As dusk falls on the village of Kaina, a banquet is being held in the hall of Nido Castle.
"Thank you for your hard work today. There were no accidents and the party was a great success. Please enjoy yourselves, relieve your fatigue, and prepare for tomorrow's energy. And I hope those of you who are here by chance can also enjoy yourselves.
After Jin's simple and simple greeting, the atmosphere was quickly filled with excitement.
"Mr. Rhodes, you were great!
"Ha ha, thank you. I'll aim for the championship next time.
I'll be rooting for you!
At Rhodes' place was Rubina.
"I see Freddy came to see you, too."
"Oh, yes. He was traveling with his ...... grandmother to the southern part of the Kingdom of Egelea. When we came back, we found that such an event had been held in the village of Toka.
Grina was talking with Freddy.
Ernest XVII and his entourage had come from the Kingdom of Egelea to attend the air race, but since it was the first edition, it was not well known to the public and Freddy and his entourage in the south had not heard about it.
"But I'm glad I got to see it, even if it was at the last minute," he said. Jin-sama gave us Anne."
Anne returned with a tray of drinks and snacks.
"Here you go, Mr. Ellis, Mr. Freddy."
"Oh, thank you."
* * * *
Jin, our host, is entertaining Zion, the VIP of the evening.
"This time, we experimented with some things, but I think it went pretty well.
"Yes, I think so. The Klein Kingdom was well received, and the other guests seemed to be satisfied as well.
I hope so.
I hope you'll hold it again next year.
If you say so, of course I'll help you. I don't think the Kingdom of Klein would refuse.
"Yes, I'm sure the Kingdom of Klein won't say no. ...... Then it would be nice to have a real flying course built in Toka village."
"......Well, I understand how you feel, but we can talk about such things when we're not having a banquet,......?"
Jin said to him and Zion smiled.
"Oh, yes, of course. I'm sorry."
Then he changed his smile to a grimace and picked up the cup. Yes, <>.
Not a glass or a mug, but a cup.
It was a lacquered sake cup, the kind commonly used at Nido Castle. It is supposed to be served when <> is served at ......<>.
And Zion liked Horaijima rice wine.
"Oh, it's delicious!"
It is a taste that has been refined for 400 years...the end result of the tireless breeding by the five-colored golem maid Topaz and the brewing by the peridos.
"......That's very poetic."
Jin said to Zion, who had become more sentimental than ever before.
"Maybe it is. Maybe it's a reaction to the race."
Smiling faintly, Zion took a second sip of his drink.
* * * *
"......<>, is it?"
"Yes. That's what my friends at ...... named me. It's a new genre."
Jin, the host of the event, can't keep his eyes on Zion, so he visits Rhodes and the other members of the .
The topic of conversation is, of course, Jin's <.
"I found out that the ratio between the required performance and the construction to meet it is important. I have learned that the ratio is very important.
This is the granddaughter of Marikka, <>'s Kondak.
"I vaguely sensed it when I saw Rhodes catch up, and I understood it when I saw Jin-sama's flight."
"Hmmm ......."
Jin, who was being lifted up, folded his arms and made a difficult face.
"I don't mean to be rude, but <> are not in line with Marikka's ideas."
<> are more like balloons and airships: ......<> and <> are completely separated.
< relies on aerodynamics for its maneuverability. You could say that it is a development of the tailless plane .......
"I don't know about that."
Marikka's student, Immyr of <>, objected.
"Jin-sama's <> is not <>, it is definitely <> of the <>."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. ......If Maricka were here, I'm sure she would say so."
"...... I see."
Jin smiled a smile that could be described as a wry smile, and thought back to his exchange with Marikka.
It was during the daytime, when they were still in Horai Island.
* * * *
"Master Jin has further sublimated the !"
Marikka (the homunculus) said with a gleam in her eye.
"I have been trying to do something about the situation where the maneuverability is good at low speeds, but the higher the speed, the worse the maneuverability becomes."
However, he said, air jets were not powerful enough at high speeds, while larger ones would interfere at low speeds.
"On the other hand, we don't want to use a movable propulsion system because it would tend to lack strength."
< has the great advantage that it is easy to identify each part and each component.
It is the wings and the that float. The propulsion system moves the ship forward. Thrusters are used to change direction.
Easy to understand, easy to handle, and easy to maintain. Of course, it is easy to build.
If you want to fly fast, make the propulsion system stronger, and if you want to lift heavy objects, increase the size of the main wings and the blow engine.
However, they could not devise a way to increase agility.
"It's a wonder that they used <>. ......"
"But you've broken the division of labor by using thrusters to change direction, haven't you?"
Marikka shook her head.
"No, the division of labor is just a pretext, and I have no intention of sticking to it.
Marikka told Jin firmly, "It would be a mistake not to adopt a function that is really needed because of some kind of preconceived notion.
"Well, if Marikka says so, ......."
* * * *
There was an exchange of words: "If Marikka says so, then ......" * * * * * *.
Jin was happy to see that Marikka's students had definitely inherited her intentions and were looking to the future.
Jin then goes to Elise.
Freddy is in the corner talking with Greiner, and Elise is with Anne.
"Oh, Jin-sama!"
"Are you having fun, Mr. Ellis? Are you all right?
"Yes, I am. The atmosphere alone is enough to make me happy. Ann-san is taking good care of me.
"I hope so. ......"
Jin glanced at Freddy who was chatting with Greiner.
"Well, she took care of me during the whole trip, you know. I should at least tolerate a little talk with the girl I like."
"I see."
Jin saw Elise smiling at her grandson,
"Anne, take care of Mr. Ellis."
"Anne, take care of Mr. Ellis," he reminded her.
"Hey Jin-sama, about that , ......"
<
"Can I ask you a few questions?"
"Yes, of course.
"Well, is <> a technology that is incompatible with <>?"
"Hmmm ......"
Jin understood what Rubina meant, and knowing the background of Marikka's creation of the <>, he had to think about how to answer the question.