Hunting (5)

Ultimately, we won.

More than a third of the noble class were declared killed, but none of the students in my squad were among them. In truth, it wouldn't have been strange if over half had been declared killed; the magic Mia Crowfield had cast played a huge part in keeping the losses to this level.

It seemed plenty of the commoner class students had been utterly terrified by the dazzling orb of light suddenly flying over their heads. Even if their heads understood that no genuinely dangerous magic could possibly be aimed at them in this exercise... actually seeing it with their own eyes was a different matter.

Furthermore, that magic wasn't without effect, either. It could at least thoroughly obstruct one's vision. Thanks to it, those shot from a distance and declared killed could be narrowed down to the noble class students who had initially started the charge.

In truth, if they'd only had swords in hand right before crossing the sandbags, further casualties could have occurred... but every student in my squad had been holding a shotgun.

It held only two rounds, but it was a double-barreled shotgun that needed no pumping between shots. Killing an enemy right in front of you probably wasn't terribly difficult.

And since they'd immediately drawn their swords and charged in, the commoner class students must have been even more flustered.

The Gun-and-Sword Style was not excellent in close quarters merely because of the sword. Being cut and seeing someone brimming with killing intent rush at you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with a blade were terrifying to the recipient. On top of that, nobles were generally perceived as skilled with swords.

In many ways, dealing with commoner kids who'd been psychologically cowed probably wasn't all that hard.

So by the time I crossed the sandbags, the noble class had already practically seized the upper hand.

All I did after crossing was shoot and take down two or three people. Well, they weren't physically knocked over, since they hadn't been hit by real bullets.

"Your shooting really was impressive."

After the battle ended, Alice spoke.

"By the time we charged in, everyone was lying low behind the sandbags. From what I heard, it seems they thought, 'If I so much as stick my head out, I'll get shot.'"

... To be fair, the fact that I already knew their positions played a huge part.

Each time an enemy avoided a hit or an ally was struck, I simply rewound time. From the enemy's perspective, they had no idea how I did it; they could only have seen me shoot them dead one after another.

"... Right."

After the battle, I stood near the commoner side's sandbags talking with Alice when someone abruptly interjected.

"I'm curious how you managed to shoot the enemy accurately when the light made them nearly invisible."

Even a magically conjured orb of light had a limited range. No matter what, it couldn't be sent so far that the commoner students became invisible because of the light. From Jennifer's elevated position on the platform, she'd been able to see most of the commoner students' movements, which was how she could declare eliminations.

And through Jennifer's eyes, my shooting must have looked unnaturally accurate against the commoner students.

"......."

"...... Hm."

The problem was, I had no way to explain it. Telling anyone I rewound time was dangerous in too many ways. If I told classmates, they'd just treat it as a joke, but Jennifer, contrary to appearances, had a personality that took everything seriously. Even if she didn't believe me right away, she was the type to take it as a 'possibility' and pursue it.

It wasn't only Jennifer. The emperor and my other siblings were the same. There was a reason I never told anyone about my ability, not even as a joke.

"Well, fine."

Jennifer folded her arms and shrugged.

"Normally, I'd have had a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠word or two about executing such a dangerous operation. At a glance, it looked like nothing more than charging in and leaving everything to luck."

... To be honest, there really hadn't been any other way.

It wasn't like we had mortars or howitzers. Besides, the range was far too close to fire anything like that. In reality, while it was set up as 'trenches,' the situation was actually much closer to urban combat.

Jennifer had probably wanted us to personally experience that the battlefield really was that dangerous a place.

That had been the original game's conclusion, too. "But on the battlefield, even that coincidence is ultimately a result. Well done." That was probably what Jennifer had said in the original, I thought. It didn't come back to me with perfect clarity, though.

"But... your shooting."

Jennifer looked steadily at me as she spoke.

"No matter how I look at it, it didn't seem like you were just shooting on instinct. You looked as if you knew exactly where they would appear. So... well, it'd be unfair to you if I called that sheer 'coincidence.'"

But it was a coincidence.

Of course, I had turned that coincidence into inevitability by rewinding it over and over. To be honest, the number of shots I'd fired wasn't just seven or eight. It had to have been far more than that.

Every time even one person among the charging group was eliminated, I rewound time and fired like a madwoman toward wherever a bullet seemed likely to come from.

This was another difference from real combat. Guns without gunpowder didn't make a gunshot. So you couldn't tell where or whose shot had hit whom. All I could do was rewind time and slowly scan the area with my gun, praying the enemy would get hit.

If that wasn't coincidence, what was?

Well, that wasn't to say I wanted real combat. I didn't want to see the characters I had affection for actually get shot, injured, or killed for real.

"Thanks to that, my plan completely fell apart."

Jennifer glanced at the commoner students, who were now staring this way with somewhat exhausted expressions.

She'd intended to demonstrate that even commoners using firearms could mow down nobles, but the result had been the opposite—our side had suffered far fewer casualties. So the conclusion had become, "Nobles can overturn even that kind of situation." On top of that, the commoner class had twice the numbers.

I spotted a few of the kids who had been part of the protagonist's party in the original game. Some of them were among the group glaring at us with worn-out faces; several others were watching this way with expressions of intense interest.

Maybe I'd try talking to them next time.

My affection didn't discriminate between commoners and nobles. No, if anything, there were characters I'd liked even more precisely because they were commoners.

"Well, it's fine. There's no rule that says commoners can't become officers. If anything, thinking about it from that standpoint, today's events will be a lesson. In that it proved the battlefield is crawling with monsters who possess absurd skill."

That was true enough.

After all, it really was a world overflowing with monsters who rampaged across the battlefield with nothing but a single sword.

"At any rate, the one who led the battle to victory deserves a fitting reward."

So saying, Jennifer slipped a hand into her jacket pocket.

Oh.

Sure enough, what had originally been a simple notification, "You have obtained such-and-such item", had become, in this world, words spoken by a person. Well, it was far more natural this way than having it just appear in my pocket at some point.

"Take it."

What Jennifer handed me was a gem cut into a bead-like shape, resembling a ruby.

Marmaros.

This gem, whose name derived directly from the Greek word for marble, mármaros, true to the meaning "shining stone," emitted a faint red glow. Anyone could tell it was a gem imbued with magical power.

When I picked up the stone resting on Jennifer's palm, the spot where my fingers touched it felt subtly warm. Not so hot that it would burn, but the perfect temperature to use as a hand warmer in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the dead of winter.

Of course, it was far too expensive an object to use as a hand warmer.

Marmaros is a refined Mana Stone. Mana Stones inherently possess an 'attribute,' but ordinarily the attribute-bearing portions are chaotically mixed together, making it impossible to use them for a specific purpose unless further refined.

Mana Stones in which too many attributes are minutely intermingled and cannot be refined are used directly as fuel, but occasionally a Mana Stone contains a nearly pure single attribute. Marmaros is precisely that: the attribute portion is cleanly cut away and then processed with magic so that it poses no danger during use.

In the original game, equipping one to a weapon could change the weapon's attribute or grant bonus damage.

I was sure it would be no different here.

"It's a fire-attribute Marmaros. It's yours now, so use it however you like."

I nodded.

To be fair, by the late game, Marmaros would be spilling out in every variety. You'd even obtain some with two or three attributes that were as powerful as single-attribute ones. Of course, those came not from Mana Stones dug out of the ground, but from slaying high-class monsters.

So what I meant was, for now, it was useful. In the game, days flew by in an instant, so the late game approached relatively quickly, but from my position of actually living here, a year was a full year.

"If you like, I can introduce you to an artisan and also return the firearm you personally entrusted. Honestly, I'm rather curious in many ways about how you intend to use that Marmaros."

... That was something that hadn't existed in the original.

Well, I had a rough idea of who the artisan she'd introduce would be.

"Thank you."

I inclined my head slightly toward Jennifer as I answered.

*

"So, where are you going to use that? On a gun, I take it?"

"Yes, that's right."

But exactly which firearm to use it on, I was still deliberating.

Because I'd realized this world was subtly different from the original in certain respects. People who could never wield just any weapon in the game were using firearms and swords together here as if it were perfectly natural. That meant 'bullets' would obviously obey the laws of physics as well.

In the original, you could equip an attribute-bearing Marmaros to a gun and add that attribute to your attacks. So up to that point, it would work the same here.

But how exactly did you spray 'fire-attribute' bullets?

Simply heating the bullet didn't seem like it would mean much. Bullets flew hot anyway.

But heating them past a certain point would also be a problem. If the barrel grew excessively hot, that would lead to a weapon malfunction. On a battlefield, a malfunctioning firearm meant death. No matter how much I could rewind time, I'd prefer not to die.

Besides, I'd never once died and rewound time. That very first time I rewound time? It was uncertain whether I'd even died then. I might have simply been struck and lost consciousness.

So... unless it was truly an unavoidable situation, I was going to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠put off dying. And 'an unavoidable situation' obviously meant dying without even realizing it was coming.

I'd rather not create that kind of situation in the first place if I could help it.

"I'll think it over a bit more slowly and consider which firearm it would be most advantageous to attach it to."

"Well, it seems like they can be recycled, so there's no need to worry too much, right?"

... That was also true. That was a relief. It was only natural, I supposed, since in the original game you could, if needed, extract them and fit them to other equipment.

"......."

"......."

And for a moment, we walked in silence.

The group walking was the same six who had gathered on the training grounds a little earlier. Me, Alice, Claire, Leo, Charlotte... and Mia Crowfield.

Mia Crowfield looked terribly awkward, as though she'd been nearby and gotten swept along before she knew it.

And that awkward atmosphere had infected the rest of us, which was why we were all walking without a word.

Since they'd all lived in noble society, their sense of tact was bound to be—

"Ah, right!"

—maybe nonexistent, I supposed.

The person who suddenly spoke up in a bright voice wholly at odds with the mood was Claire.

"Hey, shall we go to a café together after class? I found a place last time where the parfaits are really good."

"... Shall we?"

And the one who greeted those words with relief, as if the atmosphere had grown too awkward, was Alice.

"Parfaits, is it? Lutetia had many superb cafés as well... Very well. Comparing which is superior, Rondarium or Lutetia, wouldn't be a bad idea either."

Then the three of them turned their gazes toward me, Leo, and Mia Crowfield.

"......."

All three stayed silent for a brief moment.

But really, didn't we have no reason to refuse?

They were all characters I'd liked. In a situation like this, not going along would be a breach of otaku etiquette.