Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machine(Arti Horse), Unit One, Siegfried.

It returned with all its parts.

Good.

But it doesn’t move.

The reason for that was also discovered.

What was thought to be a strangely shaped part turned out to be a shattered component.

In other words, it was broken.

The shattered piece turned out to be a crucial component, and they found that replacing it would make the machine operational again.

Replace it?

There’s no way the manufacturer that built Siegfried is still around.

The only remaining option would be to take the part from another Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machine…

But Units Two, Three, Four, and Five are all operational.

They’re working properly.

I can’t just strip parts from functioning units.

As for making the part ourselves…

The mountain elves concluded that, with current technology, it’s impossible.

They can’t even estimate how many years of research it would take.

Apparently, we’re missing the foundational knowledge entirely.

So even though Tier’s golem crafting magic can replicate the shape, it’s nowhere near able to match the actual performance.

From my perspective, the broken part is like the circuit board of an electronic device.

A green board with printed circuits and all sorts of incomprehensible components attached.

Even if you copy the shape of the board, if the materials and whatever else are completely wrong, it won’t work as a circuit board.

And if someone asked me to make a circuit board from scratch right now, I’d have no idea where to even start.

Lack of knowledge, lack of materials, lack of technology.

I see. I see.

Farewell, Siegfried.

-0-

[You’re giving up too fast.]

Yuri said that as she spread a map out in front of me.

It was a resource distribution map brought by Prada.

[I can’t read the letters written here… but this is where the Feather Magic Crystal was found, and this is where the Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machine was located, correct?]

Y-yeah, that’s right.

[The same characters appear over here as well]

She was right. That location also said Feather Magic Crystal.

It was a place I hadn’t considered because it was too far.

[There might be another one there too, right? A Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machine in good condition]

A-as a possibility, sure…

[Fortunately, this area is under the jurisdiction of a noble who is a vassal of Count Pugyaru. We have all the necessary letters of delegation, so there won’t be any problem with conducting a search]

……

A-all right, I’ll consider it.

[Thank you very much!]

With the autumn harvest and the martial arts tournament coming up, the earliest we could go would be winter.

-0-

Lately, I’ve been putting a lot of effort into the Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machines, but I also have to make proper preparations for winter.

If we let our guard down, things could get bad.

There could be sudden heavy snow or intense blizzards.

I checked the mansion, of course, as well as the workshops and the barns for the cows, horses, goats, and chickens.

We also need to make preserved food and stockpile firewood.

Personally, I find it satisfying when the storage rooms are filled with supplies.

Though we’ll need to make sure to use up the food without letting it go bad.

Winter clothes?

The spiderlings said I need to prepare winter wear too and started taking my measurements.

It might sound odd to say this, but I own a lot of clothes.

There are multiple rooms in the mansion just for storing my outfits…

But they keep bringing out these fabrics that cling tightly to the skin.

They’re struggling with the flexibility around the joints.

Ah, so they plan to use a different material just for the joints so that it doesn’t restrict movement.

I see.

Wait, this is basically the inner layer of a pilot suit, isn’t it?

You want to get it done now before you go into hibernation for the winter?

Even if you say it won’t be embarrassing because the crotch area will be detachable…

Fine, fine, I get it.

They always take good care of me, after all.

I’ll officially place an order for a pilot suit.

Once I said that, even more spiderlings joined in to help with making it.

Ah, and Zabuton is joining too.

I’m counting on you.

-0-

An airship was built in Big Tree Village.

It was modeled after the airship Trois Rose, but it wasn’t the same type, it was a much smaller airship.

The rugby ball-shaped gasbag, filled with floating gas, was even smaller than the smallest of the three gasbags on the Trois Rose.

The passenger section of the Trois Rose was the size of a four-story building, but the new airship’s passenger section was about the size of a large vehicle.

It only had a seat for one pilot, an engine room, and a small storage area.

Since it was only meant to serve as a functional sample for manufacturing airships in Village Five, we kept things simple.

That’s why it wasn’t built with pilot swapping or cargo capacity in mind.

Whether that was good or bad, the trial flight showed that the new airship had very high speed performance.

[The engine is smaller than that of the Trois Rose, but the reduced weight of the passenger section is probably why it moves so fast]

A mountain elf monitoring from the ground gave that explanation.

[With that speed, it might be able to escape flying demon beasts or monsters… though it’s hard to say]

The new airship moved quite fast, compared to other airships, at least.

If angels or the universal ship chased it, they’d easily catch up.

[For escorting… the only options would be to have the angels fly alongside it, or load some spiderlings onboard]

The spiderlings probably wouldn’t mind, but most of them go into hibernation during winter.

[The angels will also be heavily involved in operating the Trois Rose.]

So it can only fly in safe areas.

[Indeed]

Given all that… how are we supposed to get that new airship to Village Five?

It’s supposed to serve as a sample for them, right?

[……]

Even though it’s smaller than the Trois Rose, it’s still an airship.

The passenger section is the size of a large vehicle, and the gasbag is many times larger than that.

It can’t go through a teleportation gate.

Probably not even ancestor-san or Beezel’s teleportation magic could manage it.

Even if we deflate the gas, it wouldn’t help.

It’s not a balloon.

The gasbag doesn’t deflate.

[C-could you ask one of the dragons who’s free to help with the transport, Village Chief?]

All right.

Let’s do that.

[Also, could you maybe speak with the universal ship…]

I know.

I’ll handle it.

As for how the universal ship would react to the newly built small airship… I’ve been wondering that myself.

I personally think of it as a new little sister, but for some reason, things are heading in the direction of it being considered its child.

I need to do something before it’s too late.

-0-

By the way, the one flying the small airship during the test run is Tou, the captain of the universal ship.

He’s not interested in Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machines, but it seems he really enjoys piloting flying vehicles.

He looks like he’s having fun, which is nice to see.

But since Yuri and the Demon King are waiting their turn on the ground, I’d like him to start coming down soon.