Chapter 361: Inspection with a Professional Eye

I can read Mondeo’s thoughts like an open book.

He figures that even a dwarf won’t be able to steal the crucial technology for crossing the open ocean just by looking around the deck and the ship’s interior. Furthermore, based on our conversation, it seems Mondeo hasn’t heard from Tran that I built a ship myself.

Consequently, while he kept a close check on Havel’s movements, he hardly paid any attention to me.

“Fumu…… Turning this moves the shaft, which runs through the ship to move the tail?”

“That is the ship’s wheel. Basically, we gain propulsion from natural wind or wind magic, and decide the direction with this wheel.”

“I see. If you use wind magic, it would provide considerable propulsion. May I look from the outside? I am curious about the shape and size.”

“You can only see it from the water surface, but if you are fine with that, I do not mind.”

Because Havel asked question after question, Mondeo ended up stuck with him for the entire tour. While Mondeo and Havel went ahead, Law and Kusala split up to take notes.

“Sir Law, did you draw this one?”

“Ah, Sir Kusala. I have already copied that one, so there should be no problem……”

For some reason, Law and Kusala were taking notes and creating illustrations while conversing like old-school nerds. It is their first time working as a duo, but they might be quite interesting together.

Watching this scene while walking at the very back, Rosso, who was walking beside me, smiled while pinching his chin with one hand.

“……Fumu, it seems we will be able to obtain sufficient information from this single tour. However, perhaps because I am looking with an amateur’s eye, there does not seem to be much difference from Sir Tran’s ship.”

I returned a fearless smile to Rosso, who muttered with regret.

“It is fine. Learning from last time, I came here today with the serious intention of stealing the Kingdom of Fiesta’s shipbuilding technology.”

When I answered in a small voice, Rosso tucked his chin in with an amused expression.

“Hoh…… In that case, I shall look forward to it.”

Rosso sounded like he was genuinely looking forward to it. He is generally quite sensible, but I feel like I saw a glimpse of something similar to His Majesty in him. So far, the top ranking for “brats” was Aperta, His Majesty, and Panamera in that order, but Rosso might surprisingly be a dark horse.

While I was thinking about that, the ship tour came to an end. I had asked Havel to investigate if there were any points regarding the deck, interior, or ship construction that I had missed before, but I feel like Havel was just genuinely enjoying himself. He looked incredibly disappointed to hear it was over.

“Thank you very much for today!”

When I expressed my gratitude immediately after the tour ended, Mondeo nodded with a beaming smile.

“Thank you as well. While the Kingdom of Fiesta does not yet plan to form an alliance with any specific country, I, Mondeo Orcus, wish to be a good friend to the Kingdom of Scuderia. I hope to be the best of friends with both you, Lord Rosso, and you, Lord Van, so I look forward to our future relationship.”

Mondeo said this while bowing politely. Rosso nodded deeply and returned the greeting.

When Tran was here, we had meals together, but it seems there won’t be a meal this time. Once Rosso bade farewell, Mondeo and his group returned inside the ship, and we headed back into the town of Tribute.

“……So, how was it?”

After we had distanced ourselves enough that the ship was no longer visible, Rosso asked quietly. He must have been quite curious about my plan.

“Let me see…… Well then, let us head upstream along that river over there.”

“The river?”

Leading the puzzled Rosso and the others, we all headed upstream. It was a river flowing at the edge of Tribute, but perhaps because it wasn’t very wide, there was no concern about large magic beasts, so there were many buildings around it.

Moving into the shadow of the largest building among them, I sent a signal toward the river.

“……What are you doing?”

Rosso peered into the river with a puzzled look. Then, with perfect timing, a large fish shadow appeared.

“Mu, a magic beast……!”

Startled, Rosso took a step back and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. The knights guarding Rosso also immediately drew their swords and stepped forward. While praising their swift reaction, I raised one hand.

“It is fine. He is a resident of my village.”

The moment I said that, Ladavista popped his face out of the water. He knitted his brows in a slightly wary manner, keeping half his face above the water and remaining still.

“……An Apkallu, you say?”

Rosso and his guards were astonished. Meanwhile, Ladavista checked his surroundings, then emerged from the water up to his shoulders and approached us.

“Mr. Ladavista, how was it?”

When I asked, Ladavista tucked his chin in with his arms crossed and groaned low.

“It had a quite mysterious shape. And it is complex. I tried drawing a diagram on the stone slate, but I do not know if I drew it accurately.”

Saying that, Ladavista pulled a large, flat stone from the water. On it, the shape of the ship’s bottom was sketched in great detail.