Chapter 291 – The Workshop and the Sage

Morning—. I slipped out of my bedroom more leisurely than usual, tidied up my appearance, and headed toward the newly expanded main dining hall with everyone. Since we had guests staying over, it was decided we’d have breakfast together today.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

When I greeted Cecilia in the morning, she cheerfully returned the greeting. The main dining hall already seemed to have the food served, with a delicious aroma wafting through the air.

The source of the smell was probably onion soup. There were also sandwiches, salad, sausages, and omelets—all visually vibrant.

“Good morning.”

Elliot, Tephra, Old Sigmund, and Valentina arrived at the dining hall one after another.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well last night?”

“Well, yes. It was quiet and comfortable.”

“I slept soundly until morning.”

So said Elliot and Valentina.

“The bath was quite splendid as well. It was a good soak.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

I smiled back at Old Sigmund.

“Perhaps because Seraphina has settled here, it feels quite comfortable for me as well.”

So said Tephra.

“Cleaning yesterday was fun since I got to chat with Tephra about various things.”

Seraphina, perched on my shoulder, said cheerfully. Hmm. Perhaps spirits become more active at night… But if they’re getting along well, that’s what matters most.

Well then. Now that everyone’s gathered, it’s time for breakfast.

“What are the plans for today?”

Rosemary asked.

“A few miscellaneous tasks. Going to the workshop to discuss magic tool creation with Alfred, sending Marquis Zilbolt back to his territory. And probably performing the familiar contract ceremony for Marlene’s familiar.”

I should get these things done before Father and Kennel arrive.

“…Magic tools, huh. So you’re making your magic tools with that boy.”

“Yes. Alfred is a magic engineer. I write the spell formulas, and Alfred turns them into magic tools. Metalworking and such is handled by Viola the blacksmith—that’s the flow.”

“So when we provide technical cooperation, it would be in coordination with him. We’ve been told to cooperate with Theodore-kun’s friend, the magic engineer.”

Valentina said.

“I think that’s how it will be. We’re developing various things, and since he’s trustworthy, the flow would be that anything we’d be troubled to have leaked goes through Alfred.”

“In that case, it would be good for us to accompany you and properly introduce ourselves.”

Matters related to the airship would likely be handled at the workshop. Since Alfred said he works at the workshop, I’ll head there after breakfast.

Marquis Zilbolt is staying at the royal castle with his wife Belinda and their daughter Romina. With one incident resolved and the marquis family’s honor restored, they’ve returned safely and apparently wanted some time together as a family. Marquis Zilbolt will return to Silvatoria, but it seems Romina will be studying abroad at Peresford Academy.

Since the marquis is supposed to return today… well, I’ll have him contact me when it’s convenient for him.

“I see. So we embed this gem into the giant arrow.”

I went to the workshop and reintroduced Old Sigmund and Valentina to Alfred and the other workshop members.

After properly introducing everyone to each other again, I showed Alfred the items I received as rewards from the Vinesdora royal castle’s treasure room.

“Viola, what do you think?”

“Hmm, hmm. I don’t think it will take that much work. If they attract each other when activated… how about making a new gauntlet or bracelet and embedding the other gem there?”

Viola looked at the gems and said that.

“Ah. That would be wonderful. If you can incorporate it into equipment, I won’t have to take it out when using it. And if it were just a gem, I’d be worried about dropping it or something.”

Irmhild laughed cheerfully and clasped her hands in front of her chest.

“What about this gauntlet? Can you adjust it?”

So said Sheila. The Thunder Gauntlet that Sheila chose also needed some adjustments to fit her properly.

“Um… yes. This should be fine. I just need to rework some of the metal fittings and replace the strap, so could I take Sheila-san’s measurements?”

“Mm. That’s our Viola.”

“Fufufu.”

Viola seemed pleased by Sheila’s comment and let out a soft laugh.

“My bracelet fits just right. I don’t think it needs any adjustments.”

Grace said while wearing her bracelet.

“Since this functions entirely as a magic tool, if the size didn’t fit, adjustments would have been difficult. It’s quite a good item.”

“Thank you.”

Grace and Viola exchanged such conversation.

“Marlene, what did you receive? That bird?”

When Alfred asked, Marlene brought forward the bird statue that was following slightly behind her, smiling.

I should provide additional explanation about the bird.

“It’s a bird-type… magical creature, I suppose. It seems it can become a familiar, and we plan to perform the contract ceremony later.”

“They say bird familiars are convenient.”

“It has the form of a raptor… shall we make a gauntlet for Marlene-sama as well?”

“Like a falconer?”

“Yes.”

Perhaps pleased by Viola’s words, Marlene nodded repeatedly. Viola broke into a smile at Marlene’s reaction.

“So we have the giant arrow processing and three gauntlet jobs. Grace’s bracelet seems fine since the size is perfect… But we have a big job coming up too, so I’ll proceed with Ignis’s inspection. The armor and skeleton both seem fine though.”

Rosemary said while touching Ignis’s shoulder.

“A big job, huh. Yeah. As a technician, being involved in that is exciting.”

Alfred said happily.

The big job… meaning the airship. It hasn’t been decided yet whether we’ll build a new one or modify an existing ship…

“Since our full cooperation is already decided. We’ve already received permission from His Majesty Eberhart and His Majesty Melvin to proceed as we see fit.”

I see. It seems they settled those matters at the royal castle last night.

I’ll be responsible for creating the ship’s body using that magical power conversion armor. Alfred will process the completed armor plates. We need to create circuits to guide magical power to the magic tools that provide propulsion.

But I’ll need to prepare the armor plates in a state where they can be processed using special magic. Since they absorb impacts and magic, unless I use spell formulas to make them maintainable, proper processing won’t be possible. Maintaining the armor’s fixed state will also be my responsibility.

There are several other points to work out regarding the airship.

“I heard about improving the airship’s efficiency—do you have any ideas?”

“Yes, I have a few things in mind. For example—”

I created a simple model of an airship using wood magic. The main body followed the ship shape like previous airshps, but the airplane-like wings extending from both sides were slightly different.

I controlled the air using wind magic. When I adjusted the airflow above and below the wings separately, the model floated in the air.

Old Sigmund and Valentina stared wide-eyed. Not just the two of them, but Rosemary, Alfred, Ashley, and Elliot—those knowledgeable about magic—seemed to realize that it wasn’t floating because I was using Levitation.

“This is… not Levitation, is it?”

“No. It’s the same principle as a fore-and-aft sail on a sailing ship. Fore-and-aft sails convert wind power into forward motion… but this directly manipulates the wind to create upward lifting force.”

“I see, fore-and-aft sails…”

In other words, it’s lift. I’m using wind magic to manipulate air pressure to make it float. By incorporating wind magic above and below the wings to lift it up, I can assist the force that makes the airship float.

Also, by manipulating this lift, it should be possible to turn left and right. The heart of the airship maintains overall balance… but I might need to synchronize it with that.

“Next would be strengthening propulsion, I suppose. I’m thinking about using a combination of fire and wind magic to take in air from the front and release it from the back to accelerate…”

Well, too much acceleration would just increase danger, so moderate performance would be fine.

When I glanced at Old Sigmund, he wore a stunned expression, but he shook his head slightly and spoke as if collecting himself.

“…Compound magic, huh. To make it into a magic tool, we’ll need high-quality magic stones.”

“The technology to imbue magic stones with specific elements… does Verdgar have that?”

Valentina asked.

“You can do that?”

“Yes. It’s one of the spell formulas I’ve inherited. So if we have large magic stones, I think we can be quite flexible.”

Saying that, Valentina smiled.

Hmm… That’s good. Being able to create things like the fire magic stone extracted from the Flame Demon at will… seems like it would expand what we can do in various ways. We just need to procure originally high-quality magic stones. That’s where labyrinths really shine.