Chapter 8 - Research
◆ To Grasp the Light
The scrap magic stone used was one extracted from the smallest of monsters. Its color was a dull, muted hue. It was unsuitable for jewelry, and the accumulated mana was negligible. There was a valid reason for using this scrap magic stone as the main material for the experiment.
It was a worthless genuine scrap magic stone, rarely used even as a power source for magitech tools. The reason for this was its minimal internal mana. Despite this, the monsters of this type spawned endlessly and had a strong tendency to store mana. When gathered in one place, they would become an attractant for monsters, and there was no effective way to use them.
Thus, even in the frontier, the difficulty in dealing with them was the number one issue. By using this, it was conceivable that the quantity could be reduced, and if it could ease the soldiers' burden, the peace in the frontier would likely improve significantly.
After numerous trial and error, a single result was reached. The lack of uniformity between magic stones was resolved by crushing the scrap magic stone into fine powder and mixing them, achieving uniformity. No matter the state, the mana retention of the magic stones remained unchanged, and I couldn’t hide my joy when it turned into powder while keeping its dull, muted color.
Using the magic stones as they were would result in irregularities due to their shape. By grinding them into powder, measuring the amount, and wrapping it in small pieces of paper, it could be handled as a uniform object. I thought this was revolutionary. However, it was still in the prototype stage. While various uses came to mind, my interest took precedence.
Moreover, in this state, the natural discharge of mana over time was higher. It would last about two months at most. I set aside the issue of degradation for later. I needed to first confirm if it could be used.
It was because I had become strongly interested in the guns from the world in my memories. In that world, bullets were fired using the explosive power of gunpowder. The transformation from solid to gas and the expansion from heat would occur at the bottom of a narrow tube, and when the bullet, which was sealed like a plug, was fired from the tube’s end, that’s how the projectile was shot.
Similar weapons include slings, longbows, and crossbows. Those used the repulsive force of the string stretched on the bow, instead of gunpowder, to propel the arrow. Hmm. For ease of handling and if using a tube, it seemed best to base it on a crossbow.
The crossbow was also present in the knight department, but if the intent was to dismantle it for modification, receiving a new one wasn’t an option. Moreover, the crossbows in the knight department were, more than anything, ceremonial weapons and not practical. It would be uncomfortable to receive one with the intent of dismantling it. When considering how much money would be needed to purchase one, it seemed out of reach.
I consulted with one of the knight department’s instructors. I said I wanted to buy an inexpensive crossbow... preferably one before it was assembled, for experimentation. The instructor seemed momentarily dumbfounded before his expression changed to one of amusement. It must have been an exceptionally unusual request. In the end, while laughing, he directed me to a weapon shop in a corner of the royal capital.
It was a supplier that provided crossbows to the knight order.
On my day off, I went to the weapon shop that had been recommended and bought the items I thought I would need. The shopkeeper made a strange face, but my status as a student from the Magic Academy must have been enough to make the unusual request seem reasonable. It wasn’t exactly inexpensive... but with the shopkeeper's kindness, I was able to negotiate a price that even someone from a knightly family like mine could afford.
I purchased enough parts for ten crossbows. They were yet to be assembled, but I had them leave out the bow and string. In essence, it was just the stock, trigger mechanism, and latch parts. That was all I needed. For the time being, that was more than enough for the experiment.
I bundled them together like torches and made my way back to the Magic Academy. Though my schoolmates looked at me strangely, I managed to bring them into the Alchemy Tower that evening. I spent the entire night working on the first prototype. The barrel was made of a wooden stick, easy to process. It was difficult to shape it into a tube, but the other mechanisms were simple enough to incorporate.
I left the muzzle open and used the crossbow's trigger mechanism for the gunstock. The modification I made was to incorporate a spiral coil and a plunger engraved with a triggering magic circle into the gunstock. This way, the latch mechanism's collapsing part wouldn’t directly strike the magic powder wrapped in paper, allowing the wind magic circle etched onto the paper to be activated without the paper tearing, and it would return to its original position. Since I made the spiral coil myself, I prepared various levels of hardness so that I could replace it at any time.
For the ammunition, I used crossbow arrows as they were. They were the type of arrows known as bolts, which were fairly heavy. I inscribed a wind magic circle on paper, ground magic stone into powder using a stone mill, and wrapped it in the paper. It had taken shape. I headed to the knight department's training ground early in the morning, carrying prototype number one to the bow training ground for its test firing.
I never expected it to work perfectly from the start. I thought that if the bolt came out of the muzzle, that alone would be a decent result. Before considering its power, I had to confirm with my own eyes whether the ideas I had in my head would actually function in reality. The bow training ground was still dim, wet with morning dew. I raised the muzzle toward the target. My shooting stance was the same as with a crossbow. I pulled the trigger with my finger.
A sound like an explosion rang in my ears, and the gunstock exploded spectacularly. Well, that was surprising. The gunstock of prototype number one was shattered into pieces. The bolt managed to emerge from the muzzle, but it only flew about half the distance to the target. This was likely due to the explosion of the gunstock, which prevented enough pressure from being transferred to the bolt, the large gap between the bolt and the wooden barrel, and the fact that the bolt was too heavy for the amount of magic powder.
Hmm... I see. There was plenty of room for improvement. The wind... no, the amount of air generated by the magic powder was greater than expected, and the pressure increased too quickly, which caused the gunstock to fail. So, that was the issue. I see. Well then, I would change the material of the barrel. I would also rethink the shape of the barrel.
I’d make the gunstock thicker and taper it down to the muzzle.
Though it was far from what I had envisioned, as the first step, I could say it was a satisfactory result.
The trial and error continued. The barrel was changed to steel. The diameter of the gunstock portion was now twice that of the muzzle. The mechanism for the gunstock remained the same. I also added a mechanism to secure the barrel to the gunstock. For the ammunition, I cut the bolts in half to match the inner diameter of the barrel. The gap was subtle, but it moved without getting stuck. Creating prototype number two took considerable time and effort. One of the reasons for this was that I incorporated every conceivable possibility.
The design was extremely simple, but it was precisely because of that simplicity that I wanted to create something that wouldn’t break easily. After all, the people who would be using it were soldiers—not exactly the most reliable when it came to handling delicate equipment.
Of course, I never slacked in my daily studies. I always attended the military science lectures, knowing that the opportunity to thoroughly study the details of past battles would no longer be available once I graduated from the Magic Academy. I absorbed knowledge relentlessly, with insatiable hunger. I couldn’t afford to neglect practical training either. Although I wasn’t blessed with talent or gifts in martial arts or swordsmanship, I wanted to build enough strength to stand shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers of the national army.
I recognized that this was the most important thing I could do when I return to the frontier and become a strength to my family. I wanted to become a strong, capable soldier and reduce the burden on my father and brothers.
--- I recognized this as my responsibility to my family who had loved me.
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