Meanwhile
While Alicetia was gathering treasures in the deep sea and later enjoying some fishing on the surface, the armed flying ship had taken the samurai corps of the Land of Tranquility and the Minister of Foreign Affairs aboard and was carrying out subjugation operations against aquatic monsters.
“This will be the combat command center.”
“Ohhh……”
The samurai corps and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yoshioki, looked around restlessly at the many pieces of equipment they had never seen before, behaving like country folk who had just come to the capital for the first time.
However, no one laughed at them. The crew members had been the same way at first.
“What kind of magic tool is this? What’s this one?”
Yoshioki asked the crew member question after question.
The crew, having already been told by Alicetia what they were allowed to explain, explained what they could and answered that the rest was classified.
The advanced magic tools loaded onto the armed flying ship were at a level that would have worked even on Earth, and after receiving the explanations, Yoshioki was left in shock.
(This is on an entirely different technological level from our country…)
Flying ships were generally wooden vessels. This armed flying ship, however, was made of metal. The technology required to build it was on a completely different scale.
“Th-This ship… is it an ancient excavated relic?”
Clinging to a sliver of hope, Yoshioki asked. He wanted it to be an excavated relic. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, allowing his emotions to be read by the other party would be an unforgivable blunder. But he did not even have the composure to maintain his expression.
Even if it were an excavated relic, it would still be a threat. However, if it were one, the number should be limited. The answer he received, however, was not what he hoped for.
“No. This ship is an invention of the Princess. At present, our country possesses seventeen ships of the same type. According to the plan, we intend to prepare a fleet of one hundred ships.”
“O-One hundred!?”
The armed flying ship fleet plan had already gone beyond the stage of being hidden. It was permitted to be disclosed to allied nations as a way of demonstrating Arland’s technological and military strength. Incidentally, when Ostland learned of this plan, all they could do was let out a dry laugh. And by forging friendly ties with Arland ahead of other nations, the King of Ostland had strengthened his own authority.
The armed flying ship, this was a flying ship that had overwhelmed the Empire’s flying ship fleet, the largest air power on the continent, single-handedly. And Arland was going to assemble one hundred of them. Arland’s Minister of Finance wept into his pillow every night. His hardships would never end.
“Yes, and we’re also constructing even more powerful flying ships.”
At the grin of the military officer, the faces of those from the Land of Tranquility stiffened. The achievements the armed flying ships had made against Imperial vessels had already echoed throughout the Land of Tranquility.
Being told that something even stronger was being produced, it was only natural for them to freeze up.
Incidentally, the magical battleship Prince of Gilbert was already nearing completion, while the King of Draconia was slightly delayed because an improved version of the main gun’s automatic loading system had been developed during construction, necessitating large-scale modifications that involved removing the turret once. Still, it too was nearing completion.
These ships were still being kept secret, but given the abnormal amount of metal Arland was importing, not only allied nations but also the Central Nations Federation had likely noticed that something was being built. Despite the enormous quantities of metal flowing into the Kingdom of Arland, metal prices within the country continued to rise.
Domestic economic conditions were at their peak, so while there were complaints about rising metal prices, it was not to the point of threatening people’s livelihoods. Government subsidies used to control metal prices were likely part of the reason.
“Now then, we will commence the monster extermination operation to eliminate the threats facing the Land of Tranquility.”
The armed flying ship’s speed far surpassed that of existing flying ships. Hearing that this speed and its four massive main guns had allowed it to fight on equal terms with an Imperial fleet, Yoshioki could only nod.
The Land of Tranquility also possessed cannons, dead copies of weapons captured in skirmishes with the Empire.
Until now, no one had expressed dissatisfaction with their performance. Certainly, compared to genuine Imperial cannons, their accuracy and durability were slightly inferior. But that level of difference could be compensated for through operation. In fact, they had sunk many Imperial ships and flying ships.
However, the 127mm guns mounted on the armed flying ship were far larger and more refined than anything the Land of Tranquility possessed. Moreover, they were told that both loading and aiming were automated.
That said, there were no plans to use them this time.
After proceeding for a while, the armed flying ship arrived above the target area. It descended in altitude and dropped buoys onto the water’s surface.
“What we just dropped are magic tools that emit a special sound to gather monsters.”
“Sound?”
At Yoshioki’s question, the military officer nodded.
“Originally, they were created to emit sounds that monsters dislike, in order to make surface ship navigation safer. But for some reason, when monsters hear this sound, they instead gather to destroy the sound source, it ended up having the exact opposite effect.
As for the detailed principles, you’d have to ask the Magician from the Technology Development Bureau who made it.”
“Is this not also an invention of Princess Alicetia?”
“No, it is not.”
That meant Arland’s Magicians also possessed outstanding technical skill.
Additional buoys for detecting underwater monsters were deployed, and the acoustic devices were activated. The effect appeared immediately.
“A large monster is approaching. Bearing eleven o’clock, distance one thousand.”
“Prepare depth charge deployment!”
“Depth charge deployment ready!”
“It’s increasing speed!”
“Retrieve the buoys. They’re idiots. If there’s no prey, they’ll surface. When they do, give them a depth charge!”
Just as the commander said, the creature that arrived at the supposed sound source was a giant squid monster, a kraken.
However, with no target location to be found, it surfaced and looked around in confusion. That was when the depth charge was dropped.
With a thunderous blast, a pillar of water erupted, and the shock inflicted fatal damage on the kraken. Aquatic monsters generally did not have particularly high defense. There were exceptions, such as turtle-type monsters, but water dragons and krakens did not have especially high defense, and aquatic monsters generally did not fight opponents stronger than themselves. As a result, they had almost no experience fighting powerful enemies like Helios.
Even if the kraken had some means of defending against explosions, it was unable to use it, and its life was harvested.
“Fire the rocket anchor!”
Before the floating kraken corpse could sink, an anchor propelled by a rocket was fired and pierced the body.
This ship was equipped with rocket-propelled anchors because it sometimes moored on land, and that system was used to secure the kraken’s corpse.
Once secured, there was only one thing to do: take it home. Magic cores taken from aquatic monsters carried water-attribute mana, and due to their rarity and usefulness, they were highly valuable. Krakens and water dragons, though easy prey due to their lack of combat experience, were also excellent materials, making it a waste to discard them into the sea. Moreover, leaving them behind would only feed other monsters, causing more harm than good.
After that, they left the kraken corpse at a designated dumping point and repeated the simple process of luring monsters, killing them with depth charges, and bringing them back.
Several times, multiple monsters gathered at once, but Alicetia’s clones aboard the armed flying ship solved the issue by creating balloon-equipped harpoons on the spot, stabbing the monsters, and keeping them floating on the surface until retrieval—though, as expected, some of the corpses were partially eaten.
By the time Alicetia finished her work on the sea floor, more than a hundred water dragons and krakens had been exterminated.
“There are more than in our country.”
“For reasons unknown, their numbers increase every few decades.”
Yoshioki answered the commander’s question.
The Land of Tranquility did not normally have this many monsters. If over a hundred large monsters were roaming about in such a short time, even the Land of Tranquility would be unable to conduct maritime transport.
However, once every few decades, the number of monsters increased. That said, the Land of Tranquility was originally formed from ancient floating islands that had landed on the sea, so there were relatively few land-based monsters, making the land fairly safe.
In contrast, Arland was more dangerous on land. Sea monsters, once forced ashore, were nothing more than inexperienced prey, but within Arland, even goblins would attack ogres, it was a land of carnage. Ordinary goblins were cowardly and would flee from or submit to stronger monsters, but Arland’s goblins were bloodthirsty and showed no mercy whatsoever. It was a treasure trove of battle-hardened monsters. One could call it the worst possible environment. How they had managed to found a nation in such a place, repel the Empire, and maintain independence was nothing short of astonishing.
(Arland must never be made an enemy.)
Yoshioki murmured this to himself.
He thought he understood Arland’s military might after the Yamata-no-Orochi subjugation, the shipping battle.
(That was already an unbelievable spectacle. But their air power is abnormal too. No, to our country, this armed flying ship is an even greater threat.)
He had thought the tanks seen in the Yamata no -Orochi battle were not a threat unless landed. They could simply be dealt with at sea as before.
But witnessing the combat power of this ship firsthand made him realize how shallow that thinking had been.
They created weapons like tanks. Why had he assumed they wouldn’t apply that technology to flying ships? No, he had convinced himself that he didn’t want them to.
From that moment on, Yoshioki resolved to stake his life on strengthening relations with Arland. Under no circumstances could Arland’s fangs be turned toward the Land of Tranquility.
Thinking that way, cold sweat poured down his back as he realized just how close the Land of Tranquility had come to making a disastrous choice. If they had forcibly taken Alicia, Alicetia’s favored maid and knight, the worst-case scenario would have been this force coming to them.
At first, he had thought that a war wouldn’t break out over a single person. And that was likely true. But what if a fly was buzzing nearby?
You would swat it without hesitation. At worst, Arland might punish the Land of Tranquility with the same casualness as swatting a fly. It might not even be recognized as a war.
The Kingdom of Arland had maintained its independence while bearing the crushing enemies of monsters and the Empire. Its internal cohesion was stronger than that of any other nation.
And now he understood why Alicetia had come in person.
(A silent threat… touch us, and this force will burn the Land of Tranquility to the ground.)
They had nearly kicked the dragon’s reverse scale. But it was not too late. Relations had not deteriorated beyond repair.
If they truly intended to worsen relations, they would not take such a roundabout approach. And if Alicetia had intended to do so, she would not be spending money in the Land of Tranquility.
But at present, Alicetia did not harbor such intense anger toward the Land of Tranquility. At most, she was simply warning them to be prepared if they acted rashly.
At the same time, she was also attempting massive trade. Exports of fruits like cacao and bananas, as well as bauxite, would bring such enormous wealth to the Land of Tranquility that it would make all prior alliance efforts seem laughable. With that money, they could acquire Arland’s high-performance magic tools, expand domestic demand, strengthen national power, and become a nation that could not be looked down upon.
Alicetia was issuing threats, but she also intended to strengthen relations. In other words, things were not yet at rock bottom.
(Then there is only one thing I must do.)
Further dismantle the anti-open-country faction, which had already fallen into the minority. Yoshioki was now convinced that with an alliance with Arland, they could even win an all-out war against the Central Nations Federation.
To achieve that, the closed environment of the Land of Tranquility had to be reformed. Public awareness needed to change, as did the mindset of the court nobles and the samurai corps.
Moreover, they needed to send people to Arland to learn its advanced technology. More visible results were necessary. Thinking about it that way made him feel energized. If he didn’t enjoy it, his stomach would probably develop ulcers.
The Land of Tranquility, like Arland, had practiced national isolation. No, Arland was even more withdrawn, since it maintained ties with multiple nations behind the scenes. As a result, though Yoshioki was Minister of Foreign Affairs, he did not actually have much diplomatic experience. This would be the greatest undertaking of his life.
He would enjoy it. Otherwise, his spirit might break. Yoshioki thought this as sweat poured down his face.
Incidentally, the samurai corps was completely burned out. Many of them had belonged to the anti-open-country faction, but after witnessing shock after shock, they had finally reached their limit.
They sat slumped on the floor, mouths agape.
And when Yoshioki disembarked from the armed flying ship and saw Alicetia casually preparing for a barbecue, all the strength drained from his body.
What do you think about this chapter?
