A hastily constructed large ship and a pier designed for large ship mooring. Upon seeing these two, Tran’s eyes widened. At the same time, he seemed to harbor strong distrust toward the Scuderia Kingdom and us, despite previously having quite a favorable impression.
Well, if a country that had fallen far behind in shipbuilding technology had been underestimated, it didn’t take long for them to suddenly create a large ship and pier. From the perspective of the maritime Fiesta Kingdom, it must have seemed like an unexpected threat had appeared. He probably suspected that Marquis Rosso had lied.
With that in mind, I moved on to the phase of clearing Tran’s doubts as planned.
“Tran, I know this must seem unbelievable. So, would you kindly come aboard the ship with me?”
When I said this, Tran looked at me with a complicated expression. Meanwhile, Panamera, Arte, and Til were itching to board the ship I made. Kamshin, however, seemed to be turning a little green from the slight rocking of the pier and was becoming “blue Kamshin.”
And, unusually, Espada had been staring at the ship the entire time, clearly wanting to board.
Tran didn’t answer immediately, and instead, Rosso spoke.
“...Hmm. Honestly, even seeing it with my own eyes, I’m still surprised. I was planning to listen to the explanation with Tran, but what do you think? Of course, feel free to bring as many subordinates as you need.”
When Rosso said this to Tran, he finally lowered his chin and nodded.
“...Understood. I’ll bring five subordinates with me.”
With just that, Tran looked up at the large ship I had made, his face serious.
“Oh, will you board the ship then? In that case... Dee! Lower the gangway!”
“Understood!”
I called out to Dee, who had been waiting on the deck. Immediately, I received a response, and a ladder was lowered from the deck. Seeing the stairs installed on the pier, Rosso nodded in satisfaction.
“This is easy to climb. I like it.”
With those words, Rosso began climbing, followed by Panamera and Targa. As I waited for Tran to climb first, Tran looked up at the stairs with his subordinates and spoke.
“...A hanging staircase placed on the deck, lowered when needed. Was this also Van-sama’s idea?”
“Yes! I worked hard to think of it! I also considered placing pulleys along the side of the ship, but I reluctantly put that idea on hold, as attaching too much to the side could cause it to break in high waves...”
I said this with a wry smile, and Tran sighed deeply with a slightly troubled expression before heading up the gangway. His subordinates followed him, leaving only me, Arte, Til, Kamushin, and Espada on the pier.
Well, although they weren’t boarding the ship, Rosso and Panamera’s knightly order members were waiting on the pier.
“Well then, I suppose we should board as well.”
“Y-Yes.”
When I announced we were boarding, Kamushin responded with a pale face. I almost felt sorry for him, as it seemed cruel to tell him to stay on land. I thought it would be unfair, and his resolve might falter. With that thought, I gave Kamshin an encouraging nod.
“I’m counting on you.”
“O-Leave it to me…”
Kamushin’s voice was weak, and I felt uneasy about whether I could truly rely on him. But, smiling, we all climbed onto the deck.
On the deck, Rosso and Panamera were curiously touching the mast and inspecting the surroundings of the ship. Targa, too, was looking excited, gazing down at the sea.
“Viscount Van, this is like a moving fortress. If its defense is strong, it could attack any enemy country from anywhere. This is amazing.”
Talga said, visibly excited. Indeed, when we got to the deck, the height was at least equivalent to the roof of a two-story building. From there, being able to attack a land fortress with ballistae or magic would be terrifying.
“It’s the ship’s strength, isn’t it? Then there’s the range of the attacks. If the ship can attack from a distance, it could launch one-sided attacks. With such ships, the Fiesta Kingdom will soon become a great power that no other nation can ignore.”
I laughed as I said this, and Targa looked at Tran and his subordinates, who were inspecting the ship with concern.
“…If we’re not careful, that Fiesta Kingdom might become an enemy.”
When Targa murmured this, Panamera, who had been eavesdropping, joined in.
“Well then, it’s the boy’s turn to show his skill. As usual, make more allies.”
“Eh, eh? Since when did I have that image...?”
I laughed wryly at Panamera’s unreasonable remark, then turned seriously toward Tran and his subordinates, who were checking the sails. Despite his pale face, Kamshin was following closely behind. But with Dee and Espada there, it should be fine. I thought he could rest a bit, but he was being serious.
“Tran.”
When I called his name, Tran turned his face toward me with a startled expression.
“You can probably tell, but most of the ship’s features are based on the design of Fleetwood. Honestly, I think the visible parts are almost identical to Fleetwood.”
When I said that, Tran nodded solemnly in response.
“…Indeed, it’s very similar to Fleetwood. The harpoon launcher installed here has a completely different design though…”
With that, Tran pointed at the ballistae mounted on both sides of the ship. The original harpoon launcher, he said, had a narrow width and didn’t seem to offer good control. So, I had modified it and lined up Van-kun’s custom ballistae instead.
“These are Scuderia Kingdom’s unique weapons. Ballistae.”
“...If you’d like, could you try firing it?”
“Sure, that’s fine.”
I quickly agreed and used one of the ballistae positioned at the front. I aimed at a large rock a little ways off.
“Fire!”
“Ha!”
At my command, Dee and Kamushin prepared the ballista and fired it. The shot struck the rock, and the upper half shattered from the impact. Tran’s eyes widened in surprise.
“…What’s that power?”
It seemed that he was genuinely amazed. Good, good. Now, I’d let them see the inner workings of the ship.
Feeling triumphant as the surprise had worked, I conveyed my intention to show him the rest of the ship, and Tran lowered his chin, looking more serious than ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment