When the season shifts from summer to autumn. Lynne came to visit me with a serious look.
I don't need to ask you anything. It is a story of wanting me to go dragon hunting to make up for the food that is expected to be scarce.
… I am ready for this moment.
The pharmacist completed the black powder, and Mr. Ceres built two wooden cannons with one prototype and one for production.
It is a force that can be disassembled and transported (soldering), considering that it passes through the Great Forest and reaches the top of the Great Mountains.
The bullet was based on the ceramic that had been baked in the soil processing village, with a blade on the tip made by the stone processing elves with tannins.
Pierce the dragon's stiff scales with kinetic energy and a sharp blade by weight.
The whole set of gear was in place during the last year.
Shortly after it was finished, we were going to test whether we could really penetrate the dragon scales, and asked Mr. Listella to get a shield made of dragon scales.
I can see how rare the dragon material is when a shield made of a single scale costs 68 million astr. They say that swords and eyeballs made by sharpening fangs are treated as national treasures.
Dragon scales (candles) are blunt red copper coloured, thin and light. It was something that made me wonder if it really had that strength.
But once in a while, I didn't even freak out when I tried hitting him with a hammer, and Lynne tried shooting him with a bow and it didn't scratch one.
There is no change when it comes to the fire, and I tried to candle with the iron fleas and hammers that were left in the mine, but no dents.
I decided to give the dragon's scales (candles) a test with cannons where I knew that they were real and that their twitching toughness was too much.
In the meantime, I fixed the shield about 100 meters ahead for a test shot, but most of the elves I was watching lost their hips in surprise at the great explosion sound of the firing.
I think what seemed fine was the pharmacist who formulated the gunpowder himself and about Lynne who was operating the cannon.
The result, by the way, was a brilliant penetration. I don't care how many times Lynne shot me with an arrow with a black crystal stone claw on it, I don't have any teeth, so I think it's pretty powerful stuff.
Even though it is nearly one meter long and one meter across, the accuracy that made it hit a single scale 100 meters away is also amazing.
According to Lynne, who operated the cannon, there's a lot in common with bow aiming. I've never shot either of them. I don't know, do I?
The pharmacist's staring at the smoking cannon for some time after it was fired must have been thinking about when it was used in contention. If the gunpowder you formulate hurts people, that's complicated as a pharmacist in a position to save lives, isn't it?
And I guess Lynne was staring at me with a harsh look sometime when she used this to confront the dragon.
After the test shot, we all considered the results, but we found out we could pierce the scale, so whether we could defeat the dragon in one blow is a different story.
If I couldn't defeat him with one blow, it would be this way for the dragon to burn to death by the flames it throws up.
The pharmacist painted a picture of the dragon and estimated the position of the heart, but it's quite difficult to pinpoint the person who moves...
At that time, however, it was once put on hold, surrounded by subtle silence. But now again, a decision is imminent as to whether or not to take the adventure of life.
As far as we can tell, the dragon is a giant creature that reaches 100 meters in length.
It is a serious scourge that no 100 skilled elf archers, no more than 10,000 human soldiers, just have to flee and wait for them to leave when they attack villages and cities.
Dragon hunting is an extremely dangerous act, not least if you make one mistake, but if you fail to grasp one possibility, it is here that you die.
I really had hesitation in letting Lynne go, and once I decided to ask her to go home by saying 'I want you to think about it overnight'.
Once Lynne is back, I'll think about it.
... As a first resort, if you reduce the food you pay the elves, you don't have to send Lynne on a dragon hunt.
But enough to supply 170,000 people. With a total of 360,000 people, it's less than half from a sufficient amount.
When I asked my sister, who was familiar with this kind of thing, she said, 'I don't think I would starve to death if I just stood still without letting her work. But I think there will be quite a few people who will get sick if they are exposed to the cold, and depending on the cold there may be people who will freeze to death. Those who are losing strength may not be able to cross the winter...'.
Hundreds of thousands of Elves are going to have a hard winter on an empty stomach.
It would be too sad if I opened up from the standpoint of slavery because of it, but freezing to death here.
And if that happens, I'll have acted irresponsibly.
I can't apologize to Lynne, the pharmacist, and the other elves who worked hard with me.
But I...
I couldn't make my last decision and went for a walk to chill my head.
It's already dark outside and I walk around relying on the dim lights of Cantera.
Fuel is precious, so most buildings are dark and quiet.
I guess it's the pharmacist looking around at the patient with the little lights running in the hospital room.
And I notice a thin light light leaking from the building that was just a warehouse.
I glanced softly wondering what it was, and there was Lynne, where she was polishing the cannon with all her heart.
I know that if it serves as a tool to keep my life, I will inevitably be tempted to take care of it.
Nevertheless, Lynne's expression was somewhere impatient.
I carefully take care of every part of the disassembled cannon until it is on the pedestal, even though I would be tired of running around to collect it during the day.
... maybe this is a hard state to stay still and can't help but do something. It's not a very good mental state.
Lynne inadvertently stopped her hand when she looked at it with complicated thoughts, and when she wondered if she had looked at her right hand still, she squeezed it together with her left hand and nodded at the spot.
I clearly saw tears shining in Lynne's painfully distressed eyes.
I don't have to think about it, I guess I'm thinking about my sister Rene, about Rene's right arm, which is gone.
He's showing good health in front of me, but according to information from the pharmacist, some time after rescuing Mr. Rene, he came around in the middle of the night and said, "... can't you cut off my arm and put it on my sister? 'I hear you've said it before.
"Don't be silly! You seriously think Rene would be happy to do something like that and take her sister's arm!
And when he got angry at me at me for being tight, he went back as a shun, but what a dangerous story.
The pharmacist then asked me to comfort Hilse gently, who is also from the same village and older, but Hilse, a longtime associate, said, 'I feel a little unstable in my spirit'. That's exactly what I'm seeing right now.
... This is something I need to do for you...
It was in me that the conclusion hardened as I stood up after a while and watched Lynne quietly resume caring for the cannon again...
30 Sep 422 Continental Calendar
2.2% Continental Unification Progress at the moment (Parklen Mine Owned - 379,708 Elves) (345 Viscount of Parklen - 345 villages of Elves - 63,601 inhabitants)
Asset holdings 3,583.8 million
Distributed Lynne (Elf's Archer) Rhina (Class B Adventurer) Lena (Elf's Textiler) Ceres (Elf's Woodworker) Listella (Hired Store Manager) Lucrea (Elf's Pharmacist) Nina (Parklen Mine Operator)