Munitions Empire

The soldiers perked up noticeably at this command, for it was their favorite training exercise. Firing the new muskets in rapid succession was undoubtedly a great way for them to decompress and vent.

What else could excite them more than firing two volleys in quick succession? After cleaning their barrels, they stood at attention, waiting for the command to start the drill.

So, as these soldiers raised their K1 Quick Guns following the familiar procedure, everything proceeded into their favorite part.

They pulled the triggers, producing a magnificent volley, then once again set down their rifles. Their actions were not entirely smooth but were exceptionally swift as they began to clean their barrels again.

Soon, they were stuffing paper cartridge bullets back into the barrels and then sliding the bolts into place, sealing the barrels completely.

As these soldiers once again took aim with their weapons, Alice furrowed her brows, this was all happening too fast, so fast that it made her feel somewhat bewildered.

As Earl Fisheo's daughter, she had certainly seen muskets before. She had not only seen those exquisitely crafted flintlock guns, she used them often.

As the "Little Princess" of Northern Ridge, she enjoyed hunting and often personally tracked and killed large game such as grizzly bears and wild boars.

Therefore, she was very well aware of the numerous complex steps involved in loading a flintlock gun and knew very well how long it took to ready a flintlock gun to fire.

She hadn't noticed anything unusual when the soldiers fired the first shot, so she thought that the so-called new weapon must be a damn merchant's ploy to deceive her father using some trick.

But when the soldiers swiftly completed their reloading and once again raised their weapons, she realized that there might indeed be a new type of weapon that had emerged in this world.

Not from Shireck! Not that detestable, bone-sucking Shireck Consortium's newly developed weapon!

"Bang!" Another round of gunfire echoed over the parade ground, and Alice watched the soldiers as they began cleaning their barrels again, seemingly deep in thought.

"Let them fire once more!" Suddenly, Alice parted her red lips and commanded the distant commander.

The commander glanced at Earl Fisello and, seeing the latter nod, once again raised his hand and loudly gave the command to fire: "Load!"

Upon hearing his command, the soldiers once again excitedly went about their tasks. They opened the breaches and began meticulously cleaning out the residual debris inside.

Incredibly quickly, Alice once more saw the soldiers taking aim with their weapons, pointing them at the distant targets.

"Bang!" Another salvo of gunfire rattled through the parade ground, lingering for a long time.

Alice turned to Fisello and asked earnestly, "If, our military all switched to weapons like these, could we win the upcoming war?"

"Without a doubt! Our enemies will be caught off guard and then routed. Just one battle, and I might march into the Suthers Kingdom…" said Fiselllo confidently to his daughter, "Northern Ridge shall be spared the sufferings of war."

"No matter how much it costs, it's worth it…" Alice muttered to herself, then walked over to the soldiers awaiting orders.

She extended her fair hand and took the K1 Quick Gun from a soldier, seeing the ornate, showy metal patterns embedded in it. Her fingers brushed along these patterns, feeling nothing but the smoothness from the fine polish, not even a slight bump or ridge.

To be honest, these decorative patterns were from computer reference images in Tang Mo's mind, naturally extravagant—this aesthetic standard surely surpassed the average level of this world, making it love at first sight.

This gun was the same one Tang Mo had demonstrated previously for the nobles, and it had naturally been left at Northern Ridge.

Fisello did not treasure this sample gun but rather treated it like any other, issuing it to his men for training.

"Which idiot wasted so much effort on decorations?" Alice looked up at Fisello, who had approached her, and asked in a displeased tone, "Does he know how much extra this will cost?"

"Heh, heh heh…" Fisello chuckled. He understood his daughter well; she was competent and straightforward, the successor he had groomed.

If Ronin Alice had been a boy, she would surely be the heir to Northern Ridge. Even now, Fisello was considering handing over Northern Ridge to her, to take charge.

Unfortunately, Alice was a daughter, destined to marry. Fisello thus had to consider whether his future son-in-law would be capable enough to handle a share of Northern Ridge's power.

"It couldn't be helped. He even marketed his new gun to nobles like Baron Stela before," Fisello explained for Tang Mo, taking the somewhat old-looking sample gun from his daughter's hands and passing it to a nearby soldier.

"He marketed it to others too?" Alice nearly instantly considered the issue of confidentiality, but then, as if having thought of something, her brow which had not fully furrowed smoothed out again.

She looked at a few other K1 Quick Guns and, seeing no decorations, nodded, "Right. Those shortsighted fools wouldn't want to trouble themselves; they would turn a blind eye, especially at this time."

"Tell me about this weapons dealer," Alice said to her father, fanning her large, eyelashed eyes and smiling.

"His name is Tang Mo, and he's only a little older than you, a very handsome young man. Black hair, black eyes, it's very likely he's a criminal from across the sea..." Earl Fisello shared with his daughter the details about the young man he had only met once.

As they spoke, they walked toward The Earl's Mansion not far away. The Earl gestured for the training to continue as usual, and the officer in charge started organizing a rotation of personnel.

Allowing a troop of soldiers to fire so many shots in succession was a very extravagant affair already. Bullets cost money, and such a barrage of gunfire was by no means cheap!

Because of Tang Mo's bullets, which were more complex to produce, their price was even higher than that of the flintlock gun. Each bullet was as valuable as silver, making every shot painful for the not-so-wealthy Earl Fisello!

Along the way, the Earl talked about his meeting with Tang Mo, all the way to their agreement: "We signed a contract, and he thinks he can provide me with more than 1000 of these K1-type Quick Guns within half a year."

"You agreed to support him?" Already back in the house, Alice turned her head, toying with her ponytail casually as she spoke.

"Yes, I had no reason to refuse," nodded Fisello.

"He has virtually nothing, and isn't qualified to be our ally just yet," Alice gave a more pragmatic assessment.

Earl Fisello smiled indulgently at his intelligent daughter and shrugged, "If he can fulfill his promise, he will definitely be an ally worth supporting."

"That's assuming he can fulfill his promise..." Alice shook her head, "Without a huge workshop with over three thousand workers, how is he going to produce over a thousand new guns in such a short time for you?"

"Tagg's reply to my letter said that he had created a machine that could keep turning, which should speed up weapon production," the Earl explained.

"Watermill? Windmill?" Alice, after all, was someone from that era, and she certainly couldn't immediately guess something as exotic as a steam engine.

"I don't know, Tagg wasn't very detailed in his letter, but with Dwarf Mathews by his side, he certainly wouldn't be deceived on technical matters... Since they say so, this interesting young fellow, Tang Mo, must have some extraordinary skills," Fisello touched his nose, trying to be as clear as possible.

"You even sent Dwarf Mathews away?" Alice sighed, seemingly resigned to her father's actions.

However, she quickly perked up, looking at Fisello and tentatively asking, "Could there be a possibility... that we send someone to grab that guy, along with his technology, and bring it all to Northern Ridge?"

Watching his daughter, who was keen on maximizing Northern Ridge's interests, the Earl hesitated for a moment and then shook his head, "That... might be difficult."

Alice knew the adage that a forced melon isn't sweet. Leaving aside the feasibility of using force to abduct Tang Mo to Northern Ridge, even if they did manage to capture him, what if he refused to cooperate? Not only would they lose an opportunity and an option, but they would also turn an ally into an enemy, which wasn't in Northern Ridge's interests.

So, Alice gave up on the plan to abduct him, saying with some regret, "Alright! Alright! Since you didn't even keep an eye on old Dwarf Mathews, there's no hope of going to Brunas Port and kidnapping him back."

She understood her father. The upright Earl would certainly not be willing to do such a thing and if he really had the intention, he wouldn't have allowed the skilful old Dwarf Mathews to leave.

"Hehe... my daughter understands me," Fisello didn't mind flattering his daughter, nodding in agreement.

Alice sighed helplessly again, "Then we'll have to think of another solution."

"What other solution could there be?" Earl Fisello, worried his daughter might have thought of some other cunning plan, paused for a moment before asking.

"My dear father... If you're willing to do it yourself, then I might as well go back to the copper mine to hunt," Alice replied unceremoniously, looking back at her father.

"Oh, no no no, I'd rather you handle it, I feel more at ease that way," Fisello quickly waved his hands, readily acquiescing.

"Let's withhold the taxes to be sent to King City in a few days. Send a message there, tell Your Majesty that we won't have enough money to pay taxes until next spring," Alice said with a fierce look, appearing stern yet cute.

Fisello, who started to speak, trailed off, his voice growing quieter as his eyes shone brighter: "But we actually..."

He was not a foolish man, so he didn't think that withholding a portion of the taxes wasn't an option at a time like this.

Alice nodded, "If we don't owe Your Majesty, we'll have to owe Tang Mo... Since you think owing Tang Mo isn't good, then we'll have to owe Your Majesty, Father!"

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