That which is necessary for mass-porduction

 
 “Ah… so it really is tricky after all?”
 
 Hearing my outcry, Otou-sama awkwardly asked this.
 
 I nodded deeply to the two of them.
 
 “There, is, absoluuuutely, not enough people! Got it? The magic rifle exceeds 50 parts. How many people do you think we’d need for parts manufacturing and quality checks before even getting to assembly? You can’t just think of it like a magic sword or magic shield, you know?!”
 
 “H-, hmm…”
 
 The two of them pondered.
 
 
 
 ——— That’s right.
 They were thoughtless.
 
 The only products our workshop has mass produced up till now have been magic armaments with fewer than ten parts.
 Even if the production control was somewhat crude, well, we’d somehow managed.
 
 Speaking of products with a comparatively high number of parts, there is the magic stove, but even that, at most, has under 30 parts.
 
 Furthermore, because both the main unit and running cost are high, it can only be sold to nobles and wealthy merchants, with the yearly production count being at most 20.
 
 And because we only make and collect once stock has decreased by roughly that amount, we naturally haven’t pulled together a production line and such.
 
 
 
 ——— If you were to consider the above-mentioned.
 
 The current Ainsworth doesn’t have the expertise to produce a thousand magic rifles yearly.
 
 Up till now, I’ve basically been making the magic rifles by assembling the parts I had the Royal Capital Workshop make myself.
 
 With an eye on mass production, I had the Workshop Chief Duncan, Yankee-kun, Jack and Auntie assemble it and give me their opinions, but that was only up until the study of the design and construction.
 
 As for the mass-production plans, I’d entrusted it all to Otou-sama and the Owleyes Main Workshop.
 
 In the first place, I hadn’t the slightest idea that the country would demand 3000 guns yearly.
 
 My expectations were to, at most, mass-produce 300 guns yearly.
 This is the exact number of knights in the Unified Knights Order.
 
 If it was that much, then well, we’d manage somehow.
 But a ten-times increase, as expected, that’s going to be difficult to do, one way or another.
 
 ——— well then.
 What should we do?
 
 
 
 “Otou-sama.”
 
 “W-, what is it, Letty?”
 
 Otou-sama was startled when I called out to him.
 
 “Request of His Majesty, to please have the production target pulled down to 1000 guns somehow.”
 
 “No, but, this number was approved by the Senate, in response to the request by the Unified Knights Order…”
 
 “If necessary, I will explain to the Senate myself. 『What’s impossible is impossible』. ——— If we don’t say as much, not only will we not be able to reach our goal, but quality will worsen, and eventually work-accidents will occur. The other day, I explained about increasing the number of staff in the Royal Capital Workshop, right?”
 
 “… yes.”
 
 Otou-sama dejectedly dropped his shoulders.
 
 
 
 “Next, Workshop Chief Godwin.”
 
 “W-, what?”
 
 Master was taken aback by the change in how I usually call him 『Master』.
 
 “Determine how many people we need to produce 1000 guns a year, or about 90 guns a month. For every component, please identify processes that can be simplified, and review the needed workload for production.”
 
 “For all of the parts?”
 
 “Yes. Everything, right down to a single screw. ——— Next, don’t limit the workers to craftsmen. Inexperienced people… for example, retired uncles and aunts, or even underage children in some cases, who can be trained in a short time for a specific task.”
 
 “Huh? What are you saying, Ojou-chan.”
 
 Workshop Chief Godwin’s eyes opened wide in response to my bombshell statement.
 
 “Craftsmen can’t be made in a day. That’s something that Ojou-chan should know all too well!!”
 
 His yell echoed loudly.
 
 And then, I told him———
 
 
 
 “We need to change our way of thinking, Workshop Chief Godwin.”
 
 I declared so calmly, but clearly.
 
 “What do you mean?”
 
 “When making a large quantity of the same thing, it is manpower that’s directly linked to the production output… in other words, how much labour you have. But as we said earlier, we can’t raise craftsmen in a short period of time, and even if we scraped together skilled craftsmen, the number gathered wouldn’t amount to much. ——— As such, we change the way we think.”
 
 ““?””
 
 Otou-sama and the workshop chief both tilted their heads.
 
 Clap, I struck my hands together.^[1]
 
 
 
 “Although they may be magic tools, not all the parts need to be made by veteran craftsmen. Of course, there’s likely to be parts that can’t be made without those craftsmen. However, by making dedicated moulds and jigs, wouldn’t there be parts that even inexperienced people could manufacture and inspect?”
 
 “… dedicated moulds and jigs, you say?”
 
 In place of his earlier anger, this time an air of bewilderment was floating around Master.
 
 “Yes. It’s the same with magic tools, but most ordinary craftsmen make the shape with hammers and anvils and saws and chisels, then finish it off with files and planes, right? Those tools allow you to make various shapes, but need many years of training in order to use.”
 
 “That’s correct.”
 
 “But in this case, there are so many parts, and they also have various shapes. If we rely on craftsmen to make them one by one with their own hands, I have no idea just how many people we’d need.”
 
 “Hmm…”
 
 The workshop chief groaned.
 Seeing my Master like that, I held up my index finger.
 
 “And so, we change our way of thinking. That is, 『Specific parts can only be made into specific shapes. However, anyone can easily use it』 ——— if we prepare dedicated moulds and jigs like those, even inexperienced youth should be able to do the parts manufacturing, no?”
 
 “Uhhmmm…”
 
 The workshop chief groaned even more.
 
 He wrinkled his brow as he thought about it, then eventually raised his face.
 
 
 
 “I understand what Ojou-chan wants to say. Certainly, it’s true in theory. However, the time we’ve been given is one year. As expected, wouldn’t it be difficult to develop dedicated tools and produce 1000 rifles in such a short period of time?”^[2]
 
 Master sent me a sceptical look.
 
 Seeing him like that, I smiled wryly back.
 
 “The way things are now, the most we’d make a year are 300 guns. Moreover, we’d need a certain amount of time to gather people. The Owleyes population is roughly 20 000. Even if 0.5%^[3] of those helped out, that would only be 100 people. To get more than that, we’d need an extensive recruitment in the royal capital and such, so we’d probably only be able to get into production in earnest half a year later. We’ll go ahead with preparations in the first half year, then in the remaining half year, we’ll put together the 1000 guns all in one go!”
 
 ““-!!””
 
 Their eyes opened wide at my declaration.
 
 “Hiring people will also require money, so… now’s the time. I think I’ll try challenging myself with making a new magic tool, which will be useful for earning money and personnel recruitment.”
 
 “A new magic tool?”
 
 I nodded at Otou-sama, who asked a question in response to what I said.
 
 “Yes. Therefore… of course, the two of you would be kind enough to cooperate, right?”
 
 Faced with my grinning expression, Otou-sama and the workshop chief both nodded with difficult expressions on their faces.
 
 
 ☆
 
 
 Two days later.
 Our group departed from the mansion in Owleyes’ old territory.
 
 “Well then, looking forward to working with you, Master!”
 
 I opened the carriage window and called out to Workshop Chief Godwin, who came to see me off, and in response, he yelled back in a disheartened manner.
 
 “Ojou is treat’s her worker’s too roughly! You should be kinder to the elderly!!”
 
 “… even though you get angry when I treat you like an old man.”
 
 “Oh, shush!!”^[4]
 
 The carriage began moving.
 
 “Bye then, looking forward to seeing you in two weeks, okay!”
 
 “Instead of worrying about others’ work, worry about your own! ‘Coz I won’t forgive you if I find out you’ve been slacking!!”
 
 “’Kaaay!”
 
 And like that, with the tearful laughter of the servants who, seeing my and my Master’s exchange, desperately tried to hold back their laughter, which acted as the background music, we headed to our second destination, the Ainsworth territory.