Chapter 476 – Winter Journey

We boarded separate carriages and headed from the duke’s family villa to the shipyard in the western district.

“It’s a beautiful ship even when seen up close,” Vanessa murmured, squinting as she looked up at the Sirius after getting out of the carriage upon arriving at the shipyard.

“I never thought we’d be able to return by airship,” Oscar said, to which Vanessa nodded with a happy smile.

The ore for Corulis and food for the Lindwurm had already been loaded onto the Sirius, so all that remained was to bring aboard the personal luggage we had brought with us.

Although there were many important figures on this journey, since the servants of both the grand duke’s and duke’s families were also returning with us, we hardly had anything to do besides piloting the ship. There were eight servants from both families combined. Well, that shouldn’t be insufficient.

As we were unloading luggage from the carriages and loading it onto the Sirius, Alpha appeared on the deck without anyone noticing.

It had been watching the black magic stone of Cerberus that Claudia was floating beside it. When the slowly spinning magic stone quietly flickered, Alpha made a motion like a quiet nod and returned to the bridge.

“I suppose that means the confirmation of intent is complete?” Claudia said, watching Alpha’s back and tilting her head slightly.

“For Alpha, it probably just wanted to confirm that Cerberus is on our side.”

“Perhaps. Though they did seem somewhat aware of each other.”

They weren’t particularly chummy, but they did seem to have a certain level of camaraderie. Well, they were originally colleagues and have now returned to similar positions.

At any rate, they don’t seem hostile toward each other, so I’m fine with that.

I went to where the Lindwurm was waiting on the deck and stroked its neck area. The Lindwurm lightly purred and nodded, then entered the Sirius along with Corulis.

“Well then, Brother Elliot. I’ll be going now.”

“Alright. Take care on your journey.”

“Yes.”

King Melvin had come to see us off at the shipyard along with Elliot and several members of the Demon-Slaying Knight Order. After exchanging words with Ashley, Elliot came over to me.

“Please leave the protection of the Demon-Slaying Knight Order and Termwills in your absence to us. Take care on your journey.”

“Yes. Sir Elliot, please don’t push yourself too hard. If anything happens, please contact us via the communication device.”

“Understood.”

“Well, with the Sirius, the journey shouldn’t take too many days. It might be good to stretch your wings a little,” King Melvin said with a cheerful laugh.

“Thank you. Yes, that’s true to some extent.”

“Indeed.”

I nodded to the smiling King Melvin, and after completing the greetings, we proceeded with departure preparations. Checking for forgotten luggage and any deficiencies in supplies.

“Could I leave the guidance of the servants from both families to their cabins and various instructions to Ambrum?”

“Understood. Then I’ll have him handle the luggage over there.”

“Yes.”

Rosemary nodded and began controlling Ambrum, who was in the form of a servant, to guide the servants from both families to their cabins.

As for guiding the important figures to their cabins… that seems to be my job. Well then, I’ll guide the grand duke and duke’s families to their cabins.

“Please use this cabin. After placing your luggage, please come to the bridge.”

First, guiding the grand duke and duke to their VIP rooms. Princess Stephania, Princess Adriana, and Princess Elham said they were fine sharing a room together.

“The interior is quite elaborate too,” the grand duke said, looking impressed as he examined the cabin. The duke was also looking around seriously and nodding.

“I… would it be alright if I stayed in the same room as everyone else?” Marl said while I was explaining the room facilities.

By “everyone,” Marl probably means sharing a room with us.

“That’s fine. If you’re with us, we’ll basically be spending our time on the bridge except when sleeping.”

“Yes.”

Marl smiled and nodded.

Well then. Having finished the guidance and necessary explanations, it was finally time for departure. Returning to the bridge with everyone, I took a final roll call to ensure no one was left behind, then sat in the pilot’s seat and started up the Sirius.

“Oh… So this is…”

When the various monitors inside the bridge displayed the outside scenery, the duke let out an admiring voice.

Confirming that everyone was seated in their chairs, I slowly lifted the Sirius into the air, and the surrounding scenery began to move accordingly.

Oscar and Vanessa were calm for their age, but this time their eyes were shining as they gazed at the scenery from the monitors. Leslie watched over the two with a gentle smile.

Sion, Marceska, and Sigritta also seemed to enjoy the view from the monitors, already gathering in their favorite spots and operating the monitors.

Princess Stephania and Princess Adriana were—demonstrating how to operate the monitors for Pietro. Marl was peering over their shoulders with interest.

“For such a large ship to fly through the sky… It’s amazing.”

“I was also surprised when I first saw it,” Princess Elham said with a smile in response to Pietro’s words.

“Well then, shall we go?”

Saying this, I began moving the Sirius. Once the altitude stabilized, Princess Stephania and Ashley moved to the deck. Waving to those seeing us off, we left the shipyard and departed from Termwills at a leisurely ship speed.

Along with the waving figures seeing us off, Theoreme Castle and the townscape of Termwills gradually grew smaller.

The sea surface shining in the light. The highway continuing along the coastline.

Though it was winter, it was a clear day, and the coastal scenery viewed from high up was very beautiful. Irmhild was playing music on the bridge, and the grand duke seemed to be quietly listening to the melody.

On the bridge, Ashley and Marlene were happily brushing Lavigne and Flamia, and combined with the beautiful outside scenery, the atmosphere was truly relaxed.

Looking at the monitors… Sion and the others seemed to be going to feed ore to Corulis.

“I’ve made some tea,” Grace said, bringing me a drink poured into a wooden cup at the pilot’s seat. She had apparently prepared some baked sweets for us yesterday too.

“Thank you.”

“Yes.”

When I accepted it with a smile, Grace nodded happily.

I nibbled on a baked sweet with my tea. A fragrant flavor and just the right amount of sweetness spread through my mouth. Combined with the flavor of the black tea, it felt quite elegant.

“Shall we continue along the coastline?” Sheila asked.

“Yes. As for the route—we plan to head southwest and then out to the western sea.”

In other words, we’ll be flying along the coastal highway for a while.

“Hmm. So from the largest port town along the coastline in the duke’s territory,” the duke said while looking at the map.

The reason for this… well, there’s the aim of showcasing the reconciliation between the grand duke’s and duke’s families throughout Verdgar. There’s also the purpose of stopping at the Moon Temple, a major base.

“That’s right. When passing near towns and villages, we plan to reduce speed and altitude.”

“I’m aware. I’ve discussed this with His Majesty as well.”

The duke nodded. The plan is to go out on deck and exchange brief greetings as we proceed.

“Is it safe to go out on deck during normal flight?”

Perhaps still curious about the outside, Vanessa, who had been watching the monitors, asked.

“Although we’re flying at relatively low speed with minimal shaking… when going out on deck, please wear the Levitation Magic Tool.”

“Understood.”

“Won’t it be cold outside? Should I get your coat from the cabin?” Oscar said to Vanessa.

“Ah, it’s not that bad since we’re protected from the wind. In any case, I was thinking of starting training on deck soon. At that time, we’ll cover the entire deck with a Magic Shield to prevent falls… so it might be better to go out on deck after that.”

“Understood. Then, at that time. I’ll be careful not to interfere with the training.”

Vanessa nodded at my words. Well, the Golem’s shooting is for training purposes, so even if hit, it wouldn’t hurt… but being hit by stray shots wouldn’t feel good either, so it might be best to cover the training area with a Magic Shield as well.

“Well then… could I leave things to Alpha for a bit? I’d like it to maintain this speed while flying along the coastline.”

When I said this to Alpha, who was seated in a corner of the bridge, it looked me in the eyes and quietly nodded.

The Sirius controls altitude, attitude, direction, and speed through output control, so if Alpha handles those controls itself, flight would be possible even without crew members.

However, for that to happen, it first needed to become accustomed to the output control for normal flight. Or to put it another way, since the Sirius was a new vessel for Alpha too, it needed a learning period to understand how the ship would respond to various inputs.

After several voyages, we had completed experiments with Alpha piloting the ship. There are no concerns about stable flight, and even just leaving Caduceus at the pilot’s seat to assist would be enough to handle any unforeseen circumstances.

Well, considering it could originally fly through the air, there’s no reason it wouldn’t be suited for piloting. Particularly Alpha’s own reaction speed and sense of balance are guaranteed to be excellent. Considering it’s a wolf, its sense of direction should also be sharp.

As for the direction of travel, since we’re following the coastline, we’d immediately know if we strayed, and Alpha wouldn’t get lost either.