Part 1

The next day, I brought Mercedes-chan over to the noble mage’s house.

Due to the realization of Tanaka festival, I moved out without even catching a wink of sleep. What is up with this festival mood. Think of your own age man. Don’t go creating a new black history after thirsty years.

I was actually driven by the impulse to just return home and go straight to sleep. However this is for the sake of my own house. I had no choice but to put on a calm front and work like a gentleman. Nature and expression is a harsh thing.

“What’s wrong? You have dark circles under your eyes.” [Fahren]

“No, I was just going through the measures on how to defeat the dragon with her.” [Tanaka]

I cast a glance at the lady knight-chan standing next to me.

There are slight dark circles under her eyes too.

Is the noble mage that frightening to her? Unlike me, she was frozen at the sight of him. She stood at attention as a means of saluting him. Since she’s young, staying up one or two nights must not be much of a problem to her. What an envious young and lively body.

“Yes–! I tried helping Tanaka-sama to the best of my ability!” [Mercedes]

The manner of speaking is indeed a big deal. It sounds unbelievable when I was referred to as Tanaka-sama.

Is this the result of the knight’s education?

No in her case, she might just be weak in the face of power.

“Fumu, I see.” [Fahren]

The noble mage placed his hand under his chin as if he were pondering on something. He diverted his sight between Mercedes-chan and me alternatively.

I guess that excuse must have been hard for him to accept. It will be unbearable if he were to make the wrong conjecture so I tried voicing out first to change the subject to a more appropriate direction.

“But this airship is seriously amazing.” [Tanaka]

The current location is at the noble mage’s garden. I muttered out loud as I looked at the huge vehicle in front of me.

“So you understand the splendour of it too?” [Fahren]

In that instant, the noble mage’s eyes could be seen sparkling.

“This airship is actually the state-of-the-art that I have designed myself. Not anyone else’s.” [Fahren]

“Eh? Is that so?” [Tanaka]

You’re even designing for machineries? Seriously, how versatile are you in actual, noble mage-san.

“This was actually donated to the country but I temporarily borrowed it for the sake of the operation this time. It’s currently the fastest airship in this country. It will only take approximately two to three days from the capital city of Chalice in Penny Empire to the adjacent Republic of Pussy.” [Fahren]

“Oo..” [Tanaka]

I don’t really understand it but let’s just pretend to be surprise for the time being.

I had initially expected to endure the pain in my butt by travelling in the shaking horse drawn carriage again so this is unexpected of the noble mage. I didn’t foresee an airship to be our means of transportation. Could the science in this world be progressing more than what I had thought?

“By making the ship smaller in proportionate to the size of the magic stone, we are able to increase the travelling distance and speed.” [Fahren]

“I see.” [Tanaka]

It’s regrettable. It has nothing to do with science at all.

Judging from the current flow of conversation, I guess the magic stone is something that has similar function to an engine in this world.

The airship actually looked humongous by the first glimpse. The size should be roughly thirty meters in length and eight meters in height. If this is what he meant by small then I can assume the large ones must be really titanic in size. I wonder if this thing can really fly.

No, well it should fly since this is a fantasy world after all.

“Where’s the luggage?” [Tanaka]

“They were already loaded into the airship.” [Fahren]

“Then the next should be....” [Tanaka]

“It’s just to wait for all the ones whom you have invited to gather now.” [Fahren]

I see.

I looked around after saying so.

The ones gathered in the garden now were only the noble mage who was accompanied by a dozen of his maids, Mercedes-chan and me. All we need to do now is to wait for the group sex team and Sophia-chan to gather before we depart.

It might have been hasty of me to go straight to the red-light district after accomplishing it previously.

Well then, I should think of something to occupy myself while waiting.

I wonder if there is a suitable topic to converse with an ossan.

Just as I started thinking about it, a carriage could be seen making an unexpected stop on the road on opposite side of the garden.

“....That must be Fitz Clarence’s carriage.” [Fahren]

It must be quite a respectable house for this ossan to even remember the name.

“Do you know her?” [Tanaka]

“We did have some exchange before. Was it two or three years ago? My niece was married into that fellow’s family. Most women born in that household have high magical power but for some reason men weren’t able to reside there. Although the people in that family were denying it, it is likely that the people in the olden days do not interact among themselves.” [Fahren]

“I see.” [Tanaka]

I don’t understand it at all.

Well it’s something that has nothing to do with me anyway.

The carriage entered the garden after the gate was opened and finally reached us after a short while. The group of maid became nervous this time as they weren’t sure of what was coming. The noble mage calmly received the carriage while Mercedes-chan was in the verge of tears, casting me a look as if telling me, “No more....Please give me a break.”

A familiar looking blonde haired loli got out of the carriage.

“Hee~, an airship. You’ve prepared quite a stylish transportation there.” [Ester]

She muttered as she stood next to the airship after getting down the steps.

Despite being a noble, she didn’t even bother greeting someone beforehand. It seemed trivial to her since the first thing she did as soon as she met someone was to make a frivolous comment.

However the noble mage didn’t seem to be upset with the other party. On watching her brazenly striking up the conversation with him, I could tell that she is the complete opposite to Mercedes-chan.

“I’m surprised that fellow, Richard even permitted it.” [Fahren]

“It’s a serious matter concerning Her Royal Highness Princess, don’t you know? Isn’t that the responsibility of a noble?” [Ester]

“Fuun~, well whatever. If you have any luggage, hand them to the maid there. We’ll load them into the airship.” [Fahren]

“Got it.” [Ester]

The blonde haired loli then began instructing the attendant standing beside, causing the noble mage’s household maids to move around hastily to meet her expectations.

“Ah could you spare me a moment?” [Tanaka]

“What?” [Ester]

“Are you not together with your boyfriend? That ikemen guy.” [Tanaka]

“H-hold it–!! I’ve told you not to say a word about him before, haven’t I !!” [Ester]

“So he’s not able to make it today?” [Tanaka]

Compared to the blonde haired loli here, that guy far is more important in this operation. Since the noble mage will be the rear guard, we need someone to be a vanguard in this team. Mercedes-chan is somewhat of a vanguard but as I thought we still need a male on the frontline in case of emergencies.

“A-Allen has knight duty to attend to so he is currently out of town! Due to the influence of the High Orc’s incident, the knight corps and the magic knight corps have merged so they are handling their activities together to maintain the security.” [Ester]

“Eh? Really?” [Tanaka]

Are you serious? I wanted to utter that out loud but I do understand it too.

The blonde haired loli who is the daughter of a big shot was exposed to danger in the recent incident. That must have greatly influenced the result. When you think of it this way, this incident might not be particularly bad for the whole country.

“He departed three days ago so I guess he should be in Kiwau town by now. There have been rumours of orc sightings spreading across the neighbourhood so it didn’t seem likely that he will be returning in one month.” [Ester]

“....I see.” [Tanaka]

Even though it might be a merit to the whole country, it was a demerit to me. We’re down to one vanguard now.

“What’s wrong? Something troubling you?” [Fahren]

“Ah not really. It’s just that we’re short of one member than our initial plan now.” [Tanaka]

“Fumu...” [Fahren]

“Well, it couldn’t be helped for those who can’t make it..” [Tanaka]

It’ll be useless even if I kept persisting in it. I should figure out another method in hand that I can use instead. Although I don’t think I will be able to make it even if I were to send out job offers to the Adventurer’s Guild now.

I should start recalling the guidance given by that little girl. What was needed in order to defeat a dragon?

『Having friends that you can trust, I think?』

I can trust that ikemen.

He’s a good guy.

Even though he’s a harem bastard who had group sex with number 2-chan despite having a girlfriend from a noble family, he is still an honest person by nature at the very least. He interacted with me like a gentleman even though I am ugly.

It didn’t seem possible to find another talented member as replacement in case of emergencies.

“Then it should be fine if we were to pick him up from Kiwau on our way isn’t it?” [Fahren]

“Eh? Can we go there?” [Tanaka]

“It’s just in the vicinity of the capital. It wouldn’t take that much time.” [Fahren]

“It’ll be of great help if you can do so.” [Tanaka]

I guess it’s something similar to the light bullet train in Japan. If we were to depart from Tokyo, we will still be making stops at Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama.

What an accommodating noble mage.

It was good to be able to get to know him. I am indebted to him considerably.

“Then the waitress girl will be the last one. Once she arrives, all the members will be fully assembled.” [Tanaka]

“I see. So essentially, you and I are the two-top ones then? Certainly a useless troop will only be a hindrance. You sure know your stuff don’t you! The number of people is not important when it comes to exterminating a dragon. What’s most important is the quality! Quality!!” [Fahren]

“Eh? Aa no actually..” [Tanaka]

“Fuhahahahahahaha, it’s been a long time since I last felt the torrent of my magic power seething like this.” [Fahren]

“........” [Tanaka]

Whatever. I will go along with the conversation accordingly then.

After making the exchanges with the noble mage appropriately and the arrival of the blonde haired loli, a presence could be felt coming from somewhere at the front of the house. Once I directed my senses there, I was able to narrow down the location. There is an individual standing nearby the gate, glancing around as she examined the premises.

That person was looking so nervous that I was starting to feel sorry for her.

She was waiting for an opportunity since she wasn’t sure if she should be entering. At the same time she was hesitating since it might be bad if she were to enter.

There weren’t any other residences in the entire neighbourhood that look as sophisticated as the noble’s personal residence.

“The last person finally came.” [Fahren]

“Mu?”

Everyone directed their sights to the surrounding of the gate on hearing what the noble mage said.

Sophia-chan could be seen flustering there as she carried a huge furoshiki on her back.

Tears were welling up in her eyes and she looked as if she might escape anytime soon.

“Isn’t that the daughter of the bar owner from the other day?” [Fahren]

“I thought we might need someone to serve us meal too.” [Tanaka]

“I see. So she’s your caretaker. If you have notified me beforehand, I don’t have any problem arranging one or two maid for you. But well, if that is the case then I don’t mind it. Just get her on board. Oi-!” [Fahren]

When the noble mage called out to the maid in waiting standing next to him, she rushed over to receive Sophia-chan in a hurry.

“So is everyone here?” [Fahren]

“Yes, that’s right.” [Tanaka]

“Then let us depart.” [Fahren]

Overall, this is not a bad party in particular. Nevertheless, if you were to ask for my personal opinion, this is actually not a team that I can be proud of. Since this is the best I have currently, I will just make do with it.

When there is a will, there is a way.

As such, the Red Dragon Subjugation Party finally set off from that place.

◇◆◇

This airship is amazing.

At the noble mage’s instruction, the airship rose several hundred meters above the ground and into the sky in a blink of an eye before gliding through the clouds in a dignified manner. When I gazed out from the deck, I was able to enjoy the spectacle of the vast town below from one end to the other end.

Up ahead, the grassland, forest and mountain range gave off a fantasy-like feeling.

This is seriously a fantasy.

“How much longer till we reach Kiwau?” [Tanaka]

“We’ll be reaching there really soon. The time taken will be the same as a short light meal.” [Fahren]

“By the way, how long will it take if we were to take a carriage?” [Tanaka]

“It’ll take about two days I guess.” [Fahren]

“This airship is certainly fast.” [Tanaka]

“It was originally an information transmission vessel used in war. It was designed specially as a transportation for the important people. There are no other airships in existence that will fly faster than this one in this world. The core used in the magic stone produced is also of higher quality than the Blue Dragon.” [Fahren]

“I see.” [Tanaka]

The dragon subject popped up again.

I wonder if they are frequently hunted.

I don’t really know.

“By the way, who’s the one piloting this airship?” [Tanaka]

“It’s me. Why do you ask?” [Fahren]

“Eh?” [Tanaka]

Come to think of it, there were no one else on board this airship apart from the members of our party.

I had thought that they will be boarding the airship with the luggage but apparently I was wrong.

“In other words, are we the only crew?” [Tanaka]

“Aa, that’s right.” [Fahren]

“I-I see.” [Tanaka]

I was slightly surprised.

“As long as we have someone who is comprised with power to a certain degree, we can control it with magic even when we are away from the bridge. We do not need to manually control it precisely with the steering wheel in a calm climate like this.” [Fahren]

“Certainly when we take the usefulness into consideration, this one-man ship is of great advantage.” [Tanaka]

“Umu. That’s right. You do understand it quite well, don’t you?” [Fahren]

“I-Is that so.” [Tanaka]

“Once we are done with this trip, it’ll be great if you can pay a visit once to my laboratory. I’ll show you the shipbuilding’s document. I have a plan to build a high speed ship with a higher pre-emptive strike output than this one.” [Fahren]

“Well, I’ll do so when I have the opportunity...” [Tanaka]

This ossan can be really long-winded when it comes to magic-related topics.

“By the way, what happened to the others?” [Fahren]

“Eh? Aa, that possibly young lady seemed to be experiencing a severe motion sickness and is currently throwing up somewhere in the airship. The Knight-san is looking after her. Also the waitress girl is preparing lunch in the kitchen now.” [Tanaka]

“Is that so.” [Fahren]

The good looking lesbo has a look of ecstasy on her face as she rubbed the back of the blonde haired loli whose face has turned blue as she puked. Their appearances were truly impressive. I have brought her over even though she wasn’t able to obtain what she wanted in that rip-off bar last night so currently, she might be in higher tension than usual in trying accomplish what she desires right after that incident.

“Anyway, can I ask you a question?” [Tanaka]

“What?” [Fahren]

I’ve always wanted to ask him this for a long time so this is a good time to do so.

“It’s about the time when we first met. Why were you in the bar downtown? There are many other bars that are much better than that one.” [Tanaka]

“Aa so that’s what you were wondering about.” [Fahren]

“Yes.” [Tanaka]

I wonder why someone with such superior magic went to a place like that.

“In that bar on that street, there was a woman that gives off a mermaid-like charm and has an allure that is incomparable to any other women. The power and magic she processed are difficult to be made light of too. If one were to fight against someone like that, was it impossible or could that person a male homo or could it be another noble mage? That rumour has reached my ear.”1 [Fahren]

“Aa...” [Tanaka]

Has the downtown sarcasm reached the said person as well?

“If only there is a certain magic for it, I’d be willing to investigate it.” [Fahren]

“It’s just a person though.” [Tanaka]

“Seriously. It was really a waste of time.” [Fahren]

This ossan has a light footwork when it comes to something that is really related to magic.

(Rinkage: Someone who doesn’t hesitate to go somewhere, do anything or join some events, etc.)

“Nevertheless, as a result I was able to meet you. In that respect, it might not be a waste of time entirely. We never know what and how things will be connected to each other.” [Fahren]

“Ee, well true....” [Tanaka]

The mystery was solved.

I felt a little better now.

“Well then, I will be taking a short rest in my own room. Let me know once we reached there.” [Tanaka]

“Umu. I got it.” [Fahren]

I parted with the noble mage and went inside the airship.

I headed towards Sophia-chan who was diligently preparing lunch.

Footnote

1. 市井の飲み屋に、マーメイドが放つチャームも斯くやあらん魅力を持った女がいる。その威力たるや如何なる魔法も侮る難し。これを持って抗う者があるとすれば、それは不能か男色か魔道貴族か、などという噂を耳にしてな