Torn Asunder by War, A Sword Saint for Tomorrow X The Knight Wizards!! – Chapter 23

The Lord’s Daughter Dislikes Romantic Weapons
  Gazing out the window of the small castle at the three shadows resembling Clawsolas that appeared from the south, the opposite direction of the gradually approaching ominous shadows, Nina considered the cruising speed of the Clawsolas she designed and stopped thinking.
  
  “In this world, there’s no faster means of transportation than that… I should consider the bottleneck.”
  
  Then the baggage wagons carrying the supplies and other necessities for the journey would be the slowest. Assuming they travel at a walking pace, their speed would be 4 to 7 miles per hour （6.4 to 11.2 km/h）.
  
  Inevitably, the entire group would have to match the slow speed of the baggage wagons. In addition, considering the size of the Clawsolas that looked small from here and their actual height, she did a rough calculation in her head… Nina understood how long it would take for them to arrive.
  
  “It seems I can relax a little longer.”
  
  Shaking her glossy dark brown hair gently, she turned around and returned to her desk in the office, but contrary to her words, she started working on her paperwork.
  
  Looking at the materials on prototype weapons and new technologies sent from the technical department had become a hobby for Nina, so it wasn’t much different from relaxing for her.
  
  Moreover, she had just found a document describing an interesting experiment.
  
  “A shield that enhances magic resistance by coating the armament with pure magic power… Not bad. The inventor is Hakubun, huh?”
  
  Even though it looks like a Japanese name at first glance, he is a genuine Chinese young man. Apparently, he was born and raised in Hong Kong, and he insists on calling himself a “Hong Konger,” but his nationality before he wandered into this world was Chinese.
  
  “They’re having a hard time too…”
  
  He lamented that he had been chased by the riot police during a demonstration and desperately jumped into an alleyway, only to end up here. Incidentally, he was apparently a graduate student at the famous Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and she thinks she found a good catch.
  
  In fact, he made a highly effective proposal for the “general-purpose magic defense means assuming human-to-human combat” that Nina had assigned to the engineers as a future necessity.
  
  “Hmm, I’ll have to increase the budget, and then…”
  
  Another thing she had prioritized was a “weapon that can be handled with one hand,” and this was because she had predicted that the aforementioned generalized anti-magic defense would take the form of a shield.
  
  ‘If we can’t rely on exclusive knights, mages, or Clawsolas…’
  
  Even without that, since it’s a weapon, it’s highly likely that one hand will be occupied, so Nina predicted the need for a weapon that could be easily handled with the remaining hand.
  
  “A revolver? They’re pursuing romantic weapons again… Rejected.”
  
  Although muskets exist in this world, even if they could somehow obtain plant cellulose, the raw material for the guncotton commonly used in other worlds, it is difficult to obtain saltpeter, which is necessary for refining sulfuric acid and nitric acid to process it.
  
  “Since the atmospheric composition is the same, we should be able to produce nitric acid from nitrogen using the Haber-Bosch process, but I don’t know the structure of things like pressure boosters, and I don’t know if we can manufacture them locally.”
  
  Therefore, firearms are not as widespread in Western countries as one might think, and bullets that can penetrate the armor of giant knights are out of the question. Precious gunpowder is being used for crushing armaments like the “Thunder Spear,” which are intended to destroy Spirit Gates.
  
  After pushing the rejected documents to the corner of her desk, she continued to look through several other documents.
  
  “After all, a sturdy mace, a rapier with penetrating power, or a lightweight battle axe would be the most practical.”
  
  There were also Japanese swords included, but… she felt they would be snapped if they clashed with Western swords. As a German, she couldn’t help but think of them as romantic weapons.
  
  “But maybe it’s okay to have one made as a trial?”
  
  Nina, who had developed a slight interest, read through the materials and made her own deductions based on the content.
  
  ‘Perhaps the Japanese sword has an advantage in sharpness, but the Western sword has the upper hand in striking power. Ah, I see… their uses are slightly different, so it depends on the user.’
  
  In that case, she wouldn’t hesitate to have a few made as prototype weapons without freezing the budget, but the manufacturing method seemed ridiculous.
  
  The current manufacturing method for giant knight weapons is a two-step process. First, the blade and other parts are cast, and then they are forged by a large number of mages responsible for heating and blacksmiths gathered from within the territory…
  
  “Having a Clawsolas hold a prototype short war hammer and forge it from scratch? Are they serious?”
  
  For some reason, the inventor was a Japanese blacksmith who had Clawsolas aptitude, so there was a possibility of success. In fact, giant knights are sometimes used as heavy machinery in some parts of the weapon and Clawsolas manufacturing process.
  
  ‘Those who deny challenges are not engineers… right? Besides, a smithing Clawsolas might not be a bad idea.’
  
  Remembering that one should never forget their beginner’s spirit, she decided to let them proceed with the production. Just then, there was a knock on the door.
  
  “Lady Nina, may I come in?”
  “Yes, you may.”
  
  “Excuse me, the soldiers at the city walls have reported that the Knight King has arrived.”
  “…It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it? I understand.”
  
  Getting up from her chair and standing in front of the wall mirror, Nina checked her appearance in a slightly tight black dress. Because of her engineer’s temperament, she wasn’t particular about her appearance, but she was aware of her beauty from past experiences.
  
  Influenced by her principle of not hesitating to use her appearance if the other party was of the opposite sex, she was sometimes called a “female fox” behind her back.
  
  ‘I don’t mind, though.’
  
  After twisting her upper body to check her back, she left for the Clawsolas station outside the castle with the maid who had come to call her, to welcome the delegation that had come from the neighboring country of Lizel.