On the western side of the United Kingdom of Aphrasia lay multiple nations.

Among the countries sharing a border, the largest was the Wheat Country of Weizenland.

As its name suggested, the Wheat Country was a massive agricultural state exporting wheat and other staple grains to surrounding nations.

Blessed with fertile lands, it produced great quantities of wheat, other cereals, tubers, and beans.

Far to the north rose the Northern Limit Range, and the abundant meltwater flowing from it passed through the Wheat Country before reaching the sea, crossing a vast forest zone along the way.

Each rainy season, rich sediment overflowed from the forestlands and washed down, and the Wheat Country made clever use of it to sustain agriculture.

South of the Wheat Country lay a cluster of small nations.

Among them were several city-states consisting of only a single city; the exact number of countries was unknown.

The number of associated cities fluctuated with the times, and conflicts could redraw power structures. As such, probably no one could grasp the current state with certainty.

Those bordering the United Kingdom of Aphrasia maintained at least some degree of size and ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) influence.

Even so, a rise or fall of some country seemed to occur every few years.

Thus, no documents existed within Aphrasia that accurately recorded the names of those small states.

“These small nations aren’t even worth negotiating with, I suppose?”

“Yes-yes, Commander-Ma’am. Their national power is poor, and they possess almost no capability to administer their territories. In practice, we will need to deal directly with the frontier villages located along the border.”

According to aerial reconnaissance, these frontier villages—effectively bases for Fuelstone poaching—currently numbered 114.

Sharp-eyed nations or lords invested in these villages, recruited migrants, and expanded mining scale.

The rest scraped by, hand-digging Fuelstone to earn daily coin in pitiful poverty.

“Drawing the border by force would be easiest, but what would happen to them?”

“Yes-yes, Commander-Ma’am. They are, basically, impoverished people with no backing. If Fuelstone mining is banned, they will be wiped out immediately. They have nowhere to go.”

The frontier villages lived almost entirely off Fuelstone income.

The surroundings were barren wilderness.

Barely able to gather as a village because they managed to dig wells and secure water, humans clustered there.

Naturally, no vegetation grew there, nor did wild animals live in such places.

Some villages were alarmed enough to attempt agriculture or pastoralism, but overall, results were poor.

The environment was simply too harsh.

“Well, we don’t have many citizens anyway. Maybe we could just take them all in?”

“Yes-yes, Commander-Ma’am. If we dig wells and reclaim farmland, to some extent, yes. We can supply chemical fertilizers, and we can have them produce agricultural goods.”

It was with nothing more than a sentiment of “it would be heartbreaking to abandon them” that the decision was made to invite them as citizens.

From the other countries’ perspective, this would be intolerable.

“We should pick out crops suited to high-temperature environments. And the fact that water comes out if you dig here is an amusing geological feature...”

“Yes-yes, Commander-Ma’am. Large volumes of groundwater flow through gaps in the lava strata.

Ideal for digging wells, but not good for resource mining.

Especially since they dig by hand—if they accidentally strike an underground aquifer, their lives would be in danger.”

The United Kingdom of Aphrasia appeared to be nothing but endless wasteland.

However, watercourses spread like a net beneath the surface. Covered by lava, they were rarely exposed at ground level.

Thus, digging down to a certain depth naturally brought forth water.

Many lakes also existed where water welled up through natural fissures.

“But this border really is absurdly long... Any normal country would be unable to guard a border like this.”

The United Kingdom of Aphrasia was sandwiched between other states east and west.

Even the western side alone stretched well over 2,000 km.

Precisely because the environment was a harsh, endless wasteland, territorial disputes attracted little attention.

If one tried to manage the border seriously, the nation might collapse from the cost alone.

“With constant satellite surveillance, construction of watchtowers, and regular patrols by security units, border control is possible. While disputes over the border seem unlikely to erupt often, if they do, we could establish a buffer zone.”

For instance, they could agree to establish a width of around 5 km between the provisional borderlines of each nation, thus reducing needless conflicts.

Well, assuming the other country was capable of negotiation.

But even then—

What was there to worry about, when such an overwhelming disparity in military strength existed?

“The rocket launch test site is nearly complete. We can begin launch trials at any time.

Manufacturing of rockets for launch-data acquisition is also proceeding in parallel.”

“Okay, okay. Once that’s done, space development is practically moments away. Though honestly... I have my doubts about how safe the sky really is...”

In advancing space development, numerous hypotheses had been examined.

Among them, the main topic raised by Asahi was the existence of flying monsters.

“Given that enormous creatures exist not only in the sea but also on land, the possibility of large monsters capable of flight is more than conceivable! With the bodily reinforcement enabled by magic stones, large monsters with bodies light, hard, and flexible enough to sustain life would be entirely possible!”

She had insisted so vigorously.

The other sister AIs viewed it skeptically; however, big-sister Eve, who possessed a flexible mind toward fantasy, agreed with Asahi’s reasoning.

“There are quite a lot of flying monsters, aren’t there. We’ll have to be careful.”

Once she said that, Ringo had no choice but to allocate resources to sky surveillance as well.

At present, however, no such monsters had been confirmed.

Even in Telec Port Town, inquiries had turned up only rumors of giant, winged lizard-like creatures—likely what one would call dragons.

At the very least, none had been confirmed in the United Kingdom of Aphrasia.

Either they truly did not exist, or there was simply too little prey to draw them out—so Asahi speculated.

“When talking sea monsters, the giant octopus Kraken comes to mind—does that not exist here? And crocodiles living in the sea—that still surprises me.”

Asahi prattled on like that, so Ringo did not take her predictions too seriously.

“The prototype aerial platform is also proceeding smoothly in construction. It should be capable of its first flight within a few days.”

“Ohh, impressive. Still, the fact that something that huge can fly makes no sense to me.”

Next was the aerial platform intended for use in subjugating the northern region of the United Kingdom of Aphrasia.

In short, it was a flying super-carrier.

It could serve as a mother ship for aircraft, or as a deployment craft for airborne tank drops; and with turrets installed, it could also function as a standalone attack platform.

Its operational issues were its massive size resulting in poor maneuverability, and low performance against guided weaponry like missiles.

This would require countermeasures such as flying with increased escort units.

“And then there’s the simple matter of energy.”

Next, the energy source required to support the colossal craft.

Microwave power transmission could supply part of the load. But transmitting everything by microwave would be difficult.

The craft’s operating radius was too large, and it would easily move beyond the range where power could be delivered.

Moreover, the energy loss in high-power transmission and the heating of receiving equipment were both severe problems.

Thus, an internal-combustion engine or a nuclear-powered energy source would be necessary.

“For the prototype, we’re using gas turbines as the main power source. But the fuel efficiency is poor, so it will remain a prototype. We could perform aerial refueling, but then we would be constrained by the refueling aircraft’s own range, making it inefficient.

Ultimately, we will have to equip a fusion reactor.”

Since nuclear reactors were dangerous, it had to be a fusion reactor. Radioactive waste production would be extremely low.

Even in the event of a crash, the impact would be minimal. And since the fuel mass required was small, it was extremely efficient as an energy source.