After Elsa’s birthday party, while everyone was relaxing and enjoying one another's company, Reinhard spoke up.
"Jin, I’ve noticed you’ve been buying up 64 light silver lately. Are you building something new?" Reinhard asked, his face full of expectation. He was well aware that Jin had been purchasing large quantities of the metal since its price had recently plummeted.
"Yeah. It seems Smelting Magi Machines are becoming more common, so the price has finally started to come down."
Jin had another motive as well: he hoped that by buying up 64 light silver now, he would encourage even more production of the Smelting Magi Machines.
"So, back to my question—what exactly are you making?"
"An airship for the World Security Guard."
"The World Security Guard?" Reinhard echoed.
"Right. I’m trying to build one based on those improvements we discussed the other day."
"How is it coming along?"
"Well, seeing is believing. Want to take a look?"
"I thought you’d never ask!"
With that settled, Jin and Reinhard headed to the area behind the laboratory.
A massive structure dominated the space. It was a giant tent, measuring 100 meters by 100 meters at the base and 50 meters in height. Though its frame was made of thin 64 light silver, it was incredibly sturdy. The skinning consisted of fabric woven from Ground Spider silk, making the structure more durable than most conventional buildings.
While boats were constructed at the docks in Tatsumi Bay, Jin used this space for building airplanes and airships.
As they stepped inside, Reinhard’s eyes widened in awe. "Whoa, this is incredible!"
Jin was building a twin-hull airship. The gas bags were 50 meters long—longer than those of the Konron 2—but they were more slender, with a maximum diameter of only 10 meters. Two of these hulls were positioned side-by-side with a 20-meter gap between them.
From the front, the gas bags and the Cabin were arranged to form an isosceles triangle, with the Cabin suspended below for stability.
"The extra length is to counter pitching and yawing, while the twin-hull design is specifically meant to stabilize rolling."
These were his solutions to the complaints about heavy vibrations and swaying that Pascoe Rush had mentioned. Beyond the movement itself, the period of the oscillation also affected ride comfort; generally, the larger the vessel, the slower and more manageable the swaying became.
"If the swaying is slow, it’s much easier to implement measures to cancel it out."
Since the craft would be piloted primarily by golems, whose reaction times were dozens of times faster than a human's, Jin was confident they could handle the adjustments.
"I see the logic there," Reinhard noted.
"The slender shape is intended to reduce air resistance and make the ship more resistant to a strong breeze or crosswinds," Jin added, "though I’m still testing how effective that will be."
"And the twin-hull design increases your cargo capacity, too."
That was another point that had been raised previously. To further assist with heavy loads, Jin had equipped the ship with Wind Thrusters for auxiliary buoyancy. While it wouldn't be as nimble as the Konron 2, he expected it to be about twenty percent faster.
"The skinning isn't on yet, I see?" Reinhard observed the skeletal frame.
"No, not yet. I’ve sent someone to the Shouro Empire to buy GSS for the outer covering, but they’re having a hard time sourcing enough of it."
Because GSS was imported from Mitsuho, it was extremely expensive, costing about 1,000 Toll per square meter.
"Hmm. How much do you need to cover both gas bags?"
"I did a rough calculation. For both hulls, I’ll need about 1,570 square meters."
"That would be... 1.57 million Toll."
It was a significant sum, but one that Jin could easily afford. In his mind, it was better to spend the money to stimulate the economy than to let it sit idle. Still, he preferred not to be wasteful.
"I see. So you’re making it entirely out of materials available to the general public?"
"Exactly."
"What are you going to call it?"
"I was thinking... Avalon 2?"
Reinhard immediately shot the idea down. "That’s far too simplistic, Jin."
"Fair enough. I’ll give it some more thought."
"Good. Since the skinning isn't finished yet, you’ve got time. Still, this is a magnificent piece of engineering."
The two men eventually made their way back to the Great Dining Hall.
"Ah, Jin-nii, there you are." Elsa spotted Jin and hurried over.
"Is something wrong?"
"Laojun suggested that we should place an order for trimarans with Marcia," Elsa explained.
"Oh? I see."
To ensure the World Security Guard had mobile, small-class vessels at its disposal, Maquina had already been making arrangements. Essentially, these would be lower-spec versions of the Stream series used on Hourai Island.
By placing the order with a private workshop, they could support the local economy. Moreover, it made perfect sense to commission the work from the Marcia Workshop, given her recent victory in the Golem Boat Race.
"Wait, you want to order from me?" Marcia asked, joining them. "I don't mind, but what are the specifications?"
"We can iron out the finer details later," Jin said, "but generally, we're looking for vessels seven to ten meters long, capable of carrying five to ten people. They should be powered by Aqua Thrusters and have a top speed of about seventy kilometers per hour."
Marcia considered the request for a moment. "I did build a new dock this year, so I could manage a ten-meter boat. But I’m terribly shorthanded..."
"I can lend you some Smith units for a year," Jin offered. "You can use that time to train your own staff."
"Oh, that would be a huge help. How many boats are we talking about?"
"Two to start with."
"I can have the hulls ready in a month. But you know I’ve never worked with Aqua Thrusters before, right?"
"Don't worry. With the Smith units there, that won't be an issue."
"In that case, I’ll take the job!"
"Great. Maquina will head to Port Rock Town to discuss the specifics. Is tomorrow okay?"
"Yes, that works for me."
And so, it was decided that the Marcia Workshop would begin construction on the new trimarans.
"Are you going to order the larger ships from the Shouro Empire as well?" Elsa asked.
"Well... it would be nice to have something like the Bernstein, but wooden ships have so many limitations. I think we’ll build the 50-meter-class ships at the Avalon docks instead."
"That sounds like a good plan," Elsa agreed.
Jin envisioned these ships as destroyers. Since Avalon was an artificial island, maintaining security in the surrounding air and sea was vital. He decided to build three destroyers there, utilizing materials sourced from the lunar facility, Uni.
"What will the crew requirements be?" Reinhard asked, having leaned in to listen.
"Will you use golems at first?" Stearena added, joining the circle.
"That’s the plan for now," Jin replied. "We'll use them to establish the routines and then eventually train human crews..."
"Then the instructors should be golems as well," Stearena noted.
"I agree," Elsa said. "There’s no need to use automata for that role..."
The group continued to discuss the future of the fleet with great enthusiasm. Preparations for the World Conference and the World Security Guard were moving forward steadily.