A mid-level (middle-aged) office worker's laid-back industrial revolution in another world - Chapter 166

Translator: Jasper Kadowaki | Editor: NovelMultiverse

“Well, then, during the explanation of the evolution of the small rifle, it seems we got into a discussion of how to defend against it,” said Takeo. 

“Hmm, yes. You’re right,” said the king. 

“To get back to the topic, you see that this rifle took 550 years to develop, correct? Since magic exists in this world, I think it took a bit longer than that, here,” said Takeo. 

“You’re right. Still, increasing the number of mages in an army seems like a safer bet to me than to go out of one’s way to spend money on increasing the number of weapons. It would be difficult to justify the cost of manufacturing those rifles,” said the king. 

“Yes. However, we haven’t heard any reports about the neighboring country’s military development. That raises some concerns for me,” said Takeo. 

“What do you mean?” asked the king. 

“There may be someone as knowledgeable as me in the Katoranda Empire. It’s possible that a genius has appeared on their side… That’s what I fear,” said Takeo. 

King Azupal, William, and Layla were shocked. They sat in silence, with their mouths agape. Those who lived in the Elvis manor simply nodded. 

“T…Takeo-san, how have you come to such a conclusion?” asked William. 

“This is true for anything, but whenever something is being developed, it becomes necessary to test out the invention in the field. Let’s see… To use an example you might understand, let’s take the carriage,” said Takeo. 

“All right,” said William. 

“The modern carriage wasn’t just suddenly invented, was it? Wasn’t the first carriage made for just one person?” asked Takeo. 

“Correct. Three hundred years ago, the four-person transportation carriage was invented,” said William, “Up until then, due to weight and convenience limitations, carriages with multiple horses were mostly used for moving cargo. Most transportation carriages were pulled by two horses and carried two people. If we go back further, literature states that the very first carriages were one-person carriages pulled by a single horse.”

“When things are developed, they follow the pattern of invention, testing, improvement, testing, improvement, testing… The improvements compound and the product advances. However, these rifles were introduced to this world suddenly. Not only that, the battlefield is the ultimate field for testing, and yet this testing phase was completely avoided… That seems strange, doesn’t it? Normally, an invention like that wouldn’t be rolled out after just a bit of test firing,” said Takeo. 

“Takeo’s statements follow logical reasoning, for sure. It wouldn’t make sense to mobilize troops with weapons that haven’t been tested in the field,” said Layla. 

“Hmm,” said William, deep in thought. 

“However, there is one condition that would make testing in the field unnecessary, besides a few test firings,” said Takeo. 

“What’s that?” asked the king. 

“If one already knew the results of the field tests,” said Takeo. 

“Hm? What do you mean by that?” asked the king. 

“In other words, if you already knew how effective this army of soldiers equipped with small rifles would be, it would be enough to simply know that the rifles are functioning properly,” said Takeo. 

“I see. That’s an extreme condition, but it makes sense,” said the king. 

“Yes. That’s why it’s possible that the time it would take to introduce these soldiers to battle has been significantly reduced,” said Takeo. 

“Hmm, yes. We will have to be careful in our battles with the Katoranda Empire,” said the king, nodding. 

“So, now we have finished talking about the threat of the Katoranda Empire,” said Takeo. 

“Hmm? Is there more?” asked the king. [Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

“From here, I will propose a different line of logic. In other words, let’s assume that there really is someone who knows about how to utilize an army of soldiers with small rifles. This raises the question of why this enemy nation has these weapons,” said Takeo. 

“…Wait, what? Surely, that can be answered…” said Layla, puzzling over the question. 

King Azupal and William stopped moving altogether. 

“Th…That is strange,” said the king. 

“Yes. Alan-san, if you had the knowledge of how to use these troops in battle, wouldn’t you keep it a secret to give you an overwhelming victory in the first battle you could use them in?” asked Takeo. 

“I would. After preparing thoroughly, I would use them in an all-out attack,” said the king. 

“Of course. However, before testing these troops out or deploying them in actual battle, they have come to me, in enemy land,” said Takeo. 

“It doesn’t make sense,” said William, thinking. 

“This is where I came up with another hypothesis,” said Takeo. 

“Yes,” said William, nodding. 

“Maybe this person is not in the inner circle of their country,” said Takeo. 

“Hm? …What do you mean?” asked the king. 

“Alan-san, if you were to attack after preparing thoroughly, would it be easier on you if the enemy knew about the small rifle, or they didn’t?” asked Takeo. 

“It would be easier if they didn’t,” said the king. 

“Of course. If we find out that the enemy has this new weapon, it’s only natural that we would consider making our own, or coming up with a strategy to combat its use. Since we’ve already thought up a plan to combat the rifles, their ability to strike with devastating force and speed has been taken away. They’ve lost the possibility of an overwhelming victory… Wouldn’t you say that that would be a huge misstep for a country? …Therefore, my hypothesis is that this inventor of theirs couldn’t be in the enemy’s administration, and he has loose connections to the government in general,” said Takeo. 

“I see… However, if this weapon started development in our country, I assume the mage unions would move to stop it,” said the king. 

“What?” asked Takeo, surprised at the king’s statement. 

“What’s wrong, Takeo?” asked the king. 

“…They would stop it?” asked Takeo. 

“Yes, probably. I don’t see how they would accept a weapon that has the potential to lessen their value as mages,” said the king. 

“I see… The mages would get in the way… That makes sense,” said Takeo. 

“Hm? Did you just realize something, Takeo?” asked William. 

“Well, no. It’s just that I had thought that this inventor of theirs was someone who no intentions to help his community or make money off of his invention… Hearing Alan-san’s statement just now, I’m thinking that maybe the opposite is true,” said Takeo. 

“Ah, that sounds interesting,” said King Azupal, looking curious as to what Takeo would say next. 

“This inventor created his invention and tried to immediately profit from it by developing it for the Katoranda Empire. However, their mages saw this and felt threatened, and started putting pressure on the inventor. The unions reluctantly paid off the vendor to stop selling the rifle… That would give the inventor a reason to come to a neighboring country,” said Takeo. 

“Hmm, yes. That would make sense. However… either way,” said the king. 

“Yes. That would mean that the Katoranda Empire hasn’t adopted the rifle in their military,” said Takeo. 

King Azupal and Takeo grinned, together. [Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]