d.a.m.n that 4-6 hours took a whole 9.5 hours. Accursed gun text.Year 7447, Month 1, Day 8
It"s the third day since we entered the dungeon.
In the s.p.a.cious center room of the 8th floor we arrived at before the evening I"m making bullets for the sake of test firing the same as usual. A considerable distance away from the central pillar, in a slightly open area the production of smokeless gunpowder is being done centering around me. Inside of the gla.s.s and ceramic containers that I purchased in ma.s.s I use magic to separate the raw materials, or rather it"s the acids I made through nitrification of the raw cotton.
Though the primary objective is nitrification and denitrification but on that occasion I"m always keeping an eye on it. If the reaction isn"t fixed then I immediately stir the mixed acids and accelerate the reaction of the late portions. The stirring can be done safely using my excessive mana.
The next washing process is normally the part that would take the longest amount of time but as a matter of fact it doesn"t take that long at all. I"ll mention the reason later but my magic(or rather my ma.s.sive amount of mana I guess?) plays a major role in it.
When it comes to boil washing it, I just use a stupidly huge cylindrical pot for it and it"s fine to periodically heat it up with fire magic. Of course, if you have the fuel then it"s fine to place it over fire as well. The washing after that is really nothing more than a bonus. I make a huge bath buckets using ice and after filling that with water carry out the washing. Though rather than a bath bucket it might be more appropriate to call it a pool. In regards to the current of the water as long as they can use water and void magic anyone can do it.
The majority of the water is something I created but if they just add the water they made themselves to there they can move it by using void magic to move that water. Though the efficiency will drop quite a bit because the amount is small in comparison to the rest but in the end my water will start rotating around in the pool so it"s still far better than mixing it with a pole. Also, it"s using magic with a clear objective to it"s more efficient for earning experience points than just randomly using elemental magic.
Though I say that, the reason for the boil washing and washing with water here is to remove the remaining acid, fat parts, and trash from the raw cotton that underwent nitrification so I don"t mind even if they"re both done halfhearted. In the end if I just use the spell {Selection} then po~of it"ll all be perfect separated from the impurities all at once after all. The only reason I don"t do it from the start is so I can take it even just a bit easier. Through using the spell {Selection} it leaves almost no impurities so it reduces any accidents to close to none.
Most likely, I don"t think it would be wrong to say that just this most important part is done at an even greater level than the technology on Earth.
After that, while it"s wet from the water Toris separates it all at once. Even here it"s possible for us to do precise separation that"s almost perfectly uniform so it raises the level of safety when being used even higher. I use {Selection} on the separated materials once again and then use magic again to dry it all at once, or rather if I just pa.s.s it through an {Anti-Magic Field} all of the water created with magic completely disappears. If I store in a bottle together with alcohol separated from vodka then it won"t deteriorate for a short while.
As a matter of fact right now I"m confirming the mixture ratio for the stabilizer to help the quality last even longer. Sodium bicarbonate is used for laundry and cooking so it was easy to obtain and oxidized magnesium is the main ingredient in the leftovers of a type of magnesium called {flash metal} which was pleasantly easy to obtain as well.
No matter which stage it is water magic is a necessity so it"s almost always been Zenom, Ralpha, Zulu, and Angela that have been dispatched to the other teams. Since just Gwine has the important job of producing the map and confirming our current location when teleporting she"s still acting together with the {Slaughterers} as usual. Recently she"s been on firing duty when we test fire the gun. Though it"s just pulling the string tied to the trigger on Bel"s signal.
Since it"s already the new year, this time I intend to go one step further and start making a new gun. Of course, it"s still not one for use in the real thing. One that still doesn"t leave the realm of a test gun but this time rather than one that is shot while resting on a bench, I intend to make one that someone can hold in their hand and fire. Just in case I brought along some walnut wood for making the gun-stock.
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Year 7447, Month 1, Day 9
I made a prototype of the second gun. Without giving any thought to the changing of barrels or the magazine, I honestly just made it a back-loaded smooth-bore "completely single-shot gun". Every time you fire a bullet you have to manually release the chamber and add another but learning from the first gun I made a prototype of, even if there"s a misfire in the chamber it isn"t dangerous other than the muzzle. Also, no matter who is firing it if it"s a distance of at most 20 meters then it"s hard to miss a human-sized target.
If it"s this then all of the mechanisms from the gun barrel to the chamber can be lined up double parallel and then if I just slightly shift the angle into the shape of a fan it should be usable as a splendid net gun. Getting the two hammers to fall simultaneously is simple after all.
The problematic point is putting aside the stabilizing agent of the smokeless gunpowder I"m making, I haven"t put any fire r.e.t.a.r.dant in so I"ve been making the chamber a bit thick and large in order for it to endure the detonation. It"s still fine since I"m using sh.e.l.ls but with the first prototype gun I put too much firing agent into the sh.e.l.ls and ended up having to replace the cylinder twice after all. But, it ends up heavier for that portion.
For that reason, right now I"ve reconsidered that after all a fire r.e.t.a.r.dant is necessary~ and looking for one. Dibutyl phthalate or Dinitrotoluene, there"s no way right... Ah, maybe the blood from trolls would work? Since it"s weak to fire. I just thought there might be some relation but there"s no basis to it.
Rather than that, the next topic is the net that this gun will fire. There"s no problem with the network or the needles that hold it together but it"s not like it directly fires the net from inside of the barrel so I need to design something like a spear that acts as the actual body to be fired.
It"s fine even if it"s just once but a durability capable of resisting the impact. Fire resistant and difficult to burn. And then not as heavy as metal. There"s already no choice but a wood stick right. It"s fine if it"s evergreen oak or walnut or anything else but it"s necessary for it to be as fire resistant as possible. I wonder if it would be fine to just fit the back of it that"s exposed to the detonation with some metal? No, I guess it"s fine even without it? Either way I"m sure the rubber stopper that acts as a seal for the blanks will be here so the remains will still cling onto it. Putting aside the net, it"s something that"s fine as long as we don"t re-use the launching platform.
Ah, that"s right, when it comes to wood that rarukku that"s used for funerals might be good. It doesn"t seem all that durable but that"s just a matter of durability as lumber, and above all else it"s resistant to fire. I guess it"s plenty for this type of role?
Furthermore, in the very end, I was finally able to make the horizontal double-barrel type net gun prototype on the day we were going to leave the dungeon. First off we"ll test fire it a number of times with blanks. It seems there"s no problem. With this next time we should be able to try test firing this gun with a net.
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Year 7447, Month 1, Day 11
We returned to the surface and while waiting we bit into some baldoggie from Murowa"s cart when the members of the {Butchers} and {Exterminators} came out lead by Zenom and Ralpha. Including us none of the teams were able to obtain any big treasure. How dull, and just as I was thinking it"s a bad sign for the start of a new year, I reconsidered that something like this was only obvious.
Also, there was some news from while we were in the dungeon. Two things, one that was reasonably important and another that doesn"t matter at all. First off I"ll start with the one that doesn"t matter at all. The other day, it seems that {Black.Topaz} came back. End.
The important news is that there was contact from Sandak Company about talking with Marquis Dasurain. It seems like it would be interesting enough taking a look at the face of an old man who"d spend 140,000,000 Z on a boring ring.
Also, I want to ask about that one "special type of spell" as well. Additionally if I have the chance I want to know why he used the expression "recovery" in regards to the ability of the ring. Does he really believe that it"s recovery or did he say it intentionally thinking that we don"t know the ability of it, otherwise maybe it"s just a misunderstanding(if the method of confirming it is bad then that"s possible), I wanted to confirm things like that.
If you were to ask me as long as he didn"t intentionally say it like that then I don"t have much more to say about it. There"s no method to accurately investigate the ability like my Unique Ability {Identify}, or at least I can just confirm that after all. Eh? I mean, if the Royal Court Magician and Minister can"t investigate it then isn"t it impossible for the average person around there to do it? Miduchi said, "There might be skilled magicians out there which haven"t surfaced in the world" or something like that but even she"s recognized that it"s not very realistic, an extremely minuscule possibility that is fine to just ignore.
Even if they do exist as long as they don"t appear in the world then they aren"t any major influence and there"s no way they would specifically go out of their way to come to me just to use a "special type of spell" on me. Even if something like that happens, I"ll deal with it when we get there. If it"s done in a way which I can tell then it"s just a matter of shutting them up. Though if I can"t tell there"s really no helping it. When I said that to Miduchi she said, "Really, that"s so reckless. But there"s nothing other than that right." with a difficult expression.
It"s true for us but I"m sure it"s the same for the other party as well, so I just wrote a letter that any day during our next couple of days off would be fine before leaving it to a pa.s.senger carriage to deliver. After all, it seems like the thing he wants to ask me about is the specific details on how we obtained the ring, what kinds of monsters we fought, and about the dungeon. It"s a bit troublesome but there"s nothing bad about becoming acquaintances with a major politician. Even more so when that person has a history of trying to mess with sister..though I guess that"s only obvious given his work duties huh?
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Year 7447, Month 1, Day 12
The next day, after having breakfast Miduchi, Zulu, and I entered the dungeon with just the three of us.
In order to practice the spells we just learned the other day.
After moving around bodies around a bit against goblins and such on the 1st floor, we immediately got started.
I thought there wasn"t much meaning(So what if you can use it within a few seconds?) in practicing {Ground.Smoke} too much so I felt it was plenty being able to cast it within 30 seconds and just adequately practiced it a couple dozen times. The problem is the spells {Pyrotechnics} and {Grave.Strike}. Both of these should be even more effective the faster you can cast them.
Miduchi started practicing with breaks and I started without stop. Recently I"ve started to understand it but when you"re using spells as an example, it seems that the more skilled you are for the example the easier it is to learn it from watching. It"s a bit different from leaving it to your high skill proficiency to use the example spell in as short of a time as possible.
It"s not that it"s best to simply use it in as short of a time as possible but rather if the person carefully spends 30-60 seconds casting a spell they can cast quickly it"s even closer to the ideal example for teaching, is what I mean. Just somehow or other I feel like the person watching can learn it in less uses of the spell.
Though it"s just a feeling so it"s not as if I know that"s the case for sure.
In any case, for starters there"s the spell {Pyrotechnics}. If it"s this then even Ralpha can use it and if it"s her then I think she would even be able to determine the locations of enemies and allies within the smokescreen with her Unique Ability.
"That smokescreen spell is frightening. You end up unable to see anything."
Zulu said with a shiver. Certainly I was surprised at first as well. When I felt the slight discomfort and tried identifying myself only to notice that the "upper limit" of my Strength and Speed had fallen I was trembling inside beyond Zulu just now. Though I was relieved when it recovered a short while after that.
It might be that this guy noticed there was an abnormality with his body.
"Yeah. But wouldn"t it be fine as long as you don"t rely on your vision? Using Miduchi"s {Party-ization} then putting aside the enemies you can tell the rough location of allies right? It"s convenient even just for avoiding friendly fire."
I tried saying that but hearing it Zulu said some words I"ve never heard him say until now.
"Come to think of it, master never uses that {Party-ization} like the madam right."
It seems he said it slightly but he doesn"t know anything much at all about the Unique Abilities and just thinks it"s one of the spells that Miduchi can use since we said that. Since he knows that magic is my specialty it"s almost unnatural that he didn"t ask about it until now. Although, since it"s Zulu I"m sure he was showing restraint.
"I"ve discussed it with Maruso before as well but I"ve always thought it"s extremely convenient how using {Party-ization} doesn"t let us feel the madam close by but master, and everyone else as well. Maruso and I would prefer is master uses it so we can feel master"s presence even closer but.."
Zulu said with some restraint. You could say it"s quite the admirable slave spirit but if you just take the words at surface value and it could be interpreted in a slightly strange way. Of course, that"s even when I already know that Zulu doesn"t have those sort of feelings or interests at all. Well, that sort of c.r.a.p doesn"t matter at all. Rather than that it might be a good time to tell him already.
"..It would be best if I use it, huh? There"s a reason why I don"t..can"t use it. Do you want to know?"
Zulu noticed that my atmosphere changed a bit. Furthermore, during this time Miduchi is desperately focused on trying to use the smokescreen type of {Pyrotechnics} and hasn"t noticed our conversation.
"Eh? No..that is.."
Zulu started making an expression like he"s screwed up and said something he shouldn"t have. Even though magic is my specialty and I have an extremely high amount of mana but I have an inferiority complex towards the spell that Miduchi specializes with. He must think that he accidentally stimulated that.
While covered in sweat from concentrating countless times and leaning against the wall of the dungeon, I looked at Zulu who was kneeling in front of me and started talking again.
"I can"t use Miduchi"s {Party-ization}. Most likely from here on out, I"ll never be able to use in my lifetime. The reason being that {Party-ization} isn"t magic after all."
"Eh?"
It must have been an unexpected statement to Zulu. His eyes opened wide.
"Just the same the reason why Gwine specializes in remembering terrain isn"t a spell either."
"..Ha...ha?"
"Ralpha, Bel, Toris, Basutoral, and Faruergaz all have something they specialize with. Of course, I do as well..The content is varied for every individual."
I continue saying to Zulu who"s making a confused expression.
"It"s nothing to be so surprised over. Even you already know how we were reborn from a different world right? It"s an ability that those sort of people all have. It"s called a {Unique Ability}. It"s something that can only be seen by the person them self in their status like the level of magic and {Special Skills}."
".."
Zulu who was at a loss for words just continued to look at my face.
"Even you were amazed by Gwine"s growth rate right? I"m sure you accepted the reason for that when I mentioned in the past but.."
Ralpha who"s combat abilities were high from the start from being raised and educated by Zenom as an adventurer. Bel and Toris who received combat training as n.o.bles. Even though they"re considerably young brats, Angela and Zulu didn"t mind it at much from the start. However, when we first started training Gwine I realized they had the feelings of, "Master sure has taken on some baggage". Of course, since they"re my slaves they would never say something like that openly though.
A short while after that when I explained things about the blessing of level increases for reincarnated people they seemed to have easily accepted it. That"s why when I added Basutoral to the party I didn"t feel displeasure from them at all.
"Well, {Unique Abilities} are something special that we reincarnated people have from the moment we"re born. In Miduchi"s case that is {Party-ization}."
I continue speaking to Zulu who"s still dumbfounded and staring at my face.
"..The Laios race has the special skills {Instantaneous} and {Night Vision} right? It"s the same as how I"ll never be able to use those in my lifetime. It"s the individual version of those that only reincarnated people have."
Zulu made a face as if he understood a bit.
It seems the doubts within him have been cleared.
The color of understanding appeared in his eyes.
Along with a light poof sound the smokescreen type {Pyrotechnics} activated.
It seems that after concentrating five times she"s finally been able to use it.
"..Oh~ I did it!"
She happily shouted. She was concentrating a bit of distance away from us so she doesn"t seem to have realized we were discussing things somewhat seriously.
"You and Angela must have thought it was a bit strange right? Yeah, I get it. It"s fine if you don"t worry about it."
I continued saying to Zulu who was making a slightly apologetic expression.
"It"s a special power that only reincarnated people like us have. In addition to having a high growth rate, we even have all our memories previous to being born. Do you think it"s unfair? Don"t hold back. Tell me honestly."
"No. I don"t think it"s unfair. If you were to say that then someone who was born as a slave would consider the fact that I was born a commoner unfair. Rather than that, I"m pleased that I was able to understand that after all master is a special person."
Zulu said while properly looking me in the eye and after that smiled a bit before fixing his posture and politely lowering his head.
"You"re my head slave after all..I"m depending on you from here on out as well. Also, I intend on saying this to Angela. Though I don"t intend on telling those other than her "yet". Sooner or later..Even if it"s not everything I"ll tell everyone else about it eventually.."
"Ha."
With just a short reply Zulu lowered his head even further. I thought he would ask something even more about my and the others {Unique Abilities} but Zulu didn"t say anything. That"s exactly like Zulu.
"Uoo~ I can"t see! I can"t see anything! Hey! You can"t see anything right, with this!..Hn? Also, I"ve got this vague feeling..Hey say something?"
I"m glad to see she"s enjoying herself.
"That"s great isn"t it! Come out. It"s almost past noon so let"s go and eat something."