Speech
The once quiet square suddenly became lively. Of course, the areas classified as confidential are heavily guarded, but now, this airship was flying through the sky. The citizens could get a good look as well.
“So, the speech is over, Alicia, you can treat everyone to some alcohol now. Father, I brought yours separately, so behave yourself. I’m going shopping.”
“Wait.”
Trying to slip away to the side of the citizens like Father and escape from the noble turning into an Orc, I was suddenly grabbed by the scruff of my neck.
Yeah! I was lifted like a cat. Unable to move in fear. But I’ve already taken precautions. I won’t be the only one to die.
“I had Father’s permission to do this, I’m not at fault.”
“I didn’t hear anything, though? We will talk about it later. By the way, where do you think you are going? Did you forget that you are not allowed shopping for snacks?”
Damn it. The surrounding magicians have set up a soundproof barrier, so the citizens can’t hear my voice, but they’re laughing hysterically watching my situation. Alicia? She’s throwing barrels like feeding birds. It seems she has no intention of handing them over normally, and the citizens are accepting them without hesitation. Quite a scene.
“Even though it’s a festival, it’s strange that I can’t indulge in buying snacks. I want to join the little kids too!!”
“Are you from the royal family or not? Don’t just imitate Draco’s bad side. Behave yourself; I have prepared some sweets for you here.”
And so, I was taken away.
Nobles crowded around me as I sat in the special seat. Some trying to pry out the structure, others genuinely asking about the operational methods. There were cunning ones too, but the capable ones are truly capable. However, they… Mother hasn’t noticed. Sitting there, was just a Moai statue.
“Magic is perfect. I’ve already escaped.”
“Recently, you’ve been appearing by my side a lot.”
I was pouring alcohol for my busy Father’s relaxation. I don’t mind the smell of alcohol, if I hated it, I’d stay away from Father since he often reeks of it.
“So, how is the dock doing? I’ll prepare any lacking materials, so submit an estimate later. Other nobles probably won’t know what materials you are using anyway.”
“Understood. Currently, there are five ships on the B1 floor in the dock, and we’re digging the route for the central arrival and departure for ships on the B2 floor. It’s okay with reinforcements and protections using various magic on pillars, so we can dig as far as we want unless something drastic happens.”
Though reinforced and protected with magic on various things like pillars, there won’t be any problems unless something major happens. But…
“But we’re running out of rubber. Right now, we’re using the skin of rubbery monsters as a substitute, but they rarely come near human settlements, and they’re not often subjugated, so… if only there was some petroleum somewhere, we could make synthetic rubber.”
The Guild didn’t store materials like the fast-running Eerie-bird’s skin, who are even weaker than Goblins. Well, I bought it at a low price since people deem it useless.
“Petroleum, huh? I’ve never heard of it. However, let’s try to investigate. I will also dispatch the covert team to the south to check for natural resources. There’s a possibility it hasn’t been known or just had no use until now.”
If there were trees that could produce rubber, importing from there would be ideal. Well, domestic production is more stable than importing.
Also, I requested replenishing the workforce. The new models are using engines and technologies never seen in this world before, so I have to teach others maintenance and more. There’s still a lot to do. Somehow, the operation is entrusted to me. Truth be told, before the announcement today, Father and Big brother knew about the existence of the old models, and considering my personality, they predicted that I would create something beyond that. So, they seemed to plan on entrusting the air force to me.
The air force in Arland is an underappreciated profession. Because airships are always moving within the kingdom, practical training can only be done with medium-sized ships, and they haven’t achieved any significant victories, so they are not ridiculed, but they are often forgotten. Father forgets about it too.
Anyway, it was a unit with no apparent use, and aside from me, Mr. Grantz seems to be the only one who knows how to use it. Even then, he would probably dislike taking command of the forces, too.
“Well, the operating method has changed, so we’ll have to continue with basic training. We can always have the military on standby, since we’ll soon be mass-producing.”
“It feels like a dream.”
Father drank contentedly. At this moment, I felt a murderous intent from behind, so using the application of teleportation, I swapped places with a Moai and fled to a different citizen’s seat.
The ability to swap the locations of two things is called “Swaparoo.”
I teleported away and peeked at Father from the gap among the citizens, and it seems Mother sensed my discomfort and was searching for me. Damn it. How did she see through it? Casually, everyone gathered around me, creating a barricade-like situation, so I go from here to there!
“Oh my~ I wonder why you’re here?”
“How did you know?”
How was I exposed? Even though I had cast an illusion that even Alicia couldn’t see through.
“It’s simple. You were too quiet, so it was suspicious.”
Seems like my credibility has sunk to the ground. Although it doesn’t seem like she’s angry in front of the citizens, it feels like I’m being scolded with a “no.” Since I’m genuinely scared of what might come next, I swapped places again with the Moai in the special seat.
Oh, by the way, Moai statues are golems, so if you try to break them, they form a body from the ground and become a giant about 6 meters tall.