"Whoa, it's flying!"
"It sure is."
The GFX-01—the first Blow Floater prototype built by Freddie and Greena—circled lazily over the plaza in front of Jin Nidou Castle under the control of the automaton Shal.
The designation "GFX-01" combined the "G" from Greena, the "F" from Freddie, an "X" for prototype, and a sequential unit number.
"Blow Floaters are naturally best suited for this kind of leisurely cruising," Jin explained. "That's why competing for speed, like during the race the other day, requires all sorts of clever adaptations."
"Yes, making one ourselves really drove that point home," Freddie replied.
"Looking at it now, it really does feel like Blow Floaters were made for relaxed flying," Greena added.
"Indeed. There's no doubt about that. You just need to take that baseline and build on it. I'm sure the two of you can pull it off," Jin said in an encouraging tone. "And nobody expects you to do it completely alone, either. If you get stuck or hit a wall, feel free to rely on me."
"Th-Thank you so much!"
"Keep at it....Well, I'm heading over to Onogoro Island now."
With that, Jin made his way toward the Warp Gate inside Jin Nidou Castle.
"In a different way from Rubina, they're going to turn out to be fine engineers," he murmured to himself along the corridor.
The only one who caught his quiet remark was Reiko, walking faithfully at his side.
Upon arriving on Onogoro Island, Jin immediately noticed an unusual bustle in the air.
"...What's all this?"
Stepping outside the Warp Gate Room, he looked up to find the model airplanes he had previously made buzzing all across the open sky, surrounded by a large crowd of spectators cheering and watching the spectacle.
The Warp Gate Jin had used this time exited right next to the airfield, chosen because it would be far more convenient for test-flying the prototype aircraft they planned to build.
"Hmm..."
Watching the model airplanes dart back and forth across the grounds, Jin was able to guess what had happened.
They probably watched the broadcast of the 1st Marikka Cup Air Race and got inspired—or rather, it got their blood pumping—and they just couldn't sit still anymore... he deduced.
His guess was almost certainly right on the mark.
"Quite a crowd..."
No matter where people lived, a longing for the open sky was something everyone shared, Jin mused.
"Ah, Jin-sama!"
Rubina was the first to spot him approaching.
"Hey there, sorry to keep you waiting....So, what's going on here?"
"Ah, Jin-sama, welcome!...Well, seeing the air race broadcast kind of awakened everyone to how exciting planes and aircraft can be..."
In short, everyone simply wanted to try it out for themselves.
"What are they, children?"
An exasperated chuckle escaped Jin's lips.
It was a sentiment born from his own memories of seeing kids rush to imitate the hero, the heroine, or occasionally the (cool) villain immediately after an anime broadcast.
At any rate, people had made numerous replicas of the model airplanes from the recent competition and were now lending them out.
Apparently, a few enthusiastic islanders had even built and flown their own custom designs.
"So Onogoro Island is in the middle of a model airplane craze, huh?"
"That's about the size of it."
Since the islanders could not leave the island—and most had no desire to leave anyway—flying models was a natural alternative to full-sized aircraft.
"It's certainly safer that way, and it requires much less space..."
Jin felt this was perfectly fine in its own right.
"Though eventually, models might not be enough and they'll want to move on to the real thing."
After all, that had been his own experience.
Given the right tools and environment, graduating from scale models to full-sized aircraft was always a natural progression.
"...So, how are your designs coming along?"
"Very well."
"Please take a look at these."
Welcoming Jin inside, Lordtoss and Rubina laid out the results of their brainstorming.
"I see—a tailless aircraft design."
Spread across the table were numerous sheets of paper filled with design sketches.
There were circular wings, elliptical wings, diamond wings, and more.
And among them was a delta wing.
"...Yeah, it has to be this one, doesn't it?"
Shaped like an inverted western kite, the design immediately drew Jin's eye. He picked up the drawing to study it closely.
"An origami airplane..."
"Eh?"
Hearing his quiet mutter, Lordtoss and Rubina looked up from the table.
"Mind if I borrow a sheet of paper?"
"Ah, go right ahead."
Taking a sheet roughly the size of an A4 page, Jin deftly began folding it.
"...?"
Lordtoss and Rubina watched him in curious silence.
The craft of origami was virtually unheard of on Planet Ars.
In the ancient past, the magus Shuuki Tsetse—a traveler who had strayed from Earth—had folded a paper crane for his beloved daughter, Adriana Barbora Tsetse. Aside from that single relic, Jin had never encountered the art anywhere on this world.
Before plant-fiber paper became available, written records relied almost exclusively on animal parchment, making crisp, intricate folds virtually impossible.
Naturally, no one in their right mind would have shaved down expensive parchment just to play at folding it.
"There, all finished."
What Jin had crafted was a paper airplane—specifically, the squid-type design featuring small front-mounted canard-style ailerons.
"What is this, Jin-sama?"
In response to Rubina's curious inquiry, Jin smiled.
"Just watch."
With a gentle flick of his wrist, he launched the plane into the air.
"Ah!"
"It's gliding...!"
It was the classic squid-type paper airplane that Jin had folded countless times out of advertising circulars as a boy.
"Do you think we could adapt this concept?"
It was an idea Jin had quietly turned over in his mind for some time.
A disc wing acted essentially like a parachute, whereas this was a true glider.
By giving the craft gliding capability, they could significantly reduce the danger of sudden crashes while affording the pilot greater control over where to touch down.
"Its straight-line stability should be solid, too, which means it will handle high speeds well."
Both Lordtoss and Rubina latched onto the proposal with immediate enthusiasm.
"As expected of Jin-sama!"
"Jin-sama, let's go with this one!!"
"All right, let's get to work on the details."
With their direction decided, the three of them set about thoroughly analyzing the delta wing configuration.