It took about two weeks for Corvin to finalize the design of the first 'rocket'.
The weapon was as simple as a big can filled with explosives with a tank on it and wings on the side. The can itself was filled with black powder with wings at the side for stability. The tank inside the rocket was to be filled with hydrogen and oxygen made by electrolysing water.
Making about five of them took two days, even with the help of Clair and Corvin's magic and hard work.
"Let's see if these trashcans will be able to do anything meaningful...", said Corvin as he loaded the fifth one on the carriage carefully using his magic.
"Are we going to be okay, Clair? He was the one who singlehandedly did everything in the factory with his magic. I know we have some stockpile for emergencies, but will they really hold up until he comes back to work on production again?", asked Noah, as he was waiting for Corvin to bring his luggage to the carriage.
"...We should look into getting workers.", replied Clair.
"But, I don't want some noble to bribe a worker and steal our ideas before we do it."
"Should we use orphans?", said Clair nonchalantly.
Noah froze at what Clair said. After a second, he slowly took a couple of steps away from her. Clair's face was full of panic as she talked in a hurry.
"I-It was a joke! Don't go away!"
Noah giggled and said.
"I'm not running away, don't worry... I will talk to my dad about the worker problem."
As they were chatting, Corvin came back with his luggage and loaded it on the carriage.
"HEEY! WAAIIT!!"
Shouting from afar, Amy was running towards the factory with a basket in her hands. Running up to Corvin, she handed him the basket and tried to talk out of breath.
"I'm sorry, hah~, I was trying to pack, hah~, these. That's why I, hah~, was late..."
Corvin took the basket and talked.
"Ah, you didn't need to, thank you. What is inside the basket?"
"Some supplements and a pie I made. Sorry, the pie is leftover from a picnic with my friends from tomorrow, but it should be still edible."
"No, it's okay. It is still tasty, I bet. But, I didn't know you had picnic with friends."
"Sometimes the girls call me as well, but I am not close to any one of them like you three. I was just feeling left out because I couldn't help you guys...", said Amy with a voice that got lower and lower.
As she was talking, Corvin noticed the necklace she was wearing with her white dress. It was the necklace he gave her, and as he was feeling happy that she liked it, he also realized where he was looking at. So, before being noticed, he tried to avert attention by patting her head.
"Sorry about that. We are just too busy. But, I promise, you will be helping us a lot in the future.", he said while trying to hide his face.
"I am just gonna leave..."
"You know what? Me too..."
Noah and Clair, not wanting to stay in the awkward atmosphere decided to just leave them alone.
Corvin, who realized what he did almost unconsciously, took his hand back suddenly and apologised.
"I-I'm sorry. I just did that without realising."
"I-I see..."
"I-It's because I usually do this to Luna when I visit home... that... I-"
"It's okay. I don't mind...", said Amy.
Corvin stopped talking and got on the carriage to get away from the awkward air even a little bit.
'What am I doing? Even though I told myself to keep her away until I figured out my messy mind. But I just do it without realising, like a reflex... It just feels natural, as if I am used to it...'
While he was in his thoughts, one of the horses swinged it's tail and he came back to himself. Turning to Amy, who had turned her face down to hide her blush, he spoke.
"Th-Then, goodbye..."
"Goodbye... Make sure to return in one piece, okay?"
"Yeah... Don't worry..."
Even though the carriage was carrying a request from the Emperor and could be granted protection and other amenities by the postal service of the Empire, his carriage was as bland as it could be. Because, ever since a newspaper in the capitol, that appeared after the recent invention of the printing press, became popular with the people, there were many groups that protested against the ongoing war of the Empire.
Recently, even a rifle delivery from the factory was interrupted by protesters because the carriage carried the emblem of the Emperor. That's why Corvin, who was carrying dangerous weapons, chose to look as unimportant as possible.
He ordered the horses to move. From behind he felt Amy's gaze, who was looking at his back with a lonely face as her left hand unconsciously held her heart. Watching the two, Noah could only say one thing.
"She looks like a wife sending her husband to war."
"Yeah, she really does."
He was right about the war part, and he didn't want to remind himself what kind of nightmarish place his friend was going to, so he buried that thought deep in his mind.
*****
Four days later, Corvin finally reached the old border of the Septen Kingdom and the Altus Empire. There, a group of vector mages from the army was sent to bring him to Anfre as fast as possible. The mages took turns and basically flew towards the battlefield. It took only about four hours, during which Corvin took a good rest.
When they arrived at the city's area, he saw the state of the battlefield.
The northern grass that was known for it's length that pierced through the layer of snow during the harsh winters had left it's place to numerous dirt holes on the ground, where corpses lied inside them.
Mages from the Empire were attacking the enemy with everything they had, only to be countered by the enemy mages. At one part of the siege, there was a blinding light constantly shooting towards the wall on the city, where the wall looked like it grew back the moment it was damaged.
Corvin didn't even need to ask what that light was. His master was fighting against a powerful enemy mage, and they were in a battle of endurance. Anyone that got in between the two monstrous people would be killed just from the crossfire.
Then he saw the enemy ships on the coast. Three giant ships with many smaller ones guarded the port of the city. The massive wooden wall of ships stood at the end of land and the start of the sea, telling every soldier in the battlefield that this place was a dead end for a lot of them.
"-! FLY UP!!"
As Corvin felt a momentum towards him, one of the mages alerted the others and flew higher to dodge an explosive that was thrown towards them.
'I barely noticed it but they made a move already... They really are professionals, I underestimated them...'