Chapter 26: The identity of the cloth-covered object

We traveled to Elendil via the train station in the imperial capital.

On the long road where the magic ship was anchored in the hanging garden, there were five people including Ren.

The others were Ulysses, Verlich, Edgar, and Lessard.

It had been a while since then.

It was after midnight, and there was already not a single guest in the hanging garden.

The darkness and silence enveloped the area compared to the daytime, and the group exchanged words in the cold winter night breeze.

Ulysses, who heard Lessard’s reply, says in a tone of voice that suggests he knew from the beginning.

"So that means you haven't gotten rid of Lemuria yet, right?"

“I thought it would be a disrespect to dispose of the magic ship that was given to me by His Majesty and wondered if it could be repaired someday."

Lessard said, "This way please," and walked out, stepping to one corner of this long, runway-like road.

Ren, who was following him, was surprised to see something at the end of the road.

(Could it be that thing?)

He had seen it when he was playing the game, but now that he had become Ren, he saw it for the first time in the hanging garden.

When he arrived at the side of what appeared to be a magic ship shaped like a bullet from its silhouette through the cloth, Lessard gave an order to the magic ship engineers who were there.

“Take out the cloth.”

The ship's engineers immediately removed the cloth to reveal what had been hidden.

As Ren had expected, what was revealed was a magic ship.

It was much smaller than a typical magic ship that carries passengers, but its bullet-shaped upper part had translucent wings folded down, reminiscent of fish fins, and was there with luxurious decorations.

The top part, shaped like a bullet, has translucent wings folded into a shape reminiscent of a fish's fins, and there are luxurious ornaments along with a series of sailboat-like sections without sails for people to ride on.

“Oh, it's still the same as it was when I built it,"

Verlich said.

His cheeks were relaxed and you could see that he was happy.

“Sorry for the late introduction, Verlich-san, I am Lessard Clausel. When His Majesty entrusted me with Elendil, he gave me Lemuria that you built.”

"Oh. I could tell at first glance that you took good care of it. You didn't keep it in the dock, so you didn't forget its nature, right?”

“Yes. I was told by a magic ship engineer who knew the situation that it would be better to manage it in a place where it would be exposed to the wind.”

“It's because of the materials we used to build it. I chose materials from monsters that are good with wind, so it's more convenient for it to be exposed to the open air as much as possible. Thank you for taking care of it.”

After the conversation had settled down, Lessard and Ulysses gave strict orders to the magic ship technicians.

They told them to keep everything they saw here a secret.

Ren stood next to Verlich, who looked up at the magic ship called Lemuria.

“This was built by you, Verlich-san?”

For Ren, one of the mysteries from the time of the legend of the Seven Heroes had just appeared.

He didn't imagine the content would be as interesting as it is.

“I built it for the former king a long time ago. His Majesty liked it very much at that time, but he stopped riding it after he became ill. After that, other members of the royal family sometimes rode it, but I heard that the furnace in the center of the ship was put to work recklessly, and that's how it ended up like this.”

The furnace and its surrounding area burned up after repeated overworking, requiring major repairs.

Since then, however, no one has attempted to fix Lemuria, and it has been placed in a corner of the Hanging Garden because of the materials and funds needed to repair it.

When Elendil was entrusted to the Clausel family, the ownership of Lemuria was transferred to Lessard.

The combination of these events led to the current situation.

"If you're worried, you can give me food. By the way, when the repair is finished, I don't mind if it’s a famous sake. Please send it to me once in a while."

Compared to the usual repair costs, this is a small price to pay. But if it’s Verlich who does the repair work, it is especially valuable and cannot be exchanged for money.

Verlich, too, wasn’t short of money, which is why he made this request.

Lessard gives Ulysses a troubled look, but he laughs and tells him not to worry about it.

“He is a man who hates to work, but when he decides to do something, he does it thoroughly.”

“I don't like it when the spoilt brat says that.”

“I understand. From now on, I will give you priority in wholesaling rare materials obtained in our territory.”

"......you really are a spoilt brat, you know that?"

Then Verlich suddenly looked at Lessard.

“I heard that Lessard has a saint. Her sword will be ready soon, so I'll bring it to you later.”

He continued to Ren and Lessard, who were surprised at the sudden mention of the sword.

“Weiss has been asking me to do this for a long time, and now that you guys are here, I'm going to finish it.”

Verlich said that he and Weiss are old acquaintances.

Lessard nodded in agreement when he learned that Verlich was the one he was supposed to meet at the blacksmith shop the other day.

“It must have been when Weiss was a knight of the Kingsguard before he joined the family, right?”

“Weiss saved me from a blizzard in the nearby mountains back then. I promised Weiss that one day I would forge a sword for him. But Weiss said he didn't need it because he had his sword.”

(So, that sword...is that the sword that Verlich-san forged?)

Although it’s knowledge from the time of the Seven Heroes, the sword held by Saint Licia is still in my memory.

It was only natural that it would remain deep in his memory since it boosted the performance of the wielder that he wanted so much that he couldn’t wait to have it.

It was no wonder, when he heard that it was the sword forged by Verlich, who had forged the sword of the Sword King.

“By the way, Verlich, where will you repair Lemuria?”

“We'll use the dock in the hanging gardens. We'll have Lessard-san close off a section of the dock so that only we can get in.”

“I thought you said earlier that it would be better to expose it to the wind.”

“I know what you’re thinking, but the fact is, we're trying to fix it, so we're going to have to move it. I'm going to put it in the wind as much as possible, and I'm going to do my best to keep it under control.”

“I guess I've asked too many unnecessary demands ---- Baron Clausel, can you do me a favor about the docks?"

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

“Well then, keep Lemuria moving in the near future. But as soon as Asval's horn arrives here, I'll forge Ren's armor first. It will be ready in a month.”

As the conversation progressed, Ren had a question:

That is, it is important whether Asval’s horns as a material has loyalty.

If you think back to that, it didn't seem to make much sense to use it to repair Lemuria.

When I asked Verlich about that, he said, "It’s a different matter”.

“I'm not saying that the quality of the material is bad, I'm just saying that it's best to focus on you, Ren in order to make the most of them. But for the magic ship, the bones and horns of the dragon specis are good for the magic ship. Most of them are strong and light.”

“By the way, just out of curiosity, how do you use Asval's horns on a magic ship?”

“The surface is sometimes melted with chemicals to even it out and sometimes it is shaved down to make a single pillar or something. In this case, it would be the perfect material to strengthen the area around the furnace. We can use the horns and bones of the dragon in all kinds of ways.”

Verlich asserted it’s the ability to mount a high-power furnace would make it more robust in the first place.

Ren nodded in agreement.

“It’s sudden, but I'll have to ask you to transport Asval’s horns for me, Lessard-san,"

“I understand. It should arrive here within three weeks.”

“Edgar, could you send one of our knights? It will be a lot of work to take care of it, so we will help you.”

“Yes, as the Lord wills.”

As the night was growing late, the big talk quickly came to a conclusion.

With Verlich and the others laughing happily, Ren looked up at the cold sky. He went to the blacksmith district and thought about what he had decided to do after seeing the school section.

(I have to tell Licia and the others about the Imperial Academy.)

I have already made up my mind.

Everything is not for me, but to protect everything that is important to me.

So I can no longer avoid or run away.

Because he has decided to do his best for those he wants to protect, understanding in his own way the responsibility and freedom that comes with being strong.

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