Torn Asunder by War, A Sword Saint for Tomorrow X The Knight Wizards!! – Chapter 86

Chapter 86: Speaking of Bandwidth Units, It’s Gotta Be Dr. Hertz By Nina
  “Fufu, it’s been a few months, hasn’t it? How have you been?”
  “Ah, I’ve been having a fulfilling life, more or less.”
  
  While exchanging light greetings with Nina Valer, who was surrounded by several knights and smiling radiantly, I returned a smile without any ulterior motives.
  
  She pressed down her dark brown side hair with one hand so it wouldn’t be disturbed by the wind blowing through the open stableyard. Unlike before, she was dressed modestly and even wore stylish glasses.
  
  “You look quite different. Thanks to that, I don’t know where to look.”
  “Well, trying to s*duce Claude-dono seems ineffective, and it’s getting colder.”
  
  The fact that Izana and the one-eyed magician had told me to have a coat made for my knight’s uniform because winter would arrive in about a month came to mind… But now I was far more interested in the airship.
  
  Even though it was considered small, it was still over 20 meters long. A familiar Burst Mechanism was attached to the rear of the hull, and there were smaller ones on the sides that seemed to be of the same type.
  
  “A flying ship… this might be good♪”
  “They’re pretty common in fantasy worlds, right? I wonder if everyone likes them.”
  
  I glanced at Revia, who had her eyes sparkling with interest, and Kotono, who had a puzzled look on her face, their boredom in the forest nowhere to be seen. Then I faced the lord’s daughter, who was puffing out her chest proudly.
  
  Even though she was dressed in a way that made her look neat and clean, her ample b*som was t*rust out so prominently that my eyes were drawn to it instinctively. So, to distract myself, I started to speak.
  
  “The reason you called us here is to show off the airship, right?”
  “Yes, it’s amazing, isn’t it?”
  
  “It is… it seems like it could change the way we think about transporting troops and supplies.”
  “…Is it possible to mass-produce it, Nina-kyo?”
  
  Raizes, who had been standing by as an overseer, suddenly spoke up. In a serious tone, he questioned the possibility of this exciting new invention becoming widespread among the people of the present world. Nina’s cheerful expression clouded over slightly.
  
  “It’s not a good idea to keep standing around talking. Let’s board the ship for now.”
  
  She turned on her heel, followed by Aynst and Eliza. We, the main members excluding the guards, were also allowed to enter the ship.
  
  Although the interior floor space was adequate… due to its shape, it was only about 3.5 meters wide. About half of it was occupied by the exposed Magic Furnace, reaction stones, Magic Crystals, and various instruments that filled the surroundings.
  
  “I apologize for the clutter. It’s a prototype, so I didn’t care about the interior.”
  “And yet you still wanted to show it off… As expected of my master.”
  
  “Oh, you talk too much, Aynst!”
  “Haha, I apologize for that.”
  
  The Zephyrus Domain Knight Captain responded in an exaggeratedly polite manner, then headed towards the cockpit in the front with his mage partner. Meanwhile, we were offered simple benches that were set up across the aisle.
  
  I sat down facing Nina, who had taken a seat earlier. Revia sat next to me, followed by Raizes and Kotono… but since it was a four-seater on one side, the silver-haired, blue-eyed siblings were left out.
  
  “You don’t have to be so reserved, you know?”
  
  “Then, excuse me, Nina-sama.”
  “Thank you for your consideration.”
  
  Eleia smiled and sat next to the lord’s daughter, and Lloyd sat down with his sister between them. Then, a voice echoed through the speaking tube from the rear of the hull.
  
  “The bandwidth of the magic waves is stable at around 3600MHz.”
  
  “…Why is it based on Hz?”
  “Well, speaking of bandwidth units, it’s gotta be Dr. Heinrich Hertz from my homeland, Germany.”
  
  I was dumbfounded by the young lady’s matter-of-fact tone, but as I was listening to the various confirmations being exchanged in the cabin, the nostalgic word “Spirit Stone” suddenly came up.
  
  It reminded me of the scene from when I first wandered into the parallel world, where a mysterious polyhedron called a Spirit Gate was floating in the Great Forest before Lloyd destroyed it.
  
  “Don’t tell me you used a fragment of that?”
  “You are very perceptive. All of the Spirit Gates that have been confirmed in the past were floating.”
  
  “But, when Onii-sama and I destroyed it, it lost its buoyancy…”
  “The proof is in the pudding. I’m going to start it up now.”
  
  The continuous, subtle vibrations gradually increased, and then suddenly stopped. At that moment, I felt the gravity on my body increase as the airship gained altitude.
  
  “It feels like I’m on an airplane…”
  “Due to issues with airtightness and such, the altitude limit is about 5000 to 6000 meters.”
  
  Nina noticed that Kotono, who had muttered involuntarily, was a Rare Human. She gestured with her eyes for me to introduce her, but I was too busy trying to distract Revia, who had been acting strangely since earlier, from leaving her seat and sticking to the window.
  
  “You can walk around the cabin once it’s a little more stable, so please be patient.”
  “Haww, I’m sorry~”
  
  The lord’s daughter subtly admonished her, which allowed her to calm down a bit and talk. At her request, I explained how Kotono had joined us and so on… but halfway through, the atmosphere turned sour, and the conversation turned towards me.
  
  “…Indeed, I also think Claude-dono is careless.”
  “That’s right. He just keeps pushing extreme solutions when all I want is some empathy.”
  
  “Muu, isn’t it common courtesy to offer a definite answer when consulted?”
  “That’s what’s wrong with your thinking, I think…”
  
  I was gently reprimanded even by Lloyd, and Eleia chimed in with “As expected of Onii-sama,” and so on. While this was happening, the airship stopped its vertical ascent and switched to a slow, horizontal movement.