The Princess Fires Her Gun
Firearms.
A term referring to weapons powered by gunpowder, including guns, cannons, and missiles.
In any game, firearms are an extremely sensitive topic.
Think about it. One shot and the opponent drops dead—what kind of balance would that leave with other weapons?
That's why, when firearms appear in creative works, their original power is usually heavily nerfed.
'But this game is the exception.'
Firearms are incredibly strong here. A 200% realistic weapon that kills on impact.
Of course, magic and enhanced physical abilities in the game can mitigate the threat to some degree.
Even so, the sheer power of firearms remains unchanged.
Then what about the balance issue I mentioned earlier?
'It might seem contradictory to what I said before, but that's not the case.'
Because in this game, there is only one character who uses firearms.
One veteran player did create a gun, but it was closer to a magic tool with magic as its core, so it doesn't count.
In this game, the only character who uses firearms—guns—is one.
The Imperial Princess and playable character. Chloe Cardenas.
"...So you're saying that gun came from hunting down a Demon King?"
After listening to my explanation, the Blood Demon asked in disbelief.
"Yes, that's right."
At this point in the story, the Demon King who was subjugated is said to be the Technology Demon King, Friedrich.
And the one who defeated that Demon King is none other than the Empire's princess, Chloe Cardenas.
Therefore, the interpretation is that the guns, the pinnacle of this game's over-technology, were stolen from Friedrich.
"Fine, I'll accept that much, even if it's a stretch."
It wasn't a stretch at all. There was no other way to obtain firearms except here.
I'd always wondered where that balance-breaking gun came from, and now the mystery was solved.
"But why did you come to the Imperial Palace?"
The moment I heard about the subjugated Demon King, I had slipped into the palace with the Blood Demon, still in glove form, on my hand.
It was possible because Starlight Academy and the Imperial Palace were close.
"I came to retrieve the body."
Chloe, meticulous by nature, wouldn't have left the Demon King lying around after capturing him.
She must have locked him up somewhere in the palace, or brought the corpse if he was already dead.
"Also, why is the security so lax?"
I should have mentioned this earlier, but he brought it up at the perfect time.
"The Emperor was assassinated by a sword-wielding intruder."
Upon hearing my words, the Blood Demon let out a small gasp of surprise.
Attempting to assassinate the Emperor was tantamount to rebelling against the imperial family. If caught, the punishment was at least decapitation.
Moreover, there was nowhere in the Empire beyond the imperial family's gaze, making it difficult to even plot a rebellion.
On top of that, the Emperor was of the elf race, with a lifespan of several hundred years and regeneration so tenacious it was nearly impossible to kill.
The fact that someone had succeeded in assassinating the Emperor despite all those obstacles was astonishing.
"What? That's even possible?"
The Blood Demon, momentarily stunned, asked. Yes, it should have been impossible.
However, our insane regressor and Starlight's craziest woman, Faye Nicare, had pulled it off.
She didn't just cleanly sever the Emperor's head—she carved up his body in multiple places, killed one of the playable characters, and escaped!
Thanks to that, security in the palace, now leaderless, had instantly fallen into chaos.
And the one desperately trying to restore order was Chloe Cardenas—that was the story of Starlight.
"I'm glad it seems to be the same as before.."
As expected, the major plot points of the story hadn't changed.
Now all I had to do was sneak away with the Technology Demon King, Friedrich or whatever his name was, and throw him onto the altar.
In other words, a classic empty-house burglary operation.
"Phew, we're here."
After avoiding the somewhat lax security, we arrived in front of a door.
"This room... isn't this the princess's office?"
The Blood Demon spoke incredulously as he looked at the door with the plaque reading 'Office'.
Yes, that was exactly where I needed to go.
"That's right. We need to go inside."
The Blood Demon hesitated for a moment before speaking cautiously.
"Um, this might be rude to ask, but do you perhaps have a hobby of secretly peeking into women's rooms.."
"I do not!!"
What the hell, was he trying to paint me as some kind of pervert? This guy was going to get me killed.
Of course, I had no such taste for peeking into women's rooms. I had come here for an entirely different reason.
As I'd mentioned before, to create a custom character like Sebastian who was currently active, I needed to see all the endings of the playable characters.
'Naturally, I've already seen Chloe Cardenas's ending.'
And one of the places she frequently visited during the story was her office.
Not to work, but to press the red button under her desk.
Like the warehouse in Axeman, it would reveal a secret space filled with guns that only Chloe had access to.
There, there was one firmly closed door that wouldn't open.
'Considering the connection between the Technology Demon King and firearms, there's a high chance he's in there.'
I wasn't sure if the developer had intended this, but it felt like the Demon King was inside.
"..So you're saying we're breaking into a lady's room right now?"
Hey now, the way he said "breaking in" made it sound like we were thieves. It was an unavoidable necessity for the sake of justice.
Anyway, after roughly explaining it to the Blood Demon, this was his reaction.
I wasn't sure why a Demon King was showing more law-abiding tendencies than me,
but well, it was better than being outright evil.
-Click!
After easily picking the lock on the office door and entering, I pressed the button under the desk.
-Hisss..
The section of floor I was standing on made a sound like air escaping and began descending like an elevator.
"Whoa.. This is quite fascinating.."
The Blood Demon, seeing this new technology for the first time, kept exclaiming in excitement.
Hmm, I found it fascinating too. It was like a scene from a spy movie.
"Whoa.."
After reaching the bottom and standing on the floor, I slowly looked around the room.
Assault rifles, handguns, sniper rifles, and all sorts of firearms on display, along with various magazines.
"We're screwed."
At the end of the secret base, on a long terrace where light was slowly seeping through the windows, stood Chloe Cardenas, staring at us blankly.
-Click!
"Wait wait! Don't point the gun! We're not bad people!"
Seeing Chloe aim her gun at me after quickly assessing the situation, I shouted urgently.
Her characteristically long elf ears peeked out slightly from behind her white hair as she spoke quietly to me.
"What are you doing here. Are you with the one who killed my father? Or did you come after me?"
Watching the princess who had completely misunderstood the situation, I continued speaking in a rush.
"That's not it! I didn't come here to target you, Your Highness!"
After hearing my words, she showed clear signs of contemplation on her face.
"It doesn't matter. The fact that you found this space means you're quite skilled."
Having apparently finished thinking, she spoke once more and pulled the trigger of the pistol she was holding.
-Bang!
The short gunshot echoed loudly through the small space.
"Aaaagh!"
And I twisted my body as far left as possible to dodge the incoming bullet.
Chloe's first shot would always aim for the heart, no matter the situation.
"..You dodged?"
The princess looked surprised as she stared at the smoking muzzle.
The next pattern was random. It was at a level I could no longer react to and dodge.
"Dane Percier!"
Knowing this, I shouted at the princess with every ounce of strength I had left.
Whether it worked or not, Chloe stopped just as she was about to pull the trigger again.
However, the desperate longing slowly began to fill her eyes, which had previously been filled only with annoyance at the unexpected variable.
"..Don't call that name so casually."
Dane Percier was a playable character, just like Chloe and Faye.
However, if the player didn't play as Dane, he—the princess's escort knight—would die protecting Chloe during the Emperor's assassination.
Even if you played as Dane to prevent that, Chloe would die instead.
In any case, it was an inevitable death, just like with the Young Lady, where both couldn't survive together.
'So, just like the feelings I have for the Young Lady, no—perhaps an even deeper bond..'
It was the connection between Chloe and Dane.
Therefore, if I said the wrong thing here, it wouldn't just be getting shot and dying. My entire body would be torn to shreds.
"I'm Dane's family!"
So now was the time to use the game settings I knew.
After hearing my words, Chloe lowered the gun she had been pointing at me and approached step by step as she spoke.
"You'd better explain in a way that convinces me."
Good, half of it had succeeded.
"Have you heard that Dane had a younger brother he lost when he was young?"
"...!"
Dane had been a vagrant who met Chloe as a child and succeeded as her escort knight.
But no matter what method he used, he could never find the younger brother he had lost before meeting Chloe.
"I am that younger brother, Sebastian Floyd!"
I was going to disguise myself as his lost younger brother.
"The name of Dane's brother that I know is.."
Of course, the name of his brother that Chloe had heard wasn't this.
But when I created Sebastian, I had set it up similarly to Dane's backstory, where he was taken in by the Floyd family as a child.
"It was Jerom Percier, right? That was my original name. The name I have now was given to me by the person who took me in."
Changing names was easy enough to explain. Just saying the original name of the lost brother was enough.
"Hmm.."
But the suspicious princess still couldn't believe it even after hearing that. She tilted her head and said,
"Show me more evidence. That's not enough to convince me."
I knew this would happen. Fortunately, the settings I knew didn't end there.
Quietly accept the setting attack from an 8-year veteran of Starlight!