124. Air Reconnaissance 1
After taking off from the Air Force Base, the air tanker gained alt.i.tude.
[We have reached constant alt.i.tude] (The pilot)
The Crew… well, not, there"s really no flight crew here. The pilot who was on the c.o.c.kpit who responsible to explain me everything, told me so.
Right, we neither have much time nor fuel. Shall we go right away?
[We"ll transfer in 30 Seconds] (Mitsuha)
The pilot immediately forwarded my words to everyone on board using intercommunication system (ICS). It may be shocking as this is their first time. So just in case.
Ah, just in case, we have a lookout in the pool at the base until we return. In case of emergency, I will transfer everyone on board there.
No, if after the transfer you hit the ground in a strange position, you might break a bone. If I were to transfer everyone in a hurry, the alt.i.tude might be slightly off and some people may be a little off the ground.
After all, If I do an emergency transfer from a high-speed moving plane, or if we were instantly losing alt.i.tude, I might not be able to adjust the position of each person. Well, I"ll do my best to get them in the right position, that is, on the ground. I can"t forget the pain on my legs when I transferred slightly above the pool table!
(Note: It"s when she transferred Alexis to get his wound treated on Earth. In case someone forgot)
Well, that"s why, when the time comes, I will at least swimming with everyone.
And that also why I changed into a flight suit! …No, actually, I just wanted to wear it. I"ll get you a picture later.
…well, it"s time. Let"s go!
[Mine name is Nanoha, the one who crosses dimensions in the name of the G.o.d of Exile! Open the way to a different dimension world, Aura Road!!]
I shouted in the other world language while doing some gestures.
… Un, style is important.
And, if they think that the transfer isn"t instantaneous and needs some time to cast the spell, you may be able to catch the enemy off guard in the event of surprise attack. This kind of straightforward preparation might save lives, yeah.
… and, nothing happened.
No shaking, No fuzzy floating sensation… Nothing.
But for the others, that wasn"t the case.
"Ooohh, the scenery has changed!" (Scholar 1)
"Th-This is the other world…" (Scholar 2)
"Sample! Take a sample of the atmosphere!" (Scholar 3)
What a bunch of busy scholars.
Well, let"s leave them alone. I have something else to do.
I looked at the pilot who responsible for the explanations and nod to each other.
I received a spare of ICS headset and a hand microphone.
"Please head straight for between the hill at 1.30 and the breakwater at 11 o"clock" (Mitsuha)
"Roger that!" (Pilot)
Right, we"re doing cardinal points adjustment.
The plane"s gyrocompa.s.s aligned with earth standards; Would it be really accurate here? If the plane changes direction during the transfer, the gyrocompa.s.s might not be aware of it. Also, the magnetic orientation might be different from the Earth. No, even if this world is different from the earth, it doesn"t matter because gyrocompa.s.s should be based on [The axis of the planet rotation], but this time it"s a little bit different.
The plane is flying in a large circ.u.mference, both inbound and outbound headings on the line between the hill and the breakwater.
(Note: I have a hard time to comprehend this paragraph. But I think it"s pretty close. Or in simpler term, they fly in a large circle, back and forth between the hill and the breakwater. )
"First objective, on-top standby… mark on-top!" (Pilot)
"Handheld Compa.s.s, 320 degrees!" (Mitsuha)
The first objective from the pilot, as we flew pa.s.sing over the hill, I read out the direction ahead using my own handheld compa.s.s.
"Gyrocompa.s.s 312 degrees, Magnetic compa.s.s 319 degrees!" (Pilot)
Oh, there is almost no error! I was going to be careful enough not to shift the orientation of the plane at the time of transfer, but it was pretty close so far… Well, in fact, the fine control of the transfer has become a part of me since [that] directly read my will. Otherwise, it is not possible to transfer precisely with a rough designation. Especially, under the specified condition such as [Transfer all the wiretap device] or [Transfer a part of the sword].
So, it seems that the [Retrofitted memory expansion] part worked well.
(Note: Yeah, she also received something like that when she received the transfer ability. I had to reread the related chapter)
Of course, I don"t know if the relation between magnetic north and true north in this world is the same as the earth, but it doesn"t really matter. It"s enough if we can fly in the designed direction with this plane"s instruments. However, the magnetic deviation is 7 degrees westerly? It"s the same as near j.a.pan… No, we don"t know the true north here, so it doesn"t make sense to compare.
(Note: westerly = negative, easterly = positive. Just navigation stuff)
The conditions are similar to the earth so far. so it"s not completely different planet, geologically speaking. Is it safe to say that this is [Another Earth]?
But, is it geographically identical? Is it just a similar planet by chance? Or maybe, for some reason, earth"s creatures were transferred here on a continental scale long time ago? Or did the evolution follow the similar routes? Or the existence of a transcendental race that sows organisms in various worlds across dimensions?
I don"t understand.
But it doesn"t matter anyway. Right now, it has nothing to do with me, and with the people of this world too.
"Second Objective, on-top standby… mark on-top!" (Pilot)
No no, I have to give instructions!
"Heading 316 degrees… Veering!" (Mitsuha?)
"Roger, 316 degrees!" (Pilot)
What"s left now is to wait.
The scholars who took pictures desperately seems to have calmed down as the plane flew offsh.o.r.e. Well, if you can only see the sea surface, it is no different from the earth.
But, there also some who says something like [what if we suddenly spot a sea dragon] and remained stuck to the window. Maybe they"re biologist?
After that, small islands appeared, but for the time being our target is a continent. Let"s relax in the back. I can"t sit still in the c.o.c.kpit for hours.
Oh, of course, I"m asking the pilots to tell me if they see landma.s.ses.
Alright, let"s take a break!
… I slept.
Well, the probability of flying off the coast straight over the ocean and encounter a landma.s.s is not so high.
That"s why I slept, and it seem no one tried to wake me up.
And, I spent many more boring hours…
"I think it"s about time…" (Mitsuha)
Yeah, from nautical charts seized from the battleships and interviews with its crew members, I faintly figured the approximate distance. So, it"s almost time if we calculate from the speed of this plane.
Though, it took some time. But, finally.
"We can see the sh.o.r.e ahead" (Pilot)
The pilot told me so.
Of course, I went to the c.o.c.kpit.
"Ohh wings! That"s the light of Vanel Kingdom!" (Mitsuha)
(Note: This is a reference from a vintage movie "The spirit of St. Louis". its j.a.panese t.i.tle is "Tsubasa yo! Are ga Pari no akari da!". In the dialogue, Mitsuha says "Tsubasa yo! Are ga Vaneru Oukoku no akari da!" which is literally means "Wings! That"s the light of Vanel Kingdom!". Well, that"s that, the more you know.)
No, it"s not dark yet, so the city isn"t lit. And I don"t know if it"s kingdom of Vanel ahead. If the direction slightly shifted, there"s a possibility of what we see ahead is their neighboring countries.
"We"ll continue as it is, go over the sh.o.r.e. I want to check if it"s our destination." (Mitsuha)
I put the headset on and instructed the pilot to do so.
"Roger, we"re going straight ahead. At this alt.i.tude, it"s unlikely to be spotted" (Pilot)
Yeah, I thought so too. In a world without airplanes, I don"t think anyone would randomly looking at the sky, and if anyone happened to be looking up the sky, they"ll only think of it as an unusual bird.
(Note: Press X to doubt)
Well, it seems weird, but it doesn"t matter. I can"t do anything about it either.
I compared the sh.o.r.eline with a copy of the chart and confirmed that it was definitely our destination, Vanel Kingdom. I still have enough time to fly over the continent for a few hours.
And I keep staring at the ground.
Right, without having to land, id I could see and memorize the place, I could just transfer there. Of course, I can"t completely remember all places just by looking at it once, but that"s where the [Retrofitted memory expansion] comes to play. Well, it saved me some trouble…
Therefore, it will be useful if I can see a wide area as much as possible.
Right.
The purpose of this time was to [Observe the movement of Vanel Kingdom and the rest of the world and gather information about the civilization level of this continent]. It is to map the coordinates.
Without language issues, some information can be obtained from the seafarers, and money from the countries is available.so, there is no problem for me as a civilian to collect information. It"s not like I would sneak into the palace like a phantom thief. Because I only listen to street gossip like usual, There"s no real risk.
No, maybe I could sneak into the royal palace without any difficulty.
Well, I won"t do it though!!
(Footnote: Well, this time I had to do some extra research. So, it took longer than usual)