“Floating ship, huh?”
“Yes.”
A small desert near Black Moon.
Under the blazing sunlight, Black swings his greatsword and retrieves it.
Before heading to the Magic Engineering Guild, I stopped by Black Moon to gather opinions from other guilds.
However, Black, the guild master of Black Moon, called me to the desert for a quick recharge, so I decided to go see him in person since he was busy.
It seems he’s making good use of the greatsword from the Pharaoh I gave him.
“The floating ship from the Magic Engineering Guild. It’s definitely something that catches attention at Black Moon. If we have just that, the difficulty of raids would decrease significantly.”
But…
“The problem is definitely the price. We could buy a couple of small ships, but anything beyond that seems like an extravagant expense.”
“Is the ship really that valuable?”
“Yes.”
Swish.
Black raises his sword again.
The golden greatsword absorbs the sun’s energy, and the power emanating from the blade grows stronger.
“To put it cautiously, the fact that they can ‘produce’ ships of that level seems to be somewhat unbalanced. Just a medium ship is almost mythical level.”
If it had only been classified as a hidden piece and there was just one, it wouldn’t have been such a hot topic.
But they can ‘produce’ them and have dozens of small ships, several medium ones, and a large ship as well.
Moreover, if all this has come about in just two months…
“I don’t know exactly how many resources were consumed, but they’re probably capable of mass-producing more.”
“So it’s not just about quality, but also quantity?”
“That’s right. However, the prices are being sold as if they were in limited supply, which creates a difficult situation.”
“What does Black Moon plan to do?”
“For now, we’re thinking of purchasing about two small ships for our elite guild members. It’s too costly to accommodate regular guild members, and while some elites have fantastic attack power, they’re heavily restricted by the environment.”
In the end, it seems there are still buyers willing to spend.
For Black, a broadcaster and someone well-positioned among guilds, purchasing shouldn’t be too difficult.
But even he shows a somewhat displeased expression.
“You would probably get the same reaction if you visited other guilds. The prices are high, but it’s awkward not to buy anything, and they are also stingy with discounts.”
“Hmm… I understand.”
It seems I really have to head to the Magic Engineering Guild.
“By the way, do you happen to know where the Black Destroyer is…?”
“That’s mine.”
“…….”
■
A colossal city located to the east.
“That’s it! Move quickly!”
“It’s ridiculously huge.”
“Move faster, I said!”
On the outskirts of the city, a gigantic brownish-black gear is spinning, interlocking with others to activate the magical stones.
The blue magical stone emits light, powering various magic engineering machines.
Numerous people are bustling around below the gears, diligently transporting items destined for the shipyard for the construction of colossal ships.
Whoooosh…!
Whiiiiiing~
At the entrance of the shipyard, small ships are flying in the sky, while heaps of parts are stacked on the ground.
A colossal ship, large enough to fit a castle, proudly stands.
The ship’s outer wall is made of a special ironwood that can hold mana, and even a quick glance reveals an astonishing circuit structure.
It’s a product of magic engineering, blending mechanical circuits with magical ones.
“Magical stone…”
And then there’s the magical stone.
In the center of the ship is a crystal-shaped magical stone several times larger than the small ships, with thousands upon thousands of circuits connected to it.
In its current state, it seems difficult to comprehend without direct contact.
‘It’s definitely large.’
A casual look around showed that the small ship was about the size of a ferry, and the medium-sized ship was a typical small vessel.
This large ship is massive, roughly the size of two castles.
“Hey! What are you doing right now!”
Kiiiiiing!
Thud thud!
A man with a mechanical arm strides over angrily.
A gear spinning swiftly with a central magical stone is attached to his shoulder, and from his attire, he seems to be supervising part of this ship.
For the record, I’m disguised as an ordinary user, concealing my power.
Level: around 5-60.
It’s a bit above average for workers here, but not too out of place.
“Can’t I just look around?”
“No! Get your hands off that and return to your spot.”
“Where’s my spot?”
“Didn’t you hear from the work supervisor? Get lost! Just stay still for a moment!”
The man presses a few buttons on his mechanical arm, and a magical hologram materializes in the air.
Inside the hologram are numerous faces and identities, and it seems like he’s looking for me.
Before coming here, I had just signed up for work at the manpower office in front of the city, presenting this appearance.
“Let’s see… That’s the parts management room. Move quickly!”
“Yes sir.”
“How did you even get in here…?”
‘Surprisingly, he’s not suspicious at all.’
Even though the supervisor isn’t a user but a resident, he just sent me back to my place without any doubt, despite me being deep in the center.
Without any doubt, I send it back to its original place.
Is there even a bit of trust in this?
I thought that as I headed towards the parts management room.
■
“It’s real.”
Vroooom…! Clank!
At the fork leading to the parts management room and the power control room, a massive steam golem, standing at least 20 meters tall, was glaring down.
The golem, with its single blue eye open, was watching everyone intently, and there was a massive energy emanating from the blue magical stone embedded in its chest.
Its aura far surpasses that of a low-class world boss.
After all, they claim to be making ships worth billions, so it would indeed be strange if they didn’t have at least one security robot like this.
“I want to test it out.”
I’ve faced golems before, but I’ve never seen one so full of mechanical clockwork like this steam golem.
Of course, since magic is partially mixed in, it’s hard to say it’s completely mechanical, but still, it’s the first golem I’ve ever seen.
I gazed at the golem for a moment before reluctantly turning my steps away.
Somehow, I felt like if I approached officially, I wouldn’t get a proper look, so I snuck in, but my purpose is ultimately to confirm.
“What kind of structure must it have to be this expensive?”
Regardless of the price, since it’s made by the Magic Engineering Guild, I don’t plan to copy or steal their technology, but I still have to check it out.
Only then can I decide how to approach them.
As I entered the parts management room, dozens of people were already checking various parts to ensure there were no issues before moving the items.
Most were residents, with very few users.
Judging by their outfits, they seemed to be users active in the kingdom to which this territory belongs rather than users from elsewhere.
I casually blended in among them and picked up one of the mechanical parts.
At first glance, it just seems like a few magical components mixed in.
“Is there really a need for humans to move this?”
Honestly, looking at the floating ship under my feet and the steam golem I saw earlier, it seems easy enough to create an automated factory.
There’s really no need to awkwardly set up facilities; with a decent mix of magic, transporting things can be done very simply.
Once you reach the level of a 70-80 level mage, you could replace the work of about 1,000 workers here.
Moreover, considering how expensive the ship is, the parts must also be pricey, so it seems odd they let anyone just move them around carelessly without special supervision.
“Oh?”
As I pried slightly into one of the parts, I found a peculiar seal drawn inside.
A golden clockwork seal with a blue magic circle drawn on it.
The shape of the magic circle is…
“An adhesion spell. It’s not a spell you’d typically use on machines.”
What kind of magic is embedded in such intricate machinery, not something like liquid or plants?
I was a bit perplexed and inspected the other parts, but they all bore the same incantation.
After going invisible, I followed the personnel carrying a bunch of parts out of the parts management room.
The parts were handed over to two 5-meter steam golems guarding the entrance, and the golems took them into an area where access was impossible.
Hooowww.
It felt like passing through some other space.
After glancing around for a moment, I chased after the golems again.
And I learned about this ship’s absurd method of construction.
Waaaarrr!!
At the still-under-construction rear of the ship.
In a place full of golems with no people, the golems were just dumping parts boxes.
Clang! Cling! Clang!
Then the parts glowed blue and began to seep into the ship, rapidly filling in the gaps.
As the new gears, machines, and magic intricately combined, a part of the ship was being created.
“…Is this production?”
This was a method of production I could have never imagined.
The fact that they call this ‘production’ and have so many workers is really impressive.
It must be all a ruse.
To sell this ship at a high price, they had to show a surface-level appearance of production.
“It’s closer to summoning than production.”
Pouring in resources called ‘magical components’ to create parts of the ship was more of a kind of summoning.
I can’t say that running this way is bad, but… well.
Honestly, I don’t know if this is worth tens or hundreds of billions.
This is also part of a hidden piece, but the creator doesn’t fully realize some astounding technological prowess, and it’s not an invincible weapon worth that price either.
I casually tore at the magic formulas flowing along the wall and stood up.
I’d gleaned all I could.
Now it was time to formally approach and make a proposal…
“Barrier? Is it Banded?”
“?!”
Boom!!
The steam golem’s fist knocked me away.
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