第８０６堀：空母の必要性、そして空への憧れ (Part1)
Chapter 806: The Necessity of Aircraft Carriers, and a Longing for the Skies
Side: Yuki
“...I see. I understand the situation.”
“...Yes. I understand it quite well.”
“...Indeed. It was all too easy to understand, wasn't it?”
Standing before me as I said this were Seraria, the Queen of Weed; Eris, who manages our accounting and finances; and Ratz, who oversees our commercial goods and supplies.
I don’t have the nerves of steel required to stand tall before this trio under the current circumstances.
“Right? Yup, yup. At least now we don’t have to set aside a budget for things like aircraft carriers.”
“Yes. Luna. I am grateful for that.”
“Yes, that was truly a relief.”
“She did properly repair the fishing port, so it should be fine.”
“Exactly! I cleaned up after myself, so that makes it okay, right? No one died, and even I make little mistakes sometimes. But hey, I just handed you two aircraft carriers worth about 100 billion DP, fully loaded with weapons, ammunition, and carrier-based aircraft. I’m pretty generous, aren't I?”
However, Luna, who possesses nerves harder than tungsten, seemed completely unfazed by the three of them. She brushed off her blunder with a playful, insincere apology.
It really goes to show that gods are absolute garbage.
Then, as if to signal the conversation was over, Luna headed for the door. As she passed by me where I sat, she muttered...
“Well, good luck. There’s nothing I can do about it no matter how much I’m told.”
No, that wasn't it.
She knew exactly what she was doing, putting on that shameless display.
Damn it. Gods, oh gods...
*Thud.*
While I was lost in those thoughts, the sound of the door closing echoed from behind.
Luna had left the room.
“Now then... since Luna is gone, shall we have a serious talk?”
“Yes.”
I had no choice but to answer Seraria’s prompt with total compliance.
“The damage this time includes six ships at the resort district’s fishing port suffering minor damage, and four people were swept away by the waves, though they were saved in the nick of time by the Sahagins.”
“A blessing in disguise, then.”
If anyone had actually died, Luna’s reputation would have plummeted into the abyss.
Then again, she probably pulled such a reckless stunt precisely because she knew she wouldn't make that kind of mistake.
That’s why she provided compensation for the damages.
Or rather, she fixed it using god-like powers.
“Judging by what Ria and Jessica told us, it’s clear that Luna went on a rampage after hearing your request, but you really should stop provoking her so needlessly.”
“I apologize.”
“Well, financially speaking, it was a massive net gain, but the sea was in absolute chaos...”
“I understand that you and Luna are close, Brother, but that woman does outrageous things on a whim. You really need to find a way to keep her under control.”
“I shall endeavor to do so.”
It’s pathetic that I can only respond like some two-bit politician.
My reason simply cannot hold up against that useless goddess.
“*Sigh.* You and Luna usually only cause trouble for each other as a form of play, so I haven’t said anything until now, but this time it was far too severe, so I had to speak up.”
“No, you’re absolutely right.”
The fundamental rule of play is that it shouldn’t inconvenience those around you.
What about the haunted house incident? Well, that was done with Kagura and the others' consent.
“It seems even Luna felt the weight of this incident. The fact that she took the initiative to clean up after herself suggests she realized she’d gone too far.”
“Usually, Luna leaves all the cleanup to us, after all.”
“Luna-san was acting quite playful earlier, too. I suspect that was her way of ensuring the responsibility didn’t fall on you, Brother.”
“Eh? You think that was her genuine self?”
She was acting foolish to look out for me?
Come to think of it, she did say, “There’s nothing I can do no matter what I’m told.”
Was that for my sake?
No, she was probably just running away.
She was encouraging me, but saying there was nothing she could do and that it was out of her hands—that just sounds like she was dumping the problem on me.
“Well, I don’t really understand the relationship between you and Luna, so let’s leave that aside for now. What exactly do you intend to do with those Nimitz-class aircraft carriers that appeared in the sea?”
“What do you mean, what? I intend to have them serve in the seas of the Seasypho Kingdom.”
That’s the only real use for an aircraft carrier.
Weed has no sea, after all.
“...Hearing that, it sounds like an aircraft carrier is a useless trinket without an ocean.”
“That’s true.”
What good is an aircraft carrier if you can’t float it on the sea?
Besides, in a world like this where the sky is limited by the dungeon, there’s no place for carrier-based aircraft to shine. For us, a dungeon nation, the existence of an aircraft carrier is particularly redundant.
However, in the seas of this other world, the meaning changes.
There are monsters in the sea, so we need massive, sturdy ships to protect ourselves from those threats.
To the people of this world, even if they don’t understand the concept of an “aircraft carrier,” they recognize it as a super-massive vessel.
The mere fact that we are recognized as having the technology to build such a thing is meaningful enough.
Furthermore, the carrier-based aircraft stored within can claim the freedom of the skies.
On Earth, the sky has traffic rules; flying freely is virtually impossible.
Ignoring those rules would be a violation of sovereign airspace, which would trigger a war.
But in this world, there’s no such thing as airspace violation! Or rather, they don’t even notice because they have no way to conduct surveillance at high altitudes.
“And you were going to summon such things using DP, the precious blood tax of our citizens?”
“Don’t call them ‘such things.’ You saw Taizo-san’s report, didn’t you? If we’re going to venture out into the sea in the future, relying solely on maritime transport is out of the question from a safety perspective. Flying through the air is faster than traveling across the surface.”
That’s right. The reason I chose an aircraft carrier wasn’t just for the Seasypho Kingdom.
It’s also to serve as a base for future ocean surveys.
And, there’s the intention of having a way to escape from the sky in an emergency.
Well, I was planning to use wyverns as our aerial transport until Luna provided these.
Because an aircraft carrier alone would have drained our funds to zero.
“...I’ve read the report, so I acknowledge the necessity of an aircraft carrier. I have indeed thought that we needed an aerial transport method. Especially when you disappeared.”
“Exactly. This is a good opportunity. If we have an aircraft carrier, we don’t need to worry about building runways or other such facilities.”
That’s right. A single aircraft carrier, while perhaps not quite an airbase, can serve as a hub for aircraft to take off and land.
The maintenance costs are astronomical, though.
Since the Nimitz-class runs on a nuclear reactor, it covers not only electricity but also its own propulsion.
Well, we do need to replace the reactor’s fuel eventually.
Even considering those disadvantages, Taizo-san and the others judged that having an aircraft carrier would make things easier.
“So, where is that aircraft carrier now?”
“I’ve dispatched Steve and his team to investigate. The way it appeared caused damage to the fishing port, after all. I’m having them check it thoroughly. It would be a disaster if Luna’s sloppy summoning caused any structural damage.”