C84- The Siege of Anfre (1)

The Altus army never slowed down form it's unending march. Even with the new weapons, soldiers still lost their lives. That was inevitable in a war. Especially the first month of the war without the new rifles was hard.

But at the first week and a half of using the new weapons, the Altus Empire captured three cities already. Now that they advanced this much into the enemy territory, there were some resistance forces in the occupied territories, forcing the Emperor to leave a fifth of the army, about twenty thousand soldiers, behind to protect the logistics of the army, since protecting the new weapon from being captured by others was almost as important as the war itself.

The Altus army walked deeper and deeper into the enemy territory. Whenever there was a battle, the new rifles proved their worth and decimated the enemy. Their shields and armour didn't matter much. A bullet could pierce much more than an arrow.

The army was always in favourable terrain and conditions with Terry's power and Felyp's strategies. The knights of the Empire, elite soldiers who mostly used magic as they fought, dealt with enemy mages before they could disturb the riflemen. Dealing with the rest of the enemy was as easy as pulling a trigger.

Some time passed, and about half of the Septen lands were already occupied by Altus soldiers. During the capture of another city, Terry recieved a report from a merchant of the Empire. The merchant, while passing through the Northern Maers Strait, encountered the navy of the Kingdom of Eidzunge.

Sending a small ship from the navy to observe revealed that the Kingdom of Eidzunge had also declared war against the Septen Kingdom. 

The Septen war was declared to gain control over the northern strait, but the straits that were at the opposite side of the Altus border, were right next to Eidzunge lands across the strait.

"The Eidzunge will surely cross the strait before we reach there, we need to be fast and not let them occupy any more land."

Deciding this, Terry seperated the army into three. Five thousand soldiers were going to protect the logistics along with the twenty thousand that were already doing so. From the remaining seventy five thousand, twenty five thousand was going to capture cities with the leadership of Felyp and the rest of the army, the fifty thousand soldiers were going to march until they reached the strait and block the advance of the Eidzunge army.

"We need more rifles... I should write a letter to the kids..."

*****

Corvin was watching the factory as the machines were loaded with steel and turned them into barrels one by one while they were carried by his magic.

"Huff~, This place gets really hot when everything is running at the same time, doesn't it?"

"It does... Maybe we should increase ventilation."

"...No. I have a better idea."

"What is it?"

"These machines use fuel right... We should change that."

"I don't really get how we can do that... Clair would probably understand it though..."

"Right, where is she?"

"I don't know. She said she had something to do."

"Hmm... Well, whatever. Noah."

"?"

"Can you come with me to the study? I want you to draw something for me."

"What do you have in mind now?"

"You will see..."

"Tell me."

"You know, I've been working on something ever since she showed me that thing, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I thought today we could finally come up with a design for it."

"Design for what?"

"Well, basically it is the same thing as the machines we are using here, but just better in most ways. Probably."

"Right... Well, that told me nothing, but I'll still believe you made improvements."

Corvin and Noah walked over to the study as the machines in the factory slowly stopped after Corvin stopped using his magic to stop them. They needed workers to work at the factory, but because all of their projects were also still at the factory, they couldn't trust anyone yet.

Their protection was only on the weapons they made and nothing else, and many noble's had their eyes on them. Even Corvin himself was targeted at school as noble girls with obvious ulterior motives approached him ever since they demonstrated the weapons to the Emperor and other nobles. That's why currently, it was only Corvin and Noah who were operating the machines with their magic.

In the study, Corvin worked on calculations and explaining what he was designing to Noah, who was drawing his projects.

The thing they were working on wasn't just a machine. They were working on a plan to change everything about the factory. The first step was to use engines to produce electricity somewhere else. Then, using a more compact and refined design of an electric motor, came changing most of the machines to use electricity.

The project was going to take a lot of time, since everything was experimental at best. But this was going to make it easier to change things around the factory, and also alow faster and more precise production while using less space as well.

And while he was at it, Corvin also created a couple of projects to test integrating these new inventions at Tarlen village, to see if his inventions could be used in everyday life.

"Hey Corvin, don't you think it is weird how no one came up with this stuff before us even though most of the knowledge we are using was already known?"

"Sometimes. But, then I realize, the mages who discovered these laws of physics only discovered them for the sake of becoming more powerful and using their magic better, usually. They didn't do it to further technology. Only people like Count Dion do that, and then he is criticised for being mad. You know how much it costs us to keep on trying these new ideas, right?"

"Right... Financing you two is hell. I still don't understand how you two manage to melt our profits until almost nothing is left..."

"Right? There is not much profit in making these experiments, or rather, it is more like a gamble. You don't know how much you can gain, and there are many risks. That's why adults don't tend to work on these things."

"So you are saying it is because we are reckless children that we can sink our money in research that seems to never end?"

"...Yes. Maybe it is because we are still foolish children that we don't care about making a profit above all else. But, I don't want to turn into someone who only cares about profits, you know?"