How the Villainous Consort Avoids His Death Ending - Chapter 101.1
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“Is it truly necessary to install that many gunports, Your Highness?”
While discussing the details of the new flagship and vessels, Lord Mildred asked with a conflicted expression. No matter how one looked at it, the fleet they were assembling this time could hardly be considered a merchant fleet. While it clearly had a strong aspect of countering Everett’s forces, even so, it focused excessively on gunports.
Since the power of Rubyere-made cannons was limited, his opinion was that they should reduce the number of gunports and focus on manpower rather than expecting to show strength in an artillery battle. Lord Mildred’s point certainly made sense.
“That is why…”
If I hadn’t held a cheat key, I would have thought the same. However, I still had quite a few unused ‘Original Work Check’ rewards left.
I recalled the contents of the original story that I had checked through the system a few days ago.
…Jason, a cannon maker who had been ignored and despised as a braggart, finally succeeded in gaining an audience with Emperor Everett. Showcasing the cannon he had completed after countless trials and errors, Jason proudly gave his explanation. ‘Your Majesty. No matter how many times this cannon fires cannonballs, it does not crack easily, and it can be operated stably on a ship without shaking. The caliber is small, but thanks to that, the firing range has actually increased, and the precision has been greatly improved. Despite loading smaller cannonballs than conventional ones, the power is beyond imagination. You will certainly not be disappointed.’ When Jason’s cannon shattered the flank of a medium galley ship in a single blow during its first test firing, a satisfied smile spread across the Emperor’s face… …Jason eventually realized what terrible consequences his great achievement had led to. What the endless succession of numerous wars and the Emperor’s tyranny left behind was a devastated Rubyere Empire. The corpses of the poor scattered across every street, collapsed castle walls and numerous fortresses, and fields teeming with swarms of black rats without a single grain of crop. Even so, he himself was enjoying luxury in the guest room of the splendid Belporte Imperial Palace, supported by the Emperor’s extravagance… …’Oh, God. That man is a demon. What have I done? To think I placed a weapon of mass destruction into those hands…’ …In the end, Jason ended his own life in deep regret. However, even if he paid with his life, what had already happened could not be undone, and the mistake he committed remained an eternal sorrow within him…
The ending met by the cannon maker in the original story left a bitter aftertaste and a lingering impression. If the system hadn’t popped in, I might have been lost in sentimentality a bit longer.
[You have used the ‘Original Work Check’ reward twice (720 characters in total).]
‘You could have just counted it as once, why deduct two uses for that?’
Passing things over roughly is a bad habit. User, please be mindful of accurate calculations. ♥
‘Yes, yes.’
I opened my eyes after briefly recalling how I had grumbled in response. The Hezekia fleet had ‘Hezekia’s Fire,’ but it was no different from a temporary fix, so clear limitations existed.
A new cannon developed with innovative technology would serve as a good breakthrough.
“Lord Mildred. I intend to approach this from a slightly different direction than before. I plan to establish a large-scale ironworks in Hezekia and attempt cannon development.”
“Yo- You are developing cannons?”
Lord Mildred’s eyes widened. After frantically asking back, he moved his lips a few more times, but no words came out.
Instead, Wilhelm, the Chief Butler who had been listening silently, quietly intervened.
“Hezekia has been producing its own cannons, albeit in small quantities. Comparing them to the Sar Empire’s cannons is out of the question, and their performance is extremely poor even compared to the commonly used Rubyere-made cannons. However, since the infrastructure is in place, it is worth a try by expanding the existing ironworks.”
“But Chief Butler, producing existing cannons and developing a new model of cannon are entirely different matters. If this were peacetime, it might be fine, but with His Excellency away, to start such a massive undertaking right now is…”
“Lord Mildred. Because His Excellency is not here, we must push forward with it all the more urgently. We are currently facing Hezekia’s greatest crisis.”
Gerhardt, who had been listening to the conversation exchanged between Wilhelm and Mildred with a blank face, suddenly turned his head toward me. Then, he asked quite bluntly.
“Is it absolutely necessary to do it in such a complicated way, Your Highness? Can we not just buy them from the Sar Empire? We even managed to secure the trading rights after all.”
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