Chapter 265 – Identification

Now, I have successfully strengthened the harpies, but the fundamental problem has not been solved.

“Mass production of weapons and ammunition is the problem.”

Aside from the magic rifle, the gunpowder bullets used by the gunners and the air bombs used by the harpies cannot be replenished without me making them. This is a very problematic situation.

“Even so.”

It is almost impossible to make bullets with the current technology available. First of all, there is a huge lack of chemical knowledge to mix gunpowder and detonators, and there is no industrial capacity to mass-produce shell casings.

There may be a chance to make bombs, but the problem here, too, is the gunpowder and fuse. Well, we can try to use black powder, which is relatively easy to manufacture, for the gunpowder, but… the fuse only needs to be able to ignite the detonator, and it may be surprisingly cheap to make it in a magic tool style. As for the manufacture of air bombs, I’ll throw a development idea to the Research and Development Department.

I remember the general ratio of black powder, so I should be able to make something reasonable through trial and error. As I recall, it was 10 to 20 percent charcoal, 10.5 to 20.5 percent sulfur (a little more than charcoal), and 60 to 70 percent saltpeter.

Why do I remember all this? Didn’t you remember this in junior high school? Eh? You don’t? Really? Well… no, that’s okay. I was just deeply etched in my mind under the influence of that disease peculiar to junior high school students. Hahaha.

Anyway, I’ll use black powder for the gunpowder, and the bullet shell should be able to be made by molding. The fuse should be an ignition circuit using scrap magic stone, so it might be relatively manageable. If we use magic stones or magic crystals to trigger the explosive magic, would it be possible to increase the power? I think the cost would be too high, though.

I guess the problem is procuring sulfur and saltpeter, but are there any places around here where we can get them? I don’t think I’ve heard so much about volcanoes and hot springs… I think saltpeter can be extracted from caves where bats live if there is guano… Well, I guess that’s the domain of alchemists, isn’t it? Around that area.

If there is a place where you can mine saltpeter without having to go to the trouble of extracting it from the bat’s guano―feces, there is no need to be concerned about the bat’s guano if you can produce saltpeter.

I will also attach a sample of the saltpeter and sulfur that I have produced with my abilities. If I can make the same thing, there is no problem. I will also attach a sample of black gunpowder produced with my ability. Until now, when I tried to make gunpowder, I had to create a mysterious powder that was classified as “gunpowder,” but now I can make pure black gunpowder using item creation.

Well, the usability of “gunpowder” is far superior… It can be used for both gun charges and explosives. What’s really going on with this gunpowder?

I’ll put all the suggestions regarding bombs and gunpowder on paper and send it to the Research and Development Department in Merinesburg. It would be better to let Isla and her team decide whether to use the black powder type or the magic stone or the magic crystal type, considering the cost. It is essential that the production be possible only with the resources of this country, so we should avoid a situation where we have to depend on imports from other countries.

“Grande.”

“Mn? What is it?”

“This is a highly confidential document. I’m sorry, but could you go give it directly to Sylphy, Melty, or Isla?”

“Hmm, that’s okay. You owe me one, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll do whatever you want me to do to the best of my ability.”

“Good. Do not forget your words, okay?”

With a grin, Grande walked out of my development office with a box of documents and samples. As soon as Grande flew, the documents and samples would reach Merinesburg. In a sense, it is the safest means of transportation since there is no chance of information leakage.

“Hah… Well, what’s next?”

Mortars are, after all, surface control weapons that consume large quantities of ammunition, so they place a heavy burden on logistics. This is the problem with modern weapons that require massive supplies. Since they are designed to demonstrate their power by consuming large quantities of ammunition produced on the premise of mechanized industry, it is too much of a problem to make gunpowder-type weapons that depend on me for ammunition production standard equipment.

On the other hand, the magic rifle was made using only the technology of this world, and the only consumables are magic stones, magic crystals, and lead bullets, which are used as propellants, so it is relatively easy to replenish. As a weapon, it is clearly more useful. My gunpowder weapon is only a blunt weapon when I can no longer use my ability.

“Hah, stop it, stop it.”

Lately, whenever I have time, all I can think about are weapons that kill people. In a way, this is a sickness. I think I need to reset my brain by doing some research and development of something terrible and stupid. Maybe I’ll make a staff that shoots a beam of light that will make the oni girls’ bodies smaller, or a soup that will make my body bigger than theirs, or an ointment that will extend the size of my ‘thing,’ or some other jokey thing like that.

“You look like you’re thinking of something bad.”

“It’s so evil.”

“I think I’ll go for a walk…”

“Ah! No fair!”

The oni girls are making a lot of noise, but the mysterious items I just thought of are not my domain but that of an alchemist or a mage. I don’t think my abilities are suited for making such unreasonable items. Is it because I lack imagination? Is it possible to create interesting items by using a grant workbench? I haven’t touched the workbench much.

Yes, let’s try to touch the grant workbench. I might be able to create something interesting.

I took out the workbench and set it up in the lab.

Basically, rather than creating an item, this is more like adding materials to an already existing item to give it some kind of effect. And since it creates items with rather broken performance, if it is used too often, the balance will collapse, and it will be a disaster. It could be a case of God making a mistake in adjusting this item.

“What is that?”

“A grant workbench. You can combine various items with magic stones, magic crystal stones, magic crystals, and other magic items to give some kind of magical effect.”

“What do you mean by “some”? Can’t you just choose one?”

“According to the results of the verification, it is not possible to choose. The direction is determined to a certain extent by the nature of the original item. For example, a hammer cannot have an effect such as an increase in sharpness.”

“Hmm… so a blade will increase sharpness, a blunt weapon will increase destructive power, and so on?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

There are not many magic crystals on hand. The magic sparkling stone is in my inventory because I don’t have a safe place to store it.

“So, what happens if Danna-san’s gun is used?”

“Eh?”

“Eh.”

I had never thought of that idea before… because I had an image that magical grants are for swords, spears, armor, shields, and so on, so I had not even tried it.

“Didn’t you try it?”

“…Yeah.”

Stop, you three, don’t look at me like that. That look affects me.

“No. There is a deeper reason for this. The Research and Development Department first used it to mass produce a variety of broken items and other items that would be bad for this world, so it was categorized as something that shouldn’t be used, you know?”

“If you can’t use what’s available, you lose it.”

“It doesn’t matter what means you use, does it?”

“It’s better to do it than to think about it.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

Kuh, as expected of adventurers… these people are certainly living their lives by throwing common sense. No, actually, I mass-produced a magic sparkling stone and received silent pressure from everyone to never use it again because it was bad for the heart… Yeah, that’s an excuse. Yes. We will use it.

As a result of experiments, I know that using a stronger catalyst produces a more powerful effect, so there is no point in going into the trouble of using a weaker catalyst. I’m going to use the magic sparkling stone from the beginning.

“I wonder what I should use as a base…”

The guns I have on hand right now are… well, a lot of them. After all, this is the assault rifle that is the most widely made in the world, safe and reliable. Mine is a modified version with a straight barrel and a slanted muzzle.

“Okay, I’ve decided on you.”

I set the assault rifle and the magic sparkling stone on the workbench and started to grant it. It would be interesting―or not so interesting―if it crashed with an error or something, wouldn’t it? I’m scared just thinking about errors and crashing the client.

Please, please don’t let an error occur due to mod interference or something like that.