Just as Lucas was gathering his thoughts, his father walked over and reported, "The anchors on the Skyship and the long ropes all seem to be fine, but one of the Aerial Knights said that the harness caused his mount a fair bit of discomfort."
"Only one of them?" Celestina also focused back on the task at hand and asked.
"That's correct, Lady Balfour," Drake replied politely, "As you know, there was a lot of debate among the craftsmen last night regarding the overall design of the new harness, so we ended up creating two different prototypes based on two different yolks. Now, it seems one of them works better than the other."
With a light nod, Celestinas declared, "Good. We'll need to craft 7 more of the superior harnesses, then."
"We'll get to work as soon as we get back to the smithy," Drake nodded before turning around and walking back to where the rest of the craftsmen were loading up the large harnesses onto a wagon.
"We need more ropes," Lucas suddenly said.
"You're right," Celestina agreed.
"You won't find any suitable rope here in Redwood Town," a new voice suddenly cut in.
Lucas and Celestina both turned to see Farah walking over with a slight limp.
Ordinarily, the female butcher should have been resting in bed or at least meditating to recover from her wounds still, but there was no time for that right now.
"What do you mean, Aunt Farah?" Lucas asked with some confusion. There was plenty of rope in town, and even if none of them on their own was long or strong enough, they should still be able to braid or tie enough of them together to make something sufficient.
"I know what you're thinking, Lucas," Farah, seemingly reading the young boy's mind, explained, "But it's not that simple. The anchor cables for a Skyship might look no different from ordinary ropes, but they're actually made from Mid-Rank Tier 1 Spirit Materials, so they're far, far stronger than they appear."
"Little Farah is right," Celestina agreed, "Each of these ropes seems like a common item, but they're actually quite expensive as they came with the Skyship itself."
Frowning slightly, Lucas went over things in his mind for a moment but soon realized his mistake. Because they were now dealing with a flying ship and giant tow-cables, Lucas had unconsciously been thinking too much like someone dealing with advanced technology, like in the other world, rather than someone who lived in a backwards rural town.
There were almost no Tier 3 Mortal Grade materials in Redwood Town as there was no need for such high-quality items. Ropes were fairly common, but almost all of them were made from Tier 1 Mortal Grade materials which were easy to harvest and work with.
Although the difference between Tier 1 Spirit Grade and Tier 1 Mortal Grade materials was enormous, it could still be made up for with a proper design and high-quality manufacturing; unfortunately, such precision production techniques weren't something you would find in Redwood Town, or in the Rockwell Kingdom for that matter.
Had this been the world where Lucas' inherited memories came from, it would certainly be possible to use even the most common of materials to create ropes capable of towing enormous loads without snapping, but that was only because quality control and engineering standards there were several orders of magnitude higher.
Recalling how even the strongest ropes in Redwood Town would regularly wear out or snap, Lucas couldn't help blushing slightly in embarrassment.
"However, we don't need these towing ropes to be as strong as the anchor ropes," Celestina continued, "Each of these anchor ropes is meant to be strong enough to tie down the Sunchaser all on its own, even with the Levitation Array working at maximum capacity. Thick ropes made from High-Rank Mortal Grade Tier 3 materials should be sufficient to tow the ship with, at least for long enough to complete the evacuation."
This analysis eased Lucas' worries, but it didn't alleviate all of them. While it was true that Tier 3 Mortal Grade materials were far easier to come across, there still weren't any in Redwood Town.
If they wanted to continue with this plan, they would need to source the tow-cables from elsewhere.
"We should send one of the Aerial Knights to Herald City," Farah suggested, clearly having thought through this problem before raising the issue, "There's a large port there where river ships frequently dock, so finding appropriate ropes shouldn't be much of a problem."
"En, I'll dispatch someone to requisition the necessary materials," Celestina nodded, "In the mean time, start emptying out the Sunchaser. Remove everything you can to open up more space."
Celestina naturally didn't want to damage her precious Skyship. Not only had the Sunchaser cost her some 6 million Low-Grade Spirit Crystals, and that was a steeply discounted price she got thanks to her longtime friend in the Empire, this Skyship had also accompanied her for many years in both times of peace and war.
To Celestina, the Sunchaser was like an old friend or a favoured mount, so it was only normal for her to feel reluctant about partially dismantling it; however, lives were at stake right now, so she didn't hesitate to give this order.
Understanding this, both Lucas and Farah made no further comment as they watched the red-haired General walk off to organize a team to head to Herald City.
After what happened with the last representative she had sent, Celestina knew better than to send just anyone and expect her orders to be obeyed.
Even if this time all she was requesting was some rope, Celestina knew well how petty some nobles could be, so she intentionally picked out 2 of her subordinates with strong noble backgrounds, one hailing from an Earl Family and the other from a Count Family.
Coupled with the relatively simple errand they needed to get done, Celestina felt this should be enough to ensure that things went smoothly this time.
…..
Shortly after a team of 4 was sent towards Herald City, just as things were starting to settle down again, a loud voice called out, "Shadows approaching from the north-east!"
This shout, of course, drew everyone's attention to the north-eastern horizon, though only Celestina was actually able to clearly make out what the lookout had spotted.
Upon confirming that it was a new flight of Tartans, led by not 1, but 2 Golden Hawks, Celestina raised her brow in surprise, wondering just what General Gunthar was thinking.
Still, more support was always welcome in times of difficulty, so she swiftly announced, "Reinforcements are here! They should be landing in…"
Before she could finish her words though, horns blared from the west.
Hearing 3 loud blasts, Celestina nodded to one of the Spirit Initiates in the camp.
Upon receiving this signal, the man immediately saluted and headed off; however, moments later, 4 blasts from the same hunters' horns sounded.
The instant Celestina heard the 4 loud blasts, Lucas felt the air around his Master shift as a faint aura pressure surged from her body. The General narrowed her eyes as she gazed off towards the other side of town, probing the situation with her powerful Soul Sense.
Seconds later, Celestina drew her spear and shouted, "All Sea Establishment Captains and above, with me!"
With those words, the Balfour Marquess sprinted away, kicking up a cloud of dust in her wake that was swiftly blown away as all the other masters in the makeshift military camp followed after her.
The early warning signals from the western scouts hadn't changed since the beginning of the explosion incident 4 days ago, but the level of danger each successive blast representing certainly had.
On the first night of the crisis, 3 blasts from the horn meant that either a large number of Second Order, or a powerful Third Order Wild Beast had appeared. After Celestina and her elite subordinates arrived, 3 blasts now meant that 1 or 2 Fifth Order Beasts were attacking.
Each Fifth Order Wild Beasts required at least 1 Spirit Initiate to handle safely, which was why Celestina had only deployed one of her subordinates to the barricades as reinforcements initially.
There were already a few Spirit Initiates on the defence line, so adding one more for safety was an appropriate response.
However, 4 blasts from the horns signaled that either a large number of Fifth Order Beasts had emerged, or a Sixth Order Beast had been spotted.
For such a threat, Celestina had to make a move personally.
As she dashed out of the camp, Celestina's voice reached Lucas via her Soul Sense, "Stay here and wait for Vanessa to arrive. If I'm still not back by the time she lands, send her over to join the battle."
Lucas was still getting used to this method of communication and was a bit startled when he literally heard a voice in his ear, but he quickly recovered and opened his mouth to reply, only to realize that Celestina was already out of earshot.
Shaking his head wryly, Lucas simply bowed in the direction his Master had left to signal his acknowledgement.
A short time later, sounds of battle erupted from the west of Redwood Town.