Smokeless Powder

Although Vivian and Altair had been living and eating together lately, Hahn, the butler, still had a serious problem with her. He thought Vivian was to blame for leading his Earl astray.

He had repeatedly urged Altair to send Vivian away, but Altair had turned him down with one excuse after another.

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After Hahn finished reporting the estate's income and expenses for the past half month, he opened the study door and was just about to leave when he saw the person he least wanted to see in the whole estate: Vivian Laurent.

Seeing her greet him, he forced himself to respond out of politeness, despite how much he disliked her. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Good morning, Miss Vivian!"

Watching Hahn Clayton leave without wanting to chat with her, Vivian could only shake her head helplessly before turning and entering the study.

She walked up and asked, "What's gotten into Hahn lately? I feel like he's starting to dislike me more and more."

Hearing Vivian's words, Altair looked up and smiled. "Isn't it because someone was so loud last night that he found out?"

At that, Vivian's cheeks turned pink. "You know perfectly well why. You were like a bull yesterday, and those moves—I'd never even heard of them in Intis. You even wanted me to use 'Spider Silk.' I really don't know how you came up with that, when you knew nothing about it before."

Seeing Vivian like this, Altair stood and went to comfort her. "All right, all right. You know my public identity is that of an underage girl. You'll just have to put up with me for a while."

Altair's words left Vivian helpless. It really was the only option—and she had dug this hole herself, so she could only jump in. After they cuddled for a while, she finally stated her purpose. "I'm leaving Bexland for a while. The sect has given me a mission to take care of some things."

Altair was surprised to hear this. "Aren't you one of the Demoness Sect's leaders in Bexland? Why would they suddenly give you a mission that takes you away?"

Vivian looked troubled. "I can't tell you about this. It involves a lot, and I'm afraid you'll get caught up in it."

"Besides, your body needs some time to recover."

Vivian leaned down and whispered in Altair's ear, "I can tell you've been noticeably worse off these past two days."

Feeling her warm breath and hearing her words, Altair turned his head and rubbed his nose awkwardly. "Will you be in danger while you're away? I know you can't refuse the mission, but you still have to put your safety first..."

Hearing her little man's concern, Vivian replied softly, "Don't worry. It's just a routine handover of some items. I'll come back as soon as I get them. Nothing will go wrong."

"And you've learned some supernatural knowledge now. If you miss me over the next few days, you can contact me through the 'Magic Mirror.'"

After a night of "passion," Vivian left the next morning after Altair saw her into the carriage. He stood at the villa entrance and watched it depart, then turned back inside to deal with the family's business documents.

Sometimes having so many businesses really wasn't a good thing. Altair didn't have to handle most of the paperwork himself, but he still had to sign off on all the important matters.

And these nobles really had nothing better to do! There were several invitations to banquets every day.

If he could write whatever he wanted in his replies, he'd let them see how people greeted one another in the information age—he'd curse their whole families into the sky. Why did they keep sending invitations? He was sick of them even if they weren't! What was with this Baron? This was the eleventh time he'd seen his name in the past half month!

Tap, tap, tap.

Hearing the knock at the door, Altair didn't even look up. "Come in."

When he looked toward Hahn, the man had already brought in a large box.

Seeing the box, Altair knew what it contained. He put down his fountain pen, stood up, and said, "You can set it on the table."

Hahn slowly placed the box on the table and opened it. "Earl Altair, this firearm is undoubtedly a milestone of the past century. It completely overturns the modern understanding of guns, combining the power of a High Pressure Steam Rifle with the firepower of a machine gun."

Looking at the items inside, Altair said, "It's not really as good as you say. Compared with the firearms we already have, its only advantage is the gunpowder technology."

After spending this time tinkering with firearms, Altair understood why a specialized weapon like the "High Pressure Steam Rifle" existed among the firearms of this era.

Gunpowder manufacturing had yet to fully enter the smokeless powder age. Black powder limited a weapon's power, never mind the high-energy composite propellants that would come later.

This had also disrupted Altair's original plans. He had thought he could just sell some "advanced weapons" later on.

But he'd never expected that even a hundred and fifty years after Roselle was gone, black powder still hadn't been completely replaced.

After learning this, Altair used his abilities to have Hahn gather materials so he could make a new type of "gunpowder."

He didn't need to pay anything for the materials. He could simply take them from his own factories.

Lately, he'd spent half the day in class and the other half researching gunpowder. Naturally, accidents were common. Altair had even destroyed the garden beside the laboratory windows.

For his first experimental firearms, Altair had drawn up designs based on the Winchester M1895 and Marlin M1895 Lever Rifles. He had the factory make one of each and then test them. Hahn had spent plenty of time overseeing the work in the Industrial Zone.

The ammunition used the "New Gunpowder" he had provided.

As for why he wasn't producing better firearms, there was no need right now. These two prototypes were just for his own amusement and wouldn't be entered in any military contracts.

With current technology, it was easy to make a firearm with simple parts, like a "Bolt Action Rifle."

Of course, even a "Bolt Action Rifle" was better than a "Lever Rifle." So why not make the former, instead of picking the least bad of the bunch?

Altair's answer was, "Because it looks cool." He wasn't going to war, after all.

Altair took the two guns out of the box and hefted them, finding their weight acceptable.

Both guns were made entirely of blued steel, with walnut wood stocks and intricate engraved patterns on the outside. The more Altair looked at them, the more he liked them.

Concerned about safety, Altair asked curiously, "Hahn, have these guns been tested?"

Watching Altair handle them, Hahn smiled. "Both firearms have been tested. The ammunition was made with the gunpowder you supplied. The Winchester M1895, using 7.62×54 Spitzer Bullets, can fire accurately out to 800 meters. The Marlin M1895, tested with .45-70 ammunition, has a range of about 200 meters."

"The factory recommends abandoning the Round Nose Bullet version and going straight to mass-producing the Spitzer Bullet version. We may only be able to make a thousand guns in the first month, but once we expand production, we can triple that."

Seeing Hahn's excitement, Altair poured cold water on him. "There's no need to mass-produce these guns. For now, they're only good for hunting. If they're used on a real battlefield, all sorts of problems will crop up."

Lever rifles had many shortcomings. They were expensive to manufacture, had too many parts, were hard to maintain, and couldn't all use Spitzer Bullets...

He'd made them for his own enjoyment. On the battlefield, he'd leave the Bolt Action Rifles to the soldiers.