by Dojyomaru
While it wasn’t as lethal, in terms of remaining after the war and negatively impacting the lives of civilians, curse ore was as bad as cluster bombs or depleted uranium bullets. That was why it was necessary to be cautious in how we used it, and to continue with the research.
“...So, like that, they spend their days here with repeated successes and failures,” I concluded. “And even though it’s with only one step at a time, they’re marching us towards a new era.”
“...You’re covering a pretty broad range of things here, huh,” Castor remarked, looking half-impressed and half-exasperated.
“Well, though some of our research will be fruitless, I have to take every measure I can as king,” I said.
“As king... That’s right. You’ve really become a king now...” Castor murmured.
“Well, yeah. Now then, shall we go up now?”
“There’s still more?”
Having seen so much, Castor was looking a little fed up with it all, so I told him, “The next one is the main event for today.”
“Up, you said? What, are we climbing the mountain now?”
I tut-tutted and waggled a finger at Castor. (Was that too old-fashioned?) “Even further ‘up’ than that.”
Returning to the surface, we got aboard a wyvern gondola.
The gondola rose, leaving the surface further and further behind.
Not being blindfolded this time, Castor gave me a suspicious look, as if to say, “What are you showing me now?” But once we rose in altitude and he was able to see what was below us, he cried out in shock.
“Wha?! What is this?!”
Beneath us was a single, massive ship floating in the middle of the open sea. The surface of the ship had soil packed on it, and there was a rocky mountain, forest, grassy plain, red clay field, and more. From above, it looked like nothing other than a lone islet in the distant seas. But beneath the ground, it was a hunk of metal. Looking closely, the rocky mountain was where the ship’s bridge would be.
That’s right. Up until now, we hadn’t been on an “island” at all. We had been on that ship.
“Wyverns fear the sea,” I told Castor, who seemed at a loss for words at the incredible sight. “That’s because wyverns, lacking the flight range of dragons, can’t cross the sea, right? To be more precise, wyverns hate being so far out to sea that they can’t see land. That’s why it’s been common sense that you can’t employ wyverns in naval battles, right?”
“R-Right...” Castor nodded.
Because dragons could fly continuously across incredible distances, they could cross the sea in a single flight, and that meant they had no reason to be afraid of it. However, wyverns, with their lesser flight range, would run out of strength halfway if they tried to cross the sea. Because of that, they feared going out far enough to lose sight of land. This held true for the Empire’s griffon squadrons, too, which had an even shorter flight range than the wyverns did. (In fact, they were even afraid of rivers if they couldn’t see the other side, so they had it worse.)
“Huh?!” Castor cried. “Now that you mention it, the wyverns were flying in formation earlier, weren’t they?! No, even the wyvern carrying this gondola seems perfectly fine out here in the middle of the sea!”
Finally, Castor was beginning to grasp the situation. However, the more he figured it out, the wider his eyes opened in surprise. His lips were trembling.
“You... What the hell have you created here...?”
“A vessel which carries air power across the sea, and also acts as a base for it,” I said. “In my world, a ship like this was called an aircraft carrier, or just a carrier.”
That’s right. That island-shaped ship was analogous to a carrier, with wyvern knights as an analogue to fighter planes. When I’d seen this world had wyverns and steel ships, I had wondered if maybe I could combine the two to create a carrier. When I’d first started planning it out, the first issue that had been pointed out to me was the wyverns’ fear of the sea.
“So that was when I had an idea,” I explained, “to try and trick the wyverns out of being afraid of the sea.”
I’d gotten the hint I needed from the first of the Thirty-Six Stratagems from my world: “Deceive the emperor to cross the ocean.” It’s about making your strategy look like nothing out of the ordinary, then acting while your enemy’s guard is down. The stratagem had been based on an event when, in order to get the Emperor of Tang, who feared the sea, aboard a boat, his retainers had piled dirt on top of it to make it look like the land. I’d thought that maybe I could use the same trick on wyverns.
First, I’d created a giant ship, then packed soil on top of it. Though a portion was left as dirt, most was covered with grass or trees to create plains and forests. The bridge had been covered in Roman concrete and painted to disguise it as a rocky mountain. Then, in order to lower the wyverns’ stress levels, their stables and everything below deck had been made to look like the inside of a cave.
Basically, I was trying to make the wyverns recognize this carrier as an “island.”
The issue had been how I was going to find the propulsion to move my island-type carrier, but that had been solved thanks to Genia’s Little Susumu Mark V. They weren’t visible from the air, but there were four Little Susumu Mark Vs attached to the sides of this island-type carrier below the waterline. The reason the distribution of the Light model wasn’t further along was because I had prioritized the production of these larger ones.
Now, as for this island-type carrier that we had built, it was still incomplete. It had taken a long time to get the wyverns used to the carrier. Our first priorities had been to give it the bare minimum features required of a ship, make the outside look island-y, and focus on making it seaworthy. In terms of propulsion, the plan was actually to have double the number of Little Susumu Mark Vs (with the current number, it could only go at a crawl), and the area currently being used as a military research and development lab was eventually going to be used for equipment storage and the crew’s quarters. (They were currently camping out in tents on the deck.)
Castor, who had been staring at the half-finished cruiser in a daze, turned to me, his eyes filled with disbelief. “But this thing is massive... Just how long have you been building it for?”
“Hm? If you mean when I started gathering funds and materials, I did that right after taking the throne, you know?”
“Whaa?! Before you fought me and Amidonia?!”
“It was part of my plan to enrich the country and strengthen the military,” I said. “As a trump card against the Empire.”
With my arms crossed, I leaned back in the gondola’s sofa.
“I didn’t know what the Empire was thinking back then, after all. I was working on a plan that would give me a trump card when we had to oppose them. Up against the more powerful and more populous Empire, we wouldn’t stand a chance in a land-based arms race. I thought the path to survival might lie in expanding our air or sea power, where technology plays a much bigger role. Well... at that stage, I was just allocating the funds and materials. Construction only began in earnest after the end of the war with Amidonia.”
Besides, because I had been moving ahead with the new city project at the same time, I hadn’t been able to gather quite enough funds or resources for the project. If Roroa and Colbert hadn’t joined us, giving me a source of funding, and if I hadn’t been able to secure a source of resources by annexing Amidonia, construction might have started even later.
Still, once construction began, ship construction in this world went fast. Actually, I’d felt this way when rolling out the transportation network and building the new city, too but construction in this world went unusually fast.
Because they had magic here, there was no need for large pieces of construction equipment. For instance, if you try to build something large on Earth, you first need to build the cranes and such that will be used in building it. At worst, there were even times you might need equipment to build the equipment y
ou needed to build the equipment... and so on.
However, because there were earth mages who could manipulate gravity in this world, that equipment wasn’t necessary here. Also, an experienced fire mage could handle casting metal and welding in no time. In this world with its strange balance of things that could and couldn’t be done, it felt like it actually took more time to secure the funds and materials than anything else.
I got up and stood in front of Castor, who was still taken aback by everything.
“Well, this is what I’ve been doing as king, Castor,” I said, looking him straight in the eye. “You rebelled against me because you thought I was a usurper. It seems your doubts had already been cleared up by Liscia and Excel’s attempts to dissuade you from doing so, but in the end, you still chose to oppose me, prepared to martyr yourself for your friendship with Georg Carmine. Then you lost and were placed in Excel’s custody.”
Castor lowered his eyes. “You don’t need to tell me that now. I lost... That’s all there is to it.”
“That’s not what I’m trying to say,” I said. “Right now, I’m showing you my power as king of this country.”
“You mean that carrier?” Castor asked.
But I shook my head. “No. The carrier itself isn’t my power. If there is one thing I can take pride in as king, it’s gathering gifted comrades, preparing a place for their talents to shine, and creating a country that could build that carrier. When you see what I’m capable of, does it not seem fitting that you should serve under me?”
Castor shook his head with a wry smile. “You’ve got me beaten completely. I can see clearly now... why King Albert left the country to you. But I’m not fit to serve you.”
“Can I take that to mean you recognize me as the king of this country?” I asked.
“Hm? Yeah, I recognize you. You’re one hell of a king.”
He’d recognized me as king. Now that I had dragged those words out of Castor, I was finally certain of it. I didn’t sense any of the arrogance Castor had had before. In his defeat, and with some polishing by Excel, he had grown as a person. Considering that... I could trust him with it.
I placed a hand on Castor’s shoulder, looking him straight in the eye as I said, “Castor, this carrier is an extremely unique weapon. Though it is a ship attached to the Navy, it carries the troops of the Air Force. In order to run it efficiently, it requires not just knowledge of handling a ship and fighting at sea, but the knowledge and experience to command the Air Force. I want to leave this ship under the command of someone with those skills.”
Castor’s eyes opened wide. “Huh?! No... You can’t mean...”
It looked like he’d figured out where I was going with this. He was a man who had been the former General of the Air Force, yet now he had trained under Excel to learn how to control a naval force.
I grinned as I asked him, “I’m sure you’ve kept studying, even now that you’re in the Navy, right?”
“...Yes, sir! Excel has beaten it all into me!”
Castor rose from his seat, then knelt, putting his hands together in front of him and bowing his head. I placed the captain’s hat I had brought with me on Castor’s bowed head. Because Castor had horns, it had been specially made with holes for them.
“Good,” I approved. “Now, then... Castor who has no family name! I appoint you as the first captain of this aircraft carrier!”
“Yes, sir! I humbly accept, my lord!”
My lord... huh. It was a bit embarrassing to be called that, but it was a sign that Castor had truly accepted me as his lord, so I was more than happy to take it.
While I was thinking about that, Excel, who had quietly watched over the proceedings up until that point, spoke up. “Hee hee, I’m glad. That’s one burden off of my shoulders.” Then she smiled.
I had already told her I wanted to make Castor the captain of this carrier before she’d begun teaching him.
“By the way, sire,” Excel continued. “I do think that carrier is a wonderful ship, but it wouldn’t do to simply go on calling it ‘the carrier’ forever. Why don’t you give it a name now?”
“Hm? Oh... You have a point,” I said. “What would be a good name for it?”
“Let’s see... I think the name of a place, or of the king who built it, would be the most common options. How does Aircraft Carrier Souma sound to you? When you build more of them, they would belong to the Souma-class.”
“Absolutely not.”
I didn’t want that. If I put my own name on the ship that would be the center of our navy, it’d make me seem conceited, and I didn’t want that. Besides, if it had my name, they were going to say things like, “Souma, departing!” and “Souma, withdrawing from the line of battle!” and “The Souma has been sunk!” right?
...There was no way I wanted that. I needed to propose an alternate name.
“Oh, hey, I know,” I said. “Why not give it the name of a carrier from my world?”
“From Your Majesty’s world?”
I nodded. If I had to give it a name, why not use one that existed my world? Let it be one that had never folded in the face of adversity, and that had never given up fighting. It was going to be carrying wyverns, so this was the perfect name.
I looked down at the island-type carrier beneath us and declared, “I hereby name that carrier the Hiryuu!”
Having finished appointing Castor as captain of the Hiryuu, my work was done, and we returned to Lagoon City in the Walter Duchy. Because the sun was already setting when we arrived, we decided we would spend the night at Excel’s mansion.
At least partly because it was a coastal city, we had a dinner that made ample use of seafoo;, and then Juna, Excel, Castor and myself chatted over tea in the parlor.
In the middle of that relaxed atmosphere, Excel suddenly put down her teacup and asked, “Now that I think of it, sire, you have no plans after this, do you?”
It was so sudden, Juna cocked her head to the side and looked at her quizzically. “Grandmother?”
I was puzzled, too. What could she want, all of a sudden?
“Yeah...” I said. “When I get back to the castle, I’m sure there’ll be work for me, but I haven’t brought anything with me.”
“I see. You have time right now, then?” The moment she said that, there was an unsettling glint in Excel’s eye.
I shuddered, feeling a chill run down my spine. I got goosebumps, my every instinct warning me. I sensed... danger? I almost jumped up from the sofa despite myself, when...
Thump!
“Juna?!”
Juna, who was sitting next to me, fell to the side. She was slumped over the arm of the sofa, already asleep.
Even asleep, she sure is charming... Wait, I didn’t have time to think that! I looked over to Excel, who was smiling, a tiny bottle in hand.
“No need to worry. I’m just having her take a little nap.”
“Sleeping drugs?! You drugged your own granddaughter?!”
“It seemed like she would get in the way if she was awake, after all.” Excel put a hand to her own cheek and let out a sigh.
No, no, no, no! She was giving me that, “Oh, goodness, she’s such a handful,” look, but what she’d just done to Juna was pretty nasty!
“I couldn’t help it,” Excel said. “I received a request from the chamberlain to give you some lessons.”
“From Marx?! You can’t mean...”
“What you might call ‘sexual education,’” she smiled. “As an older woman, he wanted me to teach you some things, sire.”
“You’re more than just ‘older’!”
“Oh my, how rude. My body is still full of youth, you know.”
“Not your heart, though!” I shouted.
Excel rose from her seat, slowly closing in on me. “Creating an heir is a serious matter for the country. Especially considering the shortage of royals. Even though your betrothals are essentially already being seen as a marriage, and even though those around you have been encourag
ing you to hurry up and produce an heir, you’ve yet to lay a hand on the princess, or Juna, or Aisha. It’s little wonder the chamberlain is so worried.”
“N-No... I was hoping to wait until I was a little more ready... you know.”
“That leaves us worried,” Excel said. “It might be forgiven as a youthful indiscretion now, but once you are formally man and wife, if you are awkward and inept when you get down to ‘business,’ it could have an effect on your relationship. That sort of discord between a royal couple can lead to future strife within the house.”
Excel sat down on the back of the sofa, wrapping her arm around my neck. What was this?! I was like a deer caught in headlights, unable to move!
“That’s why the chamberlain asked an experienced woman like myself to give you some direction. Now, sire, let’s move to the bedroom. Until dawn comes, I will be giving you thorough lessons on how to handle a woman. First, let’s start with some classroom lectures.”
Lectures?! I was going to be taking health and physical education classes at my age?! I’d graduated from high school... Wait, I guess they didn’t go into quite that much detail in health and physical education classes.
“Wait, hold on! You just said ‘first,’ didn’t you?!” I shouted.
“Hee hee! In any field of study, it’s best to learn through experience, don’t you think? If you want to, I wouldn’t mind keeping it a secret from Juna and the others, you know? We can consider it a one night indiscretion, and I’ll give you some hands-on training.”
I don’t want it, okay?! I cried out in my mind.
Excel smiled, putting her hands on my shoulders and leaning in close to peer at my face. Yeah, she was definitely having fun seeing my reaction.
I turned to Castor, who was sitting there drinking tea as if nothing was happening, for help. “Castor! You recognized me as your lord, right? Your lord is in a tight spot! Help me, would you!”