「Earth. Please hear my instruction」
Appealing to the Earth, a circumference of 100 meters including underground was analyzed, geological features were investigated.
「Alright, this is quality land. Clay and Quartz are both adequately present」
It is the thing I was searching for, a sigh of relief was expressed.
Both of the two are substances that are present in the ground anywhere.Small quantities of clay can taken from the ground with a bit of difficult digging, quartz is everywhere as long as there is sand, of course it is all naturally mixed in there.
Anyone happens to be looking would see a white milky stone in sand pit. That would be quartz.
「[Busshitsu Sousa (Matter Manipulation):Nendo (Clay)]」
The Mana of the Earth was influenced by the magic to extract a specific substance.
Impurities stripped away and taken out of the clay that was blown up from the ground.
It billows up while surrounding me, drawing up an enclosure that has a radius of 30 meters.
And then its volume extends skyward, once it stretches up to about 5 meters it closes in to the center of the circle, and then meets at the summit.
Just now, I hade completed a dome made of clay.
There were several spread out 60 cm piece square holes, furthermore, there is a opening of about 2m in one place facing the ground.
I go outside throught that.
「[Busshitsu Sousa (Matter Manipulation):Sekiei (Quartz)]」
And then, quartz was processed around the small square opening, and was arranged in order to fill in the hole.
The process finished after calling on the Earth Mana, it is called upon to fix it into the perfect spot.
「Now time for the Fire. Mana of Fire. Lend your Power. [Goku En (Prison Flame)]」
An enormous flame is created by calling on the Fire Mana.
The affinity level is at 80, though it falls behind Earth, still the quality of the affinity is exceedingly more than sufficient.
The dome has a radius of 30 meters, that is because there is a limit to how well I can control the fire. It is very difficult to handle Fire Mana, even with my Skill and Magical Power, any more and it would be unreasonable.
The flame I summoned was able to completely swallow up the dome made from clay and quartz.
In tune with the Fire Mana, the dome kept being heated up while its state was being checked and adjusted.
Little by little, the reddish brown clay becomes tough bricks, and next to them the quartz melts into a red liquid.
Starting the tuning with the Earth Mana as the first step, and then taking a tight control over Fire at the same time, it is managable somehow or another because Kuīro is loved by ores and minerals.
Impurities were filtered out from the quartz that is nearly a red burning liquid. Unlike the clay, the impurities of the quartz could not be removed unless it were in this state of matter.
Perfectly, the clay hardedns, the impurities from the quartz was confirmed to be completely eliminated by my conversion magic.
「[Reikyaku (Cooling)]」
Fire Magic is not only just an attribute of simply a magic that specializes in burning. Its true nature is that of heat manipulation. Those extraordinarily proficient at it can even remove heat.
Taking away the remaining heat from the burning clay, the red hot melted quartz began to cool down.
And with that, the quartz had started to become transparent, with it transforming into a magnificent quartz glass. The transparancy of the glass produced with quartz is absurdly high that ordinary glass wouldn't even be a good comparison.
「Alright, it is finished. As one would expect from a Dwarf. Contructing a workshop made of bricks in only ten minutes」
The level of skill would fill even me with admiration if I would say so myself.
Baking clay to turn them into bricks. Gathering Quartz and then melting it into glass. Although all of it were simple processes, there would be considerable equipment and costs in order to do so normally.
Reasonably, because when it comes to contructing a house, nonetheless it would cease to be labeled as simple work. Clay baked into bricks would change size, quartz would become smaller when impurities were removed.
Before the baking step, how it changes would have to be read completely by intuition and experience. For sure the dwarf's intuition, it is where Kuīro's true worth is shown.
「Now then, shall I throw in the armors and swords」
The armors and swords were processed by mineral manipulation with the power of the Earth Mana that I borrowed, after sending it in through a spot that has a door like opening.
Earth Magic is convenient as expected. It is annoying to be unable to normally handle it in the form of an elf.
「I wonder how much could be assembled today」
I melted the armors into a syrup with Fire Magic, furthermore the minerals are controlled with Earth Magic, the metal towards the entrance was turning into a fluid. A simple door was made to cool things down, furthermore, additional parts were affixed to make opening and closing it possible.
With this, the workshop is complete.
Finally the weapons production can really begin.
Concentrating, the magic was invoked, the armor and swords all melted.
「In any event the Empire's iron manufacturing technology is still very immature. There are too many impurities」
Iron ore without any changes in terms of usage is not that much of a durable material.
Therefore, the impurities has to be eliminated in the iron to change it, moreover a high output furnace along with a certain amount of knowledge and technique is required. The swords and armors that I melted down were quite poor.
Various metals in the mixed and blended together state of the Sword and Armor lumps were dissolved, one by one each metal is sorted, and ingots are made.
By doing it this way the melted ingots can now intentionally have impurities mixed in to create Steel.
Pure Iron is great. But, the introduction of impurities mixed in on purpose can change it into a different more suitable metal.
What is being made right now is the rim of the Bow. It is the piece where the bowstring is set up.
What is desired is, a good flexible spring board for performance. The rim is completed with a suitable alloy by adding a metal to surround it according to a Dwarf's iron based experience and intuition.
Using the impurities in the metal that orginally came from the armors and swords, I created the the best and most optimal metal.
And then, the mass is now molded into the shape of rim.
The size is approximately 50 cm. For a rim of a bow it is quite small in size but it is fine like this. At any rate I am making a crossbow and this is the part is exactly what is desired.
Including the spares more than 50 units were made. The Craftsmanship of a Dwarf forming the shape doesn't have even 1 mm of difference and all 50 rims are completed with perfection.
Furthermore the next step is the arrow firing support next to the reel. Then the trigger divided into two parts, finally the pedal of iron attached to the cross bow at a specific point and completed one after the other.
Each construction was simple since the parts could be produced with a simple mold practically with easy control. As expected of metal melting and hardening, even for me it is impossible to make a crossbow all in one go.
「Next would be the arrow, the screw, and power spring」
I built the arrow, spring, and screw with no more than the necessary amount of iron. Since the parts of this category are reusable in others in any amount a lot were made.
The Crossbow arrow, is called a bolt with a thick and short iron rod. It is built into the perfect shape to raise penetration power. When the stage of this process is cut the accuracy would sharply decline.
I have gotten used to making Crossbows. It has often been made in countries where civilization has only developed halfway.
With my Knowledge and ability to control magic, also the Dwarf's aptitude in Fire・Earth Attributes would make creating a gun possible, but making a crossbow in particular is desired.
「Gunpowder is not attainable」
In general, to obtain gunpowder, saltpeter is necessary. Luckily finding a saltpeter mine is just something that doesn't happen very often. Though there is a way to get saltpeter from excrement.
That would take five years for production, the excrement from the population of the Elf Village for a full year would only have enough that would be completely used up in a few times in battle so it is not realistic.
To purchase saltpeter it is also a rare and expensive item. Basically the gun is only maintainable by the military of the rich.
「Also the maintenance is very bothersome」
Even guns as simple as a matchlock would be distorted with the slightest bending of its structure, and then there is soot jamming, it becomes difficult to use with the most trivial of things. Some degree of Knowledge is required for effective use.
In that respect, crossbows were usable with just a little bit of training, and the structure is simple.
「Later on, there would have been a problem with the absurd amount of iron consumed」
Another thing to note would be the amount of iron consumed for the gun which is no match for the efficient ratio for the crossbow. When mixed into bullets, there would not be a sufficient amount that could be prepared. Metal is valuable. There are various applications to it besides just weapons. Since the only method to procure it is through plundering the Empire, there is nothing else but to abandon that.
For the case of the Crossbow, it is a huge positive for the components that can immediately be manufactured out of wood to support the foundation.
However, the wood craftsmanship can only be done by hand.
Since the part is produced normally, I breathe a heavy sigh when I start working with the wood by hand. [tln: Yeah, he is lazy.]
Because I cut the planks of wood into a moderate thickness yesterday, first would be to cut out the proper dimensions. The sharpness of the knife is strengthened by Maryoku. As if it were heated up butter the wood was cut.
That can start out to serve as its foundation, the rim is passed through the hole, the grip is installed at the end, a hole is dug out to insert the pedal, and the foundation is complete.
With the skills of a Dwarf, diagrams were drawn up in the head with the power of a true craftsman's artistic skill.
「Okay then, the components are completed with this」
And now, the main body of the rim was pierced into from the front, the grip is attached and united with the trigger installed to the bottom, it is fixed to the wood with the screw. Furthermore, a spring is installed for the rewinding of the trigger component.
In addition to the reel placed on the top, an iron ring is installed in the pointed front.
The Crossbow is completed with this. After the bowstring is affixed it is finished.
「If it were a normal thread, it would snap, but this is a moiré pattern woven thread[TLN:Think Spider Silk level strength]」
I begin the final process. A single thin sheet of wooden boards is baked at a low temperature, charcoal is made. In addition to part of the composition being carbonized by Earth Magic, a thread of carbon(Carbon Fiber) is made.
Carbon fiber is on Earth one of the most toughest of threads. Twisting it and overlaping it repeatedly creates a thicker thread, furthermore its strength is also increased.
The thread is strung up around the rim.
The product is now complete.
Just in case, the trigger is pulled as a test, the protruding reel lets it jut out as it withdraws, the trigger is released, and the spring returns it to its original position.
「Shall I test again one more time」
I pulled the chord with the muscular power that was reinforced, and the chord is hooked back onto the protruding reel. In this regard the checking of the bow's strength is not forgotten.
「The Bow Strength is, 89 kg.That's twice that of Father's Long Bow」
With a tough plate spring, and due to the carbon fiber, even with a rim of 50cm, twice the power of a wooden bow can be shown.
Needless to say, such a thing cannot normally be drawn. However, a function that resolves that has been added to the crossbow, even without something like stengthening by magic, even a girl like Lucie can handle it.
「Bang!」
I say so aloud while pulling the trigger, the protrusion that was containing the bowstring sank down, the chord was unleashed, it bounced with a intense power.
The truth is that it is not recommended to shoot it without an arrow loaded in since it would damage the crossbow.
「Lastly the test firing」
The body is strengthened by means of magical power.
And then, the top ring is pushed against the ground, and the right foot is placed into the ring.
Both hands are placed over the bow string, and it is pulled up with both hands and back muscles.
In general, for a bow that could be pulled with one hand, the bow power of 45 Kg is the limit that could be handled by a human. But, if it can be pulled with both two hands and back, it would be easier. In any case the average national Japanese Female Highschooler's measurement of back strength is 100 Kg. A bowstring of 89 Kg should not be unusable.
I effortlessly drew back the bowstring and hung it on the knob.
This time, an arrow is properly placed on top of the reel to shoot it. A cavity was made to stabilize the arrow on the reel and for the arrow to be shot cleanly.
Alright, the arrow made from iron... the accuracy of the bolt has no shortcomings.
I purposely did not melt the high quality armor in order to save it for a comparison, the crossbow was then pointed at the high quality armor.
「Well, can it penetrate?」
The trigger is pulled.
The arrow of the crossbow, jumps out with an initial velocity of 102 m/s, and the high-quality armor was easily penetrated.
「Well now, this task was cleared. How much more will be completed in five days」
The weapons , when the numbers build up then it will begin to have more significance.
With only one, there would be no meaning even if it could oppose those guys.
The assumption is that it was to be used by the organization.
While pondering the issue the time limit came.
And my figure returns to that of Syril's. At the same time a feeling of fatigue hits the body.
「Phew, from here it is the time to go to war」
Parts can be produced in large quantities, but the problem is the work with shaving the wood.
In order to reduce the consumption of iron, the main body is made of wood, the process takes about 15 minutes each.
Because the time Kuīro can exist is 122 minutes, the limit would be at 8 when working hard.
Though it is possible for me to cut it even when returned to being Syril, but I am afraid of a variation in performance.
Quietly here, the straightforward Kuīro laboriously crafts.
I have resolved myself to finish the work by the end of day.
The day to unveil the crossbow approaches.