Chapter 23
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Heavily Armed, Forward!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A week and change had passed since our meeting with the guild master over that flag.
In the meantime, we'd kept things simple and quiet.
Meanwhile, the Lich Clan folks who'd shown up in Oakwood were pulling all sorts of bizarre stunts. Because of that, adventurers' glares were getting sharper by the day.
And amid all that, some seriously weird rumors were starting to float around.
-A scream that didn't sound like it belonged to this world echoed long and loud from the depths of the Glowing Cave?
-Red lights shot up into the sky six times around Oakwood at night and vanished. My buddy saw it?
Was it because we'd heard demon worshippers had really infiltrated the area? Nothing felt like it could be brushed off lightly anymore.
Of course, our party didn't need to plunge straight into that ominous mess. We had our own path to follow.
'If push comes to shove, another city... or just head straight to the capital Dunholm.'
Working as adventurers, I'd come to realize their range felt both wide and narrow.
Bronze Rankers mostly stuck to locals, but since they weren't tied down by land or jobs, they could always shake it off and head to a new town if needed.
That's how I ended up eavesdropping on stories from out-of-towners working in Oakwood.
That's right! My apostle, rats should live well and prosper on the ground like proper rats! No need to become king of the strays!
As expected, even the Lord of the Hamster Wheel was saying the same thing. Suppressing evil plots? Let someone else handle it. My goal was the Pantheon Temple anyway.
So we handled minor Bronze Rank jobs like night watches at nearby farms and supply deliveries, scraping together some pocket change. All our spare time went into holing up in Mani's workshop.
To beef up the party's firepower.
Scraaaape.
The sound tickling my ears in the workshop was wood being carved.
Like rats gnawing food, we'd spent days shaping raw materials into rough forms. Amid the scraping, the crisp ring of hammered metal added harmony.
What I was working on now was a smooth block of dark brown wood.
"Ugh, this thing is stupidly tough."
My wrists ached.
This was Ironwood. Lighter than normal wood but hard as iron, true to its name. We'd shelled out a pretty penny for it at the Oakwood market's lumber yard.
"That's why it's pricey. Hand it over, time to add the metal bits."
Mani, who'd been pumping the bellows beside me, held out her hand. I passed her the smoothly carved bowgun body.
Carving and shaping the wood was my job, but crafting and assembling the precise metal parts like triggers and levers? That was all Mani's domain.
"Steel belongs in dwarf hands. Human smiths leave too much play—useless!"
"Makes sense. That's why the military police's guns and cannons mostly get tuned by dwarf artisans, right?"
"Obviously! Dwarves are the best in the world at handling iron."
Mani hammered glowing steel chunks, forging tiny catches with resounding tangs.
Her parts fit into the grooves I'd carved like they'd always belonged there, seamless as one piece.
Click!
"Perfect. Smooth action."
Mani nodded, satisfied.
We'd reinforced a stock crossbow's prod with steel plating for more tension, then fitted it to the body.
Finally, slotting on the top magazine completed the sleek weapon with a black sheen.
"Done! Rapid Bowgun No. 2 and No. 3!"
Two crossbows side by side on the workbench.
If No. 1 was a rough prototype, these were refined production models.
"Wooow! Mine?"
Sena's eyes sparkled as she snatched No. 3.
"So light! I can shoot one-handed even with my shield!"
"This one's mine!"
Mani grabbed No. 2, gleefully working the lever.
"Heh, now I'm packing rapid fire too! You're all dead! No more running over with my hammer—perfect."
Flawless. Now every party member was armed with a bowgun.
"Lemme see... one bowgun fires nearly 30 bolts a minute..."
Theoretically, our three-bowgun party could unleash up to 90 bolts per minute into a goblin horde.
"We can turn goblins into porcupine goblins."
But our firepower boost didn't end there!
Mani eyed the old clunker shoved in the corner—her so-called "ballista"—and licked her lips.
"Reti, I had a great idea."
"What?"
"Remember fighting that hobgoblin? This beast shone! One shot—boom!—right through its gut. You remember, right?"
Impossible to forget.
The hobgoblin went down because that powerhouse crossbow landed the first big hit.
Mani grinned, pulling a massive blueprint from under the bench.
"We still got materials and iron, yeah? Let's build a cannon!"
"A cannon?"
My tail thumped the workshop floor unbidden as I eyed the blueprint.
"This is a real ballista!"
If the last was her "ballista," this was the real deal—a spear-firing monster!
"Yep! If Rapid Bowgun's a musket, this'll be our little cannon! Like... wind the string with ultra-high-tension twisted slime silk on steel..."
As Mani's chubby fingers danced over the blueprint, the structure formed in my mind.
Crank to tension the string and load—like a genuine spear gun.
Mani spat enthusiasm.
"Theoretically, it could skewer a hobgoblin in one shot! Might even pierce ogre hide! Bundle arrows for shotgun-like blasts too!"
"Can we lug it around?"
"Break it down, pack in carts or bags. Assemble on site—boom! Whaddya think?"
Solid asymmetric warfare to patch our species' one-shot weakness.
A worry hit me.
"But... is it okay to build and use this? It's crazy powerful! City officials or military police might crack down."
Sena cleared it up.
"No worries on military police! They only regulate guns. Adventurers' restricted weapons are... uh... 'anything shooting metal with gunpowder.' Ballista's just elastic power, right?"
True? This world's laws were baffling. They probably didn't see old-school siege gear as a threat.
Anyway, a hobgoblin-slaying one-shot? Better to have it.
"Alright! Mani, build it! Tell me what to do—we start now."
"That's my Reti! You get my ideas!"
Thus, we steadily upgraded our arsenal. But was that enough?
'Need gear to stop enemies closing in.'
Like traps. Something scatterable on the fly.
My turn to pitch to Mani.
"Mani, check this!"
I showed her my sketch of a three-pronged iron spike. She got it instantly.
"Caltrops! Grown-ups used 'em to block mine entrances back home. Perfect for shredding monster paws!"
Of course this world had them.
"Exactly. We're short-legged runaways—bad at fleeing. Scatter these behind against hobgoblins."
"Then ballista—kaboom! Let's make some."
While tweaking gear, I grunted cutting wire to length.
Mani expertly sliced, bent, and sharpened them into caltrops.
I strung them on tough cord.
"Wasted if scattered loose, hard to recover. Strung like this, easy to retrieve."
Inspired by military barricades from my past life. Every scrap cost money—no waste.
"Ooh, reusable! Reti's one smart rat!"
As we bustled, the hamster wheel whirred. Goddess Rodentia popped out.
Apostle! You haven't forgotten my last request, right?
"Of course, milord! Was just about to start."
Rodentia had her reasons.
With demon worshippers in town, she needed proper holy relics to channel her full power.
This cute! Beautiful! Noble! Divinity demands materials of equal dignity!
"No worries. Cost a bundle to get this."
I pulled a silk-wrapped wood block from my bag's depths.
Red wood, finer grain than Ironwood, with a faint fragrance.
Spiritwood, they called it.
Didn't know details, but Sena said its high mana conductivity made it prized for magic staves and ritual tools.
'This cost more than the bowguns.'
Can't skimp on investments.
Rodentia was basically our exclusive sponsor.
Morning and evening prayers yielded horned rats and blessings—treat her right.
24/7 free ultimate buffer? Not an exaggeration.
A stray thought hit.
'Treating a god like a buff shuttle—isn't that blasphemy?'
Nah, per Sena, maybe just a tough spirit.
I dangled the Spiritwood before Rodentia's gleaming eyes.
"Three of 'em, right?"
Yes! Size of a tavern tin cup! And remember, apostle—settling for small now due to circumstances...
Rodentia gazed solemnly out the window at the high walls glowing red in sunset.
Once we enter the holy city with the Pantheon Temple, you'll build me a house-sized wheel! One that shakes the earth when I run! Majestic and huge!
"Sure, once we make bank."
I chuckled, setting knife to Spiritwood. Felt like carving figurines.
Scrape, scrape.
Firm but fine-grained, it shaved smoothly.
Round ears, big shiny eyes, long slender tail! Got into it, even etching individual fur strands.
Took two full days for three.
"All done."
Ooooh! Splendid! My apostle indeed! You've captured my majesty and beauty perfectly!
Rodentia spun gleefully around the finished idols. Kissing them bathed the red wood in faint golden light.
Take them! My blessing upon you!
We each took one of the so-called idols.
Carry it, and it'll block evil curses or mind attacks once or twice! Even abyssal archdevils! Or the vile gaze of the black cat goddess!
"Black cat goddess?"
She exists! Utterly wicked... eek!... and vile! Foe of Ratkin!
Black cat goddess? What next.
"Now we've got weapons, armor, talismans..."
I gathered thin iron sheets piled in the corner.
"Mani, cut these to interlock nicely."
"For what?"
"Camping gear. Rocket stove."
Here, campfires meant stacking stones for a hearth.
But smoky, inefficient, fuel-hungry. Lighting up in a dungeon screamed "I'm here, come get me."
I fitted Mani's cuts into an L-shaped metal flue.
"Simple principle. Light a fire in the L-pipe, hot air rises, sucking in outside air fiercely."
Stuffed dry twigs, lit it.
Whoosh!
Soon, fierce blue flames roared from the top hole.
Hardly any smoke—complete combustion.
"Whoa! Barely any wood, but the heat's insane!"
Sena warmed her hands, amazed.
"How does Reti know all this? Bowguns too."
Mani stuck out her tongue in awe.
"Ratkin survival instinct?"
I shrugged.
Attack, defense, chow—all prepped.
"Ready."
I shouldered my stuffed pack and slung Rapid Bowgun.
Sena and Mani grabbed theirs, faces grim with resolve.
Perfect timing—a fitting guild job posted.
[Goblin Nest Destruction]
[Details: Goblins digging nests in city outskirts forest, raiding livestock.]
[Wipe them before the nest grows.]
"Goblin hunt? Lame..."
Mani grumbled.
"Perfect for testing new gear?"
"Sweet! Let's go! Gotta show off my new bowgun! Ballista too!"
We strode confidently from the guild hall.