Chapter 297: Chapter 270: Improved Rune Mortar

Having finished their assessment of Caocao’s new Ability, Shire and Agatha returned to the Rune Mortar’s testing ground. The new mortar still stood there by itself, untouched.

“This thing… I think it can still be improved,” Shire said, picking up a Hand Grenade Fruit fitted with a Rune Tail Wing from the ground. “A round top isn’t aerodynamic; we could make it pointed.”

He gestured as he discussed it with Agatha. She nodded in agreement with his suggestion to add a nose cone to the top, easily understanding his explanation.

“But just a nose cone seems like a bit of a waste.” Shire stared down at the Hand Grenade Fruit in his hand. ’A simple sheet-metal cone would only help the Hand Grenade Fruit fly farther. It doesn’t seem to have any other purpose.’

“How about we modify the nose cone?” Agatha bent down, picked up a small twig, and began to sketch in the dirt. “We can create a small compartment on top and pack it with Blazing Fire Glue. That way, when the Hand Grenade Fruit explodes, it will simultaneously ignite the Blazing Fire Glue. Plus, the force of the blast will scatter the burning glue everywhere.”

“That could work,” Shire nodded. “It would help compensate for the Hand Grenade Fruit’s relatively small explosion.”

The Hand Grenade Fruit was very useful in the forest against unarmored Races. However, against the fully equipped members of the Knight Order they had faced before, the damage it could inflict was limited. But if they combined Blazing Fire Glue with the Hand Grenade Fruit, a few cannonballs could blanket an area, quickly forming a net of fire. For those heavily armed soldiers, as well as for thick-skinned Magical Beasts, that would be more than enough to cause a major headache.

“I’ll go back and do some more research later. I’ll see if I can come up with a standard design for the cannonballs.” Shire put down the Rune Cannonball and went back to examining the mortar.

He’d been sidetracked by the business with Caocao earlier and hadn’t even had a chance to properly examine the new aiming device Agatha had made. Now, Shire squatted beside the mortar again, fiddling with the new “component.”

“I got the inspiration from a telescope and built it according to your earlier suggestion,” Agatha said, leaning in slightly as she stood beside him.

“Hmm, it looks very finely made. I bet you had to test-fire a lot of cannonballs for this.” Shire moved the slide on the sight’s caliper. An indicator on the sight adjusted based on the distance; you just had to adjust the Rune Mortar’s support legs to match the indicator’s mark to fire to the approximate range.

“I fired quite a few. It was designed based on the results of those practical tests.”

“It’s very well made, but there’s still one problem,” Shire said, rubbing his knee as he slowly got to his feet. “It’s not a problem with your work, though. I think it’s a problem with the tribe.”

“The tribe?”

“Yes. It’s too intricate,” Shire sighed softly. ’Agatha is truly a research-oriented talent. You can tell from how she’d rather devote herself entirely to ancient history and Rune studies; a true scholar, she genuinely enjoys this kind of work. From her perspective, an aiming device *should* be this perfect.’ “But my tribe is full of goblins. They don’t even recognize the numbers one and two, let alone understand the specific instructions written on it. The only thing they’ll probably be able to figure out is this.”

Shire pointed to the fixed indicator. Because that part was static and didn’t require the goblins to think, they would be able to immediately understand its purpose.

“I see…” Agatha pursed her lips. She really hadn’t considered the goblins’ intelligence when she was designing it. To be honest, even human soldiers would probably have to study for a while to figure out how to use this sight.

“Those guys aren’t even illiterate. They’re just blind—blind to the very concept of writing,” Shire sighed. He had predicted from the start that getting them to properly operate the mortar would be a headache. During the last test-firing, Red Eyes and a group of goblins couldn’t resist and fired a Hand Grenade Fruit, which ended up nearly hitting Shire directly. It was hard to say if Shire’s luck was bad or if Red Eyes and his crew got lucky. In any case, now that the new mortar had been built, no goblins dared to crowd around it.

“It needs to be modified. I think I should replace the text and numbers,” Agatha muttered, staring at the sight she’d made. She was already thinking about how to change it.

Or, more accurately, how to regress it.

“I think my tribe needs some improving, too.” Shire rubbed his face. The tribe’s overall lack of education had stumped him before, and now there were new young goblins in the tribe. The little ones hadn’t yet developed their typical traits, and the problem of their education was once again weighing on his mind.

“Let’s just focus on making it simpler for now,” he said with a shrug. “After they use it a few times, they’ll probably memorize how to operate this Rune Mortar.”

“We could replace them with pictures. I think we should ask One-Eyed,” Agatha suddenly suggested. “He should know how to do the carving, and what images would be instantly understandable to the goblins.”

“That’s a great idea,” Shire said, nodding repeatedly. “I’ll go find him later and tell him about it.”

“Okay. Are there any problems with the other parts?” Agatha asked, pointing to the mortar tube in front of them.

“Overall, there are no major issues. I think once you’ve modified the aiming device again, the design for the first Rune Mortar model can be finalized,” Shire said, lightly tapping the iron tube a few times.

“Actually, I have another idea, but it’s likely to be very difficult.” Agatha paused for a few seconds, mulling it over before she continued, “Using Hand Grenade Fruits as cannonballs works, but their destructive power is limited. I’ve heard of a technique where special Magic Scrolls are launched in a certain way to trigger the Magic inscribed on them, producing a Magic Effect.”

“Launching Magic Scrolls?” Shire raised an eyebrow. He had never heard of such a technique.

“Yes. I’ve heard that some High Level archers, or Rangers, would wrap Magic Scrolls around an arrow’s shaft to trigger a Magic Effect. I believe they call those kinds of arrows Magic Arrows.”

“I thought Magic Arrows were just arrows made from special materials,” Shire said, stroking his chin as he listened to Agatha’s explanation.

“That’s different. What you’re describing are Elemental Arrows, like ones that create a freezing effect or apply a Poison when they hit. A Magic Effect isn’t like that.”

“So you’re saying, if we figure out how to remotely trigger a Magic Scroll, we could fire Magic Cannonballs?” Shire tilted his head to look at Agatha, who nodded in response.

“But those techniques are mastered by extremely skilled Rangers. I think figuring them out will be quite difficult.”

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