Ch.249Exclusive Equipment (1)

The day after my shocking encounter with ‘Pride,’ who I suspect never truly intended to seduce me in the first place.

‘….Sigh.’

Perhaps it was the aftermath of that tumultuous night. Trying to calm my throbbing headache—a reaction to perceiving a higher-dimensional being—I woke up and began my daily routine as usual.

After quickly tidying myself up and making the bed, I hung the blanket by the window where sunlight streamed in. Then I walked out of the bedroom with heavy steps, heading to the kitchen to appease my hungry stomach.

This place, which I personally maintain except for basic cleaning, was secured for the extremely personal reason of wanting my own space. Naturally, I prepare my own meals as well.

Today’s breakfast was an arranged version of the English breakfast I commonly enjoy.

I took bread sliced similar to toast—since it would be too hard if simply toasted, I soaked it in milk, coated it with beaten eggs, and grilled it like French toast. On another part of the pan, I made scrambled eggs with the remaining egg mixture.

To this, I added salt-cured, thinly sliced pork belly (similar to bacon) and sausages made from fresh meat. Using the rendered fat, I grilled some edible mushrooms and small, mild-flavored fish.

I also prepared a somewhat unusual bean dish pickled in salt and vinegar, boasting a unique flavor, along with black pudding (a type of blood sausage) which is quite popular in this era. That completed the basic preparation.

After preparing some basic side dishes like slightly fermented pickled cabbage and salt-preserved turnips, and finishing with a few seasonal fruits, my perfect breakfast was complete.

While those who eat just a few slices of bread with jam for breakfast might find this excessive, it was just right by my standards.

Anyway, the meal was delicious.

After enjoying my breakfast with malt vinegar as a condiment and munching on some unidentified nut cookies for dessert, I finally prepared to start my day.

I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and quickly washed my hair. Then I put on my outdoor clothes and deployed my armor over them.

The memory of last night’s revolting discomfort briefly flashed through my mind, but I shook my head to dispel it and headed straight to my office in the government building.

After yesterday’s commotion, the amount of work waiting for me was truly mountainous.

※ ※ ※

Later that day, around 2-3 PM in the afternoon.

Having finished lunch with something resembling a crude sandwich, I quickly processed my backlog of work, and by this time, I had long since completed all my duties.

‘….Should I go see Hanna?’

As I was contemplating how to spend my rare free time, I found my answer—a matter that coincidentally came to mind while considering visiting Hanna.

‘Ah. Come to think of it, I had forgotten.’

It was about providing each mid-level subordinate with personalized magical equipment.

There was a reason why I had provided magical equipment to my Basilisk Squad—the mixed-blood werewolves—but not to my mid-level subordinates.

While it’s true that they had managed well without magical tools until now, which pushed this down the priority list, the truth is that I had intentionally delayed this project.

First, I wanted to refine my techniques by crafting equipment for the Basilisk Squad, then use that improved technology to create more sophisticated gear for the others.

Additionally, until now, my subordinates rarely needed to take action, which further reinforced this tendency.

But times have changed, and now we truly need to maximize the combat potential of each subordinate in preparation for full-scale warfare.

Thus, I ambitiously launched this project, starting with the “Combat Uniform Project” as the foundation for optimizing personal armaments.

While providing customized weapons and magical tools to each individual is certainly important, the best way to reduce costs is through mass production, standardization, and modularization.

Especially for equipment that is consumable or easily damaged, mass production is essential unless you plan to add automatic regeneration features. From this perspective, mass production becomes a necessity.

Additionally, since I myself needed equipment similar to clothing worn under armor—combat uniforms—this ultimately became the starting point for all projects.

Since I plan to wear armor separately anyway, this combat uniform should focus on extreme convenience and assist in fine-tuning various aspects during combat.

The most representative feature would be temperature regulation. Being able to wear thick armor and surcoats even in sweltering heat, or walk around comfortably in extreme cold with just a layer of combat uniform, would be excellent options.

Adding sweat evacuation functions or magic resistance options would also be possible, and incorporating features that can integrate with other equipment wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

In addition, I was thinking about helmets with convenience-enhancing features—similar to what the Basilisk Squad has, but with storage functionality integrated into the combat uniform.

Night vision for low-light or nighttime environments. Sealing from the outside environment and filtering air to block harmful substances. Improvements to overcome the dulling of senses that helmets typically cause, and long-distance communication functions connecting individuals.

If possible, adding an interface for entity analysis or magnification functions would address most of the traditional disadvantages of helmets.

Particularly if I implement a modular plan similar to what I’ve already designed, I was considering enhancement parts that would integrate with these helmets.

Like Gretel’s “Explorer,” it would be entirely possible to create virtual familiars that function like drones for reconnaissance, or incorporate magical optical equipment or filters to maximize visual detection capabilities.

We could attach a triple camera system to the forehead area for pure visual, magical energy detection, heat detection, and spiritual vision, then add something like an ultrasonic detector and link all this to the visual interface.

Of course, I’m also considering integration with existing equipment used by the mixed-blood werewolves in the Basilisk Squad, especially gliders or jump packs.

While lower-ranked individuals have such crude and inefficient magical energy reserves that their jet packs are limited to jump packs, the situation is definitely different for mid-ranked individuals.

Although flight magic would be difficult to implement due to its terrible efficiency for non-mages, levitation magic to float in the air is actually relatively simple.

By adding jet packs modified to use aura as fuel, we could overcome the chronic weakness of levitation—lack of propulsion. If completed as planned, this could be more stable than rudimentary flight abilities.

And as I was contemplating various ideas about flight capabilities…

‘….Ah’

Suddenly remembering that Gretel was developing flying magical brooms that anyone could ride, I began to consider developing and incorporating an auxiliary flight unit.

Thinking about it, in the high-speed combat typical of mid-level warriors, rather than burdening them with cumbersome backpacks, wouldn’t it be more efficient to provide a flying unit they could ride?

It could be designed like a motorcycle using gargoyle technology, or simply as a flying rod-like device they could hold onto.

Especially considering that I’m not trying to create aerial cavalry, but merely providing flight capabilities, this approach would probably be better for Hanna or the Master… my father-in-law, who focus on close combat.

However… for some subordinates like Drub, the motorcycle-type riding vehicle might be more suitable.

As I carefully organized my thoughts, I considered which mid-level individuals definitely needed equipment in this plan.

‘Hanna, Father-in-law, Drub, Corin. And… the two chimeras and Gus?’

Excluding Gretel, who as a magic user wouldn’t benefit much from equipment and already dresses appropriately, and Lord Malakai Falten, who technically isn’t under my command and thus I have no authority over.

That means I need to create equipment for 4 individuals and 3 mid-level magical beasts….

….With such small numbers, wouldn’t it be better to just make custom equipment for everyone?