Blankon Announcement

494: The Exploration Engineer Brigade and the Ancient Ship

"Ah… I'm so tired…"

Despite the unexpected event with Asia, the amusement park tour ended without any hitches. We discovered what could be useful and what wasn’t for the amusement park in Brunhild. Now I’m wondering if it’s alright to spread this fatigue to fathers everywhere.

Well, if it means seeing the smiles of children, it might be worth it.

With Asia’s arrival, our pretend relatives increased again. However, since I had mentioned beforehand that a few people would be coming, the castle staff accepted them without any issues.

Asia immediately went to the castle kitchen to assist Chef Claire. Thanks to that, tonight’s dinner was luxurious, but Asia kept offering me dish after dish of her cooking, so my stomach is a bit overloaded now.

I thanked Robert, who had escorted Asia, and after sharing a meal together, I sent him back to Panashes via a [Gate]. I’m feeling quite sorry for causing him trouble this time.

In any case, with Asia’s arrival, we now have five children gathered: Kuhn, Frey, Elna, Linne, and Asia. That’s more than half.

The remaining ones are Yae, Sakura, Suu, and Yumina. Yae’s child, Yakumo, is already in this era. I wonder where they are wandering…

---

"By the way, what kind of non-attribute magic does Asia have?"

The next day, while Asia begged me to take her to the market, I remembered a question and asked her while walking through the morning market.

"My non-attribute magic? I have [Search] and [Aports]. Their range is short, so they’re not suited for combat, but they are quite handy for finding ingredients."

"Oh, so that's how you use them…"

Indeed, [Search] is convenient for finding edible items in the mountains, and with [Aports], you can harvest fruits without climbing trees. They’re useful in their own way…

"It also helps in detecting poisonous or spoiled ingredients."

Hmm, I’ve found poison with [Search] before. When she puts it that way, it seems like quite a useful magic for a cook.

"Oh! Father, there are apples! Let's buy some and make apple pie!"

"Asia also makes sweets?"

"Yes, I’m actually better at sweets. I know you don’t eat them much, but they are quite popular among my siblings."

It’s not that I dislike sweets. I just can’t eat too many at once. If I eat two pieces of cake, it’s already at my limit. It’s not about quantity but my taste buds giving up. I wonder how women manage to eat so much…

Even Yae can finish a whole cake easily. Well, that might just be Yae.

Asia was carefully selecting apples, her eyes focused. I wondered if I should buy something for the children as well…

While considering this and browsing the market goods, people around us began to murmur and stir.

"What’s that? Something strange is flying up there!"

"I don’t know. Maybe it’s a new magical device from His Majesty?"

Looking up at the sky in response to the murmurs, I indeed saw a small dot moving slowly.

"[Long Sense]"

I used [Long Sense] to get a clearer look at the mysterious flying object. Is that… an airship?

It looked like a rugby ball with a gas bag, and beneath it, there were large wings with propellers and a ship body shining in a dull silver color. The ship also had long arm-like parts attached.

That’s not a magical artifact or anything. It’s likely from the Western Continent (formerly the hidden world). A golem airship, perhaps?

What could they be doing here? It’s troublesome if they come unannounced. We don’t have airspace violations here, after all.

I’ve heard that golem airships are quite rare and usually owned by nations or very wealthy individuals. So this is probably a machine owned by a country or a large noble.

Though I’ve heard their flying range isn’t very long, I wonder where they came from.

But I can’t just watch. There’s a slight chance they might attack us, after all.

"Asia, come here."

I took Asia’s hand, who was selecting apples and used [Teleport] to move us to the northern training grounds.

I summoned Reginleiv from [Storage] and we boarded the cockpit.

Reginleiv is usually a one-person craft, but there’s enough space for a child-like Asia. Besides, it’s awkward to leave someone behind. But why is she sitting on my lap? It’s hard to see the monitors.

I activated Reginleiv and took off into the sky. We quickly reached the front of the airship, hovered in place, and used the non-attribute magic [Speaker] to make an announcement.

"To the airship in front. You are now entering the airspace of the Brunhild Principality. Immediately disembark and state your reason for entry. We will wait a reasonable time. If no response is given, we will forcibly teleport you outside the airspace."

For now, I issued a warning. This should force them to either take hostile actions or change their course. It’s troublesome if they head to another country. We didn’t set up agreements about that. I should suggest it at the next world conference.

Though, if I launched a [Fireball] at that gas bag from the ground, it would probably fall in one hit. Or maybe it has some kind of barrier?

"Father, the ship is descending."

"Oh, so they understood the message."

As the airship descended, I lowered Reginleiv to the ground as well.

The landing gear, like long skids, extended from the bottom of the ship, and it landed gently on a hilltop.

I landed Reginleiv and left Asia in the cockpit while I descended to the ground.

The hatch of the airship opened, and several people disembarked. Oh, there are even a few dwarves. They might be the airship’s mechanics.

Huh? Wait a minute… Is that a burly man with a bear-like beard running towards us? He’s got a twinkle in his eye and is making some incomprehensible cries. Oh no, this is scary!

"[Shield]!"

The invisible barrier made the man collide and fall backward. His bearded face was covered in nosebleeds. How fast was he running?

"You fool! Don’t charge out like that! You’ll startle them!"

A beautiful woman, in her thirties but with a commanding presence, kicked the fallen bearded man. Oh boy.

"Sorry for the commotion. This fool got so excited about the golem that he went out of control."

"Ah, I see…"

So "golem" refers to Reginleiv. The woman, Ripple, who was kicking her husband with a grin, wore her brown hair up and dressed casually in a gray jumpsuit. She had a towel around her waist and leather gloves on, typical attire for a technician.

Looking closely, the bearded man also wore similar attire. They seem to be golem engineers.

"But this golem is as impressive as the rumors say. It was worth coming all the way from Gandilis."

"Gandilis? So you are envoys from Gandilis?"

The Iron Kingdom of Gandilis is located to the south of the Holy Kingdom of Arent and to the east of the Galdeo Empire, surrounded by mountains. This kingdom, rich in underground resources, is known for exporting many ores needed for golem crafting.

"No, we’re just from Gandilis. We’re not affiliated with the country. We’re a group of technicians called the ‘Exploration Engineer Brigade Seekerz’."

"Exploration Engineer Brigade Seekerz"? That sounds familiar…

Ah! They are one of the five great golem engineer masters, like the Elka engineer and the old wizard of the magic craft…

"We’re a guild of technicians, so that title belongs to the group, not any individual. This fool here is the guild master, Mario Phalanx. I’m Ripple Phalanx, his wife."

"Oh, you’re married!?"

But he was just kicked around!? It seems like a severe wife-led household. I feel a bit sorry for the bearded man.

But “Mario” as a name for a bearded man is oddly fitting.

"Oh, then you must be Parlelle’s parents?"

When I said this, Ripple’s eyes widened in surprise.

"You know our daughter?"

"Yes, once. I met her with Princess Cordelia of Gandilis at an engagement party in Refreese."

That was the event where an incident involving humanoid golems occurred. The mastermind behind it was Parlelle, a maid of Princess Cordelia from Gandilis.

So these two must have made or restored those humanoid golems.

"By the way, can we bring over the curious ones waiting in the back? They want to see it up close."

Ripple pointed to the back where the same eager-eyed men who had earlier rushed toward Reginleiv were waiting. Oh, they’re so overwhelming!

"Well… if it’s just to look."

"Great! Come on over!"

"Woaaaah! Woooooow!"

The men charged towards Reginleiv with loud, enthusiastic cries.

"What’s this material!? It’s neither Mithril nor Orichalcum!"

"Hey! This isn’t just armor! It’s covered in magic engravings…!"

"How is it supporting this weight with such thin legs…!"

The men clinging to the legs of the Reginleiv were examining it with magnifying glasses and other tools. I wondered if all people in technical fields were like this.

"Eeek! Father! I'm scared!"

"Oh, sorry."

It seemed that Asia, who had been left in the cockpit, was frightened by the crowd of men. Although she was a top-class adventurer, she was probably overwhelmed by the intense atmosphere rather than physical strength.

Using [Fly], I gently brought Asia down. Meanwhile, the men were trying to climb onto the Reginleiv. I had said they could only look, right?

I quickly stowed the Reginleiv in [Storage] and summoned the heavy knight Chevalier instead. I couldn't let them damage the Reginleiv.

"Another unit too!?"

Now the men were crowding around the heavy knight. Even the man with the mustache who had previously fallen and was bleeding from his nose was getting up and clinging to Chevalier.

"A different machine from before. Just how many do you have?"

"Well, I don't think it's over a thousand."

"One thousand...!?"

Ripple-san was visibly taken aback. Since I had halted the mass production of Frame Gears after dealing with the evil god, it seemed like that was the extent of my collection.

Since the main activities now involved giant beast hunting and disaster relief, if engineers from the West and East cooperated, they could probably make even better machines than the rough quality Iron Soldiers.

But these people seemed likely to create something rather unusual.

Well, there's no use in thinking about it. I should call Engineer Elka.

---

"What is this?"

"Well, it's hard to say..."

Doctor, who had descended from Babylon with Engineer Elka, muttered while observing the men crowding around Chevalier.

"They’re just excited about rare magical machinery. It’s like children. Just leave them be."

"If they're causing trouble, should I silence them?"

Ripple-san tapped the shoulder of the man with a wrench in her hand. Wait, are you suggesting physical silence!? That seems a bit much.

"Whoaaa...! This is quite a rare type of Golem airship...! The material is Mithril? No, it even uses High Mithril in parts? This is for... impact from the side..."

I looked at the girl clinging to the Golem airship with the same eager eyes as the men surrounding Chevalier.

Yes, that’s my daughter Kuhn. She came down with the doctors after hearing about the [Exploration Engineering Corps Seeker's] visit.

"Still the same as ever, Kuhn nee-sama..."

Asia looked at her sister with a somewhat exasperated expression. Hey, Kuhn, you're losing your sisterly dignity.

Meanwhile, Engineer Elka was speaking to Ripple-san.

"So? What’s the reason for coming all the way to Brunhild? You didn’t really come just to see my face, did you?"

"Oh, was it a problem to come and see? Well, that’s not the only reason. We actually have something we want you to look at."

Ripple-san took out a few pieces of paper from her jumpsuit’s chest pocket. Photographs?

"This is..."

"These were found in a new ruin discovered recently in Gandilis. Do you know what they are?"

"It looks like a... ship... of this size?"

Curious, I peered over Engineer Elka’s shoulder at the photograph. It depicted a large vessel in what appeared to be an underground dock. Comparing it to a small person standing nearby, it was about half the size of Babylon.

The vessel... or rather, it resembled a spaceship in some way.

"An ancient civilization’s ship...! Wait, this emblem...!"

Engineer Elka stopped at one of the photos. It seemed to be part of the ship’s body, and the emblem... or rather, the mark there was something I recognized too.

"[Crown]...! Could it be...!"

"Yes, that's right. That ship was most likely built by the ancient genius Golem engineer, Chrom Lance. The creator of the [Crown] series."

Chrom Lance, the genius Golem engineer who created the [Crown] series, is the man who used the [Black] and [White] crowns and once crossed the boundary between the underworld and the world above.

Although not by his intention, he can also be considered a key figure in preventing the great invasion by the Phrase five thousand years ago. However, it seems he lost all his memories due to the rampage of the [White] at that time...

"Could it be that this ship itself is a [Crown]!?"

"Who knows. I can't say for sure. After all, we couldn’t get inside the ship at all. I thought if anyone might know something, it would be the [Crown] themselves. You have the [Black], [White], and even the [Red] here, right?"

I see, Ripple-san and the others came to meet the [Crowns] By the way, there’s actually another one here, the [Purple], but it has language function issues.

"[Blue] and [Green] belong to the royal family, so it's a bit troublesome to have them poking around."

"Um, the [White] is technically part of the royal family too..."

The [White] Crown, [Illuminati Albus], is technically contracted to Yumina, which means it also belongs to the Brunhild royal family.

"This one hasn’t even been contracted for a year, right? [Blue] and [Green] have been with the royal family for hundreds of years. Just meeting a Crown is a challenge, and it’s a hassle if a large country learns about it. They might demand a piece of the action, you know."

Well, I understand what you’re getting at. Indeed, this ship is likely a major discovery for Golem engineers, and any country would want to incorporate the technology into their own.

For us, however, it’s not that interesting. We have similar things in the [Storage].

If it’s just a matter of hearing about Albus from Albus, it’s not a problem...

As I was thinking this, I noticed someone tugging at my sleeve.

"Father, Father! It’s an ancient Golem civilization relic! And it’s part of the Crown series! This is a major discovery!"

Ah... I see you’re here.

Kuhn had come over at some point and was peering at the photos with sparkling eyes.

"It looks interesting. I’m a bit intrigued too," said Doctor, joining in.

Great. At this point, avoiding involvement is inevitable.

There’s no choice. I’ll have to call Yumina and Albus.