Chapter 643

Additional Equipment for the Parfe Carriage
The next morning, after breakfast, we returned to the highway and set out once more for Catastie.
Today would also be our chance to exchange opinions on the additional armaments for the carriage that came up yesterday.
And the first to speak—unsurprisingly—was Lana.

“Yes, yes! Let’s mount a magi-science machine gun! If we store magic power in advance, it won’t run out of ammo so easily!”

“That kind of power would affect the surrounding environment, wouldn’t it? And what would you do if they took hostages?”

“T-that’s… well…”

She had probably been planning to use this opportunity to push magi-science technology, but magi-science is far more potent than ordinary magical tools.
It’s convenient, yes, but when converted into weaponry, it becomes something you can’t hold back.
Either way, it leads to environmental damage, so rejected.

“This is a tough one. If we install ordinary machine guns, it undermines the advantage of Young Master Talat’s fully protected wooden carriage. Yet we must equip something for defense. Quite the dilemma.”

The Lumite branch manager summed it up well.
If we install normal weapons, destroying them could end up punching holes in Talat’s defensive barrier.
If we place the equipment outside Talat’s barrier, it would need to auto-fire, and that risks harming unrelated people.
And Talat’s boards can’t be processed finely enough to manufacture a machine gun to begin with.

“Hm, it seems you’re having trouble.”

“We are indeed. Lady Plum, do you have any clever ideas?”

“Well, I’d say the problem is that you’re fixated on weapons that kill.”

Weapons that kill…
Ah.
What we actually need is equipment that can drive enemies away, not something designed to massacre them.

“I see—non-lethal weapons. But with Parfe’s slow legs, won’t we get caught right away?”

“That depends on how fast Parfe can run at full speed. If it’s faster than expected, then even something like a flash round to blind them will work. And if that isn’t enough…”

“If it isn’t enough?”

“Have Kiblinki Saltas devise a device to launch their threads. Then you can restrain pursuers.”

Ah—of course.
That was a complete blind spot.
We’ll have the Kiblinki Saltas assist: creating a round, non-sticky projectile that spreads upon impact and forms a net strong enough to restrain the target.
After discussing it, they said it’s possible.
But it does need to be thrown with a good amount of force to open properly.

And so, Lana proposed a magi-tech launcher.
You load whatever you want to fire, pull the trigger, and it shoots with incredible force—far faster than normal launchers.
With it, we should be able to entangle any bandits or monsters chasing us.
We won’t go so far as to deal with them after they’re immobilized.
They’ll probably die unable to move, but… that can’t be helped.
I’ve become rather dry about such things.

Anyway, the basic concept for our equipment is set.
With this, we can fully coat everything in Talat’s boards, and it’s perfect as an additional armament.
Once we return to the Lumite branch in Vardmoi, I’ll have them start research on it.

What do you think about this chapter?