After that, we accepted the ship that Bahamut threw at us, and we decided to return to the empty island for a while.
　The reason for this is to confirm the safety of the sailors in the protected ship.
　We have to make sure that the crew of this battleship, the Goodruiser, is safe.

　Fortunately, Bahamut just threw a ship at us and did not seem to pursue us.
　He probably threw the ship at us as a threat, too.
　But if it was Bahamut that I know, he would have chased it without hesitation at a time like this, so it was a little disappointing.

　We dropped the Goodlooser off at the empty island and entered the ship.

Are you all alright?

　The inside of the ship was lit by a magical light, and although it was dim, we could see what was going on inside.
　The interior of the ship is littered with dishes and utensils, as if it were experiencing a major disaster.　
　Fortunately, the chairs and desks were fixed to the floor, so it seems that this did not cause any injuries.

''Who are you.........''

　He heard a familiar voice from the back of the ship.
　The sound of the voice was hard, and there was a strong sense of alertness in it.

'It's me, it's Lex, Mr. Byrne!

''........Lex, you say?!''

　Mr. Byrne appeared from the back of the ship, making a clattering sound of something hitting and kicking away.
　You may have hit it somewhere, but it's covered in scrapes and scratches all over.

'Oh. Isn't he really a boy!

　Mr. Byrne exclaims happily.

'It's been a while. Is everyone else safe?

Yeah, we're okay!　Well, I was wondering what happened when the ship suddenly lurched tremendously and now it suddenly became quiet and I was wondering what happened, if you saved us!

'Well, I suppose that's what it comes down to.

'Oh!　I knew it was a ministry.

　Mr. Byrne let out a loud, joyful cry and called out to the back of the ship.

'Rejoice, gentlemen!　Little ... Mr. Lex has rescued us!

...Lex?

Lex?

　Little by little the sailors begin to show their faces from the back of the ship.

'It's true, it's Lex,'

With Lex around... are we really gonna make it?

Of course!　It's that Lex!

Isn't that right?　Lex could take a shot at a demon like that, right?

　Wait, didn't you just perceive me as overrated or weird?
　But I didn't want to spoil the joy of the sailors, so I dared to swallow the words.

'Mr. Lex!'

　I turned at the sound of a new voice calling me from the back of the ship, and there was an unexpected person there.

'Miss Maylene?'

　And lo and behold, there was Miss Maylene from the Land of the Sea.

Why is Ms. Maylene there?

　Huh?　Mr. Byrne and the others are from another country.
　So why are they on board this ship, too?

Lord Lex, what is going on inside?

　And I can hear Mr. Calm's voice from outside.
　'I shouldn't, I have to explain the situation to them too.

'Let's go outside for now. I'm sure they'll need to treat the injured.

　You're not going to be able to do that.

"Area Heel!

　I use range recovery magic to treat the injured people gathered in one place.
　I'm glad that no one was seriously injured, so it was only a simple treatment.

''Well, to recover more than a dozen injured people in an instant, as expected of Lex-dono.

　The deputy chief says, "I'm sorry," and then the deputy chief says thanks.

''No, no, it's just a simple range recovery spell,''

No, I've never heard of such a recovery spell before, but...

　With sweat on his forehead, the XO says something like that to me.
　Doesn't the Church of the Inner Ocean have anyone who can use range recovery magic?
　Well, a priest who thinks about fattening his own pockets doesn't practice magic as far as he can, so maybe that's not a bad thing.

''If it's a big church in the royal capital, I'm sure there are people who can use range recovery magic, right?

Isn't it...?

　The deputy chief frowned and seemed to be half-believing, but there are many people who can normally use range recovery magic.

''.........The royal capital that Lex-dono is referring to is the royal capital of the Holy Church State if you mean?　It's true that in that country where there are saints, there must be monks who can use great magic like the one I just mentioned, but...

　I head down to Mr. Carm and Mr. Byrne, who are having a discussion, as the XO starts mumbling and thinking.

''Thank you so much for taking us in,''

Normally, we arrest intruders into our country for any reason, but if you are a friend of Lord Lex's, we will welcome you to join us.

Thank goodness for that. Small thanks to Lord Lex's guidance.　

Yeah, totally.

　Mr. Byrne usually calls me by my name, but at times like this, he calls me by my name.
　But why does he mention my name in the conversation?

'By the way, where is the Holy Sky Kingdom of Seraphium located?　We had no idea where we were flying, because we had fled into the ship in a hurry when that giant monster took the whole ship into the sky.

　Oh, it's true, if you're not hiding inside the ship, you don't know when you're going to be headlong into the ground.
　Furthermore, this place in the country is a more surprising location than Mr. Byrne thinks, you know?

'Mr. Byrne, this is a country on the plains, just beyond the seaside country to the south.

'Up in the Southland?　Does that mean it's a little north?

　I'm sure Mr. Byrne is thinking of the geography of the vicinity of the Inner Ocean in his brain, but it's not quite the same.
　It's not on a plane drawn on a map.

'No, it's not on top in the cartographic sense, it's literally on the sky.

Up in the sky?

　Mr. Byrne nodded his head to see what it meant.

'This is an island in the sky,' he says.

....

　Mr. Vern looks at me as if to say, "What the hell is this guy talking about?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. There's no way an island floating in the sky or anything like that.

　Well, I had a feeling they'd say this, based on my reaction to Liliella's time.
　Apparently, people in this era don't try to know much about things other than where they live.

　If you do a little research, you can get a lot of information about the land outside.
　It can't be helped with the ex-refugee Karmes, but isn't it bad that even Burn-san and the others, who have been in the family of knights for a long time, don't know much about the outside world?

Mr. Byrne, and I'd like to invite all the sailors to join us.

　In these situations, I'm quicker to show them the real thing than to explain it.
　I lead everyone on the Goodruiser to the edge of the empty island.

'Watch your step and look down. Oh, and don't get too close to the edge!

　Mr. Vern and his friends look down to see what the hell is going on.
　At first, what is this?　The expression on everyone's face changed from "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say" to "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say" to "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say" to "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say" to "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry" to "I'm sorry.

"Hey, boy!　What the hell is this?

　Yes, I think they are beginning to understand the situation they are in.

As I said before, this is an island in the sky called Kuujima. You have been brought to this island by Bahamut.

"The sky....the island...

　You're not going to be able to do that.

"After the boy's departure, we began to discuss the treatment of demons.

　Mr. Byrne and the others were shocked to learn that they had been brought up into the sky, but after some time, they gradually calmed down and began to talk about the events that had transpired.

The two sides continued to argue fiercely, with us capturing the witch because of the Kraken incident, and them insisting that the witch's custody was theirs because it happened in their own country. As a result, the two countries took turns to take custody of the mages and extract information from them.

　So you were accompanied by Meereen as an emissary of the seaside country?

But when we were carrying the demon in the boat, that huge monster suddenly attacked us and took us high into the sky. We hurriedly ran inside the ship to prevent ourselves from being dropped to the ground, but in the confusion of the moment, the demon escaped.

"Enchanted witch runs away?

　That doesn't make sense. It's a good idea to have a good idea of what to expect when you're in the marketplace.
　And then I remembered Bahamut, who kidnapped Burn and the others with his whole ship.
　It's possible that a witch is involved in Bahamut as well as the Kraken.

The rest, as you know, Lex, is history. Thank you so much for your help.

　When Vern salutes me, the sailors behind me salute in unison.

No, no, I was simply catching a flying ship, so I didn't do anything that important.

"..........

　Huh?　What's going on, guys?　Such a serious face.

"Mr. Lex.

Yes?

Ready?　Normally, flesh and blood can't catch a ship, can they?

'Yes, I know. So I used a combination of magic to catch it. Even I can't take it in the flesh.

""You don't understand!"

　Huh?　What's going on?　Why are they all screaming?

"Well, well, that's just what Mr. Lex says.

　Liliella is following up on a follow-up that I'm not sure about. That's not a follow-up, is it?

Mm, you're definitely Lex.

Huh?　Does that make sense to you guys?

But we're in a bind. How are we going to get down to the ground, an island in the sky?

　After regaining their composure, Mr. Byrne and the others began to discuss the future.

We should be thinking about bringing back this Goodruiser that the military paid so much money to build, but I can't even think of a way for us to get back before that.

　Well, it's a state-of-the-art battleship.
　You can't leave it on an empty island, it will cause a lot of damage.

"Lex-dono, isn't it possible for Lex, who can use flying magic, to bring this ship down to earth?

　That's when the deputy director looked at me and asked me that.

'Oh really?　I'm sure the boy who accepted this ship could do it!

　Well, get this ship on the ground.

'I suppose you could do that, but...'

Oh, really?　Let's get on with it.

'But there aren't any rivers around here that are deep and wide enough to operate this boat, are there?　It's a landlocked area.

"What?!

　Yeah, I didn't see any rivers that big in the time it took to get here with flight magic.
　So just bringing it down to the ground would eventually require a huge amount of manpower, budget and time to transport it.

　Also, we would need to negotiate with the surrounding nations.

''Oooh, I didn't expect there wasn't even a great river...''

　There's nothing you can do about the bad location, isn't there?

Well, let's talk about the ship later. If it's just Mr. Byrne and his friends, we'll take you back to the surface.

Yes, I suppose so. It is indeed a luxury to ask for a ride to the ship when your life was saved. I'm sorry, boy, but could you help us carry the 85 of us to the surface?

...85?

Hm?　Yes, not only my ship's crew, but also Lord Maylene and the other messengers who were going to come to our country from Vertino. ........you don't think that's possible?

　Mr. Byrne is in a hurry, but there's no problem with just carrying them.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for when you're in the marketplace.

　Hmmm.........it's too much work, I'll have to modify the ship to fly.
　Fortunately, there are plenty of materials available on this island to convert a ship into a flying magic item.

"Mr. Burn.

　I call out to Mr. Byrne.

'What boy?'

It would take a bit of time and effort to carry you all out one by one. Therefore, would you mind if I made a few adjustments to the boat so that we can get everyone together?

To the ship?　Well, it's useless as it is. If you're going to use it to get us down to the ground quickly, do what you want. We'll just have to leave it here anyway.

　All right, now that we've got Mr. Byrne's permission, it's time for Mr. Calm to go.

''Mr. Calm. I'd like to ask the Sky King's permission for a moment.

For Your Majesty?

　Mr. Carm asks me what's going on.

'Actually, sir...'

'Huh, you want a lot of these empty island stones?　You don't need to ask permission if it's just a rock, but if you say so, Lord Lex, I'll visit.

　Yes, I want the Gravium contained in the land of the Sky Island.
　However, gravium is an item that was once banned in the Sky Continent.
　So I'll have to get permission from the King of the Sky, the king of the country.

　A few hours later, permission was granted to use the Sky Island materials via Mr. Calm, who returned from the Sky Castle.

''He's willing to give you as many rocks as you want if you'll just get rid of the trouble as quickly as possible.

　It seems the reason it took so long to come back is because he was reporting on Mr. Byrne and the others.

''Normally, we would have to catch Mr. Byrne and the others, but after hearing that they were acquaintances of Lex-dono, he looked very uncomfortable and said to let them leave quickly.

　It's a hard to believe that he's the master of a country, but it's a good thing he doesn't have to go through the extra trouble.
　Now that we have our materials, let's finish modifying it in a hurry.

　It would be possible to modify it as a normal flying magic item, but I don't have enough materials on hand for this size of ship, so this time I'll convert it into an airship using Gravium.

　◆ ◆

　My name is Vern Dobag.
　I'm the Commander of the Grand National Order of Rosewood and the captain of the state-of-the-art battleship Goodruiser.
　And now I'm the man who practically lost my ship.
　And a prisoner of war who got away with it, too.

　The more I think about it, the harder it gets.
　But fortunately, the boy had saved the lives of his and his men.
　The empty island was a surprise, but thanks to the boy, we were able to return to earth.
　Instead, we'll lose our beloved ship.

　Oh, what kind of severe punishment awaits us, losing a state-of-the-art military battleship less than a month later.
　My stomach is starting to churn now.

　Moreover, this beloved ship is going to do something to help the boys bring us down to earth.
　He's probably going to make a big thangka-like thing out of the deck planks to carry several sailors together.
　It's pathetic that a ship made of the materials of the legendary Ancient Plant is ending up as a thangka.

　Then the next morning, after spending the night in the field, a boy came to us.

'We've finished improving the ship!

　It's either an improvement or a brilliant transition from a battleship to a thangka.

"Ta-da, this is the new Goodruiser!

　The boy pointed to my beloved ship, which was supposed to have been dismantled for deck parts.

"Boy, what's new about it?

　I think they built a thangka to carry us to the ground, didn't they?

Oops, you can't tell just by looking at it from the outside. Well, I'm going to put it in motion.

　With that, the boy climbed onto the boat and grabbed the tiller wheel.

'Move it?'

　I'm not sure I understand what the boy is trying to say.

'Then launch the new Goodruiser!

　At the moment the boy said that, my ship rose to the surface.
　We floated in the air.

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "

　The ship is floating.
　There's no mistaking it; I can see the bottom of the boat.

"What's this all about, boy!

　Isn't my ship being used as material for the thangka?

No, we couldn't be bothered to transport everyone at once, so we converted this ship into an airship to be able to carry everyone at once.

　I'm not sure what you're talking about.

'This should carry you all easily, right?

　I don't know, but I can say one thing for sure.
　It's....

""It's not easy!"

　Now, the crew of the Goodruiser and the guests from Vertino were united in their hearts.