The twenty small high-speed boats were completed without a hitch.
"What are you going to name them?"
"How about 'Kingfisher'?"
"Yeah, that has quite a nice ring to it."
It was the English name for the kingfisher bird.
Marcia had once named her trimaran "Halcyon," which also referred to the kingfisher.
In any case, the small high-speed boats assigned to Deus Ex Machina were officially named the Kingfisher class.
Next up was air power.
Next came the aircraft.
True to his promise, when Jin called for Lordtoss and Ludmila, both came rushing over immediately.
"Jin-san, what kind of craft are we making?!"
Lordtoss's eyes sparkled.
Ludmila stood quietly beside him, but the sharp intake of her breath made it clear she could barely contain her excitement.
"Let's see. A VTOL craft that has speed and solid offensive capabilities, I suppose."
Since the foundation was a Blow Floater, vertical takeoff and landing would be effortless.
As for speed, that would be addressed through the craft's aerodynamic shape.
"Offensive capability... well, that should be fine. As long as it has a Magi Trans Cannon and a laser."
Jin showed his sketches to Lordtoss and Ludmila, explaining the concepts as they looked on.
"...And that's the gist of it."
"I see... so it's a more slender type of airship, then?"
"Right. That'll minimize air resistance."
Since it was built for combat, the crew would consist of two members. Because those crew members would be golems, cabin habitability—like pressurization and climate control—could be kept to an absolute minimum.
The craft would be that much lighter, boosting both its speed and maneuverability.
The power source was free ether, so even with its propulsion system and armaments included, it was incomparably lighter than any modern Earth aircraft.
It featured a slender, teardrop-shaped fuselage measuring twenty meters long and five meters wide.
However, being a Blow Floater, its lower half was just a bare framework, identical to Jin's Hurricane.
Because of this familiar design, the prototype was completed in no time.
"Ooooh..."
"I-It's finished already?!"
Since the basic configuration mirrored the Hurricane, assembly went off without a hitch.
With the Smiths assisting, even a structure of this scale could be constructed in short order.
During the process, the Smiths anticipated Jin's every need—proactively supporting whatever he had in mind before he even had to ask. It was a feat only possible for the Smiths, who could trace Jin's thoughts directly.
The same held true for Reiko; unless Jin intended to do something completely unconventional, a single word from him was all that was needed.
It was little wonder Lordtoss and Ludmila were so astounded.
"What are you going to name it?"
"Let's see... How about 'Komet'?"
Komet was the German word for comet.
During World War II, the rocket-powered fighter aircraft developed in Germany, the Messerschmitt Me 163, was also known as the Komet.
If one stripped the main wings from that stubby airframe, it bore more than a passing resemblance to the Blow Floater they had just finished.
"I'm not entirely sure what a 'comet' is, but it sounds wonderful."
It seemed that while Star Celane had long-period planets, comets never passed through the system.
Regardless, the name sounded fitting enough, so Jin decided to designate this model the Komet.
"All right, let's build nineteen more of them."
Jin declared as he looked over the first unit, which was marked "Komet 1."
At his command, one hundred Smiths set to work.
"The support from the Smiths is truly incredible, isn't it...?"
The Smiths were a vital pillar supporting Hourai Island's extraordinary manufacturing capacity.
Right now, they were hard at work producing the nineteen matching craft.
In the meantime, Jin decided to conduct a test flight of Komet 1.
The test pilot was Sky 1001.
"Well then, I shall be off."
Without an ounce of hesitation, Sky 1001 boarded Komet 1.
Under the watchful eyes of Jin, Lordtoss, and the others, Komet 1 climbed smoothly into the air. After gaining sufficient altitude, it transitioned to level flight.
"Oh, it's fast! Really fast!"
"Incredible! It has that much power right out of the gate?"
Lordtoss watched with wide, amazed eyes.
"Well, the basic setup is identical to the Hurricane. Only the dimensions of the components are different, so it wasn't likely to fail....Reiko, what speed is it clocking right now?"
"Yes, Father. By visual estimate, it is traveling at roughly 300 kilometers per hour."
"A splendid result."
The projected target had been 250 kilometers per hour, so this performance was more than satisfactory.
Next, Komet 1 transitioned to maneuverability testing.
It chained together loops and tight turns—Immelmann turns, Split S maneuvers, and more.
Given its flight principles, prolonged inverted flight was impossible under normal circumstances, but engaging a force generator changed the equation entirely.
Ultimately, by coordinating its windbreak barrier and force generator, they conducted supersonic flight tests and confirmed that the craft could reach Mach 3.
"All right, that's more than enough."
Satisfied, Jin called an end to the test.
"...As expected of Jin-san."
Lordtoss let out a soft sigh of admiration.
"It's breathtaking. I can't help but admire it."
Ludmila showered it with praise as well.
During that roughly one-hour test flight, the remaining nineteen craft of the Komet line had already been finished. Subsequent test flights for each unit revealed zero defects.
With that, Arcadia's aerial forces were fully assembled.
"Next up are the ground forces, I suppose."
Given the current state of the world, it was unlikely they would see much action, but one never knew when the need might arise.
"We'll base the multi-legged tanks on Capricorn 1, and the giant golems on the Titan."
Templates existed for both, so manufacturing them would be straightforward.
The only issue was their aesthetic design.
Jin couldn't simply make them look identical to his own machines.
"Lordtoss, Ludmila. Would you two be willing to handle the exterior designs?"
Jin decided to entrust the task to them.
"Leave it to us!"
"Please let us do it!"
Both of them jumped at the opportunity.
"All right, let's head back to the laboratory for now."
It was just about time for dinner anyway.
"Would you two like to stay the night?" Jin asked.
"Yes, gladly!"
"We'd love to!"
The pair beamed with joy.
That very night, Lordtoss and Ludmila stayed up and drafted several design sketches.