Witches, even if they weren't 'Combat' witches with specifically physical enhancements, did on average have slightly stronger than normal human bodies. It was a reflection of the constant magic that ran through their bodies.
Especially if their particular form of magic enhanced or affected their body in some way. Like Anna with her fire/heat projection ability. She was also naturally just immune to extreme heat.
She could touch molten metal without issue. Not only that, but she also had a seeming immunity to toxic gases as well, which was always a worry when it came to smithing and such.
Nightingale's power, which allowed her to hide in a separate dimension and see other people's souls directly. Which also allowed her to tell if someone was lying, didn't give her body too much of an enhancement.
But... Nightingale herself had trained herself into something akin to peak humanity. So after playing the good host and showing her around the castle officially. I decided to give her a fun toy.
"This is called a derringer, or more specifically, a Mozambique model of a pistol. It has these three barrels as you can see. And you can load it with shot that shoots a bunch of pellets, or with a slug that can shoot one larger projectile for dealing more direct damage in case you run into one of the Church's enhanced knights or a demon."
While I did keep a revolver on me at all times, even if making each round was a pain in the ass to collect the more special chemicals. I was getting ready to ramp up production to deal with my shit heel siblings who would want to kill me.
"But... There is a VERY powerful kick when all three rounds go off at once. Hence, you need to be very careful, especially if you have three slugs loaded in this as well." I explained to Nightingale.
Then... Not being a dumbass, I carefully held the oversized pistol with both hands, with one hand holding it around the curved short metal handle of the long barrel before I shot.
And with a loud boom that rang out into the town outside of the castle. The Mozambique blew out a stream of flames before a chunk of the stump used as target practise exploded into shards of wood shrapnel that shot into the air.
And even with Anna's own magic enhancing my body a good bit... Trying to shoot three 12-gauge rounds at once was fucking hard on your hand.
So my hand shaking as I flipped the lock to make the three metal case shotgun rounds pop out as the gun opened was perfectly real
But Nightingale was focused more on the power of the gun. And then she asked bluntly. "Why are you giving me such a weapon? And only charging at cost for the supplies I am taking? I am not some peasant girl you can easily woo."
My lips curled as I knew that Nightingale was actually a total romantic. But instead, I spoke in terms of pure pragmatism as I said honestly. "I have the ability to use the abilities of other witches I make bonds with. And I know that you and your Witches Association will have to come back this way when you meet an unending tide of demons and monsters."
I took a breath before I continued. "This gun isn't just something to defend yourself with, Nightingale. It's a promise. A promise that my people and I can defend the Witch Association from the Church."
Nightingale's lips pursed as she said slowly. "You want the Witches Association to come here so that you can copy our abilities huh? Well that at least makes sense."
Because this was a cruel feudal world, obviously. Having a prince known for being a cruel fool, being too kind was just a waste of effort and would only make people feel alienated. Or that I was planning something else.
Having my goal laid out clearly to all eyes was the best way forward when it came to recruiting talents.
I then exhaled before I said with finality. "Nightingale... I am not trying to rush you, however. But you really do need to get to your people. The Winter of Demons is just to arrive in the next few days. So the sooner you can get to them the better."
I then patted the leather bag that was stuffed with a good forty rounds, as each round was rather heavy, seeing as the shell and the payload themselves were all metal. "This is already a good-sized load all of in itself. And any supplies you take will weigh you down as well."
Nightingale nodded in agreement before she said thoughtfully. "I understand. Hmm, in any case, I still plan to speak with Anna and Nana. Then I will deal with your little maid problem before I head on out during the night."
I had a feeling that Nightingale wasn't going to just peacefully leave tonight. But I wasn't going to call her out on that. It was her people that were in the freezing monster-infested forested mountains waiting for her supplies after all. Not mine.
With a shrug, I cleared my throat and said. "In that case, I must ask you to excuse me. I have matters of my own to attend to now."
Nightingale gave me a nod even as she fiddled with the large gun I had handed over to her. But I was very much on a time crunch with all the months of the Demons here.
I headed back into the castle, where Anna quickly found me, and with her, I went over to the mines and metal working area.
"Alright, Anna, we do have a bit of a natural hot spring here in this area. So what we are going to work on for the next while is making a sulfur line that will accumulate in gases and liquid deposits we are going to strain. And from there we will be able to make better gunpowder more easily."
As we were still using 'Blackpowder' and would probably continue to do so for this winter, making a system that could actually mass-produce more modern gunpowder was going to be much more involved.
The goal was for the actual smokeless gunpowder we did make. We would use it on heavier, more accurate guns, unlike the blackpowder shotguns the militia was armed with.
Anna looked at the diagrams and blueprints of the long, straining conveyor line that would pull the sulfur out of the water we were taking from the mines. And asked curiously. "You said that in boiling all the water away. It would leave all the residue and minerals behind. Coudn't we do that as well?"
My lips twitched as I said helplessly. "I mean... Yeah, but only YOU could mass evaporate several liters at once at any real amount of speed."
Then Anna put a finger to her lips and said. "Uhm... What if we made a line with an open top pipe? And below the pipe, we set up heated lines where we could put coal and such. So we could let a bunch of water in over a larger space. And once all the water was boiled away, we could just use a metal brush to drag down the pipe to get the remains?"
That... Wasn't actually that bad of an idea.
I patted Anna on the head, with her smiling as I said thoughtfully. "Not only that, but we could scale this idea up in the future as well with more lines. Alright then, let's get to work. As we still have lessons later today."