[Eon's POV: ]
"Wowww…" As we arrived at the airship station and Zoe first saw the impressive building, which wasn't as tall as our auction house but was considerably larger in comparison, she was astounded.
We observed the enormous building, the crowd entering and leaving, and thought it was a fantastic site as we entered through the high walls.
Some distance away, we could see the giant floating ships, far greater than the normal sea boats, made with the finest knowledge of this world.
It worked on the same principles as any modern-day high-tech aircraft but in this world, there were magic and special energy sources like that giant Mana stone on the frontal side of the airships.
The engines were made with the magic engineering knowledge born from the combined efforts of humans and dwarves.
Although the ship's design wasn't particularly aerodynamic, when it was in flight, a magic shield would surround the entire craft, making it much more efficient than most commercial aircraft.
These airships were amazing, and there were different sizes, uses, and owners of these grand artifacts.
But still, anyone present in the vicinity couldn't help but focus on a particular airship present in the airship apron.
It was some of the grandest structures present in the place that was visible even from the entrance to the building where we were standing.
The ship was a magnificent sight to behold, its golden-brown wooden frame covered in brilliant carvings of enchantments. The magic crystals that had been implanted all around the frame caused the enchantments to glow, giving the impression that they had come to life.
Amidst the enchantments, we could see a giant Mana stone sitting atop the ship. The stone was pulsing with magical energy, and it was clear that it was the source of the ship's power.
The engine, the power thrusters at the end of the unique ship, and the main sail, which was the largest among the nine sails of the airships and had the insignia of the great academy imprinted on it in bright metallic gold, gave birth to that alluring entity. The Mana stone was the heart of the ship and provided the energy that kept it afloat.
'In simple words, this was majestic.'
"It's amazing every time I see it. And the engine of that particular one was designed by your amazing dad, Carla." Rein emphasized the word 'dad' while smirking at Carla and the little anger on her face was clear to us.
"Enough! Let's go in."
'She doesn't like studies much, even more when it comes to her enthusiastic father.' We all giggled at our big sister and walked into the station building.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtShe loved her dad, but the study part was different. And we knew just how earnestly she worked to avoid the study sessions, so it was natural that regularly seeing her dad in the academy wouldn't be so good.
It wasn't like she was going to attend any of his classes anyway, so she would be free for most of the time unless he became her class's homeroom teacher.
'It would be pretty fun if he did, though. Hehe.'
We entered the magnificent airship station of the imperial capital, which was on par with the best, busiest, and most exciting stations in my former world.
Welp, this place wasn't some of the best places of the great empire for nothing.
But still, this place was crowded, and we had to get the tickets for boarding the academy ship according to the academy rules so…
"Alright. Rein, Chry, and I will go to the left one and you three can finish it at the right one.
There isn't a big line, so we should be done in five or so minutes. So let's meet back here."
They nodded and walked away with a normal expression. Zoe was unique, but the two of my good cousins also knew how to hide their emotions quite well.
"Alright, let's go~." Rein raised my hand up in the sky and the three of us stood in the general line for the tickets.
Zoe and the two of them were in the special line for the nobles, but because of today's special circumstances, both lines were similarly crowded.
But things were thankfully not chaotic even with this many people and things going on.
The staff and managers of this place must be quite talented to maintain the place as well as any other day, despite all the diverse people and nobles.
'It's respectable.'
Things were going great, so we stayed in line, got my and Rein's tickets with our adventurer IDs, and got out of the line.
But then there was a small commotion…
"A-an official knight f-from Heliox?!"
The two of us were pretty common in our IDs. But even with his non-noble ID, Chry wasn't any less than a mid-ranking noble's child. Heliox was a big name, after all. And an official knight of the Heliox was a greater position than even the actual rank of baron or viscount.
"Here. H-have a safe voyage."
The people behind him were surprised why a person like him was in the general line, but the receptionist finished her process and gave Chry his ticket as quickly as all of us.
They definitely were talented.
"Alright. Now that this is done…"
I looked around to see if the four of them were done, but there were still two young nobles before them.
Two of the other people were talking with them, or were at least trying to talk with them.
The two at the front were hindering the receptionist, while the two at the back could get more time to 'talk' with them.
It was clear what they were doing and both Carla and the receptionist lady had veins popping up from their foreheads.
"They are blind if they don't see that obvious anger," Rein muttered as she also looked at the bunch.
"It's not that they are blind, but it's because of the pressure from the superiors. Look there." I pointed to the other side where a middle-aged man in noble clothing was standing, looking at the four boys and our siblings.
"Baron Ahole… right. I heard his business was in decline. He sure looks desperate, and that must be his son and probably his friends. Hmm. Assholes."
She had a disgusted look as she looked back at them and then moved away her gaze from the filthy bunch.
She knew if they continued for more, Carla would really cut their tongues off.
The receptionist lady could see it too and seeing unnecessary blood would just increase their workload, so she looked to the other side of the room and a guard nodded at her.
Another reason this place was working so well was because of the good, strong, and scary-looking ogre guards in the armor.
They were strong, somewhat intelligent creatures known as human-eating giants who looked scary and were enough to clear out anyone causing a problem like these noble brats.
"Ohhh! He's lifting them, Eon! Hahaha! Oh! Ohhh! He actually lifted five people with two hands! Lol~!"
Rein was laughing loudly, and it attracted a good lot of attention. But then they looked at the hilarious sight and laughed themselves.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmIt was a rare sight that spread a smile on many faces, but the five people being thrown out of the gates were miserable as neither did the older one gain anything, nor the young ones will get the chance to get on the airship this year.
It was a great tragedy for them, but they only had themselves to blame.
…
"Fucking bastards."
"There, there."
When they came back, my strong big sister had a little headache. Rein found her sulking face cute and hugged her.
They looked good together, and it would be alright. She would be fine after a while.
It was a good day overall, so even this hot-headed grown-up lady wouldn't actually let a small thing like this get to her.
So, with a new spirit, the six of us walked out of the building and towards the grand airship.
We stood at the edge of the clearing, and Carla, Alf, Chry, and Zoe's eyes transfixed the grand airship hovering above us. Their faces were in awe and wonder as they gazed up at the marvelous artifact born from long, continuous efforts of magic engineering.
This was amazing.
The golden glow of the ship was amazing. The carved enchantments on its body were as realistic as a living being. The Mana crystals that powered the enchantments were all of the highest quality and as we looked at the giant Mana rock, the main power source of the airship floating atop the airship, we couldn't help but marvel at just how much work, money, resources, and manpower would have needed to create just one of these academy ships.
'And the academy has a total of twelve such grand airships. It naturally lives up to its name as the greatest teaching institute in the world.'
And after the great academy of hope, the second greatest is the secret eastern martial arts sects. But those are far away in this story.
Anyway, we boarded the airship and, after some admiration, went into the rooms assigned to us that were written on our tickets.
It was mostly random, or it should have been random, but by some strange coincidence, Rein and my rooms were on the second floor while everyone else was on the first one.
I knew something was strange from that point, so I tried looking around the whole airship with my third eye. However, the huge airship not only had three floors for accommodations but there were also the basement engine room and upper control room floor.
The whole ship was also heavily magic based, so the creators probably used every coin of their budget and used spatial expansion to their heart's desire.
But the f-... the good people ended up making thousands of rooms on each floor and even added some extra stuff like pools, buffets, and entertainment rooms.
'Haaa… anyway, it was late anyway.'
By the time Rein and I found out things were weird, the airship had taken off, and not just that, but after a boosted start, the airship met up with other eight ships similar to ours in the high sky and the thought I had before leaving, one of the scenarios I was hoping doesn't come true, was unfolding before our eyes…