“Sera, are you ready?” I asked Sera, who looked a little better than before.
“Yeah.” Today, we would be heading to the capital of the kingdom.
I had experienced many things over the past few days, but this time, I would finally be going to the capital and getting a clearer look at what this new world was actually like.
Come to think of it, I still didn’t know the name of the kingdom I was in or the name of the capital we were heading to.
Never mind.
I’d find out eventually.
Sera was standing beside me, wearing a cloak that covered almost her entire body.
I was wearing a cloak as well, though I had pulled the hood over my head.
I was also carrying the same bag I had used during my journey to the village.
Arturia and Meila approached us from the other side.
“Meila, I know the transportation is coming, but are you sure you have to wait here?” I stood beside the large open field.
It was huge, almost the size of a soccer field.
“Don’t worry.
They’ll be here soon.” Meila took out two cloth pouches and handed them to me.
“These are for the two of you.” “What’s this?” “Your reward for helping us.” I accepted the two pouches of money and gave one of them to Sera.
“Thank you.” “No, I should be the one thanking you two.” Meila refused my thanks.
“How long do you think it’ll take us to reach the capital?” I asked.
“To Olym?
About two days.” So the capital was called Olym.
“Two days?
Shouldn’t it take longer than that if we’re traveling by horse?” Sera looked confused.
“Horse?” Meila and Arturia looked at each other.
Suddenly, the sunlight dimmed slightly.
It felt as though something above us was blocking the sun.
Sera and I looked up, and both of us were stunned by what we saw.
“What is that?” Sera asked, seeing it for the first time.
This was also my first time seeing something like this with my own eyes.
Back on Earth, I might have seen something similar, but only through a monitor.
“That’s an airship.
Is this your first time seeing one?” Arturia responded to Sera.
A wooden ship in a medieval style was flying through the sky.
A massive balloon was attached above it, while propellers at the rear provided thrust.
There were also fins behind the propellers to help steer the airship.
Damn.
This was another piece of fantasy in addition to magic and monsters after spending two months in prison.
“The airship will depart after they unload the cargo.
I’ll speak with the captain and let him know that we’ll have passengers heading to the capital.
Arturia, once I hand them over to you, they’re your responsibility.” Meila gave her instructions.
“I understand.” “If I’m not around, don’t get too carried away when you’re with Val.” Meila whispered it with a smile.
I could still hear her.
“I was already about to respond to another one of your jokes.” “Haha, sorry.” The airship landed in the empty field.
Its door opened, and a set of stairs descended.
The captain stepped down, and Meila immediately went over to speak with him.
I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but it seemed like she was telling him that there would be passengers heading to the capital.
The captain didn’t seem to have any objections and gave us a thumbs-up.
“Looks like there isn’t a problem,” Sera said.
“I think so,” Arturia replied.
A short while later, Sera, Arturia, and I boarded the airship.
The ship was fairly large, resembling the kind of ships Europeans once used to explore the oceans.
The difference was that instead of masts and sails, thick ropes connected the ship to the enormous balloon above it.
From the outside, some parts of the hull were reinforced with metal, and there was even a section of the hull designed to allow the ship to float on water.
Apparently, this vehicle could be used on water as well.
Even so, I was curious about several things.
What actually powered this thing?
There had to be some kind of energy source driving the airship forward.
And although the balloon above it was huge, I doubted that hot air—or even helium—would be enough to lift a ship this large with a balloon of that size.
I wanted to attribute it to magic, but according to what I knew, magic was something only witches could use.
If that was the case, perhaps it had something to do with Flux and Taint, which Sera had mentioned before.
For some reason, I was quite curious about it.
The airship slowly ascended after finishing its preparations.
I stood on the main deck and looked down.
Meila was waving at us from below.
I responded with a small wave of my own.
The airship began its journey toward the capital, Olym.
A strong wind rushed against my body.
It wasn’t all that different from riding on an ordinary ship, except the air up here was a little colder.
Actually, it felt more like riding in a hot-air balloon with extra speed, though I’d never actually ridden in one before.
The airship had railings almost as tall as an adult, made entirely of metal.
It seemed that whoever designed this thing had taken safety into consideration.
I leaned against the railing and looked down at the land below.
“Looks like you’re really enjoying it.” I looked toward Arturia, who was standing in the middle of the deck.
“I am.
Do you want to enjoy the view from here?” I offered to let her come over and see the scenery.
“N-no, that’s fine.” “Hm?” I found it strange that Arturia was just standing in the middle of the deck instead of coming closer to the railing to feel the wind directly.
“Are you afraid of heights?” I asked.
“Maybe it’s more accurate to say I’m just not used to it yet.” I decided not to comment any further.
“Where’s Sera?” Arturia pointed toward Sera, who was peeking outside from behind the doorway.
So these two had acrophobia, or at least something close to it.
I couldn’t blame them.
There were plenty of people back on Earth who were afraid of heights too.
I wasn’t one of them.
Back on Earth, I was even brave enough to stand on top of a building and consider jumping from there, though I ultimately didn’t because of several reasons.
I looked around and noticed several crew members maintaining the ship’s weapons, such as ballistae and cannons.
I also saw several witches aboard.
After what had happened before, I could understand why this airship was equipped with such heavy security.
Even though I was no longer at the fortress, things didn’t feel all that different.
I still felt like the soldiers and witches were keeping their distance from me.
Even the captain had been watching me for a while.
“Am I giving off some kind of unpleasant aura that’s making them act like this?” I muttered to myself, making sure no one could hear me.
Come to think of it, I was quite curious about my abilities.
I wanted to try using them again, but there were too many people around.
“Arturia, is there a room where I can rest?” “Yes.
There’s one empty room for you.
The captain gave each of us a private room.” “A private room?” I didn’t expect there to be private rooms aboard this ship.
“Everyone on this ship has their own room, including the crew and the captain.” I thought they would all sleep in a shared room with several people.
Apparently, the people here valued privacy.
“Take me there.” Arturia led me to my room and left after showing me where it was.
There was a single bed in the small room, along with a lantern for lighting.
It was very simple.
Still, this was much better than having to sleep with someone else.
I tried controlling the pillow and blanket at the same time.
Both objects immediately floated into the air and moved in whatever direction I wanted before settling back into their original positions.
“I’m getting better at using this.” Hmm.
Couldn’t I basically use something like magic now?
Come to think of it, witches were women, weren’t they?
Wait.
Was I actually a woman?
No.
I’d already checked before.
I was definitely male.
If that’s the case, am I the only male witch here?
That would make me stand out like a sore thumb among a group of witches dominated by women.
I had to keep my abilities tightly hidden.
Even though I wanted to occasionally do some fantasy-like things, just like the comics I’d read back then.
Like becoming a hero.
No.
That would make me stand out even more and attract attention from far too many people.
I could even end up getting involved in politics.
I sat on the bed, pondering for a while before letting out a sigh.
I had the opportunity to do something fantastical, but the condition of this world didn’t exactly encourage it.
I wanted to go on adventures, climb my way to the highest rank, or become a powerful witch like the protagonists in the comics I’d read.
But when I actually had the opportunity to use my powers, I realized that this world wasn’t that simple.
There were so many things that had to be fought for before I could achieve any kind of goal.
The sight of all those corpses was something I couldn’t simply erase from my mind.
“Well, power should be used as wisely as possible.
Great power comes with great responsibility, after all.” Maybe, during my free time, I could do something small to satisfy my thirst for fantasy.
Something like striking a cool or mysterious pose every now and then.