Published: March 21, 2026
"If we're heading in the direction we aimed for, we should see the Demon Clan territory soon…"
Noah, who was steering the ship and was the only one who knew its position, muttered that as everyone except Amelia, who was on lookout duty, gathered around for dinner.
It had already been several days since we left the Beastmen territory, and along the way we'd been attacked by demonic beasts and boarded by Demon Clan members, leaving damage to the bottom of the ship. So it seems we were far behind our original schedule.
In my old world I had never even ridden on a plane, so I thought the elapsed time was about right. But the hero said planes were much faster. Amazing technology for a world without magic. Unlike me, who was impressed, Noah and Crow—both creators at heart—had clearly felt competitive and were often seen happily talking with the hero and Nanase. There's apparently a book in the library that explains the scientific mechanisms in entertaining detail. I usually only borrow stories, so our tastes in books probably differ. I should read it when I get back to my world.
"By the way, how does this ship land?"
Kazuki asked Noah again—apparently nobody had explained how we'd land.
Like a ship floating on the sea, this vessel has a pointed bottom, and there's no way it can touch down horizontally. When Noah assembled it, it was already hovering, so I assumed it could just stop in midair and stay that way.
Noah cocked her head as if to say, what are you talking about.
"I never considered landing, did I?"
Her casual answer silenced the room that should have held a decent number of people.
You can't feel it much while aboard, but this ship is moving at a fair speed. If it strikes something, there will of course be an impact—for whatever it hits and for us aboard. And there are demonic beasts in the sea below. If the ship is damaged on splashdown, we'll be at a severe disadvantage and could be attacked, or even if the ship survives, sea monsters could break it apart. Splashdown is therefore not recommended. And if she had intended it to touch down safely, she would have designed it differently.
"…Why make it in the shape of a ship?"
"Because it's cooler and looks better, obviously."
I asked if we couldn't land if the bottom weren't pointed, and Noah looked baffled as if she couldn't see the problem. Crow, looking like he wanted to bury his head in his hands, slapped the back of her head with a sharp smack.
"Are you stupid? No—scratch that, you're definitely stupid! How many times have I told you to stop charging ahead without thinking of the aftermath?!"
"How dare you call me stupid to my face!"
"Now is not the time to argue who’s the parent here!"
A parent-child style quarrel that didn't even make clear who was the parent nearly broke out, so I slipped between them and separated the two. In the past few days I'd painfully learned that when these two start, it's better to keep them out of reach of each other before the fight gets serious.
"Before you quarrel, start by thinking how to handle this. If both landing and splashdown are impossible, then what do we do?"
My words drew a hush over the ship and I couldn't help but sigh.
No one had an answer. This should have been checked before boarding. It felt like we'd boarded a leaky boat without confirming its strength. Protect your own life. Apparently I'd grown complacent without realizing it.
I reflected briefly and offered an idea. If it was impossible, our only option might be to accept that the ship would be destroyed once—so what were the possibilities?
"Okay. Can we keep the ship flying? Hover in place, that would be ideal. If not, while we're at the Demon King's Castle, just patrol near the Demon Clan territory."
Noah, puffing her cheeks and turning away after being scolded by Crow, crossed her arms and looked up into the empty air as if calculating something.
We waited for her answer.
"Hover in place, huh. Well… if the princess tops up her magical power before we take off, she could keep us flying for maybe two or three days… Keeping it stationary also consumes magic, so I don't know how much it'll use. If we cast camouflage magic so we won't be spotted by demonic beasts or Demon Clan members, the caster can't defend the ship. If someone else can stay behind to handle intercepts, it might be possible."