Thanks to Lord Peruka being a leading figure in the north, the work itself was not difficult.
When we said we could help from our side, the administrators were rather delighted.
Of course, in the face of the black powder Hessen showed them, they could only tilt their heads—but that was all.
“You mean to say we can shatter the barbarians’ vanguard with this?”
“They may be barbarians, but they aren’t beasts. To say they would fear mere fire… it’s a bit hard to believe.”
I could understand their lukewarm reaction to the gunpowder.
After all, it was something that had only just begun to be used in the western reaches of the Empire.
Had the east finished developing it long ago and had exchanges with the north, that would be a different story.
But the west was still in the midst of pioneering; there was virtually no point of contact.
Which meant being completely unaware of gunpowder’s very existence was perfectly normal.
So naturally, they would question whether fire could break the barbarians’ morale.
They warm themselves and cook food with fire just as we do.
Surely they wouldn’t be so afraid that they couldn’t even approach, just because we were using fire.
I would have liked to show them as well, but unfortunately, we had no surplus gunpowder.
We had brought as much as we could, but black powder required a large amount.
The Ordnance Bureau had decided to send additional supplies, but it would take at least a month.
Every handful was precious in our current situation, so it was a shame we couldn’t demonstrate it directly.
“I guarantee this item’s performance, Administrator.”
But Lord Peruka, a local notable, helped persuade the administrators.
Furthermore, my position as an inspector was also a reason they accepted it.
“Then we shall prepare in anticipation of its effectiveness. According to scout reports, the barbarians are gathering, so they will move within a month at the latest.”
“A month should give us enough time to get ready.”
I told Hessen about applications of gunpowder based on memories from my previous life.
After that, I couldn’t lend a further hand due to political struggles.
But as part of the Ordnance Bureau, Hessen actively incorporated my advice.
And shortly before departure, he finally devised something similar to what I remembered.
“For now, I’ve completed a rough blueprint. I’ve even made a prototype as close to the real thing as possible. The problem is that I still haven’t calculated the proper amount of gunpowder to put in those arrows.”
“If it’s too much, it could explode; if too little, it won’t show its full power.”
“You said we have a little leeway, so I’ll do my best to resolve it.”
Unfortunately, from here on, it was entirely Hessen’s fight alone.
All I could offer were ideas and broad concepts.
If only someone clever and skilled would drop in out of nowhere.
“What are you making? Arrows? This looks like a carriage too?”
Then one day, a woman appeared before Hessen and me.
She wandered comfortably around Lord Peruka’s mansion in casual attire.
It wasn’t difficult to tell that she was family to the old lord.
And Lord Peruka, who appeared immediately after, confirmed my suspicion.
“You rascal. What are you doing here? These are guests from the capital.”
“Ah! Sorry, Grandfather. But there are so many interesting things here!”
“Tsk. This child, honestly.”
When Lord Peruka raised his voice, the woman flinched and shrank back.
He seemed to think it unsightly for a woman to suddenly act this way before important guests.
“My lord, a moment.”
But both Hessen and I were in a situation where we could use every person we could get.
There are largely two reasons people show curiosity about something.
Either they are interested in a person, or they have a passion for the subject.
“From what I overheard, she seems to be your granddaughter.”
“Indeed. A girl who, even after coming of age, is obsessed with making strange things rather than getting married.”
“If it isn’t rude, might I hear more about your granddaughter?”
Lord Peruka wore an expression of great skepticism, but he granted my request.
Meanwhile, the woman, freed from the old lord’s side, approached with a giggle.
“Thank you! You’re the inspector from the capital, right? I’m Polia!”
“Miss Polia. Pleased to meet you. From what I heard earlier, you seem quite knowledgeable about making things.”
“Please speak comfortably. And it’s not really expertise—I just have a bit of interest, that’s all.”
The talented tend to be humble as well.
Since we had no people to spare anyway, I decided to take a gamble, as though I were being fooled.
The first rocket cart, which I had conceptualized and Hessen was trying to build.
If we could properly make even one and use it, it would be quite helpful.
The problem was that there were still many issues that needed fixing here and there.
“Hm. Then, if you don’t mind, I’ll take a look too.”
“Sir Hessen? Is that alright?”
“Right now, anyone with skilled hands is welcome. Miss Polia, I’m counting on you.”
“Aw. I told you, I’m only a little interested?”
Her eyes were already sparkling with a light intermingled with curiosity and interest.
I didn’t know why, but it seemed like a decent result would come of it. My intuition told me so.
And as expected, Polia’s humility turned out to be just that—humility.
“Lord Peruka, I have a question. Was there perhaps a combat engineer among your granddaughter’s acquaintances? Or perhaps a technician?”
“Not at all, Inspector. That child learned and picked up things on her own, all by herself. That is all.”
“If that is all, then the Ordnance Bureau is overflowing with people who should feel hollow.”
Even Hessen, who was in charge of the Ordnance Bureau, had struggled and toiled for over a month.
Polia presented solutions for those problems in just a week, unraveling them one by one.
At first, Hessen felt uncertain, but soon he followed Polia completely.
If at the start Hessen had been the professor and Polia the assistant, now it was the exact opposite.
Rather, Hessen eagerly assisted Polia whenever she did something.
“At this level, I think we have enough power for them to fly right away. The problem is ensuring each arrow doesn’t interfere with the others while in flight. But if we make the spacing too wide, there’s no point in making something like this, right?”
“Indeed.”
“Do you happen to have any more gunpowder to spare? I’d like to experiment more, even just a little.”
“The surplus sent from the Ordnance Bureau has departed, but we don’t know when it will arrive.”
“That’s a shame. It would be nice if we could make more of this here.”
Under normal circumstances, I would have checked whether there were saltpeter deposits near the western border.
But this was the north. A place that had to prepare for barbarian attacks immediately.
Searching for ore deposits in leisurely fashion had too many constraints in manpower and time.
‘Should I at least tell them as much as I know later?’
I seemed to recall that human urine could be used in place of saltpeter.
Unfortunately, since I didn’t know the details, I couldn’t even propose the concept.
When I had time later, I would casually mention it and leave it to other clever people.
“Inspector? What do you intend to do with this now?”
“It’s simple. When the enemy vanguard arrives, draw their attention as much as possible and pour everything on them at once. No matter how accustomed they are to fire, from their perspective, the most they’ve faced are oil-soaked fire arrows.”
“If we show them something that suddenly goes bang, bang! and explodes, they will be greatly bewildered.”
“After all, fear stems from the unknown and ignorance.”
“Hmm. But to make it work as you say, this alone isn’t enough. To be effective, we need at least several more.”
That was something I had been thinking about as well.
But time was time, and above all, wood was scarce in the north.
We couldn’t use just any wood, and even once obtained, it had to be carved and assembled.
Considering that only Hessen and a few Ordnance Bureau personnel had come here.
If we thought about making even one and then crafting the rocket arrows to use with it.
Expanding this to several units at once was an extremely difficult task.
“I think I can do it.”
“Did you say that, Miss Polia?”
“Yes. I’m not just saying it. This carriage you’re making for the first time? If it’s around this level of difficulty, I think I can make it. Since we’re not using this to replace shields anyway, just strip away everything useless and make it capable of moving and firing, right?”
In my previous life, machines did everything, so it was not difficult at all.
But here, everything from one to ten had to be done by human hands.
If even a single specification was slightly off, it would creak and refuse to move.
She claimed she could do it alone despite having to account for all this.
“And I think the rocket arrows, too, could be improved like this. Wouldn’t it be possible to make them fly straight to the target and then… boom!?”
“Hm. The inspector proposed that as well.”
“Really? Ooh. Then you must be someone who speaks my language. In that case, don’t you think we could use this force to launch things other than arrows?!”
“That’s the first I’ve heard of that.”
Hessen, it’s your first time, right? But somehow, I know exactly what she means.
So this is why a single genius is always necessary at an important beginning.
“I don’t know what it is, but it seems to be coming along well enough.”
Sedrun, approaching from the side, gave off a faint scent of alcohol.
At least the smell of women’s powder didn’t emanate from her, which was a relief.
“Did the talk go well?”
“She was the one who originally led a sizable force of soldiers here. If she steps up, the administrators will surely be grateful. More importantly, are you sure we can trust that and go in? If anything goes wrong, I expect you’ll take a great deal of blame, Inspector?”
“I’ll do my best to ensure that doesn’t happen, so please be fully prepared as well, Sedrun.”
“There’s nothing to prepare. Just move faster than them and hit harder than them, as always. That’s all.”
Someone who speaks of the most difficult and arduous matters as if they were the easiest thing in the world.
Truly, I thought, this must be why everyone wants a veteran.