The Black Iron Glory
The Disappointing Hunt

Chapter 55

The Disappointing Hunt

After putting up his sight, Claude continued his shooting practice and continued his routine life. He would ride horses at school twice a week, go into the woods to shoot twice a week, and help Eriksson with his boat twice a week. Naturally, he only helped in the simplest way possible and did not touch any skilled work.

For one Sunday, the three of them will be dragged by Borkal to go to the hilly forest south of the city to hunt. They left happily only to return sadly. Not only did they not even get any chicken feathers, blisters formed on their legs after a long walk. Claude fell into his bed when he got home.

It doesn't matter with their shooting accuracy. There was no prey in the vicinity, considering most of the southern part of the city was farmland, forest gardens and orchards had a supervisor. It caused the animals there to become very aware of the environment and hid the first instance they discovered something was not right. While Claude and the others find prey from time to time, they disappear soon before the weapons can be loaded.

Borkal angrily said that it was his fault for choosing a place to hunt when they were on their way back. It was far from ideal because it was a busy place where people came and went. The chances of becoming prey to hunt are low to begin with. So, he said that he would use his family's freight car to take him to the western foothills of the city a week later. The forest there was thicker and they would definitely be able to find better prey there.

But that's a problem for next week. Right now, Claude had just taken out two blisters on his leg and put on the ointment Welikro had given him. The ointment made her feet quite cold and helped her pain. Since her feet had grown somewhat, her mother bought her a new set of shoes last week. But Claude forgot that the undamaged shoes were very rough on his feet and wore them for hunting trips in hilly areas. The blister must have been his own fault.

There's a pile of mali paper on his desk, Claude's work in the last few days. He had gone to great lengths to remember everything about flintlocks from his past life and draw them on paper so that he would not forget them. Too bad our transmigrator wasn't a mechanical or chemical engineer. Instead, he majored in computer and management and it was useless for what he wanted to solve now.

If I had known that I was going to move, I might have learned more about mechanical engineering and military tactics from the start. . .

He sighed and lay on his bed in despair. He could not even be considered a military enthusiast in his past life and the only time he touched a gun was during his mandatory military training in his college days. He only fired ten rounds with a Type 81 and scored 63, ranking among the top in his class.

Later, his boss took him to an underground firing range several times which was said to be run jointly by someone in the military and civilians. However, he was only there to talk about business. His boss on the other hand is a fan of everything related to shooting, be it in range or in bed.

If only I had Owner Wu's knowledge of weapons. . . He could describe everything about them very thoroughly and even make flintlocks with some pipes and other scrap materials. After the work of painting and giving it to my boss, it looked like the real deal. My boss put it on display in his office and many visitors thought it was actually an antique weapon, very pleasant for Owner Wu. . .

If he were to move into this world, then he would definitely have plenty of room to show off his skills, Claude thought. The flintlock drawings he made were mostly based on the impression that the owner of Wu's weapon had in his past. The problem is that the weapon was never fired even once. Even though the owner claims that it can actually be used, no one cares to actually give it a try.

Sometimes Claude wonders if he should try to get Mike in the Big Hammer to make it into some parts for the flintlock after Borkal helps him sell the other shaliun.

But he will always be faced with a difficult problem. While the kingdom did not prohibit gu fans from modifying their weapons, the designs had to first be certified by the kingdom. While making spare parts and the like did not require that process, blacksmiths were not allowed to make rifle barrels.

All gun barrels must be manufactured in a royal-owned factory and each has a serial number, with corresponding notes in the factory. Had a weapon been found without a serial number, even a dignified person would have been punished. The crime of falsifying weapons illegally was not something that ordinary citizens could prosecute.

Claude had another method he could use: disassemble his 2 mark aubass and use the serial number engraved barrel as a base for modification. However, he quickly dropped the idea. If he really wanted to experiment to make firearms, one barrel would be far from enough. At least he needs some.

Moreover, he did not play around much and he was not confident with his skills to be able to reunite. He had only designed flintlocks based on the faint knowledge he had gained in his past life and he would definitely damage a number of barrels during his first few experiments. The gun barrel could not be reassembled into a normal weapon for use if it were.

The next day, she found Eriksson smiling very brightly as if she was picking up riyas while on her way to school. After asking, they discovered that Eriksson was actually earning money. His father, Captain Altroni, had returned from his journey and spotted the fins being modified. After asking Pegg what was going on, he learned all of that and praised Eriksson the next morning, praising him for saving money and his ability to manage such a project. He immediately agreed to give Eriksson two gold crowns for modification of the ship.

A single sailing ship like the Old Sunny Swordfish cost eight or nine new gold crowns, which was around 40 thales. If one thale was a hundred dollars, then 40 would be more than four thousand dollars. A normal farmer only earns about one or two thales per month and they have to save hard for three to four years before being able to afford such a boat.

Eriksson on the other hand used the money he earned from his trip to Egret to buy broken fins and remove the broken board. Afterwards, he reassembled it with material from a broken wav maker he had at home to make it into a single sailing fishing boat. Although it was only five meters long, two meters shorter than an ordinary fishing boat, it managed to save over two-thirds of the cost. No wonder her father was so happy and agreed to give her two crowns for the renovation of the ship.

Eriksson plans to give Pegg one crown for his work overseeing the renovation efforts. Claude, Welikro and Borkal on the other hand do not need a salary because they are good friends.

As for the other crowns, he used them to buy adhesives, copper nails and other parts he needed and also used them to repay the debts he owed to Welikro and Borkal. He was left with little more than one thale and he decided to treat his friends with good food as their payment to help.

According to Eriksson's estimates, the fishing vessel could be tested within a month. The current problem he faces is coming up with an impressive name for his little fishing boat.

The other three quickened their pace as they walked and left Eriksson to find a name for himself. They knew that whatever name they suggested, Eriksson would not feel it fit into his unique beloved ship in the town of Whitestag. Only he fulfilled that task.

Claude on the other hand continued his life as usual. He practiced shooting or helped Pegg out at the docks after school. At night, he continues to brainstorm about his plans to repair firearms and tries to recall as much information as possible from his past life. Whatever he found useful, he wrote in Chinese letters, believing that no one from this world would understand what the strange logogrud meant.

The scenery Borkal ordered from Big Hammer was also completed. Mike's skills are as acute as ever and Claude spends little time putting them in a gun and calibrating them to Borkal. However, Borkal was impatient with his training and felt that he was quite talented after mastering the basics of aiming for three points. He thought that he did not need to train too hard every day and threw his weapon at Welikro after he finished.

Welikro on the other hand always removes the view from the barrel when he uses the aubass 2 Borkal mark and relies on his own trajectory-correction ability to shoot.

In time, Claude became quite frustrated with reinstalling the scene over and over, so he taught Welikro how to do it. Welikro was the only one among those who knew how to calibrate vision but did not know how to use a three-point shot.

As promised, Borkal managed to borrow his family's carriage during the last day of the week. The four of them left for the hill west of the city that morning.

The west side of the Whitestag is a long mountain range. The mountains are high and the forest is dense, making it a great place for hunters. It was known on the map as the Lomiclin Mountains. The origin of the name is not known for certain, but according to folklore it used to be the place where the evil dragon kingdom was located and Lomiclin was the name of the evil dragon.

It is said that the evil dragon Lomiclin was killed by the evil magi. However, the myth is not recorded in any book or historical novel. Since it was only a feud between the evil magi and the dragon and had nothing to do with the commoners, it was better to be cleared from the collective memory of the people.

It's unfortunate that Borkal messed up the hunting plan again. They only had one day of rest and were left with only half a day to hunt after taking the trip time. They go around the foothills and don't catch much. Other than large animals, they did not even see many small animals. The only thing they had to show for the hunt was a turkey whose wings were injured by Welikro fire.

"Don't rush. When your boat is done, we can go to the reed wetlands near Lake Balinga to hunt wild ducks" Eriksson said in an attempt to cheer up Borkal.