Chapter 94 The View from the High Sky
"Young Master, Miss! This is Kirov Transport and Weather Observation Ship No. 3 reporting for duty! I am Joe, the chief helmsman of this magical airship, and it is a pleasure to receive you both!"
The bearded man in front of me spoke fluent Mandarin Harbor dialect, straightened his back, and had bright, piercing eyes.
Behind him, on the open ground, two enormous vessels, firmly anchored to the ground by tow ropes and anchors, were clearly visible. Both were long, oval-shaped vessels, sky blue in color, with streamlined sails and sway barricades, and hulls towed by steel cables, covering an area of over 100 square meters.
The iron hammer, which is slanted into the ground, and the icon, which is like a hundred birds soaring above the waves, are engraved on the side of the cabin along with the huge shape and number, silently verifying its identity.
That's the emblem of the Lovech Magic Workshop, and this is one of its magical airships.
A dozen or so staff members, dressed in the same dark blue uniform as the bearded man, were busy moving back and forth between two airships of basically the same design, pushing transport carts to move equipment and supplies in, or debugging and checking certain equipment again.
After thanking Joe for his hospitality and bidding farewell to Julius, who seemed uneasy for some reason despite having other things to do, Hikari and I followed closely behind Joe and headed straight for the nearest airship boarding area.
"If my slow brain remembers correctly, this seems to be the young master's first time visiting our workshop to see the magical products we design and manufacture ourselves, right?"
Joe was an unexpectedly talkative person. Of course, it could also be because Hikari's curiosity about the airship was too obvious, so he deliberately slowed down and walked alongside us, laughing as he explained: "Not to brag, but in this world, the only workshop that can perfectly replicate the technology of previous generations and perfectly combine it with current magic technology is our Lovech workshop!"
"Let me tell you, all those workshops, big and small, that claim to be able to excavate and replicate ancient techniques, or even further optimize and innovate them, are either trained here or are pure frauds! Their crudely made products are just for show, completely impractical. If you actually asked them to demonstrate something, hey! I bet they'd be more anxious than the rotten shrimps and clams huddled on the stinking riverbank!"
That's quite typical of Mermaid Harbor residents; they like to belittle those who don't suit their tastes as useless remnants that only cause environmental damage.
It took a lot of effort for me to suppress the urge to laugh out loud.
"That sounds pretty impressive!"
Hikari indeed shifted her attention from the airship, which was still quite far away, to Joe's boasting. She leaned forward halfway across me and looked at me sideways: "Uncle Joe, could you please tell me about some of the remarkable works that the workshop has produced?"
Wow, amazing works! There are so many of them!
Joe seemed to enjoy the young girl's flattery, happily stroking his beard and straightening his back considerably: "As far as I know right now, there are short-range call sign transmission technology, magic residue detection and identification technology, underground exploration technology, long-distance navigation guidance technology... and countless others. These are all already in practical application."
"Of course, there are many more that are still in testing, as well as technologies that I don't know about or that I can't talk about... Anyway, most of the technologies that you think are very impressive right now were first successfully replicated by us!"
Even I was a little shocked to hear this.
I really didn't know that.
No matter how you look at it, this doesn't seem like a feat that could be accomplished by one person alone. The life and memories that were once taken for granted, when combined with the new reality they now know, feel like there's a huge rift between them, or perhaps the gears that would allow them to mesh together are missing, making it feel ethereal and unreal.
I instinctively asked, "Did my dad research all of those?"
"No, of course, there is also the effort left by the previous generation."
Joe made a sharp turn and pause: "But the key improvements to some of the technologies, and the decisions to bring those technologies out of the waste paper and put them on the agenda, were all made by our workshop owner—ah, please forgive my private address, if you don't like it, young master, I can make appropriate changes, for example, boss, or head of the department."
He had absolutely no need to be so respectful to me.
Even though I am indeed the youngest son of the current owner of this workshop, as an outsider who knows nothing about it and was unaware of its true nature until today, I naturally have no right to make arbitrary comments, let alone express strong opinions or suggestions regarding the private remarks of its employees.
Honestly, that's a rather childish approach. It's like a child with a ton of toys but who's completely lost interest; the only remaining pleasure they have is throwing those toys, which they don't want to throw away, at some unlucky kid who happens to be passing by when things don't go their way.
Joe continued the previous topic: "Back then, our workshop was just one of many unknown small workshops. If I remember correctly, all of this changed after the workshop owner returned from one of his adventures. Hmm, that was around your age now, young master?"
"What did he do?"
Joe shrugged. "I don't know. The workshop owner didn't mention it to us either. Maybe it's an adventure involving medieval ruins, like finding gold on a beach when the tide goes out." He quickly changed the subject. "Hey, you two! We've arrived. Time to board the ship."
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