chapter 17
As soon as I received the telegram, I headed for the Azmash workshop with Katyusha and Mustafa.
“You are here. I’ve been waiting for you since morning!”
The 2nd Azmash, for short, the 2nd greeted us at the entrance of the studio, waving. He looked excited to see if he was very confident in the weapon he had made.
“I thought I would be there to meet you. Is it fairly well made?”
“Calling it a masterpiece is not inferior. It was a fun job.”
The two crossed their arms and smiled. Then he told me to come in and went inside the studio first.
“ruler. This is the sword I ordered. Just listen.”
In the deepest part of the workshop, the two confidently held out their swords. It was a long sword with a heavy silver color.
I was worried that it might be too heavy because of the length, but it didn’t feel that way at all. Rather, it was just the right amount of weight. Even though I was just holding it, I felt a strange sense of unity.
“… … Whoa.”
Even though I wasn’t conscious of trying to pour magic into it, the magic naturally flowed into it, and I was lightly charged with electricity. It felt like a part of my body.
“Awesome. Is this the sword that Azmash made for me… … .”
I looked at the sword with admiration. And I found something unexpected.
The pattern of crossed swords and blood——it was the coat of arms of the iron-blooded royal family.
“It’s written by the crown prince, so it’s okay to put in sentences, right?”
The two of them laughed and said. I looked at the sentence for a moment and smiled.
“This, my father would be jealous if he knew.”
It would be good if it ended up being jealous. It’s good to admit it, but I can’t ask you to erase it. The two of them laughed as if they knew how I felt. I decided to wait for the 2nd excuse.
“Hmm. By the way, Crown Prince.”
“Something?”
“While making the sword, it seems that your spirit has completely changed. What have you been doing?”
Two cars approached me and looked me up and down and asked. As the two generations said, compared to the previous visit, my body had changed much stronger thanks to the overwork.
“My arms seem to have gotten thicker. If I had known it would be like this, I think it would have been okay if I had made it a little heavier.”
“… … Bocchan is displeased. Let go of that hand.”
“Oops, excuse me.”
Katyusha sharply glared at the two who were fiddling with my arm and chased them away. Before, I only glared at him, but he became quite active.
“… … .”
In the meantime, Mustafa’s gaze at me was very complicated, which made me a little annoyed.
“And speaking of the development of the musket… … .”
Two fetched a long bundle of cloth from inside.
“It is very smooth. It might be commercially viable in a few months.”
When unfolded, what appeared was the second prototype of the musket.
“This… … . I never thought it would evolve to this point in such a short period of time.”
It felt almost like a basic musket. I thought that this was enough to be comparable to the original musket, or maybe a little more evolved.
“It was impossible to apply all the techniques you told me. The biggest improvement is, as you said, being able to fire bullets by hitting them. Compared to the previous method of lighting a wick and waiting, it is very convenient.”
The two generations were excited and snorted as if they were proud of themselves. I lightly praised that it went well and inspected the prototype musket.
‘Come to think of it, there hasn’t been a steel wire yet.’
The prototype musket did not have the barrel helical grooves present in modern firearms. If it was natural, it was natural. I forgot to tell you
‘Come to think of it, one of the differences between a musket and a rifle is the presence or absence of a steel wire. Come to think of it, what kind of bullet are you using? Is it still round?’
Looking at the prototype musket made in a fairly plausible shape, things came to mind that I hadn’t thought of before. Even if I said it, I thought that it would not be practical with the current technology, so I passed it on unconsciously.
‘I thought the second generation would be geniuses, but I never thought they would develop so quickly. Maybe it’s possible to implement not only the liner, but also the loading of the rear end?’
If so, it may be possible to completely surpass the musket and create a rifle, a rifle.
‘But is it okay to make them?’
Even now, it has come close to or surpassed the commercialized firearms in the original one year later.
Is it necessary to develop more than this, or is it okay to present an idea? I wasn’t sure.
“Two generations, how was the work of making this? Was it hard or was it fun?”
After pondering for a while, the two answered with a smile.
“well. It was hard, but I would say it was very fun. It was a fun job.”
“… … Then would you mind if I give you some more ideas? But, just listen.”
“Anything is welcome.”
First of all, I decided to listen to the opinions of the two after talking.
I presented ideas for the steel wire, bullet shape, and loading method to the second generation.
“Great idea, but… … As expected, it would be difficult to fully implement it with current technology.”
After taking a lot of notes on the blueprint, the two nodded their heads in interest.
“however… … Is it okay to make something like that?”
Then he looked at me and asked. There was no playfulness in those eyes.
“If all of the ideas presented earlier can be applied, this weapon is too powerful. It also doesn’t discriminate between users.”
The judgment of the two generations was not very different from mine.
“It might be funny for Azmash, who has been making swords for so long, to say this, but making a weapon that can easily take life from anyone like this… … Is it really the right thing to do?”
It was true. That’s why I hesitated to tell the idea to the second generation.
The revolutionary army in the original story was actually mostly commoners armed with muskets and firearms. They brought about a revolution with a powerful weapon that the aristocrats looked down upon.
The power of firearms greatly narrowed the gap between nobles and nobles trained in magic and swordsmanship. Of course, there were limitations as there were people with strong magical powers and swordsmanship that could not be controlled by firearms.
‘If you think about it calmly, it might have been better to prevent the development of firearms. But even so, if someone conceived the idea, someone else will make it, so it’s wiser to let me control it. so… … .’
As I was organizing my thoughts, I came up with a question that I hadn’t been aware of until now.
‘wait for a sec.’
Everyone passed without incident, but a very important question.
‘In the original novel, who distributed the firearms?’
The Revolutionary Army initially used firearms seized from the Knights Academy. There were never too many of them.
However, most of the revolutionary army was armed with firearms, despite its growing power.
Who the hell supplied firearms to the Revolutionary Army?
Until now, I thought it was a narrative permission. But now I can’t.
Because this place is real. Clearly there are suppliers.
“Two!”
Excitedly, I called the two in a loud voice. Everyone was startled.
“Who first commissioned the development of this object?”
The development of firearms had already been done before I went to Azmash Workshop. There must be someone who presented an idea for a firearm and commissioned it.
“I don’t know because he didn’t give me any personal details. for now… … .”
The two answered my words as if they were slightly nervous.
“He was a man who called himself Parabellum.”
If you want peace, prepare for war (Si vis pacem, para bellum).
It was named after a Latin proverb.
I remembered the silver-haired man I met when I first came to Azmash Workshop. Was it him
Perhaps, the true villain of the Iron Blood Revolution wasn’t Sangvis.
“… … 2 generations. If you want to cancel the contract with them, would you?”
I looked at the two and asked.
I thought I might have to kill him.
“Credit is the life of Azmash Workshop. Even if you die, you can’t do that.”
As if resisting my judgment, the two firmly shook their heads.
“However, it is possible to make a treasured sword.”
But then he added with a smirk.
I thought of the useless sword that Ivan had dedicated to me, studded with jewels.
“… … okay. nice Do you like it.”
It was a satisfactory answer. Also, the two of them communicate.
“For adopting the ideas I gave, only deliver them to Sangvis Sangvis. They should not be given more than what is now made.”
“I will do as you say. Crown Prince.”
The development of firearms is by no means an unstoppable trend. Even if you get rid of Azmash, it will be commissioned again by someone, and eventually it will be created.
If so, I will control the flow. I will take control and get ahead.
You are not the only ones preparing for war.
“Oh, and here, this is the miniaturized model you commissioned.”
The two rummaged through the pockets of their trousers, then pulled out a small gun and held it out. It was a gun with an antique streamlined design.
“I thought that the percussion was to use the prince’s magical power, so I made it as simple as possible. Omitting that part made it too simple, so I came up with some ideas.”
“This… … indeed. You managed to come up with this idea.”
The guns made by the two were close to revolvers. Of course, there was no trigger and the cylinder did not automatically turn when fired, but it was possible to load six rounds. In the first place, the trigger was intended to use my electric magic, so it was not necessary.
“This is great. You’ve done a lot more than I thought.”
“I haven’t tested it because I don’t have magic, but it probably works. It might explode if you put too much magic into it.”
“that… … I’ll have to be careful.”
I want to refrain from having my hand blown off by an explosion. I’ll have to go back and test it carefully.
“It is a beautiful shape. Are you shooting something with it?”
When Katyusha, who had been silent, approached, he showed interest. Is it bothering me that I haven’t been able to participate in the story from before? I feel like I’m a bit overworked.
“that… … . hmm. What name is it?”
“name… … ? name.”
I was silent when Katyusha asked for my name. It reminded me of a revolver, but it was too distant to be called a revolver.
“Come to think of it, I don’t have a name. What should I call it?”
“Ugh. I’m not very good at naming things.”
I can’t think of anything other than Wary as a dog’s name and Butterfly as a cat’s name. When asked to name things, nothing comes to mind.
“Mustafa, do you have any good names?”
“… … How about Beretragna?”
After I said it, Mustafa, after a moment of silence, said something tremendous.
“What do you mean? The pronunciation sounds pretty cool.”
“It is the ancient language of the Amerians. means… … Destroying resistance, is that enough?”
“Nice. It’s like middle school, and I like it. do it with it.”
“Middle 2… … ?”
It became Beretragna. Should I call it Beret for short? Ragnar… … , it’s a bit like middle school 2, so I just decided on the beret. When you say vera, it sounds like ice cream.
Anyway, with this I got a new weapon. It was at the end of autumn.
And winter, the prologue, was slowly approaching.