Kays Translations

Just another Isekai Lover~

Chapter 34: Explosive Demonstration

“I know all of you are worried. Without the Temple Knights, can Bianshu Town really make it through this winter safely? What I can say for certain is that the town wall has already been repaired and now offers a certain level of protection. But… that alone is not enough.”

After a pause, Irwin raised his voice and asked,

“Doesn’t it strike you as odd? Why did I choose this location for today’s speech?”

The crowd began exchanging glances—it was strange.

Normally, an address like this would be given in the town square. That’s where Lord Owen made his first public appearance too.

Looking around the packed open field, some people began to guess that maybe the town square was too small, so a bigger space was chosen for the speech.

After a moment of suspense, Owen continued.

“It’s because I’m going to show you a powerful weapon—one powerful enough to annihilate hordes of undead monsters with ease. You all know how powerful the Temple Knights are. But this weapon I’m about to demonstrate is no less powerful than them. And the best part—anyone can use it!”

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Despite Owen’s bold claim, the crowd didn’t erupt in cheers.

In their eyes, the Temple Knights were unbelievably strong. The idea that a mere weapon could be equally powerful—and usable by ordinary people? That was beyond their imagination, and so, many remained skeptical.

Owen didn’t try to argue further. He would let the weapon speak for itself.

He clapped his hands. From the crowd, Mapel stepped forward, carrying the homemade explosive package they had prepared the day before.

Everyone’s eyes focused on the object in Mapel’s hands, carefully studying this “powerful weapon” the lord had spoken of.

But what they saw didn’t inspire much awe.

It looked plain and unimpressive—just a tightly-wrapped bundle of cowhide, bound firmly with several loops of rope.

This thing?
That was the general reaction. No one could see how it could possibly be powerful.

Standing beside Mapel, Owen placed his hand atop the package and began to explain.

“This is a bomb—an explosive bundle. Attached to it is a fuse. Once lit, it will explode in about ten breaths’ time, unleashing devastating destruction around it.”

He removed his hand and continued:

“Because its power is so immense, we’re going to use a trebuchet to launch it toward the Sky Dome Mountains. Everyone, look in that direction!”

Owen raised his left arm and gestured to the side of the platform. The crowd followed his hand and turned to look.

At some point during the speech, a large object covered with a tarp had been wheeled up beside the platform. And just as Owen finished his sentence, a nearby knight yanked the tarp off with a firm pull, revealing the massive device underneath—a trebuchet.

Whoa. They even brought that thing out?

After all, Bianshu only had four trebuchets total—and they were all stationed along the north wall for defense. Ordinary citizens almost never got to see one up close.

With a nod, Owen signaled Mapel to follow him. The two of them descended from the stage and walked over to the siege engine.

Before proceeding, Owen turned back to issue a final warning to the townspeople.

“Before we begin the demonstration, I want to warn all of you: once the bomb is launched, cover your ears immediately—especially those with small children. The explosion will be extremely loud. If your child starts crying, don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

Many parents who had brought their children along for the free lunch nodded. Since the lord had warned them, it was better to be cautious.

Now then—let the demonstration begin.

Owen turned to a knight by the trebuchet and gave a nod. The knight signaled another knight over, and the two of them began cranking the winch, slowly pulling the trebuchet’s arm down.

Once the arm was fully lowered, another knight hooked it into place with a latch and removed the rope used to pull it down.

With everything ready, Mapel walked over carrying the explosive bundle and placed it onto the sling. She then lit the fuse.

As soon as the fuse started emitting white smoke, she gave the order to the knight standing by.

“Launch!”

The knight gave a nod, then turned to face the direction of the Sky Dome Mountains and shouted,

“Ready—Fire!”

The knight in charge of the latch, who had already drawn his sword in preparation, swung it down and cut the rope securing the hook.

Driven by the counterweight, the trebuchet’s arm rapidly swung upward in a wide arc, flinging the bomb toward the Sky Dome Mountains. At the end of the swing, the bundle launched out of the sling at an angle of roughly 45 degrees.

Seeing this, Owen quickly covered his ears with both hands. From the moment the fuse was lit, he’d been counting down in his mind.

Seven seconds.

Seeing even the lord himself taking such precautions, many in the crowd quickly followed suit, covering their own ears. Those with children tightly covered their kids’ ears, and some of the more thoughtful children used their little hands to help cover their parents’ ears.

Even though Owen had clearly warned everyone, there were still some who ignored it. They thought the lord was just exaggerating and were eager to see him make a fool of himself.

Three seconds.

From a distance, they could already see the bomb landing on the mountainside.

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One second.

A few people began to lose patience. It felt like a long time had passed without any sign of an explosion, and they felt a little silly still covering their ears.

Had it failed? Or was the lord just bluffing? they wondered.

Then suddenly—a deafening BOOM shook the entire sky, followed by a tremor through the ground.

Because of the trebuchet’s limited range, the explosion occurred relatively close to the platform. The shockwave and blast sound arrived almost simultaneously. Those who hadn’t covered their ears felt an intense ringing, as if the world had suddenly gone silent.

A flash of fire burst from the mountainside, and a storm of shattered rock and dirt flew high into the sky. The rumbling of the earth passed quickly, followed by a rising cloud of thick black smoke. Then, like rain, bits of stone and clumps of dirt began falling from above.

At the moment of detonation, Owen could even hear the wooden stage behind him creaking loudly.

This temporary platform really isn’t stable… please don’t collapse, he silently prayed.

Fortunately, the stage held up and didn’t fall.

Waaahhh!!

Even with precautions, many children were still frightened to tears. They had never seen anything like this—it was terrifying.

Everyone present stood frozen in shock, their eyes wide. None of them had expected the weapon to be this powerful. No wonder the lord had been so confident—this would be more than enough to deal with undead monsters.

“It’s like divine thunder from the heavens!”

Someone in the crowd cried out, and more people quickly echoed the sentiment.

“Divine thunder! Our lord commands the power of the gods!”