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In the end, I promised Sylvia that I would participate in the coliseum next week at her request.

For meaningful information about Ella, it was necessary to continue hiring informants from the dark alley.

If it were someone else, there would have been a risk of them deliberately hiding information and wanting to exploit me in the coliseum, but knowing Sylvia’s personality, I didn’t worry about that.

I left the dark alley and returned to the dormitory before curfew.

I had mentioned in advance that I would be late, but after spending time at the coliseum, I ended up missing dinner and my duel with Gwen.

From now on, I’ll be returning late every Monday, so it would be best to wrap this up as quickly as possible or think of another plan so that the students won’t find it strange.

As I thought about this and entered the lobby, I could feel quite a lot of activity coming from the lounge.

Curfew was approaching, so I wondered what they were doing gathered here at this time.

I could have just gone back to my room, but for some reason, it bothered me, so I made my way to the lounge.

As soon as I entered the lounge, the first person to react was Titania.

“Instructor! You’re back!”

Titania waved her hand in greeting as I entered, pulling her teacup away from her mouth to do so.

I nodded in response to her greeting.

In the lounge, six students were gathered, excluding Elizabeth and Batar.

As soon as I entered, I could understand what they were doing.

– We bring you news from the capital. In celebration of the upcoming 5th anniversary of our victory, the imperial family is reportedly planning a large-scale military parade and street procession on the central road of the capital…

“Is that a radio?”

In the center of the lounge table was a square box.

Surrounding the magically-engineered mana radio, the students were sitting together, sipping tea and chatting while listening to the radio.

Magitech items are quite expensive and hard to find. I distinctly remember that there was no radio in the lounge just a few days ago.

The one who answered that question was Schurz.

“I brought it back from my family over the weekend. We used to listen to it every day at home, but since there wasn’t one here, I felt a bit sad. Newspapers are good, but urgent news is faster with radio.”

“I see.”

As expected from the son of an imperial chancellor; it was only natural for there to be one or two radios at his family home.

I sat down on a vacant chair to join the group.

“Here you go.”

Marian immediately poured tea into a teacup and handed it to me. I had no intention of drinking it, but since it had already been prepared, I had no reason to refuse, so I accepted the teacup.

It was black tea.

“Um… thank you.”

I nodded, and Marian responded with a smile.

It must have been quite a hassle for a countess to brew tea herself, but it seemed that this was a normal sight for Marian and the other students.

The automaton golem, Shabti, only handled basic tasks like cleaning, laundry, and cooking according to the schedule; it wouldn’t deal with such trivial matters.

So, the sight of a noble lady personally brewing tea and serving it to students must be a special event that could only be seen at the academy.

“Hmm.”

I took a sip of the moderately cooled black tea.

Unlike the tea that Charlotte brewed on the battlefield, the aroma and taste were excellent. Was it because she used good quality tea leaves, or was it just that Charlotte wasn’t skilled at brewing tea? I would never know now.

“Instructor, does the tea suit your taste?”

While I was sipping, Marian was looking at me with a strangely tense expression.

I didn’t know the reason, but I simply stated my honest impression.

“Yeah. It’s good.”

“…Really? Then I’m glad.”

Marian smiled with satisfaction and returned to her spot. She muttered softly, “One point…!” but I couldn’t understand the meaning.

The radio was still playing news.

– Furthermore, in conjunction with the upcoming large-scale military parade, it has been reported that the long-awaited confidential project ‘Airship’ will finally conduct its test flight, raising people’s expectations. It is projected that on the day of the parade, people will be able to witness the airships flying across the skies of the capital…

Marian exclaimed in a surprised voice.

“Wow, it’s finally flying? Did it get completed after all?”

Schurz continued her words.

“The design for the airship itself has already been completed. After numerous tests, we have finally reached the stabilization phase. The administration expects to begin mass production next year.”

“Hmm… I hope it goes well. Up until now, I’ve only heard about how much it has exploded. Of course, that kind of news isn’t in the newspapers.”

Gwen, who was sipping green tea across from me, opened her mouth curiously.

“Airship? What’s that?”

Schurz looked astonished.

“You don’t know what an airship is? Well, I guess if you’ve lived in the mountains for a few years, it’s understandable. Simply put, think of it as a ship that flies in the sky.”

“What!? How can a ship fly in the sky!?”

At Gwen’s incredulous question, Schurz adjusted his glasses and smiled proudly.

“That’s the greatness of our imperial technology that no other nation on the continent can match. Have you heard of the three major industries of the empire?”

“Three major industries?”

“Manufacturing, steel, shipbuilding… these are the major industries that the empire has been focusing on since the war. Based on the empire’s advanced technology, we mass-produce necessary items in factories and lay down railroads across the entire empire with the parts made, while launching airships into the sky. Isn’t it amazing just to imagine it?”

“Um, uh…?”

Gwen looked utterly baffled, as did Titania and Osnia, who were listening next to her; it seemed they were thinking along similar lines.

Seeing the lukewarm reaction, Schurz cleared his throat and lowered his voice.

“If trains and airships start circulating all over the continent, it would mean that you could reach the far eastern countries in just a few days.”

“What!? Just a few days to the east? That’s a distance that would easily take months on foot…!”

“Maybe not now, but someday it will happen. If we can transport all kinds of goods and people through trains and airships, not only the empire but the entire continent will become a much better place to live than now. Then even war-torn countries can recover quickly.”

“…Huh, isn’t that a bit imperial-centric thinking?”

Suddenly, Saladin, who had been quietly listening, spoke up.

“The mana stones that power the factories and the minerals used for building ships and laying railroads, none of them are self-sufficient in the empire. We’re taking everything we need from the colonies, and it’s not right to say such things.”

“Colonies? The vassals are certainly not colonies-”

“Yeah, yeah. We maintain friendly relations with the nearby small nations. You may say that, but from the perspective of the colonies, can they refuse if the empire requests it?”

“We are in a mutually beneficial relationship. If the empire lays down the infrastructure, those underdeveloped nations will certainly benefit.”

“The empire isn’t building for free, is it? In the end, they’ll take everything for themselves.”

“There’s no such thing as free in international relations. Frankly, even if they were to build it for free, what reason would the empire have to do so-”

The two suddenly ignored their surroundings and started to argue with each other.

I wondered if I should intervene due to their increasingly rough tone, but Marian held onto my sleeve and stopped me.

“Just let them be. They’re not really fighting.”

“What?”

“It happens sometimes. Schurz seems to be enjoying it, and they’ll stop soon. And Saladin doesn’t say such things in front of Elizabeth.”

“……”

Looking closely, both of them were focused on their argument, but it wasn’t really a hostile situation.

Thinking back to Saladin’s past, when he would only exchange insults and disregard, the fact that they were now having a debate despite bickering felt somehow more friendly.

So, there was no need to worry.

Curfew was soon approaching. As if feeling sleepy after such a late hour, Osnia was the first to yawn, and Titania left with her to head back to their room.

As Gwen continued to look puzzled, listening to Schurz and Saladin throw around difficult words in their argument, she fled the lounge with a similar look of confusion.

As students gradually began to leave, I eventually left the lounge with Marian.

Even until the end, Schurz and Saladin were still arguing. I knew Saladin didn’t care, but Schurz had a discerning personality. They would probably return before curfew.

As I walked down the dark corridor, Marian suddenly spoke.

“That’s too bad.”

“Hmm?”

“The thing Schurz was talking about… If it had happened sooner, many people wouldn’t have died during the war.”

“……”

That was indeed true.

I, too, thought that had the capital tram extended to the northern regions when I first rode it, supplies would have been much smoother.

Trains and airships. If we could have used those during the war, we wouldn’t have had to rest as if we were on foot and wouldn’t have needed to turn back for blocked paths. That is, assuming it’s safe.

“Mana radio, mana tram, mana airship… they were all created by one person, right? It would have been nice if that person made them a little earlier. Hmm, the engineer’s name was definitely… Ge… Geo…”

“Georg von Braun.”

“Oh, right! That was the name. You know surprisingly well?”

How could I not know?

He was one of the few who had almost killed me after I got the nickname The Faceless Hero.

Speaking of which, airships…

Even if airships did become commonplace, I would never have the chance to ride one again.

 

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