War (3)
The day a single grand mage's spell erased an entire nation from the map.
The whole country was stunned, and mages were horrified by the incident.
Afterward, the magical world poured all its efforts into researching defensive spells. They couldn't afford to let their guard down and risk a whole nation vanishing in an instant.
In this situation, the Black Shield Daisuki mage appeared like a comet.
The magical world took notice of this revolutionary research achievement. Through relentless improvements to defensive spell incantations, they arrived at the current era.
Depending on the mana and skill of the mage casting the spell, the number of spells one mage could block varied wildly. As a result, battles between mages devolved into highly focused duels of concentration. It wasn't about superior magical firepower anymore, but who could block or evade more effectively and land the most telling blows.
The situation stagnated, and while mages traded blows, combat doctrine solidified around knights and infantry deciding the outcome.
This remained the unchanging tactical doctrine even today—but a variable emerged. Guns and cannons.
Someone once evaluated them like this:
Some dismissed it as overhype, but those who'd been through combat nodded in agreement. The Heyrn Kingdom's military, in particular, felt it acutely.
"How can a fortress fall in just a day or two?"
"How are we supposed to stop the Empire now?"
"The kingdom's forces aren't ready yet..."
"Dammit, just hold them off somehow!"
Melee combat favored firepower. The fortress had been breached.
Of course, the cannons hadn't demolished the walls outright. Parts of the wall had cracked from the shock, true—but the cannons' power wasn't enough to bring them down quickly. Even so, it was sufficient to draw the kingdom mages' attention.
Seizing the moment while the kingdom mages focused on the cannons, the imperial mages unleashed their firepower on the walls. A few tried to block, but it wasn't enough. The walls soon crumbled.
Imperial knights poured through the breach. The fortress garrison, stunned by how easily the walls fell, couldn't mount a proper defense and was overrun in short order.
The kingdom forces despaired.
"We have to stop their advance!"
"How?!"
It didn't seem like they could win this war. The higher the imperial morale rose, the more hopeless it felt for the kingdom.
"What if we keep pushing fast like this?"
The mood in the imperial military headquarters was relaxed.
"We need to stay calm at times like this."
"Yeah. No need to overdo it."
"But that might give them a chance to counterattack. Wouldn't it be better to speed up the advance?"
They were holding their usual meeting, but none doubted victory. The war was flowing far too favorably.
"We took this fortress easily, but who knows about the next one."
"True. They got exposed to magic because they panicked over the cannon fire."
"Still, we've proven cannons can damage walls."
"If we could boost the cannons' power even more..."
"Then taking fortresses with just cannons wouldn't be impossible."
The discussion soon centered on cannon firepower.
"...Shall we put in a request?"
"For even bigger, stronger cannons?"
"Ahh..."
"Going smoothly, huh."
"What is?"
"The war."
"Oh."
McCallson was reading the newspaper.
"Pushed from the border to the fortress in five days. All sorts of details here. The Empire's knights and mages are the strongest... tch. Even mentions you."
"Hand it over."
"I'm still reading... ha."
Brown snatched the paper.
"Hmm..."
"Lemme see too."
Karen joined in, and they read together.
There was no mention of the Percussion Cap Rifle or Minie bullets—they'd only been issued in small numbers, not yet public info. But the cannons and matchlocks were hailed as revolutionary weapons... created by genius weapons developer John Brown and...
"Ugh."
Brown folded the paper.
"I was reading that fine. Embarrassed by what's written?"
"No."
"Hehe. Move your hand if you want me to finish."
"Well..."
"That's my paper. Everyone back off. Don't interrupt."
Brown lost interest and returned to his seat.
They asked to boost cannon power first...
The simplest way was to make bigger cannons. Scaling up would punch through walls easily. But Brown thought differently.
What if we improve the shells instead?
Like high-explosive rounds that detonated on impact. Mages could handle wall-busting anyway. Rather than upsizing cannons, why not make each shell draw enemy eyes definitively? It'd work great in melee too.
Now, how to do it...
Fuze shells that exploded after a delay? Or impact-detonated with primers?
Fuze shells would be quickest to make. But impact fuses were far more user-friendly than fussing with burn times...
Shells are consumables anyway.
Brown decided to take it slow. He could iterate later as tech advanced. For now, fuze shells were feasible.
He was finishing the proposal.
"Ahem. Excuse us."
"?"
People entered the lab, dressed in crisp uniforms.
Military uniforms...
A middle-aged man spoke.
"Imperial Army's Ergil Lingem. Thanks to you, the war's going smoothly. Came to say thanks."
"N-no, the Army's prowess..."
"Haha, won't deny that. But your weapons helped too, so here's a token from the forces."
"Wha—this is too much..."
Assorted liquors, desserts, even gold. "Small gift" my foot—way too generous.
Brown and Karen gaped. McCallson just shrugged, like we deserve this much.
"Don't worry, it's nothing big. Also, we'd like to trial the next rifle batch..."
No wonder there's so much.
He wasn't just thanking them. Brown spoke carefully.
"Supply's not our department... can't commit."
Possible, but he didn't want the hassle.
"Haha, not enough sincerity? We'll prepare more..."
"Why're you here?"
"You too..."
"Tch. Step aside. Imperial Army's Hermann Leder. About the next rifle batch..."
Another joined.
"Too late. Talk's over."
"But we haven't talked yet. This is our thanks, regardless of your decision..."
"Sigh... I said it's done..."
"They decide, right? Don't interfere. Ha, haggling rifles for that? Shameless."
"What? Outside."
"Duel? Fine by me..."
The mood soured. Why were officers brawling in a weapons lab? The staff was baffled.
"Make way."
The Research Director arrived—savior.
"Ah, Director."
"No idea what happened while I was out."
With her secretary.
"Ahem..."
"Pardon the intrusion."
They knew better, slinking off sheepishly.
"Tch. Get their units or names? Anyway, not urgent. First, congrats. New staff incoming soon."
"New staff?"
"Your successors. The Empire values your work highly. Keep it up."
"Yes, ma'am."
She headed to her office.
"Whoa, successors!"
"Mm."
The lab buzzed with excitement.
Successors...
Brown glanced at McCallson.
Just... hopefully more normal than that one.
His small hope.