140 Grand Prix - Part 2 (1/2)

Jarn draws the eyes of the patrons by remaining standing behind me, but she's hardly the most attention-catching of us. Aoi using cutlery, the fact that we're the only clothed people here, and our occasional use of Andraste call just as much attention to our group.

Alissa talks with Hukarere while I listen to Ririmu telling us about the history of the town. The Vengeful Spirits appeared after they brought the other urban islands here. It seems that after they removed the petrified people, their spirits became angry and started attacking.

Sometime after that, they realized that the Spirits also attack monsters, so they developed a defense system against the Spirits and surrounded themselves with urban islands, creating a barrier that prevents most monsters from threatening the town.

Another odd thing that I've noticed is the complete lack of children.

”We actually don't need any more urban islands. Our numbers aren't increasing, so we don't need more space, just farmland for a wider variety of food,” He says.

”Why aren't your numbers increasing? Didn't Oritiki say that your people have been isolated for a generation already?” I question.

”I… I don't know… We've been isolated for a generation…” He mumbles as he looks at his plate. He freezes for a second, then looks at each of us and continues eating.

I raise an eyebrow and wait for a moment for him to continue, but he doesn't, so I say, ”I haven't seen a single child since we came here.”

He looks at me confused and asks, ”Hm? What?”

”Children. I haven't seen a single child in this town.”

”What…?” He asks again, then freezes for a second and continues eating. After he swallows, he looks at us blankly and asks, ”What were we talking about, again?”

The girls and I share a look of confusion and suspicion.

”The population of the town hasn't been increasing,” Ciel insists.

”Oh, right, yeah, it hasn't. Marshall Hihiriwa wants to send expeditions to explore other towns, but because we don't have a lot of people, Marshall Wahinui said no, and the rest of the High Council is siding with her.”

”You said that the town has been isolated for a generation, how many years is that?” Yunia asks.

”Oh, I don't know… a few decades, at least, but no one's been keeping track of that,” he answers with a shrug.

”What month is it?” I ask.

His beady little eyes blink blankly, then he says, ”I don't know…” He freezes oddly again for a second, then continues eating. After a few mouthfuls, he looks at us and asks, ”What were we talking about, again?”

We share another look between us. Even Alissa has stopped talking and is now observing Ririmu, but Hukarere acts as if nothing is wrong and continues happily eating her meal.

”This is… not good,” Lina comments through [Bind].

Ririmu's whiskers twitch, then he smiles and says, ”Since only two of you should know how to fly, how about some Wasp racing?”

”Wasp?” I ask.

”Those small triangular ships that escorted you here along with the Celestial Horns. They're a type of airplane called Wasps.”

”Airplane?” Roxanne questions.

He chuckles once and says, ”You land-dwellers say 'ship' for everything that flies, but the main purpose of a ship is to navigate in the water, while a plane's purpose is to fly.”

”Ooh, I see…” Roxanne responds with a nod.

”Well, in actuality, only three of us can't fly,” Ciel says with a wry smile.

”I use [Telekinesis] to fly,” I say.

”I use [Heart of Fire] to fly, and I can float along slowly due to my race, but I don't think that's the same kind of 'flying' that you're referring to,” Roxanne says.

”I can only fly for a short while,” Hana says.

Lina's anxiety skyrockets and bleeds through [Bind].

I look at her and smile warmly as I say, ”If possible, we'll fly together with you on my lap. I have the [Piloting] skill, so I can fly smoothly enough for you to enjoy it.”

Her anxiety is immediately replaced by excitement, and she shyly nods in agreement.

--

We finish our meal and go out. This town was built in a mountain, and like all towns of this kind, the lower levels are for the poorer people, so we go down to the middle-lower levels of the island, where the South Common Docks are located. This dock is only for civilian transports, so there aren't any merchant ships around here transporting goods, reminding me of an airport. However, their merchant fleet is minimal, anyway, since there's little actual trade going on. Thanks to that, most of their fleet is used for civilian transportation.

The ships around the Dock are almost like buses with wings. But they don't have sails like ours do since they're focused on comfort. The articulated wings allow for smoother control of the ship, contrary to sails, which are designed for cheap propulsion.

”Where are all these people going?” Alissa asks as she sees a long line of wingless Chimeras board a wooden bus.

”The farms. They take quite a lot of magic and care to keep them growing. You land-dwellers have it easy with your large stretches of land where food simply grows when you're not looking,” Ririmu says with a snort.

”Well, the Thunderplains need lots of mages to take care of the farms; otherwise, the lightning kills everything,” Hana comments.

”The… what? Thunderplains?” Hukarere asks.

She grins and responds, ”It's a place that I call Gods' Urinal because their heavenly piss, the rain, falls incessantly over there.”

Lina and Ciel facepalm, Yunia looks disgusted, Aoi tilts her head in confusion, and the rest of us laugh and shake our heads in disbelief.

”Isn't… uh… urine bad for crops?” Hukarere asks.

”It sure is, but this is heavenly piss, not normal piss. It's divine and actually makes the plants grow faster than normal if you have a mage protecting them from the lightning.”

Ciel sighs, and Lina corrects Hana, ”The Thunderplains is named that way because it's a region where thunderstorms happen very frequently. So frequently, in fact, that if you travel without a lightning rod, you'll be struck by the storms. Though it's unlikely for you to be harmed by the lightning since the magical storms are actually quite weak, you'll still be in a lot of pain pretty often.

”The abundance of rain and mana makes the region very bountiful, but you need a specialized farmer mage to take care of the crops. Otherwise, the crops would easily die from too much mana or water.”

”Ooh…” Ririmu and Hukarere hum in unison.

”Gods' Urinal…” Ciel mumbles, sounding slightly angry, then she glares at Hana and says, ”Please, that's a bit much. Don't say such blasphemies again.”

The shameless dragonkin lifts her hand in defeat and smiles as she says, ”Alright, alright. But can I at least call the rain 'heaven's piss'? I really hate how much it rains there.”

”You-…” Ciel stops herself, then clenches her fist and sighs. ”Just don't say it out loud…”

Hana shrugs. ”Sounds good to me.”

--

We reach a hangar that seems to have more than three floors full of different types of Wasp airplanes. The smaller Wasps are made of canvas and other leathery materials while the larger ones use wood, but most of them don't have a closed glass cockpit. I remember that Kaatohe's was made of wood and reinforced with strips of metal, so these must be a lot cheaper than the military planes.

We reach a small office, and an old, deer-headed man comes out. His antlers are small and seem soft, the color of his orange fur is faded, and his white fluffy beard looks well-kept. His folded ears quickly rise up when he notices who we are, and I see his rabbit tail wag a few times.

”Oh, Ririmu! You're with the foreigners!” The deer man exclaims.

”Hey, Jonu! I'm acting as a guide. Luckily, the Honored One chose us for this task,” the raccoon man replies.

The old man grins and turns to us, ”Oh, I see. And you're here for some excitement, I assume?”

”We won't be staying here for long, so we'd like to enjoy something decidedly 'Chimeric,'” I respond with a smile.

”I assure you, nobody flies like we do!” He exclaims and fondles his beard, then he turns to Hana and says, ”And before the beautiful dragon over here says anything, I ask that you try it first before you judge it.”

Hana opens her eyes wide in surprise, then laughs out loud. ”I see that you've met some dragonkin,” she says and grins.

Jonu returns the grin. ”Hard to miss them, especially in this profession. Now, come over here, let's find the right Wasp for each of you.”

--

Roxanne, Hana, Ciel, and Aoi will use light leather Wasps so that they have better maneuverability and speed at the expense of more mana required to control them. This type doesn't have a cockpit, so they'll use aviator goggles to fly. Alissa and Yunia will be piloting the wooden ones with closed cockpits since they're less experienced with flying. Lina, Gify, and I will use the heaviest one with a closed cockpit because it's the most stable.

The controls are kind of like a modern jet. There's a control stick in the middle for yaw, pitch, and roll; a speed lever on the left that allows us to fly in reverse at full speed; a small power lever below that; and another small stick above the speed lever that controls strafing. Our ship doesn't have a stick for strafing; instead, it has three leavers, making it much more awkward to maneuver than this plane.

And would you look at that, there are Godsblessed seat belts in these Wasps. How did I miss this!

I ask Jarn if she wants to fly a Wasp, but she declines.

”I'm merely a servant. Unless you desire me to learn how to pilot better, there's no need to spend money on me,” she says.

”Have you ever seen a summon talk?” Hukarere whispers to Ririmu.

”Nope,” he answers and smiles wryly.

”Then consider this an opportunity to not only learn how to pilot better, but also to learn what humanoids find 'enjoyable,'” I respond.

”I understand,” Jarn says and nods.

I turn to the doll golems on Ciel and Roxanne's arms and smile. ”That goes for both of you, too,” I say.

”Understood,” they say in unison.

”Oh, wow. The dolls are summons, too! That's sneaky!” Hukarere whisper-shouts, and her dragon tail lazily wags.

”If they can talk, aren't they just like living beings, too?” Ririmu whispers.

”Don't question it,” she quickly replies.

I turn to Jonu and say, ”I want a Wasp that's slightly difficult to fly so that she can practice.”

The man blankly nods and walks over to the Wasps, still stunned by the absurd exchange we just had.

Jarn gets a small one made of wood. The weight helps a bit against rogue currents at the expense of higher mana consumption, but the small size increases the maneuverability, allowing her to push the plane closer to its limits. The two golems will stay with her so that the three of them can have a go at flying it together.

”We'll remain near the hangar,” Ted says, and the other golems nod.

”O-okay. I'll… I'll give you some advice,” Jonu says, still a little stunned.

Ririmu and Hukarere will be flying canvas and wood planes, but they'll just be nannying us (by that I mean nannying Hana and Roxanne) so that we don't do something stupid.

We pay with our silver, but Jonu has to ask for a weighting tool since their silver coins are around four times lighter than ours. Also, their gold coins have a different composition than ours, so we won't be able to use them without a lot of effort to find the correct conversion.

--

I get into my Wasp, and Lina sits on my lap, then snuggles with me.

Jonu comes to us and attaches a new seat belt on some hooks in the cockpit so that Lina can also be protected, then he runs off to manage the take-off.

”I might be the first dwarf to willingly choose to fly an airplane,” she comments.

I smile gently and kiss her cheek. ”I'm proud of you. Being brave like this and facing your fears isn't an easy thing to do.”

She hugs my neck and returns the kiss. Her tooth-achingly sweet perfume fills my nose and arouses me. ”Having you with me certainly helps,” she whispers.

I smirk and turn her chin so that she can see my face. ”Or maybe you're just using your fear of heights as an excuse to get some quality time with me.”

She smiles like an imp and kisses my lips. ”I won't comment on that.”

I return the kiss again, but this time, I part her lips with my tongue and search for hers, asking for it to come out and play.

”Young man, you're next!” Jonu yells, forcing us to break off the kiss.

I close the cockpit and activate the plane, then we slowly take off and head towards the back of the hangar, where the air track is set up.

Floating rings of bright yellow light five times as wide as our planes start to glow in the dark sky. The colorful galaxy full of stars and nebulae along with the purple clouds drifting by make the perfect background for us to see the glowing checkpoints. Small blinking lights trace a path between each ring so that we don't miss them.

We line up in front of the first ring and wait for the race to start. I point the strafe stick upwards to counter the force of gravity, allowing us to hover in the air with little effort as long as I can keep the plane level with the horizon.

--

Ririmu clears his throat and starts speaking through the microphone, ”Welcome, everyone, to the first Grand Prix of Whakamutu Mutu! I'm your announcer, Ririmu, and I'm delighted to be here along with my co-host, Hukarere, to narrate this exciting event!”