When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

In the industrial park, the armory is the most mysterious. They not only have their own workshop but also a specially made firing range in the outskirts.

At this moment, in the ankle-deep muddy ground covered with weeds, a Holy Gunman holds a new type of clockwork gun, concentrating as he prays.

In his prayer, he asks the Holy Spirit in the gun to respond to his call, to unleash a strong Holy Wind, and to avoid misfiring or bursting the barrel.

"Is the prayer over?"

"It's over." Finishing the last line of prayer silently, the gunner grasped the muzzle and responded in a low voice.

As a veteran gunner who endured the tough marches and the blood battle at Joan of Arc Castle, he learned the use of the new clockwork gun in just a few minutes.

The difference from the old clockwork gun is that the new model has a reduced caliber by 3 millimeters, making it lighter to hold.

He first used the rod to push the firing rod back into place, then inserted a round lead bullet into the muzzle.

"Ready!"

Upon hearing the officer's command, the gunner calmly and methodically turned the clockwork key in the box, approximately ten rotations later, he reached out and pulled the bolt on the clockwork box.

With a "click", the trigger of the clockwork gun stood as erect as if it had taken a little blue pill, firm and unyielding.

"Aim!"

Using a stand to support the clockwork gun, he pressed the stock against his shoulder hollow, feeling the cold iron barrel against his cheek.

With his ear close to the barrel, he could hear the faint retreating sound of the anti-reverse pawl.

Inserting his finger in front of the trigger, the gunner suppressed the sense of dizziness, closed his left eye, aligning the sight at the muzzle with the dummy in knight's armor fifty meters away.

His heartbeat synchronized with the gears, each second stretching indefinitely.

Then, that moment finally arrived.

"Holy Wind!"

A piercing shriek suddenly erupted, the thunderous sound of the clockwork gun tore through the sky, deafening.

The clockwork key spun rapidly like a windmill, creating afterimages, while the acrid smell of heated metal filled the air instantly.

"Bang!"

The knight dummy in the distance jerked back violently but quickly stood upright, swaying back and forth repeatedly.

The metallic fragments and wood splinters scattered in the cold air elicited a teeth-grinding discomfort.

Patrick waved, and two soldiers struggled to bring the knight target towards Horn.

As the target was delivered, Haimodin stepped forward, wearing thick leather gloves and revealing robust arm muscles.

Picking up a clockwork gun, she introduced to Horn: "Kanni Di Type II Rifle, 17mm caliber, 1.5 meters in length, bullet weight 30 to 50 grams, total weight 18 to 22 pounds.

With a stand, it can be operated by a single person, and a seasoned operator can maintain a firing rate within 30 seconds, two shots per minute.

Based on Kanni Di Type I, I replaced it with an S-type spring to ensure consistent force throughout.

This prevents damaging the firing rod and gears in the first half and lagging behind the rod's speed in the latter half, thereby reducing wear on the rod and gears.

Additionally, a reverse pawl has been added in the clockwork box. After winding the spring, push the bolt, press the reverse pawl, the trigger pops up, and after aiming, pull the trigger.

However, the reverse pawl can only stop the spring from turning for about 1 minute at most. If not fired within a minute after winding, there's a high chance of the reverse pawl bouncing back."

Horn stepped forward, touching the finger-thick hole in the armor, and inserted his finger firmly in it, reaching two knuckles deep.

That is to say, the effective kill distance is one hundred yards, with a penetration depth of 3 to 4 centimeters at fifty yards.

Combining it with Sessi's skunk brand calming sniff salt, a seasoned Holy Gunman using meditation between firing and loading can fire four times in a battle before exhausting his mana.

Unfortunately, reducing the caliber and switching to a gunstock meant the barrel had to be lengthened, changing from the original 1.4 meters to 1.5 meters.

This means that to use the clockwork gun normally, a height of at least 1.6 meters is necessary.

Because when using it, one hand is required to hold the stand to elevate the barrel.

Friends who frequently use clockwork guns know Horn's principle of leverage: the closer the fulcrum, the smaller the arm of force.

If the person is short with insufficient arm length, the heavy muzzle will tilt downward in front, potentially causing the entire gun to unbalance and fall or fire inaccurately.

Yet this thing's power is more than sufficient, at fifty meters, considering a heavily armored knight's charge at 7 meters per second, the clockwork gun can fire two rounds.

Since Horn anticipated that from firing to the rears advancing takes about 5 to 6 seconds, cavalry within fifty meters are fired at the first time and at fifteen meters the second.

Carefully caressing the barrel, Horn seemed to envision the scene of a thousand guns firing simultaneously, thousands of lead bullets piercing the knights' bodies, and the domino-like collapsing spectacle.

"Not bad, you've done well," Horn announced immediately, "You over there, take note, propose to appoint Haimodin as a Royal Engineering Monastery Monk of the Pope Country, in addition to the basic salary, a monthly subsidy of 20 Dinars, plus an annual invention fund can be applied for inventions and creations."

"Royal Engineering Monastery? And what's an invention fund?" Haimodin was somewhat confused.

"The so-called Royal Engineering Monastery is for those artisans who have made significant contributions and academic achievements in engineering; they can be granted holy positions for their technical contributions." Horn patted Haimodin's shoulder, deliberately raising his voice.

At this moment, almost all the artisans around paused for a moment, as if listening intently, even blatantly jogging over, stretching their ears to listen.

"There will also be Royal Alchemy Monastery and Royal Literary Monastery, and as for the invention fund...

You can think of it as an interest-free loan from the Engineering Monastery to manufacture and experiment with things you like, such as—clocks."

Seeing the gleam in Haimodin's eyes, Horn smiled: "If your inventions really yield results, then a part of the profits from the invention will return to the Engineering Monastery as an invention fund and operating expenses.

But if you don't like it, you can also spend money to buy out the invention yourself.

Alright, I'll give you a three-day break, then it's onto the second project—a clockwork gun for cavalry."

Arranging for Haimodin to rest, Horn brought in Brock for the second time: "How's our clockwork gun production? Can we complete 1000 units in two months?"

"The production is about 8 units per day; if we extend work hours, the maximum is 12 units per day." Brock still had a distressed look, "As for whether we can complete 1000 units in two months, first ask if the bronze springs and refined iron are enough?"

"I've reduced the refined iron requirement for the alchemy ceremony of the bronze spring to 8 pounds, but the cost requires 12 alchemists per ceremony."

Each time the extraction of bronze reduces 6 pounds of refined iron, saving a total of about 2000 pounds of refined iron.

Horn replied, "Alchemists are not the issue; can production keep up?"

"Give me 40 alchemists, and I can produce 10 pounds of bronze daily." Patrick declared with confidence.

Horn immediately shifted the pressure onto Brock, whose forehead was beading with sweat. After pondering for a long time, he awkwardly said, "Your Majesty, our limit is 12 units. After all, rolling gun barrels is an extremely troublesome process, and the failure rate is high."

"What if we use a hydraulic hammer in collaboration with Jeanne's lightning?" Horn asked.

Brock continued to shake his head: "That workload already exceeds Her Highness Jeanne's limit; after all, Her Majesty Jeanne's mana is limited, and there are only a little over ten skilled ironworkers capable of fine work."

Suddenly, Horn's mind flashed to the discharging water in the moon pool, he pondered for a moment: "You extend your daily working hours first, I'll give you extra bonuses and night passes, the rest I'll think of a way."