The Top-Tier Butler of the Marquis Family

Chapter 025

As my thoughts deepened, I naturally ran into one particular problem.

My equipment.

“Even if I can use mana now, would a sword alone still be a little lacking?”

When I reviewed what had happened back when I raided the Arkain Merchant Company’s warehouse, that question came to me naturally.

Back then, I had not even realized Kalmond was approaching me from behind. And if I had not gambled on drawing out mana in that moment, I would have been the one who ended up losing.

Of course, I was different now.

I had learned powerful Unarmed Combat, and I had also mastered swordsmanship to at least a beginner’s level, to the point that I could move a blade as I wished.

On top of that, I had now learned how to imbue objects with mana as well, so I was far more confident in my ability to fight than I had been back then.

“But the martial world is vast, and hidden masters are many. You never know what might happen.”

The problem was that those two things were all I had.

What the two branches of Martial Learning had in common was simple: both were short-range attacks. As someone who had lived in modern society and experienced the fruits of civilization, I knew very well how efficient long-range attacks could be.

It was also part of my personal disposition. When I played MMORPGs as a child, I always chose ranged damage-dealer characters. In other words, I was the type who found joy in striking from afar.

And since I had once served as an active-duty soldier and used firearms, I found myself wishing I had some similar weapon here.

“Bows and crossbows are unrealistic. They are heavy, and their reload speed is not all that fast. It is not as though this world seems likely to have firearms... and even if it does, they would probably be large and inconvenient.”

I had once had the chance to look around the castle briefly, and the soldiers had carried nothing but spears and bows. I saw no firearms like cannons or muskets.

“A gun really would be best.”

Realistically, it was the finest weapon I could think of. Even if I used a sword as my main weapon, I would have no complaints if I could carry a pistol as a sidearm.

Let us think about it simply. Why was the sidearm in so many FPS games a pistol? Because it was easy to carry and had significant stopping power.

There was something tremendously appealing about being able to render a person combat-ineffective with the twitch of a single finger.

Good. I had decided.

Let us make a gun.

One that was easy to carry and had suitable destructive force.

An ordinary person might ask how in the world I planned to make one, but I was different. Great inventions throughout history had generally required the attitude of challenging the impossible.

In other words, I needed to throw myself into it with the mindset that if I tried, it would work.

I closed my eyes and dredged up memories from my past life.

I was not normally the sort who remembered things especially well, but after gaining the mysterious force called mana, my mind had grown clearer and my memory had improved. Because of that, I could now reconstruct most of my memories from my previous life.

Back during my undergraduate years, I had once taken a related course by chance, and I became interested enough to try designing firearms afterward.

Now I pulled that memory to the surface.

“Gunpowder will be scarce, and making it the same way would take far too long. I would need to source parts too, and that is unrealistic.”

There were only a few days left until the D-day listed in the secret plan. In a situation like that, I needed to squeeze out maximum efficiency.

I sat quietly and sank into thought.

When you ran into a problem, it often helped to work backward through the essence of that problem step by step. Return to the starting point and look at it from a broader perspective.

A gun, simply put, was a tool for firing a bullet and striking something far away.

Then let us focus on that essence.

To move the bullet, it needed force that would let it reach a distant object. So what could move a bullet besides gunpowder?

And the answer came with surprising ease.

“That is right! There was that?”

At first it was only a flash of intuition, but in the next instant it converged into a clear plan.

What if I used mana instead of gunpowder?

Depending on how it was used, mana could unleash tremendous force. If I wanted to replace the propulsive function of gunpowder, then for now, mana was the best answer.

On top of that, I already knew how to infuse objects with mana. If I added just a little engineering technique to that, then I could surely create a tool similar to a gun.

“To think the day would come when I personally handled the kind of magic engineering I had only ever seen in fantasy novels.”

It was a strange experience.

At the same time, though, my thirst for knowledge began boiling up. I immediately set about preparing something I could use as paper. Perhaps a full butler might manage it, but for an apprentice, writing implements were a luxury.

Fortunately, I was able to go to Rosetta and get writing supplies from Chef Ramsay.

He also gave me plenty of paper. When I said it was for something important, he prepared quite a lot of usable sheets for me.

He truly was a good man.

“First, let us think about the operating method.”

I dipped the pen in ink and began sketching various ideas across the page. The firing mechanism for the bullet. A simple structure for loading and separating the magazine. The parts needed for reloading after each shot.

As I scribbled down every thought that came to mind, the broad sheet filled in no time at all.

“Good. This should work, roughly speaking.”

Reviewing the ideas, I nodded to myself. Since it was a design that did not use gunpowder, I could eliminate quite a few unnecessary parts.

And so, after spending an entire day on it, I produced a pistol blueprint worthy of being called a prototype.

“This is actually rather fun.”

Smiling, I reviewed the design again.

It was a small pistol, about a handspan in length. It could fit a detachable magazine and fire roughly eight to ten rounds in succession.

Assuming, of course, that it actually worked as intended.

At first, I had considered making something like a Taser, a weapon that could incapacitate without killing.

But I put that aside for later. I would need to convert mana into electricity for that, and I had not learned how to do so yet.

Truthfully, once I reached that level, I would probably just use magic directly.

For now, I had to be satisfied with using the explosive force of mana to propel bullets.

And behind the trigger, I added a switch that would let me regulate the amount of mana.

Because depending on the opponent, I would need to vary the firing power.

Technically, I could control that by adjusting how much mana I poured in each time, but thinking about it every single shot would be tiresome. So I solved it simply by embedding a resistor.

As for the bullets themselves, they were just small lumps of metal. The idea was to deal damage through impact, like a railgun. Unless it struck somewhere very unfortunate, it would not be seriously life-threatening.

Of course, since it was only a prototype, I had no idea what kind of results it would actually produce. I would have to make the thing first and test it afterward.

“Then how do I make it?”

There were no factories here. Blacksmiths made all the tools, men like Smith, whom I had met not long ago.

In the end, there was no choice. I would have to commission him.

When people talked about pistols, Smith & Wesson was a famous name. It seemed oddly meaningful that my own first pistol prototype might also be born from the hands of a man named Smith.

So I went straight to find him.

“And what favor have you come asking this time?”

“How did you know?”

“Because everyone who comes to see me always brings work. Everyone except that chatterbox Rohan.”

Wiping away sweat that poured down like rain, Smith set his hammer aside for a moment. He pulled off his gloves and shot me a sideways look.

“Do not tell me the sword you were using got broken?”

“It is nothing like that. There is something I would like to commission.”

“A commission?”

I handed him the blueprint. The moment he recognized it for what it was, Smith flinched.

“Whose errand are you running?”

He could hardly think otherwise. The blueprint was fairly specialized and remarkably precise.

“It is a personal request. There is a tool I need, and you are the only artisan I know, Smith.”

I deliberately used the word artisan instead of blacksmith. Perhaps that was why the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

A single word really could settle a debt worth a thousand pieces of gold.

“How long do you think it will take?”

“At this size, I think I can make it quickly enough... two days, maybe? But what is this supposed to be? I have never seen anything like it.”

“Once it is finished, I will show you what it does as part of my thanks.”

“Good! I happen to be free right now, so I may as well try it. Materials and labor together, thirty silver should do.”

Thirty silver. I had no sense at all of how much that really was.

Because I did not have a single coin to my name.

“Would it be possible to put it on credit?”

“Hoho, you are asking this Lord Smith to take a commission on credit?”

“I beg you. I will repay you properly later. More than anything, once you see the finished product, it will benefit you greatly as well. It is something beyond what you imagine.”

“Hmm....”

Smith stared at me suspiciously for a moment, then let out a sigh.

“Fine. We will do it that way. If I do not get my money, I can always go beat it out of that fellow Rohan.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Before that, could you not at least give me a hint as an advance payment? Just a small one about what sort of object this is? I am too curious to bear it.”

That much was not difficult. I gave him one sentence guaranteed to catch his interest.

“It is a new weapon.”

***

Exactly two days later, late at night, Smith came looking for me. In his hands was a rough wooden box.

“It is finished. Have a look.”

I opened the wooden box.

Inside lay the completed pistol, neatly finished. Beside it were the magazine and several small metal pieces that would serve as bullets.

Honestly, it looked even better in person than I had expected.

It was a shame I had not had time to add any decorative elements. Still, that could wait until later when I improved it, so it hardly mattered.

I lifted the pistol from the box. The barrel was cold, but the grip had been finished in leather, so it was comfortable enough to hold.

“So, what kind of weapon is it?”

“Let us verify that outside.”

As I loaded the bullets into the magazine, I said that to him.

A little later, Smith and I made our way to the forge storage area behind the mansion. When I said I needed somewhere with no people around, he led me there.

After surveying the area, I set an abandoned piece of wood upright in one spot and stepped back about ten paces.

“This is a very attractive weapon that can strike an enemy from afar. Its power is a little weak, though.”

“And how exactly is this supposed to strike anything?”

“Watch carefully.”

Click.

After loading it, I took the pistol in both hands. I had originally wanted to hold it in one hand and fire in a stylish pose, but I had no idea how much recoil it might have, so I chose safety instead.

I aligned my sight with the target, fixed my vision on the wooden piece standing in the distance, and held my breath. Then I moved my thumb and set the mana-volume button to “Medium.”

Finally, I stirred up mana, infused it into the pistol, and pulled the trigger.

THUNK!

A heavy impact sounded, and the barrel kicked upward. The recoil was stronger than I had expected.

“Oh! Good heavens!”

At the same time, Smith cried out in astonishment.

To begin with the conclusion, the prototype had succeeded. The bullet pierced straight through the wooden target and struck the wall beyond it.

A thrill shot through me.

But it was not over yet.

I aimed the muzzle at the target once more and squeezed the trigger repeatedly.

THUNK! THUNK THUNK! THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!

The remaining bullets were all spent, shredding the wooden target. I examined the wall where the bullets had struck and estimated the force of impact.

The power was a little stronger than I had expected, but it did not seem as though it would actually kill a person at this level.

“How in the world did you make something like this? Truly... I cannot believe it.”

Smith had every reason to make such a fuss. He could never have imagined such a small weapon would produce this kind of force. I gave him a simple explanation of the pistol’s principles.

Naturally, I omitted any mention of using mana.

“To use it, a special material is needed. Right now that is difficult, but later, if the opportunity comes, I will explain it in detail.”

“Do that! Hahahaha! This truly piques my curiosity. To think you had this sort of talent....”

“In any case, you must keep this weapon a secret.”

“Fine. I promise.”

He really was a dependable man.

Then again, even if word got out, it would not matter much. To anyone who was not a mana user, it would be little more than a toy.

Smiling in satisfaction, I reloaded the magazine to test it once more.

Click!

THUNK! THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK!