Magi Craft Meister

Magi Craft Meister 592

18　Further Progress Arc

18-12　High Altitude Flight

The wedding ceremony and reception of Earl Kuzuma and wife was a great success.

“It would be a pity to keep the newlyweds here with us all day.”

And so, at Duke Blue’s discretion, the reception officially ended at 4 PM.

Apparently, receptions would normally last until midnight.

Jin was grateful that today would be an exception, as he felt he wouldn’t be able to keep up for so long.

“We have to make sure we don’t get in the way of those two.”

“Yeah.”

Jin and Elsa agreed, and decided they’d wait a few more minutes before returning to the venue.

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“…”

“What’s going on?”

Five minutes later, when they returned to the Earl’s residence, Lewis and Beana were both hugging Malloum, the head maid, by the front door.

“… I’ve heard that Malloum was the one in charge of raising Lord Lewis…”

“I see, so she came out to congratulate them personally. …But what’s with the luggage?”

“I don’t know….”

Realizing that they should probably not interfere, Jin and Elsa went around the side gate and quietly entered the Earl’s residence.

“Well, tomorrow morning, we will finally depart for the Shouro Empire.”

Jin stated this in front of Barrow and Belle.

“Thank you, Master Jin.”

“It looks like you’ve gotten along with those two, but I’m sorry. We can’t remain here much longer.”

“No, it’s okay, Master Jin. We understand you don’t want to disturb the newlyweds.”

Despite her words, Belle still seemed to be a bit sad about having to leave so soon. Jin continued.

“Well, as you probably gathered from last time, we’re a single day away from here if we use our blimp.”

“Right!”

Sensing the nuance of the possibility of a future visit implied in Jin’s words, Barrow and Belle nodded cheerfully.

The next morning, Jin decided to depart after having breakfast with the Earl and wife.

“I wish you could join us for a while longer,”

Said Earl Kuzuma, to which Jin replied:

“I’ll definitely come back after you’ve completely settled in. You know I can do that, don’t you?”

Indirectly alluding to his Warp Gates.

“Yeah, that’s right. Then, have a safe trip, Jin, Miss Elsa.”

“Jin, please come again sometime. Keep doing your best, Elsa.”

“See you soon then.”

“See you soon.”

While Jin and Elsa were somewhat reluctant to part with Lewis and Beana, Barrow and Belle exchanged words of farewell with Nana and Raldo as well.

“Nana, Raldo, take care of yourselves.”

“Stay safe, Belle, Barrow.”

After both masters and retainers said their goodbyes to one another, Jin and his party went through the main gate of the Earl’s residence, where the Quinta Regulus 5 (AKA Beat) was waiting for them with four Golem horses.

“M-Master Jin, how did you get these horses?”

Golem horses were also commonly used in Kaina Village, so both Barrow and Belle were used to riding them. Still, they were surprised to see them in a place like this.

Even though both Barrow and Belle knew that Golem horses weren’t something that could be found just about anywhere, they soon accepted their presence in the faraway Blueland despite knowing it made very little sense to them.

The secret behind these Golem horses’ presence here was that a Warp Gate had been temporarily set up in the outskirts of Blueland to have them brought over.

The party headed for the suburbs. The four Golem horses were ridden by Jin and Reiko, Elsa and Edgar, Barrow and Belle, and Beat with the luggage respectively.

The blimp airship had already made its way to the clearing. Regulus 4 (AKA Mark)’s handling had been impeccable. Jin praised both him and Beat for their hard work.

“Well, shall we go?”

The blimp started to slowly gain altitude after the party had boarded it. The only ones remaining on the ground below were the Quintas “Mark” and “Beat”.

“Let’s go.”

The distance between Blueland and Reinhardt’s territory –Kartze Village, in the Shouro Empire– was a little less than 900 kilometers.

If they had to make a stop to spend the night somewhere along the way, it would have to be in the Celuroa Kingdom, which they had to go through in order to reach Kartze Village. But Jin wanted to avoid that for many reasons.

That’s why Jin had made plans to be able to fly to the Shouro Empire in a single day. Even though they could be seen to be a bit underhanded… there was no choice but to press on.

“Let’s go up even higher in the sky.”

The Celuroa Kingdom had not given Jin permission to enter or leave their country, let alone their airspace. For that reason, in order to avoid troubles, he had planned to fly way high up in the sky to avoid being detected.

Furthermore, Jin had planned to make the most use out of the Wind Barrier to reduce air resistance and increase the blimp’s speed. Flying at a super high altitude would be convenient for this reason as well.

“Whoa…”

The view from an altitude of 10,000 meters was truly spectacular.

Humans would normally be unable to survive in such an environment, but since the air pressure and temperature were maintained by the Wind Barrier, the crew was unaffected by the altitude.

And because of that, they were able to see an extraordinary landscape of this world.

A sea of clouds as far as the eye could see. A clear blue sky spreaded above their heads.

“Here above the clouds, it’s sunny all year round.”

Jin was fascinated by the sight.

“…This is so beautiful.”

Elsa was also mesmerized as she gazed upon this mystical sight.

Even at such high altitudes, the blimp’s Magi Detector was fully operational, so they never lost sight of their destination.

The blimp was flying at a speed of nearly 150 kilometers per hour.

Had they continued to fly in that state, they would have arrived at the Shouro Empire in about five hours. Therefore, Jin decided to reduce both their altitude and speed.

The sky in the Shouro Empire was clear, so the blimp descended without having to go through a layer of clouds.

“Um, Master Jin? Where are we?”

“Ah, we should be close to Magiroots.”

“Huh!?”

Since the Quinta Regulus 9 –who was in charge of watching over the neighboring town of Mont– was guiding them, Jin was able to accurately determine their course even from above the sea of clouds.

“Ah, ah, umm, r-really, M-Master Jin?”

“Yeah. Can you already recognize this place?”

“Umm…”

Barrow was completely taken aback, and Belle was staring fixedly at the ground.

“Ah, Barrow, look! …There’s the village! And those are definitely the village chief’s house, and the watchtower!”

The area was covered with dry cornfields.

Corn and beans made for suitable crops for arid regions. This area looked like a corn farm.

As Jin’s blimp approached, it started to attract the attention of some of the villagers, who started to look up at the sky and point at it, panicking. Even though some of them might have already seen a blimp before during the Technology Expo, this reaction was still natural from anyone seeing it flying in the sky for the first time.

Jin landed in a meadow outside the village. Regulus 9 rushed over. He was an automata that looked like a teenage boy, and had brown hair and eyes. He was dressed like a nobleman’s retainer.

“Welcome, Chief.”

“Good job. Please look after the blimp, Regulus 9. We wouldn’t want any children playing around it.”

Jin caught the sight of a few curious among the villagers that had gathered to watch the blimp’s arrival from afar.

“Ah, Big Bro!”

One of the children spoke up loudly.

“No way, it really is Barrow!”

“And Belle’s here too!”

“How in the world…?”

At that moment, the commotion among the villagers became even louder.

“Excuse me, who are you? I am Flix Becker, tax collector in charge of the Etranto region.”

He was a man in his 30s with a solid build, with chestnut-colored hair and the signature blue eyes of the Shouro Empire.

“I am Jin Nido, the Magi Craft Meister.”

“And I’m his sister Elsa. I’m a Magi Engineer.”

Jin and Elsa each introduced themselves.

“The Magi Craft Meister!? Oh! No way!”

Jin’s name seems to have been known to the tax collector who called himself Flix Becker. The latter then performed an informal salute in the Shouro Empire that consisted of placing his right hand on his chest. This was commonly done to respectfully salute any nobleman below the rank of Baron.

“I’m terribly sorry for my rudeness! Is there anything you need from this village?”

Jin nodded.

“Yeah. These two are Barrow and Belle, who are working in my estate. I’ve come today to bring them home.”