Toward the Founding Festival
A month has passed since construction began. I have finally completed the maintenance of the shipbuilding area. Despite the Dwarven engineers working themselves to death, it seems like I am more suited for this than being a princess. I am lively. Even Mr. Grantz, who was initially reluctant, was now enthusiastic. Building the first airship of this era seemed to be enough to ignite his craftsmen’s spirit.
“It took some time, but with this, Arland can revive the ancient technology, right?”
“While I am doubtful whether reviving old models is worthwhile, there is a necessity. Let’s make this happen and get the budget.”
To be honest, the old models don’t compare to the new ones. The construction of the new models was already progressing concurrently.
Well, it’s okay to make the old models as a point of comparison, and the handling of airships in the future will undoubtedly change. If the Kingdom approves of my policy, the influence of the Empire and the Imperial State will definitely decline. Having higher number of forces is not the only way to win war.
“For now, I tried to simplify the design as much as possible to improve construction speed and reduce costs, but… they are still better than the existing airships…”
“Well, the ones that remain are old models, and the newer models from ancient times were used in war and sunk. They can’t match up to our new models.”
From the looks of the blueprints, even with this level of simplification, the performance is slightly better than the existing airships. This will sell! If the budget comes in, we can use it to build and generate more budget… It seems like a good spiral. Mr. Volken will be happy with more work. He doesn’t seem to know it for now though.
“Princess~ We’re out of sake! More, we need more!”
“I just made some yesterday…”
The Dwarven engineers, who were initially furious at the taste of the prototype sake, seemed to have taken a liking to it. By the way, it’s pure rice sake from Japan. Using magic made the process much easier. There are some steps that shouldn’t be skipped, but it’s fine since it can be made easily. I have no intention of drinking or improving it, since I can’t.
And because there’s no helping it, I spontaneously produced about 20 barrels and distributed it to everyone, celebrating the completion of the dock. While I was sipping on an orange-like juice, everyone else was already drunk.
“Well, it’s just a provisional dock, and I plan to expand it eventually. In the end, it will be a vertical shaft dock capable of constructing and maintaining dozens of ships.”
“I just hope lava doesn’t come out.”
If it does, we’ll have to seal it… everything should be fine, as long as we use magic to prevent leaks.
Magic is really convenient. Finishing an underground facility that should take several years in just one month is not normal, even in this world.
The next day.
“Okay, okay… a little to the right… not too far left… OK.”
Using a crane, I placed the materials, dragon bones, the foundation of the ship, in the construction space. While I could use magic to place them, I want it to be possible to build the old models even when I’m not around, so I won’t assist with that. From here, the dragon bones will be transformed, and the skeleton of the ship will be created in the factory. After that, the engineers will add the interior and masts, so the old model won’t take much time. It’s a wooden ship, after all.
The problem was with the new model. It’s made of genuine metal, so there are many processes, and currently, I’m the only one capable of refining high-output magic orbs, so it takes time. Eventually, I’ll need to automate the refinement of these as well, but the necessary magic tools haven’t been developed yet. It’s a challenging task to perform with and without magic tools. I won’t install a Magic Furnace in this one, though. After all, that’s a national secret, and this new model isn’t for military use, so it doesn’t consume that much magic power. If it were for military use, I’d consider it.
“This welding machine? It’s easy to use. Makes the job a breeze.”
“These clothes have a lot of pockets, and the belt with tool compartments is handy too.”
“Then, make sure to finish that by the morning, okay?”
“Hey–!!”
There’s no time, so those who slack off during work hours can expect some heavy labor. However, we take breaks every hour, and there’s an hour for lunch, so it should be fine. Besides, we operate on a regular schedule every day. With unlimited alcohol, no one complained.
“Will we make it in time? Maybe it would be better to leave some engineers behind.”
“If the nobles or my Mother find out, it’ll be a hassle. And if we act outside of working hours, Mr. Volken will catch wind of it, so it’s a no-go.”
Due to salary-related issues, we have to finish at a set time, or else Mr. Volken or some finance-related noble might discover us. We don’t have time to deal with that amidst this busyness. Mother has already started to suspect something whenever I’m doing anything.
“Wha――――t! Princess, why are you so dirty!! Ugh, is that oil in your hair? And so much dust!! Let’s go take a bath!!”
When I returned to the room after finishing work, Alicia was waiting, but upon seeing my appearance, she screamed. Well, I tied my hair into a bundle with work clothes, but I can’t do anything about the oil and dust… or rather, it’s not that I can’t do anything about it, but I don’t have time to worry about such things.
Carrying me, who was too tired to move, she dashed to the bathroom.