Balkan vividly remembered the first time he touched the suspension. Uniform stress distribution. Delicate heat treatment.
And the surprising idea of absorbing shock using an oil pipe... This was not an object that could have come from the fingertips of short-lived humans. It had to be the work of his own kind.
Even the elders gathered at the great dwarf council had unanimously agreed. It was impossible for anyone to create such a thing, unless they were a poor kinsman who had lost their way in the chaos of war and drifted into human society. So, Balkan had rushed across the continent to the capital.
He had been surprised to find that a mountain on the way to the capital had vanished entirely, but that was all. Right now, saving his lost kinsman was the priority. That kinsman, surprisingly, seemed to be affiliated with the Magic Tower.
Well, that made sense. To human eyes, a dwarf's hammering must look like magic. Highly advanced ironworking was no different from magic, after all.
But...
Balkan's hope of finding his kinsman was shattered. It broke in two, like steel that had failed its quenching.
Clang! Clang!
The rhythmic sound of the power hammer filled the workshop. Before Balkan's eyes, a human blacksmith was skillfully handling red-hot steel.
‘Impossible...’
Balkan muttered to himself. Dwarves are born with a sense for the structure of metal. It was an innate sense.
Just as mages feel mana.
‘Humans shouldn't have that sense...’
Balkan carefully observed what the human blacksmiths were doing. When the old blacksmith called Tobin shaped the steel's frame using the power hammer, the young man named Callen immediately took over and made detailed adjustments. They were gauging the internal state of the metal solely by its color and vibrations.
It was extremely inefficient, but... a beautiful effort was visible. The two craftsmen worked as if they were one body. And the device that made this flow possible, the power hammer.
It was said to be the creation of the human suspected to be his kinsman, Isaac Upperhills. In other words, the suspension was a product created by three craftsmen becoming one. The skill of each individual was no match for a dwarf craftsman, but their roles interlocked perfectly like the gears of a machine.
Tobin, who had been absorbed in his work, sensed a presence and turned off the power hammer.
"Well, well, what kind of troublesome job are you here to give me now?"
Tobin approached, wiping away his sweat. Isaac smiled and shook his head.
"It's not about work. I brought someone who wanted to tour the workshop."
Tobin's gaze fell on Balkan. His eyes widened.
"..."
Balkan wondered if he should speak first. What should he say? Good job burning through your short life?
Then, Tobin's mouth opened.
"Could you be... a dwarf?"
"Yes... my name is Balkan."
Balkan extended his rough hand. Tobin took it, flustered. The hand of the human blacksmith, Tobin, smelled of iron.
"For a human... your skill is quite remarkable."
Balkan muttered under his breath.
"Enough to make me mistake you for a dwarf."
"Haha... to think I'd live to be praised by a dwarf. It's an honor. I am Tobin."
"... For a human, you have manners too."
At Balkan's words, Tobin shook his head.
"It's the proper respect one should show a senior who has walked this path before."
"... I hope you will continue to forge fine steel, Tobin."
"You as well, Lord Balkan."
Afterward, Balkan also introduced himself to Callen.
‘I like them both...’
If he had his way, he would have wanted to gather around the furnace right away and talk all night. But pleasure had to be postponed. He had more urgent matters at hand.
‘I can't keep the client waiting any longer.’
Balkan turned his head and looked at Isaac.
"So. What weapon do you want to make?"
At the word "weapon," both Tobin's and Callen's eyes fixed on Isaac.
Isaac answered.
"Before I tell you, can I have your promise to keep this matter a secret?"
"Keeping a commission secret is a dwarf's basic courtesy. I swear on my beard."
Having received Balkan's confirmation, Isaac took a thick bundle of paper from his coat and spread it on the workbench.
"This is it. The workshop staff should take a look too."
On it was a complex blueprint of some kind of mechanical device. It was not simple engineering but magical engineering, so even Balkan could not understand all of it. He wasn't sure what it was for, but... the difficulty of its creation was absurdly high.
It would take at least three or four dwarves.
"So there was a reason you came to me even with a monstrous machine like this."
It was enough to stir a sense of challenge in him. Balkan asked Isaac.
"What in the world are you trying to make?"
"A warship."
"What?"
"We are going to build a ship that flies in the sky."
I explained the outline of the 'airship' project to the people in the workshop and Balkan. As proof that I had the core technology, I also showed them how I could control the floating stone. Callen's jaw dropped.
Tobin also looked back and forth between the blueprint and the floating stone with a face of disbelief. They must have a pile of questions by now.
"Any questions?"
At my words, Tobin shook his head.
"This is crazy. I heard that flying in the sky is almost impossible even with magic... How on earth."
Just as I was about to answer, Callen answered first.
"It's easier if you just accept that 'it works.' The Chairman is now trying to conquer even the sky."
"... Is that so?"
"That's right."
The two of them convinced themselves without even hearing my answer. How did it come to this? I shifted my gaze to Balkan.
He was staring intently at the floating stone with his arms crossed.
"Any questions?"
At my question, Balkan slowly opened his mouth.
"Can it really... fly in the sky?"
"Yes."
"Can you swear it?"
"Yes. I can swear it on my mana, and I can even fly you up above the clouds right now."
Balkan stared at me intently. A moment later, he spoke.
"... No. Flying alone has no meaning. Unless I'm flying with my kinsmen."
To fly with his kinsmen. What did that mean? It didn't feel like, ‘If you got a new car, you should give your friends a ride first!’
Balkan's words carried a strange weight.
He spoke.
"Building it according to the design seems quite tricky."
"That's why I asked for your help. We need dwarven technology."
Balkan tapped the blueprint with his finger.
"The scale of the airship in the design is for only 10 people. What's the reason?"
"We lack the manpower to build it any larger. This is the limit with just our workshop."
"In that case..."
Balkan looked me straight in the eye and said.
"If I persuade my kinsmen to help, can you build a ship that can carry not 10, but 1,000 people?"
1,000 people.
I quickly ran the calculations in my head. I didn't know the principle, but I had already figured out the conditions for controlling the range of the floating stone. It could carry His Majesty and me, maintaining the temperature and pressure of the air we needed to breathe, all the way up to the stratosphere and back.
In principle, there was no problem with increasing the scale. In fact, that would be more efficient. The floating stone was a rare ancient artifact.
So rare that there was no guarantee of finding a second one. If I could only build one, it was better to build a giant warship. I said to Balkan.
"It would be possible. But you would have to bring that many people."
At my answer, Callen and Tobin started whispering.
"Wow. At that size, wouldn't it be almost a flying fortress?"
"A fortress... If there are really no restrictions like that, you could just lay circuits over a whole landmass and make an entire island float."
"Crazy... The sky island fairy tale will become a reality."
While the two of them were getting ahead of themselves, Balkan's gaze remained fixed on me.
"..."
"..."
Balkan's beard twitched. More accurately, his mouth was probably moving beneath his beard. Was there something more he wanted to say?
"Is there something else you'd like to propose?"
Hoo...
Balkan let out a deep sigh and muttered.
"Should I... be saying this to humans I've just met..."
Balkan looked at me, Tobin, and Callen in turn.
He continued.
"If the airship that can carry a thousand people is completed, I want you to take my kinsmen and bring them somewhere."
"Where to?"
"A sky island."
In her office in the Imperial Palace, Princess Isolde was listening to a report from Marquis Rockshooter. It was to hear the pros and cons from the Noble Council regarding the task of converting all of the Empire's administrative work to paper. Marquis Rockshooter, the head of the Noble Council, spoke to the princess.
"There is almost no opposition within the Noble Council. Except for the families deeply involved in sheep farming."
"And there are no factions siding with them?"
"No, Your Highness. For the past year, they controlled the supply even as the price of parchment soared, so public opinion within the Noble Council was not favorable toward them."
"I see."
The princess was relieved. The high price of parchment had worked greatly in her favor. She was lucky.
‘Or was it not luck?’
The princess was lost in thought for a moment. As far as she knew, the recent price of parchment had been driven by demand. And that was led by the church and the Magic Tower.
The Magic Tower's demand had naturally surged thanks to the new fields of study led by Isaac... As for the church...
‘They were buying up parchment to revise the scriptures because of the Principia...’
Could it be that the rise in parchment prices was Isaac's intention all along? Normally, she would have assumed it was Isaac's arrangement, but...
"..."
"..."
The princess recalled Isaac's appearance during the Festival of Longevity. Just thinking of 'researcher mode' Isaac from that time made everything confusing.
‘Was it luck...? or skill...?’
The gazes of the secretaries turned to the absent-mindedly pondering princess. The princess felt their gazes and cleared her throat.
"Ahem...! My apologies. I had something to think about for a moment."
"Not at all. We know you were contemplating the future of the Empire."
"..."
"..."
The princess's conscience pricked her. Could thinking about Isaac's intentions be considered worrying about the Empire's future? ... Either way, for now, she had to think about the matter of paper.
‘I'm glad. The capital needed to improve its system and take the lead before the regional lords could catch up.’
Of course, this was only possible under the assumption that paper would be supplied stably. The princess asked her secretaries.
"What is the paper supply situation?"
"We are increasing the supply as much as possible, and the Upperhills Workshop is said to be reinvesting most of its profits into expanding their paper mill. Therefore, the current bottleneck is judged to be temporary."
The princess nodded. For now, Upperhills Paper would be able to handle the capital's demand. But she felt it intuitively.
Before long, the use of paper would increase explosively. She didn't know what form it would take, but... the world before and after paper seemed like it would be qualitatively different. When that time came, what should the imperial family do?
Just as she was deep in thought, the Dean's voice echoed in her head. —'Your Highness. Do you have a moment?' It was Telepathy.
"Speak." —'It's just that the Iron Mountains seem to have their eyes on our Sir Upperhills, so I am contacting you.'
"... The dwarves?"
The princess's face contorted at the Dean's report. The dwarves were mistaking Isaac for one of their own and trying to take him away. If, by some one in a thousand, one in ten thousand chance, Isaac was taken away...
She pushed it aside and rushed outside. The princess, accompanied only by her guards, immediately went to find Isaac. But Isaac was neither at the Magic Tower nor at the foundation.
"Where on earth did he go at a time like this...?"
"Could he have gone to the workshop, perhaps?"
"The workshop?"
A ominous feeling washed over her for some reason. The princess immediately headed for the Upperhills Workshop.
"Your Highness! You've come at a good time."
Isaac waved his hand in welcome.
"A good time...?"
Could it be... Did something happen?
Isaac spoke.
"About that airship plan I mentioned before. The dwarves have agreed to help."
"They've already made contact?"
"Yes. They've returned to their home country for now."
"... A step too late."
She had heard that dwarves were impatient, but she didn't know they would be this fast. It was beyond imagination. The princess asked Isaac.
"You remember that, according to Imperial law, mages of the Magic Tower cannot change their affiliation before graduation, correct?"
"Oh, of course."
Isaac continued nonchalantly.
"My affiliation will remain the same."
"The dwarves are going to come here and help me."
"What?"
"I'll explain slowly."
The princess received a report from Isaac about the situation so far.
‘Isaac isn't going anywhere, but dwarven engineers are coming to the capital...’
Isaac smiled brightly and said.
"This is good news, right?"
"... It is good news."
If things went well, she might even be able to receive a transfer of dwarven technology.
She continued.
"Still, don't forget that the imperial family has agreed to fund the construction."
"Of course. The trial run will just be done with the dwarves."
The princess was relieved by the fact that she hadn't lost Isaac. But at the same time, a question arose. Why on earth would the proud dwarves come down from their mountains of their own accord to help a human?
The princess immediately asked Isaac about this.
"You must know something, right?"
"..."
"..."
But Isaac remained silent at the princess's question. The princess asked him again.
"Is it a situation you cannot speak of even to me?"
"I'm sorry... I made a promise with Mr. Balkan."
"..."
Bow.
Isaac lowered his head.
‘To be so bold in front of me, the princess.’
If he were an ordinary noble, she would have made him talk immediately out of sheer annoyance. But, strangely enough... Isaac acting this way didn't seem bad.
"Very well. I will not ask any further."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
The princess smiled. In truth, it didn't matter if she knew the dwarves' circumstances or not. As always, the mage before her would handle things well on his own.
"... Why are you looking at me like that?"
"It's nothing."
It was just that she wanted to know more about him in detail.