Shooting (3)

The saying about wanting to hide even in a mouse hole had never felt so relatable. Freesia's face burned bright red as if it might burst, and her pupils shook like they'd been hit by an earthquake.

She'd never been particularly good at it, but this was the first time she'd received a failing grade since her cadet days. Even if she hadn't touched a gun in two years, could her skills really have deteriorated this badly? Or were rifles and pistols just that different? All sorts of thoughts swirled through her mind.

At best, maybe her skills had rusted. Or perhaps the difference between rifles and pistols was simply that vast. It could be something else entirely.

Maybe the results could have been even more disastrous. Since this had never been her strong suit, she could understand receiving a failing grade.

Yes. If she'd been alone.

"Ah... um..."

Daisy opened her mouth slightly before closing it again. If her superior had been an ordinary company-grade officer, or even just the battalion administrative officer, she might have said something like, 'Hey, it's okay. Everyone makes mistakes.' But the person before her was the battalion commander. No matter how young, she was the supreme leader of an entire battalion.

No matter how close she'd grown to the commander's inner circle, what could a mere staff sergeant and orderly possibly say in a situation like this? So the only one who could step forward now was...

"Ahem. Was this your first time shooting a pistol, ma'am?"

It was only the senior warrant officer, whose experience was so vast it could look down upon even the stars in the sky. But even Frederick found the situation awkward. There were many abilities required of soldiers, but personal firearms were the most fundamental of fundamentals.

Not to mention the close-quarters infantry or honor guards who directly projected firepower, even staff officers and commanders needed them as their final means of self-defense. Personal firearm training was something one continued even after becoming a star in the sky above. It was a field that accompanied a soldier from beginning to end.

Seeing such a devastating failure message appear, one could only imagine how she must feel. Especially with others watching.

When Freesia, whose neck had now turned completely red, silently nodded without a word, both Frederick and Daisy thought it was for the best and let out internal sighs of relief.

"A pistol is quite different from a rifle. At first, adapting to that difference isn't easy."

Yes. If this was her first time shooting a pistol, that was actually fortunate. They could simply brush off this disastrous result as being due to unfamiliarity with the weapon.

"Would you like to review the results analysis? I'll assist you."

By analyzing the results to identify where the problems lay and offering appropriate advice, things should improve.

When Freesia brought up the results analysis, various indicators appeared. Where ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠each target had been hit, how far the missed targets had been off by, how aiming had been conducted for each shot, how her gaze had been handled, and so on.

"Whoa. Your dynamic visual acuity is incredible."

Among all the indicators, Daisy couldn't help but exclaim over the dynamic visual acuity section. Was it because she had inherited a significant portion of the beastmen's physical abilities? Freesia's dynamic visual acuity was so outstanding that the word "terrifying" seemed appropriate.

The moment a stationary target appeared, locking onto its vital point was basic. Even the constantly moving targets were tracked with pinpoint accuracy to their vital areas.

"Hmm. As expected, the biggest issue seems to be unfamiliarity with the pistol."

As Frederick had said, Freesia's poorest indicators largely stemmed from the differences between rifles and pistols.

The system's analysis also concluded that the poor metrics in sight alignment and recoil control were primarily due to lack of familiarity with the weapon in question.

"It's quite different from what I expected."

Freesia removed the practice mana rounds and forced a casual smile. She'd vaguely thought it would be different from a rifle, but she hadn't imagined the gap would be this wide. The difference between shouldering a stock and not having one was enormous.

"My eyes can track them, but aiming isn't as precise as I'd like. Since I have to aim purely with my own strength..."

With a rifle, shouldering the stock and pressing your cheek or chin against it naturally aligned your eye with the sights. But a pistol had no stock, so you had to control your entire posture with nothing but your own strength to aim properly.

When she'd practiced her grip and stance alone in the captain's quarters, it had seemed decent enough. But when targets started popping ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up from all directions and she had to shift her aim point, it proved far more difficult than expected.

Separate from her physical abilities, she had zero talent for using her body. So while her eyes could follow, her body simply couldn't keep up.

"How about trying a laser sight first?"

"A laser sight?"

A laser sight. Also commonly called a dot sight, this aiming aid projected a red dot at the point of impact, making it easy for the user to see exactly where they were aiming. It was a tool she hadn't used since her cadet days when she constantly failed rifle qualifications. Now she had to use one again?

"Doesn't everything change starting from the grip? Quite a few people use laser sights when they first begin practicing."

As Frederick said, a significant number of soldiers experiencing pistols for the first time used laser sights. Since you could see the exact point of impact, practicing with one for just a few days allowed you to develop a feel for what posture produced what result.

"Did you use a laser sight too?"

The arrow had suddenly turned toward her, but Daisy's response was rather skillful. A few months ago she would have panicked and fumbled at the mere fact that the battalion commander was speaking to her, but after spending months constantly around Freesia, she'd built up some resistance.

"Yes. I practiced sight alignment with a laser sight for about two days as well."

It was a lie, of course.

Daisy had picked up a pistol for the first time in her life, fired five or six shots, and immediately adapted, landing perfect scores on nearly every subsequent round. She was truly a natural genius when it came to shooting. Since yesterday she'd even moved on from standard two-handed grips to practicing flashy one-handed shooting. But how could she possibly say that?

False reporting was a serious offense, but this was a white lie. A white lie meant to help manage the battalion commander's mental state and support her shooting practice.

"I'll stop here for today."

With a score that had barely scraped past ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the passing line, Freesia let out a small sigh and began organizing the empty magazines. Using the laser sight had indeed improved her accuracy somewhat in a short time. It wasn't easy trying to guide the wildly dancing red dot into the target when even the slightest tremor in her fingertips made it shake uncontrollably, but it was still much better than that first round where she hadn't even known where she was aiming.

If she kept practicing, she might be able to pass without the laser sight. Of course, that assumed she could continue training like this without working overtime.

After Freesia left the shooting range saying she'd head out first and the door closed completely, Frederick stroked his chin with a troubled expression.

"Hmm..."

She was slower than he'd expected. While Daisy was popping off shots without any need for a laser sight, as Frederick had said, many officers relied on laser sights at first. They used the laser to accurately hit targets, then checked their posture from those moments to find the correct stance and align their sights.

Yes. Most people could accurately hit targets using a laser sight.

Not barely scrape by with scores like 17 out of 20 on stationary targets and 6 out of 10 on moving ones.

'It looks like she'll be struggling for quite a while.'

It seemed the young battalion commander possessed overwhelming mana sensitivity but had absolutely no talent for physical coordination.

"Ah... just what kind of humiliation was that?"

On her way back to the captain's quarters, Freesia worked hard to cool her burning face.

All this time, Freesia had worked harder than anyone to avoid showing even the slightest weakness. Aside from the senior officers of each department she'd been briefed about in advance, along with Frederick, Dmitry, and Daisy, everyone else only knew that Freesia was somewhat clumsy in certain areas. They certainly hadn't imagined she was completely ignorant of battalion command administrative work.

That was why during the asteroid belt exploration she'd pushed herself so hard to showcase her strengths as much as possible, but...

"I'm finished. Completely finished."

She'd shown her most inadequate side to the battalion's most reliable elder figure and her closest aide. Even now, just remembering that bright red failure message made her head spin.

And of course Freesia knew. That even with a laser sight, achieving those scores essentially meant she was at failing level.

Honestly, at first she'd been somewhat confident. When she'd first used a laser sight during her cadet days, she'd been able to hit nearly perfect scores on targets that had previously been impossible to hit. So she'd thought that even with a pistol, using a laser sight would at least allow her to maintain some dignity. That had been a complete miscalculation.

The slightest tremor in her fingertips, the smallest movement of her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shoulder, and the red dot would dance wildly, completely missing the desired position. Even when she somehow managed to aim accurately, the microscopic vibrations from pulling the trigger would send the shot group flying completely off target.

'It's difficult.'

Frederick and Daisy were fine. No, even those two weren't exactly fine, but at least the fact that it was only those two made it manageable. They weren't the type to go around telling others about this.

But if she didn't want to be humiliated in front of everyone next month, it seemed she'd have to practically live in the shooting range for a while. Just as that thought crossed her mind, a communication alert sounded from her terminal.

Wondering if another incident had occurred, she pulled out her device, but the military terminal remained silent. With a sigh of relief, she took out her personal terminal, and her eyes widened slightly.

"Auntie?"