I sat down to speak with Aeplee and his family. Well, it was more like I questioned them about the various points I was curious about.
I started by asking if there were any other surviving members of the Kissinlee clan.
"It is just the three of us: May, our daughter, and me. Ah, pardon me. There are only the three of us," Aeplee replied.
I told him he could use his normal tone and didn't need to be so formal, but he shook his head.
"I couldn't possibly. I’ve already caused you a great deal of trouble."
I didn't push the matter and moved on. He explained that when the rebellion broke out, the others had scattered in every direction. He had no information on their whereabouts, though he hadn't heard any specific reports of them being captured or executed. I hoped they were safe, and he nodded in agreement.
Then I asked for his daughter's name.
"It is Karen," he said. "She is quite talented."
He had referred to May as his wife, so I asked if artificial lifeforms were capable of having children.
"Organisms are equipped with reproductive functions," he explained. "However, in our case, our relationship as parents is a social artifice—a 'setting,' so to speak."
When I asked what he meant by that, he explained that during their time in power, being single invited unnecessary scrutiny. People would find excuses to complain, claiming a ruler couldn't understand the feelings of married citizens. However, he insisted that his affection for his wife and daughter was genuine. He was truly happy that May was his wife and Karen was his daughter.
As for May, she hardly spoke at all. I wondered if she was just shy, but Aeplee clarified the situation.
"That is... well, it is due to her organic body being poorly adjusted. I mentioned providing our maintenance tank to the Fougma, but that tank has become quite rickety over the years."
That made sense. The organic bodies of the Fougma branch were all in peak condition, meaning they likely possessed maintenance tanks that functioned perfectly. Aeplee admitted he hoped to borrow one of their tanks, though he knew the Fougma harbored a deep grudge against him. I promised to put in a good word for him when the timing was right, and he thanked me profusely.
Eventually, the conversation turned to what Bell had been most curious about: their means of transportation. She wanted to know how they had traveled from their hidden village.
"Ah, we used an airship," Aeplee answered.
I blinked. "An airship?"
"Yes. It is essentially a vessel that flies through the sky. It uses a large bag—a gas bag, to be precise—filled with a gas lighter than air to stay aloft. It is propelled by a small engine. It isn't particularly fast, but it can travel without being hindered by the terrain."
I felt a surge of excitement. A real airship! I asked if they had come all the way to the Royal Capital in it and if it was nearby.
"N-no, we had some trouble and were forced to land," he admitted. "The engine failed due to a lack of maintenance. It was an old vessel we had kept hidden for a long time. Fortunately, our crash site was only about a day's journey from Village Five."
So they had walked to Village Five and used the teleportation gate to reach the Royal Capital.
"If not for the congestion at the teleportation gate, we would have reached the auction before the items were sold..."
"Ah, I’m sorry about that," I said.
Aeplee looked confused. "Um, why are you apologizing, Village Head?"
"Because that's my village too."
He fell silent. I told him that even in Village Five, we were taking the traffic issues seriously and considering ways to fix them.
But my mind was on the airship. I had once planned to build one with the Mountain Elves to connect the Village of the Great Tree and Village Four, but we had abandoned the project once the Universal Ship was completed. We figured there was no need to force it, as the Universal Ship was superior in performance. I understood that logically, but I still had a soft spot for the idea of an airship. I had never actually been on one.
I set out to see the vessel immediately. It was located about a day's walk east of Village Five. It was hidden away, but because of its size, we spotted it from the air almost instantly.
It was magnificent. It looked like a sailing ship where the sails had been replaced by a long, slender envelope containing a massive balloon—the gas bag. There were three of them in total: a large main bag in the center, flanked by two smaller sub-bags. The left sub-bag was completely deflated, and the main bag looked like it had lost some of its pressure. The trouble he mentioned must have been a gas leak. Only the right sub-bag seemed intact.
The power source connected to the propeller had apparently caught fire during the emergency landing, as it was covered in scorch marks. It would have been too dangerous to try and start it there, meaning it was currently grounded.
That wasn't a problem, however. We had Hakuren.
"So I just need to carry this home?" she asked.
"Yes, please. Take it to the racetrack in the Village of the Great Tree."
"Leave it to me!"
Hakuren transformed into her dragon form and scooped up the airship. Looking at her, I couldn't help but think she looked like a dragon clutching a giant body pillow. It was surprisingly cute.
As for the ownership of the vessel, Aeplee had officially given it to me. It would have been impossible for his group to move or repair it in their current situation, so they would have been forced to abandon it anyway. Therefore, I accepted it as part of the reward for recovering Karen’s Memory Unit.
I didn't take it by force; I made sure to tell them that we might be able to repair it, but they insisted I have it. In exchange, I decided I would support their living expenses for the foreseeable future, as it felt like a bit too much to take for free.
I reflected on how things might have gone differently if the noble child who stole Karen had just talked to Aeplee. He might have been given the airship as well. Then again, no one would ever suspect such a thing was hidden in a regular village.
When we returned to the Village of the Great Tree, the Universal Ship was sulking. It had actually tipped itself over on its side in protest. I had expected as much, so I was prepared.
"Universal Ship, listen closely," I said. "That airship... is your younger sister!"
The ship seemed to reel from the shock of my words, as if struck by lightning. I had to tell Hakuren to stop the dramatic lightning effects before she actually hit something, but the ruse worked.
The Universal Ship’s mood improved instantly, though it immediately began pressuring us to start the repairs. It even started helping out like a piece of heavy machinery, which made the work much easier.
I wasn't the one in charge of the restoration; that role went to Bell from Village Four. She apparently had extensive knowledge of such vessels. While she had been hesitant to touch anything belonging to the Kissinlee family at first, her mind changed the moment she saw the ship.
According to her, the airship was originally a royal vessel.
"The emblems and decorations have been stripped away, so it was likely sold off at some point," Bell noted. "How tragic. I will certainly restore it to its former glory."
With a motivated Bell leading the charge, Lu, Tia, the High Elves, the Mountain Elves, and the Angels all joined in to help. I assisted wherever I could, mostly because I really wanted to see the thing fly.
Since it was the middle of summer, I kept a close eye on the workers to make sure they didn't overexert themselves. I made sure everyone working outdoors wore hats and stayed hydrated. The Ice Monster helped out by placing large blocks of ice around the site to keep the area cool.
The Mountain Elves began dismantling the damaged power unit. I worried for a moment if they could put it back together, but they assured me they were taking meticulous notes. I told them to be careful not to use brute force.
"Village Head," one of them called out.
"What is it?"
"Could we have you make wooden replicas of these parts? Copies, if you will."
"I don't mind, but do you really need them?"
"We want to use them for research," they explained with a grin. "There are a lot of structural concepts here that we’ve never encountered before."
They looked like they were having the time of their lives.
"Once we've fixed this one," they continued, "we want to try building an airship of our own from scratch."
"That sounds like a great idea," I replied. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with."