4-47: The Story Until Departure (3/5)

4-47: The Story Until Departure (3/5)

When they finally got to the boarding gate, a female crew member was there waiting for them.

She had been waiting for a long time, so she ended up mouthing a few words of complaints before letting them aboard, but she managed to keep those words well within the range of decency.

Finally, Teacher Doneju. How long were you planning on making us wait!?

Inside was an unhappy middle-aged man.

He was the year head for the second years and the organizer of the teachers leading this field trip.

The year head of the third years that had fallen sick during the comprehensive exams has already returned to work, but he was assigned to manage the teachers left behind instead.

Sorry

Up until this very moment, evidently.

Frire was about to apologize, but Shinichi interjected and dropped that line without any shame, then ignored the two dumbfounded teachers and asked Frire.

So, teach, where is my seat? Lets not waste time idly talking and hurry up and depart already.

I-Idly talking!? Whose fault do you think it is were behind schedule!?

N-Nakamura, you come here! Im going to give you an earful until we get to our destination!

Okay~

Kyu kyu kyu.

Fearing that Shinichi would just keep provoking the year head, Frire hurriedly grabbed Shinichi by the arm and dragged him to the seats near the front cockpit. Shinichi didnt resist.

The year head tried to follow, but he was ordered to sit in the passenger cabin and had to reluctantly comply.

The structure inside the aircraft wasnt that much different from Earths aircraft.

There were three seats on the window sides and four seats along the middle, but the aisles and the seats were bigger than your regular plane.

That was being way too blunt.

What can you do? That guy was really hopeless.

Frire said in dismay, and Shinichi too similarly shook his head in dismay.

It was true that Shinichi was at fault for their delay.

After all, the terrorist incident wasnt the only reason behind the delay, and the person responsible for those reasons was Shinichi, so hed prepared himself to receive any blame no matter how misguided, but that year head looked like he was about to raise hell with both Frire and Shinichi, ironically making him the next person responsible for further delays.

Thats why that smile that had provoked the year head had already disappeared from Shinichis face.

Hes just mad because we made him wait. Theres no point in entertaining someone like that.

Not a hint of interest was left in his voice. In fact, he even started yawning.

Given their social standing and lineage, it would actually be the exact opposite, but there was no one here who cared about that.

Ladies and gentlemen, we deeply apologize for the delays. We will now be departing from the second internal airport of Kutoria. Please ensure that your seat belts are properly fastened

However, as if the confirm that, the takeoff announcer suddenly spoke, and the two were prompted to put on their seat belts.

As the view through the round windows moved downward, it became evident that the plane was rising vertically.

The lack of engine sound or even the slightest G-force astounded Shinichi.

This was a VTOL?

But what mostly astounded him was the plane being a VTOL aircraft.

With the overall length of the aircraft being 50m, the height of the toppled-egg-shaped body being over 30m, and the main wings that extended out of it seeming to be a mere afterthought with their smaller size of less than 5m, Shinichi had doubted the aircrafts capacity for flight, but what really astounded him was that fact.

Garestos aircraft are mostly VTOLs since they dont need a long runway Still, the points that astound you sure are as strange as ever.

You know that Im from an older time, right? Thats why I cant help but doubt a wingless aircrafts capacity for flight

I see. Garestos aircraft utilize anti-gravity equipment and propulsions powered by photon energy to achieve flight, so the principles they rely on are different from those of Earths aircraft.

Though it was also a passenger plane, the technologies behind it couldnt be more different.

It was only natural that the functions and shape theyd demand from their aircrafts would differ.

Okay, Ive more or less gotten the picture, but Whats with the small wings? Did you guys just add that as an afterthought or something?

Shinichi could understand what she was saying, but he couldnt understand why they had to force those small wings into the design.

They were supposed to be a backup to allow the ship to glide in case of an emergency, but

Its safer for everyone to just use an exoskeleton to land?

Yeah, so at most, theyre there to prevent the plane from falling in a densely populated area. Its also compulsory to have more emergency exoskeletons than the number of seats.

The exoskeletons could be stored in the fosters, so storing more exoskeletons in this giant plane than there were seats wasnt much of a challenge.

The emergency exoskeletons were also cheaper than Garesto Academys mass produced exoskeletons because they only needed the bare minimum flight capability and protection.

It also wasnt a problem to provide that many exoskeletons financially-speaking.

But of course thats only true for passenger planes. Wings are still essential for aircraft and exoskeletons expected to perform more intense movements. Keeping your balance and making sharp turns without them is really hard. Thats why targeting the wings is one of the sure-win strategies in exoskeleton combat. But of course, both sides will be aiming for each others wing while protecting their own.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now in level flight. You may now unfasten your seat belts and relax. Enjoy the flight.

As Shinichi listened to Frires explanations, before he knew it, the view outside the window was already moving horizontally.

Kutoria was now but a small dot in the distance and the view outside was now dominated by either the blues of the seas of the whites of the clouds.

Shinichi and Frire unfastened the seat belts theyd put on for safetys sake and returned to their conversation.

So, tell me. Why am I sitting in the aircraft meant for the higher classes, and not to mention, in the VIP seat?