The Demon Saint is Missing, so I Ran to Another World

The Bolt-Heater System

In any case, the design took some time. We only noticed that we haven't ate anything the entire day when the bell rang for the hours of long sleep. The chamberlain got up, and told me that she'd prepare something in the kitchen. I took a moment's break, as well; but in the end, Shevaun and I produced a working (theoretically) gun concept. I guess it's a good thing to have someone who had knowledge of things you're focusing on, even if it's for a little.

Two heads are better than one. The only question now will be, how much black powder will be put inside the cartridges to make a powerful bullet round?

"..."

Well, we have no idea. However, I guess this part of the work should be left to the goblins; they know their Math.

"What are you doing, milord?" Shevaun asked when she saw me putting some diagonal lines on the barrel in our blueprint.

"It's for the rifling of the gun," then, I explained to her its importance. According to what I read and watched, the rifling of the modern gun's barrel made the slugs spin, achieving a stable flight towards the target, and making it more effective in long distances. In comparison, during the Napoleonic Wars, smoothbore firearms—the infantry weapon of choice of the belligerent nations of the time—dominated the battlefield because of its simplicity and ease of operation.

However, its range was limited and accuracy much to be desired, making it less effective unless it's fired in volleys. There were rifled guns during those times, used by skirmishing units to harass their enemies. But, as firearms of old was muzzle-loaded, it was difficult to load.

Cherflammen, however, won't be experiencing those problems, since this design—if successful—could bring our forces skipping from 16th century European army standards to pre-World War 1 military levels. Still a far cry from the automatic assault rifles of the latter half of 20th century Earth; nevertheless, it's a huge leap of technology compared to what my old world experienced.

"..."

After putting in some final touches and notes, we brought our design to the Lord Tenguri, who remarked, "Hm...a breech-loading crack horn, eh? And a factory-produced set of parts for these? Pretty interesting concepts you have here, Lord Greg and Lady Shevaun. I'll see what I can do with my fellow engineers."

Heh, we couldn't help but be proud of what we did. I mean, I suck at Mathematics, and Shevaun had no idea about modern firearms, yet we designed a potentially-working gun. If successful, it would surely change the way wars were fought here.

I hope we can get the other demon clans united under the Usarveds by then.

"..."

"Lord Greg, Lady Shevaun, by the way..."

"Yes, milord?" Shevaun replied. "Is there anything else that needs explanation?"

"What do you call this firing mechanism, is what I want to ask."

"Oh..." she paused for a bit, and exchanged glances with me, trying to come up with a proper name.

Then, it was I who told the goblin lord, "How about 'the Bolt-Heater System'?"

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***The Biorno clan camp, several distances away from the Conclave's walls***

The news about the results of the negotiation between the Biorno clan leaders and the new Head Scholar of the Conclave spread among the Biorno soldiers like wildfire. Because of this, tensions shot up, and everyone anticipated that Cherflammen was only hours, possibly minutes, away from the resumption of hostilities. The forces manning the pickets were put on high alert, and the main army of the Biorno clan was mobilized.