Chapter 52: The Fantasy World is Dangerous!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 52: The Fantasy World is Dangerous!
The tank was a bit smaller than a troop transport train or an armored vehicle. However, seeing the twin 230mm main guns made my heart swell with such grandeur that the "snake" down below went rock hard.
When the bipedal walker began a demonstration of the 180mm mana-reactive armor-piercing fragment shells, I couldn't contain my excitement and started kneading my mom’s breasts.
In the end, I couldn't help but conclude that it wasn't this fantasy world that was primitive, but perhaps the information age I used to live in.
"Countess, this is a bonus for the soldiers who worked hard. Make sure they get it without any 'leakage' along the way."
Hindel handed a thick white envelope to Cassia.
"I didn't expect you to look out for my kids too."
"If you use people, you have to pay them. That’s how you avoid talk behind your back."
It seemed the Dragon Lord had actually learned a thing or two. Her leadership skills were so excellent it made me wonder why she spent her life acting like a mafia boss.
I couldn't help but feel tense at the fact that all the various weapons I had seen and enjoyed were essentially "paid content." Considering the basic social common sense that one must give as much as they receive, I didn't even have a clue what I was supposed to do to pay this back.
Maybe if I consider it the price of my virginity, it’s a fair trade...?
Anyway, perhaps because Mom was stuck to me like glue, the Sweet-Dragon didn't pester me to play house. Between the brigade tour and trying out combat rations, there were so many fun things to do that I’d built up plenty of memories to brag about to Im Su-yeon.
No, it was goodbye to Im Su-yeon now. I was heading off to elementary school, while that loser would be stuck in kindergarten for another year!
From now on, I was practically a semi-adult attending a formal educational curriculum. The future where that brat Im Su-yeon could challenge my genius brain was officially over.
Physical strength? That was just something girls competed over.
After the four-day itinerary ended, I woke up in the wooden cabin (which had excellent heating) that I was finally getting used to.
I saw Hindel right next to me, hugging me tightly. There were five rooms in the cabin, but the Dragon Lord had abandoned her own room to crawl in and entangle herself with me.
On the first day, when Mom tried to push her away, the lizard looked so pitiful staring at me while holding my hand that I let her sleep with us. That arrangement had lasted until today.
Because Hindel kept carrying me on her back whenever we moved, I had ended up taking several naps, leaving me wide awake now. I spent some time alternating between touching Hindel’s chest and Mom’s chest, but then I realized there was no point in touching something I couldn't even use yet, so I stepped outside.
I saw a faint light in a room with glass walls. Peeking in, I saw Cassia smoking a cigar. Seeing as there wasn't a hint of a smell outside, magic really was superior to science.
Unlike her usual self, her eyes were open, and she was staring out the window with a melancholic expression. She was certainly a great beauty. Not that Mom’s friends were ever anything less, but the way her shimmering silver hair sparkled under the light of the two moons looked like a scene from a painting.
"Hm...? Sweetie, what’s the matter? Do you want me to take you to the bathroom?"
It would have been more surprising if a "loser leather dildo" level kid like me—who only knew how to move his body and feel the flow of mana—could avoid being detected by a soldier sister.
Cassia quickly stubbed out her cigar and looked at me, her eyes closed as usual.
"Cassia, your eyes are so pretty. Why do you keep them closed?"
"Hmm... I wonder. Why did I start keeping them closed?"
As I entered the room, a sweet scent mixed with the pungent smoke filled the air. When I coughed a few times, Cassia waved her hand, and with a strange breeze, all the smells vanished as if they had never existed.
"A Witch's Eye is ominous. Though a little brat like you wouldn't know much about that."
I boldly climbed onto Cassia’s lap as she stroked my head. She might be an old-fashioned boomer, but she had good manners toward children. I leaned against Cassia’s chest as she adjusted her posture to make it easier for me to sit.
The volume was impressive. They were significantly larger than Alicia’s firm breasts. Though, of course, Mom still won by a landslide.
"Why is a Witch's Eye ominous? It’s super~ pretty."
"Heh, that’s an old story. From a time when we were ignorant about the magic of the past."
"I love~ old stories! Tell me! Tell me! Please~! Please!"
I had the internet, but I needed to know the right search terms to find anything. Since I didn't know what to search for, I needed someone to tell me the accurate history of the past.
"Until the modern era, the system of magic focused on stabilization using magic circles. However, a Witch's gaze affected magic in a way that often collapsed that stability. That’s why silver eyes were once despised. Is this too difficult a story for a child?"
Cassia smiled bitterly.
"What changed so that the eyes don't affect it anymore?"
"What a smart brat. Nowadays, methods to prevent magic circles from being affected by external factors have advanced significantly. We've progressed to make them more efficient than old magic circles, and even to manifest magic without them."
It seemed magic was evolving just as much as science.
"More than that, it was the invasion of the Demon Realm that allowed us to capture and digest a vast amount of secret techniques and theoretical knowledge."
"...Invasion?"
Wait, my research must be wrong. Isn't it common sense that the Demon Realm is the one doing the invading, not the one being invaded?
"Yes. Three hundred years ago, before the Empire fractured, our power had nowhere to go, so it turned toward the Otherworld. Now we have the infinite possibilities of space, but back then, the only world outside our planet was the Otherworld."
Six hundred years ago... that was a time when everyone I knew, except Hindel, wouldn't have even existed as an egg. Wait, would my maternal grandmother have been around?
"You invaded the Demon Realm?"
"Yes, we invaded. It was a time of much death and much plundering, or so they say. To call it a noble sacrifice... too many died, and too many were killed. It became the catalyst for the Empire, which was essentially a planetary government, to split by continent. Even Urun, the Empire's home continent, was torn into six pieces. It must have been an era ruled by death and terror beyond our imagination."
Cassia’s story was fascinating. However, it was a bit too heavy for a kid.
"Let’s stop the difficult talk here. Aren't you sleepy?"
"Nope!"
The Brigadier General chuckled, covering her mouth.
"The Night Mountain Range has its own kind of fun. Follow me. Let’s go do something interesting."
I took the soldier sister’s hand and headed out for an exciting adventure time.
***
"Now, put your eye to the scope and breathe out slowly."
Adventure, my ass. Right now, I was holding a hunting rifle.
Spouting some nonsense about how she’d enchanted it to have no recoil, the Brigadier General taught me how to shoulder the weapon and the proper breathing for shooting. She was having me snipe a wild boar that was walking slowly in the distance.
To think I was hunting with this piece of trash gun that wasn't even made of sleek steel, but a wooden frame with a few scraps of iron slapped on. It was absolutely dreadful.
"Now, slowly... a little more. You're doing well. Pull the trigger slowly. Don't think of it as the moment you fire, but as if it just happens to fire. That’s it, slowly..."
—Phut!
A cute sound came from the rifle, which didn't even have a silencer. And contrary to that cute sound, the lone boar collapsed instantly.
"You have talent. Wonderful focus."
"I have talent as a sniper!?"
"Yes, a great deal of talent."
To Jeong Yong-hwan, praise was a very, very important thing. While the effect of Mom’s constant positive reinforcement was starting to wear off, hearing about "talent" was incredibly significant.
Unlike that Commie Dragon who kept gaslighting me and lowering my self-esteem by saying I had no talent for the violin, swordsmanship, physical activities, or mana manipulation, Cassia was a truly wonderful person.
"Now, next. Try shooting that."
I carefully turned the rifle toward where Cassia pointed. It was a perfect piece of equipment, enchanted with weight-reduction magic so that even a child wouldn't find it heavy.
I scanned the scope around until I found something faintly visible in the darkness. There was a rabbit walking on two legs.
"????"
"It’s a Mountain Rabbit. A ferocious creature. When they wake up from hibernation, they come down and snatch away children. Nasty things."
Unless my sense of perspective was broken... that rabbit... no, that Lord Rabbit looked to be at least 2 meters tall. Looking at the size of the nearby trees and rocks, that seemed about right.
"It’s a bit small. Probably one that couldn't store enough food in the autumn. They're sensitive to killing intent, so close your eyes and take a deep breath."
I did as I was told. The fact that a 2-meter rabbit was considered "small" made my heart race. I wondered if this was dangerous, but I tried my best to calm my pounding heart with deep breaths.
"Good. Don't overthink it, just shoot the same way."
I exhaled deeply. My heartbeat began to grow louder. As I focused my vision inside the scope, I saw the rabbit looking around. Slowly, the trigger...
"...!"
Our eyes met.
—Phut!
I missed. Simultaneously, the rabbit disappeared from the scope.
"It’s approaching. From below."
When I lowered the gun, a white mass appeared in the scope. Then it vanished. I lowered it again. It appeared and vanished. Again—it was rushing toward me at high speed.
Since it was running in a straight line, I could guess its position. I exhaled halfway and fired again.
—Phut!
A bit too fast.
But there was still time.
—Phut!
A bit too slow. I had to stay calm. It was getting closer, but there was still distance. Everything was fine, except for the fact that it was coming to catch me instead of running away.
—Phut!
I hit its leg. I saw one of the Mountain Rabbit’s legs turn red. But it kept coming. Its speed had definitely slowed down. I could hit it at this range.
—Click.
No bullet came out.
—Click.
It was jammed.
—Click.
Pulling it again didn't help.
"Are you out of ammo? Try reloading. Press there."
I hurriedly reloaded as Cassia instructed. Even though it was limping, it was approaching as if it were in a full-on sprint.
—Phut! Phut! Phut! Phut! Phut! ...Phut!
I frantically fired at the rabbit’s body. There was no point in aiming for the head since my breathing was completely shot. Out of six shots, half hit.
The creature collapsed.
Now that it was close, I could truly grasp its size. It looked to be about 3 meters. I wondered if it was a bear instead of a rabbit, but the ears on top of its head clearly identified it as a rabbit.
"You got too excited at the end. But not bad for a first time."
Cassia stroked my head. Only then did I realize that even though a mage sister was right next to me, I had treated that hunt—no, that battle—with deadly seriousness.
"...Is this really something a kid should be doing?"
"The children in our territory learn how to hunt a 6-meter polar bear by themselves at age six. With that recoilless gun, you'd need to land three shots to the head to pull it off."
The fantasy world was no joke.
Seriously.