Rebirth in a Ruined Nation! The Life of a New Strategist Starting From Now - Chapter 68

A New, Yet Old Weapon

We arrived at Drew’s room and somehow managed to create space to walk among the junk inside her room, and sat down on the chairs.

We then waited as Drew was rummaging through the pile of junk while saying things like, “Huh? Where did I put it?”

I was a bit nervous. I hope that thing didn’t end up being crushed in this pile of junk.

While watching Drew knocking over another pile of junk, I sip on the tea that Judiano hastily brewed for me.

Maybe she brewed the tea wrong, but it didn’t taste like tea at all. Drew’s other subordinate, Hornet, didn’t seem to have any intention of helping.

Drew, who had been searching for that thing for a while, suddenly stopped and turned toward us, saying, “Oh, that’s right!” As I was wondering why she did that, she slipped under the table where Judiano put our tea, then she pulled it out, saying, “There it is!”

“I stored it carefully here because it was important.” Drew smiled embarrassedly, but since I didn’t understand why on earth would she put something important under a table of all places, so I also didn’t understand why she was acting embarrassed.

Well, let’s just take a look at the finished product.

Nelfia and Sazabi also peeked at that thing from behind me.

“…what is that?”

Without answering the question, I pulled the lever on the string. Yup, it seemed to be working properly. Pulling It took a bit of strength, but if I could pull it without any problem, a soldier should also have no problem using it.

“Drew, have you tried using it?”

“Of course I have. Now, let’s go outside.”

“Oh, come on! Please just tell me what exactly is that!” Sazabi asked as he chased me and Drew.

When I replied, “You’ll understand after you see it works,” he said, “If I can understand just by seeing how it works, it’s fine to just tell me right!?”

“Ah, that’s right, I want to hear Wickharlt’s opinion on this. Sazabi, can you please call Wickharlt here?” I asked

“Please wait until I come back! If you start without waiting for me, I’ll hate you for the rest of my life!” Sazabi said with a sour face and ran off.

It would be troublesome to be hated for the rest of my life just for this.

In any case, we arrived at the edge of the plaza and waited for a while before Sazabi returned with quite a large group.

Well, I understand why Diku and Rufa were here with Wickharlt but…Why Rays-sama, Grantz-sama, Lapilia-sama, Frein, and Luzel were also here!?

“Oh wow… Ra-Rays-sama!…”Judiano said nervously

“He’s so cool…” Hornet murmured.

I looked at all the people who came.

“…Why are you all here?” I asked.

“I heard from Sazabi that you’re going to do something interesting, so I took the liberty to also invite the captains of the Roa Brigade, but should I not do that?” Rays-sama answered on behalf of everyone.

“Well, I guess it’s fine, but this thing is still just a prototype, sir, so I just wanted to ask for Wickharlt’s opinion…”

“The more opinions you have, the better, right?”

I let out a small sigh, and I saw Sazabi grinning happily behind Rays-sama. Just you wait, Sazabi. I’ll get you back for this later.

“Speaking of which, sir, since you want to ask for my opinion… Is that a bow?” Wickhardt looked at my hand and tilted his head questioningly.

“Yeah. This weapon’s name is crossbow. In a country across the sea, this is a weapon that has existed for a long time.”

“Are you supposed to put an arrow in that groove?”

“Yup. I wanted to make a weapon that I, who can’t use a sword or spear, could use in an emergency, so I asked Drew to make this crossbow. I’ll show you how to use it first.”

I put an arrow in the groove and aimed it at the target.

I pulled the trigger, then, the string was released and the arrow flew. The arrow went straight and hit the target.

Not bad.

“What do you think, Wickharlt?”

“Can I take a look at it?”

I handed him the crossbow. Wickharlt then inspected the crossbow and frowned.

“It seems to be difficult to fire continuously with this. Also, I think the range of the arrow will be shorter compared to the arrow shot using a normal bow.”

As expected of the Blue Bow. He quickly realized the weak points of the crossbow.

“That’s right. That’s why even in the country where the crossbow was invented, it’s not really a mainstream weapon. But…”

“If we can use this against cavalry, wouldn’t it be a powerful first attack?” Rays-sama suddenly interrupted my words.

Great answer. At first, I thought of using the crossbow just as a last resort to protect myself, but I started to think that as long as there’s already an arrow attached to the groove, anyone can use the crossbow while riding a horse regardless of their archery skill.

When I told Rays-sama this, he turned to Luzel.

Wickharlt handed the crossbow to Luzel. Luzel then pretended to aim with one hand, checked the crossbow’s weight, and handed it to Frein.

“Rays-sama’s idea might be worth trying. From the opponent’s point of view, we will be giving them an unexpected attack. Plus, It’s a good thing this crossbow is relatively easy to use, so anyone can use it. Though we also need to think of a way to carry it on the battlefield.”

“Luzel, we can just use the method we used to carry the canned food.” Frein pointed out.

“Ah, right. We can modify that method a bit and then…”

Thus, the two began their discussion.

“Drew, can you mass-produce this?” Rays-sama asked Drew this time.

“Sure, as long as we have the manpower. It’s not that difficult to make.”

“Good. Then, can you quickly create several? Let’s first try to use them in the Roa Brigade, and if the crossbow proves to be useful, I will also consider using them in other units. I’ll give you the manpower you need.” (Rays)

“Yes, sir! But I’m pretty busy, so I’ll leave it to Judiano and Hornet.” (Drew)

“Judiano, Hornet, can you do it?” (Rays)

“…sure.” (Hornet)

“Y…yes, sirrr!” (Judiano)

Both of them sounded really reliable, alright. I just hope nothing would go wrong…

“Enough about that! Roa, what else do you want me to make??”

With that question, The others turned their attention to Drew, who walked to approach me.

“Did you come up with something strange again?” Lapilia-sama asked with an exasperated expression on her face.

T/N: Last week’s chapter. Will post more tomorrow