"So... You two tried saving Piscea but ended up causing the death of almost half the people living there..."
"Ugh... We didn't do that..."
"Y-Yeah... If we didn't do that, much more people would have died. Right, Noah?"
Noah nodded his head at Corvin's words.
"He is right, Clair... Even though I feel bad that we were late, we did save a lot more people, right?"
Clair thought for a bit and answered.
"Honestly, because you two were involved, I am not that surprised. But still, normal people would be traumatised over something like this. It's weird how you two aren't effected by it much."
"That's not true! I do feel awful, but that's no reason to stop living normally, isn't it? Sİnce at the end of the day, we saved a lot more people."
"Well, I don't want to get into it's philosophy too much. I want to talk about something else anyways."
"Hm? Didn't you call us here because you were suspicious of Amy who came here with us?", asked Corvin.
Clair's blushed slightly and answered while playing with her earrings.
"W-Well, I do trust Noah that much, at least."
Corvin stared at the two of them. Both of them looked to the ground with a red face. Corvin smiled invardly but decided to let this go for now.
"So, what do you want to talk about?"
"Business."
"Business?"
"Yes."
Corvin and Clair stared eachother silently before Corvin spoke again.
"Uhm... like can you explain?"
"Huh? Oh, right. Sorry. Cough, The emperor wants my dad to make a new weapon, and my dad kindly left me this responsibility and ran awa- Left for home. So I wanted to ask you, who knows how to fight, for ideas."
"Hmmm, I see. Why is Noah here then? You could just leave it to me."
"How should I say this... your blueprints aren't exactly..."
"Your drawings are shit, Corvin."
Noah cut Clair off and answered without sugarcoating it. Corvin answered with a soulless smile and dead eyes.
"Ah... I see... It must have been hard for you two, huh?"
"Hey, don't lose the will to live over something like this!"
"You wouldn't get it, Noah. I spent many hours trying to perfect how I drew those blueprints so that it was easy to read... But I guess I can't compete against godsent talent."
"It's okay Corvin! I also once was like that! You just need more experience!"
"Really?"
"Y-Yes..."
Donk!
Clair hit the two idiots on their heads at the same time.
"Now is not the time for stupid jokes. This is a serious discussion."
""We are sorry!""
"Sigh~, Anyways, Corvin. Do you have any idea?"
"Hmm... A new weapon, huh? That was something I thought about once, actually. And I have an idea!"
"What is it?"
"Well... It really is a complicated thing, definitely. It would be probably really expensive to design and test until you make a working one. But, we should be able to make it with machines in large quantities. And it shoudl also last longer than most swords or bows, and probably at least as lethal as them."
"That sounds great... So, what's the catch? Is it incredibly hard to use?"
"Uhh... The catch is probably how easy it is to use."
"Hm? What? Isn't that great?"
"No... Well, I don't know how exactly, but becase the design is supposed to do everything for you, you just need to point it in the correct direction."
"Point it?.. Wait, is it a projectile?"
"Yeah."
"Why? I thought you were a sword guy, not a bow one."
"Well, I use a sword but I don't think it's really better than any other weapon. When I fight, I want to use my sword as a last resort usually. I think it is better to keep your enemy far away from you. It also gives you time to prepare for something unexpected. Some may call it the coward's way, but I don't want to risk my life when I am fighting to save my life, since that just doesn't make sense, right?"
Clair and Noah stared at Corvin with surprised expressions.
"I knew you weren't a muscle head even though you are a training addict, but to think you actually thought about things like this..."
"Crazy, right?"
"Hold on, aren't you guys underestimating my intelligence?!"
"No, no... We knew you were smart, but why do you have the answer to a question like that figured out already? Are you really a kid our age?"
"I am. I definitely am."
"Right... Well, just tell me what this weapon of yours is."
"Well actually, it's kind of like a cannon, but just smaller."
"Cannon? Why a cannon?"
"Hm? Why not?"
"Aren't cannons useless when you can use magically made explosives?"
"Just listen to me for now. This one is different. You know how long it takes to load a cannon, right?"
"Yeah, that's why they aren't useful compared to mages."
"But, what if you made special cases for the bullet and the explosive before the war, so while fighting, you can just place the bullet ready to be fired inside the thing easier."
"Even then-"
"Now, now, wait for it."
"? Okay..?"
"After firing, you just throw the casing out and place a new one and fire again!"
Clair slapped her forehead.
"You are right about the 'being easy to use' part, but aren't you underestimating how hard it is to make something like that?!"
"Is that that hard?"
"Yes!"
"Really?"
"Ugh! Just think about making one!"
Corvin looked to the ground in thoughts. After a minute, he lifted his head.
"Sure, it is hard to make it for the first time, but after that, we can just make as much as we want with machines, no?"
Clair slapped her forehead again. She answered Corvin while emphasising every single word.
"And how easy do you think it is to make those machines when we have to make the most of them by hand in the first place?"
"Ah... I didn't think about that one... Well, you can figure out a way, can't you?", he said with a smile.
"You... Just be glad I learned magic. It would be hell without it. Now it's just hard..."
""You learned what?!""
"Huh? Oh, I forgot to tell you guys, right?"
""Yeah you did!""
"Stop shouting at the same time, it is too loud!"
""Sorry!""
"Well, anyways. Let's just see if it's a doable idea. Since it would be really useful if we made it."
*****
In the balcony of a big building, a man was watching the calm night sky. As the slightly warmer wind carried the scent of the flowers nearby to his nose, he saw it.
A bright light. A pillar of light shot up from the garden and rised to the sky. The man quickly went outside to check what happened.
On the ground, where the pillar of light appeared, was a hole. He looked inside the hole and saw what was in it. What he saw was a black smoke that glinted green. The green sparks blinked inside the smoke like the stars in the sky as the smoke was moving around erratically, as if trying to find somewhere to enter.
The man reached out his hands towards the smoke instinctively.
"What is hap- Your Highness?! If it looks dangerous, please let us handle it!"
The man didn't listen to the words of the guard who came there after him. He looked at the black smoke and finally touched it with his hands.
The smoke got out of the hole and flew towards his forehead. After the black smoke entered his head, he lost consicousness and fell on the ground. While no one noticed, a green mark appeared on his back between his shoulders.