Chapter 175
Chapter 175: Not Much Time Left (2)
At the news that the hot air balloon was completed, Ghislaine’s expression brightened. A flying machine could be used for various purposes, so he’d been secretly hoping for its completion.
“Great, just as I thought, dwarves are amazing. See? I told you we could make a flying machine.”
“Indeed! The hot air balloon was built based on what the Lord taught us! Hahaha!”
Galbarik laughed heartily. Even though he had received help from Ghislaine, he had learned a new technique, so how could he not be joyful?
In his excitement, he showered Ghislaine with praise. It cost nothing to say a few kind words.
“Truly remarkable! Who would have thought you could come up with something so amazing!”
“Yeah, it’s impressive.”
“Be more joyful! We’ve created the first flying machine on the continent!”
“Yeah, yeah. We’re the first.”
Having seen countless hot air balloons in his past life, Ghislaine merely responded dryly to Galbarik’s exuberance.
To him, achieving development felt like a matter of course; there was nothing particularly astonishing about it.
However, for Galbarik and the dwarves, it was a completely different story. The development of the hot air balloon was indeed a historic feat.
“Humanity can finally fly on its own without relying on magic! This is truly a victory for technology! Hahaha!”
Flying in the present age was considered impossible. To soar, one could only use mana to defy the laws of nature.
Yet, they had created a device that floated purely with technology, so it was no wonder the dwarves rejoiced.
All the dwarves cheered for Ghislaine.
“Truly, the Lord is incredible! Such keen observation that doesn’t miss even the slightest phenomenon!”
“More impressive is the idea of creating new technology from that phenomenon! Such thinking is rare!”
“I will never doubt the Lord’s knowledge again! The Lord is a genius! A genius scholar!”
“How much must you have studied since childhood to know such things?”
As the compliments poured in, Ghislaine scratched his cheek, looking elsewhere awkwardly.
It hadn’t been long since he was declared the kingdom’s best doctor, and now he was being called a genius scholar.
At this rate, they might even engrave “Great Scholar” on his tombstone.
‘Oh, this is a bit embarrassing.’
Ghislaine’s specialty was fighting; everything else was merely knowledge pieced together from his previous life.
But he couldn’t spoil their happiness, so he said, “Ahem, I just stumbled upon this. What studying….”
“Exactly! A true genius doesn’t need to study long! One can see a hundred things by observing one thing!”
“No, that’s not what I meant….”
“Such a shame, if you’d attended the Academy, you would definitely have been top of the class! Being first in the Royal Academy carries quite a lot of prestige, doesn’t it?”
He might have been top of the class, but only for causing trouble.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Ghislaine waved his hands to change the subject.
“The tests were completed properly, right? Is there no safety issue?”
“Don’t worry! We flew it with sheep, ducks, and a rooster for 20 minutes, and then a wizard boarded to check. Safety is assured! The first one may have been a bit small, so we made the demonstration one a bit larger and sturdier!”
He didn’t know why they used sheep, ducks, and a rooster, but since a wizard had checked it, there shouldn’t be any safety issues.
“Alright, let’s start the demonstration right away. Gather everyone.”
As the summons were issued, the retainers of the territory quickly gathered.
Those assembled in the wide open space gazed in anticipation at the machine resting in the center.
Word had spread throughout the territory that the dwarves had created something amazing. With something in the sky, gossip was inevitable.
Especially Claude was overly excited, spitting as he asked Ghislaine, “Lord! Is it really made for reconnaissance? The dwarves mentioned that too! Right? It would be great for spotting the enemy during a defense!”
“Uh, yeah… it’s mainly used for that.”
“Cough, I thought the Lord might change his mind! You can’t take sick people to battle!”
Suppressing his rising emotions, Claude wiped the tears from his eyes.
According to what he heard from Galbarik, the hot air balloon was indeed an effective item for defense.
The issue during a defense was that it was hard to see what the enemy was doing beyond the castle walls.
But with the hot air balloon, they could easily observe the movements of the enemy army.
Hearing that the Lord, who was supposed to lead, had created such a thing seemed to suggest a change of heart.
Watching Claude revel in his joy, Ghislaine clicked his tongue and asked, “Are you happy?”
“Oh, of course!”
Claude realized a truth in life: no matter how much of a fool someone was, a sincere persuasion would make anyone understand.
‘Our Lord has changed. He finally started listening to people.’
As Claude began to sniffle, Belinda’s eyes sparkled as she asked, “Young Master, can it really fly? Can we go into the sky?”
“Of course, it can. We’ve already finished testing.”
“Wow, then let’s take a trip on it! A trip! That would be so much fun!”
“That sounds great. It’ll be really enjoyable. But first, let’s start with the demonstration. Now, go!”
As Ghislaine signaled, Alfoy approached the hot air balloon’s airbag. He wore a proud expression, delighting in the attention from the crowd.
As someone who participated in creating the prototype, all interest in the balloon also meant interest in him.
Using wind-type magic, he quickly filled the balloon with air, and as it inflated, he ignited flames from his hands.
While there was a device to heat the air, using magic was faster for heating.
Whoosh!
As the magical flames heated the air, the bag began to rise slowly.
“Ooh!”
Those watching gasped in amazement.
With a smug shrug, Alfoy climbed into the basket and ignited the fuel tank connected to the air hole.
Since a wizard couldn’t constantly supply mana while the hot air balloon was afloat, they filled it with hay, wool, and oil to burn.
Tethered to the ground, the balloon rose about 20 meters and then stopped. After a moment of silence, those watching cheered as the balloon floated softly in the sky.
“Wow! It really flew!”
“Impressive! How can such a thing be made?”
“Indeed, he’s the Lord! Truly, it’s the dwarves!”
Amidst the cheers, the dwarves folded their arms proudly, and Ghislaine beamed with satisfaction.
After about ten minutes of flight, Alfoy descended and spoke with an excited expression, “Now we’re going to cut the rope and fly freely. Who wants to hop on? It can only take one person at a time!”
Alfoy spoke with the tone of a child with a special toy.
The other wizards sighed and shook their heads.
After successfully completing the test flight, Alfoy claimed his spot and refused to budge. He was annoyingly immature.
In truth, running the hot air balloon was no issue without a wizard.
However, Alfoy insisted that having a wizard aboard was necessary for adjusting the temperature quickly, and he took a seat every time the balloon took off.
In the desolate Perdium, the hot air balloon was one of the few toys available.
“Alright, those who want to ride, make a line quickly! I can assure you there’s a guarantee of safety since we’ve successfully flown it several times!”
Having just seen Alfoy ride the hot air balloon with their own eyes, there was no room for doubt. People eagerly raised their hands.
“Me! I want to ride!”
“Lord! Let me confirm if it’s dangerous first!”
However, their cries were drowned out by one person’s roar.
“What nonsense! As the next head of the Knight Order of Penris, I should go first! If you don’t want to die, back off!”
The shout came from Kaor, who had been practicing in the training ground for days.
As soon as he spotted the hot air balloon, his eyes lit up.
Something this exciting should be ridden first. It was a man’s creed.
“Let’s settle this with a duel! The winner rides first!”
At Kaor’s words, the people flinched and stepped back. It was best not to even exchange words with that crazy guy.
But not everyone stepped back. Belinda and Gillian immediately drew their weapons and approached Kaor.
In this tense moment, Ghislaine clicked his tongue and said, “I’ll let you all ride, so don’t fight. Kaor, you can go first.”
Being so blatant about his desires, it was better to let him go first and get it over with.
“Ha, the Lord really knows what he’s doing.”
Kaor climbed onto the hot air balloon with a triumphant air. The others looked on with envious expressions.
As soon as Kaor boarded, Alfoy lifted the balloon again. The difference this time was that they would cut the rope and ride the wind.
They decided to stay at a safe altitude for a few minutes to prevent any possible accidents.
“Wow! This feels incredible!”
As the hot air balloon rose high, Kaor looked down and exclaimed in awe.
People gazed up at the balloon riding the wind and followed it with childish delight, so engrossed that they didn’t even realize they were walking.
Kaor looked down at the people following him, sporting an arrogant grin. They looked like little dolls from up there.
‘When you go high, you can look down on others like this.’
He only realized it upon rising. Heights suited him better.
In that moment, a thought crossed Kaor’s mind. He immediately shared his brilliant idea with Alfoy.
“This feels incredible. Hey, let’s go higher. Let’s reach the very sky.”
“What? You want to go higher?”
“Yeah, let’s go higher and look down on those little ants! Right now, we’re the masters of the sky!”
“That’s a good idea. Or should we escape to the mage tower from here?”
Since two like-minded individuals met, there was no chance for opposition.
Agreeing with Kaor, Alfoy stopped adjusting the temperature and looked down beneath them.
His expression was even more arrogant than Kaor’s.
‘Ah, it feels so refreshing looking down like this! The heir of the mage tower must be in a position like this! Look up at me! Worship me!’
As the two idiots smirked, the unrestrained hot air balloon began to rise endlessly.
As the height of the balloon increased, confusion began to show on the faces of those following below.
It wasn’t just ascending high; the airbag of the balloon was swaying violently in the strong wind.
“Why is it shaking? Something’s off!”
“Is there a problem?”
“It looks dangerous up there….”
From behind the murmuring crowd, Ghislaine tilted his head in confusion.
Something was definitely off. He couldn’t understand why it was climbing so high.
Then it happened. The hot air balloon shook violently and began to descend. The onlookers gasped in shock.
“The bag is deflating!”
“Is it falling right now?”
“Wait, it’s speeding up!”
At first, the air remained in the balloon, causing it to descend slowly.
But objects in free fall pick up speed.
As the airbag shrunk, the balloon started to fall faster and faster.
But no one could help.
It was easy to see the balloon from a distance, but the actual ground was quite far away.
As everyone was caught in confusion, Alfoy’s voice rang out.
“Help—me—!”
Then Kaor’s voice followed.
“Hey—! Fck! Sht! It’s—over!”
Ghislaine, who was dumbfounded, muttered, “Ah, it was a defective product.”
Unfortunately, it couldn’t be helped. Invention is not something that can be completed without failure.
Even as Ghislaine clicked his tongue, the hot air balloon was rapidly descending.
“Uwaaaah!”
Alfoy screamed, gripping the basket tightly.
He thought he was going to die, coming to this miserable territory only to suffer as a slave. It was infuriating and unjust, and his grip instinctively tightened.
‘I should’ve stayed in the mage tower! I was happy there!’
But that thought didn’t last long.
As the speed of the fall increased, the terror of death clouded his mind.
Then, a thunderous shout from Kaor echoed.
“Hey! Get a grip! If we keep falling like this, we’re really gonna die! We’re all gonna die!”
“Uwaaaah! I don’t know! I’m scared!”
Alfoy shut his eyes tightly, trembling and continually shouting.
He’d only lived in the mage tower researching, and after coming to Penris, he had only lived at the construction site, so he had no real battle experience. Thus, he had no crisis response skills.
In that regard, Kaor, who had seen it all and survived, was definitely better.
Kaor, struggling to keep his composure, narrowed his eyes and said, “You’re a wizard! Can’t you use a flying spell or something? If you float for a moment just before we hit the ground, we’ll be fine! Think!”
“Huh? What?”
Hearing they might survive brightened Alfoy’s eyes just a little.
There was a method. The 3rd-circle levitation spell ‘Levitation’.
He couldn’t use gravity spells since they were 7th-circle, but 3rd-circle spells were within Alfoy’s reach.
Though it required excessive mana for a 3rd-circle spell, so he couldn’t stay afloat for long, it could slow down their falling speed.
“I, I can! I can float for a bit!”
At Alfoy’s shout, Kaor’s face lit up with joy.
“Great, listen carefully! We’re going to jump from here!”
In a sudden declaration of suicide, Alfoy looked at Kaor as if he were a madman.
