The oni maids were cooking something in the kitchen.

Curious about what it was, I watched as they finished, short, stick-shaped food items.

[These are nutritionally balanced rations.]

Apparently, most races only needed one stick, while larger-bodied species required three to five to meet their daily nutritional needs.

I took one and bit into it.

………………

It wasn’t exactly delicious.

[We prioritized nutrition over flavor. Ah, and since we used a lot of filling ingredients, please avoid eating the whole thing. Otherwise, you won’t have room for dinner.]

Fair enough.

What do I think? Well… I’d prefer it if the taste were a little more palatable.

How about adding chocolate or fruit?

[I see. We’ll take that into consideration.]

So, why the sudden decision to make these?

[Yoru-sama requested them.]

Yoru did?

For her gatekeeping shifts?

No, probably not.

If it’s Yoru…

She’d want something to eat while riding Daedalus or Siegfried.

[Exactly.]

It’s unusual for the oni maids to indulge in these kinds of whims.

[The High Elves also requested easily portable emergency rations.]

Ah, I see.

[The High Elves do make their own portable rations, but…Well, they’re like rolled-up grass, and the taste is… unique.]

The kind of thing that makes you spit it out if you’re not prepared.

[The grassy flavor is… intense. But apparently, if you finish one, you won’t feel hungry for about two days.]

Is that even good for the body?

[They say it’s a last resort.]

Let’s hope so.

So these new portable rations are the step before reaching that point, huh?

-0-

Later, chocolate, fruit, honey, cheese, yogurt, and… wheat-flavored portable rations were completed.

……Wheat flavor?

Not bread flavor?

[Wheat flavor.]

Is it good?

[No, it isn’t.]

And yet you made it?

[Yoru-sama insisted it had to taste bad.]

…Weird obsession.

[The wheat flavor is exclusively for Yoru-sama. We only plan to produce a small amount.]

Good. Keep it that way.

So, what are you calling these portable rations?

[We hadn’t given it much thought…But ‘ration bars’ should suffice, don’t you think?]

Fine by me.

What about production numbers?

[We’ve prepared them for long-term storage, but we’ll need to test how they actually hold up. Once we confirm with these–… Hmm?]

The Fairy Queen was reaching for a plate with fruit and honey-flavored ration bars.

She grabbed a big handful.

Fairy Queen.

You can’t take them all.

Leave at least half.

And don’t let the kids eat these, either.

They’re emergency rations.

If they fill up on these, they won’t be able to eat dinner.

Hearing that, the Fairy Queen withdrew her hand from the plate, but still took several fruit and honey-flavored bars.

[The fruit and honey-flavored ration bars seem like they’ll be popular. Once we confirm their shelf life, we’ll produce them regularly.]

The oni maid smiled cheerfully.

You’re too soft on the Fairy Queen.

[Not as soft as you are, village chief.]

You think so?

I thought I was strict with her.

Yeah. I am strict. Definitely.

-0-

Autumn had come to the village, and training for the martial arts tournament began in earnest across the land.

They trained regularly, of course, but now with even greater intensity.

It’s good that they are so energetic.

That said, a certain group of angels had come to me with a request, a kotatsu.

It’s not even that cold yet, is it?

[We want it for the airship. Imagine… lounging in a cozy room aboard the ship, sipping tea under the kotatsu… wonderful. ]

Ah. These were the angels who’d applied to be airship crew.

Well, I kinda get the appeal, but… doesn’t the airship already regulate temperature with magic tools?

Wouldn’t a kotatsu just get in the way?

[Village chief, a kotatsu doubles as both a table and a blanket.]

Even if you say that with such a serious face…

…Well, I guess it’d be fine if we removed the hot stone.

Alright, I’ll give you some spare tables and kotatsu quilts.

[Oh, and those woven grass floor mats too!]

Woven grass?

Ah, you mean tatami.

Yeah, tatami would complete the kotatsu setup.

Fine.

You can have those too.

[Yay!]

-0-

Originally, we planned to place the kotatsu in the crew’s private quarters, but after setting it up, we realized the windows were too high to enjoy the view properly. So, we moved it to the first-class cabin instead.

The first-class cabin had larger windows, perfect for enjoying the scenery while lounging under the kotatsu.

Since the airship was primarily meant for trade for the time being, the first-class cabin wasn’t in use anyway.

We could have placed it in the VIP suite, which also had large windows and wasn’t scheduled for use, but… well, that room was already fully furnished.

……

And honestly, Loo and Tier had taken a liking to the VIP suite, so it was better not to mess with it.

-0-

We laid out tatami mats and set up the kotatsu in the first-class cabin.

It ended up looking like a half-hearted attempt at a Japanese-style room.

[Maybe it’s because of the beds?]

You’re probably right.

The first-class cabin had six beds lined up in a row.

Once you settled into the kotatsu, those beds became really noticeable.

Maybe we should remove the beds and switch to futons instead.

[That would free up more space in the room, too.]

In that case, we’d have to cover the entire floor with tatami.

[But wouldn’t that make the door hard to open?]

…Good point.

The cabin doors on the airship opened inward to avoid blocking the hallway.

If we covered the entire floor with tatami, the door would get caught on the mats and refuse to budge.

But if we’re using tatami, we’ll also need a spot to take off shoes, so as long as we leave a small doma* near the door, it should be fine.

TN: Doma refers to the space between indoors and outdoors in a Japanese house.

Though before we build the doma… we should probably test laying out the tatami first.

These mats weren’t originally made for the airship, after all.

We’ll need to make sure they actually fit properly.

-0-

[…There’s a slight gap remaining.]

I see.

When we laid the tatami mats across the entire guest cabin, about ten centimeters of empty space appeared between the mats and walls.

No matter how we rearranged them, gaps kept appearing somewhere.

We gathered the gaps in less noticeable areas and filled them with wooden planks.

Then we installed an earthen-floored entryway near the door, about one tatami mat’s worth of space.

We framed this area with wooden borders to prevent the tatami from shifting.

We’d need a getabako too.

Installed those.

Finally, we set up the main attraction – the kotatsu.

While airships give the impression of being stable, they do experience noticeable shaking.

To prevent dangerous movement during turbulence, we secured it firmly in place – just like the tables and beds throughout the airship.

[Village chief, we’ll need storage space for the futons.]

Right.

Simply leaving them piled in a corner would make this feel like some training camp dormitory.

Though it would make the room slightly smaller, we decided to build a proper closet.

[Even so, it’s more spacious than when the beds were lined up here.]

True.

[Ah, that’s right. We’ll also need somewhere to air out the futons.]

The airship’s windows generally don’t open.

We couldn’t dry them inside this room.

Which meant…

The upper deck above the passenger cabins – while dominated by the gas envelopes – should have decent airflow.

But when I went up to check, I found rows of laundry racks already installed.

Apparently they’re used for drying cabin linens and other laundry.

I didn’t remember seeing these drying racks during my previous airship journeys…

Oh! They’re retractable drying racks!

Having only visited this upper deck once before, I’d completely missed them.

[This should work perfectly for drying futons too.]

Indeed.

-0-

The first-class cabin’s transformation into a Japanese-style room was complete.

Personally, I couldn’t help but notice how the ship’s fixed pillars and Western-style wallpaper clashed with the new decor – but the angels loved it.

So much so that they began fighting over kotatsu space.

[Isn’t the problem that this first-class cabin sleeps six, but the kotatsu only fits four?]

…….

We replaced it with a larger model that could accommodate eight.

-0-

Considering the crew and security personnel numbers, maybe we should convert the other first-class cabin too?

Then again, some angels probably prefer Western-style rooms.

It should be fine as is.

Though when we commission new airships, we’ll include Japanese-style cabins from the start.