Nido Tensei Shita Shounen wa S-rank Boukensha Toshite Heion ni Sugosu ~ Zense ga Kenja de Eiyūdatta Boku wa Raisede wa Jimi ni Ikiru ~

Episode 70: Let’s Look for Trade Goods

With the defeat of Bahamut, the worry of food shortage that threatened the people of Sky Island has disappeared.
The demon that was scheming in the background was crushed by another Bahamut, so we can no longer obtain information, but since the gate was also destroyed, Sky Island will no longer be targeted.

Sending all the crew members of Mr.
Burn’s Good Luther MK.1 back to the ground was made possible by converting the ship into an airship.

With this, all worries are gone and we can finally breathe a sigh of relief… but there is still one concern remaining.

That is whether it is okay to leave the people of Sky Island as they are.
After all, these people are descendants of ordinary people who lived on the Sky Continent, so they have very little technological knowledge.

They have built their technology from scratch, so their combat and magic skills are low.
Thanks to the defensive magic items, they didn’t need to desperately fight for survival, which may have hindered the growth of their combat skills.
Well, there may be other reasons as well.

And because of that, they were helpless against enemies with overwhelming power like Bahamut this time.
If Bahamut had recognized humans as food in the environment of Sky Island with no escape, the people of Sky Island might have been wiped out by now.

Furthermore, it’s not good that the relied-upon magic items are deteriorating significantly.
After all, they have been used without any maintenance for hundreds of years.
I repaired them this time, but eventually they will completely break.

If the magic items break, they will not only be unable to fight against monsters, but they will also be unable to go to Forest Island to gather food.
After all, they will lose the ability to fly.

The best solution would be to teach them flight magic, but it’s a bit difficult for all the people of Sky Island to learn it.
There are time constraints and age issues as well.

So I proposed a suggestion to Mr.
Calm and Mr.
Burn.

“Move the residents of Sky Island to the ground?”

“Yes, if we leave the people of Sky Island as they are, they won’t be able to live without the magic items.
So how about allowing those who wish to move to the ground?”

Now we have the Good Luther MK.1, which has been reborn as an airship.
While the crew members become proficient in piloting the airship, we will make the Sky King and the residents of Sky Island aware of the current situation and let them decide whether to stay on the island or move to the ground.

“I see, indeed, considering the future of the people, moving from Sky Island is one option.
We knights also had concerns about the uncertainty of the magic items eventually breaking.”

Calm showed a favorable opinion towards the move.
It seems that the knights of Sky Island have had similar concerns for a while.

“However…”

Mr.
Burn looked a bit pensive.

“Is there a problem?”

When I asked, the vice captain answered in place of Mr.
Burn.

“The thing is, if we were just to bring down the residents of Sky Island to the ground, we could do it at our discretion.
But if it’s about moving to our country, it might be difficult for us alone to decide.
We would have to accept immigrants from other countries.”

Hmm, so it’s a political issue.

“However…”

The vice captain continued.

“If we show Rex-sama the Good Luther MK.1 that has been modified, it might make it easier to persuade the higher-ups.
After all, no one has ever seen a ship that can fly.”

Huh? I think flying ships are quite common though?

“By the way, Rex-sama, is it possible to mass-produce this ship?”

The face of the vice captain who asked that had the expression of a noble making a political judgment.
I’ve seen that expression a lot in my past life, so he’s probably thinking about whether it can be used for military purposes.
But why would he want to mass-produce airships? I don’t want them to be used for bad things, so I’ll just casually brush it off.

“No, the materials used for this airship are limited in quantity, so we cannot gather enough to produce a large number suitable for warfare.
It is a quite rare material now.”

The main material used for the modification is gravium, which is found in the soil and ores of Sky Island.
With the absence of the Sky Continent, gravium only exists in the remaining Sky Islands.

So I answered that it’s difficult to mass-produce magic items using gravium.
After all, flying magic items made with ordinary technology have better performance.

“Also, the amount of material used is small, so it cannot withstand combat.
If we push it too hard, the flight function will break.”

“I see, that’s unfortunate.”

The vice captain easily backed down, believing my words.
I wonder if there really are no airships in that country? Well, maybe they have become scarce due to wars or something.

In my past life, I was told to mass-produce airships because of that reason, just to have enough performance to withstand transportation for the time being.

“Regarding the move to our country, it requires the judgment of the higher-ups.
So, why not start with trade?”

“Trade?”

“Yes, by presenting the unique trade goods of Sky Island, we can show the benefits of establishing trade relations with our country.
Fortunately, we have that ship that can fly.”

The vice captain said while looking at the Good Luther MK.1, which was continuing its flight training.

I see, rather than immediately asking for a move, it would be easier for both parties to engage in trade where they can exchange food.
And if the countries become friendly, it may become possible to move without any disputes in the future.

“What do you think, Captain, Mr.
Calm? Shall we consider starting with trade as a form of exchange between the two countries?”

“Yes, I think it’s a good idea.
I have no problem with trade! And the only ship that can engage in trade is our Good Luther MK.1! This is the time for me to shine!”

Mr.
Burn seems happy.

“So, Captain, please be careful not to have the ship taken away by political enemies.”

“Y-Yes.”

The vice captain easily nailed it.

“Hmm, indeed, having more food options would be beneficial for us as well.”

Calm also had a positive reaction to trade.
You could see a relieved expression on his face, knowing that they wouldn’t have to abandon their homeland.

“W-We can provide abundant seafood from our country! We have plenty of large fish offshore!”

Oops, the people from the seaside country, including Merine, have joined the trade negotiations.
They are desperate not to miss out on a profitable deal.

“Well, well, your country doesn’t have airships, right? And besides, we can catch plenty of fish in the Great Inner Sea.”

“Haha, yes, but since we lost the demons that should have been managed by both countries, we need your country to compensate for our losses.
Didn’t you say that your country would be responsible for transporting the demons by ship?”

“Ugh…”

Fierce political struggles are unfolding.
Well, I’ll leave that to the experts.
It doesn’t concern me, just a simple adventurer.

“Isn’t it good?”

After hearing the situation from Calm, the Sky King closed his eyes and pondered.

By the way, for some reason, I was also brought to the meeting.

I thought my presence was unnecessary in negotiations between nations, but since I was deeply involved in the proposal for moving to the ground and the modification of the Good Luther MK.1, I was begged to participate in the meeting.
I still think my presence is meaningless though.

“Let’s approve the trade.
And let the people know about the possibility of moving.
Those who wish to move to the ground are allowed.”

“Are you sure, Your Majesty?”

Calm asked the Sky King hesitantly.

“It may be a good opportunity… Our ancestors escaped from the collapse of the Sky Continent and barely settled on this Sky Island in search of a safe place.”

The words of the Sky King were listened to by the knights with solemn faces.

“We protected ourselves from monster attacks with the few magic items left in the fortress and declared ourselves a nation to dispel the people’s anxiety.
But as we had no means to escape to the ground, we were constantly exhausted and fearful of the day of our end.”

The Sky King stood up from his throne and announced to the knights.

“We moved to this Sky Island in search of a safe place.
So there is no need to cling to a Sky Island with no future.
Calm, first prepare trade goods.
And the knights should gather those who wish to move.
However, make it clear that they will never be able to return to their homeland.”

“Yes!”

Following the Sky King’s orders, the knights quickly began to move.

“Phew, now I can finally take off this heavy crown.”

The Sky King muttered, with a tired but bright expression.

…In this small and inescapable land, maybe this person did his best in his own way.
Perhaps his attempts to capture or kill us were all because of the king’s mask he had been wearing to protect the helpless people and dispel their anxiety.

“This crown really makes my neck stiff.”

Oops, this old man might be tougher than I thought.

“So, I’ve been looking for things that could be used for trade…”

Calm, who was ordered to select trade goods, was consulting with the village chiefs scattered throughout Sky Island to see if there were any items that could be used for trade.

The crew members of Good Luther MK.1 and the envoys from the seaside country were also participating in the selection of goods, looking for items that would bring benefits to their own countries.

“Hmm, to be honest, it’s a bit lacking to be a trade commodity.”

“Our country is the same.”

Hmm, it seems negotiations are difficult because there don’t seem to be any promising products.

“This is troublesome.
Our country only has a few promising specialty products.”

Calm-san also seems troubled because there are no other products to offer.
The village chiefs of each village also seem anxious about the unexpected business coming to a halt.

“Well then, why don’t we explore Forest Island to see if there are any items that could be sold?”

“Forest Island? ”

“Yes, until now, Forest Island has been occupied by Bahamut and people couldn’t approach it.
But now we can enter Forest Island, and there might be rare herbs or something on the surface.”

“I see, indeed, exploring Forest Island was originally necessary.
Then we should conduct a large-scale search.”

Calm-san, who realized there is still hope, orders his subordinates to explore Forest Island.
Now, I hope there are some items on Forest Island that can be traded.

“Now, let’s begin the exploration of Forest Island.
Since our top priority is to find items for trade, we should minimize battles with monsters.”

“Yes!”

Following Calm-san’s instructions, the knights advance into Forest Island.

“Well then, shall we go too?”

“Yes.”

“Kyuu!”

Liliera-san and Mofumofu energetically respond.

“Since we haven’t had much opportunity to fight against Bahamut or demons, we have to do our best in this exploration.”

“Kyuu!”

Both of them are full of enthusiasm.

“Fortunately, forests are my specialty, so you can count on me! ”

“Yes, we have high expectations.”

Liliera-san had been searching for rare herbs for the sake of her hometown, so she seems to have extensive knowledge of herbs that could be valuable.

“Kyuu!”

And Mofumofu immediately jumps into the forest.
They probably went to hunt monsters.
Well, it’s a good thing that there are fewer monsters, and Mofumofu can use flight magic, so they should be able to come back safely.

“Well then, let’s go too!”

“Yes!”

The two of us walk through the forest, and wild animals such as deer and rabbits appear.

“Surprisingly, normal animals are still surviving.
I thought they would have been eaten by monsters.”

“Maybe, the monsters that eat animals became food for Bahamut.
And since Bahamut couldn’t satisfy its hunger with small animals, they were ignored.
Instead, they were left as bait to attract monsters that could be food.”

“I see, in that case, they managed to coexist well.”

However, since Bahamut disappeared, the monsters have become more active, and occasionally we come across the remains of animals that were presumably ravaged by monsters.
As we go deeper, monsters that mistake us for prey and attack us start to appear here and there.

“Leave this to me!”

Saying that, Liliera-san raises her spear and heads towards the monsters.
Hmm, she seems lively fighting against suitable prey.

“Alright, then I’ll search for herbs.”

While confirming the situation of Liliera-san and the surrounding monsters with detection magic, I search for herbs.

“There are so many herbs everywhere since no one has entered for a long time.
With this, I can collect herbs without worrying about taking too much for a while.”

Even if these herbs don’t become the highlight of the trade, it will be useful for the people’s lives on the floating island if there are more ingredients for medicine.

“There are really a lot of herbs… Ah, I used these to make a lot of high potions in the past.”

While knocking down attacking monsters, I reminisce about the nostalgic herbs from my previous life.
They are not particularly rare herbs, but they are still herbs, so I should take them just in case.

Alright, I’ve collected various types of herbs.
Forest Island is quite a large island, so as long as we don’t collect too much, we can easily secure the necessary amount for trade.

“By the way… if we’re going to trade, we’ll need a lot of ships, won’t we?”

I suddenly realize.

This is called a floating “island,” but it’s quite large.
To put it bluntly, it’s the size of a small country.

In that case, the amount of trade would be on a national scale, not just on a town scale.
If we’re going to trade on that scale, Good Luther MK.1 alone is quite unreliable.
In that case, wouldn’t it be better to increase the number of airships?

Ah, I see.
That’s why the vice captain asked if we could make more!

“Well then, let’s make them.”

I remember the transport airship that was forced upon me from above in my previous life.
Its performance was too low to withstand combat, but it could easily transport a small crew and cargo.

Fortunately, Liliera-san and Mofumofu are engrossed in hunting monsters, so I quickly start working.
I create a golem for the task using magic and order it to cut down suitable trees in the vicinity.

“Alright, let’s get to work!”

Let’s see, the catalyst, yes, and… ah, the gem I received from the Megalowhale seems to be useful.
I’m not sure why, but it seems to have a good efficiency for transferring magical power.
I slightly cut the raw gemstone from the Megalowhale and use it as material for the airship.
With just this, I can probably make a few hundred more airships.

And then, I’ll hunt some monsters around here and extract core stones.
It’s also troublesome to transport them one by one to the floating island, so I’ll make sure that the other ships can be operated from the main ship of the fleet.

Hmm, I feel like a little carpenter!

“Alright, that should do it.”

The new airship is also completed, so it’s about time to go back.

“Liliera-san, Mofumofu, let’s go back now.”

“Yes!”

“Kyuu!”

Liliera-san and Mofumofu return with excitement, carrying their prey.

“This place is great, we were able to hunt many B-rank class monsters… right?”

Liliera-san, who happily reports, suddenly stops moving.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s that?”

Liliera-san sees the airship floating behind me and is speechless.

“What, it’s an airship.
Since Good Luther MK.1 didn’t seem to have enough cargo capacity for trading, I made a few additional transport ships.”

“You made a few because it didn’t seem enough!?”

“Well then, shall we go back and join everyone?”

“Wow, everyone will be surprised…”

Ahaha, it’s not like they would be surprised by just a transport ship.

“Weren’t we supposed to go to collect herbs?”

When I showed them the airship, they were surprised for some reason.