August 21, 1614 Central Calendar, 09:00
Leiden, Holy Milishial Empire
Robin and her mother, Candee, stayed at Roguerider Family’s residence after the dinner party at Roderick’s request. The mother and daughter planned to go back to the hotel in the morning, but they insisted to have breakfast together. Meteos noticed that Robin’s usually unkempt ponytail is now much tidier and cleaner than before. His teacher is so busy she never had the time to groom her hair, so maybe it was her mother who helped Robin with that. From Meteos’ point of view, a cleaner Robin is much better-looking.
After finishing the breakfast, Meteos showed Robin his house’s library. It is located on the second floor, with a large glass window that provided a nice view of the backyard.
“Ooh, you have a full collection of the World Book Encyclopedia?” Robin remarked as she laid her eyes on a row of books arranged near the corner of the library.
“Yes, it’s the latest edition.”
“Impressive.” She hummed.
The ‘World Book’ is a series of encyclopedias published in the Holy Milishial Empire that covers summaries of knowledge from all areas in the known world. Those are very expensive and people from other nations, despite wanting them, will balk upon seeing the insane price tag and be discouraged from buying it. Still, some people are willing to spend their money to buy books in pursuit of knowledge, such as a certain son of a certain eastern superpower’s trading company. Other books in the house’s collection are the ‘Fighting Ships Yearbook’ published by Jeanne’s Information Group and the latest edition of a very rare book containing all known information about the Ancient Sorcerous Empire, written by Andreas Birkburn. By the way, the latter is both Meteos and Robin’s favorite book. Her eyes lit up at the sight of its light blue cover.
“You even have this!? I am impressed. The only copies I know are in the RMA and Ancient Ministry’s library.”
“Well… yeah… I got it as a birthday gift from my father…” Meteos recalled.
“Really? Mr. Roderick indeed looks like a reliable father. Good for you, Meteos.” Robin remarked with a longing gaze.
He knew that what he asked his father at the time was very absurd. But Roderick, being the doting father he is, somehow managed to acquire a copy and then gave it to Meteos. His respect for Roderick doubled at that time.
‘Crap. Miss Robin’s father died when she was very young.’ He cursed himself for being so insensitive.
“Um… right. Miss Robin… are you okay?”
“Hm? Ah, don’t worry about me.” Robin waved off Meteos’ concern as she picked the book from the shelf and sat down on the chair. However, Meteos was unconvinced.
“Look, I’m sorry if it bothered you, but please just talk to me.”
Robin went silent for a moment before letting out a small sigh and begins to talk.
“Meteos, do you think my father will be happy with my decision to follow his steps?”
“To be honest, I don’t know anything about your father… but I think every father will be proud seeing their children pursuing their dreams and succeeding in it.”
Robin’s eyes widened for a fraction before she broke into a wide smile.
“Aww, I’m touched, kid. Thanks a lot,” she said with a playful tone while putting one hand on her chest.
Seeing the sight of his teacher being her usual cheerful self relieved Meteos.
“You want to know my favorite entry in this book, Meteos?” Robin offered.
“Sure,” he answered and joined her by taking a seat beside Robin.
His teacher began to open the pages of the book until she stopped on a page. It depicted a tall, muscular, black-skinned creature with large curved horns and a long tail ended in a pointed tip. In addition, the creature sported armor plates covering its neck, shoulders, and eyes.
“Isn’t that—"
“That’s right, Nosgorath. I hate this creature with all my heart, after all, one of them murdered my father and who knows how many other people suffered from them. I’ve actually seen my colleagues being killed by them right in front of my eyes, too. I wanted nothing more than to crush them by my own hands.”
Robin made a motion of crushing something with her fist before continuing.
“But then one day I had the chance to encounter a unique one. This Nosgorath is a bit larger than the previous ones that we encountered, and what’s more surprising, it can talk. Well, it can’t talk much besides cursing people, but that’s when I realized that the things we see might not be the things that are actually there. I still hated them, but they piqued my curiosity. I wanted to try looking at them from a different point of view other than an object to be killed. Besides, I think, if we know more about the enemy, we can better protect humanity, right? I convinced myself of that sometimes.”
“No, you have a point. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. I think the importance of knowledge is as important as strength.” Meteos nodded with a smile.
“Oh my, oh my! What wisdom from the great master Meteos Roguerider!” Robin gasped dramatically.
“Hey, cut it out!” Meteos tried to scowl, but the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Both of them eventually laughed inside the library. After the laughter died down, they continued reading the book.
“Now look at this. Here it says around a hundred years after the Ancient Sorcerous Empire transferred themselves to the future, a Nosgorath managed to gather a vast army of demons, then invaded the world from the north before being driven back by a group of mysterious warriors known as the ‘Emissaries of the Sun God’. It is said that the Demon Lord’s army was massive, so what do you think? Is this one more intelligent than the others?” Robin pointed at a paragraph.
Meteos can confirm that this particular Nosgorath’s intelligence far surpasses the usual specimen encountered so far. It can speak in clear sentences and has a very high level of magic power. What’s more important is that 25 years from now, this Nosgorath will be revived from its prison, attempting to invade the world once more, and then being killed for good by the descendants of the Emissaries of the Sun God, Japan.
“If what the legend says is true, then it must have a rather high level of intelligence.”
“Fufufu… I’d love to dissect every single fiber of its existence if I ever encounter one…”
Meteos chuckled in amusement. ‘Let’s make that happen.’
“Speaking of which, Miss Robin. I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Do you know anything about the Emissaries of the Sun God?”
“Ah, yes… the Emissaries of the Sun God. To be honest, I don’t know much about them, since the information about them is limited to the legends, and out of the four, they are the least well known.”
The four legends that Robin was referring to are the four most famous legends in the known world. The Ancient Sorcerous Empire, the Dragon Country of Infidragoon, Mu’s Great Continental Transference event, and the Emissaries of the Sun God. The first two’s narrative is intertwined with each other, and they both have very concrete proof of existence. The very technology that the Holy Milishial Empire is using is based on the Ancient Sorcerous Empire’s ruins, while Infidragoon is the ancestor of the third strongest nation, the Emor Kingdom.
The Great Continental Transference is the creation myth of the second strongest superpower, Mu. It is said that they did not belong to this world, but moved to this world around 12.000 years ago. The event is documented by Mu’s monarchy at the time, and it’s still taught in their history books. But the majority of the people in the known world treat them as legends. According to Robin, if someone were to move something as big as a continent like that, the amount of magic power needed would be astronomical, enough to split a chunk of the planet to form a small moon. Truly, only gods that are capable of accomplishing such feat.
And then there is the legend of the Emissaries of the Sun God. According to the legend, during the Demon King’s invasion of humanity, they appear from the northeast of Rodenius Continent after the Elven God prayed to the God of the Sun, who answered by sending down the Emissaries of the Sun God. Riding divine flying ships and wielding fearsome sorcery, they successfully drove off the Demon King’s army back to the land of Grameus. Then, after neutralizing the threat, the Emissaries of the Sun God vanished without a trace.
“…The reason why they are so obscure is that there is no physical evidence of their existence… wait, the Door of the World is said to have been built by them… but I can’t confirm it since I have never been to the Topa Kingdom… My best bet to finding a piece of evidence is to look in the Rodenius Continent where they first appeared. Maybe the stories about them are passed through the generations by the elves, or maybe Emissaries left something behind… hmm.” Robin mused.
Meteos tried to hide his smile as he listened to Robin’s hypothesis.
Of course, he already knows exactly who they are, but where’s the fun in giving off spoilers? Besides, his teacher’s guesses are correct. The stories about the Emissaries of the Sun God are indeed passed through the generations by the Rodenian elves, and there is indeed something that they left behind.
“How about you? What do you think?”
At Robin’s words, Meteos began to answer calmly, “Well, acts of God aside, when listening to the legend, I can’t help but think about their description.”
“Mm.”
“It is said that they are riding divine flying ships, right? The closest thing I can imagine is they are similar to our country’s Heavenly Vessel and Mu’s flying machines… and since they are said to come from the sea, then they must possess ships as well.”
Robin’s eyebrows shot up, while Meteos continues to explain his theory.
“I see… what an interesting take of the legend. Well, the only way to confirm it is to go to the place where the event actually happens. And the place where they came from is still a mystery as well…”
“Is it possible that they are suddenly teleported into existence at sea, Miss Robin?”
“Eeh… I doubt it. It will make more sense if the Emissaries of the Sun God came from a land far to the east that we don’t know about. But then there is magic… if they are really summoned from wherever they are, the amount of magic power needed is quite reachable for a group of powerful elves at that time…”
“I see… Well, since they are called the ‘Emissaries of the Sun God’, then the place where they came from wouldn’t be all that strange if it’s called the ‘Origin of the Sun,’ right?” Meteos held up his finger and spoke with a laugh.
“Origin of the Sun, huh? …Heh, I like it. It has quite a nice ring to it.”
The teacher and student continued their discussion for a while before Candee entered the library and told Robin that they are going back to the hotel.
August 31, 1614 Central Calendar, 11:10
Sea off the coast of northeastern Mu
On this day, the Muish military conducted the testing of its first aerial torpedo. A modified Challenger took off from a nearby base and flew low above the sea surface in order to attack a target barge set up near a small uninhabited island.
The test pilot, Acier, sweated profusely as he struggled to control his plane. The increased weight from the torpedo attached under the fuselage of the plane forced Acier to exert much more energy just to keep the plane stable. In addition, since he already flew at a low altitude, one slight mistake could result in a fatal crash. Not wanting to die, he focused on the task at hand.
“Hnggggg…! Just a bit more…!” He grunted.
After several minutes of flying, the stationary barge came into view. Acier pulled the lever connected to the torpedo, activating the screw, then released the torpedo. The weapon drew white contrails as it swam towards the target.
Feeling his plane becoming much lighter, Acier sighed in relief as he climbed and circled around the barge to see the torpedo hit the barge below the waterline. The explosion created a huge column of water, dragging the barge down to the sea.
After landing on the runway and getting off his plane, Acier feels a sudden urge to kiss the ground. He, who joined the Royal Flying Corps out of his love for flying, never feels so happy at being on the ground before. However, before he did so, two military officers walked up to him.
“Welcome back, Lieutenant Leclerc.” The first officer greeted.
Acier merely nodded in response, too exhausted to talk.
After this testing, the Muish military began actively experimenting to further develop this new weapon. The RFC pilot, Acier Leclerc, is credited as the first Muish pilot to conduct a successful aerial torpedo drop, followed by another test two days later. The success of these experiments led to the construction of the first purpose-built torpedo bomber.
Even though their torpedoes are not as fast, as destructive, or as stealthy as Holy Milishial Empire’s magic torpedo, Mu continued to work hard to catch up to them.
September 5, 1614 Central Calendar, 10:00
Esthirant Bay, Parpaldia Empire
A white ship is sailing through the bay at full sails, its abnormal speed easily surpassed other ships sailing in the same direction. The ship didn’t take too long to get out of the bay and to the open sea.
After Kaios commissioned a shipbuilding friend to create a scale model and blueprint, he showed it to his father and talked to him to allow Kaios to modify one of the sail ships in his father’s merchant fleet, the Meyer Trading Company. Since there was a ship that was under maintenance at that time, it was chosen for modification. Kaios also invited the Imperial Advisor Ruperther, who was doing his monthly inspection of the capital city’s harbor, to come along. The result is the ship they are currently boarding.
“Amazing…”
Kaios, his father, Meyer, and Ruperther looked in amazement at the ship’s speed.
Based on the very expensive Milishial books that Meyer bought in Runepolis during his voyages for his son, and in addition to Kaios’ own inspiration, he managed to devise a more effective usage of the Tears of the Wind God. Instead of attaching the magic stone behind the sails, a pair of tubes located below the waterline connected to a special compartment inside the ship containing the Tears of the Wind God is used to direct the generated wind pressure backward to propel the ship, similar to an engine room. By the way, it is a cruder and simpler version of the arrangement used by Meteos when designing his magic torpedo.
As a result, the modified ship reached a recorded speed of 21 knots at maximum before the magic circuit in the Tears of the Wind God was exhausted, reverting the ship’s speed to normal. However, when the ship returned to port, another problem was discovered: there are cracks on the ship’s hull formed when the ship suddenly accelerated.
“I need to be more careful next time, one wrong move and all of us could die…” Kaios muttered while brushing his chest in relief as he inspected the ship’s hull.
While the new method of propulsion still cannot be introduced for practical use, Kaios’ promising innovation kickstarted the evolution of sailing ships in Parpaldia. They need to address the weakness in the wooden hull to accommodate the ‘Underwater Pressure Propulsion system’ first, so the development of iron-hulled sailing ships began at a rapid pace. The construction of iron-hulled ships required a huge amount of iron, so when Ruperther went to propose this at the meeting with the Imperial Government, Kaios suggested his father to quickly make a move, securing the profits.
Kaios himself was later summoned by Ruperther to his office to discuss the patent for his invention. Since the teenager’s knowledge and creativity played a role in Ruperther’s rise to fame within the Imperial Court, the Imperial Advisor feels that he owed him greatly.
Still no wristwatch, though.
Currently Publicly Available Information
AERIAL TORPEDO
A torpedo launched from a flying machine from the air which subsequently drops into the water, after which the weapon propels itself to the target. It is generally smaller and lighter than the ship-launched torpedoes. So far, the only user of this weapon is the Holy Milishial Empire and Mu.
