“This cartridge is a splendid item, as well.”
She examined the empty cartridge in detail.
It appears that explosion magic is sealed within these small pipes, activated by the trigger and hammer operating together conferring a strong impetus to its rim.
Then, the mechanism is such that the small piece of metal inside the pipe would be propelled out — she determined as such.
To produce such a magic tool that uses so little to achieve maximum efficacy… the person who made this is a genius above even me!
Meiya Dragoon, who was exceptionally prideful even amongst the prideful dragon race, recognized the creator of the S&W M10 as a genius without a hint of hesitation.
If someone who knew her were there, they would probably faint while foaming at the mouth at the overwhelmingly shocking scene.
She was that prideful.
Without delay, Meiya ordered some magic liquid metal and tried to reproduce an S&W M10 herself.
However…
“… … this isn’t going well at all. Was the S&W M10 really made of this stuff, I wonder?”
On the very same day that Meiya got her hands on the magic liquid metal, she started shutting herself in one of her home’s workshops to try and begin production, but she was completely unable to make progress.
In the first place, ‘magic liquid metal’ is an item obtained by defeating the monster known as metal slime.
Magic liquid metal is a special metal with a unique characteristic that if one touches it while imagining a weapon and pumps magic into it it will take the shape of said weapon.
It has the merit of being easy to carry around in small quantities.
For that reason, it’s a magic tool favored by assassins.
Its demerit is that once it’s fixed into a certain form, it cannot revert back into its liquid form.
Without a clear image if you made a sword, it would be blunt; armor would have uneven thickness, and even its size would be wrong.
It is only situationally useful; difficult to handle; being a magic tool, expensive.
An item that has become synonymous with the words ‘unpopular commodity’.
Meiya’s judgment is that it’s something that she can’t help but hesitate to even call it a magic tool.
Magic liquid metal is so unpopular that nobody conducts research on it. As such, using magic liquid metal, how such strength was achieved; how such elaborate parts were produced; and how grooves were engraved in the tube’s interior… she was frankly unable to comprehend.
Meiya temporarily paused production using magic liquid metal.
With a different approach, she was going to once again try producing an S&W M10.
She requested a skilled dwarf engineer, whom she is the patron of, to make the iron tubes.
She decided to try using a rod to forcibly shave off interior grooves in the pipes in post-production.
The S&W M10’s structure is complex, but the underlying concept is simple.
It was simply explosion magic propelling a piece of metal inside a tube.
Although she couldn’t really understand how the cartridges’ explosion magic could be activated just from getting struck by the hammer… … …
Even though she couldn’t find traces of any special magic being applied on the hammer…
Prototype #1 was completed before long.
It had the appearance of a short metal tube. Wood was attached beneath it for support.
Given that she didn’t know how the hammer activated the explosion magic in the cartridge, the butt of the tube was made to be openable courtesy of a metal lid.
A small piece of magic stone was installed and magical inscriptions were engraved in this breech.
It’s set up so that if one were to chant the preset incantation while touching the breech, the explosion magic charged into the magic stone would activate.
A metal ball loaded through the muzzle is used as ammunition.
It was properly made to be the same shape as the bullets used for the S&W M10.
Meiya had thought of the possibility of an accident happening, so she fixed Prototype #1 onto an apparatus she prepared on the courtyard.
About 2 meters ahead, a brick had been placed as a target.
Without delay, she crammed a bullet into the muzzle.
“Hmmm, looks like the size doesn’t fit. Bring me a different one.”
As per Meiya’s instructions, a maid brought out several bullets spread out on a tray.
On top of the tray was a cushion, and the bullets were placed on top of that so as to not let them roll around.
Eventually, after the third prototype, she used a rod to cram a bullet in.
The magic stone was already charged with explosion magic.
Meiya attached a metal thread which could transmit magical power onto the breech, and took a distance of approximately 5 meters.
By forcing magical power through the metal thread, it would be as if she was touching the metal lid directly.
Once everything was set up, Meiya gleefully chanted the incantation.
“Explode!”
BOOM!
“Kyaa!?”
Prototype #1’s body literally exploded.
“Meiya-sama! Are you safe!?”
“Uh, yes, I’m all right”
For the second time, the maids gathered around Meiya who was on her behind, unable to stand due to surprise.
Meiya borrowed their hand to stand up, and approached the spot where the now-exploded Prototype #1 was placed.
The tube’s body exploded from its base.
The metal bits were torn into long thin slices.
The magic stone affixed onto the lid was also smashed.
Somehow or other, the explosion magic was released in an airtight condition. The magic stone couldn’t handle the shock and became damaged, causing the stockpiled magical power within it to be released.
As a result of the explosion magic combined with the magic stone’s power running wild; the tube’s body couldn’t handle the strain, became damaged, and things went to shit.
“For me of all people to… … even though it’s something so obvious if I had just given it some thought.”
Furthermore, adding insult to injury, the fired bullet was found in a completely different direction from the target.
The brick target wasn’t even grazed in the slightest.
The rifling marks on the bullet were distorted halfway.
It’s probably because the internal grooves were crooked.
As a result, the bullet did not fly straight.
With regard to the grooves… “in adding rotation to the bullet, it would stabilize its flight”. Meiya raised such a hypothesis.
It followed the same principles as fletchings on arrows.
She had thought that it was an important part which was needed to gyroscopically stabilize the bullet, so she made it carefully. But the result was this sad sight.
However, she had no intention of blaming the dwarf who she had requested to produce it.
After all, for a first prototype, she had made rash demands such as digging out grooves inside the metal pipe…
“What I understood from actually trying to make prototype models…… the only I understood is that this S&W M10 is truly an extraordinary magic tool.”
For argument’s sake, let’s assume that the Prototype #1 Meiya made was put to practical use.
Even supposing the main body could withstand the explosion magic, the damage to the magic stone couldn’t be prevented.
For a magic stone of that size, depending on quality, it would cost about 1 – 5 silver coins (10,000 – 50,000 Japanese Yen) per stone.
To use magic stones as disposables on a magic tool that can’t even accurately hit a target from 2 meters away is insane.
And yet, without using magic stones, the S&W M10 could fire multiple shots in succession, and with excellent accuracy, to boot.
Completely unable to understand how it was made, Meiya was at her wits’ end for a while.
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