Equin Caja~
Year 7447, Month 4, Day 6
"Al, what have you been doing since just now?"
Zenom called out to me when I was observing the head of the Troll.Kin in order to cover up the fact that I was focused on thinking. I"m sure it"s necessary to explain and it"s not like I"ll come to a conclusion even if I think anymore than this. I guess it"s just right.
"Nn, I was investigating the wound. Look at this. Here is where the bullet from the gun hit."
"Hmm."
"And just like that it pa.s.sed through the skull and the back of the head and now it"s probably stuck in the wall somewhere over there."
"The wound on the back sure is big. Even though the wound on the front is smaller than an arrow wound."
"Yeah, when it pa.s.sed through the skull from the face the angle must have shifted slightly. Because of that when it pa.s.sed through the skull in the back of the head it wasn"t from the front but a bit above that. It"s fine if you just think of it as the bullet getting a bit bigger without losing any momentum."
"Hohou, I see, no clue at all."
As expected even if I were to tell him about the movement of energy or shock waves he wouldn"t understand it. I said it as simply as possible without touching on those but it seems it was still outside the category of comprehension for Zenom. Though, I don"t think Gwine or Ralpha would understand either so there"s no problem at all.
"Is it necessary to modify the bullet?"
Bel came to partic.i.p.ate in the conversation. Although, in her case I"m sure it has a completely different meaning than Zenom.
"Nn. I don"t know if it"s necessary or not yet. It would be good if we can use several types based on the opponent but as expected that is..(Eh..)"
When I turned around while replying looking at Bel I almost raised my voice and took a step back. Th..This girl, what kind of expression is she making...
There was a blazing light in Bel"s eyes and her face was a bit red. She was making a cruel and bewitching smile while her breath seemed a bit rough. Ah, this girl..Is it that? Is she a dangerous person? But, rather than that there"s a problem.
"Bel! Don"t lower the muzzle! Remove your fingers from the trigger!! Rather than quickly call over Giberuti and hand him the gun."
I reflexively yelled in a loud voice.
"Eh? Ah, I..I"m sorry! I..I"ll go and call Larry."
After being warned by me over something extremely basic, Bel turned red from embarra.s.sment and ran out of the room in a hurry. She was properly holding the top base of the gunstock in her right hand while holding the barrel up with her left hand as she aimed the gun upwards with an angle of 30 to 45 degrees.
It"s the gun reserve stance.
Yeah, it"s no good if you can"t naturally and subconsciously do that reserve gun {high port} stance.
Even though she was able to do it just before...
Today I was planning to keep an eye on things while letting everyone try shooting living targets but judging from that state of Bel it"s a bit troubling.
Because it"s necessary for shooting I only taught her the most basic stances for firing and holding the gun in reserve but judging from this state of things, I wonder if it"s really no good if I don"t do gun drills?
It"s probably no good.
Next time I"ll make sure to add a strap to the gun.
In the end after that I decided to hold off on using the gun because of Bel"s bad performance in gun safety.
It"s force was plenty to be recognized and either way it doesn"t earn any experience points after all. If they can"t pay attention to the surroundings and in the worst case someone gets hurt during an accident then that"s still fine but there"s no going back if anyone were to die.
Also, it"s about time for them to get conscious about joint responsibility over a wider range.
Bel apologized to everyone while we were having dinner that night.
"Umm..Everyone, I"m sorry that I stole your chance to practice today."
From how she apologized herself before I said anything she must be feeling responsible for it.
It seemed like the mood was about to get a bit darker and I don"t want it to become a situation of blaming Bel.
"It"s good that you feel responsible but that"s something everyone who was on the spot and had their sights on you should feel."
I"ll take this chance to explain how to treat guns or rather about guns once again.
"..Particularly this gun right now doesn"t have a safety attached to it. There"s no such thing as being too careful about the safety of your surroundings. Be careful."
I repeat saying the details I"ve said countless times since I made the first net gun. In particular it seems everyone was shocked that Bel, who"s the most skilled at shooting, was intoxicated by firing and got negligent with safety so they appeared to be listening more seriously than usual.
"I"ll say this once again but there"s three cla.s.sifications for firing stances. Five cla.s.sifications when you"re holding a gun. However, for the time being the firing stance is the standing position. I want to thoroughly enforce the reserve and upwards positions when handling guns other than when firing. Including Giberuti I want everyone to continue until you can do it subconsciously. Until then using guns in live combat is banned."
For the most part the crouching and laying firing positions aren"t necessary in the dungeon so I"ve skipped those. In reality the standing firing position wasn"t on any textbooks I knew of from the JSDF but the firing distance in the dungeon is several tens of meters and depending on the case it could be even closer combat so I made the standing posture the fundamental so they can move right away. Both the hanging and lowering gun postures are impossible until the strap is done as well. Just holding over the shoulder is possible but that"s only really used for marches when trying to look good so I left it out as well. The lifting position? That"s another that isn"t needed until I"ve actually got an army and it"s necessary to salute.
In any case I just need to pound into them that the holding posture when moving must be in the reserve position holding it upwards.
Also, there"s the matter of experience points this time as well.
It might be about a good time for that one matter.
Of course it"s in regards to the "{Identification} spell".
I"ll consult with Miduchi and Rodrick when we return from the dungeon.
................................
That night when keeping lookout I was together with Bel.
While the two of us were sitting down sipping at hot bean tea together on a bench near everyone sleeping she apologized once again.
"I didn"t notice it at first because I thought I can"t afford to miss but after that when we were against the Minotaurs I was excited by it"s power when Maruso was firing the gun. Ever since then I"ve been wanting to use it and itching to try firing it to the point I couldn"t help it...The second time against the Troll Kin I was extremely excited seeing a monster fall after a single shot from a bullet. I might not be suited for using guns.."
Bel was nervous like a child as she apologized ashamed of herself.
"If you"ve realized that yourself then there"s no problem. Also, if Bel doesn"t act is shooter than who should? It would be a waste of {Shooting.Sense}."
I said it as a joke but I didn"t think Bel was actually that worried about it.
"But.."
Bel lowered her head while giving off an air almost as if she was afraid of something.
"You know, even in the JSDF there"s a considerable amount of time before they lend out live guns and have you start actual shooting training. The handling of guns is called "gun control" but I feel pretty responsible for not properly pounding that into everyone from the start as well. The matter this time, if you were to ask who is the most responsible then it would be me for using them in live combat in that half-a.s.sed state. I"m sorry."
Ralpha"s rolled up in her blanket right behind us after switching watch a short while ago. I lowered the tone of my voice while saying it so as to not wake her up.
"No way! Please don"t apologize. Putting aside the proper posture, I..it"s the same for Ral, Gwine, and Saji as well but we knew very well about the power and dangers of guns. It"s something that we should be careful about safety when using."
Completely dropping her nervous lack of confidence Bel tried to cover for me.
"Yeah, I"m sure you could look at it that way as well. But, the one with the most experience and knowledge in handling guns is me. At the very least I shouldn"t have let you all use them in live combat until I was confident there were no problems in handling them...I must have been in a hurry myself..Sorry."
With the completion of the guns, I was the worst in getting too excited. Certainly I wanted to be able to safely pa.s.s through the 9th floor but there was no need to hurry.
"..I..I"m sorry. I..was worried what I would do if Al-san said he didn"t need me.."
Eeh!!? How could that even be possible?
"..Hey, there"s no way I"d say something like that right. It"s not just to Bel. I wouldn"t say something like that to anyone else in the {Slaughterers} either."
I wonder if I seem like someone who would easily say something like that? It"s a bit depressing.
"Yes, I already understand that. But, I was talking with Toris about it before we entered the dungeon this time. The power of guns is amazing. If you can make something that good then you should be able to make it deeper into the dungeon of Baldukk anytime..Also, anyone can easily land a hit if they just practice a bit for the distances of battles in the dungeon. If it comes to that then someone like me who"s just a bit good at shooting..I"d never know when I"d be told to exchange spots with someone from the {Butchers} or {Exterminators}.."
Bel said with tears falling from her eyes.
So she was afraid of that?
But, if things come to that then it can"t be helped..or rather it"s not a matter of just that level of discussion I"m sure.
From Bel"s standpoint, when there were no guns excluding magic she was just someone a bit skilled at using a powerful long distance attack. That"s why she must have had some pride and confidence supported by that. Even after obtaining guns Bel"s shooting skill is still quite amazing and everyone"s recognized that. She should understand that herself as well.
However, if you just think about it in terms of simple shooting skill without using Unique Abilities, Bel can"t be considered the best. Shooting is after all decided by the amount of practice. Of course I"m the most skilled since I"ve used guns in the past. Holding guns in the correct posture is effective in enduring recoil and particularly when it comes to the operation the moment the hammer impacts I"m number one at naturally understanding the meaning behind it. In the first place I"m the one designing and making them after all.
Although, I think it"s just a matter of time before I"m overtaken.
Well, that"s enough about me.
It seems like Bel wasn"t thinking about exceeding me right from the start either.
There an unexpected ambush was laying in wait. Angela. At first she fell over hearing the explosion from the gunpowder and was afraid of it but after having her practice firing and getting used to the sound, I guess she has a natural talent because her skill has visibly improved. In no time at all even Bel doesn"t stand a chance against her when not using her Unique Ability. From Bel"s standpoint she might have felt a sense of crisis.
But, even then she"s still number two excluding me.
Probably, I don"t think I was all that skilled at shooting in the first place so I doubt I"ll improve much from here on out either. Even then I have no problems in the short distance of around 100 meters so it"s fine though. Even Bel boasts of a considerable accuracy in the 10s to 100 meter range without her Unique Ability just like me and her skill is still continuing to grow.
For her to worry this much just because she got a bit full of herself seeing the power of guns and was negligent with safety...It might have been especially a shock for her with her confidence in shooting.
"Well...I still can"t imagine there would be anyone willing to challenge Bel in the next member change match. Also, there"s no way you could have it so easy as madam Marquis in the future. If you want status then both Bel and Toris need to eat mud together with me~"
I replied while lifting just the right side of my mouth into a nihilistic smile that I thought was cool.
"Yes..Yes..That"s right. But, please just let me say one thing."
Bel who was sitting on my left side said while looking up at me with a crying smile.
Hn? What is it?
"It"s fine if you don"t try to act so cool and cover it up. Say it a bit more honestly."
Hearing Bel"s words a natural smile appeared.
"Nn, I see. I guess so. Bel. It"s the same for Ralpha as well but.. just for that level of reason, there"s no way I would so easily let go of you two. You two were my first j.a.panese friends on Orth."
"Oh, what about Toris, Gwine, and Saji? It"s the same for Rodrick as well, and if you say that then Miduchi-san"s position..Also, what about Zenom-san, Kamu-san, and the others?"
It seems she"s feeling a bit better. Bel said while leaning her body against and looking up at me.
It"s a teasing tone.
I"m troubled where to look.
Rather~ didn"t I just say "first j.a.panese"...
I scratch my head while scooting forward and leaning all the way back into the bench looking at everyone upside down to try and cover it up.
Ralpha who should have been sleeping right behind us was sitting up and looking over here with a grin on her face.
I completely met eyes with her.
Fufu.
Sleep while you can.
Don"t be staying awake to eavesdrop~
The position was a bit painful but I beckoned her over just like that.
If you"re awake then you join us for a bit as well.
It seems Bel stood up to make some more bean tea.