Chapter 140: Repair Work

Enemy shells had left a large hole in the battleship’s hull.

I gathered scrap iron recovered from the sea, fitted it over the opening, and used earth magic to weld it into the ship.

“…Phew.”

Manipulating iron was far more difficult than manipulating soil. I had to reshape the metal precisely and match it to the battleship’s structure. Even for me, the work demanded intense concentration.

After half a day, I finally finished repairing the exterior.

“That’s incredible,” said the foreman of the dock holding the two Lunoa battleships. “I’ve never seen earth magic used to weld metal.”

“It’s a difficult technique.”

Anti-magic barriers made people forget that magic itself was an advanced skill. Modern education had spread widely, but magical instruction was still concentrated among the nobility. Very few earth mages could manipulate metal at this level.

“I may be the only one left who can do it,” I said. “There was another person with similar ability, but he’s no longer a concern.”

I remembered the earth mage I had faced on the Rosha front.

The foreman looked over the repaired hull.

“At this rate, will the ship be finished tomorrow?”

“No. The interior will be harder. Each ship will take about three days.”

“Three days per battleship? Repairs like these normally take half a year.”

“Six days is still a long time when the Orline Empire is preparing to enter the war.”

The foreman laughed weakly.

“General Tokel ordered us to make both ships capable of moving within a month, even if they were only patched together. We thought the order was impossible.”

“Without my magic, it probably would be.”

“Every worker here is grateful that Major General Willard happened to be present.”

“Then let us make their gratitude worthwhile. We still have the interior to repair.”

“Yes, sir.”

I took a brief rest and returned to work.

Six days wasn’t much time for the political and military plans surrounding these ships.

Still, if everyone moved as intended, it would be enough.