The Supreme Hero’s Younger Brother

Before the group continued their journey, they acquired Vintrigal's map which was the country they were in. When they bought the map, they were told by the store clerk about Vintrigal's airship tour, the main tourist destination. It flew around Vintrigal continuously and stopped at every major city on a fixed schedule.

They decided to ride it to reach Ortiel, the nearest city to the east northern border of the country where they were heading. From there, it would only require half a day to enter the next country, Torihigen, where the demon has won over 50% of the territory. If they could save their energy, it was best to do so.

Since it was a tourist airship, they weren't allowed to bring their ride in. They left their Raptors in their inn and would get them back using teleportation once they reached Ortiel. They didn't need to worry anybody would steal them since they'd bit off people's heads other than them.

When they saw the schedule, the airship would land in Randahal in another 5 hours. They waited at a nearby pub.

"Vintrigal must be very prosperous to have a spare fund to make a tourist attraction." Aerindel commented.

"Vintrigal has been the most advanced country in terms of technology second only to dwarves. Their population has the lowest rate of magic compatibility, but children with mechanic and engineer heritage were born one after another," Rye explained, "Demons don't really see the worth in their technologies. They don't prioritize Vintrigal in their invasion plan."

"But that doesn't explain where they got all the money to build it."

"They sell their technologies to other countries. They're not as rare and powerful as dwarven technologies, but they're cheaper since they don't involve any rare or magical components. Advanced countries like ours with many powerful mages where everything revolved around magic didn't need technologies. Their consumers were mostly developing countries with below-average offense or defense power."

"Why do you think many of their people are not compatible with magic?" Freanor asked curiously, "It's different than us elves who serve a different god, right?"

"I've discussed this once and concluded that the most possible reason was either metals or minerals."

"Metals or minerals?" Freanor didn't expect that.

"Vintrigal is filled with mines with a wide variety of minerals and metals. Aside from that, the land is not any different than the rest of us even from pre-historic times. There could be a specific material in there which radiated negative energy that affected the genes of the people who live here. I'm not sure if that mineral still exists, but its effect was permanent on the genes that it gets brought down to the future generations."

"How the hell do you know all this?" Desmund looked at Rye as if he was some kind of a magical creature.

"I read," Rye simply answered, "Do you know how dwarves were made?"

"Huh?" All of them were surprised by the question.

"Dwarves were once normal humans like us. They were a tribe of humans in prehistoric times. One day, a rock from beyond the layers of the blue sky crashed into their tribe and blasted out poisonous radiation that stagnated their growth and all of their future generation. Their tribe was isolated by everyone to prevent the poison from spreading out and infecting other tribes. It is said that that rock is still present in the dwarven country, hidden away and protected as an ancient relic of their ancestors."

"That's totally a lie. If you ever said that to a dwarf they'd definitely throw stones at you." Lilith didn't believe it.

"I'm just saying that my hypothesis with my discussion partner about Vintrigal's lack of mages comes from this theory," Rye cleaned his glasses and wore them back, "The theories about how each race was made are very interesting to read."

"Tch. That's because you're a bookworm. And what you read is complete bullshit," Desmund mocked Rye, "Isn't that why you use a weird, abnormal method with your magic? Your sources are unreliable."

"That's enough, Desmund," Ludric rebuked him, "We're just talking casually here. Why are you picking fights with my brother?"

Desmund didn't expect to get rebuked by Ludric. Previously, whatever they said about Rye he never reacted much except for stopping them.

"I-I didn't mean that, Ludric." Desmund nervously said.

"It is fine. There is no such thing as theories that are accepted by everyone before it is properly proven. Once it is properly proven and accepted by the masses it will turn into knowledge, not a theory anymore," Rye calmly said and looked at the time, "It is about time for us to leave."

Ludric turned to look, "You're right. Let's go."

The group got up from their seats. Desmund was gloom because of Ludric's rebuke and followed in behind.

"Ludric has made up with his brother yesterday," Rosetta patted Desmund's arm, "Be careful of your attitude towards Rye from now on."

"I'll…keep that in mind."

When they arrived at the airport, they saw the massive airship behind it which was previously empty. The shape of the airship was imitating that of a whale with its body made mostly out of fortified glass which reflected the blue sky from the outside but was completely see-through from the inside.

Many tourists were walking out of the airship. It would depart in 2 hours to give the tourists time to enjoy the city. Depending on the ticket they bought, they could ride the airship again to experience its full-day tour or they could just use it for transit transportation.

Rye's group bought the ticket for transiting to Ortiel. The airship would stop by at one more city before it would reach Ortiel.

The airship wasn't just a regular transportation service. There were accommodation, restaurant, and entertainment facilities inside. For someone who wanted to stay several days there, they would need to buy a VIP ticket.

"It's as if the ship itself is a small city!" Freanor was astonished.

"How could they lift all this up into the air along with the people inside it without magic?" Aerindel was also shocked.

"You have to enter their academy to learn that," Rye chuckled, "In a way, Vintrigal's engineers are more powerful than mages."

"Hahaha!! Someone said the truth for once!" A loud voice suddenly boomed from their side.

They turned to see a group of three people walking toward them.

"You," the man with monocles and white coat at the center pointed at Rye, "I like you. I'll give you a tour free of charge."

"…" Rye studied the three of them, "Are you not…Vintrigal's heroes?"

"Oh! I'm liking you more and more!" The monocle man pushed the others away and draped his arm around Rye's shoulder, "Yes, you are correct! I am, yours truly, Sir Abrash Denstrigal, the Gun Hero. Please, by all means, call me Ash."

"Right…" Rye couldn't keep up with Ash's tension.

Ash dragged Rye forward to walk with him, "And may I know who am I guiding, beautiful sire?"

"Uh…" Rye turned his head to signal Aerindel for help.

He was technically getting kidnapped here!

Ludric was the first to move. He pried Ash's hand off of Rye and pulled Rye to him, "Excuse me, you can't just take a person away however you want."

"And who might you be?" Ash rubbed his throbbing wrist in displeasure.

"I'm his brother. We're only here to transit, so we'll appreciate it if you leave us alone."

One of the two other heroes recognized who Ludric was and quickly grabbed Ash, "B-Boss, that's the Supreme Hero, Ludric Cazmere!"

"What? This rude gentleman is?" Ash scanned Ludric up and down in scorn.

The other hero also tugged Ash away, "He's not your mat–"

Ash shoved them off of him and pointed at Ludric, "Supreme Hero, I challenge you to a duel!"

Everyone, "???"

The two Vintrigal heroes, "!!!"

"Boss, cut it out! You'll definitely die this time!"

"He cuts down demon generals on a daily basis! This is suicide!"

"We'll let you shoot down as many flying plates as you want today so please take that challenge back!"

"You can also drink as much booze as you want tonight!"

"It is futile, Rock, Marissa, I have been waiting for this opportunity my entire life." Ash didn't listen to them.

"That's what you said for every duel!!" Marissa cried. She hurriedly bowed to Ludric, "I'm truly sorry Sir Ludric. Our boss has some screws loose in his head. Please don't take his words to heart."

"How dare you say that! I am the one who invented anti-gravitational technology. Without me, this airship would never exist!"

Rye was surprised, "You invented anti-gravitational technology? You understand the concept of gravity?"

"Ha! I expected no less from you, beautiful sire. You indeed understand how formidable the theory of gravity is!" Ash grabbed Rye's hands, "Come, I will teach you about it!"