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Published at 14th of July 2019 09:18:04 PM


Chapter 19

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My development of weapons is progressing steadily.

Right now, what I’m developing is a machine gun.

It’s going to be a machine gun chambering 7.62 x 51mm NATO rounds. It’s a comparatively larger caliber than the 5.56mm I used for the automatic rifle.

The reason the army wanted to develop a smaller caliber was because the bigger the caliber, the bulkier it gets and the rate of fire slows down so it couldn’t give the maximum firepower they needed. But the larger calibers didn’t just disappear. Some of them are still used for several types of machine guns and sniper rifles.

—Or so the military magazines said.

The reason I wanted to create a machine gun with larger caliber was simply because it’s romance. Large calibers are romance. There’s not really any other reasons to do that.

I can hold it with the help of Blood Magic, so I can just prioritize my pursuit of romance as a military otaku, right?

But there is a problem in developing this machine gun.

The firearms I made thus far at best can fire up to 30 rounds, and suddenly now I”m creating a machine gun that can fire 50 or even 100 rounds in rapid succession, so there would definitely be a problem with the supply of mana in the firing pin.

If I infused too much mana into the firing pin, it would flow through the metal structure and discharge the bullets in the chamber or even in the magazine. On the other hand, if I don’t infuse enough mana into the firing pin, it will quickly run out and so a long burst of fire won’t be possible.

I’m still an amateur in sorcery, so when the mana in the firing pin runs out, I still couldn’t skillfully recharge the mana. I’ll probably take several seconds for me to infuse mana back into the firing pin, and since that several seconds would probably prove to be fatal, I want to make it so that I won’t have to charge the firing pin again.

And thus, I aim to make a technological breakthrough.

“Uncle Gnome, can you use this metal for the firing pin?”

“Hmm. It’s a metal that can change the color of a gemstone. It’s a material I’m familiar with. But with this alone, it still has a lot of things to worry about.”

What I’m presenting is the metal which mana can flow easily that Wolf-sensei gave me. If I use this, then I could control 1/50 of the mana I infused into it, which means I can infuse more mana into it if I use it as the firing pin.

“Then about making it into an alloy?”

Guns aren’t only made with pure iron, but it’s also made with alloys made with several combinations of different metals.

“Would it possibly work if you combine this metal with iron?”

“Hmm. It doesn’t look impossible. You really thought his through, huh.”

Well my knowledge doesn’t come from physics textbook but from military magazines, so I don’t really know how to combine metals into a steel alloy though! Ehen!

“Then I’ll try to imagine it, so please help me!”

I started imagining. I recalled the the image of disassembly in the military magazines, the intern

al structure I was shown in Guam, I imagined everything I can remember about the machine gun.

“I did it!”

It’s finished!

The spectacular large machine gun appeared sitting on top of a bipod front of me. This rough design really gets me excited!

“I made the firing pin just like you suggested by mixing it with other metals. Well, there shouldn’t be any issues with its strength, so try infusing your mana into it.”

“Thank you uncle gnome!”

To think that uncle Gnome would help me do what I want—uncle gnome is really kind.

“Alright, on to test firing!”

I chose a magazine-fed machine gun instead of a belt-fed one. If I use a belt-fed one, I’d need an assistant to help me out with it after all. My fight against my fate is a lonesome one. I’ll have to do everything myself.

The firing range I head to is the usual pastoral plains, and my targets are the usual straw dolls.

Controlling my excitement, I laid down on the ground and casted Blood Magic to improve my strength just enough to handle the recoil of the gun. The gun is already built with an optics, so I aligned the crosshair at the straw doll.

And then, I pulled the trigger.

The energetic gunfires echoed, and I turned the straw doll into a beehive. The sounds of the gunfire had a nice ring to it. People around me might just think that it’s loud, but my soul is deeply moved by the sound.

As I dumped the entire 100-round magazine, it didn’t run out of mana. The mana I infused into the firing pin is also so superbly controlled that it doesn’t flow anywhere else and managed to hold on for 100 shots. This is a huge step forward.

“It’s such a loud thing as always, huh. But unlike that automatic rifle or whatever this can deliver more attacks in quantity…this is—”

“Don’t ruin the balance of power in the world, right? I know. I wouldn’t think of handing over my advantages on my fight against my fate to other people, so don’t worry.”

Uncle Gnome is such a worrywart.

I would also probably be using my power only during my fight against my fate anyways. It had nothing to do with how the age of Flames and Steel approaching. The Prussian Empire is gonna win the war anyways. At least that’s how the game goes.

But I hope I can have some actual combat data from that time…

“You’re thinking of a bad thing, aren’t ya?”

“No, no, I’m not thinking of a single bad thing, you know?”

Uncle gnome is so sharp, isn’t he?

“Well, I’ll believe in those words for now. The age of Flames and Steel is closing in, but it’ll be great if you’re not a part of it.”

Uncle Gnome left after making that statement.

“I wonder if I can stay uninvolved though.”

When the game started, we were already in a stable period in the age of Flames and Steel.

I doubt that the empire would mobilize elementary or middle schoolers.

At least that’s what I thought at that moment.

 

 

Once I finished my machine gun, I also upgraded the firing pins of my automatic hunting rifle, shotgun and automatic pistols using the metal I used for the machine gun. With this, now I could hold a drawn-out fight.

I’ve gotten attached to the shotgun that I used to take down both the Gryphon and Cockatrice, but it needs some improvement to make it easier to use. With heavy heart, I disassembled that gun and made another one from scratch.

But there was still another problem.

Small arms doesn’t give me enough firepower.

Thus, I started the production of a grenade launcher.

But creating a grenade launcher had its own technical issues.

I could probably launch the grenade as usual with explosive spell cards, but how do I make the essential explosive for the grenades itself?

Do I use a mana-infused spell card as a fuse so it explodes on impact? But if that’s the case, it’ll be way too complicated, and if I infused my mana incorrectly, there’s a risk of them exploding.

“Hmm. How should I go about this.”

Should I postpone its development?

No, a grenade launcher would be vital for increasing my firepower. Automatic weapons and machine guns won’t be enough. In short, I’d need to prepare a grenade launcher to mow down my enemies. It’ll also be useful if I’m going to make this sort of weapons from now on.

And then I thought of something.

I kind of know how you make the fuse. Bullets are triggered as it’s spanked by the firing pin, the impact of the grenade would move the pin which would light the gunpowder and therefore create a secondary explosion from its main body.

And to reproduce this with magic…

I need to prepare an impact fuse infused with magic which would trigger an explosive spell card…

Wait, the spell card won’t make a secondary explosion, so there’s no reason for the fuse to be there.

Perhaps it would be more appropriate if the firing pin will be moved during impact and it will directly touch and flows its Mana into the spell card. Heck, I don’t think there’s any other ways to do it.

Ah, if I remember correctly, it might be easier to make a grenade round with a time-based fuse. I’ll preemptively set a timer of when the firing pin will strike, and then I’ll launch the grenade. Yeah, it seems like it’s easier to use that in the case where I need to fine tune it.

But as expected, the problem would be controlling the mana in the firing pin is going to be the main problem.

Once the shell is launched, it’ll be more difficult to control, and the I wouldn’t want the mana to flow somewhere else.

But if I use the same technique I used with the machine gun, I could just infuse mana into the firing pin and launch it. No, isn’t that a bit too convenient?

But now that I’ve thought of it, I just have to test it.

Let’s make it ASAP!

“You’re making weird things again, aren’t ya?” asked uncle Gnome in admiration.

“Uncle Gnome, about my request, can you make this thing with the spell card jammed inside it?

“Not like I can’t, but that’s one dangerous spell card.”

“Ehehe~”

“Ya’ think I was praising you?”

Uncle Gnome heaved a sigh while I was just smiling.

“But if you make it in this structure, the mana flow would be unstable. How about you make it using a metal which had low mana conductivity?”

“Huh?! There’s that kind of metal!?”

It’s the first time I’ve heard of that. If there is then I wish you had told me a lot earlier.

“If that’s the case then I could also use that material for the machine gun…”

“Sorry but this material is kind of weak against impact. You can’t really use it for those “mashin-gan” you talked about. If you use it, then the main body would collapse quickly.”

Gaaahh. Well, something that good won’t probably be possible, huh.

“Alright, then please make the firing pin inside the grenade shell using the metal from earlier, strengthen the exterior to a degree, and the main body should be made with that metal with low mana conductivity.”

“Alright, alright. Bring it on then.”

Ya—y! I love you uncle Gnome!

“Here. Is this good enough?”

What he presented me is the exact thing that I had imagined, a splendid revolver-type grenade launcher along with its shells. Kuuh! This rough form really resonates with my heart! I found myself whispering to myself to shoot and shoot!

“Okay! I’m going to test fire it right now!”

“O-Oi, wait up will ya. What if it explodes…”

It’s impossible for me to not shoot this if I have this in front of my eyes. I picked the one shell that contains less explosive charge just in case, so I’m going to enjoy shooting this grenade launcher okay!

Thinking like that, I pulled the trigger.

The moment the grenade shell launched, it doesn’t explode from the shock. It was because the pin was locked in place to prevent accidental discharges. The lock is released by the centrifugal force caused by the shell rotating from the rifling inside the launcher’s barrel which would remove the outer cap and exposing the firing pin and arming it to explode.

And then, the with the pin protruding outwards, the grenade shell made an impact.

And it bursts!

The grenade shell let out a weak burst of explosion, scattering the target that is the straw dolls.

It’s perfect! Even the effect of the explosion could be seen by how fragments are sticking into the surrounding straw dolls.

Fuhehe. I did it. I did it. Finally me and uncle Gnome had implemented a grenade launcher. Just you wait, you damned fate. I’ll beat you down good this time.

“This is a sickness of yours, innit…?”

I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what uncle Gnome just said.

But even after I developed a machine gun and a grenade launcher, my firepower is still not enough. It’s not enough to blow away an entire kingdom’s army. I mean, the enemies are also able to fling fireballs my way after all.

Which means that as I expected, I’d also need to make that.

But before that, I’d need to build up my body and my magic so that I can use that.

Let’s go towards the hopeful future!





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