Breakthrough

 
 
 ☆
 
 
 Scale down the Owleyes New territory by half.
 
 When I put this idea into words, everyone’s eyes went wide, followed by an indescribable atmosphere.
 
 While thinking 『that’s probably impossible』, they were troubled as to what kind of reaction to give without making light of my statement. ——— That kind of atmosphere.
 
 Seeing that situation, Otou-sama took the lead.
 
 “Cough. Uhm, Letty? I understand wanting to cut the military, but as expected, I’d think halving it would be difficult.”
 
 Perhaps fearing that I wouldn’t like what he had to say, Otou-sama chose his words carefully.
 I posed my father a single question.
 
 “Why’s that?”
 
 “If we suddenly halve our military strength, the Principality will see it as a weakening. The enemy might take advantage of that and invade. If we were to oppose them with military strength that’s been halved… And also, His Majesty and the Senate will probably be against it.”^[1]”
 
 Certainly.
 I understand Otou-sama’s point.
 
 If we simply halve it, the risk of invasion increases, and we also wouldn’t be able to explain ourselves to the country.
 
 But that doesn’t mean we can leave it as it is.
 If our finances collapse, then that military force especially won’t be able to be maintained.
 
 Then, what should we do?
 
 In a voice as clear as I could, I put the following into words.
 
 
 
 “We need to change the definition of 『military force』.”
 
 ““!!””
 
 Everyone’s gaze gathered upon me.^[2]
 I continued speaking.
 
 “The way we thought the definition of military strength up till now has been 『however many hundreds of people in the standing army』. This is because only professional soldiers and adventurers, who could wield swords and spears, and bows and spells, could be of any use.”
 
 Otou-sama, the knight order captain, and several others nodded, and the remaining people had expressions of deep thought.
 
 “However, this common sense is greatly changed by the magic rifles we’re mass-producing. The necessary shooting practice is several weeks. Through focused practical use, it becomes possible for those ordinarily employed in other professions to form a unit and eliminate warriors with many years of battle experience.”
 
 And that’s also with a rifle capable of rapid-firing 15 shots and being loaded with 30.
 
 As long as they’re used appropriately in the correct place, they can take on several times the number of enemies.
 
 Thereupon, Otou-sama opened his mouth.
 
 “Certainly, those weapons have that much power and range. That would probably be why the country is hurrying the mass-production. ——— However, would ordinary citizens given hasty practice really become military strength?”
 
 Otou-sama’s worries are justified.
 And I had an answer to that.
 
 
 
 On Earth, Israel and Switzerland were countries with universal conscription.^[3]
 
 I’d heard that each Swiss household had a small weapons storage, and kept assault rifles at the ready.
 
 There are also examples of mid-level countries that were invaded by great military powers, who mobilised nearly all adult men… everyone, from uncles working with sheet metal to even the lawyers, joined in the fight with tanks and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, pushing back the invaders.
 
 In conclusion, 『If you prepare the appropriate weapons and system, it will become sufficient military strength』.
 
 But I can’t bring up Earth’s examples here… it might be better to convince them with a slightly different method.
 
 
 
 “Otou-sama. I was thinking of giving something a try.”
 
 Hearing my words, Otou-sama tilted his head.
 
 “Trying something, what is it you’re trying?”
 
 “In maybe one of the towns or villages in the Ainsworth territory, I was thinking of creating a local defence organisation made up of citizens.”
 
 “Hmm… So that’s what you mean by a 『citizen unit』?”
 
 “That organisation will be the foundation, you see. As the citizen units won’t be suddenly made within the territory soldiers, I was thinking I’d make a local defence framework that would carry out the evacuation of residents and early measures in the case of a disaster or fire, or a war breaking out.”
 
 The image I had in mind was the fire brigade.
 First off, I wanted to create the frame of 『this is our own towns and villages, we will defend it ourselves』.
 
 The soldiers fight the enemy and protect the country, but don’t have the leeway to protect residents on the frontlines.
 
 To protect the people, an organisation is needed for that purpose.
 
 
 
 I continued speaking.
 
 “To be frank, if the Principality deployed a sizable number of the dragon riders that attacked the royal castle the other day, whether we have a thousand or two thousand of the conventional kinds of soldiers, it won’t make much of a difference. If they were to attack, even forts and citadels would be turned to piles of rubble in little time.”
 
 Everyone gulped at my words.
 
 It has already been made widely known through the newspapers that, during the incident the other day, one part of the royal castle was blown away.
 
 Graham-sama and Otou-sama, who were there, ought to have understood that threat personally.
 
 Right.
 The problem wasn’t how much military force we could maintain.
 
 With the new threat that has appeared before us, the question now is how to oppose it.
 
 
 
 “What we need is a surveillance network to detect the enemy’s movements. Weapons that can oppose dragon riders and the soldiers who can use them. And also, an organisation that can lead the evacuation of residents. With regards to the existing type of enemy military strength, the magic rifle should be enough to be able to oppose them, and we can also supplement this by moving military from the rear.”
 
 “Moving military from the rear? In other words, transfering Ainsworth military to the New territory?”
 
 Hearing Otou-sama’s question, Hubert-onii-sama reacted.
 
 “Rapid transfers are difficult, aren’t they? The territory capitals are two days away by carriage. If they’re on foot then it looks like it’d take three times as long.”
 
 From there, Graham-nii-sama added on more.
 
 “From the royal capital, it would take 20 days to walk. Since it takes 6 days to walk from the New territory’s capital to the border, the New territory and the County’s military strength would have to endure the enemy’s attack for two weeks.”
 
 Once again, everyone’s gazes focused upon me.
 
 I looked Graham-nii-sama straight on and spoke.
 
 “What would you say if those travel days 『became one tenth』?”
 
 “If it were possible to move from the royal capital to the New territory in 2 days, you mean?”
 
 I nodded at my brother’s question.
 My brother had an 『awkward』 kind of expression.
 
 “That would probably be possible if you equipped all the soldiers with flying boots and had them continuously fly… but that’s probably not possible.”
 
 Certainly, to get close to being able to do that, you’d probably need as much magic power as Theo or someone in my family.
 
 But this time, I thought of a different method.
 
 This was something I’d resolved to do during my time going and coming back from the port city Marmaldia, one month ago.
 
 
 
 “We’ll lay a railroad.”
 
 “A railroad?”
 
 Hearing unfamiliar words, everyone had question marks floating above their heads.
 
 “Yes. Please think of the trolleys used in transporting minerals in the mines but made bigger. Two rails connecting town to town, with passenger and freight carts riding atop that ——— we’ll develop a high-speed transportation network connecting cities!”
 
 I declared so smugly.
 
 The surrounding people blinked in surprise.
 
 “W-, wait a minute, Letty.”
 
 Hubert-nii-sama stopped me while perplexed.
 
 “For the big trolley, you’re not perhaps thinking of having horses pull those, right? Sure, a carriage will probably be able to run a bit faster that way, but… even so, I think it would only be about 20 percent faster.”
 
 That’s a horse-drawn trolley. I think that would be nice, but like you say, horses can’t run that fast, and they can’t pull that many at once either.”
 
 When I nonchalantly said as much, this time Graham-nii-sama asked a question.
 
 “So then, how exactly would you move them?”
 
 I turned to face Anna beside me.
 
 “Anna. Could you pin that page up for me?”
 
 “Understood, Ojou-sama!”
 
 My attendant responded cheerfully, walked briskly to the bulletin board, and pinned the concept drawing I had handed her.
 
 
 “Otou-sama, Onii-sama. This is my answer. A vehicle capable of pulling any number of passenger carts and freight carts, and moreover, transporting it in large quantities and at high-speed… I call it the magic locomotive!”
 
 
 ““Oooohh!!””
 
 
 Everyone there, besides Anna, Sofia and myself, let out voices of admiration.