Chapter 375
Chapter 375: Now That We Don’t Have One, We Have to Make It. (2)
The production facilities in Penris were already largely completed before Ghislaine went off to fight Delmood.
In particular, the potion-making facilities and magic laboratory had been well established for some time, so there was nothing that needed to be redesigned specifically.
From now on, they just had to increase the number of existing production facilities, which meant the dwarves had considerably less work to do than before.
Galbarik, back at the site to supervise and command, wore a satisfied smile.
“Wow, seeing it all like this really fills me with pride.”
The Penris territory had developed beyond comparison to its former state. Buildings were constructed under meticulous planning in each city.
The dwarves could unquestionably be credited with the largest contribution to creating this majestic territory.
With a misty-eyed gaze surveying the territory, Galbarik remarked, “Now we can finally take a break.”
The other dwarves were teary-eyed too.
“We really worked hard for this.”
“Yeah, let’s take it easy from now on.”
“It seems the lord doesn’t have anything left to build either.”
The number of blacksmiths had increased significantly, not to mention the laborers.
With such enormous production capacity, they no longer had to worry about supplying arms for the soldiers. The same went for various tools and necessities.
As for potion production, only the wizards had to toil over it.
The dwarves just needed to lead others and maintain the current production levels.
Galbarik and the dwarves gathered in the workshop, gossiping as they used to.
“We really have to maintain this level of work now. No matter how I think about it, there’s nothing more to produce.”
“Exactly. As time passes, the workload here will reduce. But we can’t let anyone find out.”
“We should still pretend to be super busy.”
The dwarves continued their meeting, dreaming ambitiously. Proper whining and work adjustment was always necessary.
Yet, they didn’t worry as much as before. They had made everything needed for the territory: food, equipment, tools, etc.
Though still busy, it wasn’t to develop new items, but merely to repeat the same tasks steadily.
Galbarik clenched his fist and declared, “If we keep this up, we’ll have a lot of free time in a few months! Let’s make sure the lord notices as late as possible!”
“Right! We’re working him way too hard, you know? In the end, we’re the ones adjusting the workload on-site! Hahaha!”
“The lord only receives reports on production, right? If we just roughly match those, it will be fine!”
I feel like I’ve had a similar conversation before. Regardless, Galbarik and the dwarves laughed heartily.
But then, at some point, the dwarves suddenly stopped laughing.
Galbarik noticed their change in demeanor and asked, “What’s wrong? Why the sudden change in faces? You all look like you saw something you shouldn’t.”
Even when he asked back, the dwarves remained silent.
Humans are learning creatures. Galbarik took a deep breath. At the same time, someone sneaked up next to him and whispered.
“Let’s start a new project, my friend.”
“…Just kill me.”
“Piote will spare you.”
Galbarik and the dwarves hung their heads with gloomy expressions.
“Alright, what is it this time?”
“Siege equipment.”
“What?”
Galbarik tilted his head in confusion and asked again, “Don’t we have enough siege equipment? We took all the ones from several territories.”
The siege equipment from Count Cabaldy’s territory, as well as Count Desmond’s territory, all belonged to Ghislaine now.
With that amount, they could claim to possess the most siege equipment in the North. It was a quantity no other great lord could even hope to match.
Honestly, there was already a sufficient number placed in each fortress and castle. Having more wasn’t a bad thing, but its usefulness would dwindle.
However, Ghislaine shook his head.
“They’re heavy and difficult to move, and assembling them is a hassle. We’ll only be using them for defense.”
“Wait… siege equipment is originally for attacking? Disassembling, moving, and assembling them is par for the course.”
“That’s why we need to approach this with a new concept.”
“Are you thinking of making something enormously big and powerful? That would make moving and assembling it even harder.”
“No. What I want is something that minimizes the shortcomings of the existing catapult. I want to maximize mobility.”
Catapults are heavy. If you make them light, they won’t provide the necessary range and destructive power.
To support and throw huge stones, they need to be large and sturdy.
Thus, they’re difficult to move quickly, and they have to be disassembled and assembled repeatedly while being transported on several wagons.
While they could chop down local trees to make them, that would result in crude and weak devices.
It wouldn’t have much effect against strong fortresses or large castles.
Knowing this well, the dwarves tilted their heads in confusion.
“Are you asking for a medium-sized catapult that you can attach to a wagon and move around?”
There are mobile catapults, but those lack the destructive power to be used in sieges.
Even in the field, they are less effective than archers shooting their bows and have long been rendered obsolete.
Ghislaine shook his head.
“No. I need a catapult that maintains the destructive power and range of the current models but is less than half the weight and easy to disassemble and assemble. That way, we can move fast, right?”
“Hahaha, so you really want something like that? A ridiculous catapult?”
The dwarves laughed, holding their stomachs. It had been a long time since they’d heard the lord joke like this.
But Ghislaine remained serious. The dwarves glanced at him sidelong. His expression was quite earnest; it didn’t seem like a joke.
“…Are you serious? That kind of catapult?”
“Yeah, that kind of catapult.”
“That’s impossible! Where in the world would you find such a catapult? I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing.”
“If it doesn’t exist, then we have to make it.”
As Galbarik was about to explode again, another dwarf beside him spoke up.
“Our territory has plenty of Galbarium, right? Even if permanent magic circles aren’t possible, we could use Galbarium for lightweight magic.”
Engraving a permanent magic circle requires a sorcerer of the 8th circle or higher. Even for a semi-permanent level, it should be at least the 7th circle.
So, the only option available for the current Penris territory was to use the Galbarium.
“Hmm, but then we’d have to embed a Galbarium in every frame… that’s going to cost a fortune, isn’t it?”
“Even so, it will be possible that way.”
The dwarves had their own ideas for a solution, but Ghislaine shook his head.
“No way. Are you planning to spend the cost of building a castle on just one catapult? That’s just throwing away money. There’s no way to mass-produce that.”
“Then there’s no way to do it. The lighter it is, the weaker the support structure becomes.”
The largest material in a catapult is wood. Naturally, the weight of the wood itself cannot be discounted.
The issue is that the sturdiness of wood correlates to its weight.
“If we used ebony wood, it could work….”
Ebony is a black wood that grows by absorbing the energy of nature, making it lighter and sturdier than other types of wood.
But using ebony would be even more ridiculous. The cost would exceed using Galbarium.
It would be nearly impossible to obtain that large of a quantity in the first place.
Yet Ghislaine clapped his hands together and said, “But we have a similar material, don’t we?”
“Huh?”
“We have Galbarium, so what’s the worry?”
The dwarves looked dumbfounded.
Indeed, while Galbarium could be used as a substitute for wood, it was still heavier than ebony.
“Galbarium is tough and light, but that’s in comparison to steel. Ultimately, if it’s made to the size needed for siege equipment, it will become quite heavy. It wouldn’t be much different from using wood, plus we’d have to transport all those components with wagons, so the difference wouldn’t be significant, right?”
“That’s why we need to approach it from a new concept. I’ll lay the foundation, so you just reinforce it properly. Once you understand, you’ll see it’s simple.”
Ghislaine had a good grasp of catapults using Galbarium. He had disassembled and assembled enough of them in his previous life to know.
He spent all his time eating and fighting wars, so he could say he had used almost every catapult that existed on the continent.
“I’ll sketch it out quickly. It’s really easy.”
Ghislaine started drawing the design he would show the dwarves. A little while later, his completed drawing of the catapult was quite bizarre.
People in his previous life had jokingly referred to this catapult as the ‘Bone Catapult.’
It was made up of thin Galbarium frames instead of thick wood.
But thanks to its strength equivalent to steel, it could hold up better than wood.
And the scariest aspect of this was the incredible mobility it offered.
“Here, look. Think of each of these frames as a spear. We can make a groove at the tip of the Galbarium frame that allows for spearheads to be attached.”
There’s a joining structure at the end of a very long spear to rotate and fit the spearhead.
When the spearhead is removed, a connecting structure for linking with other frames can be mounted.
That way, they could create a catapult made entirely of frames linked together.
“Oh…”
The dwarves marveled at the design Ghislaine presented, thoroughly inspecting it.
It seemed impossible at first, but after hearing the explanation, it started to make sense.
While it wasn’t exact, the framework was roughly sketched out. With a little work, it was quite realizable.
They could create space for stones by connecting multiple frames to make a square.
With a confident smile, Ghislaine said, “What do you think? This way, the soldiers can gather to make small catapults, and the more people there are, the larger they can build. They just keep connecting. They can gather stones and weights locally.”
After hearing the explanation, the dwarves felt a chill.
This way, there was no need to transport separate parts.
When soldiers fight with their spears, they can gather and assemble them into a catapult.
Each soldier can have their own part that connects the frames, and the necessary cords can be repurposed from their belts.
This was truly a new weapon that could completely change the nature of warfare.
“How did you come up with this idea…?”
Everyone knows mobility is crucial in warfare. But siege weapons and mobility don’t usually coexist.
That’s why every army has no choice but to operate several units according to their roles.
‘But if this gets made…’
Penris has already developed portable combat food. The scope of supply has dramatically expanded operational ranges.
But if they finish this modular catapult as well, they could move faster than anyone and conduct sieges. No one would be able to imagine this kind of speed.
‘I can completely break free of the existing constraints!’
Galbarik trembled with excitement over the design. With the materials at hand, producing it would be no issue.
It was a brilliant idea. If this was completed, it would spark a revolution in strategy and tactics.
“Did the lord come up with this idea as well?”
Ghislaine slightly turned his head and mumbled.
“Legendary blacksmith…”
“Aah! Why on earth did the heavens give birth to me, Galbarik, and then grant me such a successor?”
Galbarik howled, still fighting his inner demons and feeling a deep sense of defeat.
Ignoring his lamentation, Ghislaine said, “Anyway, I might not be able to draw perfectly, but you understand the concept, right?”
“Absolutely. With Galbarium, we can definitely do this. I’ll ensure the structure can bear the maximum load and make assembly easy.”
New knowledge and technology always excite the dwarves.
And if it was something they could effectively produce, even better. They didn’t want to work, but nature wouldn’t allow them to resist.
There was just one slight issue.
“If we want to make it quickly, we’ll need to direct all the blacksmiths and produced Galbarium from the territory here. We have to create new spears for the soldiers. But isn’t what we’ve already made such a waste?”
“It’s fine. We’ll need plenty of regular spears anyway. We’re planning to provide extras for the territory residents and the Crown Prince faction.”
“Alright, got it. For now, we’ll proceed with this as the main production item for the territory.”
“Good. Always fast and reliable. You know that, right?”
“I got it already…”
Thus, the dwarves and the territory’s blacksmiths embarked on creating the new structure of the catapult.
And it was only after Ghislaine had returned from his battle with Marquis Roderick that news broke regarding the completion of prototypes.
Ghislaine nodded, looking over the prototypes the dwarves had prepared ahead of time.
“They look good. Now we just need to pick soldiers to practice assembling them.”
A thousand soldiers were chosen and received the new spearheads and connecting parts. They spent a few days practicing how to assemble the Galbarium catapult.
And then came the day of the demonstration.
Among the territory they had occupied, there was a small, abandoned fortress. Ghislaine and his close associates gathered near the fortress to see the power of the new weapon.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
As the time came, a thousand soldiers appeared riding horses.
The soldiers of Penris had become adept at changing their combat types at any time. Horse riding was now basic knowledge.
When Claude saw them, he waved his hand and shouted.
“Begin!”
At that, the soldiers paired up, connecting the spearheads.
In an instant, five medium-sized catapults were completed. People were taken aback by the speed.
“Ooooh! Incredible!”
“Such speed!”
“This weapon will revolutionize warfare history!”
With the uproar of the crowd, Galbarik wore a proud expression, certain he was the world’s greatest blacksmith.
Now they just had to verify the power. Just as the soldiers prepared to load the supplied stones for firing, Ghislaine frowned.
One of the catapults… was creaking.
