The hammer landed on the red-hot iron, and the dull sound splattered along with the sparks.

"'What kind of armor is the White Rose'...... Is it?"

Motionless as he stared at the fire, the dwarven blacksmith muttered thoughtfully.

There used to be a noisy place where people were full of people, all day long, the sound of fires, the sound of striking iron, and the sound of bellows agitation, and the royal family designated the armor workshop, and those who didn't need to roar could not hear what they were saying to others, but now the whispering of the old craftsman can be heard clearly.

Sighing softly, Lorenz Hugo Hemsmitt turned his head to look at the remaining disciple and assistant.

Stared at by the sharp gaze that showed no signs of aging, the young man with a tense body nodded.

"Yes...... Yes, master, I wonder what's so special about that armor. ”

At any point, a cannonball will come at you, or a bunch of crazy people from somewhere will kill you - nothing is surprising that anything is happening in Lüders these days, and the most delicate and dangerous of these days, pinning the hope of a breakthrough on a minor can be regarded as a rush to the hospital or a dying struggle. Wear their armor and ride their horses to fight hordes of infantry, artillery, and even ironclad monsters they've never seen before...... There is nothing to refute even if this behavior is considered madness.

Even so, the young blacksmith was puzzled by Roland's appearance on the battlefield in the White Rose.

Why White Rose?

There are many thicker and more imposing armors than that, so why did you choose that one? The reason that "the body is the most suitable" cannot be established on the battlefield. Solid grenades, shotguns, smoothbore guns, rear-loading rifled guns...... The amount of things that could pierce armor and tear flesh apart had long since proliferated to the point where it was possible to assert aloud that armor should disappear from the battlefield. In that case, why did you still let the White Rose go to war?

What is so special about that armor, and why is it called "the irony of the armormaker"?

"That's—it's irony, it's the scream of the armor craftsman, it's not something you want to leave to your disciples and future generations. ”

He glanced at the disciple with a puzzled face. Lorenz smiled wryly.

"I can't help it. Listen, the so-called white rose is actually a composite type of armor. ”

"Is it a new alloy made by mixing several metals together?" or is it a chain armor worn on the inside and plate armor on the outside?"

"Those are also within the category of 'compounding', which can be regarded as a relatively rudimentary conceptual prototype. White Rose is not as simple as adding a few layers of plate armor, or adjusting the metal ratio and smelting process. It's the same kind of 'reactive armor' that the pointy-ears are developing. ”

"That...... ...... reaction?"

"Let's use an analogy. When you cross a single-plank bridge, is the strong wind blowing from the front more annoying, or is the wind blowing from the side giving you a headache?"

"Well, it's supposed to be the wind from the side. ”

"That's right. For the bullet, the trajectory of the bullet flying towards the target is a narrow single-plank bridge, and if there is strong wind interference from the side, it is difficult to hit the target. ”

This is exactly how reactive armor works, covering the outside with a box of explosives, which immediately detonates the explosives when the opponent's armor-piercing projectile hits the explosive casing. A metal jet that creates lateral wind pressure to destroy the trajectory of the armor-piercing projectile and the shaped charge, thus avoiding the destruction of the hull.

Based on this principle, if a similar mechanism can be installed on the armor, it should also be possible to avoid the vital points of the human body.

Reactive armor is something that can only be used by mechanical vehicles, and in terms of safety, charge, weight, and carrying possibility, it is impossible for people to wear a thing similar to Arafat's vest to fight on the battlefield. If you really want to do this, it is better to let your subordinates carry a nuclear backpack and use the invincible spiritual atomic bomb and material atomic bomb to blow up the enemy. This is more beautiful than the exchange.

A different approach had to be found.

"After trying several ideas, we finally decided to use the spring as the 'wind on the side'. ”

"Spring?"

"In order to reduce the vibration on the carriage. Several curved steel plates are installed on the axle girders to counteract vibrations using their elasticity, also known as 'leaf springs'. It's the same with the white rose...... To put it bluntly, the true face of the white rose is an armor made of a large number of tiny leaf springs held together. ”

"It's actually a leaf spring...... But at that time, what I saw was like a whole piece of plate armor, and I didn't see any gaps, and I didn't see the upturned steel plates. ”

"You look very closely. In fact, the steel pieces are forced into a reverse state. from the shape of the (formal. Of course, as long as a certain amount of force is applied, this state of triggering will immediately bounce off. Look at that, and you can see how hard the steel piece bounces back. ”

Following Lorenz's raised fingers, the young man looked at the pillars above him. A curved piece of iron was firmly inserted into the wooden beam, and the edge glowed with a cold light like a blade.

The apprentice suddenly remembered that there was a time when Lorenz was covered in bandages and looked like a mummy from a distance. Now he could imagine how those injuries came about.

"Each piece of iron is in a state of compression to the limit, and the slightest carelessness in the assembly of the hinge will explode the whole piece, fail again and again, and repeat the process of peeling off the flesh and even the bones again and again. In the end, on the basis of a perfect fit to the body, the optimal shape and installation position of the steel sheet were taken into account. But...... That's not enough. If it is the thickness of the leaf spring of the carriage, even if it is not deliberately bent, it is enough to block the bullets of the rifle, and the strength and thickness of these small iron pieces cannot do this. Therefore, a second mechanism was set up - multi-layer armor. ”

With a slight slide of his thumb, the piece of iron held in his hand turned into three.

"The first layer is carburized steel, which is constantly infiltrated into the steel during the quenching process, and the resulting steel is not only snow-white and shiny, but also very hard and easy to break. After the bullet hits the carburized steel, the steel piece naturally breaks into two, and the warhead also loses part of its kinetic energy, and at the same time, the trajectory is destroyed and rolls. Next, the deformed and tumbling warhead will hit the second layer composed of several layers of white copper as thin as paper, copper is not as hard as steel, but the ductility and toughness are much better, and the rotating and tumbling bullet will roll up the copper skin, losing part of the kinetic energy again at the same time, the contact area is also increased. Next, the bullet with a depleted kinetic energy and an increased contact surface hit the third layer of accumulated spring steel and was blown away like a fool walking with an umbrella in hurricane weather. ”

In fact, due to the use of a staggered meshing structure. When a certain position is hit, the armor of that block will all move to increase the disturbance of the bullet and disperse the kinetic energy of the warhead. Take the above three layers as a group and repeat the three layers to ensure that the bullet does not harm the human body.

"Lian...... Even rifled guns can be blocked. This is big news!If it is announced, won't armor become popular again?!"

"It's not that remarkable. ”

A cold response, the hollow, dull hammer of the hammer echoed through the workshop again.

"Armor...... It is a prop that protects the lives of knights, protects knights from fighting their way through the enemy formation, and creates opportunities to take down the heads of enemy knights. At the same time, it is also one of the symbols of chivalry, and it is not wrong to say that it is part of the era of pastoral poetry. But at the end of the day, armor, like knights, is nothing more than a consumable item in war. No different from muskets, cannons, and crossbows. In today's era of faster, more effective, cheaper, and longer distance killing. No matter how good the armor and knights are, they face an overwhelming number of new technological weapons. All you can do is live as long as you can. Citing the enemy's technology to subvert the battlefield and restore the glory of the past era is nothing more than a dream. The white rose is such a thing, it is the tears of the times, it is me, an old man...... The last scream of the Armor Craftsman before being swallowed up by the times is also the cruelest irony. ”

It's not just the concept of reactive armor, it's a direct imitation of the technology to hit the target. It has become a dilemma of "you can't move forward without relying on the technology of the elf camp".

No matter how exquisite the craftsmanship is, the "weight" of the armor is always a hurdle that cannot be bypassed. "Protection" and "weight" are like weights placed on two sections of the scale, one side is a little more, and the other side is about to lose some. The White Rose, which was heavily defended and weighed more than ordinary ultra-gothic armor, tried to add springs and other mechanisms to the joints to reduce the burden on the wearer, but instead increased the weight and worsened the situation. Finally, after referencing the white corner MDS brought by Roland. Mimicking its structure, the white rose is used to replace the spring with a pre-set surgical circuit, and the white rose, which can be used to strengthen physical strength and relieve fatigue on both the wearer and the riding beast, can be considered practical.

"Even this kind of 'copying of a genius' is not much different from papier-mâché in the face of the cheap mass-produced original that has come down the assembly line. In the end, it just understood how big the gap between geniuses and mortals was. Let the inferiority complex just expand. ”

It's impossible for a compromising mortal to win over a genius in the first place - the more you study the "unicorn", the more you can understand it.

Lamenting that "times are different", constantly muttering that "new things are not as reliable as the old guys", and finally they can't even complain, and one by one they compromise in the face of reality and poverty, and turn to new technologies that they have despised in the past. At the same time, there is still a resentment in my heart that "one day I will regain my former glory". Finally, after tasting the bitterness, the Royal Family Workshop, a magical technology institution under the management and operation of the royal family, ushered in the crystallization of the highest technology of the Defense Force: the MDS "Unicorn" and its users. The ecstatic technologists couldn't wait to examine this treasure and hope to turn it around. However, what awaits them ahead is an even more insurmountable cliff.

With Roland's help, magicians and craftsmen can "know what it is", but they can't "know why", and it may take a lifetime to understand the "minutiae of technology", let alone the entire technical system. In the course of the research, some people even committed suicide because of despair. At the same time, there are people like Lorenz who silently stick to it and create the "White Rose".

"'We are right, and we will continue to pursue any possibility in front of us', 'We are fundamentally wrong, we only see the possibility in front of us, but deviate from the original purpose\' - I understand both of these statements, and I personally prefer the former. After all, I'm just mortal, and I'm exhausted just by peeking at other people's masterpieces and typing 'White Rose'. I can't see things like a genius who preaches that 'it's backward ethics and morality that restricts technological progress', and I can't agree with the perspective of despair and malice. But if you ask me 'what the world should become?' I can only say, 'If I had known the answer, I wouldn't have been armoured here.'" That's my limit. ”

That's right, that's all you can do as an armorer.

But—

The hammer was raised high and fell on the red-hot piece of iron.

(If I could, I'd love to wear that armor.) He's a hero. ）

＃＃＃＃＃＃＃＃＃＃＃＃＃

When the shotgun launcher fired, the girl had already jumped up from her horse, covered her face with her intact left arm, and rushed straight to the center of the shotgun storm.

In the eyes of the members of the assault artillery crew, this is an outright suicidal act.

Even without taking into account the threat of shotguns, how dangerous it is to jump from a running unicorn to a wheeled assault gun in motion. I believe that three-year-olds also know.

320 1.5mm diameter steel balls are fired in a fan-like pattern, and targets blocking them in front of them are bound to be smashed into a sieve.

Typically...... Words.

Time stretches infinitely, and in a world as long as an hour, the steel balls in flight are approaching the silver-white armor little by little, and finally smash into the carburized steel plate, twisting and shattering it, exposing the white copper below, and then the second and third - hundreds of steel balls smash the fragments of the carburized steel plate and the link buckle into the air, followed by it. It is a white rose that wraps the steel ball and is bounced into the air by the spring steel plate. The gorgeous flowers sparkle in the golden sunlight, making you feel that you are not in a battlefield, but in the garden of the gods.

"Faulty firing mechanism", "Poor gunpowder"...... These convicted inferences collapsed under the white roses that fluttered in the sky, and Karlius, who had seen the spectacle from the observation window, widened his eyes.

- That armor really blocked the shotguns!!

(But, then......!'The 'human knight' will ......!!)

In order to block this blow for the mount, it is also to reduce the impact area as much as possible. The price of jumping into the air to cope is a loss of foothold. If you are engulfed by inertia, you just fall to the ground. The end is still death-

After calculating the cause and effect, it was just a flash of lightning, and in this instant, the girl bit the hilt of the sword, took out the serrated short sword from behind her back with her free right hand, and swung it down forcefully, and the serrated teeth used to break the other swords firmly stuck the rings used for fixing and hoisting in front of the car body, and the girl hung on the outside of the wheeled assault gun.

"What...... What's that!!!!!!"

The screams of Karlius drowned out the roar of the engines and the terrible noise of iron shoes sliding on the ground. The crew, including Karlius Reinbach himself, did not have time to be surprised by the "screaming of the", and the driver, Corporal Hanks, grabbed the steering wheel and yelled.

"Awesome, awesome, this guy is amazing!

"Ah, yes, but that's the end of it! This time she can't hide anymore!!"

In the words of the regained Callius. Previously, Roland had relied on the unicorn's superior mobility, excellent judgment and horsemanship to avoid all the attacks of the assault gun, but now she has no way to escape.

At the same time as Karlius gave the order, Hanks slammed the steering wheel again. Turn on the liquid-gas suspension adjustment switch.

A little more than a second later, a truly fatal blow would hit Roland straight in.

One more second!

The body began to tilt, and the body that seemed to be weak was thrown upwards.

(It's now-)

Clenching the sword and swaying his body with a swing, Roland let go of his right hand. The silver armor drew a clockwise semicircle, and when the left hand regained grip on the serrated dagger, both feet stepped on the frontal armor of the assault gun, and the long sword that had been loosened from between the teeth fell into the grasp of the right hand, the tip of which pressed against the glass of the front viewing window.

Ears filled with the howling wind faintly heard the mockery. Most of them are full of confidence in bulletproof glass, and they are hurrying to reload the shells, intending to end everything with a muzzle storm.

It is true that even with the blessing of the strengthening technique within the Celestial Crystal, in his current state, it is absolutely impossible to destroy the bulletproof glass with the power of his physical body.

But...... And what if it's the power of the assault guns themselves?

With a slight shake of her right wrist, the long sword made perfect vertical contact with the bulletproof glass, and the girl smiled triumphantly.

"This guy !!"

The screams pierced through the armor, and before the command to "fire" could be formed, the brick wall behind the girl filled Kalius' field of vision, and the tip of the other end of the long sword slammed into the thick wall.

(Hold on!'Mane'!)

In Roland's silent shout, the steel sword arched slightly, and the walls and bulletproof glass let out a scalp-numbing "chirp" scream.

Smack——!!

The sword pierced through the tempered glass, splitting Hanks' hat and headphone headband, and making a gaping hole in Karyus's right leg. At this time, the brick wall could not withstand the impact and collapsed. The Iron Beast, whose center of gravity had been destroyed, burst out of the collapsing wall, and its flipped body slid forward with the girl.

The girl who was churning in the air and the Kalius in the turret met their eyes, looking at the clear eyes full of confidence and without a trace of gloom, and Karyus, who had forgotten the pain and humiliation for a while, showed a wry smile.

It was the moment of admitting defeat, and in the face of inevitable fate, the elven young man who dedicated his life and life to the country frankly admitted this ending.

The assault gun and the girl both flew out, and more than a dozen tons of iron smashed into the ground first, and the girl then hit the ground with her back on the ground.

The intact back armor was shattered, countless silver-white fragments flew in the air, and under the silver light curtain like cheering, the girl who jumped up steadily landed steadily. Standing on the earth, bathed in the light of the Milky Way star, the girl is as beautiful as a blooming white rose, and the holiness is so holy that people can't bear to blaspheme.

"What's going on......"

Curled up in the driver's seat, Hanks didn't bother to deal with the wound on his forehead, laughing self-deprecatingly, as he fumbled into a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and held one in his mouth.

"What a guy with the same good luck as ****, hell, what the hell...... Want to know her name. ”

Obviously, he was disdainful of those knights who reported their names and preached righteousness, and pulled the trigger while laughing. Now I want to know "who that guy is" has become the biggest wish of the Karyus crew.

"I really want to know...... What's that guy's name. ”

Spit out lilac smoke, a line of tears ran down his cheeks, and the assault gun pilot smiled blankly. (To be continued.) )