After healing the knights, I asked them what had happened. To my surprise, I discovered that they had actually come to ask my master and Lionel to help them train of their own volition. Even more shocking, I was apparently the reason they’d made that decision. They said that seeing me getting beaten up over and over but still getting back up and trying again had inspired them somehow, on top of proving that I wasn’t just all talk. So when Brod and Lionel returned to the training field after breakfast, seeing that I wasn’t around, they had challenged the pair to another mock battle.
“They had a lot more spirit than yesterday, so it was pretty damn fun,” Brod said, visibly satisfied.
Lionel seemed to be in a good mood as well, pleased to have had a great training session so early in the day.
Anyway, the knights thanked me for healing them and began heading back to their respective squads.
“As long as you feel the frustration of losing and refuse to give up, you will only grow stronger,” Brod told them. His words must’ve reached them, as they all stopped in their tracks and turned around to bow to him, before continuing on their way. “Oh, by the way, Luciel, we don’t have to go to Merratoni,” he told me next.
“Huh? But what about your job at the guild? You already left your post without even telling Gulgar,” I pointed out.
“I had a little chat with Galba yesterday. He agreed to act as substitute guildmaster until I come back.”
“I mean, having you around would definitely help if we have to fight, but...”
“You’re going to Illumasia, right? I’ve got some business there too, so mind if I tag along?”
Well, if he’d already discussed it with Galba and had affairs in the empire, I didn’t have a reason to refuse. I was a little surprised to hear he had business in Illumasia of all places, though.
“I am.” I nodded. “Fine, you can come. But please don’t wander off on your own, all right?”
“Worry about yourself instead of me,” he retorted, muttering, “Who do you think I’m going to the empire for?” under his breath, although I didn’t really hear that part at the time.
“I mean, you do have a point, but...”
I felt like Brod’s mood was gradually souring. He turned to Lionel, completely ignoring my response, and said, “Heard that, Lion?”
“Always got to have your way, huh?”
The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds before they both turned away.
“What about Galba? How’s he returning to Merratoni?” I asked.
“He borrowed a horse from the knights and left last night,” Brod replied.
“I see.”
Now that I thought about it, Catherine hadn’t been in the pope’s chambers when I came to visit her... Aaand I’m going to stop that line of thought right now.
I looked at Lionel. He didn’t appear any different from usual, but there was a noticeable tension in him, perhaps because Brod would be tagging along for Illumasia.
After that, I gathered everyone in the airship’s briefing room to tell them about all the things Dongahar had told me, as well as to discuss our future plans. Well, “plans” wasn’t exactly the right word for it; I mostly wanted to talk about the route we’d take to infiltrate Illumasia and how we’d deal with their wyvern squads if we were to use our airship to get there, as well as to get a better idea of their military strength.
“All right, first question: Can we fly all the way to the capital in the airship?” I asked.
“It’s technically possible, but it all depends on whether we cross paths with the wyverns or not. It’s a matter of luck, really,” Lionel said. “The ones that have been deployed to fight in the war against Luburk should be on standby near the battlefield, even with the ceasefire. There are still the ones guarding the capital, but they shouldn’t be that much of a threat to us.”
I’d thought that the wyverns would be a much bigger threat than that, so I was surprised by Lionel’s statement.
“Does the empire have weapons to deal with flying threats?” I asked next.
“Back when I was there, we used ballistae and defensive magic to keep them at bay. There were also powerful magical weapons to deal with monster and demon threats, but those shouldn’t be too much of a problem for us. The empire probably isn’t expecting an attack from above.”
Based on Lionel’s information, it seemed that we should be able to use the airship without too much trouble. But there was one little problem: While I could use Sanctuary Barrier to protect us from the magic weapons, I wasn’t sure how to deal with the ballistae. I hadn’t seen them for myself yet, but I was pretty sure they could kill someone instantly if aimed accurately. Would flying as high as we could to prevent the bolts from reaching us be enough? But what about landing, then? We could use parachutes, but that’d make us easy targets...and we didn’t have parachutes anyway.
Hold on. I might have an idea.
“The airship is pretty quiet, right? How about we fly into the capital at night and take advantage of the cover of darkness?” I suggested.
“Wyverns are nocturnal creatures, sir. Also, there are a lot of small conflicts going on in the empire, so they tend to be more cautious at night,” Lionel informed me.
“Small conflicts, huh?”
“If it’s the ballistae’s bolts yer worried about, don’t be,” Dhoran interjected.
“But don’t we risk the airship falling if they hit us?” I asked.
“Nah. She ain’t gonna sink just because of some big arrows. If the wyverns keep gnashin’ and breathin’ fire at her, sure, the armor might take a hit, but ballista bolts? They ain’t takin’ her down.”
He’d built that airship using ore from the Earth Dragon, and I could tell he fully believed in its resilience.
“If you’re that confident, I’ll take your word for it. You’re the head of the research and development squad, after all.”
“Good. She’s also got a barrier to protect ’er from long-range magic attacks, so as long as they don’t hit us with a forbidden technique, we’ll be right as rain,” he added.