Magical gliders weren't exactly a never-before-seen concept, to be frank. Some smiths had already came up with the concept but a few limitations had stopped it from being realized. For starters, there was no wind tunnel and there was no study of aerodynamics. Any man who dreamt of flight—or more exhilarating, flying at the same height as the sun— would have to rely on magic instead of engineering.
The Engineer only knew about "airplanes" after exchanging memories with Baiyi and since then was devoted to designing a plane that was piloted by magic.
Alll of his time in the Void was spent on perfecting his design like a real engineer and man of science. He had only exposed his other, less modest , side ever since he came in contact with Mia.
Now that his hard work was in the hands of Baiyi, it was finally coming to fruition. The Engineer could hardly contain his emotion.
"S-sir Hope! Y-y-you truly are my real friend!" His voice was trembling. "Not only are you giving my design a chance, you even found investors for me! … I'm …I'm so glad! I'm so happy! Once I get out of here, Sir Hope, I'll share half of the copyright with you!"
Eh, I think I'll pass on that. I rather be rewarded with less disgusting comments about girls from your mouth.
Baiyi started explaining the theories and concepts of the glider to Undine. The design that he was using was the simplified version.
Because of that, it was much easier to explain the concept of the glider and to build them. Just cast a guiding formation on the glider, then set a magical point on the destination as a beacon and the glider would be able to carry the goods and travel to the destination, hence forming a simple aerial pathway.
However, there was a limit on how far the magic formations could be from each other. Even with the shortcut, the merchants would still need a stopover for the flight. That was where Attie's clan comes in.
Hence, every puzzle piece had fallen into place. The Doles would set up their homebase in the Eol Mountains, the clan's new home would serve as the stopover, and a few teams, acting as the receivers, would receive the goods within the Northern Kingdom. An aerial flight would allow them to avoid dangers in the Eol Mountains, the perilous steppe and the mysterious woods. A route like that would beat horses any day!
Baiyi still had a dozen of other ideas up his sleeves—magical transporters, airships— but the gliders were the cheapest in cost, simplest to craft and easiest in terms of manipulation.
"There are other things you have to pay heed to as well," Baiyi added. "You can't fly it when the weather is bad. It is advisable to fly at night, where no one can see you and prevent the animals from noticing you. And most importantly, every carrier has a maximum weight capacity."
Undine was sitting gracefully at first but somewhere during Baiyi's speech, she had already shifted to a more boorish position. She was so intrigued that she had completely forgotten the fact that her short skirt would expose her woman parts and it was up to the ever-so-observant Tisdale to cover it up for her.
After mulling it over for a while, Undine spoke slowly, "Master Hope, do you truly believe that this… glider thing can be created? And perform exactly as you had described?"
Quite obviously, the girl was taken with the idea. If successful, then the Dole family could reduce the number of people they needed to guard their goods. That would be miles better than their current strategy of employing mercenaries while traveling through the Wastelands by foot.
"I will create a prototype once we return. I trust that that would be more convincing than mere words?"
"… Alright, Master Hope. If this thing becomes a reality, I… I don't know what to do to show my gratitude…" She stammered. "No, not just me. The Dole Family themselves won't know what to do as well. You have saved the family! Your help is too… Too…"
She studied the Soul Armature before him carefully as she tried to articulate her thoughts. Even if the plan failed, Undine admitted that the man before her was already better than Sven by leaps and bounds.
Too bad I can't ask for your hand in marriage, huh? Baiyi lamented. To have a beauty like Undine as my wife... Well, that would be worth the trip, wouldn't it?
Now that her family might be saved, Undine was no longer preoccupied on the mystery of Sven and Master Hope or even her personal issue with Attie. Her family comes first before herself, after all. If an air route could be established with the help of Attie's people, then maybe sparing her previous tormentor wasn't too bad an idea.
With Undine's attitude turning relaxed, the general atmosphere had finally returned to it's previous state. The others started asking about the glider, too. Even Mia grabbed his hand, as she pleaded for a trip in the aircraft.
Why do you even wanna fly using an airplane? Baiyi rolled his eyes internally. You're a bloody sorcerer! Just learn Flight spell!
Attie was the only one who wasn't completely relieved. She agreed with Baiyi's plan. Frankly, if her people are needed then they would also be rewarded. Maybe her people could even obtain rare necessities like salt and sugar from the merchants.
Yet, her wariness towards Baiyi had increased even more.
The demon was smarter than she had previously estimated. That idea was something she would not be able to come up with… So can she really outwit the demon?
As she started doubting her own capabilities, her gaze fell on Mia.
She had noticed the tiny girl for a while now. The girl had been close to the demon the whole time, so she had made sure to observe her as much as possible.
… The little girl was very cute, and no doubt she would be a beauty once she grew up. In terms of physical beauty, Mia was way ahead of her. In terms of being sunny and kind, Mia was also ahead of her. No wonder that demon like her so much! Most of all, Mia wore her heart on her sleeve and was incredible in the art of wheedling.
Does that mean that this is the type of girl that demon likes? Attie started getting mildly alarmed. She scanned Mia's chest and gave a sigh of relief when she saw it was just as flat as hers.
But Mia was fair, while Attie was dark-skinned 1 . She had lustrous black hair while Attie had awkwardly white, albino hair. And Mia had a really cute plushie that Attie strangely found herself drawn to…
That's it. I'm gonna observe her even more and earn that little girl's trust. Then slowly, I'll approach that demon…
Suddenly, at the side of her ear, she heard a deep voice saying, "Don't overthink. It doesn't bring any joy to your life."
Attie jumped and turned to see the colorful face of the Huskar behind her. She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice him approaching.
"Brother Hope is a good man. The Ancestors had accepted him. You just be a good woman to him, and he will do the same to you, too."
"I'm… I'm not his woman! I'm just his s-servant!"
Attie actually was also a little clueless when it came to the concept of servants but somehow the girl in her compelled her to make a distinction.
The Huskar made a face before leaving her alone. That facial expression could be loosely translated as Meh .
And so the rescue party had fulfilled their mission.
Most of them had their minds on the success of pioneering an aerial route as they left the Steppe that was just about to be drenched in blood because of another civil war 2 …
Baiyi thought he did pretty well this time. Excluding the mess he left on the Steppe, he had so far obtained new raw strength from the barbarian's tribal gods, earned the Divine Warriors' friendship, owned the War God's Sword, got himself a new servant, and most importantly, earned the unwavering trust and rewards from the Dole Family. His returns were bursting to the brim just from that one trip.
The Divine Warriors bid their farewell to the rescue party once they had reached the Eol Mountains. After a few words of goodbyes, Zar'Zar said, "I really wanna visit your place, bro."
"And I'll be welcoming you with the best food and wine when you do," Baiyi smiled as he replied. He really had grown fond of those simple folks.
There was not much to describe about their return trip. It was much slower than before, because an injured man was with them, but there was no danger at all. Only Undine had been a bit impatient at the thought of seeing the prototype glider.
When the party had finally reached the gate by the Southern Gate, and were finally riding carriages, Attie could no longer stop herself from asking Mia, "Now that we're back, why is Master still wearing his white armor?"
Throughout the journey, Mia and Attie had already had more than just simple conversations with each other. Mia, with her cheerful disposition, very easily earned Attie's trust. She even forgo treating her as a servant and instead looked to her as her new sister, sharing Sharkie with her.
Mia answered her newfound companion casually, "Because Mr. Hope is just a Soul Armature. The armor is his body."
Attie stared at her in shock…
TL here wants to scoff at the idea that fair-skinned women are the only cuties in this world. Come on, Attie! Good job, hero