Episode 88 A heavy silence hung in the office of the Upperhills Workshop. It was because Princess Isolde's expression had darkened abruptly after seeing the revised airship design. Watching her, a cold sweat ran down my spine.
Damn it.
Was I wrong? I thought the Imperial family would have plenty of funds, but it seems they're unexpectedly sensitive about budget issues. 'No, they were fine with the paper, the typewriter, and the metric system....
Why stop now! Just spend more!' The princess opened her mouth.
"For the estimated construction cost to suddenly double."
The princess's voice was cold and subdued. I instinctively straightened my posture. 'This isn't the time for games...'
The princess continued, "What is the reason, Sir Balkan?"
Run! Run!
I urgently looked at Balkan and shook my head. But Balkan lightly ignored my desperate signal. He answered confidently.
"Well, it's because a thing that floats in the sky doesn't look pretty if it has right angles."
At Balkan's answer, the princess pressed her temples.
'It's over.'
For a moment, my mind went blank. A moment later, the princess said, "...
Sir Balkan.
We cannot waste the state treasury for a mere matter of aesthetics."
"Hm? Why is that a waste? Beauty is proof of perfection."
"... If you continue to be stubborn, we will have no choice but to reconsider our promise not to use the airship in war for 99 years after its construction without your kingdom's consent."
At the princess's hard-line stance, Balkan's beard twitched.
"Are you saying you'll break the contract? That you'll exclude us?"
"The Empire already has Isaac's source technology. We can just take decades to complete it with our own hands."
"Hmm..."
Balkan let out a groan. The atmosphere froze in an instant. 'I shouldn't have asked to spend more money.'
I overstepped.
At this rate, the negotiations are going to fall apart. I had to step in.
"Wait a moment. I think there's a misunderstanding between you two."
I inserted myself between them.
"What Sir Balkan meant by 'beautiful' is not what you think, Your Highness."
The princess's gaze turned to me. I faced the princess's cold expression... faced her...?
What's this?
As soon as our eyes met, the princess's expression softened.
"... Your Highness?"
"It's nothing. Please continue."
The change in attitude is a bit disconcerting, but for now, I have to seize the opportunity. I began to explain calmly.
"The dwarves have quite a bit of knowledge about the sky. Enough to have developed various flying devices even before the airship."
I watched the princess's expression carefully. Fortunately, she was listening intently.
"In other words, when dwarves say something is 'beautiful for flying,' they mean it's more advantageous for flight. Isn't that right, Sir Balkan?"
"Hm? That's obvious. What is useful is always beautiful and good."
"See?"
A moment later, the princess replied.
"Isaac... I've read your report. As long as it moves with gravity magic, this won't change the top speed."
"You are correct. However, speed and endurance are different. If we adopt a curved structure, the time it can maintain its top speed will double."
In truth, it wasn't quite that much, but I said it anyway. A two-fold increase in efficiency... I'll have to work my butt off to make it happen.
Since I'm the one who started this.
"Hmm..."
The princess crossed her arms and began to ponder.
Please work...
"Double the production cost for, double the operational range...."
A moment later, she spoke.
"Very well. Sir Balkan, please proceed with the work for now. The budget... I will find a way to secure it."
"Excellent! We're finally getting somewhere!"
Balkan kicked back his chair and stood up. Of course, being a dwarf, there was almost no difference in his height whether he was sitting or standing. 'In that case, can you really say he stood up?'
A question of linguistic philosophy swirled in my head.
"Then I'll be off to the workshop. My brethren will be waiting anxiously."
He left without a backward glance.
Click.
After the door closed, his booming voice could be heard. -It's a go!
No revisions!
Proceed as planned! -Waaaaaah-! The cheers of the dwarves rang in my ears. With that sound as a backdrop, the princess muttered weakly.
"Haa... The amount of national bonds issued will increase..."
I said to the princess, "The airship is too valuable to give up because of debt." The princess replied with a bitter smile.
"That's true. But increasing debt is not good in the long run. It's like revealing the Empire's weakness to those bastards from the Free Cities."
"By then, the Empire will have airships, so what's there to worry about?"
The creditors will just be losers without airships. The day an airship flies over the Free Cities, they'll have no choice but to tear up the bonds they hold.
Puhaha!
My words made the princess burst out laughing.
"Pfft.. Isaac, you really... Hehe..."
"Where did someone like you come from, really...!"
"Are you displeased...?"
"No, it's not that."
The princess said with a smile.
"Hooo.... Thanks to you, I had a good laugh. Thank you."
"You flatter me."
"Yes... If only all the world's problems were that simple."
I tilted my head. The Imperial Army is responsible for the continent's defense anyway. 'Couldn't they just use that as leverage to demand defense contributions from the Free Cities who bought the bonds?'
It seemed there was some reason why the Empire couldn't take a hard-line stance. Wiping the tears from her eyes, the princess said, "Your joke has put my mind at ease."
"You flatter me."
"Thanks to that, a new plan has come to mind. Could you perhaps help me?"
"Just say the word."
"I think we can save on labor costs by using your name."
The next day. A small recruitment ad was published at the bottom of the front page of the Upperhills Newspaper.
[Mages Wanted. Hazardous working conditions. Low wages. Two years of harsh heat, or endless darkness. Honor and glory upon success. Inquiries: Imperial Capital Magic Tower, 20th floor - School of Magical Surveying.]
There probably wasn't a single mage in the capital who didn't know an airship was being built. From the flight with the Emperor until now, we've been promoting it heavily, if only to sell tickets. At this point, an excessive job posting could actually be counterproductive.
We have to make it as casual as possible, so that interested people will move on their own accord. ... So the princess said. And the princess's prediction was spot on.
"My goodness..."
Giuseppe, who was rarely surprised, muttered in astonishment.
"What is all this...?"
The lab was filled with so much mail there was no room to step, and even now, new mail continued to pile up. I think I've seen this scene in Harry Potter. Giuseppe said as he looked through the mail, "Were there always this many mages in the Empire?"
"I know. I was surprised too."
From hermit mages who were acting as village chiefs in rural towns to the elite mages of the Magic Tower. Applications came from everyone. Even the School of Ideal Gas Magic had nearly all its members submit applications.
I sorted their applications separately. These people were crucial personnel who would optimize the temperature and pressure control magic inside the hull. Afterward, Giuseppe and I stayed up all night sorting through the applicants.
Naturally, Doloren wasn't with us. She'd gone off to hunt down a paper that didn't use the metric system, or something. Giuseppe said to me, "This... it's going to be hard to judge by paper alone."
Just as Giuseppe said, it was impossible to screen people based solely on their paperwork. If we continue like this, we'll just end up with a lineup of doctoral graduates from the Magic Tower and combat mages from the engineering corps. Graduates who were top of their class at the Magic Academy might not even get a look-in.
After all, a top graduate from the Magic Academy is just one person per academy each year. This way, we might end up not hiring people who are strong in practical skills, even among those we reject. I said to Giuseppe, "Let's screen it down to three times the number of positions and then hold separate interviews."
"That's a good idea."
Time passed, and the day of the interviews arrived. The location was an empty lecture hall at the Upperhills boarding school. As I entered the foundation grounds, I saw a domed stadium nearing completion.
I asked Laura, who was sitting next to me in the carriage, "When is the construction expected to be finished?"
"It will take about three months."
"That's fast."
It was all thanks to hiring mages who served as magic cranes. We'll probably benefit from that during the airship's construction as well. Just as we passed the domed stadium and arrived in front of the boarding school building...
"... What is this."
A line.
Before my eyes was an endless line of people. The line even stretched endlessly from the school entrance to the main building. The people at the very front had even pitched tents.
Why are they already waiting? I'm sure I gave them different interview times according to their number. I asked Laura, "Those people... surely they aren't all applicants?"
"Yes. They are all interviewees."
"Did you perhaps give them the wrong interview date?"
"No. I'm sure I sent the letters correctly with their waiting numbers..."
"Hmm... I'll have to find out myself."
I approached a person standing in the long line. Of course, I was using a disguise spell. PV = nRT K = (n - 1)/p I controlled the refraction of light by densely compressing the atmosphere.
I asked him, "This is the line for the interview, right?"
"... It is, so get to the back. Do you know how many hours we've been waiting?"
"Ah. Yes."
From the way he spoke, I could tell he had lined up voluntarily. I asked him again, "But, why did you come so early?"
"Hmph. What a novice. I am one who will become a conqueror of the skies with Sir Isaac. A little waiting like this is nothing."
"Even so, there's no need to wait this long."
Tsk tsk tsk. The man clicked his tongue.
"You have no romance. If you're going to be like that, just go home, kid."
The man looked at me with melancholy eyes. Just then, the wind blew past between us. A wind of 8.7 meters per second was announcing the fact that the two of us would never be able to understand each other...
Wait.
This doesn't seem like the time for such thoughts. I used a pressure control spell, but the fact that the wind is blowing...
Crackle.
Means the disguise spell is about to break.
"Ah."
The man's eyes widened.
".. It's not what you think. Really."
His mouth opened.
"Could it be... No way...!"
"It's not."
"Your voice is the same too...?! Good heavens. To see Sir Isaac this close...!"
Damn it.
It's too late to deny it. I asked him, "Have we met somewhere before?"
"You probably don't remember. I was way in the back during the Principia lecture..." ...
Just how many lectures did these people hold while I was away? A moment later, someone shouted.
"Isaac Upperhills! The Hero of the Capital has appeared!"
Murmur, murmur.
The gazes of the people around us focused on me.
"What?!"
"Where? Where is he?!"
After that, a chaotic fan meeting ensued.
"Hooo..."
I sat in the interviewer's seat and let out a deep sigh. 'I should have used a disguise spell that was safe even in the wind...' Doloren's invisibility spell was so impressive that I tried to copy it and ended up in a mess.
Today's interviewers were five in total. Me, Balkan, Doloren, Giuseppe, and... a disguised Princess Isolde. I guess she found it bothersome to say 'It's alright, raise your head' every time someone came in.
Giuseppe and the princess were exchanging opinions with serious faces as they reviewed the applicants' documents.
"Your Highness, when evaluating this item..."
"Hmm... I see. Let's do as you suggest."
These people seemed determined to make this work succeed no matter what. On the other hand, the atmosphere on Balkan and Doloren's side was a bit different.
"This is my first time working with mages. I look forward to it."
"The pleasure is all mine, Sir Balkan."
"I'm excited."
"Me too."
Balkan and Doloren seemed to have no worries. They were just enjoying the current situation. A moment later, Giuseppe, having finished his preparations, looked around the lecture hall and chuckled.
Had Giuseppe finally entered enjoyer mode too? I asked him, "Is something good happening?"
"Something good is happening. This right now."
"Ah."
"You couldn't recruit a single junior that you wanted so badly, yet people are flocking in the thousands for a big project like this. It's a strange thing."
"I know. You really can't predict how things will turn out."
Still, I hardly felt any sense of injustice. Lately, I've been thinking that I don't need to be too greedy about fostering juniors. If there's a real genius, they'll stand out on their own.
I'm also starting to think that someone at Anna's level is about the right fit for my capacity. If I really need manpower, I figured I could just hire people with money like I'm doing now.
"We will now begin the interview evaluations. As announced, please enter in numerical order."
With Laura's signal, the first interviewee entered.
"Good day!"
A booming voice echoed through the lecture hall.
"I am Hyde, a 4th-year researcher from the School of Earth Element Magic!"
Ah. That person.
I ran into him once at the student cafeteria. Back then, he was walking around blankly like a zombie, but today his eyes are clear.
"I have a high affinity for Earth Element Magic. I specialize in magic that detects ground vibrations and measures distance."
Mr. Hyde continued with a confident expression.
"Therefore, if I join this team, I am confident that I will be a great help in optimizing the magic that precisely measures the altitude between the airship and the ground!"
I see.
I raised my hand and asked him a question.
"What if, Mr. Hyde, you aren't assigned to the task of optimizing the magic circle?"
"... It would be an honor just to work together. I will work hard at whatever task you give me."
"I see."
I nodded and jotted down a memo.
[Prospective Position: Mining Team] It's a shame, but his track record is too weak to entrust him with optimizing the airship's altitude measurement magic.
That person's job is in the iron ore mines near the capital. There, he will search for where the iron ore the dwarves need is buried, and then dig it out and move it with telekinesis. Of course, Mr. Hyde won't be too pleased about it... but it can't be helped.
Do they think airships are built by robots or something? People build those too. Just like that domed stadium out front.