After dinner, I gathered the representatives of each race and went over the details of Prada’s map. I explained my plan to borrow some miners from Howlin Village and head out on a trial expedition using the airship—and that I intended to go with them.
"Hold on, hold on, hold on!" Lu interrupted me.
I wondered for a moment if she was against me joining the trip, but that didn't seem to be the case. So, why stop me?
"Look right here on the map," she said. "What did you say was written in this spot?"
"Sword Demon Crystals."
"And here?"
"Silver Demon Crystals."
"Then what about this area?"
"Those are Fire Demon Crystals, and these over here are Beast Demon Crystals. Our primary objective is the Wing Demon Crystals here, but—"
"I don't care about the Wing Demon Crystals right now. Basically, the larger the box for these designs, the higher the potential for a massive yield, right?"
"Y-yes, that seems to be how it works."
"You, sit right there for a minute."
"Eh?"
She ushered me into a chair a short distance away and raised her hand. "Everyone who understands the weight of this, assemble!"
Tia and Marbit hurried over to Lu with intense expressions, and the three of them began whispering urgently in a tight huddle. Soon after, they proposed a new flight path for the airship. It seemed they wanted to perform trial mining for all the other minerals as well, not just the Wing Demon Crystals. They could have just said so; it wasn't as if I would have opposed it.
Wait... Sword Demon Crystals were used for magic capable of strengthening entire armies at once? Is that why every military in the world sought them? Apparently, major nations had even gone to war over those crystals in the past, and according to the girls, both of the primary nations involved ended up being destroyed. In any case, Sword Demon Crystals weren't something we could just leave lying around. Whether we actually used them or not was secondary; they wanted to make sure we secured them. I see.
Then there were the Silver Demon Crystals. They were so rare and valuable that there were legends of commoners being elevated to nobility just for presenting a shard the size of a pinky finger. Since they were a vital component for numerous types of magic, the demand was endless, and history was littered with major incidents involving them.
Next, Fire Demon Crystals were the ultimate "dream item" for any mage. They were so expensive that most would never be able to afford one, but every practitioner hoped to hold one at least once before they died. A staff crafted with a Fire Demon Crystal supposedly gained the power to amplify every form of magic imaginable.
Finally, Beast Demon Crystals were treated with such reverence that they were objects of worship for the Beastman Race, regardless of their size. They were apparently perfect for summoning techniques. There was even a legend that the Beastman Race had once used them to summon a Beast God. I wondered if summoning a god was really a safe thing to do, but since it was just a legend, the truth remained a mystery.
Regardless, even if I was being told that now was no time to be fussing over Wing Demon Crystals, our original goal was to find the fuel source needed to generate levitation gas. I felt we couldn't afford to forget that. Besides, these were just markings on a map; we had no idea if anything was actually there. That was why we were going on a trial run. I reminded everyone not to be too disappointed if we came up empty-handed.
In the end, my participation in the expedition was approved.
Now, regarding the airship itself. During its time as a passenger ship, its capacity had been eighty people, including staff and guests. In reality, it could carry far more, but since there were only eighty beds installed, that had become the official limit. Since the ship would serve as our lodging during the trip, the expedition would be capped at eighty participants.
We were borrowing ten miners from Howlin Village, which left seventy spots. Even so, I wasn't about to drag seventy more people along.
The absolute minimum requirement for operation was three people. While we wouldn't be flying around the clock, we adopted a three-shift system for the night watch, meaning we needed nine people for the crew. The Mountain Elves volunteered for this immediately. They had been involved in the repairs and had handled several of the test flights, so there were no concerns there.
Next were the cooks to manage our meals during the journey. Three High Ogre Maids were assigned to accompany us. I thought we might need a few more, but the maids had a lot of work to do back in the village, so I was simply grateful that three could come.
Since we weren't running a commercial flight, we didn't need cabin attendants or medical staff. However, extra hands were always useful, so five High Elves led by Ria joined the roster. I asked them to serve as assistants to the High Ogre Maids.
Then there was the command structure: myself as the Airship Captain, with Lu and Tia as my Vice Captains. In reality, I was little more than a guest or a figurehead. Lu and Tia would be the ones actually overseeing the mining operations and making the necessary judgments.
For my personal protection, Galf, Daga, and Reginleiv would be coming along, and ten members of the Angel Race were assigned to serve as aerial escorts for the airship itself.
Finally, to deal with any magic beasts or monsters we might encounter at the site, thirty of Kuro’s pups and fifty of Zabuton’s children were added to the party.
With that, the roster was set!
...Or so I thought, but the Universal Ship was being quite stubborn about coming along. Tou tried to talk it out of it, asking what would happen to the transport jobs for Village Four, but the ship wasn't budging. It looked like it was going to follow us regardless. Honestly, having the Universal Ship with us would be safer than relying on the airship alone. The trip was only supposed to last a few days, so I figured we could just move the Village Four cargo ahead of schedule. When I took the Universal Ship’s side, Tou gave me a look and warned me that I was being far too soft on the vessel.
Even for a short trip, we needed time to prepare both the airship and the miners from Howlin Village. The kitchen facilities on the ship were a particular concern. Originally, it must have been fully equipped with magic tools, but Aeplee and his supporters had sold them all off to survive. That meant we had to install everything from scratch. Since we were doing that anyway, we selected high-quality tools that were easy to use. I was glad we had already developed several cooking-related magic tools for the confectionery shop.
The High Ogre Maids told me they needed time to familiarize themselves with the new equipment. They were confident they could use them, but since they were responsible for feeding such a large group, they wanted everything to be perfect. I understood their professional pride.
Because of these logistical delays, we couldn't depart right away. In the meantime, I had the crew take the village residents on sightseeing flights over the forest. The children were absolutely thrilled—at least for the first hour. Once they finished exploring every nook and cranny of the ship, they started to get bored. They were still too young to appreciate just sitting back and relaxing; the airship probably didn't provide enough excitement for them. They were already used to flying through the sky on the backs of Hakuren or Rusty, or riding on the Universal Ship. A few of them, however, seemed to really enjoy playing in the captain’s seat.
Hakuren and Rusty also took a ride, but the slow cruising speed didn't quite sit right with them.
"It’s nice that you keep moving toward the destination even while you’re asleep," Hakuren admitted.
"The sensation of moving so slowly the entire time is just a bit..." Rusty added, trailing off.
The ones who really took a liking to the ship were the Angels and the Harpies.
"It’s the perfect resting place in mid-air," they said.
"This relaxed atmosphere is wonderful."
"I want to live here!"
They were all chatting and laughing happily.
The Dwarves and Lizardmen, as I expected, were far more interested in the sake on board than the ship itself or the view outside. The High Elves, on the other hand, looked at it from a more practical perspective.
"As a means of transport, it has potential."
"Instead of moving by day, wouldn't it be better to use it as a high-altitude refuge at night?"
"If it’s for surveillance, we could use a few more windows looking straight down."
"The sound of the power source is a problem. Can we make it quieter? At this rate, we can't use it for a surprise attack."
Wait, who said that last part? I have no intention of using this thing for surprise attacks. Besides, who would we even be attacking? We didn't have any enemies. And no matter how much they asked, I wasn't going to let them paint camouflage patterns on the gas bag or the cabins.
Then there was the matter of the name. Apparently, it had been called the Malgrew in the past, but we decided to change it. I thought the original name was fine, but Bell was concerned. Given that Aeplee and the others had almost certainly acquired the ship through illicit means, continuing to use the old name might draw unwanted political attention. For instance, surviving members of the Kissinlee family might show up to try and reclaim it. Since Aeplee’s group had survived, we couldn't be sure there weren't others out there.
Since I wanted to avoid trouble as much as anyone, I didn't object to the change. But what should the new name be? Usually, I would ask for suggestions from the villagers and pick one by lottery, but there was a surprising amount of pushback on that idea. The Universal Ship insisted that because it was an important name, it should be decided through serious discussion.
Discussion sounded like a lot of work, so I told the Universal Ship it could choose the name itself. Since then, the ship has been voraciously "reading" books. It can't open them or turn the pages on its own, so Tou has been stuck doing the manual labor for it. It seemed it really wanted to give its younger sister a beautiful name.
Do your best, Universal Ship. And you too, Tou. I hate to rush them, but I really hoped they would settle on something before we left for the excavation.
"If you're putting this much thought into the name," Tou muttered, "doesn't that make her your daughter rather than your sister?"
The Universal Ship went silent.
"I’m sorry," Tou said a moment later. "The Universal Ship has barricaded itself in the dock and won't come out..."
"See?" I sighed. "This is what happens when you say something weird."