March 16.

"Wow, it's nice!"

"Jin-sama's < is nice, but this kind of plane is also nice, isn't it?"

"Yes!"

Goh and Rubina were flying with Merce on the as promised.

Unlike Jin's , the acceleration of up to 3G is momentarily applied to the body, but this is what makes it possible to feel that they are flying in the sky.

And Merce was a child who enjoyed that feeling.

"You kept your promise, didn't you?"

"Of course I did!"

Isn't it nice to fly?

"Yes, it is."

Goh is in control of the plane.

However, the detailed control is done by the on-board control brain, so there is almost no danger of accidents due to pilot error. Any reckless maneuvering will be cancelled.

The maneuverability is mild, so that the robot cannot accelerate or decelerate rapidly, turn at a sharp angle, or somersault at high speed.

This setting can be changed at any time in stages, and I was now in level 1, <> mode.

The pilot is then switched to Rubina.

The three-seater <> can be switched to any of the three pilots.

So Rubina also enjoyed piloting the plane they had built.

As expected, she could not let Mertze pilot the plane.

As a backup, Jin was watching over them in the .

Goh and his crew were therefore able to enjoy their flight in peace.

Jin's intention was also to observe the performance of .

The score was a very high 98 points.

"Yeah, it was fun."

After an hour of flying, <> landed at an airfield on the shore of Lake Tosmo.

The <> lands next to it.

After disembarking, Jin went to see the three men standing by the <>.

"Good work, Goh."

"Yes. No, it was fun.

"You too, Rubina."

"Yes!　It's still difficult to fly a real plane ...... but it was fun."

"How was it with M?rze?"

"Yes, it was a lot of fun!　I was more than happy that Mr. Gough and Ruby made good on their promise.

"Well, that's good."

And to Goh and Rubina,

"You passed without any complaints. We will go to after this.

"We're going to after this.

"Yes, Master Jin."

I'm ready.

"I see."

I'm sorry to have to leave Merce at home again.

Erza will be in charge.

After a year has passed since I was supposed to take care of Merce, I can do something about it once I know what to do with her, but right now I can't do anything about it.

"Well then, Mel, I'm off."

"I'm off, Mr. Merce, I'm off."

"Ruby, Mr. Goh, good luck."

Just to be safe, Hope is piloting the Nile VIII to Avalon.

Jin, Reiko, Goh, Rubina, and the others will be in the . Reiko is in charge of piloting.

The and take off into the sky over Lake Tosmo.

* * * * * *

On the same day, two <>.

The two <> continue in the same direction up to the halfway point.

There was still snow removal work to be done that day, but the west side of the Gondor continent had less snowfall than the east side, so the speed of progress was somewhat faster.

"It's spring after all, isn't it?"

Look, the buds on those trees are swelling up.

The trees along the side of the road were in the process of budding, and some of them had early blooming white flowers.

"It's a pity there is no one here who knows anything about plants."

"That can't be helped."

The trip was so relaxing that conversations like that were heard. .......

"Avalanche?"

Our path was blocked by a mass of snow.

On the right side was a slope with an elevation difference of about 200 meters, and judging from the number of trees that had been knocked down, it appeared that the avalanche had come from far above.

"It looks like an avalanche that happened a long time ago."

Rhodes looked up the slope and said.

"I think we can clear the snow from this."

If the avalanche had just occurred, there was a possibility that another avalanche would occur while they were clearing the snow.

The snow at the site of the avalanche was hard and icy in places, so there was little chance of another avalanche.

The group felt secure in this situation and proceeded with the snow removal work.

It was a bit tedious because of the broken trees and rocks in the mix, but the physically capable northerners completed the snow removal in about two hours.

"It's done, isn't it?"

"It's done, isn't it? By the way, ......."

< Arkista held up something in his hand.

"Atkins, do you know what this stone is?"

It was a heavy, silvery stone.

It appeared to be crystallized, and appeared to be made up of many small cubic grains.

As soon as Atkins, a geologist, took one look at it, he said,

"It's a lead azotite," he said.

Atkins recognized it as "tungsten lead ore.

It is a major ore of lead and is very heavy, with a specific gravity of about 7.5, and soft, with a Mohs hardness of 2.5. It is about the same hardness as a fingernail, and when rubbed on paper, it shows lead-colored streaks.

It has perfect cleavage and breaks into cubes.

"If it fell with the avalanche, there might be a deposit of lead on top of it."

"Should we check it out?"

"Well, ...... we have a few days to spare, so a side trip would be nice."

The < decides to take a short detour here and check for lead deposits.

The < said they would cooperate.

"It's only for a few hours anyway.　Tomorrow we will split up and go to our respective destinations. I'll stay with you for today at least.

Atkins thanked Rhodes for his help.

Rhodes, Kondak, Atkins, and Falsmus climb up the snowy slope. The slope was 15 to 30 degrees.

The slope is rough, and the shoes dig in, making it difficult to walk on, though not slippery.

The four climbers spread out horizontally with about 30 meters between them, and let their strength carry them up the slope.

Rhodes, who was walking at the right end of the group, climbed up about 100 meters to an exposed rocky area. It was a cliff with no snow on it.

And there was the outcrop of the azurite ore.

The silvery ore was exposed.

The avalanche had probably scraped off the surface layer and exposed a vein of ore.

"There it is!

Rhodes shouted, and the other three gathered around.

Atkins saw the vein and assured them that it was definitely here.

"Thanks for your help.

It was easier than I thought it would be.

It looks like the vein leads underground from here.

"It was easier than I thought it would be."

In this way, the survey team found an unexpected vein of ore through an unexpected side trip.