21 Cannon Test

In the west of Border Town, near the Chishui river.

"What is this?" asked Carter, who had already become somewhat accustomed to the fact that Roland would repeatedly come up with new inventions, "Is this a bigger gun?"

"Yes and No," Roland confirmed. He directed his men to remove the cover so that he could personally adjust the angle of the cannon.

The principles of cannons and guns were identical, so calling it a larger version of a gun wasn't inappropriate. The cannon used for the test was able to shoot 12-pound heavy iron balls. But to improve their durability, Roland used Anna and Mila's ability, Assimilation, to make a cannon so flawlessly made that it's seems made by God's hand.

In Roland's eyes, this cannon made by hand took on a very special place. Now, when he dragged it out for the test, he had already made special arrangements.

Chief Knight Carter and the Army Commander Iron Axe were both at his side, with his personal guard along with twenty members of the army who were acting as sappers and lookouts. As for the witches, all of them were present, so Roland could make them trust him more fast. Lightning was present to demonstrate the procedure to operate the cannon. She convinced Roland to teach her first for curiosity.

Thanks to Cara and Nana, curing injured people on the attack day, the prejudice towards witches had been significantly reduced. In the eyes of the Army, the most important persons here was Cara and Nana when excluding Roland.

"Clean the cannon's barrel first." Roland said to Lightning.

Lightning, in high spirits, took a mop and began cleaning the cannon. Seeing her so enthusiastic, Roland smiled.

"Has everyone seen it?" Roland asked to the Army, since in the future they will be the ones operating it.

Seeing that everyone nodded, Roland told Lightning to proceed.

Lightning first opened the bag and took out a pocket-sized paper cartridge filled with gunpowder then stuffed it into the end of the muzzle with a ramrod. She then took an iron ball and used the ramrod once more to push it into the barrel. Afterwards, she took out a lead wire from the rear end of the cannon barrel and inserted it into the eyelet to pierce it into the paperback.

The launch preparation was complete, so Roland commanded to everyone to stay away from the cannon.

Then there came a loud roar; Air sprayed out of the muzzle with so much speed, that it even threw up the snow lying around it.

Everyone could hear the sound when the iron ball hit the armor that was placed 100 meters away. The Iron-ball's speed didn't reduce much, every time it hit the ground, it would bounce back up again, blowing up even more snow.

Arriving to the armor target and seeing that there was a palm-sized hole in the center, making everyone except Roland and Calista, sigh to the penetrative power.

"What frightening penetrative capability! But..." Carter thought while sighing. He could already picture the horror on the enemy's face seeing death come so fast.

"Your Highness, this is indeed a very powerful weapon but... it is too heavy. If we were to hit a pothole, we wouldn't be able to move any further... And, after every shot, the barrel has to be cleaned with a wet mop, then it has to be reloaded. Carrying the gunpowder, the cannon balls, and the cannon itself, I'm afraid that you will need five to six people to operate one cannon alone it." Carter said to Roland, seeing the new weapon problems.

"Indeed... but it's all worth it! As long as we will be able to use two to three cannons, demonic beasts and future wars will be won more fast." Roland responded while thinking, 'This cannon is just a 12-pound cannon, with some time, i will make more powerful cannons, like a Howitzer...'

'With this power... we can win against the Church... now i know why Calista trusted this man so much' Agatha and Cara thought while watching Roland and the cannon.

'What a bother... this cannon is so shitty that it will help only in normal wars... it would be difficult to kill even a Mad Demon with this weapon...' Calista thought while frowning.

'I will start helping him produce some good stuff after i return, since my disciples training ended.' she continued thinking while walking away.

'Let's facilitate Roland route to the throne, shall we?' Calista thought with the eyes on the direction of Clearwater Port and King's City.

...

Outside of the wall of Border Town.

"Are you really leaving?" Roland asked to Calista, seeing her dressing a black vest with a smiling mask ( Similar to Kagetane Hiruko's mask ) while the hood is hiding her black hair.

Everyone was present there to say bye to Calista, making her smile.

Putting aside the mask, Calista said to everyone, "It's not a goodbye... i'm just going to solve some problems to facilitate the unification of the kingdom and contact some old allies."

Seeing everyone sad, Calista continued winking, "I expecting to see you all stronger when i return. Don't lazy around all day."

Hugging everyone, Calista said while vanishing, "Bye everyone..."

"BYE!" Some shouted while others murmured.

...

'First stop... Longsong Stronghold!' Calista thought while dashing.