As Lucia was on her way to meet Your Royal Highness with the ore, the nightingale's words still echoed in her ears.
She was truly struck by the other person's unflinching honesty.
Though I don't fully grasp the concept of love, Witch and Prince... couldn't they possibly be together? In that case, shouldn't I keep my feelings carefully hidden from the other person?
What's more, why would even she, as an audience member, feel so flushed and embarrassed?
Lucia took a deep breath at the office door and pushed it open.
"Your Highness, I've brought the ore." "Let me see it," Roland said with a yawn.
The ruler of Border Town appeared as usual, his sleepy eyes suggesting he had just woken from a nap. Leaning back in his chair, he exuded a serene demeanor with a gentle tone, far removed from the sharpness typical of other Nobles.
Lucia's inexplicable tension eased considerably. She retrieved the ore fragments from the mine's northern slope and arranged them neatly on the desk.
After being analyzed, these particles all appear nearly identical, ranging from silver-white to gray-white in color. Only Your Royal Highness, with his erudition, could possibly identify the specific mineral they were.
Prince frowned and scrutinized the samples for a long while, then carefully weighed each one in his palm before examining them under the sunlight behind him. Finally, he waved and said, "Well, well, I'll leave these minerals to Mr.Sturier to identify. You go ahead and practice your skills in the north slope's backyard. Ask Anna if you need any help." "..." Wait, you don't even know Your Highness? Lucia quickly lowered her head and replied, "Yes." Just as she was about to leave the office, Roland called her back.
"By the way, you did well on this test—68 points, ranking ninth. It's remarkable that you've achieved this level of performance after just one month of learning with everyone. Keep it up! And..." He paused. "Next time, I hope Ling can join us all." "Yes!" Lucia replied excitedly.
...
Roland sighed as he gazed at the metallic particles on the table, after watching the little girl happily bow and leave.
He was still too naive, convinced that by breaking down the materials into their elemental components, he might finally decipher the mineral veins hidden in the northern slope's mine. Yet reality revealed the vast divide between mechanical engineering and geology. These rocks ultimately yield three to four distinct metals, with the most abundant deposit being the ore of that particular metal. However, they are nearly indistinguishable in color and form. For instance, iron, aluminum, magnesium, and potassium all appear as silvery-white metals in their purest states, making visual differentiation nearly impossible.
Let's leave this issue to the Chief Alchemist to handle. After all, verifying material properties through chemical reactions is far more reliable than making wild guesses.
After wrapping up the matter, Roland pulled out a piece of paper and began devising a plan to tackle this year's Evil Moon.
With summer drawing to a close, the three-month autumn period became his final preparation window. He must now guard against both the western invading beasts and the eastern threats from Tefiko and the Church. Unlike the previous year's dire straits, his administration now boasted a significantly expanded population and revenue, steadily increasing iron smelting output. With over a dozen more witches added, he was fully confident in transforming the western frontier into an unbreachable fortress of copper and iron.
Based on last year's combat experience, the greatest threat to the city walls undoubtedly comes from hybrid-type evil beasts. When enemies possess heavy armor that bullets can't penetrate, the only options are either deploying explosive packs at close range or sending witches to fight outside the city walls. Either approach significantly increases the danger.
Moreover, most of his adversaries were primarily cavalry and infantry, unfamiliar with the siege weapons of that era. Had the enemy deployed a torsion catapult or even a more advanced counterweight catapult, he would have faced significant challenges—after all, front-loading artillery was notoriously difficult to fire downward, requiring repeated muzzle elevation during each reload, with shells often rolling out of the barrel.
It is imperative to develop a more powerful artillery.
Roland pondered, jotting down the metrics he needed on paper.
First, it must have sufficient range and firepower to penetrate the armor of hybrid-type evil beasts from a distance of one kilometer. Second, it should be a reloadable weapon capable of freely adjusting its elevation angle while maintaining rapid firing capability. Finally, to minimize redundant R&D time, the design should incorporate multi-purpose functionality: it can serve as a fixed gun emplacement to suppress enemies, or be directly deployed onto ships as the primary weapon for future shallow-water heavy gun vessels.
So it should be a heavy gun with a large caliber and long barrel.
Roland initially envisioned the massive 15-16-inch battleships with their dozens-of-kilometers-range guns, capable of digging several-meter-deep pits with a single shot. Yet he quickly dismissed this impractical idea. While the manufacturing process was feasible, Border Town's current material capabilities meant that nine out of ten cannons would likely explode. Even if the barrel walls were reinforced to over a meter thick, the resulting weapon would lose its practical value due to its immobility.
Currently, he can only produce high-purity wrought iron and standard-grade steel, so it's better to adopt a conservative approach.
Roland ultimately settled on the caliber of "152mm" as the sacred number of God.
The cannon employs a vertical wedge-type breech, functioning like a sliding door that reveals the barrel for loading when lowered, and locks securely when retracted to propel the gunpowder gas forward. Compared to screw breeches and horizontal wedge breeches, it achieves the fastest firing speed with a remarkably simple mechanism. The mechanical structure had long been thoroughly mastered in his mind.
To achieve rapid firing, artillery systems require a recoil recovery mechanism. Essentially, this system consists of two cylinders: one filled with hydraulic fluid and the other containing a recoil spring or gas. When the muzzle recoils, the two cylinders' connecting rods simultaneously compress the hydraulic fluid and recoil mechanism. The hydraulic fluid absorbs the recoil force, while the recoil spring stores energy to push the barrel back to its original position after firing.
Finally, there are the shells.
With the advent of holy cannon technology, the crude solid iron balls and paper-wrapped shotguns were no longer sufficient. To ensure reliability, Roland developed two types of fixed charges simultaneously: an enlarged bullet with a solid metal warhead, and an explosive warhead with a trigger fuze—later known as howitzers. The latter posed technical challenges, requiring extensive testing of the fuze's reliability, making it impossible to deploy before the Demon's Moon. Thus, producing the former first became essential to address supply concerns. Even the solid warhead proved effective against slow-moving armored demons and stationary siege engines.
Naturally, all types of artillery shells require substantial amounts of smokeless powder. Before the two acids were mass-produced, these advanced cannons could only be used as specialized weapons, making it impossible to achieve a full-scale artillery bombardment.
Just then, the bodyguard pushed the door open and walked in.
"Your Highness, there is a confidential letter from the royal capital." Roland set down his quill pen and opened the envelope. The letter bore no signature and the handwriting was illegible, yet a single sentence clearly indicated it was undoubtedly from Tasa.
A contingent of about a thousand men departed the capital today, heading westward toward the frontier.