Chapter 29: The First Of Many… Failures

Hmm... a gun... a machine gun... a gunsword...

Adonis rejected each idea one by one, pacing around his room like a madman. Then it came to him.

His eyes drifted to the corner of the room.

Leaning against the wall was an old, rusty spear he’d bought from a junk dealer for two copper coins. He’d bought it on a whim, thinking it might be useful for parts.

A spear.

Not a traditional spear. He had no intention of stabbing anyone. But a spear’s form factor was perfect. Long enough to keep enemies at range. Simple enough to aim without much training. And most importantly, people would take him seriously.

Yes, that’s also important.

Leander used a sword.

Godfrey used a bigger sword and shield.

Bradley had his majestic magic beasts.

So, hence, a scary-looking spear.

It looked more intimidating than a real gun if you’d never actually seen one.

But rather than a blade, the head would be a focusing array.

Instead of stabbing, it would shoot.

Pew. Pew. Pew.

Like a water gun.

Or like real-world physics: compressing water and expelling it through a small enough aperture could cut steel like butter. If water jet cutters in his old world could slice through titanium, then water mana would be even more destructive.

"YOSH!"

Adonis shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

He’d sketched the first draft already.

First things first, he got a wooden desk, a smithing hammer, and a pile of scrap metal from a junk dealer.

All for two silver coins.

The palace had copper wire and low-grade mana crystals he could easily access. There was no duct tape, so he’d use strips of cloth and tree sap. Luckily, he also found a rusty iron spear shaft.

"It’s a prototype, so it doesn’t have to look good."

Following the sketch, he wrapped the copper wire around the spear shaft to conduct mana from his hands to the crudely affixed crystal at the tip.

He also carved a single Utility rune into it.

A [Compress] rune, to be precise.

Even an Iron-rank enchanter could do that.

Adonis held the janky spear at arm’s length, pointed it at a wooden bucket across the room, and poured mana into it.

Zuuuuu... the copper wire heated up instantly.

POP! The dull glowing crystal shattered as a pathetic spurt of water dribbled out of the tip and splashed onto the floor. That’s maybe half a cup.

Prussia was watching from the bed and sighed.

"That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever seen."

"It’s a prototype."

Prussia just shrugged.

"Whatever. It’s garbage."

He shook his head, watching her rest comfortably on his bed.

"You’re lying in my bed while insulting my work. Tsk, tsk."

Prussia made herself even more comfortable on the bed, stretching her long, muscular legs and smiling teasingly.

"It’s my bed now..."

This wasn’t a new thing.

When it came to his bed, this was how she always was. Prussia had her own bed in the next room and chose to sleep very close to him on his bed to frustrate him. Maybe she was trying to get back at Minerva, who seemed to be the only person that got under her skin, with the sole exception of him, of course.

Regardless, she treated his bed like her own, and sharing a bed with her every night in her undergarments was torture. She was basically telling him he wasn’t a man, and as such, he wouldn’t make a move on her in bed.

’Nice try, but I won’t fall for such tricks.’

Consent always matters!

...

Adonis closed the page on Prototype Mk. I, which he lazily named [The Splash Stick].

"Hmm. Copper wire isn’t a good mana conduit, so I need something like silver or mythril. As well as multiple runes working in sequence. One [Compress] rune can’t squeeze water mana into a usable projectile. And I also need a higher-grade core for testing."

So, he created Prototype Mk. II, which he half-heartedly named [The Steam Pipe].

He commissioned a silver-coated spear shaft from a blacksmith for 15 silver. Things like a long silver wire for 8 silver, a silver-class fire mana crystal for 10 silver, and a small water mana crystal for 8 silver.

He was using a dual-crystal system: a fire crystal to heat water, a water crystal to provide it, and the steam would shoot out of a nozzle.

It failed spectacularly.

Prussia, who had been reading a big book on dragon anatomy, didn’t even look up.

"That’s worse than the first."

Adonis gave her a flat look.

"I agree."

In fact, he thought it was such a dumb idea he didn’t even know why he came up with it.

He tossed the spear aside.

"Of course opposing elements don’t mix in the same array. I need a single unified power source and better heat management. Still, silver wire works better than copper, but it can’t handle the thermal stress."

Prussia closed her book, sighing.

"You’re thinking too small. If you really want to make a weapon capable of winning that duel, you need a bigger place to work with. Your servant quarters won’t cut it. And I honestly don’t want to get blown up by one of your experiments."

Adonis stared at her in silence.

She shifted uncomfortably. "...What?"

"Nothing. Just —— wow. Prussia’s giving advice."

She just clicked her tongue and looked away.

There was a small pout on her face. That was also very unusual from her. Normally, she’d have called him every horrible name in this world’s dictionary.

[Notice! Over the few weeks they’ve been together, Prussia has seen the Host work hard and dedicate himself to his craft. She is beginning to see Host in a more manly light. This is why she always makes excuses to be around Host when he’s working as she finds it attractive.]

He nodded inwardly.

’Heh. Strange woman. I’m 100% sure she can’t even tell she finds it attractive.’

Prussia is not good with feelings, after all.

---

Like Prussia advised, Adonis rented a warehouse on the outskirts of Gilishon City for 2 gold per month. He’d only need it for one month. Normally, he’d borrow space in the castle, but he didn’t want any of his brothers spying on him.

In the new place, he made Prototype Mk. III.

This time, he didn’t bother naming it.

He salvaged the silver spear shaft from Mk. II, bought long mythril wire that cost 50 silver, and this time, he’d be using the [Core of the Nereids]. No more secondary mana crystal add-ons. This time, he directly integrated the core into a focusing array at the tip of the spear.

But even with all that, plus the mythril wire, the entire focusing array exploded.

BOOOM!

The spear shaft snapped in half, and the core flew across the room and embedded itself in the wall.

Adonis was blown away.

His hands were badly burned, and parts of his clothes were scorched off.

Prussia barged into the smoldering workshop and helped Adonis up.

"Idiot! What did you do?!"

Adonis coughed and rested his head on her chest, which made Prussia a little uncomfortable. But she’d let it slide this time. It’s because he’s wounded... but not like that.

Right now, she was a bit aroused by seeing him in such a wounded state. She found it manly. Feeling like this made her cheeks turn a shameful color of red. She should be more concerned about his wounds and not the sexy burn marks on his surprisingly muscular body.

He coughed more.

"It seems my huge mana pool plus the rainbow-class core must’ve been too much for the mythril wire to handle. I’m lucky I didn’t lose an arm."

"...Oh, oh... yes that, that would be bad..."

Losing an arm, it sounded so sexy to Prussia.

[Target "Prussia" has developed +30 affection points for the Host over the last few days from his many endeavors. And +20 from his current wounded state. Affection Level: 30!]

Adonis blinked. "...Eh?" ಠ_ಠ