On June 1, Gajue Tsuga and his party departed the Darato Principality, taking to the skies to return to their garrison base in the Mimaka Principality.
The return journey took nearly eight hours of flight, bringing them back to the base just past 4:00 PM.
"Ah, I'm exhausted..."
Stepping down from the airship, Fione Fias stretched. Gajue Tsuga also stretched his back, working out the stiffness in his body.
Manon was the only one who looked completely unbothered. The pilots, on the other hand, looked just as worn out.
As young pilots who were not yet fully seasoned, eight hours had clearly taken a toll on them, even with the two taking turns at the helm.
"Good work, everyone."
After catching their breath for a moment at the airfield, Gajue Tsuga offered words of appreciation to the team.
"I know it's tough, but we depart for the Norha Principality tomorrow morning at eight o'clock. Everyone, make sure to get plenty of rest. Dismissed."
The distance to the Norha Principality's royal capital, Resonare, was roughly 450 kilometers—virtually the same as the distance to Radatora, the capital of the Darato Principality—which meant an estimated eight-hour journey at cruising speed.
"Thank you for your hard work."
"Thank you for your hard work."
Fione Fias, along with the pilot and co-pilot, offered their salutes and briskly headed toward the garrison's rest quarters.
The building housed baths and a dining hall, and a bath was undoubtedly their top priority. After all, they had gone without one throughout their stay in the Darato Principality.
"Vice-Captain Tsuga, thank you for your hard work as well. I will compile the report, so please rest for the remainder of the day," Manon offered.
"Thank you. But allow me to help with at least a rough draft."
True to form, Gajue Tsuga refused to cut corners.
The following day, on the 2nd, the pilot, co-pilot, Gajue Tsuga, Fione Fias, and Manon set out for the Norha Principality.
Their flight path took them further east than the highway stretching from north to south.
While it was a slight detour, the route was chosen to avoid flying directly over towns and sparking unnecessary friction—especially once they crossed into the Norha Principality.
"The other reason is to observe the freshwater lakes," Gajue Tsuga explained to Fione Fias.
"Lake Kotsushi and Lake Yato, correct?"
Fione Fias pictured the geography of the Four Principalities in her mind.
"Right. Those two lakes lie on an extension of the highway connecting the Mimaka Principality and the Norha Principality. Lake Yato is shared between both nations, but Lake Kotsushi belongs solely to the Norha Principality. Comparing the two should tell us a great deal."
Gajue Tsuga noted that it would shed light on how the Norha Principality viewed the Mimaka Principality, as well as the state of both nations' maritime technology.
"Understood. I will observe them carefully."
Presently, they were roughly twenty kilometers east of the highway, maintaining an altitude of about 500 meters.
The weather was clear, granting them an unobstructed view of the ground. With the aid of a telescope, surveying the terrain was effortless.
"There's so little greenery..."
"A lot of wasteland."
Perhaps because they were heading inland, the vegetation had noticeably thinned out.
"And yet, if you head further east, there is abundant greenery."
"Is that so?"
Hearing Gajue Tsuga murmur to himself, Fione Fias asked for clarification.
"Indeed. About a hundred kilometers to the east, a great, unnamed mountain range stretches north to south, and its eastern slopes are rich in green."
On the other hand, Gajue Tsuga explained, vast wilderness spanned the western side.
"Furthermore, 200 kilometers to the east lies Lake Nemu and the Scafe River flowing from it, and beyond that lies the land of Mitsuho," Manon added.
"What strikes me as odd is that even though Lake Kotsushi and Lake Yato have no rivers flowing in or out, their water levels remain nearly identical year-round."
"Ah. Just as Manon says. Once formal diplomatic ties are established, geologists will likely have a field day studying that."
"I see..."
Fione Fias fell into deep thought.
Only Manon had learned from Laojun that this geographical anomaly appeared to be the result of ancient land-altering terraforming carried out by the Origin Clan; however, knowing it was not yet the time to disclose it, she held her tongue.
"How do the inland towns along the highway secure their water, then?"
Snapping out of her thoughts, Fione Fias voiced her question.
"Apparently, digging a well occasionally hits a water vein. The odds are quite low, though."
Having spent time stationed at the garrison base, Gajue Tsuga possessed some familiarity with the Mimaka Principality's internal conditions.
(Those are almost certainly ancient riverbeds...)
Manon reasoned that the rivers flowing before the Origin Clan piled up the earth had likely become subterranean water veins.
As evidence, the highway running north to south from the Mimaka Principality to the Norha Principality traced the exact path a river would naturally carve from the water sources of Lake Kotsushi and Lake Yato.
"The highway seems to follow a slight depression along the land. One could almost call it a valley. Could it have been a riverbed long ago?"
Fione Fias offered her theory.
She was remarkably close to the truth, and Manon found herself quietly admiring Fione Fias's keen intuition.
Before long, the airship arrived above Lake Kotsushi and Lake Yato.
"Aha, so this is how it is..."
"The Norha Principality holds absolute dominance here."
The situation was apparent at a glance. Only ships bearing the banner of the Norha Principality traversed the lake.
As for the Mimaka Principality, they merely caught fish in modest amounts along the shoreline, with barely a few two-person skiffs afloat.
Aside from those, every single fishing vessel flew the flag of the Norha Principality.
"They strike me as the sort to arrogantly claim that flying that flag gives them license to do whatever they please," Gajue Tsuga remarked with a bitter edge to his voice.
"It truly does seem that way."
Possessing sharp eyesight, Manon pointed below.
"!?"
Down on the water, a large ship from the Norha Principality was clearly intimidating a small boat from the Mimaka Principality... No, it was deliberately ramming into it.
"How arrogant."
"Submitting to the strong, cowering in their shadow, yet lording over the weak. Absolutely despicable!"
Fione Fias bristled with indignation. To someone with her strong sense of justice, such behavior was utterly abhorrent.
"I hope we can put an end to this sort of thing one day!" Fione Fias declared, her fists tightly clenched.
"Yeah, I agree."
Gajue Tsuga shared her sentiment entirely.
Down below, the small craft finally managed to scramble safely onto the shore.
"Still, looking at that Norha ship... is that really the extent of their capability?"
Examining it with a cool, discerning eye, the vessel was only about ten meters long and appeared to be propelled by oars.
"It's completely outdated."
"Yes. By the standards of the Conference Countries, that design is roughly four hundred years old," Manon observed.
It appeared on par with the state of affairs when Jin had first arrived in this world—in other words, from the era before Jin had begun exerting his influence.
"Perhaps that is another thing we can help change," Fione Fias said, a glimmer of hope in her tone.
"That, too, will be part of our mission."
Carrying the crew forward, the airship finally crossed the border into the Norha Principality.
"Here we go. This nation won't be like the ones before. Stay on your toes."
"Understood."
They were roughly two hours away from reaching the royal capital of Resonare.