The World Dragon's Heir-Chapter 85: Still Counts As One

The process repeated for the next two weeks, with Dominic making forty rifles every day, then milling parts to keep his stockpile up.

That was when they got their first visitors since the Gunsmiths had been sequestered.

The Crown Prince, Claudius. He arrived along with his royal retinue of four advisors and twenty Royal Guards, filling the Gunsmith’s Forge.

They stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and the Prince looked around as the Gunsmiths pretended to ignore his presence and keep working.

All except Dominic, who had hearing protection on as he worked the router, milling receivers for the next few days’ production. He was facing the wall, and moving through the metal blocks with practiced smoothness.

"Your Highness, it is an honour to have you here. What brings you all the way down to the Gunsmith’s Forge?" The guard at the door asked.

"We have fully equipped the Natural Sons’ Regiment. Five hundred matched rifles, with spares for deployment. My younger cousin, who is in charge of equipping the Regiment, noted that all the rifles they were given came from a single Gunsmith’s forge.

That made me curious how you were doing things here, but I don’t see a factory assembly line, with one Master Smith doing all the enchanting." He explained.

"Ah, you see, we have a two tier process going here. Most of the Journeymen and Master Smiths are making traditional pieces for the regular army Officers. The rifles for the Natural Sons’ were all provided by Apprentice Dominic.

He’s a bit of an odd one. None of the flair for the artistic that you would expect, but he’s got an efficient setup going there which turns out rifles like toys off a factory line."

The Prince could see Dominic working, though not exactly what he was doing, as his body was in the way.

"Yes, I recognize the practice from the hinge makers. Their men move through the process at their station the same way, with their mind on autopilot. Does he assemble and enchant the rifles himself, or just stamp his mark in the parts?" Prince Claudius asked.

"He completes the entire process. He has been assembling and enchanting forty rifles every morning, then making the custom parts that we can’t order in for the rest of his shift. With the help of the Master Weaponsmith, they’ve managed to get him everything he needs to only make the last few critical components himself.

Even the rifle stocks were changed to wooden ones last week, to save metal. And they come shaped to his blueprint, so he only has to bolt the parts to them.

It’s a bit of a pain, as the metal frames were less of a headache to work with during the enchanting process, but it’s much faster than making them himself."

The Prince smiled at the chatty guard. He had answered every question that the Prince had without raising any suspicions at all.

It really was the Royal Sorcerer who was making all those rifles on his own.

There were many in the Royal Palace who had been curious about the sheer number of matched weapons that were coming out of the Gunsmith’s forge.

Asking artisans to share their precious blueprints was akin to asking them to share their favourite daughter around, yet suddenly, there were so many weapons in a new design coming out of the forge. None of the Nobles would have believed it was one gunsmith’s work if he had not seen it himself.

"So, the Apprentice has turned out more rifles than the rest of the forge combined?" The Prince asked, carefully.

The guard, who coincidentally was the one who escorted Dominic to and from work every day, smiled.

"The Royal Sorcerer has turned out more rifles than the rest of the forge. And he uses fewer rare materials. See that long vat of shimmering oil? It’s got crushed mana cores in it, and he only has to add new mana core dust every few days.

Most of the plans require a core for every rifle to guarantee Uncommon Quality or better rifles. But he can do some magic thing to the oil and just keep succeeding.

It’s really quite remarkable. Whoever recommended him for this spot deserves recognition for their foresight."

The Prince nodded in agreement, then went to speak with Dominic, who finished one last item, and then swapped the full and empty boxes before turning around and removing his ear coverings.

"Your Highness. My apologies, I didn’t hear you enter. Welcome to the Gunsmith’s Forge." He greeted.

The Prince looked at the Trade Skill Core on Dominic’s wrist, which was bright gold with streaks of blue, marking his progress as two thirds of the way through the Apprentice Ranks.

"Royal Sorcerer. On behalf of the Natural Sons’ Regiment, I commend your hard work. But I have a request. Might I see the process that goes into enchanting one of these rifles? Not the full production, as I understand that takes significant time, but your unique enchanting process." The Crown Prince asked.

Dominic Shrugged. "Certainly. Outwardly, it looks much like the standard mana oil bath enchanting that is done in all the forges. But as a Sorcerer, I have some advantages. There is mana core dust in my oil, and I top off the mana between uses.

So, if you will allow me a few minutes to assemble a rifle, I can show you."

The Prince nodded, and Dominic assembled a rifle, taking a bit of extra time to ensure that everything was perfect. Then he hung it over the forge for a few minutes, heating the metal, while he prepped the epoxy bedding on the wooden stock.

Once the metal was hot, he assembled the rifle with thick gloves on, and tightened the two bolts that held the wood to the metal assembly, then dunked it in the oil and finished the process with a touch more mana before removing the rifle and wiping away the excess oil.

"When that is dry and cured, it will be ready to use. As it is, the epoxy needs to cure, and the wooden stock is still wet with oil, though I’ve wiped it down. But it’s fully enchanted." Dominic explained.

"How long before that rifle is ready for use?" The Crown Prince asked.

"I normally ship them out in the late afternoon. Four hours is close to the minimum, though in theory they should be ready in half an hour after I finish."

The Prince made a motion, and one of the guards slipped his gloves on and angled the rifle for better viewing.

"Uncommon Quality, level 10. The same as all the others. Thank you, Royal Sorcerer. You have enlightened me today." The Prince announced, then turned and left.

Dominic turned to look at the old smith. "This one counts for tomorrow. Don’t go giving them ideas about me being able to make more than I am."