Chapter 88
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Airship Aesthetics and the Mage Rush
A heavy silence hung over the office in the Uphills Workshop.
"..."
"..."
It was because Princess Isolde's expression had darkened dramatically upon seeing the revised airship blueprint.
Watching that, cold sweat trickled down my spine.
Damn. Did I screw up?
I figured the Imperial Court had plenty of funds to spare, but they seemed unexpectedly sensitive about the budget.
'No way. They accepted paper, typewriters, and the metric system just fine...'
Why draw the line here!
Anyway, just approve more spending!
The princess finally spoke.
"The projected construction cost has suddenly doubled."
Her voice was icy cold.
I instinctively straightened up in my seat.
'This isn't the time for jokes...'
The princess continued.
"What's the reason, Duke Vulcan?"
Run! Run!
I frantically shook my head at Vulcan.
But Vulcan brushed off my desperate signals without a care.
He answered confidently.
"Well, something meant to float in the sky can't just be all sharp angles. It wouldn't look pretty."
"..."
The princess pressed her temples at Vulcan's response.
'We're done for.'
My mind went blank for a moment.
A short while later, the princess spoke.
"...Duke Vulcan. We can't squander the national treasury on something as trivial as aesthetics."
"Hm? How is that squandering? Beauty is proof of perfection."
"...If you keep insisting, we'll have no choice but to reconsider the promise not to use the airship in war without your nation's consent for 99 years after completion."
Vulcan's beard twitched at the princess's ultimatum.
"You mean to break the contract? Cut us out?"
"The Empire already has Isaac's core technology. We can pour decades into perfecting it ourselves if needed."
"Hmmm..."
Vulcan let out a groan.
The atmosphere froze in an instant.
'Shouldn't have pushed for more money.'
I stuck my neck out for nothing.
At this rate, the negotiations would fall apart.
It was time for me to step in.
"Hold on. I think there's a misunderstanding here."
I wedged myself between the two.
"What Vulcan means by 'beautiful' isn't just superficial, Your Highness."
"..."
The princess's gaze turned to me.
I met her cold expression head-on...
Head-on...?
What?
The moment our eyes met, her face softened.
"...Your Highness?"
"It's nothing. Go on."
Her sudden shift in attitude threw me off, but now was the time to seize the moment.
I began explaining calmly.
"Dwarves know a fair bit about the skies. Even before airships, they've developed all sorts of flying devices."
"..."
I watched the princess's expression closely.
Fortunately, she was listening intently.
"In other words, when dwarves say something 'flies beautifully,' they mean it's more advantageous for flight. Right, Vulcan?"
"Hm? Of course. What's useful is always beautiful and good."
"See?"
"..."
A moment later, the princess replied.
"Isaac... I've read your report. Since it moves with gravity magic, the top speed won't change much."
"You're right. But speed and endurance are different. With a curved structure, we can double the time it maintains top speed."
In truth, it wasn't quite that much, but I said it anyway.
Twofold efficiency... I'd have to work my ass off to achieve it.
But this was my doing, after all.
"Hmmm..."
The princess crossed her arms, deep in thought.
Please work...
"Double the build cost for double the operational range..."
After a pause, she spoke.
"Very well. Proceed with the work, Duke Vulcan. The budget... I'll make it happen somehow."
"Great! Finally, someone who gets it!"
Vulcan shot up from his chair.
Of course, being a dwarf, there was hardly any height difference from when he was sitting.
'Does that even count as standing up?'
A linguistic philosophy question swirled in my mind.
"Then I'll head to the workshop. My kin are waiting anxiously."
He strode out without a backward glance.
Clunk.
After the door shut, his booming voice echoed from outside.
-It's a go! No changes! Proceed as planned!
-Wooooaaah!
The dwarves' cheers rattled my eardrums.
Against that backdrop, the princess muttered wearily.
"Haa... National debt's about to spike..."
I said to her,
"It's too good an airship to scrap over debt."
The princess gave a wry smile.
"True. But rising debt isn't good long-term. It'd show our weakness to those Free City bastards."
"By then, the Empire will have airships. What's to worry about?"
Creditors or not, they'd be airship-less losers.
The day an airship hovers over the Free Cities, they'll have no choice but to shred their own bonds.
Puhaha!
The princess burst out laughing at my words.
"Pfft... Isaac, you really... hehe..."
"..."
"Where did the Empire find a guy like you... seriously!"
"Not to your liking...?"
"No, that's not it."
The princess smiled.
"Huu... Thanks to you, I lost it laughing. Appreciate it."
"You're too kind."
"If only every problem in the world were that simple."
I tilted my head.
The continent's defense was the Imperial Army's job anyway.
'Why not demand defense contributions from those Free City pricks who bought up bonds on that pretext?'
There seemed to be some reason the Empire couldn't go hardline.
The princess wiped a tear from her eye.
"Your joke eased my mind."
"You're too kind."
"It sparked a new idea. Care to help?"
"Just say the word."
"We can save on labor costs with your name value."
The next day.
No mage in the capital is unaware that an airship is under construction here.
From the emperor's flight to now, we've hyped it up relentlessly, even selling tickets.
Around this point, an overly flashy job posting could backfire.
We needed to make it seem casual, drawing in interested folks naturally.
...Or so Princess said.
And her prediction hit the mark perfectly.
"Good grief..."
Giuseppe Garneri, who rarely showed surprise, muttered in shock.
"What is all this...?"
The lab was buried in mail, with more piling up by the second—no room to step.
This scene feels straight out of Harry Potter.
Giuseppe scanned the letters and said,
"Were there this many mages in the Empire?"
"Tell me about it. I'm shocked too."
From reclusive village hermits to Magic Tower elites.
Applications poured in from all walks.
The Anomalous Gas School had nearly everyone apply.
I sorted their apps separately.
They were prime talent for optimizing airship interior temperature and pressure.
Afterward, Giuseppe and I pulled an all-nighter screening applicants.
Dolloren, naturally, was absent.
Off beating up papers that skipped the metric system, or something.
Giuseppe said to me,
"This... Can't judge solely on resumes."
As he said, papers alone couldn't filter properly.
Otherwise, it'd just be Magic Tower PhDs and combat engineer field mages.
Even Magic University valedictorians might get overlooked—one pops up per school yearly.
That'd mean missing practical experts among rejects.
I told Giuseppe,
"Let's narrow to three times the slots needed, then interview."
"Good idea."
Time passed, and interview day arrived.
The venue was an empty classroom at Uphills Dormitory School.
Entering the foundation grounds, I spotted the nearly completed dome stadium.
I asked Laura beside me in the carriage,
"Any word on completion?"
"About three months."
"Fast."
Thanks to hiring magic-powered crane mages.
Airship build will benefit too.
As we reached the dormitory building past the dome,
"...What the hell."
An endless line of people stretched before us.
It snaked from the campus gate to the main building without end.
Front-runners had even pitched tents.
Why wait already?
I'd assigned staggered times by number.
I asked Laura,
"Those people... all applicants?"
"Yes. All interviewees."
"Did we mess up the date notice?"
"No. We sent proper letters by wait number..."
"Hm... I'll check myself."
I approached someone midway in the line.
Disguise magic active, of course.
PV = nRT
K = (n - 1)/p
Compressed the air densely to bend light.
I asked him,
"This the interview line, right?"
"...Yeah, so go to the back. You think we waited hours for nothing?"
"Ah. Okay."
His tone confirmed they lined up voluntarily.
I asked again,
"But why come so early?"
"Heh. Rookie. I'm gonna conquer the skies with Isaac. A little wait's nothing."
"...No need to wait that long though."
Tsk tsk tsk.
The man clucked his tongue.
"No romance in you. Go home if you can't hack it, kid."
He gazed at me with starry eyes.
A breeze chose that moment to cut between us.
The 8.7 m/s gust proclaimed we'd never understand each other...
Wait.
Not the time for this.
Wind while using air-pressure magic meant...
Crackle.
The disguise was unraveling.
"Ah."
The man's eyes went wide.
"..."
"...It's not what you think. Really."
His mouth opened.
"No way... Could it be...!"
"No."
"The voice matches too...! Heavens. To meet Isaac so up close...!"
Damn. Too late to shut him up.
I asked,
"Have we met?"
"You wouldn't remember. I was in the back row at that old Principia lecture..."
...How many lectures did they hold while I was gone?
Moments later, someone shouted,
"Isaac Uphills! The capital's hero has arrived!"
Murmurs rippled.
Every eye turned our way.
"What?!"
"Where? Where?!"
It devolved into total fan meet chaos after that.
"Hoo..."
I sank into the interviewer's seat with a deep sigh.
'Should've used a windproof disguise...'
Impressed by Dolloren's invisibility, I mimicked it and failed miserably.
Today's interviewers: five total.
Me, Vulcan, Dolloren, Giuseppe, and... disguised Princess Isolde.
Too annoying to keep saying "It's fine, look up" to entrants, apparently.
Giuseppe and the princess seriously reviewed resumes, exchanging views.
"Your Highness also rates this criterion..."
"Hm... Quite. As you say."
They were dead set on making this succeed.
Meanwhile, Vulcan and Dolloren's vibe was different.
"First time working with mages. Looking forward to it."
"Same here, Duke Vulcan."
"Gonna be fun."
"Indeed."
Vulcan and Dolloren seemed carefree.
They were just enjoying the moment.
Once prepped, Giuseppe glanced around the room with a smirk.
Finally joining the fun mode?
I asked,
"Something good?"
"Yep. This."
"Ah."
"You couldn't snag even one junior you wanted, yet this huge project draws thousands. Life's weird."
"Yeah. World makes no sense."
Still, no real resentment.
Lately, I felt less need to obsess over grooming juniors.
True geniuses would stand out anyway.
Maybe Anna-level was my limit.
If we needed hands, just hire like this.
"Interviews commence now. Enter by number as notified."
The first candidate entered at Laura's signal.
"Greetings!"
His booming voice filled the room.
"I'm Hydra, fourth-year researcher from the Earth Element Magic School!"
Ah. That guy.
Ran into him at the student cafeteria once.
Was zombie-like then; eyes clear today.
"I have high affinity for earth element magic. Specialized in detecting ground vibrations and measuring distances."
Hydra continued confidently.
"So, if I join, I'll greatly optimize altitude observation magic between airship and ground!"
Got it.
I raised my hand and asked,
"Suppose you don't get magic circle optimization. Then what?"
"...Just working together is an honor. Give me any task; I'll give it my all."
"I see."
I nodded and jotted a note.
[Projected Role: Mining Team]
Regrettable, but thin track record for airship altitude magic.
His job's in nearby iron mines.
Prospecting ore veins for dwarves, telekinetically extracting and hauling.
Hydra won't love it, but...
No choice.
Airships aren't built by robots.
All by hand.
Like that dome stadium ahead.