NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 19
Armand, who despised bowing to others, had hardly interacted with the nobles of the royal capital for the past decade.
The military was no exception.
After becoming a lord, he completely severed ties with his former superiors—those who had once tormented him during his time in the army—simply because he had no desire to see their faces again.
I don’t even know where those bastards are or what they’re up to now…
As he grimaced with lingering regret, a sudden thought struck him, making his eyes gleam fiercely.
“Ah, right. What happened with the orc subjugation in the Prill Mountain Range?”
“The knight commander led our soldiers and wiped out their village. Aside from a few who managed to escape, we slaughtered even their young.”
“Well done.”
Armand was not the kind of man to let the orcs who had nearly killed him go unpunished.
His philosophy was simple: repay grudges tenfold, no, a hundredfold.
Even as he was recovering from his poisoning, he had relentlessly ordered his vassals to hunt down and exterminate the orc tribe by any means necessary.
In response, the knight commander had even hired mercenaries to track down and annihilate the Gray Fang Tribe’s village.
“That aside, how is your condition, my lord?”
“I’m much better now, but there’s still some numbness in my hands and feet, probably due to the lingering poison.”
Truth be told, if he had been properly armored, he wouldn’t have been wounded by a mere young orc’s dagger.
But because he had disguised himself as an orc, he had been unarmored—an oversight that nearly cost him his life.
Although it had been his own decision, Armand firmly believed it was yet another trap laid by those Brandel bastards.
Naturally, his grudge against Philip de Brandel only deepened.
Crunch!
“I’m going to recover quickly and pay them back several times over. So find a way—any way—to justify a territorial war!”
“Are you truly planning to go to war with the Baron Brandel family, my lord?”
“Of course! You know as well as I do, Herox, that if we want our territory to prosper, we need more pastureland and wealth!”
It wasn’t just greed for land and money.
Last night, Armand had a dream.
In it, a towering figure clad in radiant golden armor appeared before him.
It was as if he had seen a war god, no, it had to be none other than Valian, the War Deity himself.
With overwhelming majesty, Valian drew his sword and pointed westward.
It felt like a divine command—an order to conquer the Baron Brandel territory.
“Even the War Deity has given his revelation! No more petty disputes!”
Armand was determined.
He would seize Brandel’s land through war and completely eradicate the Brandel family.
“Make haste before that blacksmith establishes solid connections in the capital.”
“Understood. I’ll ensure everything is prepared. My lord, you should focus on your recovery!”
With unwavering loyalty, Herox bowed and left.
Armand clenched his fists, consumed with thoughts of vengeance against Philip.
“Just you wait! I’ll kill you and devour the Brandel territory whole!”
And once that happened, everything Philip had developed—including that zippo lighter and hot springs—would belong to him.
******
In one corner of the forge, Philip and Chief Blacksmith Hans were engaged in conversation.
“My lord, you’ve been spending a lot of time in the workshop lately. What are you working on?”
“I’m not building anything just yet. I’m just drawing up blueprints.”
Since returning from Campania, Philip had been designing things that would play a crucial role in his future projects.
He was sketching ideas for a sailing ship far larger and more capable than the ones used in Laterran, as well as a steam engine.
He had once seen foreign YouTubers attempt such things, and he had always wanted to try it himself.
Building a real ship would be costly and massive, so he had settled for making scale models instead. Similarly, he had succeeded in creating a miniature steam engine.
He wasn’t sure which project he’d tackle first, but he was willing to experiment.
“I’ll show you once I make some progress. But first, Hans, take a look at this.”
“Ooh, is this that new weapon I’ve been hearing rumors about?”
Hans’ eyes widened in astonishment as he examined the flintlock musket Philip handed him.
Hans had already heard from Carpenter a few days ago that Lord Philip was developing a new weapon.
“A metal rod that produces a thunderous sound, spewing flames while piercing straight through a knight’s breastplate in a single shot?”
Hans had been eagerly anticipating the day he would finally see this mysterious new weapon in person, and now, that moment had arrived.
“Lord, is it true that this weapon is not a magical artifact?”
“It is. The way it works is…”
Since Philip intended to mass-produce flintlock muskets through the forge’s workshop, he carefully explained the weapon’s mechanism and structure to Hans.
“The explosive force of gunpowder propels a lead bullet forward… so that’s why it has such a long, pipe-like structure.”
“Exactly. What do you think, Hans? Can the forge produce these?”
Hans, his eyes gleaming in fascination, ran his hands along the long barrel and the spiral-shaped stock before hesitantly asking,
“Huh? Isn’t this something that Eldir’s divine abilities should be used for?”
“I did use divine power to enhance its performance and efficiency, but it’s still something that can be manufactured in a forge.”
Philip then handed over his pre-prepared blueprints and began explaining the step-by-step process of making the muskets in detail.
“The most crucial part is the barrel. The force from the gunpowder explosion must be fully utilized to propel the bullet. If not…”
“If it’s poorly made, the barrel could burst and injure the shooter, right?”
“Exactly. That’s why the process of rolling iron sheets to form barrels is extremely delicate.”
Philip assigned different components—barrels, triggers, hammers, and flash pans—to be manufactured separately in a division of labor system.
This method was not only easier and faster for production but also served as a security measure in case knowledge of the weapon’s design leaked outside.
“Lord, after hearing your explanation, something suddenly struck me.”
“What is it?”
At Philip’s question, Hans crouched down and began sketching on the floor with charcoal.
“If we increase the size of this musket, wouldn’t it be able to fire a lead ball the size of a fist—or even larger? In that case, it could not only pierce shields but also bust through castle gates!”
“That would be a cannon. But even if we made one now, it wouldn’t be usable—we don’t have enough gunpowder.”
Cannons were devastating weapons that could instill tremendous fear in the enemy, especially in siege warfare.
However, they consumed significantly more gunpowder than muskets, and their accuracy was far from reliable, making them impractical for immediate use.
For now, Philip planned to first equip his territory’s army with muskets before considering larger artillery.
“Anyway, let’s focus on creating a prototype musket first. If you run into any issues while making it, just ask me anytime.”
“Leave it to me, Lord!”
As Hans nodded enthusiastically, Philip suddenly remembered something and asked,
“Oh, by the way, have you tried making an alloy with the manganese we bought from the dwarves?”
“Yes! Just as you instructed, we smelted it together with iron ore in Blast Furnace No. 2, and the steel’s quality has improved significantly.”
“Of course. Manganese increases the strength and durability of iron.”
Steel made in a Bessemer-like converter was already far superior to the steel produced by other forges of this era.
By adding manganese, its quality reached an entirely new level—a perfect enhancement.
“To be honest, I didn’t understand at first why you wanted us to add manganese, Lord. That stuff crumbles easily, so I thought it would actually weaken the iron.”
“That’s why assumptions are dangerous. Just make sure to experiment with how much manganese needs to be added for the best results.”
“Understood, my Lord! Also, to maintain stable furnace heat, we might need to upgrade the bellows—or rather, the air-blower system.”
Currently, the forge used horse- or ox-powered bellows, but relying solely on animal strength had limitations.
“Hmm… We should look into using wind power or water power. If we had a mage, we could try engraving magic circles onto the air-blowers…”
“Would a proper mage even come to a backwater domain like this?”
Most mages specialized in offensive magic as damage dealers, while others were healers or buffers focused on support magic.
Mages who could craft artifacts were extremely rare because the process of infusing lasting magic into objects was extremely difficult.
For that reason, artifact creators were highly sought after by royal families and great lords, receiving significant privileges.
And there are plenty of frauds who don’t even have the skill to back up their claims. They go around saying they can create elixirs that make the land fertile from the wind, or spin silk threads from pitch.
Hearing this, Philip nearly let out a laugh.
“Technically, those aren’t scams…”
The nitrogen fixation process, which produces ammonia from air, and the creation of synthetic fibers from petroleum were both real technologies that had been achieved on Earth in the 20th century—not through magic, but science.
“Could someone from old Earth have taught them these ideas?”
At that moment, Mau appeared and responded.
“So, were they brought here as Apostles, like me?”
In Laterran Orthodoxy, this world was considered the one and only realm created by the gods.
Claiming to come from another world was a surefire way to be labeled as either insane or possessed by demons.
“That might be true for commoners, but what about powerful nobles or royalty?”
“Are there any otherworlders besides me currently alive?”
“Are you actually unsure, or are you just pretending not to know?”
As he walked back to the lord’s manor, an interesting idea popped into his head.
“Would I get points if I engrave Eldir’s name on the muskets?”
This notebook, filled with doodles of various inventions, was his personal idea journal.