Trip To Gladiolus
It’s finally time for the Moon Palace’s ship to take off. It sure is kinda exciting huh.
“Well then, we will be taking off”
“Eeh, please do”
“So, where would we be heading”
“Aah, we have not decided huh. In that case, I guess let’s have you fly towards the south, for about 30 minutes”
“Understood”
“Strike southwards. Depart!”
“Setting course southwards”
“Full speed ahead!”
“Full speed ahead”
The crew members look like they have their respective responsibilities, and they’re sitting before a dashboard, operating some kind of lever.
Isn’t it normally a battleship or warship when you talk about a bridge. I’m not quite sure though.
It looks like it achieved maximum speed in less than a minute after it started flying. Because the south side is above the sea, you don’t have a perception of how fast it is if you’re not looking at the clouds. But, exactly as I thought, it appears to not be as fast as Earth’s jet airliner, but it’s faster than a propeller plane.
I muttered while hovering in the air, placing my hand on Captain Camilla’s shoulder and fixing my eyes on the front.
“Can this, not fly any faster?”
“Faster, is it? This is already the fastest ship in this world though……”
“Ah. Is that so. This is the fastest huh”
It doesn’t look like I can modify the propellers either after all. I wonder if there isn’t any method for it to fly faster than this……
“Ah. That’s right. I can just move it with my power, no?”
“Eh! Using Tsukuyomi-sama’s power, is it?”
“Well, just watch”
‘I can move things if I use Telekinesis, so I can just push this entire ship’ came to mind.
I then imagine the sight of this ship advancing even faster.
Thump!
The speed increased in one go like it was kicked hard from behind immediately after. The speed rapidly became faster, and I think it reached a speed far beyond Earth’s jetliner.
‘I think it reached’ because I have never seen the view from a jetliner’s cockpit before, so I can’t compare it even if I see how the view in front flies by. But the clouds are being left in the dust.
Some kind of thin and long object started becoming faintly visible in front when we flew for about thirty minutes.
“Captain! Is that, by any chance, Gladiolus Kingdom’s pillar?”
“What did you say! It usually takes about 12 hours to Gladiolus Kingdom, you know”
“Does it mean that is how fast we are flying?”
“Yeah. There are only 3 pillars in this world, so if it is in this direction, that is the only thing that comes to mind huh”
“What is that thin and long object?”
“Tsukuyomi-sama, that is likely the pillar. It appears to be the Gladiolus Kingdom’s pillar based on the direction. It is something that is connected to the skies and provides light to the land. Below that pillar is the Gladiolus Kingdom’s shrine and royal castle”
“Well then, let’s try going all the way to where that pillar or whatever is, shall we”
“Establish communications. Make contact with Gladiolus Kingdom!”
“Yes! Making contact with Gladiolus Kingdom!”
I cut off my power since we closed in on the pillar in less than ten minutes after that. We dropped to our original speed immediately after, and from there, we closed in with the crew’s steering.
That pillar looked about 300 meters in diameter when we tried getting close. Even when I look up, I can’t see how far it continues. In other words, it continues all the way beyond the skies.
Isn’t this the space elevator that comes out in SF even on Earth, and word has it that they’ve also started making plans to realise it in reality recently?
“Ah! Isn’t it just a space elevator! You can see it faintly, can’t you. That’s probably what they call an orbital ring!”
“Tsukuyomi-sama, what is that?”
“That pillar is not erected on the ground, but is hanging from a ring in the space above the skies. Look, you can faintly see a structure that is cutting straight across the sky, right?”
“Eeh, indeed, ‘something is visible huh’, was something I had been thinking since before. That is a structure huh!”
“Looks like it. But I’m surprised. To think that there is already a world with the technology to make that”
However, though we’re closing in on the pillar, the ship makes no attempt to stop. The moment I thought, ‘won’t it crash at this rate?’, a platform-ish thing from the pillar, and likely the ship’s anchoring-arm-ish thing stuck out.
“Switch to autopilot!”
“Switching to autopilot!”
The ship slowed down, was guided automatically, stopped right when the ship’s entrance hatch arrived before the platform that stuck out from the pillar, and the sound of the arm anchoring the ship rang, ‘clank!‘.
Oi oi. Isn’t it an incredibly futuristic vehicle. Besides, a space elevator. In other words, it means it’s generating electricity with the orbital ring and sending electricity to the ground through this pillar, right?
If there’s such advanced technology, it won’t be any strange even if it’s wirelessly sending electric power to the ship. Nevertheless, it sure is amusing how the residents of this world are using these things without knowing anything huh.
I had to go to the saloon and explain things.
“Everybody, after I tried pushing this ship with my power, wondering if I could make it fly even a little bit faster, it got too fast, and we ended up arriving at Gladiolus Kingdom”
“M-, my! We arrived at my homeland, Gladiolus Kingdom? It has not even been an hour yet, right?”
“Th-, that is right. Silvia-kaa-sama. Since we came all the way here, how about we go and give our greetings at least”
“They are probably going to be surprised since it is so sudden huh”
“My apologies”
“No way! I am happy about it. There is nothing for Tsukuyomi-sama to apologise about”
“It is great if that is the case”
When I alight the ship and see the pillar directly, it’s so overly gigantic that it doesn’t come off as a pillar. Yeah. It has the feeling of a high-rise building with a height that goes all the way up into the skies. It’s overwhelming.
I don’t know what’s the material of the pillar itself either. It looks like it’s likely, coated with something. But when you look at it closely, though it’s dirty, or rather, dulled for having gone more than a thousand years, it shows no signs of corrosion. At the base where the platform was coming out was a metallic door, and when we got close, the door opened automatically.
There was an elevator door over there when we entered the pillar, and the door opened right away.
“We will get on this ascension-descension-device and go to the ground”
There were 2 buttons when we got onto the elevator. It’s probably the buttons for here and the ground. Can it not go all the way to space’s height?
8 adult women, 13 of their daughters and me, a total of 22 people, got on with ease. It’s quite a large elevator. It descended to the ground, and when the elevator door opened, it was the back side of the shrine’s building over there.
The pillar’s base comes off as it’s floating on the sea. This pillar isn’t actually erected on the ground, but is hanging from the space’s ring. It’s just that, a thick pipe-like something is connected to the bottom of the shrine’s mansion from the pillar across the seabed. Is this the power-line for the electricity, I wonder.
There’s a semi-circle wall located about 200 meters away from the pillar, and it looks like the pillar is protected against the eyes around and the intrusion of people through this wall. That wall carries on to encircle the entirety of the shrine’s grounds.
A bridge with elegantly ornamented red guardrails extended from the shrine towards the pillar and cut off near the shore.
A bridge started extending silently from the pillar towards that bridge simultaneously when the elevator door opened. We crossed that bridge and walked towards the mansion. Immediately after, from the direction of the mansion came someone who appears to be the chief priest and a shrine maiden. Furthermore, a person in a royalty-ish get-up trotted over.
“Is the one over there Silvia?”
“Okaa-sama!”
“My! Ah!”
Apparently, the royalty is Silvia-kaa-sama’s Hahaue. In other words, it seems she’s the queen of this country. She ran over with a smile brimming with happiness. But, as soon as her eyes met mine for an instant, her complexion changed.
The queen stopped running and kneeled on the spot.
“Could thou be, Amaterasu-sama’s son?”
“Yes. I am Gento’s son. My name is Tsukuyomi. Nice to meet you”
“It is my pleasure to meet you. I am Gladiolus Kingdom Second Queen Amanda Euphorubia Gladiolus”
“I am, Gladiolus Shrine’s chief priest, Gengetsu. Now then, over here please”
We were brought to the most spacious reception room in the shrine. The shrine’s mansion, by any chance, might all have the same construct.
There are too many people in the large parlour, so much so that everybody is even refraining from doing their self-introductions. The ones sitting in front of my eyes are, Queen Amanda and Chief Priest Gengetsu-dono. I would think Gengetsu-dono is likely equivalent to my aunt. Over on this side sat Silvia-kaa-sama to my left and Okaa-san to my right.
“Is something the matter for you to suddenly come today?”
“My apologies, for suddenly visiting. I was actually testing whether our household’s ship could fly a bit faster. After pushing the ship from behind with my power, we ended up coming all the way near here in less than an hour. The pillar came into sight when we did, so I approached to study it since it was a rare chance”
“What! Are you saying you came all the way here from the Moon Palace without even spending an hour?”
“Eeh, Okaa-sama. Tsukuyomi-sama, possesses powers that surpass Gyougetsu-sama”
“Powers that surpass Gyougetsu-sama? I believe Tsukuyomi-sama is, if I am not wrong, still 3 years old……”
“It might not be an age issue. Leaving that aside, there is something I would like to formally request in the near future. For the sake of that, could you provide this place and, if possible, a good location where I can appear suddenly inside the castle of Gladiolus Kingdom?”
“Ap-, appear suddenly, is it?”
“Yes. Since I am capable of Teleportation”
“Teleportation huh, all the way here from the Moon Palace?”
“Aah, you cannot believe it huh. Well then, please give me a moment”
Whoosh!
“My! He disappeared!”
Whoosh!
“Uoo! If it isn’t Tsukuyomi!”
I used Teleportation to Otou-san’s room in the mansion.
“Otou-sama, can I have you come with me for a bit?”
“Un? Where to?”
“You will know after teleporting!”
Whoosh!
“Kyaーh!”
“Ge-, Gento-sama!”
“Nn! Where is this? Oh? If it isn’t Amanda-dono. Then, this place is Gladiolus Kingdom?”
“Otou-sama, my apologies for keeping quiet and having you come with me. We ended up coming all the way to the Gladiolus Kingdom in an hour after I sent the ship flying faster. Everybody, looked like they could not believe my powers, so I returned to the Moon Palace with Teleportation and brought Otou-sama over so that it is easy to understand”
“Ha-, ha haーa! My sincerest apologies. For not believing Tsukuyomi-sama’s powers and behaving sceptically”
“Amanda-sama, please raise your head. It is fine since it is only natural that you cannot believe it”
“Aah, Tsukuyomi’s powers huh. Well, it’s true. It’s inevitable that you can’t believe it. So, you ended up coming all the way here in an hour on that ship huh. How completely unprecedented”
“Well then, back to what we were talking about just now, could I ask you to tell me a good location?”
“Ye-, yes. Well then, please come over here”
I headed to the castle with Silvia-kaa-sama and Amanda-sama, the three of us.
“Tsukuyomi-sama. What would be the request that you will be coming for in the near future?”
“Okaa-sama. Tsukuyomi-sama is an individual who will become the saviour of all humans, especially women, in this world”
“The saviour of women!”
“Eeh, Tsukuyomi-sama is constantly worrying about women. And then from here on out, he will save all women, and in turn, will guide this world”
“My! How marvellous that is”
“Silvia-kaa-sama. I believe you are overselling it a little”
We entered the royal castle from the shrine’s mansion while talking. It looks like there’s a dedicated passage that can travel back and forth without going outside.
“Tsukuyomi-sama, we entered the castle’s grounds. Where would you like it to be?”
“I wonder where would be somewhere good for me to appear suddenly without being thought of as a suspicious person. For example, speaking to the butlers and workers about me beforehand and appearing in their room. I do not mind even if it is the courtyard or whatnot either, so long as I don’t get surrounded by the palace knights out of nowhere”
“In that case, I am okay with it being my room”
“No, I cannot do something so rude like suddenly appearing in a lady’s room”
“Is that so? Even though I am personally not bothered by it……”
“Aah, in that case, will Silvia’s room not do? It is an empty room here after all, and it is also connected to my room with this door. I can welcome you if I can have you knock on this door after arriving here”
“Okaa-sama, that is a good idea huh”
“Eeh, thank you”
“Tsukuyomi-sama, will you not go and meet His Majesty?”
“I would very much like to, but today is, in any case, an out-of-the-blue visit. I would like to officially visit next time, so please let me excuse myself here today”
“Is that so. Understood”
When we returned to the shrine’s parlour once again after verifying Silvia-kaa-sama’s room, we decided to go back right away.
“My deepest apologies, for barging in all of a sudden. I will be coming again, so I will be in your care”
“Likewise. I will be in your care”
“Well then, excuse me”
And then we crossed the bridge from the shrine’s mansion and returned to the pillar.
Today ended up, unexpectedly, becoming my first-ever foreign country visit……
