Chapter 157: Armed for a New Era and the Unconventional Missionary

After several days of nonstop designing, refining, and prototyping, Rebecca excitedly presented the first fully functional heat-ray gun and combat backpack to Gawain.

“Here it is—the finished product!” The viscountess beamed with pride, clearly very pleased with her work. “What do you think?”

Gawain’s eyes landed on the items she brought. The first thing that caught his attention was the silver-white armguard. Compared to the rough, primitive prototype, this finalized heat-ray gun looked much closer to the image he had envisioned. Its design was more in line with human aesthetics—a thickened, reinforced plate armor gauntlet. The upper part bulged into an elliptical shape, housing the mana capacitor and the scorching ray circuit board, while the lower part featured adjustable clasps to secure it firmly to the arm.

Moreover, the mana capacitor and rune circuit board were now detachable, allowing for quick replacement of energy crystals or core magical components.

Compared to the prototype, the front end now included an aiming mechanism. The metal wire and finger ring that triggered the rune had been replaced with a sturdier grip lever. The safety lock was linked to the grip: when engaged, the lever retracted beneath the armguard, ensuring it wouldn’t interfere with the soldier’s movements during combat.

According to Rebecca, after fine-tuning the internal runes and polishing the quartz pillars, the effective range had finally increased to between 340 and 370 meters—still room for improvement. Accuracy and power had also improved. As the world’s first “ranged firearm,” its range and power surpassed Earth’s early muskets. But Gawain knew this was because it was born in a world infused with mana. The magical enhancement made many weapons here absurdly powerful. If the heat-ray gun didn’t reflect that advantage, there would be no point in its existence.

After all, Earth’s early muskets only had to deal with soldiers in ordinary metal armor. Here, the heat-ray gun had to contend not only with regular troops but also with supernaturals wearing enchanted gear and even wielding energy shields…

Next, his gaze shifted to the “combat backpack” Rebecca had brought.

At first glance, it resembled a strangely shaped, rigid “knapsack” or rucksack. Its outer layer was leather, while inside was likely a metal frame and plates, giving it a firm, structured look. The straps were clearly designed to fasten over a soldier’s armor. The rectangular pack was divided into two sections—top and bottom—which puzzled Gawain a bit.

“The top part is a regular backpack,” Rebecca explained. “It can be used as a marching pack, holding rations, water skins, flint, ointments, and so on. The bottom compartment is for crystals. See, when you wear it, the lower part sits right at the small of your back, so you can reach back and grab spare crystals through this side opening. The crystals are clamped between two metal plates, arranged in order. When you take one out, you push the spent crystal in from the other end, and they slide forward one by one. I packed twelve mana web units inside, so theoretically it can charge twelve crystals at once. You could cram in more, but the charging efficiency drops, and a soldier probably wouldn’t use that much energy in a single battle anyway.”

Gawain looked at the combat backpack Rebecca had designed and suddenly had an idea. “Have you thought about any other functions for this backpack?”

“Other functions?” Rebecca scratched her head, momentarily confused. “You mean like adding a sturdy strap so you can swing it to bash someone? That would make it even heavier…”

“Don’t be so literal,” Gawain groaned, rubbing his forehead. “Haven’t you realized that once you stuff a bunch of crystals inside, the backpack itself basically becomes a huge mana capacitor?”

Rebecca froze for a moment, then her eyes lit up. “Oh! That makes sense!”

She quickly grew excited. “So, if the backpack supplies power directly, it could fuel even bigger spells, right?!”

“Exactly,” Gawain said, eyeing the pack. “Such a large volume shouldn’t go to waste. Besides storing crystals and providing mana on the battlefield, it could integrate some rune circuit boards. Imagine if we installed a magic shield on it, or a gentle breeze shield to filter out poison gas. Or, we could inscribe runes on the soldier’s armor to boost defense and stamina, then leave a mana interface on the backpack. Once connected, each soldier would effectively have a personal, 24/7 mobile priest constantly casting enhancement spells on them. And these basic spells consume very little energy, so with twelve mana web units, the backpack’s charging speed wouldn’t be affected much. Maybe a little, but the overall benefit would be well worth it.”

Rebecca’s surprise grew with every word, and by the end, she couldn’t help but gape. “Why are all your ideas so awesome, ancestor?!”

Gawain smiled, his face solemn as always. “Wisdom of the old, wisdom of the old…”

Before he could finish boasting, Rebecca grabbed the combat backpack eagerly. “I’m going back to revise the design right now!”

“Wait, hold on!” Gawain jumped up to stop the energetic girl. “Have you developed any new rune circuit boards yet?”

Rebecca turned back, thinking hard, then shook her head. “Nope!”

“We’ve only analyzed the scorching ray so far. What are you rushing to stuff into the backpack?” Gawain laughed helplessly and waved her off. “Everything I just mentioned can go into the next generation of backpacks. For now, just put this one into production. Getting soldiers combat-ready is the priority.”

“Oh…” Rebecca nodded obediently.

“Before you go, find Hetty and have her come here.”

Not long after, Hetty arrived at Gawain’s tent.

“Ancestor, you wanted to see me?”

“I want to ask about that missionary. What’s he been up to these past few days? Who has he been meeting? Has he left the territory or sent any messages outside…” Gawain looked up from his documents. “Wait, what happened to you?! Did you blow yourself up with a fireball while practicing your aim?!”

He stared in disbelief at Hetty, who looked nothing like her usual composed self. Her hair was a mess, her face smudged with dark soot, and her clothes bore various scorch marks—she looked like she’d been hit by a fireball.

…Rebecca, that stubborn fool, must have come up with some wildly creative way to drag her aunt over here.

Hetty had used magic to tidy her hair and face as best she could, but arriving in a rush, she hadn’t managed to erase all the traces. Hearing Gawain’s words, she couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth. “Rebecca barged into the lab while I was experimenting…”

Gawain was speechless.

Though not quite what he imagined, it was pretty much the same.

After an awkward silence, Gawain cautiously asked, “Did you fight back?”

“Yes, and I’ll give her another beating when I get back.”

“…Take it easy, you’re a grown woman now.”

“I’ll try.”

Gawain cleared his throat. “Anyway, let’s get back on topic.”

“Right,” Hetty took a deep breath to calm herself and began reporting on the missionary. “The priest named Light hasn’t left the territory these past few days and hasn’t done anything suspicious. He wakes up earlier than others to pray and exercise, then eats breakfast with everyone else before heading to the construction site. We didn’t assign him any work, but he took the initiative to find the foreman and is now a regular laborer in the newly planned ‘Market Street’ district.”

Gawain found that interesting. “He volunteered for work?”

“Yes. I had soldiers casually chat with him. The missionary said he did it because of ‘the guidance of the Path of the Holy Light.’ The doctrine teaches that people should earn their food through hard work. Since he hasn’t yet been authorized to establish a church, hold ceremonies, or bless the territory, he must rely on manual labor for sustenance.”

“Did he really say that?” Gawain found it hard to believe.

Hetty nodded. “He did, and he’s actually doing it.”

“…Those are standard teachings of the Holy Light Church, but few clergy truly believe and practice them. Most just use those words to trick commoners into volunteering or donating,” Gawain shook his head. “Is he actively preaching?”

“I’m not sure if it counts as preaching,” Hetty said with a strange expression. “He often talks about the Path of the Holy Light and occasionally says ‘May the Holy Light protect you’ when healing with divine magic. But he doesn’t seem like a serious preacher. He only explains the doctrine in detail to believers. When he meets non-believers, he just smiles it off.”

Gawain frowned. “Have we received any reports from the people sent to Tansang Town?”

“Yes, they’ve returned. Our men checked with the local Holy Light Church there and confirmed a missionary named Light Aviken came from the Spirit Plains and is traveling through the southern border. The description matches. But I suspect…”

Hetty hesitated, then shook her head. “This Light guy seems less like someone sent out to preach and more like someone kicked out by the central church. Otherwise, he wouldn’t look like this.”

“To be honest, I think you’re right,” Gawain chuckled. “Even in the rigid, strict Holy Light Church, there are bound to be some unconventional characters.”

“Ancestor, what do you plan to do with this missionary?” Hetty asked curiously. “Just leaving him hanging isn’t a solution.”

“Let’s wait two or three more days. If nothing unusual happens, I’ll meet with him,” Gawain smiled. “Our territory… could use a church of its own.”

(End of chapter)