In a World of Reversed Chastity, I Strive to Become an Honorable Male Knight, but Lustful Women Keep Targeting My Body - 259

Chapter 259: The Kukkoro Male Knight and the Enigmatic Enemy

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“Very well. …Rifle squad, commence firing!”

At the order, the marines began a volley of fire all at once.

…Though calling it a “volley” was really just a figure of speech. In reality, the shots were horribly scattered and completely out of sync. If they pulled something this disgraceful during training, the noncommissioned officers would rain down unbelievable abuse on them. In our army it was forbidden, but in other militaries this would have earned them a beating. Worse still, their reloading after firing was painfully unsteady. If they were merely slow, that would have been one thing, but some of them even dropped their ramrods (the sticks used to push bullets down the barrel) or their rifles themselves. It was a mess beyond saving.

Of course, the cause wasn’t a lack of skill or morale on the marines’ part, but seasickness and the ship’s constant motion. No matter how grand the name “marines” sounded, they were still a hastily assembled unit. In truth, they had never once conducted combat training aboard a ship, so this ugly display was only to be expected.

“…From now on, we really should conduct more ship-based training.”

“Yes… This is terrible. I was the one who suggested skipping this sort of training to shorten the preparation period. That was my oversight.”

“I’m the one responsible. Don’t steal my job, Vice Commander.”

While whispering with Sonia, I kept my gaze fixed on the enemy boats. The elven canoes hit by rifle fire were darting about in panic. Some seemed to have injured rowers and were simply being carried along by the river’s current. Even with such uneven shooting, it appeared to have had some effect.

…That was all well and good, but this navigation command deck was open to the elements. With a large number of rifles firing simultaneously right near the bow, the gun smoke they produced naturally flowed into the command deck like a smokescreen. Visibility dropped sharply, and to make matters worse, the smoke was highly irritating. Eyes, noses, and throats began to sting, and many people started coughing.

“…This is something else.”

Even the battle-hardened captain had tears welling up in her eyes. Still, she maintained a dignified posture, putting on an air of calm composure. As expected of a veteran officer. When you’ve been a commander long enough, you get awfully good at this sort of forced endurance.

“Well, there’s nothing to be done about it. The only real solutions would be a fully enclosed bridge or separating the firing points from the command deck… So we’ll just have to put up with it.”

I shrugged lightly and returned my gaze forward. The marines were in the middle of reloading, but the main gun continued firing without pause. It truly lived up to the name “rapid-fire cannon,” delivering an impressive string of shots. Even with its small caliber, a cannon was still a cannon, and having that deep, gut-rattling roar fired in rapid succession was quite something. Honestly, it was reassuring to have them with us.

Moreover, a high rate of fire meant corrections could be made quickly. With the aim adjusted after each impact, the accuracy was steadily improving. There still hadn’t been a direct hit, but the water columns thrown up by the shells had even managed to capsize one of the boats.

“Magnificent!”

“So this is the power of Liseben…!”

Sonia and Uru exclaimed at the same time. One voice tinged with joy, the other with awe-struck fear.

“This cannon should be quite effective in ground combat as well.”

“Yes, of course. …Provided we can get enough of them.”

As Sonia said that with flushed cheeks, I replied while inwardly wanting to let out a sigh. Breech-loading cannons were certainly powerful weapons, but their mass producibility was extremely low. With this world’s industrial capacity, simply shaping a lump of steel into the form of a cannon was a major undertaking.

On top of that, the required standards for strength and precision were extremely high, so producing even a single acceptable piece resulted in piles of defective ones. Of course, such issues could be mitigated to some extent as the technology matured, but… At least for now, mass production was impossible.

In the end, Liseben’s artillery power would have to make do for a while with muzzle-loading guns that were easier to manufacture and maintain. That said, even if they were muzzle-loaders, they were rifled guns, after all. They were far more powerful than old-style cannons, so things would probably work out somehow.

“Marines, reloading complete!”

While I was thinking all that, the rifle reloading finally finished. It had taken nearly twice as long as it would on land. Too slow, far too slow. While they were fumbling about, the enemy boats had closed the distance considerably. They were already within bow range. The elves aboard the boats began firing arrows in earnest. That said, it seemed they too were unaccustomed to firefights on water. The arrows, flying with spirited whistling sounds, slammed into the water without hitting the Michael Collins.

“Return fire!”

Once again, gunshots rang out. White smoke enveloped the area near the bow. Ugh, it was smoky. This problem wouldn’t be solved until smokeless powder became widespread. A prototype already existed, but… There was no way we could prepare enough to distribute to all soldiers. Honestly, things never went smoothly.

…No, now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. Something about the enemy’s attack just now felt off. Looking closely, the arrows they were firing seemed to be ordinary ones. None of the fire arrows I’d been wary of were mixed in. Come to think of it, it was still the pre-dawn hours. If they were carrying incendiary weapons, light would leak out and give them away immediately. Yet none of the enemy boats even had lantern-level illumination. Did they not have fire arrows at all?

“Why aren’t they using fire arrows? There’s a risk of making themselves easier to spot, but the effect would be worth it…”

“But… In our army, fire attacks are completely prohibited by regulation…”

Uru said that from nearby, but I shook my head.

“If they were the kind of people who obediently followed regulations, they wouldn’t be launching an attack like this in the first place.”

“True.”

Uru also seemed to sense something strange, folding her arms—well, wings—and letting out a low hum. There was something off about this enemy. It felt like they were intentionally handicapping themselves, yet at the same time they didn’t seem to have any plan to overcome that disadvantage…

“Castellan-dono, look at that!”

As I was pondering, a lookout shouted while pointing toward the riverbank. Turning my eyes there, I saw what looked like a group of elves running along the shore. They appeared to be carrying dugout canoes on their shoulders, like portable shrines. It was too dark to see clearly, but thanks to the illumination rounds, I could barely make them out.

“The boats they’re carrying… There are more than ten of them. That’s a lot!”

That was from the perspective of a human’s eyes, however. Dragonewts had excellent night vision. Even with an uncertain light source, they could observe enemy movements with considerable accuracy.

“That is a lot. Reinforcements, perhaps?”

“No, probably not.”

As the gunnery officer muttered that, the captain immediately denied it.

“They’re likely the ones who were lying in wait downstream. Since we started moving upriver, they’re probably rushing to link up with their allies upstream.”

“Improvised at the last minute, huh.”

I muttered despite myself. It was a sloppy way of fighting, unbecoming of elves. They were battle maniacs, and for that very reason they were usually formidable opponents. …And yet, this mess… The sense of unease only grew within me.

“…Very well. The enemy is right there while on the move. I want to eliminate them before they can properly form up. Main gun, change target. Enemy group moving along the starboard riverbank. Ammunition type: high-explosive.”

“Target changed to enemy group on the starboard riverbank. Ammunition type: high-explosive.”

The gunnery officer repeated the command, and the 57mm gun that had been facing forward swung to the right. This kind of flexible target switching was another advantage of a rapid-fire cannon.

“Firing preparations complete.”

“Main gun, commence firing—fire!”

“Main gun, commence firing!”

The gunner pulled the lanyard extending from the main gun’s chamber, and a thunderous roar echoed around us. The fired shell, astonishingly, landed right in the middle of the enemy group. An explosion erupted, blasting several elven soldiers into the air.

…That said, it was still only a small 57mm shell. Even though it was a high-explosive round, the amount of explosive was less than that of an infantry hand grenade. The explosion was fairly modest, and naturally the damage inflicted on the enemy was not particularly great.

“Woooh! We got them!”

“This is the first victory of our Liseben artillery corps! A momentous occasion!”

Even so, the main gun crew was overjoyed. I found my own cheeks loosening into a smile, only for an arrow to suddenly come whistling in. Worse yet, its trajectory was aimed straight at me.

“Hmph!”

I reflexively tried to assume a defensive stance, but Sonia moved faster, springing in front of me at incredible speed. She actually caught the falling arrow with her bare hand. Even if it had lost momentum from its long, arcing flight, catching a flying arrow like that was no ordinary feat.

“Are you unharmed, Al-sama!?”

“Thanks to my reliable vice commander, I’m completely unharmed. Thank you, you saved me.”

I answered that while letting out a quiet sigh of relief inside. Even though we were aboard a ship, an open command deck was hardly a safe place. A trench would probably be far safer. Naval battles really were terrifying.

“…Al-sama, here.”

As I was groaning under my breath at the unpleasant feeling, Sonia handed me the arrow she had caught. …Astonishingly, it didn’t have an arrowhead. It was the same kind of thing that had been used in the previous attack.

“What…?”

Not only were they not using fire arrows, they weren’t even using arrowheads…? That was strange, far too strange. This was real combat. Why would they deliberately use weapons with reduced lethality? Even now, elven soldiers were losing their lives under our attacks. A second ground-targeted shot from the main gun exploded, blasting away elves who were carrying a dugout canoe…

“Castellan-dono! The breech won’t move! It seems to be jammed! The main gun is no longer able to fire!”

“…Understood. Try to see if it can be repaired.”

…It seemed we weren’t much better off, relying on unreliable weapons ourselves. Honestly, this was exactly why new weapons were such a pain…

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