Conanna's Curtrude trading company arrived and the city grew even livelier. For why would it not be when there were so many humans that had come here in such a short amount of time as result of the merchant's use of his contacts to promote our city? The adventurers too added to the buzz with their satisfaction over the great array of new products brought by the trading company—products that the store managed by the fox-girls didn't have.
That said, that didn't mean the sales of the store managed by fox-girls declined for we still had the apples that were blessed by Ancient Elf and the swords forged by the Dwarf Smiths, both of which couldn't be bought anywhere else.
So basically, we sold our specialty products while the Curtrude trading company took care of the rest. We existed in complete harmony without interfering with one another.
In contrast, the city benefitted from the opening of the trading company's branch store by it creating jobs. The employees of these jobs increased our count of settlers.
Although the merchant and I came to an agreement that the city's store would only sell the things that could be harvested in the city or the things that could be made from the products being sold by the stores here, it wasn't really a bother. If I did want to increase the kind of things our city could sell, like meat and eggs, all we needed to do was raise them.
In fact, it might be a good idea to have at least one more special product other than the apples and swords or maybe even build a recreational facility like a casino or something like that.
And then there were the increasing number of farmers.
In the city of Eclaba, 70% of the crops they had grown were taken away from them as tax but in this city, that amount was reduced to only 30%. Moreover, in addition to the promise of an abundant harvest, our farmlands were being blessed by elves and the harvested crops were bound to be extraordinarily nutritious and delicious. Information of those alone should convince a lot of the farmers to immigrate.
The timing was perfect too. The farmers had just harvested their crops for this year so instead of growing their crops back in their previous respective towns, a lot of them opted to terminate their contract with their landlords and move here.
At the moment, I was patrolling the city along with Kuina, Elder Dwarf, and Ancient Elf.
"It's all going so well, it's kinda scary."
"The humans are amazing. Kuina's a little surprised."
Gazing at the city that had all of a sudden became populated and abuzz, Kuina exclaimed so.
"I agree. Even though we can make amazing things, that is something beyond us."
"I know, right? They're weak so in order to live, they have to be wise and ingenious. It's in this regard that we are inferior to them."
Elder Dwarf and Ancient Elf expressed their agreement to Kuina's thoughts.
The people of the Curtrude trading company had a.s.sumed various duties so the girls' workload had lightened. Add in the fact that the number of Dwarf Smiths and High Elves had increased, the girls were actually quite free.
When I had given the humans the authority to govern themselves to a certain extent, they were able to quickly make rules that would allow them live peacefully and easily.
They were basically autonomous although I still held the final say on things.
All that said though, that didn't mean everything was perfect. Since the people of the Curtrude trading company were handling most of the management of the city, much of the authority also befell on them.
Still, I had the right to have the final say. And probably most important of all, we were the only ones in charge of handling the city's security. With these in mind, I doubt anything strange would happen anytime soon.
"Master, Kuina, Elf, I have something I must show you all. I have at last finished the new weapons. I finally got the time to develop weapons so I did my best."
"Woah, Kuina's shotgun got even stronger??"
"Mhm. I've leveled up so my enchant magic also got stronger and thus the things that I could do have increased."
"Thank you, El-chan!"
Kuina then embraced Elder Dwarf. In the battle against the Emerald Dragon some time ago, Kuina was forced to use the full-auto mode of her shotgun and as a result, it broke down.
It was repaired soon after but Elder Dwarf had promised Kuina that she was going to improve the gun and make it able to endure firing fully automatically.
"I have also finished improving Elf's anti-materiel rifle. I promised you that I will improve its range and firepower more than what it was currently capable of and I had done just that."
"I love El-chan as well!"
Ancient Elf proceeded to hug Kuina and Elder Dwarf while they were in an embrace themselves.
Kuina was overcome with her emotions and thus hugged Elder Dwarf but Ancient Elf did so simply because she liked cute girls and enjoyed seeing Kuina and Elder Dwarf in such a happy mood.
Oh well, it's alright, I thought. Three beautiful girls embracing one another was quite the sight.
"Ugh, it's hot. Let go of me."
The short Elder Dwarf spoke in a somewhat pained voice and separated from Kuina and Ancient Elf.
"Elder Dwarf, sorry to be so sudden but can you show us the new weapons?"
"Yes, I planned to do so from the start. I had it prepared."
And so, we headed to her workshop.
◇
The moment we reached the workshop, Elder Dwarf brought out two cases.
When she opened one, a shotgun emitting a silver brilliance was there.
"First off, here is Kuina's shotgun. The Curtana EDS-03. From being made of only mithril, it is now made of an alloy that is composed of three rare metals: mithril, orihalc.u.m, and adamant.i.te. It's heavier but it's also far stronger. This is more durable and should be able to endure firing fully automatically. But due to issues with its internal mechanisms, firing fully-automatically in quick succession will risk it of breaking down. After firing it in full-automatic mode, I ask you restrain from doing so again right away."
"Thanks, El-chan! I'm happy I can fire it again like that."
"I've enchanted it with [Explosion]. By just applying magic power to the gun, the sh.e.l.ls it will fire off will have that effect. In the moment the sh.e.l.l scatters, [Explosion] will activate and cause the pellets the sh.e.l.l is composed of to travel at a faster and stronger rate."
That's interesting, I thought. Like so, the sh.e.l.l would be accelerated only after it had been fired so, despite increasing the sh.e.l.l's firepower many times over, it would have no impact on the gun's barrel and would thus not increase the recoil.
"Amazing! Like this, Kuina will be more powerful."
"But Kuina, if you apply too much of your magic power to gun all at once, it will break. So you need to gauge it. I'll help you practice later."
"El-chan, you're the best!"
Kuina tried to hug Elder Dwarf once more but it would seem Elder Dwarf had learned so she held out her right hand and placed it on Kuina's forehead to stop her.
Kuina flapped and swung both of her hands in protest for a while but gave up in the end and separated, disappointment visible in her face.
"There is no need to hug me; this is my job. Now then, Elf. I have also completed your anti-materiel rifle. Here it is, the Durandal EDAM-01."
Elder Dwarf opened the other case and stored there was the large high-powered rifle whose purpose was to shoot even through armored vehicles.
However, it was different from ordinary anti-materiel rifles which were known to have long gun barrels as this rifle only had about half of that length.
"There are three main points where this rifle is improved. First, is that the gun barrel is only half of its usual length, allowing better maneuverability as well as making the gun lighter. In that regard, the bullets fired will follow a less straight trajectory, have less closed s.p.a.ce to traverse, have less time to burn, and have less firepower. But then, that is where your virtual barrel made of wind comes in."
"That works. I have always been using the virtual barrel from the start so having a shorter barrel isn't an issue."
It was a feat only Ancient Elf could accomplish. Even the High Elves couldn't do as much since they lacked the same mastery over wind to fully realize a gun barrel.
"I thought as much given that it's Elf. The second point for improvement focuses on improving the gun's strength and durability by simplifying its recoil mechanism. So be prepared for the recoil. In addition, I have further increased its strength while also making it lighter by changing the materials the rifle is made of with the same alloy of rare metals as that of Kuina's shotgun. Its bullets too are now the same mithril bullets which have more than twice the power of an ordinary bullet. If you couple all that with the simplified recoil mechanism, expect extreme recoil so once again, be prepared for it."
If a human were to fire off such a rifle, it would result either in the rifle flying off or, in an attempt to hold down the rifle with his body, his bones being broken by it.
"This too isn't much of an issue. I negate the recoil with my wind cus.h.i.+on, anyway. …so far, we've only talked about the gun itself, haven't we?"
"Mhm, completely about the gun's mechanisms. I've also enchanted it with [Rotation] and [Acceleration]. By putting some of your magic power into it, the bullets will rotate and traverse at a very high speed. It will travel in a straighter trajectory and have a higher piercing capability."
Those were simple but great enchantments. And precisely because they were simple, it was possible to apply two of them.
For the sniper Ancient Elf, there was no better gun. It was so not just because Elder Dwarf had the skills to be a master blacksmith, a genius one at that, but also because she was able to pay careful attention to the abilities and personalities of her companions thus enabling her to make weapons that perfectly matched their owners.
And through it all, she never became conceited. That, without a doubt, was one of her best qualities.
"Elf-chan, Kuina wants to try out the new shotgun right away!"
"Me too! I want to know just how much this little one has grown!"
The two, in their excitement, struggled for breath.
"Master, I feel the same as these two. I'd like to go to the [Crimson Cavern] to test their new weapons and to also level up our new companions. May we?"
"Why, that's a great idea. Shall we go, everyone?"
"Let's go!"
"Roger, master."
"I'm looking forward to it!"
And like that, we decided to go to the [Crimson Cavern] along with our newest members, the newly created Dwarf Smiths and High Elves.
I had also decided on one other thing. I wanted to reward her for her major contributions to building the city, to improving our fighting force, and for whatever else.
When the might of the new weapons are displayed in our upcoming hunt, I would give Elder Dwarf the thing she most desires.
"Master, why are you looking at my face like that? Is something wrong?"
"Nothing… but now that I think about it, has there been no improvement in the development of your own weapon?"
"I've just finished a prototype but I still can't show it yet. Once I do though, I'm sure master will be astonished. I may be weaker than Kuina or Elf for now… but after I've finished it, I'll be equal if not stronger than them."
Elder Dwarf smiled from ear to ear as she declared so.
Her innocent face was so cute, I absent-mindedly brushed head.
