As he looked at Cassani, Chris sank into thought once again.
An idea suddenly came to him.
A fanciful, extraordinary idea that might work-or might prove useless.
It was perfectly natural for the Retalians to want saltpeter mines. They were no fools. Knights represented the present, but firearms were clearly the future.
The Retalia Empire could also recognize the bright future of firearms. Their feudal knightly system had clearly reached its limits.
The Retalians had fought the Bohemians for years, giving them ample opportunities to experience the power of muskets firsthand. Was their firearms technology so backward because they thought firearms were ineffective?
No.
Judging by the Retalian Army's current strategy in its invasion of Minisia, Chris personally suspected they had little choice... they lacked a stable source of saltpeter.
In all likelihood, the Retalia Empire currently relied entirely on smuggling for its saltpeter.
That might explain the main reason musketeers and artillery made up such a small proportion of their army.
Chris's idea was to sell the saltpeter field technology he possessed to the Retalians in exchange for the territory they currently occupied in Minisia.
The moment the thought arose, even he found it somewhat absurd.
Saltpeter field technology was one of the foundations of the Bagnian New Army's formidable firepower, a core secret. Sell it to a potential enemy-one they had only just fought?
That sounded like outright aid to the enemy!
But Chris's mind raced, and cold reason swiftly overcame that initial sense of absurdity. He rapidly assessed the idea's feasibility and... the actual threat it would pose to Bagnia.
First came the technological barriers and the time lag. Saltpeter field technology was not something that could be implemented overnight.
It required particular soil conditions, such as nitrate-bearing soil, carefully designed compost mixtures-fermented blends of human and