Taking a sip of the Kuuhe Reiko had prepared, Marcia spoke up.
"What I wanted to talk about was the boats the Principality uses."
"The boats, huh...?"
Just the other day, Jin had seen their vessels at Lake Yato.
"I only caught a quick glimpse, but the boats in the Principality seem quite outdated, don't they?"
"Well, that's true."
"Since they're used for fishing, you'd think they would use something with better stability."
"Like a catamaran?"
That style of hull was Marcia and Rodrigo's specialty.
"Yeah, exactly. Or at least design them with extendable outriggers."
An outrigger—also known as an exterior stabilizing float—was essentially a component fitted with floats at the ends of extended arms to enhance stability.
"You could retract them while underway and extend them when fishing."
"Oh, I see."
"It's a concept my father and I have been looking into lately."
"That sounds great....When the time comes... or rather, maybe we could have you debut it in Avalon sometime soon?"
Jin was impressed by the idea.
"Hmm, but that's for the sea. If the waves are rough, I'd worry about the structural strength of the arms."
Marcia noted that it was strictly suited for calmer waters.
"I feel like we could solve that with the right materials, though?" Jin suggested.
"Of course, that's one option, but then cost becomes an issue..."
"Ah, right."
Unlike on Hourai Island, material costs were normally a crucial factor.
Jin offered another idea.
"Hmm... in that case, what if we made the arms flexible?"
Jin was suggesting designing them to bend rather than snap under pressure.
"Ah, I see..."
"Would it still function properly as an outrigger like that?"
"Hm. Marcia, that's certainly worth investigating."
Rodrigo also seemed keen on testing Jin's idea.
"Haha! Discussing craftsmanship with you is always so rewarding, Jin!"
Marcia was in high spirits.
Reinhard then joined in with his own thoughts.
"On a lake, flat-bottomed boats would be the most common, right?"
"For smaller vessels, yes," Jin replied.
"If speed isn't a concern, an oval or oblong shape could work well."
"Hm, I see. That's an interesting approach too," Marcia nodded with intrigue.
"Then, to increase stability, you increase the buoyancy along the perimeter."
Reinhard explained that the concept was inspired by the inflatable rubber rafts from Jin's original world.
"Hmm, true. Increasing the perimeter's buoyancy would certainly improve stability... but how would we accomplish that?"
"I think using expanded magi-resin would work. It has shock-absorbing properties, too."
Expanded magi-resin, abbreviated as EMPE, was created by pressurizing molten magi-resin and then decompressing it to form a foam—a material jointly developed by Saki and Hanna.
"I see, that's interesting. Though it wouldn't be suited for large-class ships."
Jin was impressed by the idea as well and gave his thoughts.
"Right, which is why it would be used for flat-bottomed lake fishing boats."
"Yeah, that makes sense....Though there were also fishing boats meant for several crew members."
Jin recalled the larger fishing boats he had seen on Lake Yato.
"There probably isn't much need to modify those hulls. Rather, wouldn't they need improvements to their propulsion system?"
Marcia's point was sound.
"Since they operate in shallow waters, what about something like a blow floater system?"
"Ah, the method where wind-attribute magic is directed at the sails."
Jin fondly recalled that the merchant Eckart Techles from the Celuroa Kingdom had once devised such a mechanism.
However, that method was not currently in use. There was, of course, a reason for that.
"It's ill-suited for micro-class and medium-class vessels, isn't it...?" Jin pointed out.
"I suppose you're right," Marcia replied with a wry smile.
Since a blower directed wind toward the sails, a fierce gale raged between the blower and the canvas.
While that might not matter on large-class ships with towering masts, on a small vessel, the crew would take the full brunt of the wind. The same applied to medium-class craft.
"It's a tricky problem..." Reinhard crossed his arms, lost in thought.
Just then, a transmission came through from Taisei.
"My Lord, esteemed members of the Jin Family, we will soon arrive at Planet Ars."
"Oh, is it that time already?"
"Time really flew while we were talking."
Jin and the others moved from the Observation Room to the bridge.
Planet Ars was displayed prominently on the bridge's massive magi-monitor.
"We will be above the Principality in three minutes. We plan to come to a relative stop and begin the underground scan."
"Yes, proceed as planned."
Jin nodded at Taisei's report.
Three minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
The western edge of the Lauren Continent came into view.
"Altitude is 35,000 kilometers, roughly the altitude of a satellite."
"All right. Underground Scanner, wake up."
Since preliminary tests had already been conducted on the Moon, it could be activated without concern.
After roughly one minute of operation, the scan was complete.
"Please stand by while the data is analyzed."
"Understood, thank you."
It was only natural that processing the scanned data took a little time.
After all, this was their very first attempt.
Even so, the analysis was completed within five minutes.
"Analysis complete. Displaying on the bridge's main monitor."
Taisei processed the underground data of the Four Principalities into a 3D bird's-eye view and brought it up on screen.
A direct top-down view would have made it difficult to discern the stratified subterranean layers.
"Oh, so that's what it looks like."
"Incredible. It's so clear."
Jin and the members of the Jin Family gazed at the structure for a while, each contemplating why it was shaped that way.