NOVEL NEXT Chapter 76. Cannon City And Bald Mountain.
Soon, the dwarves finished their material experiment and selected one of the metals as the material for their prototype cannon. Among every metal used during their experiment, that metal alone survived every explosion and stability test.
After crafting the metal into cannon parts that they had designed, the dwarves brought the parts out of their workshop and placed them in the middle of the city plaza.
The dwarves involved in creating the cannon quickly assembled them and started their test with excitement.
Just like before, several dwarves saw the cannon and gathered around in curiosity. But this time, they learned to stand a considerable distance from the cannon in case it exploded.
While being surrounded by many excited dwarves. One of the dwarves who has created the cannon is busy filling a slot in the barrel with gunpowders. While another dwarf placed a recently invented explosive hollow metal ball inside the barrel.
After the fuse was lit, every dwarf ran away from the cannon and awaited its launch with bathed breaths.
When the fuse lit the stored gunpowder, a massive explosion resounded throughout the area.
The massive repulsion force caused the slab stone pavement around the cannon to crack. Even the ground below them trembled for an instant before stopping.
When every dwarf thinks that's the end, a few seconds after the cannon is launched, everyone in the plaza feels the ground under them tremble.
This time, the vibration lasts for dozens of seconds before stopping.
Some dwarves who've kept their eyes on where the cannonball is launched finally saw something weird in the distance.
On the sky that should've been clear, a dust cloud rises from the place suspected to be the cannon's landing point.
The dust cloud didn't rise too tall. But it's still extremely conspicuous in the clear weather.
Every dwarf around the city plaza looked at each other and quickly ran toward the direction of the dust cloud.
The dwarves that had created the cannon also disassembled it and stored the separate cannon pieces inside their warehouse before following the crowd.
The closer the cannon maker dwarves are to the source of the dust cloud, the more nervous they are.
Once they're already incredibly close, one of the dwarves gulped while saying with a slightly trembling voice, "Don't you think… that place is extremely close to the city wall?"
The other dwarves looked at each other and paused in their tracks.
After a short silence, a dwarf said, "Perhaps we shouldn't go after all."
The surrounding dwarf nodded.
Just when they prepared to leave. Several dwarves wearing iron armor surrounded the group.
One of the cannon makers became nervous, "It's the city guards!"
Next to the city guards, several familiar dwarves who witnessed the cannon's launch also gathered.
Amidst the crowd that surrounded the cannon makers, a dwarf wearing extremely tough-looking metal armor walked towards the group of cannon makers.
Seeing the dwarf wearing that super though-looking metal armor. The surrounding guards saluted, "Guard captain!"
The guard captain ignored their salute and glared at the cannon makers.
"Are you guys the one that's responsible for causing the city wall's collapse?"
One of the cannon makers tried her luck and replied shyly, "No?"
While replying, she also sent a seductive gaze toward the chief guard, which proved futile soon after.
"Don't lie! Many people here have witnessed your weapon launching a projectile toward the city wall!"
"Then, you shouldn't ask in the first place!" The stout female dwarf replied while rolling her eyes.
That answer hit the guard captain in the nerve as the veins in his body bulged.
The other cannon makers also stopped that female dwarf from further angering the chief guard.
At last, the guard captain calmed down and said, "Do you guys understand what you have caused?"
The cannon makers looked at the dust cloud that had started to subside and the broken city wall that was finally revealed.
"You've broken the city wall! Luckily there is no one patrolling that area at that time. Otherwise, you would've caused casualties! Don't you know not to do a dangerous test in the city?!" The guard captain reprimanded.
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Then, he glared at the cannon makers and told the surrounding guards, "Bring them to the council representative!"
As the air turned tense when the guards moved closer to the cannon makers, an elderly female voice broke the tension.
"There's no need, I am already here."
The crowd parted to let an elderly but still fit female dwarf into the center of the crowds.
She looked at the cannon makers dwarves before staring at the broken city wall.
While closing her eyes, the dwarf mumbled and asked the guard captain, "Did you say there are no casualties?"
"Yes, ma'am. There are no casualties from the wall's collapse."
" Hmmm…" The council representative closed her eyes while pondering. She only reopened them a minute later to stare at the cannon makers, "Considering there are no casualties, and you all don't seem to destroy the wall intentionally, I'll just punish you all to repair the wall."
"Before the wall is repaired, everyone responsible for the city wall's collapse is forbidden to continue any research and will be banned from entering the mine."
Once she was done, the council representative looked at the guard captain and commanded, "Investigate everyone responsible for the accident and punish them accordingly."
"Yes, ma'am."
Hearing the guard Captain's reply, the council representative left the crowd.
The guard captain quickly went into action and looked for the people involved in creating and launching cannons.
It seems the guard captain is in a pretty horrible mood while investigating, as he investigated it extremely thoroughly.
Even the remaining dwarf that's busy experimenting with hand grenades has been included among the lists of responsible dwarfs.
Once he listed the name, everyone involved in the city wall's destruction was sent to the city wall to repair it.
Soon, the day changed and the first official day of the dwarf's punishment arrived.
Everyone looked at the city wall while in awe at the destruction caused by the cannon they created.
"To be honest, I expected it to be powerful. But, I didn't think it was this powerful." Said one of the dwarves.
"I think the explosive hollow metal ball used as a substitute for the cannonball is the main culprit." Another dwarf said while pointing at some areas with traces of gunpowder and some burnt marks.
The other dwarf joined their conversation. There is no remorse on their face for destroying the city wall during their test.
Finally, one of the dwarves sighed and pointed at the wall, "Alright, let's start moving. This city wall won't repair itself."
The surrounding dwarves nodded while grumblingly split into two teams. One team went to the wilderness to search for stone as materials to repair the city wall. While the other team cleans up the rubble from the city wall.
While the the group of dwarves is busy cleaning the city wall, some dwarves come toward them.
The newly arrived dwarves are familiar faces who have been watching the cannon's first test launch.
Without beating around the bush they asked the cannon makers to teach them how to craft cannons.
The dwarves that are being punished look at each other and discuss among themselves.
"Should we tell them?"
"Perhaps we can tell them as long as they're willing to help us." Said one of the dwarves.
The other dwarf's eyes glinted when they heard it. "That's right! The punishment only said we must repair the city wall. But, it never said anything about not seeking assistance from other dwarves."
"That's right! As long as they're doing so willingly, we won't be punished nor will our sentence become longer."
The dwarf continued their discussion which lasted for several minutes.
Finally, one of the cannon maker dwarfs responded. "We have decided to teach the method to craft a cannon to everyone who helped us rebuild the city wall. Also, we'll only teach you when the city wall has been repaired. So, bring as many people as possible, so we can finish this faster."
The dwarves who heard it quickly smiled and left the site.
With their endorsement, the news that the cannon makers were willing to share the cannon-making knowledge with dwarves who helped them repair the city wall quickly spread.
The dwarves who are interested in the knowledge joined the city wall reparation project while spreading the news to other dwarves.
Soon, the news spread throughout the entire city, with more dwarves joining the wall reparation efforts.
The wall that should've taken months to repair has been successfully fixed within weeks.
The moment the wall was completely repaired, all of the dwarves cheered in unison. At this time, the amount of dwarf that went to repair the wall has sextupled from the initial amount.
When the council representative heard the news, she sighed and pardoned the cannon makers for the crime of destroying the city walls.
Just as promised, the moment the city wall is repaired, the cannon makers explain how to craft cannons to the other dwarves.
Everyone listened with attention before entering their respective workshop in a group of more than three dwarves.
Just like the calm before a storm. A week after the cannon makers explained the theory behind cannon making to other dwarves, the situation in the city was extremely calm. The amount of explosions caused by dwarven experiments has even decreased by half.
But once a week passed and the first batch of prototype cannons was crafted, all hell broke loose.
Every day, there will be at least five cannon launches which cause the city's plaza to slowly turn into rubble with cracked pavement everywhere.
Among those experimental cannons, the one that succeeded or entirely failed isn't too dangerous or destructive. It's the one that neither failed nor succeeded that has caused several houses to be destroyed or even burned several houses.
Hearing about the destruction, the city's council representative massaged her temple in distress.
At last, she ordered that the cannon test could only be done outside the city.
She also spent resources and manpower to build a super sturdy platform outside the city.
The platform directly pointed toward an empty mountain near the city. It's a mountain without any precious resources or dwarven settlements.
It's pretty much a useless mountain with horrible terrains and wildlife, so the council representative set that mountain as the cannon test ground.
The dwarves who heard about it also joined the plaza construction efforts. They even added their own stash of mined metal to be used as the plaza's foundation to strengthen its resistance against impact.
From that day, the platform outside the city is constantly filled with explosion noises from cannons.
The explosion noises became even more intense when the dwarves somehow began challenging each other on whose cannon can launch the furthest cannon balls, or whose cannon is the most accurate.
The mountains that are used by the dwarf as target practice will also slowly lose their green and become a desolate mountain filled with bald patches and craters.
Those rapid and intense cannon explosions also successfully gathered the curiosity of the dwarf merchant who traded resources between different cities and spread the existence of cannons to other cities.
The spreading speed of cannon-making techniques is even faster than the speed of transmission regarding the existence of training methods in their capital city.
Along with the spreading news, the unknown newly built city has become the birthplace of cannons. Dwarves from other cities decided to call it Cannon City, while its official name slowly got lost in history.