The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

"call out!"

A gun with only a frame, resembling an exposed skeleton, successfully fired a molten ray.

Although its power is still somewhat lacking compared to a spell cast by a true second-tier professional, it is indeed a second-tier spell.

Linde picked up the weapon, which was currently only a stand. To be honest, the final design of this magical weapon was closer to a short submachine gun than a rifle.

Disassembling the gun barrel, Linde marveled at the multiple magic arrays carved with metal rings inside. Those with formal training were indeed more reliable than amateurs. The nuns had not only simplified the spell structure of the molten ray to the extreme, but had even optimized the structure with multiple rune arrays.

Simply put, it involves breaking down the structure of the molten ray into many magic circles.

A complete spell not only needs the structure of the spell itself, but also needs to set the spell's strength, power, launch angle, and launch force, etc. However, the nuns only retained the structure of the molten ray itself, and set the various parameters separately using several magic circles.

Breaking a spell structure into several magic circles is, in normal thinking, a completely unnecessary and negative optimization. However, when used on weapons that do not require activation by professionals, it not only divides a large magic circle into several smaller magic circles, compressing space, but also allows users to adjust the parameters of their weapons themselves if needed in the future.

Rather than calling it a gun barrel, it's more like a fully automatic staff shaped like a gun barrel. Because the firing angle is set by a magic circle, it doesn't need rifling. If it weren't for the need to make room for a cooling system, Linde suspects that this thing could even be strapped to the hand and used as a hidden blade.

The materials used for these multiple magic arrays were merely alchemical materials imported from Fasen Town and the Shining Gold Merchant Guild, and these materials may even have room for improvement.

Laurie stared at the finished ray gun like a 30-year-old, still-single great sorcerer who had encountered a succubus. He touched and wiped the gun repeatedly, aiming and holding the trigger, then put the gun down and immediately revealed a lewd, silly grin, as if he wanted to take it with him to eat, sleep, and even the toilet.

Meanwhile, Flora and the nuns, the creators of the gun, were firing at a target in the distance. Although they claimed they were testing the gun to see where improvements were needed, the laughter emanating from their masks, gradually increasing in intensity, sent chills down Lin Dejue's spine.

"Were they like this before?"

Linde asked Isa, who was standing next to him.

"No, really? I've been away from the Basilica of Our Lady of Salvation for so long, I might not remember."

As Isa watched the nuns' smiles gradually turn into a barrage of attacks, she wiped the sweat from her brow and began to wonder if she had rescued a group of fake nuns.

As for the charging issue, it's not a problem as long as the production of magic stones can keep up. However, the charging efficiency still needs to be optimized, not only the charging efficiency but also the charging ratio. We need to make sure that a small piece of magic stone can be fully charged several times.

Linde plans to equip each armed soldier with a tactical backpack, which can not only charge the ray gun, but also carry other items.

If the charging efficiency is too low and the charging device is too heavy, it is very likely that each gun will need to be equipped with a dedicated logistics soldier to carry the charging device.

After testing the gun, Lind looked at Lena, who was staring blankly in the distance, walked over and patted her on the shoulder.

Unaware of what was happening, Lena was immediately startled, but gradually felt relieved when she turned around and saw the familiar face.

"You scared me to death, bro! How come you walk so quietly?"

How could a sixth-tier knight not detect the approach of a half-baked Lind? Even Lena herself probably wouldn't believe it.

"Are you okay?"

Lena has been like this for several days now, and Lind is really worried.

Similarly, the supplies that the Lars family was supposed to deliver to Gray Collar were already several days late, and the Lars family's ships still haven't been seen at the docks.

This was the first time Linde had encountered a situation where the Lars family's ship had failed to keep its promise. Those rigid knights had actually broken their promise? Even Lena realized that something was wrong. Coupled with some recent rumors, Lena was unable to eat or sleep every day. Only by listening to Linde's reports about the gray and white-collar workers could she fall asleep with some peace of mind—although this had been the case most of the time before.

"Of course I'm fine. What could possibly happen to me? Weren't you going to make some kind of backpack and design a melee weapon? I've already designed them for you."

After saying that, Lena put on her usual smiling face and started searching herself up and down.

"That's strange, I clearly remember putting it in this pocket."

Although Lena always wore a smile in front of Linde, Linde, who was with Lena every day, knew that it was somewhat of a forced smile.

"Ah, I found it, brother, look!"

Lena finally pulled a large design blueprint out of her breastplate, but the blueprint was completely empty.

"How could this be? I remember drawing it perfectly!"

Lena stared blankly at the design drawings, feeling increasingly depressed, and her eyes even became slightly moist.

"Take a good rest. If you really can't, you can go hunting to relax like before. I'll let you know as soon as possible if there are any problems."

Linde stroked Lena's blonde hair with a touch of heartache, noting that Lena had become quite haggard recently due to news brought by the merchants.

But Lind felt it wasn't just that. Lena was actually very smart; she probably realized something a long time ago. It was just that the recent rumors confirmed her suspicions. However, because Lena wasn't good at expressing herself or organizing her thoughts, she didn't even know why she was suppressing her feelings.

"Sorry, brother, I just..."

Lena stopped before she could finish speaking. Clearly, Lena hadn't sorted out her feelings and didn't know how to express herself.

“I’ve already had Lira send people to gather intelligence. We should have news soon. If all else fails, we can go directly to Winterhold, okay?”

Linde's words reassured Lena, and she finally regained her composure, saying, "Yeah, brother, I believe in you!"

Lind was almost certain that something had happened to the Lars family.

After all, the rumors have even reached the western part of the North.

However, we still need to investigate and report back to determine the extent of the incident.

Linde finally realized the weakness in his territory: the intelligence system was somewhat weak. After all, he had been focused on developing his own territory and was basically passively receiving intelligence, which was actually very dangerous.

Currently, intelligence is mainly transmitted through merchants and bards. Merchants are alright; they're the kind of people who will do anything for money. But Linde really dislikes those bards who spout epic tales. Linde still vividly remembers the exaggerated descriptions the bards gave him when he asked the heroine for information in Fassen Town.