by Dojyomaru
“I want you to look at the back of their saddles,” I said.
“They’ve got something attached there,” Castor noted, looking where I’d told him. “Is it those rings?”
If you looked closely, yes, on the back of the wyvern knights’ saddles there were two rings; one on the left, and one on the right.
I answered him while still looking up at the sky, “What you see there on the back of their saddles is a miniaturized, light-weight version of the Little Susumu Mark V.” (The Maxwellian Propulsion Device.) “When equipped with those, wyverns can fly faster and with a greater cruising range than ever before.”
◇ ◇ ◇
It had happened on the day when Ludwin took me to see Genia’s dungeon laboratory.
They’d shown me Genia’s inventions like the Little Susumu Mark V and Mechadra, and while I’d still had some concerns (especially about what I was going to do with Mechadra) on my way home, I had been confident that I’d found the key to bringing a revolution to this country. That was when a certain idea had occurred to me.
“...Hey, Genia. Can this Little Susumu Mark V be mass-produced? Also, could you make it smaller and lighter?”
“Hm...” Genia answered after thinking for a little while. “It’s really an issue of whether I can secure a source for a certain special metal, but if that can be taken care of, mass production is possible. Now, as for miniaturization and making it lighter, you do realize the output will scale down with that, right?”
Metal, huh? This had been before we’d absorbed Amidonia, so getting that metal would have been difficult in light of the poverty of mineral resources in the kingdom...
Genia tilted her head to the side quizzically and asked, “What were you going to use them for?”
“Well, they suck in air and blow it back out, right? In that case, I was thinking we could fix them to the wyverns’ bellies, or maybe the back of their saddles.”
“Oh?! I see! I hadn’t thought of using it like that!”
There were three types of creature used in a manner similar to airplanes in this world: wyverns, which were in wide usage; griffons, which only the Empire had succeeded in breeding; and the dragons of the Star Dragon Mountain Range. If I were to assign them a grade of S, A, B, or C to their flight speed, turning, and cruising range, it would look like this:
[Wyvern] Flight Speed: B, Turning Ability: C, Cruising Range: A
[Griffon] Flight Speed: A, Turning Ability: S, Cruising Range: C
[Dragon] Flight Speed: S, Turning Ability: A, Cruising Range: S
...Well, more or less.
If you look at these stats, you can see that wyverns are like bombers, able to fly long distance but not strong in a fight; and griffons are like fighters, not able to fly long distances, but strong in a fight. The dragons were strong in all categories, but they were far less numerous than the other two, and they were sentient, so they couldn’t really be controlled. There was apparently a country up north that had a contract with the dragons, but they were an exception among exceptions.
In other words, though I wanted to avoid this at all costs, if we went to war with the Empire, our wyvern cavalry would be no match for the Empire’s griffon cavalry.
However, if we could make a miniaturized, light-weight version of Genia’s propulsion device and attach it to them, what then? Wouldn’t it raise everything except for their turning ability? If we could make it:
[Wyvern (With Propeller)] Flight Speed: B (S), Turning Ability: C (C-), Cruising Range: A (S+)
Then, even if they couldn’t fight griffon cavalry in close combat, they might be able to compete using a hit-and-run style of fighting. That was what I was thinking.
That said, I hadn’t been able to secure a source of that special metal, so the idea had had to go on hold for a time. However, with Roroa foisting Amidonia on me later, things had changed.
Though Amidonia’s food self-sufficiency rate was low, it produced a wealth of valuable mineral resources outside of just iron. That happened to include the special metal.
With a stable supply of the necessary metal, I had once again asked Genia to develop a miniaturized version of the Little Susumu Mark V that the wyverns could be equipped with.
◇ ◇ ◇
“And so, she developed the Little Susumu Mark V Light,” I concluded.
The massive Little Susumu Mark V had been made smaller, lighter, and able to be installed on the back of a wyvern’s saddle. The reason there were two rings was that, with only one, it pulled in riders who got in front of it. In order to prevent that, the rings were positioned to the left and right. Incidentally, when they weren’t in use (when the rider wanted to focus on tight turns, or the wyvern was flapping its wings itself), they could be closed like clam shells. In contrast, when the device was in use (for high-speed, long-range flights), the wyvern could keep its wings fixed in the open position, focusing only on creating lift.
With the invention of the Little Susumu Mark V Light, our country’s wyverns were, as I had hoped, able to outmatch the Empire’s griffon squadrons on everything except turning speed.
When he heard that explanation, the former General of the Air Force, Castor, was deeply impressed. “It’s an incredible invention, yes, but... couldn’t you have done something about that name?”
That was the one thing that disappointed him. I could relate.
“I did at least register it as the Lightweight Maxwellian Propulsion Device,” I said.
“Yeah, I think that’s better.”
That was when I noticed Juna had a gloomy look on her face.
“Hey, what’s wrong, Juna?” I asked.
“Um... are you planning to fight the Empire, sire?” Juna asked worriedly.
Oh... Having heard my explanation, maybe she would think that, huh. It was true, I was using the Empire as my imaginary enemy when developing weapons. You should always prepare for an enemy stronger than yourself, after all. But...
“For as long as Empress Maria of the Gran Chaos Empire stays true to her ideals and stands strong, I don’t think we’ll have a problem,” I said. “I have no intention of fighting against the Empire as it exists now, either.”
“...You don’t?”
“Nope. But... no one knows what the future holds. There’s no guarantee the Empire will stick to its current policies, and it’s possible that another major power other than the Empire may someday rise up to face us. I don’t want to take a naïve view of things, and then be left scrambling when that time comes. That’s why, at all times, I need to assume the worst possible scenario.”
For that, doing things that were like tearing down a stone bridge and replacing it using the newest techniques was just about right. Machiavelli said a prince must always be prepared for changes of fortune, after all.
“You’re assuming the worst possible scenario... I see,” Juna said, and then said no more on the subject.
I was sure she was still feeling uneasy, but in the end, she trusted me. Liscia and Aisha could be the same way sometimes. Roroa was the only one who wouldn’t feel uneasy, and would actually help fuel me.
Honestly... they were all too good for me.
Castor asked, “Earlier, you said this was a testing ground for secret weapons and types of troops, right? I understand the weapon part, but what’s this about a secret type of troop?”
“If you want to know that, we’re going to need to walk a little further,” I answered.
I started to walk, leading the group to our next stop. While we progressed through the open field, the grass suddenly stopped, and the bare ground was exposed. That spot where red clay had been laid down was like sports ground. However, there were no bases for baseball, or goals for soccer. The only things there were were two tents to ward off the sunlight, and one anti-air repeating bolt thrower.
Inside the tent, the fox-eared mage who was now Ludwin’s second-in-command, Kaede Foxia, was deep in conversation with a bunch of people who looked like researchers and engin
eers.
When we approached, Kaede noticed us, too.
“Why, Your Majesty, and Duchess Excel, too. Welcome,” Kaede said and greeted us with a smile.
“Long time no see,” I answered. “Have you guys been doing well?”
“Yes. Hal and I are both doing well, you know. Oh? Is the princess not with you today?”
“Yeah... This lady here is my partner for today,” I said to her in a whisper, putting my hand on Juna’s lower back and giving her a little push.
Juna took a step forward, then gave Kaede a slight bow of her head. “It’s nice to meet you. I am Juna Doma, formerly of the Navy.”
“Oh, my! You’re the Prima Lorelei, aren’t you?! I’m a fan, you know! Please, let me shake your hand!” Kaede held Juna’s hand with both of her own and shook it up and down. “I never would have known you were in the Navy... Huh? Didn’t His Majesty just say you were his partner...?”
Kaede blinked rapidly, then looked at me.
I had said she was my partner, thinking it would be okay for Kaede to know we were engaged, but it was a little embarrassing having to explain it in my own words. When I looked, Juna had turned a little red, too.
“Um, er, well... That’s how it is,” I said at last.
“...I get it,” Kaede said. “So that’s how it is, huh?”
Looking at both our faces, Kaede, clever girl that she was, connected the dots immediately.
Lowering her voice a little, she asked, “Since it hasn’t been announced yet, I assume this is still a secret, right?”
“I’m glad you pick up on these things quickly,” I whispered back. “Juna’s incredibly popular, after all.”
“Well, that’s true. I think riots might break out if you announced it now, you know.” Kaede was wholly serious.
Well, I knew that, which was why I was trying to shift Juna’s popularity away from that of an idol and into a singer for small children.
“Setting that aside, I’d like to show Excel and the others the new type of troops,” I said.
“I see. In that case, we were just about to carry out a drill, you know.”
With that said, Kaede started giving orders to the nearby engineers. She had them draw a double circle in the middle of the clay field using chalk. Kaede then used her earth-type magic (gravity manipulation) to move the anti-air repeating bolt thrower to the center of that circle. When Kaede finished setting up the anti-air repeating bolt thrower, she came back to where we were.
“Whew! That’s everything set up and ready to go, you know.”
“...Just what’re you about to start here?” Castor asked, and I pointed up into the sky in response.
“If you look up, I think it will quickly become apparent,” I explained.
“Up?”
In the sky we looked up to, there was another formation of wyverns flying by. Up to that point in the description, it was the same as what he had seen before, but this time, the wyverns were carrying something in their hind feet. (Wyverns, unlike dragons, and like birds, had wings instead of front legs.) When the formation of wyverns passed over our heads, they dropped whatever those things were in unison.
Those countless things that had been cast out were falling towards us in a straight line.
The closer they got to the ground, the more their shape gradually became apparent.
They were people. Countless people were falling. What was more, we could tell they were all carrying weapons.
Then, just faintly, we heard their screams.
“Wahhhhhhhhhh!”
Halbert was there, mixed in with the screaming, falling people.
“H-Hey! They just threw away a bunch of people!” Castor shouted, sounding panicked.
If you didn’t know what was up, that was the natural response, I guess.
“It’s okay,” I said. “Just watch.”
At nearly the exact moment I said that, round parachutes sprouted from the backs of all the falling people. Suddenly, their speed of descent dropped. The parachutes blossomed in the sky like white flowers, almost like we were watching fireworks from a distance. Though, if they vanished like fireworks, Hal and the others would be upside down.
Castor looked at the squad of parachuters, dumbfounded. “What exactly... are those?”
“The equipment, you mean? Or the type of troop?” I asked.
“Both.”
“The equipment is called a parachute. When spread, it kills their speed of descent, allowing for a safe landing. I went to the development team and said, ‘Hey, this is a thing that exists,’ and I had them make them for me. Now, as for the type of troop... They’re wyvern paratroopers. I call them dratroopers.”
“Dratroopers?” Castor asked.
“They’re a type of troop that drop from the sky like that to surprise the enemy, throw the enemy’s rear line into chaos, and take enemy positions. Normally, they’re a type of troop you would need airplanes to create, but we do have wyverns here in this world, after all. I decided the groundwork had already been laid to develop them, so I organized it.”
When I’d been thinking about whether I could recreate the types of troops that existed in my former world here, paratroopers had been the first to come to mind. In Germany they were called the Fallschirmjäger, and they had been in use since World War II. Their primary missions were, as I’d explained, ambushes, causing chaos, and seizing positions. Many of them were buff, macho guys, and Japan’s 1st Airborne Brigade had stories about them that would make you think they came out of some manga. (Example: Tearing two-millimeter-thick wire with their bare hands.)
The initial paratroopers of my old world had their equipment dropped in separate containers, so if they came down in a different place from the container, they had to fight with nothing but handguns.
But this was a world of sword and sorcery, so if ours could bring just one specialized weapon with them, they could still put up a good fight. For Hal, if he had just one spear, he’d probably single-handedly cause utter chaos in the enemy camp. From that perspective, they were a good match for this world.
Castor looked at me quizzically. “They’re dratroopers, even though they’re jumping of wyverns?”
“H-Hey, where’s the problem? Besides, dratrooper sounds cooler than wyvetrooper anyway.”
“...I guess it does.”
Yeah, coolness was important. They didn’t necessarily have to jump off dragons.
“That aside... I had another objective in organizing a unit of dratroopers,” I added.
“Hm? There’s still something more?”
“Watch and you’ll see. Okay, Kaede, do it.”
“Yes, sir.”
When I gave the signal, Kaede raised her right hand. Then, “Now... Fire! You know.”
When Kaede brought down her hand, the anti-air repeating bolt thrower in the center of the double circle fired all its bolts at once. The bolts with their range and accuracy enhanced by magic hurtled towards Hal and the others. For the record, the bolts tips were made with materials that wouldn’t injure them even if they did hit, but when they were flying that fast, they were going to hurt pretty bad.
“Screw youuuuu!”
Hal let out an almost incomprehensible war cry as he knocked down the incoming arrows with the spear he was holding. The others cut them down with swords, blocked them with over-sized shields, deflected them with bucklers, or found other ways to defend themselves from the hail of projectiles.
Eventually, as he got close to the ground, Hal wreathed his spear in fire... or not. He just threw it straight at the anti-air repeating bolt thrower.
Thunk!
The spear stabbed through the anti-air repeating bolt thrower. If Hal had wreathed his spear in flames, it would have pierced through the anti-air repeating bolt thrower and set it ablaze, silencing it entirely. In other words... the drop was a success.
“Cease fire! You know.”
On Kaede’s signal, the anti-air repeating bolt thrower stopped. Hal and his fellow d
ratroopers landed in the double circle one after another.
While watching them out of the corner of my eye, I explained for Castor, “This is the other use for them. They’re anti-air repeating bolt thrower killers.”
The anti-air repeating bolt thrower had been developed to counteract the considerable air power provided by wyvern cavalry, griffon squadrons, and dragon knights. The repeating bolt thrower had its range and tracing ability greatly raised by magic, making it the natural enemy of flying units like wyvern knights. Because of those, attackers couldn’t use their air power to suddenly bombard a city. If they wanted to bombard the city with their air power, they first needed to destroy these anti-air repeating bolt throwers which would be on the castle walls.
Thanks to that, they’d have to launch a siege using a land-based force like the Army. Only once the Army took the walls or destroyed the anti-air repeating bolt throwers on them by using siege weaponry, their forces in the air could carry out bombing operations on the city.
That said, if the city was being bombarded, the defenders had already lost. It was apparently common sense for them to surrender the moment aerial bombardment became possible. That was why, in siege battles, the Air Force’s job was really just to take down the other side’s Air Force so that they couldn’t attack the Army.
That had gotten me thinking. If there were a simpler way of attacking the anti-air repeating bolt throwers, the Air Force could be deployed sooner, and that might allow for the speedy resolution of the battle.
“So, what I formulated as my response to that was the dratroopers,” I explained. “Because, as you saw watching Hal, the elites can apparently cut down the arrows that come flying at them. The dratroopers are a special unit that cut their way through a storm of arrows to land where the anti-air repeating bolt throwers are and neutralize them.”