Shortly after Vaan and the two ladies boarded the magic airship outside the castle, Astoria greeted them.
“We ready to set off?” she inquired.
Vaan nodded.
After Astoria received Vaan’s confirmation, she notified the crewmates with their destination in mind.
Before long, the engine roared with loud noises as it powered up. Its propellers spun, and its levitation spell activated, lifting the magic airship into the sky.
Vroom!
Within moments, the magic airship shot off into the distance with a burst of speed that continued to increase at a steady rate, quickly leaving Redpine City behind them.
But although the magic airship traveled quickly, not a single person on the deck felt the powerful wind pressure blasting against them.
A protective barrier shielded the magic airship, preventing the wind from lifting people off the magic airship.
Hester marveled at the ingenuity of the magic airship’s design as it was her first time onboard such a revolutionary tool of transport.
She felt like she had stepped into the upper-class society.
It would cost a fortune to own one such magic airship. A person of her standing could only dream of boarding it in the past.
The sheer number of magic tools and devices constructed together to create the magic airship and all of its functions was staggering.
Vaan also shared a similar interest in the magic airship; it was a symbol of wealth.
Furthermore, it was a great travel tool, especially if one wanted to enjoy the scenery flashing by as one journeyed on it.
‘It would be quite convenient if I had a magic airship of my own,’ Vaan thought.
As he casually scanned the magic airship with Omni-Sense, he accidentally learned its structure in its entirety.
With a team of skilled artificers at his beck and call and the resources to splurge, he could reproduce a magic airship of the same model.
If the Rank 4 Artificer Maestros knew Vaan had learned the core secret to creating their magic airship in the blink of an eye, they would be outraged.
It had taken a few dozen years of research and improvement to reach their present modeled magic airship.
Naturally, they would be upset if an outsider learned how to recreate it so easily; it was the same as stealing the fruit of their labor.
Nevertheless, that wasn’t Vaan’s problem.
As the magic airship sailed northwest through the sky above Sunset Forest, Vaan stood on the deck with his hands behind his back and observed the fast-changing scenery.
Aeliana silently stared at him with desire on the side, hoping to be rewarded with some of his affection for her task completion.
However, Vaan postponed for a better time.
“Everything in Sunpeak Town is in order, my Lord. The anti-magic spores have been removed from the region, and I have seen my mother.”
“Did you two make up?”
“Thanks to you, my Lord. I wouldn’t have met my mother if you had not instructed me to. And for that, I am further indebted to you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Vaan glanced at Aeliana from the corner of his vision and noticed her eyes were slightly clearer. They weren’t clouded by heavy malevolence and killing intent like before.
Nevertheless, he didn’t doubt that her heavy malevolence and killing intent would surface in surging waves if someone angered her.
He suddenly paused in thought before he instructed her, “Direct your full killing intent at me, Aeliana?”
!!!
“My Lord???” Aeliana revealed her shock as if she had just heard something outrageous. “I cannot do such a thing, my Lord. You are my sky, the reason for my living. I would rather die to bear any hostility toward you.”
“Hm… Never mind then,” Vaan dropped the matter after Aeliana looked like she was about to cry.
He was just wondering whether he could temper his mind by enduring her heavy killing intent or not.
However, it was apparent that Aeliana could not do anything that would contradict her absolute loyalty to him.
‘Should I ask Astoria?’ Vaan thought.
Just as he was thinking about Astoria, the person made her way over to his side from the helm area to discuss something with him.
“I’ve just had a talk with the helmswoman. She won’t be taking us into Thousand Fog Mountains directly. At most, she will only drop us off at one of the nearby towns, Teacher Raphna,” Astoria softly whispered.
“That’s fine,” Vaan acknowledged before he said, “We needed to stop by one of the local towns anyway. I’m sure they have some useful information about Thousand Fog Mountains that we could use.”
No matter what he had read about Thousand Fog Mountains in the records and other books, the locals would certainly know more about it.
“Let’s stop at Misty Leaf Town, Headmaster Astoria,” Vaan suggested.
“Alright,” Astoria nodded and said, “Then, I’ll inform the helmswoman to drop us there.”
…
Sometime later, the magic airship reached Misty Leaf Town, situated on the borders of Thousand Fog Mountains.
After Vaan, Aeliana, Astoria, and Hester disembarked, the magic airship promptly took off and returned to Blackthorn City without further words from the crew onboard.
“It’s quite cold in this region. Allow me to keep you warm, Sir Vahn,” Aeliana offered before she hugged Vaan’s arm without warning.
Her soft rabbits were pressed against him but remained unfazed.
He casually glanced at her and said with some amusement, “Aren’t you just using that as an excuse to take advantage of my body?”
“Ehe~! You figured out my intention,” Aeliana made a silly and innocent expression after being called out.
A few moments later, she glanced at Astoria, who peeked at them from the corner of her eyes, seemingly bothered by their intimacy.
The corners of her lips curved into a mischievous smile as her sadistic tendencies surfaced. She wanted to provoke her.
Nevertheless, Vaan only had his attention on the Misty Leaf Town covered in the misty fog and partly obscured up ahead.
Although they had disembarked outside of the town, the loud magic airship should have attracted the attention of the townspeople.
However…
“Something’s not right.” Vaan frowned and said, “It’s too quiet.”