A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 165 Is All Over?

After finishing his last class at the Valois Higher Normal School, Roscha's affairs in the Holy Kingdom came to an end, and he and Monsieur Pierre headed to the Kingdom of Bain, feeling relaxed.

Mr. Pierre had ordered the airship tickets for 10 a.m., which wouldn't be enough to get there immediately after crossing most of the city. Fortunately, Kano lent out the carriage from the Tower of Stars (with a real coachman, not an alchemical doll driver). Upon seeing the markings on the carriage, other carriages readily gave way, making Rorschach's journey out of the city unimpeded.

"Mr. Rorschach, over here!" Mr. Pierre waved, and they met under the "Sky Tree".

At this moment, Luo Xia, wearing a trench coat, leaning on a cane in one hand and pulling a suitcase in the other, attracted the attention of many travelers.

"A suitcase with wheels and a handle?" Mr. Pierre exclaimed in surprise. "Brilliant! That would save so much effort!" He then looked at the other travelers in the hall. "We could apply for a patent; this kind of suitcase would definitely make us a fortune."

In Rorschach's previous life, the rolling suitcase was invented after humans had already gone into space. People were probably used to carrying bags and suitcases and didn't think of putting wheels on it to drag around.

"Unfortunately, it's an Alchemy Department product." Rorschach only remembered he needed new storage space before setting off. However, solidifying storage bags with magic arrays was a very laborious process, and it was too late to order one from the Alchemy Department or Master Fulcanelli. But a suitcase was easy to make. Rorschach drew a diagram, and the guys in the Alchemy Department tinkered with it overnight.

The guys didn't take a penny, but they offered to authorize their subsidiary trading company to produce them, which of course would give Rorschach a cut. So Mr. Pierre was a step behind, but anyone who has ever done a long-distance commute knows that a suitcase is a good thing, so it's normal that Newsingen didn't get his turn.

All the space in Rorschach's storage ring was used to store the most important thing—the complete blueprints for the transmutation dust collector!

"Let's go." Rorschach walked towards the small elevator, but was stopped: "Excuse me, Mr. Rorschach, I bought a ticket for economy class, so I need to take the main elevator."

Monsieur Pierre never seems to have the ability to make people feel comfortable; for example, despite being Valois's largest wine merchant, he refused to buy a first-class seat, and in the dead of winter, he would hold a guest's hand and stand outside in the cold wind. But his marketing skills are still strong; now you can see people drinking purple beverages all over Valois.

There was no other way, so Rorschach revealed his identity as a mage at the front desk. As soon as he showed his purple badge, the receptionist gave him a professional smile and upgraded him to a cabin for free. Then, Rorschach paid to upgrade Mr. Pierre to a cabin as well.

"Thank you for the expense! Oh, oh, the scenery here is wonderful!" Newsingen, true to his small-time businessman habits, tried to save money wherever possible, and this was his first time sitting in the high-class cabin of an airship: "It's like a restaurant in the sky!"

"It's more private here, so we can discuss the itinerary and plans for Byrne. I'm sorry I've been too busy to know the details of your negotiations with Mr. Hassai."

"That makes sense." Pierre quickly took out the documents from his briefcase and explained them to Rorschach. Now they sat facing each other on either side of a table covered with a white cloth, and waiters served them sparkling water in stemmed glasses—they seemed very confident in the airship's stability.

The airship flew among the clouds. It seemed that Bain bordered the Holy Kingdom to the south, but the distance between the east and west sides was no shorter than the journey from the royal capital to the imperial capital.

"That's the situation." The general manager, his throat dry from reporting to the major shareholders and key partners, quickly picked up his water glass and drank some water.

Suddenly, the airship shook violently. Rorschach reacted quickly, unleashing a burst of cold air. The overturned wine glass rolled off the table along with the frozen soda, shattering into pieces on the floor. He shook the ice shards off the documents and handed them back to Pierre, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart.

Suddenly, a feeling of weightlessness came over me; the entire vehicle was plummeting downwards at high speed!

Pierre's drink spilled all over his pants, which was good; at least he wouldn't be able to tell he'd wet himself in fear. "Is this plane going to crash? Oh no, no, Rorschach, your magic! Can magic save us?!"

Screams rose and fell, accompanied by the constant crackling of shattering glass. The entire airship shook violently, and clouds swept past the windows, obscuring the mountains and forests below. A distorted voice blared from the brass-pipe loudspeaker at the top: "His Excellency the Mage and Priest among the passengers, please come to the captain's cabin immediately!" The call was repeated over and over.

Rorschach instructed Pierre not to panic and to protect the documents and luggage. He then put on a purple robe and walked out of the box.

In the corridor, a simply dressed priest was with a flight attendant. The flight attendant's eyes lit up when she saw Rorschach: "You're a mid-level mage? Come with me!"

"Let's get on the airbags; there must be something wrong there." The flight attendant asked the priest to reassure the passengers, and then led Rorschach onto the airship's airbag compartment.

Upon entering, Rorschach was greeted by an astonishing sight: the accompanying mage was spreading his arms, seemingly embracing a massive fireball from afar. Of course, he wasn't casting a [Fireball] spell; rather, the central hydrogen gas chamber number three had exploded, and he was barely managing to contain the exploding fireball. Meanwhile, the dwarves were using water pumps, but their efforts against the enormous fireball were as futile as a child trying to shoot water at the sun with a water gun.

Rorschach quickly used the [Freezing Ray] to continuously strip away the energy of the explosion. The fireball gradually shrank and dimmed until it extinguished, leaving behind black gasbag fragments and a skeleton. Alchemy potion leaked from the broken pipes.

However, neither the mage nor the dwarf could catch their breath, for they had only prevented an explosion; the descent had not stopped. Rorschach noticed that only one airbag remained intact; the others had all triggered their protective arrays, leaving only wreckage.

The inner and outer walls of the airbags shimmered with light, runes illuminating the scene. The accompanying mage, seeing Rorschach in his purple robes, cried out, "My lord, four of our airbags are damaged! The airship's [Hovering] spell is currently slowing our descent, but we're running low on the aether from the alchemical potion!"

Of the five lightweight phlogiston storage sacs, four exploded for unknown reasons. The protective arrays on three of them functioned, while the other one failed. The mage managed to contain the explosive force, but this also consumed too much ether, making it impossible to replenish the alchemical potions for the emergency system.

Rorschach placed his hand on the potion jar, and new ether was injected. The runes and magical circuits covering the air sacs brightened a little more, but it still couldn't reverse the negative acceleration of the fall.

"Go get my luggage!"

The flight attendant took Rorschach's suitcase, opened it, and took out a jar of glowing blue crystals. "It was originally intended as a sample, but never mind," he said, pouring out all the crystals, which dissolved completely upon contact with the alchemical potion. The light in the circuit flared up again, this time centered on the jar, with all the newly circulated areas of the potion turning into a blue glow.

As the transformation was complete, the airship's downward acceleration decreased slightly. Rorschach wasn't a human stopwatch, but the reduction in weightlessness was a tangible experience.

However, new bad news arrived. The flight attendant relayed the captain's message: "The rudder is locked. We have made contact with the control tower in Bainmunnik. If we do not change course, we will crash in the capital of the kingdom!" It seemed to be a deliberate accident, and the purpose was obvious.

"I'll find a way to stop the power plant!" Seeing that the airbag's condition had stabilized, the dwarf hurried to the power room.

Wait, today isn't September 11th, is it? Rorschach has noticed that every time he goes out, something bad happens, especially when he goes on a long trip. If fortune tellers in this world also publish something like an almanac, then every page for Rorschach should say "Avoid traveling."

(End of this chapter)