A Treacherous Courtier Manages the Empire Well

44 – Gunpowder and Magic

Seeing Rando put down the communication device with an ominous smile, Chertu cautiously threw him a question.

“Is this over?”

“Yes. It’s over. Chertu. Thanks to you, we no longer have to worry about spies in the western continent. hahahaha!”

Chertu chuckled at Landoor’s laughter.

“Will we be able to adapt well here?”

“It will be difficult in many ways. You’ve never properly lived among humans, and the merfolk have never properly lived among the people of the Ailam Empire. Since it’s our first time, there will be various frictions. However, I can make that beginning splendid. I can.”

Chertu didn’t understand what Landoor meant by those words. But a few days later, she could understand the meaning of Landoor’s words.

“Everyone! hahahaha! Thank you for gathering here again!”

Landoor set up a large podium and brought the merfolk up there to introduce them to the people of Porto, the commercial city.

“I have prepared this place to introduce the merfolk who will now be in charge of the city’s security! If I may say so myself, they are very fast and very strong! They can swiftly and cleanly eliminate the criminals of this city! Now, let’s welcome them with applause!”

The people gathered for Landoor’s announcement began to applaud with bright smiles on their faces.

“They may look different, but they are very kind individuals! They helped me solve one of my biggest problems a few days ago! So, please don’t judge them by their appearance and treat them as my friends! Now, let’s congratulate the new members of the security force! Today, I will treat everyone to chicken and soda! Everyone!”

“Wow!”

A grand welcoming ceremony took place. The merfolk awkwardly mingled with the people while wearing their security guard uniforms, and the people enjoyed delicious food while engaging in various conversations with the merfolk.

“Unni, can I touch your tail?”

While the merfolk, who had never experienced such a welcoming from so many people, received hesitant greetings, a young child approached Chertu cautiously and pointed to the tail that swayed behind her. Chertu carefully offered her tail to the child in response, and the young girl touched Chertu’s tail and smiled.

“It’s fluffy! It’s awesome! I wish I had a tail like this too!”

Everyone burst into laughter at the child’s words, and Chertu and the merfolk couldn’t help but be touched by that sight once again.

To receive compliments for their tails.

In Karamba, it had never happened even once.

It was something that could never happen.

“Thank you… thank you, everyone. I will do my best. Thank you for accepting us!”

Chertu and the merfolk, choked with emotion, greeted the citizens, and at the perfect timing, Landoor spoke up again with a loud voice.

“Now, let’s applaud for the merfolk who have come to visit!”

“Wow!”

Amidst the applause and cheers, the merfolk laughed and slowly but surely became one with the citizens. Watching them from a distance, Landoor couldn’t help but let out a wicked laugh.

But Landoor couldn’t rest.

“Landoor, the development of the new explosive and ammunition factories, as well as firearms factories, is complete.”

The machine gun-related business was waiting for him.

“It’s tungsten. It was produced through various chemical processes and heat magic. We plan to mass-produce it on a large scale in the new production factories.”

“It must have been tough. Thank you for your hard work! You’ve done an excellent job!”

The chemists and magicians of Matto laughed brightly and retreated, leaving me to proceed to the next station.nn”It’s a new type of gunpowder, Lord Landor. As you said, it’s an improvement over the existing black powder. By replacing the nitroglycerin with a delayed-action explosive, we’ve significantly improved its explosive power, range, and smoke issues.”nn”Excellent! Master Leo, you’ve done it again! It’s another masterpiece of nitrogen magic!”nnLeo’s father, the elder of the powder mill, laughed with me as he retreated, and I moved on to observe the next exhibit. Caraham let out a pleased laugh as he entered the room.nn”This is… this is what you’ve managed to create?!”nn”As I said, Lord Landor. It wasn’t that difficult to improve the gunpowder and bullets. The real challenge was in creating a cannon that could withstand the penetration of the Elric armor. That’s the question that’s been on my mind.”nn”Hmm… I see. So, how do we solve this problem?”nnI led Caria to a corner of the room where a gaping hole had been bored through a chunk of monster leather, and the remains of the Empire’s ritual armor lay scattered about. Caria’s eyes widened as she took in the sight.nn”So… so you’ve actually managed to pierce it?”nn”As I told you, Lady Caria. The new gunpowder and the added penetrator are on a whole different level from the existing gunpowder. Of course, it wasn’t easy. We had to try out a lot of different bullets before we found the right one. The monster leather was like a fortress.”nnThe results of the experiment showed that the seemingly ordinary monster leather was capable of resisting even the strongest conventional bullets. So, we came up with a simple solution: if a regular bullet couldn’t penetrate it, why not use a bigger, more powerful one?nn”So, we just increased the power of the bullet.”nnI held up a chunk of the monster leather that had been pierced by one of the new bullets.nn”12x100mm armor-piercing shell. It’s filled with a shaped charge made of high-density metal. The test results showed that it could penetrate 20mm of steel plate at a range of 100 meters. Not only does it penetrate the monster leather, but it also goes through the armor of the Empire’s ritual soldiers, who are protected by magical barriers. The high-quality magical barriers have increased the efficiency of the armor penetration.”nn”Wow… that’s… that’s incredible!”nnI grinned widely at the astonished Caria.nn”Of course, the defense power of the monsters with the Elric armor is much stronger than the one we used in the experiment. But, as I said, it’s not a problem.”nnThe ability to penetrate is simply determined by the speed. If you can’t increase the speed with gunpowder, you can use magic to create a cover.nn”We’ve already confirmed that it’s possible for a magician to use an accelerant spell on the cannon to enhance its penetration power.

The weapon that can overpower anything with just one shot, but if that’s not enough, you can pour in dozens of shots to crush it.

After serious contemplation, Carya expressed her desire to witness a demonstration of this weapon, and a few days later, she asked me to gather the members of the legion to showcase the demonstration in front of them.

It was the moment to show the power of firearms to the people in the fantasy world.

A few days later, under the command of Count Elond, the members of the Ironblood Legion gathered solemnly. There, I proudly presented the machine gun to them.

Of course.

“This is a machine gun! Everyone! It is the new cutting-edge weapon that will be responsible for your brigade’s firepower!”

As expected, their reactions were as anticipated.

The Ironblood Legion members, without exception, looked at the machine gun with expressions filled with dissatisfaction or suspicion. There was no applause or smiles even after my introduction.

“Lord Landor, I am Captain Hakim of the 10th Division. May I ask a question?”

It wouldn’t be appropriate to openly express their displeasure towards me, so there was a brief moment of silence among everyone as they looked at my machine gun. Then, a single person, Captain Hakim, stood up with his rifle slung over his shoulder.

“That weapon. Can it penetrate the monsters’ hide?”

It was a valid point. Even the southern hunters could not penetrate the monsters’ hide, and they aimed only for their weaknesses when hunting. People in this world naturally had doubts about the penetrating power of firearms.

“Yes, indeed. The creatures we need to hunt reside near the Elixir Source. Those monsters have thicker and tougher hides because they absorb magic. They are creatures that cannot be properly pierced even by traditional weapons.”

“It would be a problem if we bring firearms but cannot penetrate. Lord Landor.”

“Of course it’s possible. The new cutting-edge machine gun we will use this time is equipped with new piercing bullets and new gunpowder. It’s a product that solves the issues of ammunition capacity and penetrating power.”

Even after my explanation, their expressions were still filled with doubt. So, without further delay, I decided to show them a demonstration. At my signal, people from the Merchant Guild brought out one set of Imperial Army ceremonial armor encased in monster hide.

“It’s the next-generation ceremonial armor that enhances the effectiveness of defensive magic with high-purity magic stones, and it’s covered in three layers of hide from the Crimson Bear, which is known for being the most difficult to penetrate among the monsters. From now on, I will show you how the machine gun penetrates this.”

As I said that, the murmuring grew louder.

“Can it penetrate the hide that even the Oro Blade struggles with?”

“No matter who you are, Lord Landor, that’s a bit…”

“Seeing is believing! Let’s begin!”

At my words, the workers from the firearms factory cautiously approached the machine gun and attached the belt of bullets before pulling the charging handle.

With a metallic click, the bullet entered the chamber, and the worker carefully aimed at the armor.

Everyone held their breath.

Some had expressions that said it would be impossible, while others had expressions filled with hopeful anticipation.

Amidst contrasting expressions.

“Commence firing!”

The machine gun began to spit out bullets.

The first shot hit, and the defensive magic embedded in the ceremonial armor activated, causing the bullet to bounce off.

Expressions that seemed to say, “I knew it,” appeared on people’s faces. It was a smirk that implied that the penetrating power of gunpowder weapons was no match for magic.

However, before the mocking laughter could burst out along with that expression, the second, third, and fourth bullets hit the armor, and in an instant, the fourth bullet lodged itself into the armor.

“Crazy?!”

“It pierced through!”

“The defense magic is shattered!”

The defense magic, unable to withstand the kinetic energy of the bullets, shattered, and along with it, the monster’s thick leather and ceremonial armor were instantly riddled with large holes. While everyone was in shock, I had no intention of stopping here.

“Unfortunately, I managed to block three shots! This is troublesome! What if I can penetrate that armor with just one shot?”

There was a commotion at my words.

“With just one shot? That thick leather?”

“It’s impossible! If such a thing existed, we would have used that weapon long ago!”

As everyone was rumbling in disbelief, I called out one of the combat mages among the soldiers present in the army.

“Can you put an acceleration spell on this machine gun?”

“An acceleration spell?”

“I heard it’s a very basic spell. It’s often used on catapults when spear-throwing or during sieges.”

“Of course, it’s possible.”

“Please cast it.”

The mage carefully cast an acceleration spell on the machine gun, and I reloaded the bullets after repairing the armor and leather set.

And then.

With a loud noise, the machine gun fired a single bullet, effortlessly piercing through the ceremonial armor’s defense magic and the monster’s thick leather, revealing its tremendous penetrative power in front of everyone.

Everyone’s mouths fell open, and I pointed at the machine gun with exaggerated gestures, like a clown bowing on a stage.

“The Empire’s first semi-automatic machine gun! Everyone!”

The next day.

The Iron Blood Legion added machine gun units to their official ranks.