Volume 4 Chapter 50 (2/2)

Once we decided on a course of action we moved quickly. A few days later, we bid everyone in the Vlad estate farewell and set off.

Gigi-san already went off on his trip, so it was a little regrettable we couldn’t say goodbye to him.

Before we left the Demon Continent, I sent Elle-sensei a letter.

I wrote about my meeting with Snow, my marriage with Chrisse, my release from slavery, and the continuation of my adventures in the Dragon Continent.

About a month later we returned to Meiya’s estate. We went by coach and then by s.h.i.+p. Arriving at Meiya’s estate, the first thing we did was have a bath, a meal, and some sleep—in order to rest from our travel fatigue we spent three days lazing around.

The morning of the fourth day. I took Meiya and walked into her workshop.

Since I had come to the Dragon Continent I’ve been wearing Dragon Kungfu, which were  traditional Dragon Continent clothes for men. Snow and Chrisse also wore Dragon Dresses.

“Lute-sama, what kind of handgun shall we be making this time?” “We’re not going to be making handguns or weapons today. I was thinking we’re going to put together some personal equipment.” “Not weapons but personal equipment? Will it be armor or something?”

Meiya tilted her head in question. Even though I said personal equipment other than weapons, it seemed she still didn’t get it. I showed her the memo I had prepared beforehand and explained.

This was also one way I’m repaying Meiya for the Vampire incident.

“At the minimum, I thought I should make these.”

Combat Uniform Eye Protection Gear Helmet Backpacks Combat Protectors Combat Boots ALICE Clips Bulletproof Vests

“A, are you going to be making all of these?” “That’s because they don’t need large-scale work like the M700P. I’ll explain what each one is and what they’re used for in turn.” “Yes, please treat me well!”

Meiya’s eyes s.h.i.+ned like a child being given a toy, then she took out a blank memo pad and a feather pen. I explained each one in turn and in a way that made it easy for her to understand.

Combat Uniform—Clothes worn during battle. The outside was designed for easy movement and was made from a robust material that breathed easily. For now I planned to make them with cotton. They were equipped with pockets in various places for storing lots of small accessories. Combat Protector—There were two purposes for it: [Protecting the knees and elbows] and [Mental effect of safety even if you moved around violently]. In times when one needed to squat or lay p.r.o.ne, there was a possibility that a moment’s hesitation over getting a knee injury meant the difference between life and death. However, if one wore a set of protectors, the mental safety/practicality of not getting injured when overdoing things would be important in close combat situations. Helmet—The purpose of the helmet was to protect a Human’s most important organ: The brain. Making a helmet out of magic liquid metal would make lighter and stronger helmets compared to making one out of needlessly thick iron. Eye Protection Gear—Goggles. There were lots of things which could damage the eyes in combat. Dust carried by the wind, spent cartridges ejected by allies, wood or stone fragments scattered about by bullets. With magic, there would also be fragments scattered by blasts. If these hit one’s eye then combat power would decrease. Therefore eye protection was necessary. The problem was what the gla.s.s parts were to be made of. Of course we couldn’t use this world’s gla.s.s. It wasn’t strong enough. It would conversely increase the risk of damage. Backpack—During the vampire incident, the clay to stop one of the functions of the magic prevention collar and the softball-sized smoke grenade was put in a bag. However, since there was no time I made one which was barely suitable for the job. This time I’ll be making one foremergencies in advance. The total weight of the equipment [shouldn’t exceed a third of a soldier’s body weight]. Fighting strength of a tired soldier drops significantly. I thought rather than giving soldiers all they could bear to carry, it was better to set a standard. I also thought I shouldn’t stuff 20 kg of baggage into one large bag, but instead disperse the weight using smaller bags linked together to make it easier to carry. Pack together three 5 kg bags and hang two 2.5 kg bags from each of them. Combat Boots—During the vampire incident I used ones with soles made of soft materials to reduce the sound of footsteps, but the combat boots I’ll make this time are going to be for field use. However, there’s no rubber in this alternate world. I’ve never seen any. Therefore I’ll be attaching metal rivets to the shoe soles. Metal rivets are useful as an anti-skid mechanism but the downside was the temperature of the ground would be  easily transmitted to the foot, in cold regions heat easily flows out, causing frostbite. Tentatively, I’ll put a sheet of monster skin between two plates made from magic liquid metal. This way cold and heat won’t go through and one could safely step on metal pieces. The tip of the toes would also be fitted with metal to make the boots safe. ALICE Clip—[Sliding metal clips] attached to pistol belts. The advantage of ALICE clips was that one can attach them wherever one likes along the belt. The mechanism wasn’t complicated, either. However, if used this way the trousers would slide down from the weight of the equipment, so it should be supported using suspenders. The combination of a [Pistol Belt] and [Suspenders] was called a [Belt Kit]. Bulletproof Vest—Protects against piercing by soft point bullets favored by police or VIP guards. However, there was no chance of us getting hit by a bullet in this world. Bulletproof vests can’t defend against stabs from arrows or the like. For that reason, I planned to make leather vests using this world’s materials as a subst.i.tution. Ideally I’d like something which could defend against sword, arrow, and spear attacks.

“—Well I suppose I’m thinking about making some things like these. Weapons are important, but armor and a way to increase the number of magazines and the small stuff we carry are necessary to raise the odds of us surviving from now on.” “As expected from Lute-sama! I’ll  be learning from this!”

Meiya’s expression brightened as she gleefully jotted everything down on the memo pad. While I waited for her to finish writing things down I called out.

“Well then, I’ll immediately begin making the [Combat Uniforms].” “Yes! Your number one disciple shall help you out!”

“I’m sorry to disturb your work.”

When Meiya had just gotten psyched, one of the estate’s maids came along.

“A letter addressed to the Meiya estate just arrived.” “Good grief, who is it!? Barging in when I was just going to have some sweet time with Lute-sama!”

Meiya puffed her cheeks in anger and checked the sender of the letter.

*—sigh* “Meiya?”

She faintly sighed.

“Leave it in my room.” “Understood.” “You don’t need to read it first?”

“It doesn’t matter! It’s a letter from my childhood friend. Anyway, my time together with Lute-sama is more important than anything!”

She returned to her cheerful self as if ignoring her previous sigh. Meiya cut the chatter about the letter with a smile.

Thank you very much for reading this far! Impressions, corrections, and opinions are greatly welcome! Next update is tomorrow, the 5th of January at 9 PM!

I will add the volume break for the 4th volume later. Well then, best regards for tomorrow.

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