kscans

Chapter 144 - Yuri, Take Up Your Gun 1. The Road to a Gun

"Hmm..."

Yuri was folding his arms, letting out his usual groan. What was on his mind today...

"I guess... the poverty of my military strength is the problem..."

One could not help but wonder which mouth was saying such a thing.

"I can handle things like bears or boars if I can catch them off guard... but if something like the dragons Dona mentioned shows up... a knife probably won't be enough..."

It seemed his failure to buy a dragon-repelling ward at the magic tool shop in Laurenzen was still bothering him. He did buy something that was sold as a monster repellent, but it turned out to rely on an avoidance effect rather than a physical ward or barrier, which was a bit of a letdown. Although it was a disappointment, his Dark Magic improved a little from deciphering the magic formula, so he decided to count it as a win.

"They told me they don't sell dragon-repelling magic tools, and Dona said that if a dragon appears, the only option is to run... In that case, I guess I'll have to figure out my own anti-dragon defenses..."

I see. It seemed the monster Yuri was concerned about was dragon-class. In that case, the expression "poverty of military strength" was not entirely out of place. ...It was not, but... it also did not feel like an issue for a single individual to tackle.

"Well, I obviously can't build a cruise missile or a 46cm gun right off the bat, so I'll start with something a bit more manageable."

There was no objection to the policy of starting with something manageable... but were a cruise missile and a 46cm gun his final goal?

"The fight with the bandits is also a lesson learned, so a tool that can be used in anti-personnel combat would be good to start. ...Yeah, how about an anti-tank rifle?"

In modern times, it has been replaced by the anti-materiel rifle, but an anti-tank rifle is, as its name suggests, a weapon for slaughtering tanks. There seem to be cases where it was used in anti-personnel combat, but it was not originally designed for that purpose.

"I should start with something moderate, after all."

...It was not moderate in the slightest. What was he planning to say if someone saw him with it?

"If I make it as a magic tool without using gunpowder, it probably won't cause too much trouble, right?"

...Apparently, he had given it some thought. Though his assumption that it would not cause a commotion seemed naive.

Incidentally, gunpowder was quickly dismissed due to the difficulty of obtaining the raw materials. For Yuri, who was holed up in the Salt-Sour Mountain, there was no way to obtain sulfur or saltpeter. He had heard a story about making saltpeter by doing something with mugwort, but there was no mugwort growing in this area. It prefers sunny places, so perhaps it did not grow in this heavily forested region. He could probably get saltpeter and sulfur if he asked Adon, but he wanted to keep firearms technology a secret for now. This was less about intervening in the technological evolution of this world and more for his own security. That said, there was also the matter of that bird monster (the Lucca) from before. A firearm that could be used for anti-air combat would be important.

In any case, for these reasons, Yuri embarked on the development of "magic weapons."

*

"Hmm... considering its operation based on my knowledge from my past life... I guess a kinetic weapon is the best bet..."

One might be tempted to ask if he was planning to build a beam cannon, but apparently, he was not. He seemed to have been considering something like a flamethrower using Fire Magic. However, these types of magical attacks all had a high attenuation rate and were rejected due to their short range.

"If the range is shorter than a bow, there's little merit in developing it."