CH 28

“Whew.”

When I was about to actually test the bomb, I was so nervous that I took a long breath.

“Sir Dolph, please.”

Caroline nodded her head at my words and put up a fence around us.

One of the inventions of the magicians was a fence that created a protective film that could block impact.

Kellerhan slowly raised his hand, confirming that preparations for the unexpected had been completed.

And with agile movements, he threw a bomb at the target.

The moment the bomb left Kellerhan’s hand, I was so trembling and nervous that I wanted to close my eyes.

But to check the power of the bomb, I had to keep my eyes open until the end.

A black, shiny bomb was seen flying rapidly in a parabola.

And…

“It’s a success!”

Caroline’s cheers were heard.

Seeing it with my own eyes and in disbelief, I stared intently at the tiny hole the bomb had hit the target and exploded.

I used vermilion gunpowder, but it wasn’t very smokey, thus gray smoke leaked out a little, hissing from the hole.

“I-It’s a succeeeessss!”

After confirming that everything was as planned, I was relieved in an instant and collapsed to the floor.

At that moment, Kellerhan’s large hand rested on my head.

“You did well.”

Kellerhan said.

“Isabella, you did a really great job.”

At that moment, I realized that the single word I had been waiting for ten days and nights to develop the bomb was, “Great job.”

I worked so hard because I wanted to hear that one word.

I said nothing and looked up at Kellerhan.

He smiled.

And he said something I never could have imagined, but what I needed.

“I’m proud of you.”

For a moment, I was out of breath.

As I was looking up at Kellerhan with round eyes, he laughed out loud.

“Why do you look like that? You just did a great job.”

“That…”

It wasn’t the first time I was told I made someone proud.

But it was more difficult because it wasn’t the first time.

My parents used to say, “I’m proud that Isabella is our daughter,” whenever I cracked a code or matched a blueprint.

I liked the words so much that I wanted to hear more, so I kept hanging from their desks and peering through the books with them.

But when my parents passed away and they took me to Lodgemund, I thought I’d never hear it again…

Of course, I know that Kellerhan and my parents can’t be the same person.

Hearing him saying, “I’m proud” is not enough to fill the vacancy of my parents.

Nonetheless, it was good.

For telling me he’s proud of me, for treating me who is an outsider like a family.

“Isabella.”

I kept silent as I didn’t know what to say when I heard Yuta’s voice next to me.

He tapped my hand. And he grabbed my index finger slightly.

“Sorry.”

“What?”

I asked in surprise. What does Yuta have to be sorry for?

“Because I didn’t trust you.”

Ah. He’s talking about his opposition to the bomb-making.

“Father scolded me a lot.”

Yuta laughed softly.

It was as if he had said something to Yuta while I was immersed in my research.

“You’re my bride, but you don’t belong to me, so I can’t deal with you as I like. And… ”

Yuta hesitated.

“If I say useless things to Isabella in the future, tell me right away. I want to fix it.”

His voice was trembling thinly.

It was easy to see what Yuta was afraid of.

He was afraid that I wouldn’t accept his apology.

I smiled brightly to reassure Yuta.

“Thanks, for saying that.”

Yuta looked at me with a blank expression on his face.

His lips parted, and something that didn’t make sense hovered over the tip of his lips and disappeared.

Yuta lowered his head. That boy came a little closer to me.

Seeing Yuta and I almost finished talking, Kellerhan asked.

“This bomb, what are you going to name it?”

“Name?”

“You can’t just call it a bomb. It confuses me with other bombs.”

Is that so? I was surprised as I had never thought of giving a name to a bomb.

“The word ‘throwable bomb’ is too long. You need a shorter name.”

Kellerhan said, snapping his fingers.

The ‘short name’ he refers to is probably necessary in an emergency or operational situation.

I recalled the memories of my previous life.

However, throwable bombs didn’t become popular and disappeared so quickly that it didnt have a plausible name.

“You made it, so think about it, Isabella.”

I was troubled by Kellerhan’s words.

A name. Name…

Yeah! A good idea suddenly came to mind.

“Since it’s a throwable bomb, how about calling it a TB for short?”

“Are you serious?”

Kellerhan looked down at me in disbelief and asked.

I tilted my head not knowing what was wrong.

He smiled in vain and swept his mouth with one hand.

“Any other names you can think of?”

Is TB that bad?

I thought it would be nice to be able to infer its purpose from the name.

I racked my head a bit more at Kellerhan’s suggestion of a different name.

Ah! Another good idea came to mind.

“How about a PB? It’s a bomb that looks like a pebble!”

“It’s not bad because it’s intuitive, but… Are you serious?”

Kellerhan made a bitter expression. When I looked next to him, Yuta was desperately turning away from me.

It was Caroline who told me the truth.

“Young Madam, you don’t have a sense of naming unexpectedly… ”

“Was it bad? Both TB and PB?”

I thought both were pretty good names, so I panicked and looked at the three of them.

Kellerhan, Yuta, and Caroline in turn avoided my gaze.

It’s a shock. It was really bad.

“Usually, inventions are named after the inventor!”

Caroline said in a lively voice, as if she was trying to change the mood.

“That’s right. So, there are quite a few series of swords named after the blacksmith who made them. It’s a different story from invention, though.”

Kellerhan recited several famous sword series.

“Is that okay? How about adding the dignity of the Young Madam to the bomb?”

Caroline actively commented.

Yuta stared at Caroline and his father, exchanging stories about the bomb’s name, as he carefully opened his mouth.

“…It’s Isabella, so Bellatan?”

Bellatan?!

I was terrified.

“Anyway, it’s a bit embarrassing to name it after my name.”

Bellatan is named after me.

I wanted to hide in a mouse hole, thinking that the name would be put in the mouth of everyone who knew the existence of this bomb.

“Why? I like it, though…”

Yuta tilted his head.

“But I can’t help it because Isabella hates it.”

Fortunately, Yuta didn’t insist on Bellatan.

We put our heads together and struggled for a while.

“Then what about ‘Schutan’ after taking it from Schwires?”

Yuta asked, twinkling his eyes.

“That’s much better.”

Kellerhan nodded his head.

Caroline was also convinced.

I looked up at Kellerhan and Caroline, feeling a little betrayed.

I have no idea what the difference is between TB, a PB, and a Schutan! (t/n: they’re like acronyms and abbreviations)

However, the three of them looked extremely satisfied, and I didn’t want to be troubled by the name of the bomb anymore, so I accepted the name ‘Schutan’.

***

After that, I made a crossbow and practiced how to handle Schutan myself.

Since the throwable bomb was the first weapon even Kellerhan, a combat veteran, had seen, he studied Schutan from a beginner’s point of view like me.

Putting a Schutan into a crossbow and shooting it required much more complicated handling and caution than just throwing it by hand.

I had to be careful not to accidentally fire the Schutan or hit it by any chance until I took it out and mounted it on the crossbow.

“This is worth using.”

Kellerhan whistled when he saw the Schutan fired from the crossbow burrowed into the target and then exploded inside.

“You can’t kill people all at once, but you can make them temporarily incapacitated. Of course, you can hold it in your hand and throw it like a surprise.”

He measured the exact power of Schutan by rolling his feet around the fallen target without taking his bloody remarks.

“I just wish I don’t need to use it.”

I said, squatting next to Kellerhan, weighing the damage done to the target with him.

Then Kellerhan looked down at me with a strange expression and coughed in vain.

“As a matter of fact, Isabella. This time I… ”

It was the moment he was about to say something.

“Miss! And Duke!”

Magda’s voice was heard from beyond the training ground.

“It’s time to return to the mansion.”

When I looked up at the sky at Magda’s words, the sunset was already setting.

“You worked hard today.”

Magda smiled broadly, not scolding or sighing, even as she saw me messed up with hum and dust.

“Tonight’s dinner is cream stew, chicken, and sweet pudding.”

My eyes twinkled with joy at Magda’s words.

Since I came to Barmuth, eating delicious food has become one of the greatest pleasures in my life.

“Ah, Duke, what were you going to say earlier?”

While Magda brushed off the dirt on my body, I remembered Kellerhan’s last words and asked.

“I’ll tell you when we get back to the mansion.”

I tilted my head, because it wasn’t Kellerhan at all for him to delay a story.

Is this something that can’t be talked about in front of Magda? If so, then I understand.

Having come to my own conclusions, I returned to the mansion with Kellerhan and Magda.

But back in the mansion, I didn’t hear what Kellerhan was trying to say.

Because the unexpected news was waiting for me.