Chapter 30
A peaceful forest.
-Bang!
Startled birds took flight at the sudden gunshot echoing out of nowhere.
"Hmm. A failure."
The knight muttered as he eyed the target.
"Pfft. Didn't you just tell me it was because my skills were lacking?"
"Urgh..."
"What do you think is the reason your bullets aren't infused with aura? I have no idea. If it was like you said earlier..."
"Yeah. Sorry about that."
Unfortunately, no aura had been infused into the bullets.
"Too bad."
"At least the gun itself gets some aura on it."
"Even so, it's basically just a club."
"True enough."
They gazed at the gun with lingering regret.
'Might not be a bad idea to fire a few more rounds.'
They were enjoying the simple pleasure of shooting the gun and hitting targets.
"Ahem. I think it's worth a few more tries."
"Yeah. Let's use up the rest of the ammo and head back."
"Good idea."
The gunshots rang through the forest again until they'd emptied the squire's ammunition.
"...We shot it all."
"...I felt like we were just about to get the hang of it if we'd fired a little more."
"Haha. Maybe it's just today. We'll try again next time."
The next day. And the day after that. Under the excuse of researching whether aura could be infused into bullets, they headed to the firing range whenever they had free time and fired away.
"...What are you doing?"
"Putting in more powder makes it feel better when it fires."
"Even so, two portions' worth of powder..."
"Just try it."
-Bang!
"Hmm..."
"See?"
"Definitely..."
-Bang!
"Oh. Indeed."
"Shall we add a bit more?"
-Bang!!
"Haha."
"This is something."
-Bang!! -Boom!!!
They knew full well that overloading the powder beyond the standard amount could make the gun explode. But the more powder they added, the greater the recoil they felt through their bodies.
"Nice kick."
And they were having fun with it.
"This is getting dangerous."
"Haha. It's holding up fine still."
-Boom! -Boom! -KABOOM!!
"...It blew up."
"Why did the gun explode?"
The officer's question was met with the knight's reply.
"I think it's definitely a defect in the firearm."
"Yeah. Nothing special about it."
"Could be a barrel cleaning issue."
"The squires have been taking good care of that."
"Then why did the gun explode? Don't tell me you used..."
"Well... not that much."
"How much did you put in?"
"Roughly..."
The officer's jaw dropped upon hearing the amount of powder they'd loaded into the gun.
"That much would've blown it up ages ago!"
"It held up pretty well."
"Yeah. Definitely a defect in the firearm."
"No way it should've lasted that long. Did you do anything else?"
"Hmm... nothing special."
"Yeah. Nothing except wrapping it in aura."
"You... wrapped aura around the gun?"
"That's right."
Wrapping aura around a gun increased its durability. An unexpected piece of intel.
'This is report-worthy...'
The officer's eyes gleamed.
"Congratulations on the medal, sir!"
"Thanks."
As he stepped down from the podium, subordinates waiting below offered their congratulations. Brown replied with a wry smile.
Receiving a medal was a joyful occasion. And there were more rewards beyond the medal. But Brown felt uneasy. Probably because of that one line from the podium moments ago.
'Didn't expect an enlistment offer.'
He'd already done his military service in his previous life. No thanks to a second round.
"Ah, the steam locomotive demonstration is coming up soon. Want to go watch?"
McCallson spoke up while they watched the medal ceremony conclude.
"When?"
"Got an invitation. It's scheduled for a week from now."
"Oh."
What would this world's steam locomotive look like, he wondered.
"Exciting, right? A future where steam locomotives crisscross the empire everywhere."
Brown nodded in agreement.
"How's the preparation going?"
"Ah, yeah. Smoothly."
"Haha. All those trial and error moments are coming back to me."
The magitech engineers who'd built the steam locomotive began reminiscing.
"Like those all-nighters trying to boost the speed?"
"That too, but the derailing around every corner was rough."
"Right. That was nightmarish. Felt so empty once we fixed it."
"Haha. Yeah. And when we just changed the wheel shape and it worked—hilarious."
"Getting speed control right too."
"Connecting the cars was a pain."
"Sure was."
They gazed at the steam locomotive with wistful eyes.
"Looking back, good memories."
"Yeah. Pretty fun."
"Hope the demo goes well."
"It will. Soon, railroads and locomotives will stretch across the empire."
"Sigh. Grateful on one hand."
"To them?"
John Brown, who'd conceived the steam locomotive, and Kyle McCallson, who'd designed its core principles. Their other ideas were rapidly transforming the empire too.
"Imagining stuff like this at such a young age. Impressive."
"At this rate, he could rival the father of magitech."
"Not yet, but maybe someday."
"Still, we can't just follow their lead forever."
"Ah, that."
"Yeah. Steamships."
They weren't just taking handouts.
"Still in the design phase, but if we build it, it'll change the world again."
"Right. After locomotives... steamships."
They began imagining an empire transformed by technological progress.
"Quit slacking and get over here to ride the train already."
Of course, their daydreaming didn't last long.
"This is…!"
"Ah, this is called a pistol. Perfect for self-defense."
"I see... How do you make it?"
"You should figure that out yourself."
"Ah... yes, sir."
"Don't overthink it. Just think of it as a shrunken rifle."
Brown assigned pistol design to train his subordinate. Absolutely not because he was lazy.
'Maybe time to make a pistol myself.'
Brown pondered not just a downsized rifle, but a proper modern pistol. For this era, a revolver seemed feasible. Design it with primers in the rear of the cylinder, powder and bullet in the front—totally doable now. Expensive, sure.
'People drop big money on art. Guns'll be fine.'
Main buyers would be the rich and nobles; price wouldn't faze them.
'If we can make metal bullets...'
Current tech could make bullets, but practicality was an issue. Tech wasn't mature yet. Combining primer and casing, adding powder, attaching the projectile. And mass-producing uniform sizes.
Not ready for mass production. And it'd cost a fortune the empire couldn't bear.
'Hmm...'
What about cannons?
'Possible?'
Muzzle-loader, larger projectile... Brown sketched designs on paper while pondering.
"Mr. Brown. Heading out now?"
"Where to?"
"The steam locomotive demo. It's today."
"Already?"
"Told you last time. Forgot? So clueless."
"What'd you say, punk?"
'Time flies.'
The lab crew headed to the demonstration.
"Lots of... people?"
"Engineers?"
The demo site was packed.
"I'll check your invitations."
"Here."
"This way, please?"
After verifying invitations, attendants guided them.
"Oh, you made it. Thanks for coming. Tea first, perhaps..."
"Thanks to your theories, we built the steam locomotive. It'll take time, but railroads across the empire are just a matter of... As magitech engineers, during development it was truly..."
He was way more passionate about steam locomotives than expected.
"Thank you for the kind words."
After the talk, they moved to seats per instructions—a spot with a clear view of the locomotive without the crowd.
"Bigger than I thought."
"Majestic."
The steam locomotive stood on the tracks, puffing smoke. As they chatted while watching it, their greeter took the podium and began a speech.
"...Made possible by imperial investment... Conceived by Weapons Research Lab members... Developed through magitech research..."
At last, the steam locomotive began to move forward.
"Oh..."
-Chuff.
Spewing steam as it advanced, it was quite the spectacle.
In the future, cities across the empire could be traversed faster. Resources would move more smoothly too. Production and logistics would accelerate. And with that, technological progress itself would speed up.
Brown smiled, filled with anticipation.