A Treacherous Courtier Manages the Empire Well

39 – Landor’s Chainsaw

“Rashid, what the hell is this?”

Sultan Saladin sighed as he looked at his eldest son. He had always been unsatisfied and unreliable, but his eldest son had always exceeded his expectations and performed exceptionally well. Yet this time, Rashid had failed.

“I have no excuses, Sultan.”

Rashid hung his head in embarrassment.

All of his plans had failed.

Sending spies had failed, and his plan to use the infiltrators within Ayram as spies had also failed. Rashid was unable to do anything. Meanwhile, that bastard Landor had shamelessly introduced enormous things like air conditioners, refrigerators, and carbonated drinks into the market.

As a result, the market of the Kambara Empire was gradually being consumed by enemies. It felt as if the money made from the spice and textile trade was being drained away. Second son Amir laughed at the scolded Rashid, but he couldn’t evade being scolded himself.

“Amir, what have you been doing?”

“Yes?”

“Your brother has had many tasks, so it’s understandable that he fails once or twice. But I only assigned you one task, to develop a weapon that can penetrate the Dragon’s Scales. But you failed to do that too.”

“That, father…”

“You pathetic fool. I am disappointed in both of you today!”

Amir also had to bow his head. As he did, he secretly glared at Rashid. Sultan sighed once again, tapped his finger, and then made a decision, giving an order to Rashid.

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“Use the Werebeasts.”

“Yes?”

“Release the Werebeasts into the Portu Commercial City. Let them devastate the enemy city. Create chaos and obtain the fertilizer production technology, teleportation technology of the Matap, and the Dragon-taming method or the Dragon’s eggs. Rashid.”

With Sultan’s words, Rashid felt a sinking feeling in one side of his heart.

If it were a time of war, his words would make sense, but it was currently a time of peace.

The fertilizers and various goods produced in the Portu Commercial Zone were essential to the Kambara Empire. If that place were to collapse, he didn’t know what impact it would have on the empire’s economy. And yet, release the Werebeasts there to attack?

“Sultan, if the Portu Commercial Zone collapses, fertilizer production could be interrupted. In our current state, where food supplies haven’t improved enough, such an event could cause the people of the empire to starve again.”

“At worst, only a few regions will starve. Even if we consider the worst-case scenario, it will only be a return to how things were before. Originally, I didn’t want to take such radical measures, but there’s no progress, so there’s no choice. Proceed with it.”

Lashed wanted to argue further, but he managed to restrain his desire.nn“I will do as you command, Master.”nnSuid.nnThere were dragons in the eastern continent of Ailam, and there were Suid in the western continent of Caramba. These beings, with their superior physical abilities and keen senses, were created through harsh training from a young age. They were the special forces that Master Shultz had mentioned, and if they were unleashed in Porto, the bustling trade city, they could cause chaos in less than a month, or even thousands of deaths in the worst case scenario.nn’……Is this truly the right thing? How long will my father’s twisted ambition continue?’nnLashed felt that his father’s pride was tiring and meaningless, but he had no choice but to obey Shultz’s words.nn“Karia, Master. This is about the monster horde beneath the Torea Mountains, as you’ve mentioned. How many do you think are there?”nn“According to the reports from several groups of精灵术士sent by the Temir Khan, there are possibly thousands, or even tens of thousands, of monsters. The worst-case scenario could be hundreds of thousands.”nn“Can you confirm the existence of the Elrics?”nnTameric, who had been standing next to her, nodded.nn“I’ve seen it with my own eyes. The immense amount of mana pouring out from within the cave was incredible. Several of us, including myself, have sensed the presence of the Elrics.”nnCelene nodded in response.nn“If that’s the case, it’s confirmed. However, the problem is not that. The monsters emerging from the Elrics are not ordinary monsters.”nnKaria nodded as well.nn“The ones within are highly developed, with extraordinary strength and defense capabilities. There are several hundred threatening ones, and the maximum number could be in the thousands. This could potentially lead to a war on a scale of the Northern Alliance.”nnThe danger was clear. The Torea Mountains, where the monsters were stirring, were located in the heart of the Lakos Mountains. The Lakos Mountains’ treacherous terrain was well-known for its perilousness.nn“It could be a much more difficult battle than the Northern Alliance of Limnal.”nn“That’s right, Rando.”nnCelene bit her lip at his words.nn“However, considering the amount of Elrics that will be consumed in the future, it’s necessary to develop the primary source of Elrics.”nnThat was not a false statement. However, the question was how much time and how many lives would be lost in a war that was both dangerous and of great scale.nnWas there no safe way to remove the monsters?nnThe thought crossed his mind in an instant.nn“Rando.”nnA knock on the door and a familiar voice announced the arrival of someone. When Lashed opened the door, a man with familiar white hair and black eyes was standing there. It was Seoric.nn“I’ve brought three Caramba spies who were secretly operating in Porto. Shall I deal with them as usual?”nn“Deal with them as usual. Saladin Shultz. You’re overstepping your bounds. It’s about time we took action. Good job, Seoric.”nn“Of course, Master.”nnSeoric bowed slightly and turned to leave. The nameplate on his shoulder was clearly visible.

And I held my breath.

Rifle.

Gun.

Yeah.

Yeah!

Why didn’t I think of that?!

“Seo-rik!”

“Lord Lando?”

“Get your gun for a moment!”

“Ah, yes.”

Startled by my rough shout, Seo-rik hurriedly handed me his gun, and I took the gun and started examining it closely.

The gun was quite intricately made.

I looked around the gun.

“How does this work? Can you show me a demonstration?”

“Y-yes, of course.”

Saying that, Seo-rik showed me a demonstration slowly.

“This is a 13mm high-caliber single-shot rifle specialized in hunting monsters. You pull the lever to open the breech and insert a cartridge into the breech.”

After a large cartridge wrapped in a bronze cartridge case was loaded into the breech, Seo-rik closed the breech by pulling the lever.

“After that, you pull back the hammer to complete the shooting preparation, and when you pull the trigger, the gun fires.”

“Give me one of those cartridges you use! Let me try it once!”

“Ah, I understand. Why, Lord Lando?”

Seo-rik handed me a cartridge from his pocket as if he was confused. Bronze cartridge case. Iron projectile. And the lower part of the cartridge is inserted into the barrel in a center fire format.

I burst into laughter.

It’s already developed up to the barrel?

“How do you make these cartridges and guns?”

“We make them one by one through domestic handicrafts. Usually, many women make them for us. Why, Lord Lando?”

“What about the gunpowder and barrel? Where do you get those?”

“We get them from Matap. There was one Matap that was made for us a long time ago based on our request. We get the supplies from them.”

“Perfect! Seo-rik! Perfect!”

After shouting, I looked at Caria and Selene, who are staring at me, wondering what the situation is.

“Karya-nim! It’s a gun! A gun!”

“Yes…it’s a gun. So what, Randor?”

“If we use guns, we can easily kill monsters!”

Upon hearing this, Karya burst into laughter.

“Randor, I know you’re a skilled person. But in the military field, I am superior. There is a reason why I don’t use firearms as a ritual.”

“What’s the reason?”

“There are three reasons.”

Without saying a word, Karya pointed to the armor she was wearing under her clothes.

“First, bullets cannot penetrate the tough skins of monsters reinforced with armor or mana stones.”

Seorik agrees with these words.

“That’s right. We also need to hit weak spots like the eye or the gaps between bones to kill with a single shot. The defense of monsters with mana stones surpasses imagination.”

“Look at this. Humans wear armor or mana stones with defense magic circles to enhance their defense. To penetrate that defense, the only method is to use aura.”

“What is the second reason?”

“It is difficult to mass-produce guns. The parts used are much more numerous and complex. Traditional weapons engraved with magic circles can be activated immediately with mana, unlike guns, which have the disadvantage of being difficult to mass-produce.”

“I agree with that too. What is the third reason?”

“There is a problem with the smoke and intense recoil that completely obstructs the view every time a gun is fired. Hunters do not carry more than five hunting bullets. If they shoot more than that, the gun becomes dysfunctional due to the recoil. Because of these problems, guns cannot be used as the main weapon.”

In the end, it seems that firearms, which appeared due to the excessive development of defense and the existence of magic, are being rejected.

But my thoughts were different.

“All three problems can be solved.”

“How?”

“First, the penetrating power of bullets. We can change the penetrator. If we replace it with tungsten penetrator, we can penetrate even the tough skin of powerful monsters.”

Seorik responds with interest to these words.

“The bullets we have been using so far are just solid lead bullets. We didn’t think of manipulating the warheads separately.”

“Is that so? And secondly, the problem of the recoil and mass production of guns can also be improved by the factory system we recently developed. It is possible to develop gunpowder that produces relatively less smoke and recoil.”

We have the Nitrogen Mage, Leo Rick, and the father of Fertilizer, with us. If we ask him to develop smokeless gunpowder, we can solve the problem of recoil. Mass production of firearms can also be covered by the factory system.

“But even if that’s possible, to have the firepower to kill monsters in large numbers, we would need tens of thousands of guns. When can we produce that many guns? Moreover, training legion members on them and devising tactics to go along with them would also be an issue.”

I laughed at Karya’s words.

“I’m not saying to suddenly change the existing tactics. I’m not even thinking about supplying tens of thousands of guns. Just a few thousand guns would be enough.”

Seorik laughed sarcastically at these words.

“With only a few thousand guns at best, we won’t have the firepower to kill the frantic monsters even if we suck up elixirs.”

“That’s right. But what if the gun automatically fired dozens of bullets with just a pull of the trigger?”

“Dozens of bullets automatically fired?”

Karia seemed to ponder for a moment at those words.

“If there was a gun that could easily penetrate the monsters’ skin with the penetrating power of firing dozens of bullets at once, we could definitely engage the enemy much more efficiently. But where can we find such a gun?”

I looked at Selene upon hearing those words.

“Will you make it for us?”

Our Doraemon.

Selene.

“A gun that automatically fires dozens of bullets… hmm…”

“The principle is simple. It operates by using the recoil of the firearm to automatically load the next round.”

The method adopted by the Browning M2 machine gun and the first automatic machine gun, the Maxim machine gun.

The short recoil method.

I explained the simple principle to Selene.

“The entire barrel recoils backwards due to the recoil of the bullet being fired. The cluster of the firing pin in the breech moves backward due to this impact. Then, it moves forward again and pushes the next round into the breech by the spring pressure, before firing again and repeating the cycle. Can you create such a machine?”

Selene seemed to ponder my words for a moment. She had a very intrigued expression.

“I haven’t really thought about guns working in that way before, but it doesn’t seem mechanically complex. I’ll try to make one. What should we call it?”

That was already decided.

“Machine gun.”

The name of the weapon that slaughtered monsters.