A week later, Tilly delivered a roster to Roland's office desk.
"How's it going? Is the recruitment going smoothly?" Roland poured her a cup of tea, showing his concern. Facing this "sister" in name only, he always felt a lingering sense of guilt—unlike Anna, who had proactively told him, she was the first to see through that he was not the Fourth Prince. Although the Fifth Princess's subconscious protective action during the attack of the flying demons on Neverwinter made him understand that she had fully accepted this alliance, the guilt in his heart had not diminished at all.
After all, he had occupied the Fourth Prince's body.
He had originally planned to forcefully establish his brother's identity, but since she didn't pursue it, he felt a little awkward instead.
Of course, he wouldn't repeatedly bring this up—most of those who wanted an answer would die halfway, he knew that very well.
"Aside from the fact that the number is not ideal, everything else is fine." Tilly took the teacup and gently blew on it, "We've selected one hundred and twenty-four immigrants and seventy-three official residents, less than two hundred in total… I'm afraid such a small number won't be of much use in fighting the demons."
"Things are always difficult at the beginning," Roland opened the roster, "Once there's an example, the second round of recruitment will surely attract more people—and by then, it won't just be a matter of Neverwinter alone."
Although their perspectives differed, humanity's yearning for vast spaces was engraved in their bones—from the moment of budding enlightenment, people began to look up at the stars. Whether it was imitating birds or using balloons, the exploration of the blue sky was not unique to the age of airplanes. The explorers of physics were the best example. Therefore, he wasn't too worried about the attractiveness of the air force.
The first thing to do was to prepare a team that could fly.
However, he knew that training pilots was not an easy task.
In an era when flight control systems were not yet mature, what pilots valued most… was talent. The tests for acrophobia, motion sickness, physical coordination, etc., were just the most basic requirements. Spatial orientation, understanding of aircraft, and even nerve reaction speed, all determined whether a person was suitable to be a pilot.
The veterans of the First Army had extremely high obedience and reliability, and it would be fine to select a small number of outstanding ones to serve as core officers, but it would be a bit of a stretch to transfer them all to form an air force.
That's why he broadened the selection to new migrants.
While theoretical level can be cultivated through hard work, talent is something you either have or you don't. Instead of forcing people to fly against their will, it's better to find more people with extraordinary aptitude.
According to statistics, nearly three thousand people had signed up within a week, and nearly two hundred qualified after the screening. It seemed wise to include temporary residents in the initial considerations.
Turning to the last page of the roster, Roland couldn't help but exclaim, "There are still six people who failed the oath-taking process?"
"They were insincere and were taken down by Wade for questioning," Nightingale answered, "Two of them are official residents of Neverwinter."
Roland frowned. In theory, this wasn't something to be surprised about. People's hearts were fickle, and the difference between righteousness and evil was just a thought. He didn't expect these people to remain the same forever. But when he encountered this situation, he still felt a sense of disappointment.
They could have followed him into a better new era.
They had even seen the threshold of the new era.
But in the end, they abandoned it before crossing it.
"Have you found out the reason?"
"I wanted to investigate thoroughly before reporting to you," Nightingale said lazily, "They were all bought by foreign merchants, hoping to infiltrate the army and obtain more information about firearms. The police department then took action, but came up empty-handed, only catching the merchant's assistant left in the hotel. So I had Asha perform a backtracking, and found a letter from the Old Royal Capital in the illusion. Judging from the content, the mastermind seems to be a nobleman. In short, we now have their whereabouts, appearance, and identity. Soraya's portrait has also been sent to Tassaa through animal messengers. I don't think he can escape for long."
Hearing this, Roland couldn't help but laugh, and the previous unhappiness was swept away. Facing this unreasonable reconnaissance mode, the conspirators were truly pitiful.
"Uh… is there a problem?" Nightingale blinked.
"No, you did well," Roland suppressed the corners of his mouth, "Since they don't want to give up, the North Slope Mine won't mind having more people."
It seemed that the former nobles had not completely given up. As long as he showed a slight flaw, these people would revive. But this didn't surprise him. After all, the system of enfeoffed nobles had lasted for nearly a thousand years, and it still existed in the other three kingdoms. It was impossible to make it disappear completely overnight.
"Okay," Tilly coughed twice, bringing the topic back to the main point, "The problem of people is solved, but where are the airplanes?"
"This question… Oh right, Evelyn has recently made a batch of excellent Chaos Drinks, would you like to try some?"
"Eh? Sure—no!" Tilly instantly came back to her senses, "We're talking about airplanes, you wouldn't have even made a prototype, would you?"
Right on the bullseye.
"Anyway, they still have to start with literacy and basic theory. If it's just for demonstration, gliders can also…"
"No," Tilly interrupted righteously, "Even with gliders, the improved models after adjustment fly completely differently from before, let alone a brand new airplane. If I haven't even tried to operate it myself, how can I teach others? It's indeed too early for the students to actually fly, but I at least have to spend about a month in advance to thoroughly understand its performance and make corresponding adjustments to the flight manual, and that doesn't include the time for subsequent improvements. Since you entrusted this matter to me, I naturally have the responsibility to urge you to complete the work you should be doing."
This was the first time Roland had seen such a serious Fifth Princess.
It was clear that she was filled with love for this "big toy" that could fly and match her own abilities.
The only problem was that Roland had underestimated the difficulty of manufacturing a complete airplane—even a biplane, even if it only had a set of power and fuel equipment more than a glider, the complexity had increased exponentially. This was still the result of using a lot of information from the Dream World. If he designed it alone, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to finalize even a finalized plan in a few years.
"I understand," he shook his head helplessly, "Half a month, I'll come up with a flyable finished product."
"Then it's settled." Tilly smiled slightly, "Also, what about the Chaos Drinks you said were excellent? Please let me taste them too."
……
"Strange…" After the Fifth Princess left with a whole bottle of Chaos Drink, Nightingale muttered in a low voice.
"What's wrong?" Roland asked.
"She used to call you 'brother' many times in public, but rarely calls you that when she sees you alone… Isn't that strange?"
"Is that so?" He was stunned, "But… why?"
"I don't know either."
The two looked at each other, stroked their chins, and fell into this perplexing mystery together.