Chapter 50: – New Equipment (2/2)

[As a wife, I’ll stay by Lute-oniichan’s side, too.]

With this our next destination was decided.

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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 ship.

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.”

“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 shined 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.

In times when one needed to squat or lay prone, 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.

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.

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].

“—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.