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Volume 4 Chapter 12-1: Negotiations Concluded

Azul, the young lady with blue hair, announced the start of the last round of negotiations.

Our card in these negotiations is the provision of iron-making technology, while their card is tariffs and commercial rights. If we can’t reach an agreement, it will be very difficult to secure food for Bell Erucy, and we’ll have to reduce the hemp harvest.

If Azul’s servant, Jii, is truly as strong as a Hero, using force would also be difficult.

After becoming enemies with Erin, if Jii arrives at the village when I’m not here, Erucy will be destroyed. But, if I become too wary of Jii, I won’t be able to leave Erucy. This is a problem because we don’t have anyone suitable for external negotiations, and Erucy won’t be able to develop any further.

「Cyril-san, before the negotiations, I’d like you to guide me through Erucy. Yesterday, I had the acting village’s chief guide me, but I couldn’t get most of the answers I wanted from him, so I’d like to ask you.」

I was lost in thought, contemplating things on my own, when I was called back by Azul’s voice.

「Of course, I don’t mind. I’ll answer any questions you have.」

「First, I’d like to see the archery training grounds.」

「Shall we go there now?」

As requested, I guided Azul and Jii to the shooting range used for crossbow training. There were wooden targets with imperial helmets set up at 20m, 50m, 100m, and 200m distances.

「The targets are quite far, aren’t they?」

「Elves have a talent for archery. Right now, almost everyone can hit targets up to 100m, and about a third can aim for 200m.」

Except for Nettle members, the other villagers continued their morning training every three days. In war, numbers matter. We needed to increase the number of fighters as much as possible.

「It’s unbelievable. With a regular bow, hitting a target at 100m is already challenging, and aimed shots are only possible at 50m or so. Is it the quality of the bow or the shooter’s skill?」

「It’s both. Do you have any experience with bows?」

「No, I don’t.」

「Well then, would you like to give it a try?」

I said that and took out the crossbow. I had someone bring it when she expressed her interest in seeing the shooting range.

This was a recently developed improved version, designed to be easier to use by reducing the power required to draw the string while ensuring the minimum force needed to penetrate imperial armor.

「It’s impossible. Normally, it takes years to become proficient with a bow.」

「That’s true for a regular bow.」

Bows might seem simple, but they were very challenging weapons to master. The grip, draw, release timing, and any deviation from proper technique could result in the arrow missing the target completely. As Azul said, it took several years to train a new recruit into an archer.

「But with this crossbow, all you have to do is pull the trigger.」

I placed the crossbow on the ground and pulled the string, setting an arrow.

「Go ahead, take aim at the closest target, which is 20m away.」

As I instructed her, Azul, looking a bit nervous, aimed the crossbow at the target.

「Then, there’s the trigger. Pull it.」

「Oh, alright.」

She pulled the trigger, and the arrow was released. It missed the target, but it flew quite close.

「Hey, Jii, I did it! I shot the bow!」

「Ojou-sama is a genius. If you can shoot a bow in three minutes after starting, then we’ll have to reduce the pay of Erin’s soldiers if they can’t do it in three minutes. It would be a shame for a professional fighter like them to be worse than Ojou-sama who’s only sitting at her desk. And please allocate the saved money to my salary.」

「Jii, your true intentions are showing.」

「I apologize for my rudeness.」

「I’m surprised. It seems quite easy to shoot. Shall we start with setting the arrow next? I watched the process, so I know how to do it.」

「Please, go ahead.」

Azul enthusiastically set arrows into the crossbow and repeatedly released them, increasing her smile as she saw the arrow penetrate the helmeted target.

「This is impressive. The number of citizens directly affects our military strength. If the Choline Kingdom, with a larger population than the Empire, were to use these extensively, it would be incredible.」

「I didn’t think you would be able to pinpoint the crossbow’s biggest advantage so soon.」

「Of course. With crossbows, anyone can be trained to kill in a day. The city’s civilians could become archers in no time. Regular bows take years of education, and they can’t be quickly replenished. But with these, you can produce as many as you want. If we equip new recruits with these and have them line up in rows to fire in unison, even seasoned imperial soldiers in iron armor would be easily defeated. Just imagining it makes me shiver. I want these.」

「I understand your enthusiasm, but I think it’s impossible.」

「Why? Can’t we make them with your iron-making technology?」

「Obtaining good iron and being able to process it are two separate issues. With Erin’s engineering technology, yes, you could make them. But this level of precision would take around thirty years, I’d say.」

In addition, the metal used for the spring was not iron; it was an alloy with better flexibility, and the string that could withstand this immense tension was made of carbon fiber. I didn’t believe either of these materials could be produced in Erin. That’s why I could safely reveal our iron-making technology.

「So, how did you make this crossbow then?」

「I used magic for the processing. While you can substitute industrial technology for the iron processing part, magic is required beyond that.」

I told the truth since there was no point in lying. And it meant that no one else could make it.

When using earth magic for processing, the more massive the object, the more challenging it becomes. For something like iron, it would require a gnome with an earth magic stone or a dwarf-class earth magic aptitude that doesn’t exist in this world.

Gnomes were such reclusive creatures that their existence was questioned, and they weren’t known for their intelligence. Finding a gnome, then giving them extensive education, was not realistic.

「Jii.」

「Ojou-sama, Cyril-san is not lying.」

「I see… I understand. But I really want this. However, the arrows seem to wobble quite a bit. Why can the elves hit distant targets so accurately?」