Iron Axe knew that he was under surveillance.
The hunters involved in the trial blasting were gathered in a two-story building near the castle. Looking through the window, one could see the stone walls enveloping the castle and the guards stationed at the entrance.
It didn't bother him. Rather, he felt that it was reckless for His Highness to send only two guards to watch over them.
Even now, the roar of the trial blasting echoed in his mind. There had never been a weapon that left him in so much shock. In the Southernmost Land, he had witnessed orange fire erupting from within the earth, which burnt for decades. He had also seen the monstrous winds and waves at the Endless Cape... However, those were the immeasurable prestige of the Heavens, the will of the Mother Earth or the Sea God, as well as the iron whip of the deities used to punish all creatures.
Yet His Highness alone had usurped the power of the three gods and obtained God's strength to punish all creatures. His power was still lacking compared to the Heavens' thunderbolts, but it was already in a realm untouchable by mere humans.
If the participants in Iron Sand City proved to be still useful, their tongues would generally be cut off. Of course, that was not the safest practice to keep their secrets. Only the dead would carry their secrets to grave. As for the foreigners, even just the sight of them was considered blasphemy. It was impossible for any of them to assimilate into the core class of the Mojin Clan.
Even though the prince was aware that he was from a different race, he still allowed him to witness the Fire of God's Punishment. The prince even intended for him to form the Hunter Squad. His trust roused Iron Axe's spirits and set his blood boiling.
After being betrayed and framed countless times in Iron Sand City, he fled to the Southern Territory in the Kingdom of Graycastle. But he still suffered discrimination there due to his mixed blood of Sand Nation and Graycastle Nation people. Dispirited, he came to Border Town with the intention to work as a hunter for the rest of his life. Yet he unexpectedly won the prince's favor here.
He had no doubts that this new weapon would pave the way for Roland Wimbledon's victory in the Selection of Crown Prince.
Iron Axe was thrilled to know that he would have an opportunity to serve the future king.
"Everyone, gather downstairs!"
Hearing the shout, Iron Axe looked out. The voice belonged to Carter Lannis, Prince Roland's Chief Knight.
He finished dressing up and hurried downstairs. He walked towards Carter and stood upright in front of him. He had participated in the training of the Militia, so he knew that His Highness favored disciplined and well-organized troops. The other hunters, however, were much slower. The six people spent about half a quarter just to line up.
"The same old place. Follow me." Unconcerned, Carter headed straight to the city wall with everyone.
It was the same site for the trial blasting, but without cordons this time.
Other than Roland, there were four knights with him; all of them Carter's subordinates. Iron Axe noticed that the prince was fiddling with an oddly-shaped long metal stick as he explained something to the knights.
Noticing the arrival of Iron Axe and the others, Roland approached them and asked, "Have you all got used to living in your new place?
"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness." Everyone bowed and answered that their new houses were very comfortable.
Iron Axe thought that the new houses were much better than the old ones. At least, they did not leak. The roofs were not covered with thin straw blankets, but neatly lined with tiles instead.
"That's great." Roland nodded and added, "The current arrangement is for security reasons. You can return to your old houses after the Months of Demons ends. I've also distributed your first month's salaries to your families. You can meet them on weekends, accompanied by guards of course."
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness." The hunters' replies were cheerful.
This came as a surprise to Iron Axe. Never mind the law of Sand Nation, even the military management of the Kingdom of Graycastle should not be this lax. Was this His Highness's benevolence towards them? He became a little worried. If the prince wanted to fight for the throne, he must be merciless. That Iron Axe knew all too well, having lived in Iron Sand City.
However, when Prince Roland said that they would test a new weapon based on gunpowder next, Iron Axe immediately threw his worries behind. He stared without blinking at the prince as he showed them two oddly-shaped iron sticks.
"They're called flintlocks," said Roland. "I'll tell you how to use them next."
...
It took Iron Axe only half an hour to learn how to use the new weapons.
Put gunpowder—that was, the black powder which would cause the Fire of God's Punishment—into the barrel, put a lead pill, and poke it until it reached the end. Then pour the gunpowder into the flash pan at the rear, aim at the target, and pull the trigger.
He believed he had a talent for killing and were skilled in all kinds of weapons, whether it was the sword, knife, hammer, axe, or spear. But that was due to years of training and combat experience. To master a weapon in only half an hour, this learning speed could only be comparable to that of the hand crossbow.
The other flintlock was handed to Carter.
Chief Knight was also intrigued by the novel weapon and was unwilling to put it down.
After several rounds of simulations, Roland let them test the power of the weapons with live ammunition. The target was already prepared. It was a plate armor propped up by a wooden stick, held up by two knights standing about 30 feet away.
Following the shooting method the prince demonstrated, Iron Axe and Carter aimed and pulled the trigger.
The loud noise coming from the first fire startled everyone present. Iron Axe was no exception. But very soon, everyone's faces were colored with astonishment.
There was a small hole on the plate armor. The lead shot had cleanly penetrated the thickest part of the armor.
Iron Axe had carefully observed the armor before they began shooting. It was evidently not some shoddy product from a handmade workshop. The mark of the hammer and anvil on the neck showed that it was a standard armor from the Blacksmith Society in the Kingdom of Graycastle. The thickest part of the armor was half the thickness of a finger, strong enough to withstand a direct hit from a crossbow at a close distance. The wiser choice to deal with this kind of armor would be to use a heavy crossbow, war hammer, or halberd.
Therefore, the flintlock was equally easy to operate as the hand crossbow, but far stronger in power. Its loading speed was also equivalent to that of the hand crossbow. As for the accuracy... A target 30 feet away would be nothing.
"Your Highness, the output of this weapon..." Carter said.
"There are only two at the moment. We can produce two more at most until the Months of Demons."
Iron Axe saw that Carter was visibly relieved. He could roughly guess his thoughts. If this weapon could be manufactured easily, it would take only a few days to train a large number of "quick warriors" with the flintlocks. There would be no restriction in age, occupation, or even gender. Even a fragile woman could pose a great threat to the knights.
Although it was not as shocking as Fire of God's Punishment, it was still a good weapon. Iron Axe thought it would be easy to kill the giant pachyderm demonic beasts outside the city wall with this power. If he had a flintlock when he was facing the demonic hybrids back then, the outcome might not have been so pathetic.
At the scene, Roland alone understood the true meaning of this weapon.
With his own hands, he had unveiled the curtains to a firearms war.
