Chapter 365: Is the Ship Complete?

The next day, while I was elegantly eating breakfast, Panamera Carrera Cayenne called out to me, looking visibly excited.

“When are you building the ship?”

“I will build it today.”

“Shall we go soon?”

“We will go after I eat dessert.”

“I see. I can hardly wait.”

We were eating leisurely while having such a conversation, but Rosso, who was watching us, gave a wry smile and voiced his impression.

“It looks as if Lord Van is the guardian here.”

At that single remark from Rosso, Panamera made a startled face and froze.

“S-Such a thing is……”

She tried to deny it in a panic, but perhaps Panamera herself had some idea of what he meant. Unable to properly deny Rosso’s words, she only let out a dry laugh.

Panamera became quiet the moment it was pointed out by Rosso. Feeling sorry for her, I decided to eat my dessert in a hurry. Today, it was a fruit platter. I was happy that there were various kinds.

“……Alright! I have eaten!”

“Ooh! Then let us head out immediately!”

“Hahaha, then shall we prepare?”

It seemed they were waiting for me to finish my dessert, as preparations for departure began the moment I finished eating. For all that, Rosso is quite light on his feet too.

When we all got ready and headed to the sea, Dee and the others had already lined up a massive amount of timber on the sandy beach.

“Ooh, Lord Van! Is this enough material for the ship!? Just in case, I heard from Lord Ladavista that the ship’s bottom was made of metal.”

“Thank you. As for the metal, I received the necessary amount from the Rosso Marquis family, so it’s fine.”

“What! Then there is no problem!”

Saying that, Dee placed his hands on his hips and laughed. Glancing to the side, I saw that not only Arb and Law, but Ortho and his group also had exhausted expressions on their faces.

“……Ms. Pluriel, were you logging too?”

When I asked in surprise, Pluriel shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

“I was in charge of the carriage to transport the timber. Cutting down such huge trees is impossible for me.”

“That makes sense.”

I nodded with a wry smile at Pluriel’s words. Meanwhile, Kusala, who looked like he had lost a bit of weight, was sitting on the ground groaning.

“I-I’m beat……”

“Good work to you too, Mr. Kusala.”

I offered words of appreciation while laughing. Then, Ortho, standing like a guardian statue next to Kusala, spoke with a smile.

“Lord Van, we worked hard. Please remember the new weapon.”

“Once we return to Seatoh Village.”

“Alright!”

Ortho must really want a good weapon. He rejoiced with a wonderful reply. Make sure you work hard.

Thinking that, I started the shipbuilding.

“Now then, I will build the ship! First, I shall create the patterned armor for the ship’s bottom!”

Declaring that, I used the pure mithril received from Rosso as material to create thin plates. I had to shape them to match the form of the ship’s bottom. Incidentally, if viewed in cross-section, it would likely be close to a V-shape.

I drew the patterns while being careful about the width, length, and depth of the delicate grooves.

This is the part of the ship that sinks into the sea, so it is the most important part. I finished it properly and carefully.

“……Alright, it’s done!”

It must have taken nearly an hour. Finally, a ship bottom shaped like a boat was complete. No, actually, it was just the outer armor so far. Since the mithril exterior was placed on rails leading to the sea, it could be viewed not only from the side but also from below.

“Mr. Havel, how is it?”

When I called out to him, Havel began checking the shape with a severe expression. Watching Havel silently touch and trace the grooves made me strangely nervous for some reason. Glancing around, I saw that Arte and Till were also watching Havel’s actions with tense expressions.

Havel spent several minutes carefully confirming the quality of the ship’s bottom, circling it completely before finally turning his face toward me.

“……Fumu, it is so-so. There are fifteen places to redo.”

“Fifteen places!? You’re lying, right!?”

I involuntarily shouted at Havel’s shocking statement. However, Havel pointed them out without any hesitation.

“You said this model was closest to the real thing. In that case, the angle of this rounded corner needs to be narrowed a bit more. Also, this straight section is too long. Conversely, the square line heading toward the stern is unbalanced. And also……”

“I-It’s too detailed!”

While screaming internally, I fixed the misalignments of mere centimeters and millimeters that Havel pointed out, one by one. Before I knew it, that task had taken another hour.

“I-Is this good now……?”

I asked while breathing hard. Havel checked it carefully again for about two minutes. Then, he nodded.

“Umu, not bad.”

“Thank goodness……”

It seems I barely passed. Relieved, I immediately began creating the entire ship.

“Now that we’re this far, I can finish it all at once! Uryaaa!”

I let out a shout of spirit and rapidly processed the timber into Wood Blocks. Then, I deformed the Wood Blocks to form the shape of the ship. Incidentally, the shout of spirit has no actual effect.

Before I realized it, the exterior resting on the two rails had completely become a part of the ship, and it had become large enough that one had to look up to see it from close range.

“……Looking at it like this, ships are truly huge, aren’t they?”

“They really are.”

Arte and the others voiced such impressions. From behind, I could also hear the surprised voices of Rosso and his group. Indeed, while the part submerged in the sea might be larger than imagined, it looks much bigger on land than when floating in the sea.

“……Alright! The sails are done too, so I think it’s good to go?”

After saying that, I turned back to Rosso.

“Now then, let us begin the launching ceremony!”