Chapter 185: It’s a Big Boye – Part 2

Chapter 185: It’s a Big Boye – Part 2

We need to make blanks. Training with live ammo uses up a surprising amount of it.

Better yet, we'll teach the Sky Landers how to make bullets, but we'll make them pay for the knowledge. They're even more valuable than the Raki, so we want Sky Lander enchanters in return, and we'll use them to re-enchant all of the equipment of our army.

And we spend our lunch with Kaatohe discussing our goals for the negotiations.

Then, in the afternoon, the girls spread out and do their own things. I'm interested in the Titan anti-humanoid gem, so I pay a little bit of attention to that research while I work on my own project through Jarn and let my body work on auto-pilot as it makes more machinist golems.

Our court mages are trying to replicate the "seeker" magic and also find a way to counter it, which means lots of meditation as they empty their minds and use [Sense Mana] to absorb every detail they can from the "flavor" of the mana that the gem exudes. The problem is that the gem is full of impurities and doesn't have a high-quality enchantment in it since it's supposed to be single-use, so the actual function of the enchantment is hard to discern without using it on a live grenade, which would destroy the gem...

The perspective of the Punishers has helped them a lot in understanding what they're sensing, though, so now it's only a matter of time.

Then I actually try my hand at enchanting. Since I have zero points in the skill, I can only reach level thirty in [General Enchanting], eighteen less than Lina's maximum, which is a substantial difference, but I can also use specialized enchanting skills, like [Armor Enchanting] and [Space Magic Enchanting]. They're quite "dense," though, so at most, I can only put ten levels in each before my soul starts to strain.

Still, it's more than necessary for me to accomplish my plan as the enchantment I want is quite simple. Now I just need the golems to finish the parts, and then I'll assemble them through magical welding because fuck trying to use screws.

The biggest difficulty is the suspension, as it depends on the weight of what it's going to carry, but Lookwlind teaches the girls a quick and simple leaf spring system that can be loosened or hardened without too much issue. I'm heavily focusing on things that can be adapted on the fly because I'm not a mechanic, but as long as we have a workable proof of concept that isn't too expensive, I can send my project to the real engineers, and they'll do their magic.

The only thing that's really expensive is the amount of metal that I'm using... so why not use elven wood? Easier to acquire and more expensive to maintain, but I'm not planning on making big stockpiles of this, so it might be more cost-effective in the long run.

But can I adapt our lathes to work with wood...?

I send Jarn to talk to the elven repairmen while I write a letter to Istante, our Quartermaster back home. I use [Gate] to send it there instantly, costing me only a small bite of my MP pool, and Mimi is likely to be the one to receive it since she's always in the office, working on making sure our fiscally irresponsible asses don't bankrupt the lordship.

And a little green square comes back through [Bind] a few seconds later, a signal that my message was received, but it's not perfumed, nor does it smell of pussy, so I guess it really was Mimi who sent it instead of Poosh or Osaria.

Then I wait a bit, and Istante answers before Jarn can get to the repairman. She lists the types of wood used for equipment and construction, along with their strengths and weaknesses. Then she recommends that I use a more economical version of [Searing Blade] (the lightsaber enchantment) to cut wood since sawing it is very imprecise, while most of the wood types she recommended are as flammable as metal or rock.

She also informs me that Sandoro wants to come to observe the men training with guns, and I give him permission to use the Network.

As for the repair(wo)man, she's a Nature mage who looks very scared of the (in?)famous big suit of armor with Yunia's face that accompanies us everywhere, but she still answers as professionally as she can. Since we can talk face to (metallic) face, I have Jarn explain how a lathe works in detail.

"Sawing wood is never precise because of the fibers that get in the way," she immediately advises, misunderstanding how a lathe works.

And Jarn stoically replies, "It's easier to just show you what we're talking about. Do you have duties to perform? If not, I request that you follow me."

She glances at her officer, who nods in permission, so she swallows heavily and accompanies Jarn.

"You're... you're making metal look like butter!" she exclaims in awe as the hot burrs fly from the miller cutting a plate in two.

"This is how we make guns. A smith takes hours to do what this machine does in seconds," Jarn states robotically, though the contents of her words makes her sound like she's bragging.

But the professional repairwoman immediately gets to the point, "You want to work on wood with this machine? I don't recommend it. I believe it'll be the same as sawing: the fibers will get caught and warp the result. It's why we use magic to alter wood."

Sounds like elven wood is finicky, which is extremely fitting, considering how dainty the beautiful race is.

"What about using [Searing Blade]?" I ask through Jarn.

And she makes a pensive face. "Huh... it could work. If you heal the cut edges after you're done cutting them..." Then she frowns confusedly. "But wait, why not just grow the wood to already have the shape you want?"

"We require extreme precision, the kind that's so minute that you can't spot it with your eyes, so we must include our tools in the creation process," I explain and try to think of an example, but it's unnecessary as she has already seen our guns.

"Oh... I see. How about a precise mold then?" she eagerly suggests, becoming more comfortable with Jarn.

Casting isn't precise, but I think that's because the heat makes the metal expand, and then the uncontrolled cooling leaves it warped, whereas she's saying she can grow wood into a mold, not cast hot, liquid wood into it.

Sounds interesting, so I allow Jarn to reply, "May we test it with a few plates of wood? We want to know if you can grow them repeatedly within the acceptable margins so that they may be mass-produced."

Now that we're seriously talking about doing something, she becomes stiff and worried. "I've never done it before, Your High-... how may I address you?"

"Dame Jarn," she answers without my prompt.

You're a knight, now?

"It's useful to us for others to think so," she answers matter-of-factly... as if she had any other tone.

And the repairwoman bows as she politely cautions, "Dame Jarn, forgive me if the results fall short of your expectations, as I've never done such a thing before."

That's fine, we're just testing stuff anyway, so I relay my thoughts to Jarn, who nods, though the rest of her body remains eerily still. "I understand. Now, do you believe that growing wood into a mold would put it under pressure? Wood can be compressible, and its dimensions will warp when it's taken out of the mold if it's been compressed."

She hums thoughtfully, and then a light bulb appears over her head as she recalls, "Crystalwood won't compress. It's used in pillars for tall tree-houses so that they don't bend with the wind. It also doesn't burn since it's more like rock than wood, so a [Searing Blade] should work really well."

Something about referring to crystalwood as a rock irks Lina, but she's too busy to think about it right now.

"Let's begin then," Dame Jarn declares, unprompted.

She knows what I want, so I don't supervise too intensely and focus on finishing my "pet" project. There are still some mechanisms that I need to plan and refine, but it's mostly busy work as the biggest issues have been solved.

Then we start to send a few men back into the dungeon, now with guns, and Sandoro arrives at the same time, so Hana receives him since she's supervising the Lordsguard.

And she gives him a flashy demonstration.

"This weapon is frighteningly lethal," he soberly remarks as a single man quickly downs eight Living Armors in less than ten seconds, but then he suddenly becomes worryingly grim. "I pity the levies and Townsguard as they have no enchanted equipment to go against such weapons."

We can't let the old man fret over nothing, so Hana reassures him with her usual upbeat and casual tone, "In Wolfy's world, levies don't exist anymore, and the size of armies in the field shrank to compensate for the higher cost of supplying soldiers with so much equipment."

That soothes him a bit, but his white eyebrows are still knitted in concern. "I see, but the lack of levies is concerning, as that's the Temple's main power against incompetent Lords."

And I meme internally about gorillas while Hana replies, "Oh, no, if you arm the populace and focus on hit-and-run tactics, you can still bring down a Lord unless they permanently hide inside their castles."

That succeeds as it gets him to focus on something else. "Interesting. It seems that King Wolf is fairly knowledgeable about warfare, then?"

Now Hana gives her own opinion with a shrug, "Eh, relatively. The things he knows from Earth might not apply here because magic changes things. Lina already has an idea for a cheap way to counter guns, so it's only going to keep us ahead for a short time before others start to adapt."

Then he crosses his arms in thought and makes a sly face like an old white fox. "But if the Royal Institute grows, we can solidify our lead."

"That's the plan," Hana hums with a nod.

So he quickly returns to his usual stern demeanor and holds his hands behind his back again in a formal posture. "That's not my area to opine about, though, so I wish to talk about the tactics of the Lordsguard."

And I hum as I nod. Then she leaves me and floats towards Lina, who's currently enjoying an angelic pair of breast pillows.

"Lina, do you mind telling me how my brother is treating you?" she sweetly asks, making Ciel wary that another angel will steal her loli.

But our loli just answers honestly, and Ciel hides her jealousy, "He's very polite, but there's not much else that I can say. We work well together, and he's completely focused on helping us build better guns."

The pixie's wings flap a few times, and I believe it's a sign of deep thought. "I see you two have similar personalities, so it isn't surprising that you get along," she remarks so sweetly that even Ciel can't feel jealous.

And Lina remembers something amusing. "He's very scared of Aoi, though, especially when she uses her full voice."

"Ahh..." Belind hums and giggles. "Now that's interesting."

Aoi raises her big head and gives them a curious gaze as she admits, "I'm not trying to scare him, but I do like it that he is. I don't want others to bother me, so I'm fine with being feared."

Well, we're all rather surprised but not really by Aoi's remark. Most of the time, she keeps to herself, but we can glean her true feelings through her thoughts. She just has very little interest in talking to anyone but us, which makes sense since she's a dragon, but is that really healthy for her?

Such musings are left for later because Belind starts to deliberate, and I can't not listen to her, "That's what I expected a dragon to be like. The dragonkin are too boisterous, so I never felt like they represented how a humanoid dragon would behave."

"That's right! We're our own race!" Hana proudly cheers and raises her glass of heavy alcohol, which is like light beer for her.

And the pixie Princess speaks in a more playful tone as she continues, "And I'm glad that you are. Dragonkin are the most fun visitors we have... when they aren't being naughty."

"What kind of 'naughty' are you talking about?" the not-even-drunk dragonkin questions, her tone instantly becoming seductively husky.

And Belind smirks. "That depends on who's your host."

"But you're our guest here," Hana points out, staring daringly at the juicy little woman.

"Exactly," she hums with a nod. She's really a social butterfly that can get along with just about anybody.

So Hana turns sideways on her chair and pats her strong thighs as she unashamedly suggests, "Well, my lap is empty, and I'd like to have someone to warm it up."

Roxanne is clinging to her arm, so it isn't like she's completely alone, but Hana wants to be an Alpha and have women surround her every limb, just like me when I go to sleep. And Belind obeys after just a second of hesitation, and then she even uses Hana's balloon tits as pillows, mimicking Lina.

Holy shit, Hana is gonna fuck her before I do at this rate.

Especially because Urmeie might actually cockblock me.

"Watch me," Hana boldly challenges.

This might be the only way to get me to enjoy being "NTR'd."

But I'm the only one with the Cock, so I can compensate for it by destroying both their pussies later.

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