Volume 4 Chapter 7 Human Life
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Duke heard that Rosa was missing. By early morning, he sent the Town Guards to storm the fabric shop. He used all of his own Mages to question the workers and the Amazoness who had come to my place.
As a result, they found out that the guilty people had traveled overland toward the Baron Wilson territory. A team was formed right away to follow them. Later, they learned that Rosa had entered the Empire of Charle through the Baron Wilson territory and the Nitrol region.
Three days after I arrived in Kure, I got that report. I was in the Naval Academy shipbuilding Dean’s office. Professor Alan and Duke’s messenger brought it.
”How could you be with her and not know she was a half-Dwarf?” Professor Alan said sharply.
Haaaaah.
What is this Professor Alan’s problem? He had been with Rosa much longer than me. He should have noticed. It is just annoying because he is handsome.
This guy, who Rosa said was the professor’s boss, is the Dean. The President was the one who made me a guest professor.
”Alan is just a person from the administrative department.”
The President told me that when I got my job as a guest professor. In fact, his knowledge of ships is small. He only knows about medium-sized sailboats. The navy itself is new, so maybe that cannot be helped. But it seems he climbed the ladder through politics, not through knowledge or skill in shipbuilding.
Well, I guess his ability to take Rosa from the Academy as a professor makes him more of an manager than a technician. Still, he is handsome, so I cannot like him.
”So, when will the new ship be finished?” Professor Alan asked in his short, business-like tone.
The President and this guy both told me to focus on finishing the new ship. But with Rosa gone, I ended up being the one in charge.
”We are still checking the blueprints,” I said, keeping my voice neutral and tired.
I have been gathering the leaders of each department and asking about daily work. But a fifty-meter ship meant for the open ocean is not easy to handle. Rosa’s genius was far beyond my thinking.
The ship has wide water intakes with filters just below the front of the ship. Inside, they split into three paths. The middle one goes through the body to the rear drain. The other two push water out from crescent-shaped nozzles on the left and right sides. At the back, the drain from the intake is round, with jet holes around it.
I thought the center tube, called the Center Nozzle, was the main power. But in truth, that part is barely used. The jet holes around the rear drain are the main drivers. It feels like a Dyson fan.
The center nozzle is used for backing up and stopping. The left and right nozzles at the front are usually used as rudders. Of course, there are also blade-type rudders. Only when going full speed can everything be used for power.
It took me two days of staring at the blueprints to understand this system.
At first, I had designed a simple one. It used a normal ship body with one set of Boiler, Turbine, and Alternator, plus four round nozzles. Compared to that, the design Rosa made this time uses three sets of Boilers, Turbines, and Alternators. They control five Craft Engines (two in the front, one in the middle, and two in the back—using two engines for the rear jet holes). The circuits and pipes were very, very complex.
Also, it was made for long voyages. It had no wasted space for coal storage, fresh water pools, or food storage. It also had three masts to save coal.
No matter how much of a genius Rosa is, she could not have made these detailed blueprints alone. The answer to that became clear soon after the meeting.
One of them was the loli Elf Mage, Tura.
”I handled the power systems, except for the Craft Engines, and it was super hard, you know!” Tura said with bubbly, cute energy.
There was also the Dwarf Poi Haerthas. He was in charge of welding the body. He used to make carriages, so he could think about the stress on carriages and applied that to this ship.
”I just took what I knew from makin’ carriages and used it on the body, plain and simple,” Poi Haerthas said in his steady, rustic voice.
The mast and rudder parts were handled by the Admiral and guest professor, Birger Dons. He had come from the Royal Capital.
”The strength of the masts and the rudder system are under my direct watch,” Birger Dons said with formal military care.
The bad thing for me was that everything else was handled by Rosa. She did the overall management and watched over the building site. There is too much work.
Above all, her family owns a big fishing business. On top of that, they used to be pirates. So she was used to the sea and ships since she was a child. She had a lot of knowledge about sailing.
In contrast, I am a complete beginner. And there was one more ship in the design stage.
This was a supply ship for long trips. It was a big vessel, eighty meters long. The three people I mentioned were actually the ones holding their heads over that one.
”There is no way we will make the test voyage in April,” I said to myself.
My words, which came out during the meeting, reached the ears of the unpleasant Dean.
”Guest Professor Larry, I would like a word,” Professor Alan called out, his voice cold and business-like.
The progress meeting, which I was running without really knowing what I was doing, finally ended. My head was feeling fuzzy from the aftereffects. Then Professor Alan called me directly. Being called for a one-on-one by my boss reminded me of my time as a office worker in my past life.
”How is everyone doing?” Professor Alan asked.
”They are all giving their best,” I replied like a robot.
”Then, we must match that effort, must we not?”
My words, which were meant to care for my workers, were turned against me. Though it was a bit late, I was strictly told to meet the deadline, even if it meant pushing myself.
I myself think that maybe I should not just work as that handsome guy tells me. But I have a pure wish to see the future of the technology growing from the blueprints I wrote. And the efforts of everyone else. Also, I have a small hope that if I give my all to this, I might be able to get away from here. I could escape the strange situation of marrying into the royal family. Still, it is certain that Rosa’s ability was so amazing that I was lost.
”Good work,” a young Soldier said, giving a clean salute.
When I went to the building site, a young Soldier saluted me. Even though he is young, he is two years older than Larry’s current body. So I properly returned the salute.
The new ship is being built inside a hole dug under a dome shaped like a half-circle. It is a dry dock. When it is done, they will remove the wall to the sea and let the water flow in. Then the ship can float and sail.
Now, the turbines and other parts have been brought in and installed. They are working on the top living areas and the bridge. About thirty to forty people will be on board, so they need a kitchen and a toilet. For the toilet, Major Birger said it would be fine to just let them go on the deck. But Rosa forced them to include one for the women. Half of the crew are female Mages. They also operate the fixed-wing drone (a flying machine without a pilot) and magic tools.
What is slowing down the work is the welding. Most of it is done by melting and joining metal with Fireballs. The rest is with screws. There are no bolts and nuts, so it cannot be helped. But the biggest problem is fixing the pipes. A ship has pipes running through it like blood vessels.
”Who connected the toilet flushing pipe to the voice pipe?” the Dwarf foreman shouted, his voice rough and angry. “Do not bend the pipe so hard! It will get clogged!”
Most of the pipes are made of copper or brass. They cannot be attached directly to the iron walls or ceilings. So they are fixed with iron guards. But during that process, many mistakes happen. Wrong pipes get connected, they get crushed, or holes are punched in them. The Dwarf foreman’s roar flies through the air, including as a warning.
”The lower part was fine, though,” the foreman said, shaking his head.
Such words often come up in talks with the foremen on site. It is easier to make a big iron ship than a wooden one. But as soon as they started detailed work, the number of failures grew.
If they made the frame of the living areas out of iron and used wood for the walls and ceilings, it would probably be easier. But if I said that now and changed the blueprints, it would take months to finish.
Even the genius Rosa apparently did not notice this.
I went around the site to check the progress. But overall, it was still behind. The masts cannot be raised until the living areas and the bridge are done. If the masts are raised, the sails and ropes will have to be strung up like living things.
Next, I went to the building site of the supply ship. Wooden blocks to hold the ship in place were lined up in the hole. The keel (the bottom beam of the ship) had come from Duke’s estate. So work had finally started.
With things like that, one week after I had the blueprints of the first new ship in my head and could see the overall progress, the unpleasant people arrived.
”It has been a while, has it not,” the Fourth Sage said with an slow, old rhythm. “You look well,” Helbert added, his voice short and serious.
It was the Fourth Sage. Helbert’s middle-aged man was with him too.
”What brings you here, all the way to Kure, even though you are so busy?” I asked, keeping my voice neutral.
I heard that guests had arrived. I went to the shipyard’s meeting room. These two were relaxing on the sofa.
”Oh my, oh my. We have been working hard on the farming reform of your son’s country. I would like at least a word of thanks,” the Fourth Sage chuckled.
What a way to put it. The farming reform of the Fee Grand Principality was just an excuse. They were just trying to check the country’s strength.
”Oh, that is right. Sorry. Thank you for your hard work. How was the Fee Grand Principality?”
I said something I did not mean. I sat down in front of the two and leaned forward. The man from the Intelligence Bureau, who was settling his fat body into the sofa next to the thin Fourth Sage, lifted himself up.
”Before that, there is something I must tell you,” Helbert said, his face serious.
Why is he making such a serious face? I wanted to laugh. But Lieutenant Colonel Helbert’s expression was serious.
”An order to kill Professor Rosa has been given,” Helbert said.
It was not that I had not feared it. But the feeling that it was impossible was strong.
”We got a report that a fight happened between the Amazoness and the Imperial Army in the city of Dijon. That is a military base of the Empire of Charle near the Western Front. It was about a week ago. The news reached us five days ago. But we have decided that it is linked to Professor Rosa’s disappearance,” Helbert continued, keeping his voice stiff and formal.
Yes, the timing fits. And if the Amazoness had a fight with the Empire of Charle, it makes sense even if the cause is Rosa. Just as there is a Turkic intelligence agency in Duke’s capital city, it is natural that there is a Charle intelligence agency too. It would not be strange if they had caught information about the black ship.
”The Intelligence Bureau believes that a battle over Professor Rosa has been happening between the Amazoness and the Empire of Charle,” Helbert finished.
And since a fight happened, it is hard for the Amazoness to travel overland back to their kingdom of Nymphai. So they will board a ship somewhere. The most likely place is the Grimaldi Principality. That is one of the states between the Empire of Charle and the Ferere Pope territory. From there, they go to Corsica Island. Then, if they go from there on a Barbary pirate ship to Suez, their ship should be there, he said. I looked at the map that Lieutenant Colonel Helbert took out. The Grimaldi Principality is like Monaco or Nice on Earth. Corsica Island is Corsica.
The Barbaria pirates work from the northern parts of the Southern Continent. They have ties to the Turkic Empire. So they are basically privateers—pirates approved by the state.
”We have already sent a negotiation team and a kill squad to Suez. As soon as the ships are done, you will take the Amazoness leader, Nikaure Saba, and head for Suez.”
Nikaure Saba is eighth in line for the throne of the Nymphai Kingdom. On top of that, we have the twelve Amazoness captured at Duke’s estate. It seems they want to trade hostages. Normally, the chance of that working is small. But based on past events with the Amazoness, it is not completely impossible.
”Then, if they agree to the trade, I just need to bring Rosa back without killing her, correct?” I asked, his voice flat and business-like.
”No. She must be killed.” The Fourth Sage replied, his tone cold and distant.
The state has decided that Rosa’s ideas are too dangerous. It is true, as a Reincarnated Person, I even find her ideas surprising. But they only work because of Schweilitz’s wide Core Basics technology. I do not think she could build weapons that could threaten a country on her own.
”If Professor Rosa could have children, there might have been a chance to save her.”
A plan to make her loyal to the state through motherly instinct, I suppose. Honestly, if I did not have family, I would have left this country too. Come to think of it, the Fourth Sage has no children.
”Now, Larry, there is something I need you to do.”
”Aside from building ships?” I asked.
”I have already brought people for that. I need you to make dynamite.”
Dynamite. The Fourth Sage has made a crazy request. Does he think I have concentrated sulfuric acid and nitric acid ready? And glycerol—do not tell me.
”The sulfuric acid and nitric acid were bought from Turku using equal weight in gold. The glycerol was found in your son’s country.”
The Fourth Sage had been watching, then. In the town of Voortstadt, which specializes in whale processing in the Fee Grand Principality, they were making moisturizer—the raw material for lotion—as a byproduct of making soap from whale oil. If my memory serves me right, that is certainly glycerol.
He says he has also prepared diatomaceous earth (a powder made from tiny sea creatures). But the dynamite Nobel sold rarely used it. It seems the Fourth Sage’s knowledge, even though he was a Professor in my past life, is limited to biographies. It does not reach an engineer like me. Instead of diatomaceous earth, I tell them to prepare cotton from a fabric shop in Duke’s capital city. They should clean it with alkali to remove the oil.
The only thing left is ice. At this time of year, there should still be snow near the salt mining places in Salzheim. That is at the end of the road passing through my hometown of Strock Village. I felt briefly happy at the thought of possibly going home, even for a moment.
”No matter. We have sent the destroyers Mutsuki and Kisaragi to pull ice blocks from the Saihites Sea.”
So that is why those two ships had been gone from Kure, saying they were on some mission. That is what it was all about. Sadly, my excitement about going home has vanished.
”Load the dynamite onto the fixed-wing drone and use it for a suicide attack on the enemy fleet. Make it right away.”
I did not need the middle-aged Helbert to tell me about suicide attacks. The moment I heard “dynamite,” I knew what they were planning. In this age, wooden ships will not sink unless you destroy them below the waterline. No matter how much you hit above it, the body will not take in water. In other words, they will not sink.
Because the structure of a wooden ship is surprisingly simple, if it does not sink and the keel (the main bottom beam) remains, they can return to port with the crew. They can fix it and sail again. But if you sink them, you do not just lose the ship. You lose the crew, who must be found from scratch. That hurts the enemy’s fighting power for a long time.
Certainly, if you use a fixed-wing drone to set off dynamite at a wooden ship’s waterline, you can sink it easily. Also, it is like a cruise missile. You can guide it by sight until the very last second.
They say there will be other weapons: the ramming bow that Rosa last proposed, attached to the front of the ship to smash the bodies of other ships. Or ways like firing harpoons—like a whaling boat—to drag and turn over ships.
The navy bosses seem to have decided that this level of weapons is the bare minimum needed to sail the Inland Sea (what we would call the Mediterranean). There, not only warships of many nations but also pirates run wild. And all this without the support of any country.
But since none of this has been tested in real battle, these weapons may be nothing more than a theory. On top of that, they told me to set sail for Suez as soon as it is done. No trial voyages, because there is no time.
Between how they treated Rosa and this, what do these people think a human life is worth?
—
Summary:
Larry navigates the high-stress environment of the Naval Academy’s shipbuilding site while grappling with the absence of his genius colleague, Rosa. His technical management of the new ships is interrupted by a disturbing visit from the Fourth Sage and Lieutenant Colonel Helbert. The intelligence officers reveal a lethal plot against Rosa and a broader conflict between the Empire and the Amazoness involving her capture.
—
Trivia:
- The ship design uses a complex system of five Craft Engines and three sets of boilers/turbines to achieve high-performance navigation.
- Larry has been intentionally throwing himself into intense labor to avoid social entanglements, specifically royal marriage proposals.
- The ship features a unique dry dock construction method where the boundary to the sea is removed upon completion.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Rosa – A 14-year-old, square-built Sabaski shipyard professor of noble half-Dwarf descent, this cynical genius has immense mana and psychopathic tendencies. A drone pilot and wealthy Kure-region associate, she designed propulsion using Bohemian plate glass. After profiting from the protagonist’s blueprints, she was abducted, deemed dangerous by state management, and targeted for assassination.
• Wilson – A Baron whose territory, the birthplace of Romy, hosted a prior military tribunal. His primary wife and younger sister were identified by Town Guards during the theater incident, and his wife is notably associated with the Amazoness factions.
• Alan – A handsome, pragmatic Naval Academy professor and Dean of Shipbuilding who is involved in the protagonist’s current situation and technological developments. A superior to Rosa and Tura, he possesses telepathy and mana-draining abilities. While detached from daily concerns, he is a master of political maneuvering. Well-connected and wary of Baron Wilson, he assigns the protagonist as a visiting professor.
• Dean – A professor whose office serves as a central hub for academic administration.
• Al – Alberto (Al), a massive red‑haired man recently wed to Mary, lives near the Dish Basin. He’s a companion of Hans, helping intimidate and rally elders as a villager and leader.
• Ho – Ho, a comrade of the protagonist. A member of the military unit that defended Garao Village and was slaughtered alongside Marx-san.
• Tura – A 19-year-old Elf Mage with a child’s appearance, this emotional Military Academy professor and researcher from a Kure mining family designs advanced power, boiler, and flight technology. Serving under Alan alongside Rosa, she acts as Earnest’s field assistant with Katarina to operate drones. Despite her heavy past sacrifices and being over twenty, she engineers ships and was escorted to safety.
• Poi – A Dwarf welder and former carriage maker who applied his knowledge of mechanical stress to ship construction.
• Birger – A middle-aged, red-haired Royal Capital native with a pro wrestler’s physique, this rugged Admiral and Celt Royal Army Major serves as a Naval Academy guest professor overseeing explosive testing. A naval tactics expert, he is a trusted advisor who led the black ship fleet during the Grand Principality’s founding and deeply knows the Norden Sea.
• Larry – Sammy I (Larry-sama) is a 16-year-old, dark-haired Grand Duke, mage, and reincarnated engineering professor. Facing a death penalty and unbathed from solitary, he uses mana control, telepathy, and past-life tech to design ships and develop dynamite. He maintains heavy influence through his four wives, kids, and inventions while struggling with boundaries in a morally broken world.
• Major – A commanding military officer with a sadistic inclination toward interrogation. She orchestrates the sessions and utilizes Telepathy to coordinate with her subordinates.
• Fourth Sage – The Fourth Sage of Schweilitz is a wise, manipulative elderly authority figure and mysterious entity with deep insight. Serving as a political, magical, and naval advisor, they oversee the protagonist’s life and development. They manage household affairs and issue cold, lethal bureaucratic orders, while controlling Larry’s housing and insisting on his crucial role in the New Continent mission.
• Helbert – Lt. Col. Helbert Ougen‑Sigmund is a short, stout, middle-aged Schweinitz strategist, Chief of Staff, and Royal Army politician. This Intelligence Bureau associate delivers critical briefings, manipulates Larland’s politics, and reports shipyard project issues. A stern father to Robert and protective advisor to the protagonist, he coordinates with Marshal Yan and seeks reinforcements from Sergei.
• Fourth – An enigmatic and cunning figure also known as the Fourth Sage. This mysterious entity actively seeks advice from Larry while simultaneously insisting on Larry’s crucial participation in the upcoming New Continent mission.
• Sage – An elderly instructor and mentor who acts as a schemer behind the scenes. He is responsible for recommending Larry for various academic and safety-related positions.
• Principal – The mother of Line and the administrative head of the institution. She exercises authoritative control over research assignments and seeks to trade Larry for Ilse Klein due to interpersonal conflicts in her laboratories. The mother of Sabrina and Rhein who intervenes during Rhein’s violent corridor assault to break up the confrontation.
• Fee – Larry Fee Getys is a 15-year-old reincarnated youth and titular Duke. Pragmatic and telepathic, this sharp-eyed young man leads the Getys household and rules Strock Village alongside Hans, Iffens, Teressa, and their maid Nico. While building a new nation, he enjoys prime whale meat and maintains crucial connections to Adolf and various underground networks.
• Nikaure – A beautiful, pale Amazoness leader and tribe ambassador with sharp, restless eyes from countless battlefields. She wears a blue gemstone on a thin golden chain against her forehead as a mark of her noble, royal rank. On behalf of her people, she is currently seeking to purchase a Black Ship.
• Nika – A fourteen-year-old personal maid to Teressa. Freckled, has wavy bronze hair, flat chest, and prone to mocking Larry. Lady’s maid and cousin to Terese. Educated free person with a prickly personality. Terese’s lady’s maid and cousin. Known for being sharp-tongued toward Larry.
• Saba – A surname belonging to Nikaure.
• Schweilitz – The kingdom to which the protagonist is forced to return boasts towering academy spires and a full military arsenal—Royal Army troops and elite officers. Its ruler holds a captive the protagonist fears will be executed.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply