Inheritor Of Magic: The Magi King

Chapter 556 556 Creature Comforts

lightsnοvεl 

The vehicle raced back toward them, headlights bouncing as they drove across the rough ground. The buggy itself seemed pretty stable, and the ride looked reasonably smooth, nobody was being tossed about even at over sixty kilometres an hour.

Janet skidded to a stop beside them and hopped out with a huge smile on her face.

"That was incredible. But we need to upgrade the headlights. Two down low will not be enough. Maybe a light bar up higher and some adjustable side spotlights, so we can use them for hunting at night. We didn't find anything to shoot at, but the scouts will do that part of the testing for us.

Oh, are those body panels to keep the gunner clean and out of the wind? We relied on the armour spell, but a lot of crud was getting thrown up at her." She exclaimed.

The gunner nodded in agreement as she hopped down, and the others got right to work fitting the panels they had made onto the buggy.

"We've upgraded a set of plans, so if this is good enough, then we can make more just like it." The witch whose idea it had been to add the extra storage informed them.

They stepped back in satisfaction as they finished their work, and the gunner hopped back into the seat, then adjusted it so that she could still see properly downward, despite being quite short, and gave them the thumbs up.

"I think that they will like this. The driver could use a fan, though. If we're going to fully enclose the cockpit like this, it will get really stuffy in the sun. It was designed to be open so that there would be ample airflow without fans and such, but this is almost an armoured car."

The others smirked at her and unfastened a pair of latches, letting the windows fold in half and drop into the low side door sill, which left almost the entire side of the vehicle open.

"Oh, that's much better, and it will let wind blow across my legs as we're moving and vent out behind me. I think this way should be good, and then the scouts can just close the windows when it's raining if they don't want to burn through extra mana."

The others considered that for a moment, and then began discussing whether it would be a good idea to put small loops to tie a tarp to so that the buggy could be covered when not in use, and so the gunner could cover themselves from the rain.

That was a short decision to make. They would create a camouflage net to go over the entire buggy, so it could be hidden when parked, and a smaller tarp to go over the gunner's turret that would turn with them. It would limit their line of sight, but it would be more practical than an umbrella, which was also suggested, and roughly the right size.

Wolfe could definitely see some of the scouts strapping an umbrella to their seats so that they would be out of the rain as they worked.

"How long does it take to make one of these?" Wolfe asked, wondering about the logistics of distributing them to the scouts.

"For the whole team, it should take us about two and a half hours. On an assembly line, we could likely get it in under twenty minutes if we had the appropriate spells and jigs prepared. The structure is simple, the chassis is all one piece of metal tube made with Earth magic, and then the drivetrain, which is more difficult, and the suspension.

If you hold the chassis in the air for us, it will be a lot easier. With it in the right position, we can put everything else in place. Why? Are you considering doing destructive testing?" Janet replied.

"No, I was thinking of making another one so that we would have two opinions on how well they work before we start making a lot of them. They can take them for the day, and then we can send a different pair the day after." Wolfe explained.

"Oh, good idea. I think that we can do that. It will also help us when we make the assembly line. The other armies have trucks and tanks, but our plan is to just use these for everything except moving freight. Well, these and the airplanes.

We've been working on new plane designs as well. Instead of passengers or cargo, we designed a way to have bomb bay doors in the twin engine planes. A bombing run would be great against trenches and large units. 

The only problem we have so far is that we don't have a good defence against their fighter jets. Nothing we have moves that quick, except Lightning Magic attacks. That's one way to deal with them, but we're working on something better."

"Alright. You can get back to that after the tests on this buggy are finished, or you can work on them all day tomorrow while they are doing the tests, it doesn't matter to me. But how about we set up some shelter for the evening? It would be a hassle to fly all the way home tonight when we're going to be here first thing in the morning anyhow." Wolfe suggested.

The border guard cleared her throat. "We've actually added underground facilities to the guard shack. A miniature Den, if you would, set up like the very first one, with the entrance in the spare room. There are a dozen bedrooms down there, and a small library filled with copies that we've made from the main library's selection.

I'm afraid that it's mostly romance and not educational, but we have a lot of time to spare out here." The guard explained, blushing a little at the end when she realized that others were going to notice that they had filled the library with nothing but steamy romance books.

The witches of the design team giggled at the confession. "So that's what you get up to all day out here on the border. Thank you for the hospitality, I think we will try the rooms for the evening."