"What is that?"
"Bottled beer! There are quite a few varieties now. It's not cork like before, but a newly invented crown cap, so the taste doesn't change! Fran, you're having an ale, right?"
The crown cap was a metal bottle cap wrinkled like a crown. The thing he had only seen on Coca-Cola bottles in his previous life was the latest invention in this world.
Arthur liked that invention very much. Understandably so.
Beer sealed with a metal cap tasted good.
In the sack Arthur opened, there were several brown bottles with beads of water forming on the surface.
Lager, ale, dark beer - a good variety of kinds.
"Hmm."
His expression was the same as just before, but a faint sense of pleasure bloomed from Fran's demeanor.
A riverside in late July.
The part where the sun shone was dazzlingly white, and the pattern the leaves cast on the water was blue.
A glass of beer in the shade where the breeze shakes the drooping willow branches. It was an arrangement even a cold-blooded activist couldn't help but fall for.
Cleo moved to put the final cream on Arthur's excellent preparation.
"Hold on a second, I'll lower the temperature for you quickly. It got lukewarm while we brought it."
Paaah—
Quickly opening a circle, Cleo dropped the temperature of the beers significantly.
Arthur quickly snatched a chilled bottle and popped the cap by tapping it against the edge of the boat. It was an experienced skill that didn't even need a bottle opener.
"Here."
Fran did not decline and took the bottle. "I will drink it well."
Arthur smiled, showing his canines. "Ray, what about you?"
"I'll have a lager."
"Great."
Lightly clinking the bodies of their bottles in a toast, the three young men enjoyed a sip of beer on a midsummer boat.
Weather where light sweat forms on the skin.
An ice-cold beer drank in the middle of the day was fantastic.
While emptying their respective bottles in comfortable silence, Fran suddenly pointed at the Hemisphere of Embrace.
"By the way, Asser."
"Yeah?"
"Didn't you say earlier, while explaining the principle of this magic tool, that the light gets brighter as the matching half gets closer?"
"I did."
"It looks like exactly that reaction is happening right now."
"Huh? That can't be. Cel went to pick up what she ordered from a workshop way down downstream..."
The two people's conversation was interrupted by a strange noise.
Tatatatatat—
A sound like driving a cultivator, which he had only heard in his previous life, was coming from above their heads.
An artificial wind fiercely stirred the drooping willow branches.
Cutting through the dazzling midday summer sky, a pure white biplane was heading this way.
'Is it Cel? ...But wait, why is the angle of its nose so strange... Gasp.'
The plane was rapidly lowering its altitude.
But this was a forest without a single road.
Even to the layman Cleo's eyes, there was no place for a normal takeoff or landing on the small island overgrown with reeds and wild grass and the water's edge lined with willow trees.
'Is she trying to do a water landing? No, seriously!'
Cleo urgently deployed a circle, swallowing a scream that failed to form into words.
Even if Cel could escape using [Enhancement], if it landed on water, the plane could not remain intact.
'If she breaks that now, what are we going to do about our plan! Wow, this is driving me crazy!'
He instantly unfolded a five-layered [Deceleration] magic formula.
He didn't even have time to think of a proper mantra. Urgent words popped out reflexively.
"[Slow down!]"
With a feeling of emptiness inside his ribs, his ether drained all at once. In contrast, the effect of the magic was clumsy. It was because of the unstylish mantra.
Still, it was extremely fortunate that the fuselage was light enough that it didn't deflect the magic and was quietly caught.
Shooooosh— Swaaaash!
The airplane landed vertically on the small island overgrown with reeds and shrubs. It wasn't a normal landing, but an unnatural form aided by [Deceleration].
Fran, who had already discarded his beer bottle, quickly climbed up to the dock. Cleo, who hastily gulped down the remaining beer, also followed him.
From the cockpit of the airplane that had suddenly made a vertical landing, Cel, wearing a riding habit and goggles, jumped out.
Then she immediately turned around and helped Isiel, who was sitting in the back seat above the fuel tank, to get off.
Isiel, who had excellent balance and motor skills, for some reason meekly accepted Cel's escort and carefully stepped down to the ground.
Behind the two of them, a wonderful biplane revealed its imposing figure.
Its wings, covered with stiff canvas cloth over a bright orange wooden frame, were broad like a bird's feathers.
It was a square box-kite-shaped airplane with a reciprocating engine and a wooden propeller, and a fixed wing attached to the rear.
Cleo's irritation faded, and a faint smile hung on his lips.
It is rare for a boy not to have liked either dinosaurs, ships, airplanes, or cars in his childhood.
What he had been obsessed with as a boy in his previous life was airplanes.
'Seeing the real thing, even my heart is fluttering a bit.'
Although the front wheels of that wonderful airplane were deeply stuck in the grass, and its wings were covered in fallen leaves.
'This seems like a highly stable design, so why did Cel grab the steering wheel like that?'
The people who rode the airplane began walking toward the dock. Conversations between Cel and Isiel intermittently reached his ears.
"My hair is a mess. I should wear a hat next time. Ahaha!"
"No, there will be no next time. I decline any future boardings."
"We already flew 6 kilometers today! We'll be able to fly much further next time!"
Cel, pushing her goggles up through her messy hair, was in a state of extreme excitement. She was circling Isiel and acting almost like Ezra.
Her usual elegant and mature demeanor was nowhere to be found.
Amidst that excited atmosphere, the four people finally met on the dock.
"Hey, Ray! Oh my, the former classmate is here too! Long time no see!"
"What is all this about, Cel."
Even if it wasn't a great magic, Cleo, exhausted from opening and closing his circle too abruptly, replied with a complaining voice.
Of course, Cel paid it no mind.
"I was receiving this piece from Mr. Clevidens when the Hemisphere of Embrace lit up. I thought it was the perfect time for a test flight!"
"Even with Isiel there, did you really have to..."
Isiel, whose face was somehow paler than usual, lightly waved her hand.
"No. I also agreed and boarded. A distance that would take two hours to walk upstream through the forest path took less than seven minutes riding that thing. It is certainly an amazing invention."
"Right, it's amazing! This model, the CC-2, can reach speeds of up to 45km per hour."
"You brought Isiel on the maiden flight of a model that goes that fast!?"
"Then should I have come alone? Haha. Ray, just in case, I put the flame-retardant magic tool you gave me on Isiel."
Isiel, who was in her usual school uniform, took off her glove and unclasped the bracelet from her wrist, as if she just remembered.
The magic stone platinum bracelet engraved with intricate patterns in blue enamel had the function of blocking fire. It was a magic tool Cleo had purchased cheaply and restored.
"It looks good on you, you should just keep it..."
"No. I know for sure. This is a magic tool you must wear, Cel. Of course, I hope there will be no need for it if possible."
It was a relic mentioned in the 8th manuscript that Cleo picked from the Graier Company's warehouse, in case the engine exploded or the highly flammable fuselage caught fire.
Fran, who had been quietly listening to all this talk, finally uncrossed his arms and opened his mouth.
"I've heard there are people riding gliders, but to think it has already developed into that form. What exactly do you call it?"
With an expression like stars were pouring out of her silver eyes, Cel bowed towards Fran.
"An airplane. Call it an airplane! The model name is CC-2, a masterpiece by creator Claire Clevidens!"
"Tempest de Neige, are you planning to use this to transport the items Asser and I will extract over the mountain range?"
"Exactly! If we take a train, we'd have to go a long way around to the Cruel Duchy, but crossing the mountains makes the straight-line distance short. You said you'd explain the contents to me, right? Anything is fine. I really like adventures like this, fufu."
"Uhm, Cel. Contrary to your story, the safety of that airplane is highly questionable; will it be okay?"
"Oh, this wizard worries too much! It's safe except during takeoff and landing. Mr. Clevidens' straight box-kite-shaped airplane is easier to control than those of other makers, and it's stable when moving the rudder."
"Most aviation accidents happen during takeoff and landing. For example, if you land on water like just now, the fuselage won't survive."
"Hmm, Sir Cleo. You pretended not to be interested in these things, but you really know a lot, don't you? Well, our wizard has always been like that. So I used a drastic measure to enhance the fuselage. Look at this."
Still so excited her feet seemed to float off the ground, Cel led Fran and Cleo toward the airplane.
The tip of Cel's hand, wrapped in a leather glove, pointed to the side of the engine.
A small tiplaum plate engraved with an enhancement diamond and an [Amplification] formula was soldered onto the fuselage.
"I asked you for a diamond before, right? I used it like this. If you conduct enhancement through this, even a fuselage covered in linen over a fir frame won't break easily. So, what exactly are the items you're entrusting me to transport?"
Cel's question was directed at Fran.
Fran's gaze swept over her flushed face, Isiel's calm expression, and Arthur, who had quietly walked over and stopped behind the kids after tying up the boat.
Their interests are not the same as Fran's.
The future they hope for will also be different from what Fran hopes for. But just one thing.
The goal of trying to prevent unjust bloodshed was the same.
Fran's low gaze circled the faces of the children, then lingered a little longer on the face of the wizard who had organized all this.
He still looked like a frail, weak young master, but under his direction, an unimaginable change had begun.
Cleo Asser was a difficult puzzle for Fran.
What he wanted, what he truly desired, the goal of his dedication and willingness to bear losses—none of it could be accurately grasped.
'Like the flow of history whose only purpose is to advance. No, that's not a metaphor to use for a person.'
A slow but irresistible, magnificent flow.
Trying to interpret the unfamiliar and uncomfortable sense of wonder that rushed upon him, Fran pushed the puzzle that wouldn't yield an immediate answer into his mind's 'requires long-term deliberation' category.
Right now, the immediate task had to be solved first.
"In the Izens Castle, the summer resort of the Duke of Meinrad, there is a secretly built laboratory. The results of the experiments currently being conducted there by the faction of the Queen and the 2nd Prince..."
***
The first week of August