Heap of Rubble

"drop!"

　Gachan with a command! There is a sound, and after a while, a roar resounds. It's an explosive sound that echoes to the bottom of your stomach. You could call it a shock wave.

"Effect confirmation, it was blown away spectacularly. Isla, this is Kosuke. Start indiscriminate carpet bombing. Slow forward."

『Hmm, I understand. Slow advance』

　Almost at the same time as Aira's voice through the magic speaking tube, the magic airship begins to slowly move forward. And when I gave Ted a look, he nodded and gave the order.

"Carpet bombing begins"

"""Aye-icer!"""

　Under the command of Ted, eight magic musketeers begin to load air bombs for magic airships into the bomb-dropping device.

　Well, even though it's a carpet bombing, it's not a flashy bombing like dozens or hundreds of shots. Since it's just the eight loaders dropping bombs without interruption, it's probably a lot less powerful than a real carpet bombing where a large amount of bombs rain down endlessly. However, in this world, it would be a nightmare to continue to unilaterally attack from the sky with such power as to break rocks into pieces.

"It's a bit silly to call it an artificial dragon, but it's a threat close to that."

"Certainly. There is no way to counter with the existing force."

　Dragons are feared not only for their physical toughness and strength, but also for the power of their breath. It is feared precisely because it has the ability to unilaterally slam them from the sky.

　Besides, projectile weapons are not very developed in this world. At most, it's just a crude bow, stone throw, and javelin, and until I made it, crossbows and similar weapons hadn't been developed. No matter what you say, there is magic. Besides, there are also verses where mages hindered the development of projectile weapons.

　Well, what I'm trying to say is that there aren't many means of attacking high-flying enemies. in this world. Speaking of threats from the sky, well, there are various monsters with dragons at the top, but it seems that there are almost no monsters that launch long-range attacks from the sky. Therefore, there seems to be an aspect that the means of anti-aircraft attack did not develop much. If they start close combat, even warriors who fight with swords and spears can be defeated.

　picture? Can dragons do well in close quarters combat? Dragons are usually good at both ranged and close quarters combat. Melty, who can do something with fist, is just abnormal.

　The bombing continued for a while, and finally the bombs that had been fully loaded hit the bottom. 8 men, 15 shots each. A total of 120 bombs were scattered on the ground.

"It's a splendid vacant lot, or rather a mountain of rubble."

"It is"

　Together with Ted, I look down on the ground from the small window for checking the effect - or rather, the nest of the flying biter. The rugged rocky ground was mercilessly smashed by the rain of large air bombs for magic airships, turning it into a mountain of rubble. The ground seems to have subsided somewhat compared to before the bombing. Was there a hollow under the rocky ground? Maybe that underground cavity was the main enclosure of the Flyingbiter's nest.

"If it is completely destroyed so far, it can be said that the tactical goal has been achieved. I will ask the dragoons to confirm, so just to be sure, please continue to monitor the ground until then."

"roger that"

　I nodded back to Ted, who nodded, and started replenishing air bombs after giving support to contact Isla with the magic tube and ask the dragoons to confirm the location.

"However, 120 rounds is a considerable amount.

"Your Excellency also has a problem."

"That's right. It looks like it's taking out a bomb from a blank place like this, but this guy is just taking out what I prepared in advance. Swimming gracefully on the water. It's like a waterfowl that seems to be there.It's flapping its legs under the surface where you can't see it."

　While saying that, I calculated the materials for 120 large air bombs for the magic airship in my head and let out a sigh. The main constituent material of the outer shell is iron, and the rest is gunpowder, mechanical parts, and a little magic stone used for the fuse. Surprisingly, iron is the bottleneck in this situation... Most of the materials for gunpowder can be obtained in the city, and it's not like we need a large amount of magic stones. What you put in will suffice. However, if you want to get a large amount of iron, the most efficient way is to mine it yourself. Besides, iron is expensive if you try to buy it in bulk in the city, and if you force yourself to buy the amount that I need, it will lead to a shortage of iron and the impact on the market will be too great.

"We have to go mining somewhere else… since we're surrounded by rocky mountains, I wonder if we can have a mining day while we're here."

　I used a lot of materials to make this magic airship――especially mythril, silver, and copper, so I don't have enough stock. Materials around here can also be obtained by digging rocks hard, so I definitely want to replenish them. If you ask Grande, he'll take you to the top of any suitable rocky mountain, so if you dig from the top to the ground, you should be able to clear at least one of the mountains. Now I have a mithril pickaxe. Let's talk to Dryada when we get back. I've prepared a spare day, so it shouldn't be a problem to use it like that for a day or two. Ah, but I want to go home quickly and see the children's faces... it's really annoying.

　While I was thinking about that, I was contacted by Isla when I finished replenishing the bombs.

"Confirmation complete. The Flying Biter's nest has completely collapsed.』

"Understood.

"Hmm, I understand. come back? 』

"I'll be right back."

"roger that"

　After finishing the call with the magic tube, I go up to the upper deck with Ted and the others. Don't you leave people on the ground, or rather below, for surveillance? There's a passive magic radar, so it's not staffed. Basically, there are no creatures that can reach altitudes where magic airships can fly without using magic. However, it may be necessary to assign personnel in the future. In that case, it might be better to create a place somewhere suitable for ground surveillance. This bomb drop room is small, and you can only see straight down. Well, if that happens, I wonder if a drastic remodeling of the hull will be necessary... come to think of it, there's no need to be particular about the shape of the ship, and it might be a good idea to modify the hull to the extent that its strength allows.

　In any case, this prototype magic airship was made in a rush, so there are a lot of imperfections... I have a lot of other projects going on, so I can't just focus on this ship. , This is a big project, so I can't just throw it out halfway... I'm in trouble.

"It must be hard for the soldiers in the field, but it's also pretty hard on the developer side…"

"Please take care of yourself.

"I guess so, but it's been overworked relatively…Is it a problem that it's too easy to use? Well, I have no complaints."

　It's a pleasure to have you rely on me. The number of children will increase from now on, so I have to show the figure of a reliable father. Well, even if I do my best, I want to avoid the tragedy of having too many business trips and not being able to remember your face. After finishing this business trip, I want to take it easy for a while.