Chapter 314 – The Shrine Maiden and the Sacred Beast

After dinner, we moved to the game room to relax. Some played games, others chatted leisurely – everyone was spending time in their own way. Sheila and Irmhild were playing calm-sounding music. Since it was an unfamiliar tune, they might have been practicing a new piece.

Old Sigmund and Valentina were playing darts with Auria while sharing fond memories of Mother.

“Hmm… From Lisa’s demeanor, I assumed she was a noble from Silvatoria… I suppose you could say I wasn’t far off, though not entirely accurate.”

“That understanding is fine. The Adventurer Guild here has been good to my daughter, for which I’m grateful.”

“Not at all. It’s the Guild that received help.”

That was the kind of conversation they were having. Just when you’d think it was becoming a sentimental talk, Auria would be holding cotton candy in one hand, which kind of ruined the atmosphere.

As for Charlotte—

“I must say… I’ve seen many unusual things since coming to Termwills, but your home has surprised me almost as much as the castle,” she murmured.

Apparently, this was her impression after trying various magic tools. The game room’s items seemed unexpected for someone from the Labyrinth Village. Whether it was the billiards table or cards, she could probably tell they were made with magic.

After touching and examining everything, she had been seriously observing the billiards table, cards, and carbonated drink server… but when the Lindwurm arrived just outside the game room earlier, her demeanor changed slightly.

She seemed interested in the Carbuncles playing by sliding down its tail like a slide, and I noticed she was starting to get a bit restless.

Somehow… while she tries to be serious, she still has childlike aspects. Maybe she’s holding back because I’m here.

When I made eye contact with Fortok, the leader of the Carbuncles, he nodded as if to say he understood.

“Hmm. That human girl over there is interested in us?”

“Eh? W-well, I—”

Suddenly being spoken to by Fortok left Charlotte flustered.

“Nay, I understand. Apparently, we’re quite rare outside. It’s understandable for a magician to be interested… Yes, what you’d call academic curiosity, right? Normally we wouldn’t interact with humans… but since you’re Theodore’s relative, we’ll make an exception and let you observe us up close.”

At these words, Charlotte’s eyes widened. Her expression mixed surprise and expectation.

Though Fortok says that… the Carbuncles are highly intelligent and can read emotions, so they can distinguish between humans who are safe to approach and those who aren’t. They understand the outside is dangerous, so they have no intention of going outside the mansion or to places visible from outside, but they interact quite casually with us. Sometimes they perch on someone’s shoulder.

In that sense, Charlotte must have been judged as “safe” by the Carbuncles.

Well… Charlotte being serious, having heard about the Labyrinth Village’s circumstances, she would hold back. I think she would keep her distance from the Carbuncles without an excuse, but she can’t help being curious about them. Fortok, noticing this emotion, created a pretext for Charlotte.

“Th-that’s right. Yes. It’s academically important. Certainly.”

Charlotte nodded as if convincing herself and approached the Carbuncles. Immediately, the small Carbuncles jumped onto the windowsill, approached Charlotte, and shook their heads vertically once as if bowing. Charlotte also politely pinched the hem of her skirt and bowed in return.

“How mysterious… like gems.”

“This is like a second eye for us. Well, as long as you’re careful with that part, touching us shouldn’t be a problem.”

Taking Fortok’s words, Charlotte hesitantly reached out to a Carbuncle. Then the Carbuncle, without hesitation, ran up Charlotte’s arm and perched neatly on her shoulder.

Charlotte seemed not to have expected this, laughing ticklishly and twisting her body. Then more Carbuncles gathered around her… Well, the Carbuncles are friendly and playful. Maybe they find Charlotte’s emotional reactions amusing. The Carbuncle on her shoulder seemed interested in Charlotte’s vertical curls.

The Lindwurm outside the window turned its head to look at Charlotte. Charlotte seemed somewhat intimidated by the wyvern seen up close, but when the Lindwurm quietly closed its eyelids to show it meant no harm, Charlotte seemed to understand. When she gently stroked its nose, the Lindwurm lazily turned its head and curled up as before, though it continued playing with the Carbuncles using only its tail.

Lavigne passed by with Carbuncles on her back, making it quite lively.

“This place—what a wonderful environment…”

With Carbuncles on her palms and shoulders, Charlotte murmured thoughtfully. Hmm. It seems Charlotte likes animals.

Ashley and Marlene joined in, creating quite an endearing scene. Grace, Claudia, and Rosemary were watching with warm smiles. Well… though Rosemary was hiding her mouth behind her feather fan.

“It’s good to see Miss Charlotte fitting in so well,” Elliot said, narrowing his eyes as he watched.

“It can be difficult to adjust until you get used to a new environment.”

“Yes. I also had a hard time when I first came to Silvatoria since I didn’t know anything.”

In Elliot’s case, with amnesia and injuries added to the mix, his circumstances were different and his struggles must have been considerable.

“Speaking of which, you must be having a hard time too, Elliot-san? With establishing a new unit and all.”

“That’s true. I have meetings scheduled to introduce myself to the unit members… but well, I’m used to it.”

He smiled as he said this. Having survived life-threatening situations, he certainly gives the impression of being well-trained.

Hmm… maybe it would be good to have Charlotte and Elliot accompany us when we go to Vinesdora next time. For Elliot, this would apply when heading to the Barony of Silun as well.

“By the way, His Majesty Melvin mentioned that we might need to create a landing area for airships somewhere at the edge of the city.”

“Ah… I received that consultation from Alfred via communication device. It’s probably because the number of people and amount of supplies an airship can transport at once is completely different from a dragon palanquin.”

“…I see. His Majesty Melvin seems to be thinking ahead to when airships become more widespread.”

“I think so. I’ve also reported about the incident at Vinesdora’s Royal Castle.”

Looking further ahead, having airships able to land directly at the Royal Castle would create various inconveniences. Specifically, there would be concerns about airships loaded with soldiers and weapons landing at the Royal Castle to stage a coup.

Or rather, since Zadias actually did that… we can’t rule out someone attempting something similar in the future.

Therefore, the area around the Royal Castle needs to be designated as a no-fly zone, requiring dedicated landing areas for airships.

“For the landing area location, I’m considering the western district. It faces the sea and has good visibility. Since there’s already a port there, it should be convenient for transporting supplies too.”

“The sea and—an aerial port, you mean?”

“That’s right.”

Literally an “air port” – an airport. An airport. There’s the question of how airships should take off, land, and dock… First, since they can take off and land vertically, we don’t need runways, so we probably don’t need particularly large areas of land.

A simple approach would be… taking advantage of the airship’s boat-like base, what about having them float on the sea? While docked, we wouldn’t need to use magic tools for levitation, which should save magical power. We’d need waterproofing and rust prevention measures, but that shouldn’t be too difficult.

Then we’d probably need guidance lights for nighttime takeoffs and landings? We could probably supplement this with magic tools. As for a control tower… I suspect we’ll need one once the number of airships increases.

That said, regarding the airport, this is assuming airships are completed and become somewhat widespread, so there’s still time—

“We’ll also need a place to build airships. The area near the port is spacious, so utilizing that area might be reasonable.”

For building airships, the workshop’s courtyard is definitely too small and visible. On the other hand, the square in front of the Knight’s Tower where we’re currently preparing materials is where knights and soldiers usually train, so we can’t occupy it for too long.

Perhaps it would be best to prepare a dedicated location near the port and build new facilities there. I should use Earth Magic to create models and work out the basic form.