The improvised mortars of history were easy to manufacture and transport—just bury an oil drum in the ground—but their drawbacks were poor reliability. First, they could not be aimed accurately; one could only roughly determine which direction they would fly. Second, they were prone to bursting.
Although a partition separated the propellant from the explosive charge, accidents were still very likely in practice. Overall, they could only be considered barely usable.
This one developed by Moth Chasing Flame was far more reliable, with greatly improved accuracy and range, and it even had rifling. But its weight and size meant it was basically unsuited for the battlefield.
A single muddy stretch of ground could keep artillery from reaching the battlefield at Waterloo. A cannon this large could not be hauled to the battlefield even by ten horses.
Well, the Banshees might perhaps manage to carry it, but the Faithguard Army absolutely could not.
After thinking it over, Theus concluded that its only viable use would probably be as naval artillery. Once warships had been built, they could equip a few and test them out.
It might also be useful in permanent fortifications, but at present, no force seemed interested in invading Castel.
In short, its applications were far too narrow, and its practicality could basically be ignored. It would be better to make a few fundamentalist improvised mortars out of gasoline barrels. At least those could actually be brought onto a battlefield.
"This direction really isn't very feasible. We still need to find a way to continue researching the previous direction." Seeing Richard's troubled expression, Theus sighed. "We can try combining it with Transcendence, for example, by summoning a Machine Soul into the cannon."
Summoning a Machine Soul into a cannon really was a good direction, but unfortunately, Monica was still