
There are many suites and rooms for senior officers, with the surveillance room and bridge located on the upper floors.
The deck is somewhat difficult to use due to the cabins, but it’s designed with speed reduction during combat and the use of Flying and Scaff, so it shouldn’t be a major issue.
Below deck are Mirror Spaces with mirroring applied to each compartment, providing private rooms for Order members, similar to the Multi-functional Beast Carriages.
In reality, most of it is a training area to alleviate exercise deficiency during travel. This training area spans 10,000 square meters, and there’s also a 1,000-square-meter parking space for Hunters accompanying the expedition, assuming they use their own Multi-functional Beast Carriages. This could allow for the transport of even more people.
The planned capacity is 2,000 people, but it could likely accommodate ten times that number, let alone double.
For reference, a soccer field is approximately 6,000 to 8,000 square meters according to FIFA regulations, so 10,000 square meters is slightly larger than that.
However, this is precisely why adjustments are proving difficult, and the processing of high-rank monster materials we’ve hunted is also taking time, delaying completion.
Well, it can’t be helped. We’re also less mobile during winter, so if it’s completed and test-run by spring, we should be able to launch our offensive against Abaricia around next summer.
“The lumber is from Amagi, the metal is Lapis Laz, and the monster materials are from O-rank and A-rank monsters, including Demise Species. Therefore, it should be impervious to minor attacks. As for the loading capacity, it seems we’ll have more leeway than initially planned.”
“Understood.”
Regarding the materials, absolutely top-tier Helios Orb components are being used. They shouldn’t be damaged by anything less than an attack from a C-rank monster.
The exact rank is difficult to say definitively as it depends on the degree of magic reinforcement. However, if Rex is performing the magic reinforcement, I have a feeling he could even nullify an S-rank monster’s attack.
Naturally, we can’t maintain magic reinforcement 24/7, so we plan to establish a surveillance system. For this purpose, several surveillance rooms are prepared at the bottom of the hull, so I don’t think we’ll be caught off guard.
The main concern, then, is the loading capacity.
The Wing of Order is planned to carry 2,000 people. If we assume each person weighs 100 kilograms, that’s 200 tons.
Even if such a weight could be supported, it wouldn’t be able to fly.
However, the weight within the Mirror Space isn’t added. So, we only need to consider nobles and high-ranking officers on the upper floors, plus a few extras.
Even then, with the Mirror Rooms, that’s close to 100 people, totaling about 10 tons. The Wing of Order’s wings are made from processed composite leather from the O-C rank monsters Vritra and Gryphon Caesar, which can support up to about 100 tons.
Since people will likely be on deck often, it’s fortunate to have some allowance in the loading capacity.
Although, a wind-element Dragoon of Catastrophe Species or Demise Species might make even a ridiculous weight of 200 tons seem manageable.
“I’d like to hear the detailed progress, but I don’t want the work to become sloppy as a result of rushing. Grand Crafter’s Master, I apologize, but could you please provide a report later?”
“Certainly. I will bring it to you later.”
“Thank you.”
Once the Wing of Order is completed, the advance towards Abaricia will commence.
As long as the Divine Emperor is alive, Helios Orb will remain on the brink of destruction, so we absolutely must defeat him.
However, the massive army led by the Divine Emperor last spring was annihilated. Even if Abaricia has turned into a demon race country, gathering sufficient numbers will be difficult.
On the other hand, the Federation Heavenly Empire, while not without casualties, has seen an increase in its main fighting force, the Ancient Classes, and the Element Classes as well.
Furthermore, the potential for further increases is high.
Therefore, with Abaricia’s military strength declining, now is an opportune moment to strike down the Divine Emperor.
With these hopes in my mind, I conveyed my expectations to the Grand Crafter’s Master before we left the dock.
Our next destination was Emperor Reinhardt’s office.
While the construction of the Wing of Order is the most crucial preparation for the invasion of Abaricia, other preparations are also steadily progressing. One of these is the provisioning of new arms and armor for Ritter and Hunters who are likely to evolve, as well as supplying food for the journey, which is also proceeding smoothly.
For the arms and armor, the Ritter have their respective Ritter’s Guilds handling it, and for the Hunters, we’re able to provide them by prioritizing the allocation of materials.
Conversely, progress has been slow on the exploration and reconnaissance of the sea routes to the Gradia Continent.
We have sent one of the Ancient Orders to lead a sea expedition towards the Gradia Continent, and have discovered several intermediate islands, but they haven’t reached the Gradia Continent itself.
Today, that Ancient Order is returning, and we are scheduled to hear their report.
“Reporting. We are investigating the sea routes based on the map obtained from the Solemnne Emperor’s Castle, and yesterday we finally reached an uninhabited island located midway between the Philia Continent and the Gradia Continent.”
This Ancient Order member, Nail Trainard, is a female Royal Order, and as a Water Dragon Ancient Dragonewt, she has been selected to lead the reconnaissance team as a First Order.
The sea route investigation began in March, but even after four months, they’ve only completed half the journey, which is significantly behind schedule.
Well, there are many formidable sea monsters, and they have to verify the accuracy of the sea charts obtained from Solemnne, so it’s understandable that it’s taking time.
“It’s taking longer than planned, but is the main cause indeed the monsters?”
“Yes, as you surmised, the encounter rate with monsters was higher than anticipated, and we encountered many high-rank monsters. The highest rank was the M-I Rank Monster Cryptocritus, but we also confirmed other M-rank monsters.”
Cryptocritus, perhaps due to being an abnormal species of Pliosaurus, was only encountered once. However, they couldn’t rule out the possibility of others existing, and they also sighted a Fortress Whale from a distance.
Furthermore, most of the small islands they landed on were paradise for monsters. Therefore, they couldn’t rest properly even after landing, and if Nail hadn’t learned Traveling, it wouldn’t be strange if they had all perished. They spent at least several days, and up to nearly three weeks, adrift before finding an island, so maintaining morale among the Order must have been difficult.
“M-I rank, you say. Currently, the only Ancient Order in the reconnaissance team is Nail. Should we consider increasing the number of personnel?”
“That would be for the best. Lord Nail is a Water Dragon Ancient Dragonewt, so she can engage in underwater combat, but the burden is far too great.”
Emperor Reinhardt, contemplating whether to increase personnel after Nail’s report, was immediately seconded by Rex. I, too, agreed. Even if not to the extent of the Krater Labyrinth, having multiple M-rank monsters, appearing at unpredictable times, and only having Nail in charge of the reconnaissance team is simply too much of a burden.
Given the possibility of A-rank monsters appearing, reconnaissance would be impossible without multiple Ancient Classes.
“Understood. I had planned to dispatch additional members once we sighted the Gradia Continent, but let’s move that up. Rex, please convey this later.”
“Yes, sir!”
Ah, they had planned to send additional Ancient Classes once the Gradia Continent was spotted.
The plan was to send two Ancient Undine and one Wind Dragon Ancient Dragonewt, a total of three people. If agreements can be reached, they might even be able to enlist the participation of Hydragoners married to Sea Dragonian or Aqua Dragonian.
However, it’s not like they can leave tomorrow, so Rex will be discussing the arrangements with the Grand Dragoner’s Master and the individuals concerned.
Later on, I learned that the reason only Nail was assigned as an Ancient Order to the reconnaissance team was due to the need to monitor for potential Demise Species emerging on the Philia Continent, dealing with the monsters that overflowed from the Labyrinth rupture during the Kobaldia Incident, and the reform of the Order’s Guild’s organizational structure. There simply weren’t any Ancient Orders available to dispatch. Additionally, Solemnne had sent spies to the Gradia Continent more than ten times, and during those expeditions, the highest-rank monster encountered was the P-I Rank Monster Sea Serpent, with a not particularly high encounter rate with G-rank monsters. This led to the judgment that even one Ancient Order, fortified with High Orders, would be sufficient.
This is likely also an effect of the Divine Emperor, who has fallen to become a demon race, leaving the Gradia Continent.
They flew over, but on the Philia Continent, the Divine Emperor’s magic caused Demise Species to emerge not only on land but also in the sea.
Therefore, the possibility that the sea monsters between the Gradia Continent and the Philia Continent have also become prone to evolution due to this cannot be denied.
Emperor Reinhardt and Rex also hold this view.
The Divine Emperor is, in fact, a Japanese person from Earth, just like Mako and myself, and is also the creator of the sword-type Engraving Tool.
However, he is also a terrorist driven by a foolish ideology of Engraver supremacy, and was once purged by my father.
At that time, by what chance or miracle, I don’t know, he was transported to the Gradia Continent. From there, he rapidly unified the Gradia Continent, had himself worshipped as a god, and took the title of Divine Emperor. This is what the Solemnne spies compiled in their Investigation Reports.
It’s a typical power-up story of Isekai transfer, but his transfer to the Gradia Continent happened nearly 200 years ago. He systematically suppressed any information that was inconvenient to him, so some parts remain vague.
However, merely looking at his arrogant demeanor when we confronted him during the Kobaldia Incident, it’s easy to imagine him as a tyrant who would put even the Solemnne Imperial King and Philia’s Imperial King to shame.
I also owe a great debt from the Kobaldia Incident, and I intend to repay that debt no matter what.
However, it’s not right to force the reconnaissance team to take undue risks for that purpose, so I hope they complete their mission safely with safety as the top priority.
