Episode 21: The Increasing Number of Perverted Sailing Ships
Following the flagship Paraiso, the second and third ships rolled out.
“Since no structural problems occurred during the Paraiso‘s voyage, the design is almost identical. The third ship is equipped with a multi-barrel 20mm autocannon instead of the 150mm smoothbore gun. As far as we’ve confirmed locally, this may be a more useful armament.”
“Hee… How valiant…!”
Seeing the two ships floating side by side, she made no attempt to hide her excitement, leaning over the railing. In a panic, the puppet machine (Communicator) controlled by Ringo grabbed her waist.
“Ma’am, that’s dangerous.”
“I’m alright~”
She thought that it was still overprotective. Below was a well-maintained pier, only about 2 meters high. Even if she fell, it would be into the sea, and even if she lost consciousness, she would be rescued immediately. She wished they would let her do as she pleased to that extent.
Those around her didn’t realize that she was too excited and acting dangerously.
“Well, it looks like we can finally start trading in earnest.”
“Yes, Ma’am. If we can procure iron products on a regular basis, we’ll be much more stable. It will also become possible to manufacture large ships.”
At the mention of large ships, she turned her face towards the open sea. There, a large sailing ship was under construction, with work still in progress.
“In the end, we didn’t have enough steel, so we’re using duralumin for aircraft, right?”
“Yes, Ma’am. The main structural members are designed with duralumin or steel, and the basic structural material is cellulose, but duralumin is still used where strength is required. Eventually, once we have secured the necessary iron, we plan to dismantle it and recover the duralumin.”
“If possible, we want to use duralumin for aircraft.”
“Yes. If we can operate large flying boats, we can greatly increase our deployment speed.”
Currently, the only runway available at the fortress The Tree is a short-range runway that runs through the fortress. Because it uses a catapult launch system, it can only operate aircraft (planes) that are compatible with it, and because the runway itself is small, it cannot operate large aircraft.
In that respect, flying boats that can take off and land on the sea surface can be made larger. A pier for cargo transport is necessary, but it is more realistic than building a runway. However, even constructing that structure presents resource problems.
“Well, for now, let’s wait until we have a stable supply of iron…”
If transactions in tons become possible, steel structures can be built. If large general-purpose machine tools (printers) for shipbuilding can be installed, the construction speed will also increase dramatically.
“We are prioritizing the acquisition of iron and collecting information, so I think we will be able to make some kind of report soon.”
“I’m not worried about that, so it’s okay.”
As commander, she also tries to keep track of what Ringo is doing by frequently looking at the action logs. Recently, it seems that it has been mainly scanning for iron oxide exposed on the ground. If there is a place on the coast where open-pit mining is possible, a fleet can be dispatched for mining instead of trading.
“Also, we will be withdrawing the Paraiso soon. We were able to advance trade negotiations favorably, and we also obtained various spices and foods.”
“Oh, is that so? I’m looking forward to it.”
After the Paraiso attack incident, it seems that a fairly large-scale cleanup operation was carried out in that port city. The entire group of merchants who had bothered the Paraiso was eliminated. According to Ringo, they could have argued, but they accepted the sincerity because it was the first transaction. They were apparently very grateful.
However, as a show of force, the “enemy” merchant’s building was blown away with a 150mm smoothbore gun. Ringo, after calculating with all its might and aiming precisely, fired a bursting shell that shattered only the target building as calculated. Since they had warned in advance, there were no casualties other than the enemy merchant’s chairman.
She thought that it was too much, but she was charmed by Ringo‘s boastful appearance and decided to forget about it immediately.
The chairman of the merchants who control that port city of Telek, probably in a position like a lord, promised that he would prepare the required amount of iron ingots by the next trade. After all, gunboat diplomacy is the most effective. Next time, they will be even more surprised. After all, the number of ships will increase to three.
“If we can deploy a large ship, the transport volume will be three times the total of these three ships.”
The large transport ship emphasizes loading capacity and stability, and the bottom of the ship is shallow and wide. The power source is not a paddle wheel but a screw. The main means of transportation will be wind power for the time being, but when the materials are available, it will be replaced with a hydrogen gas turbine. The hydrogen fuel will be stored by electrolyzing seawater with photovoltaic panels.
“Forming a trade fleet… I want to build a battleship someday.”
“A battleship? What class in meters?”
“Hmm… I don’t know much about it, but about 300m?”
Ringo pondered for a while at her casual answer.
“Understood. Let’s advance the Tree so that we can build a battleship.”
“Is that so? I’m looking forward to it.”
Incorporating a giant battleship into the fleet has become the goal.
About 10 days passed as it was.
The Paraiso returned safely.
Although not fully loaded, it is loaded with many iron products, preserved foods, seasonings, various crafts, and precious metals.
“The iron is only about 1 ton, so it’s not even enough for one ship.”
“It’s better than just decreasing. It looks like we can increase it more from next time, right?”
“Yes. I have made a request. This time it was plain yarn and cloth, but next time let’s add dyed ones to the list. I also obtained some patterns, so I would like to present some clothing samples.”
Perhaps because of the constant wars, it seems that they are culturally immature. They were able to hear that there is demand for cloth products in the royal capital area.
While thinking about useless things like whether this is cultural invasion, she looks at the list of clothes and crafts. She doesn’t have a shred of design sense, so she doesn’t criticize anything in particular.
“Also, weapons seem to have a relatively high exchange rate. We have also obtained weapons from there, so we will adjust the quality we put out based on the results. We have told them that the ones we put out this time are of the highest quality, so there should be no problem if the mass-produced ones are only slightly better.”
“That’s right. Just do it appropriately.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Currently, she is sitting at a table set up on the observation deck, being served by Ringo. Several newly born (rolled out) puppet machines (Communicators) are taking care of her. It is a scene that is heading straight for the useless person she once feared, but fortunately, she is not aware of that fact.
While watching the puppet machines (Communicators) moving around to unload the cargo, she sipped the carbonated water prepared by Ringo with a straw.
“…Delicious!”
“I refined the sugar I obtained and made cider.”
“……… That’s the taste of civilization…”
While recommending candied fruits to her (Ma’am), who is muttering something appropriate again, Ringo is working hard to collect information from the bots it has infiltrated in order to further enhance the meal.
◇◇◇◇
A survey fleet departed from the fortified Northern Islands.
Their destination is the yet unseen Southern Continent.
Although it is a wooden sailing ship, it is probably the most suitable structural material for ocean voyages. Although it is equipped with the latest magic paddle wheel as an auxiliary power source, it is basically sailing. Three large ships built with the best of technology. As escort ships, 2 battleships, 4 cruisers, a total of 9 ships, slowly slide out into the open sea.
The purpose is to scout the hegemonic nation of the Southern Continent, which they heard about from castaways from the Southern Continent. If possible, to explore peaceful exchanges. From the investigation of the seized large ships, it was judged that the technical level was not so far apart. The only concern is that the main battleships cannot be dispatched due to the problem of cruising range.