Volume 8 Chapter 9 Against Beast Monster Gun Fairlater
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Are you going to practice shooting, Kent? By the way, I noticed that your job has disappeared. Training to reacquire it?”
”Yeah, I want to get my [Gunsmith] job back as soon as possible. Ideally, hunting monsters would be quicker, but then there’s Milly…”
Recently, my health had been recovering, and I really wanted to reacquire my job and enhance my abilities.
However, thanks to Milly’s ever-watchful and protective interference, my training program was nearly non-existent.
After all, I’m supposed to be a king and the protector of the South District, so I want to gain a certain level of strength… but Milly just won’t let me.
”Lady Miriallia… right, so few people can voice their opinions about her. Well, even if you slack off, we’re here to make sure you don’t have to fight.”
Though Aida said that, given that I was already being teased by the people in the district for being called the ‘Stud King’ or ‘Harem King,’ I could only imagine how they’d react if I slacked off even on my most important duty of hunting monsters.
”Skipping monster hunting is not good. I have a bit of pride as a king, you know? If I don’t at least do the bare minimum of work, I’ll feel like I’m just mooching off everyone.”
With that said, I lined up the Elitzina’s target dot in the center and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The familiar recoil surged through me as the bullets flew toward the target.
Yet, even though I hit the target due to the effects of my job loss, my accuracy had really dropped, making the hit radius much larger than before.
”This is bad. The hit rate is deadly for actual combat. I guess I really need to start by hunting a Horn Rabbit…”
In the past, I could easily concentrate my shots, but now I struggled to even control the recoil.
I wasn’t receiving support for my combat skills either, which left me in this sorry state.
With such abilities, entering the Southern Region felt like a direct path to disaster.
While development in the Southern Region is progressing, there are still plenty of monster nests and dense magical element-infused forests scattered about, resulting in a high monster encounter rate.
”…It doesn’t have to be a Horn Rabbit, right? Kent’s old gear made the ability penalties worse, but with the armor Mr. Golerg’s making, we should be able to take down D-rank monsters without a scratch. And Elitzina is a scatter-shot magic gun, so maybe we don’t need to worry too much about accuracy?”
”Yeah, you’re right.”
As I listened to Aida’s comfort, I slid the next magazine into Elitzina.
I repositioned my shoulder, aligned the sight with the center of the target, and pulled the trigger.
RAT-TAT-TAT, RAT-TAT-TAT!
A few rounds went wide as I fired on full auto, missing the target completely.
”This is shocking…”
”Sir Kent… Your status is terrible-nya…”
I turned around at the sound of a voice to see Manon, called by Josefine, with a clouded expression, looking at the target I’d just shot.
”As you can see, I’m no good in actual combat right now. I’m powerless, even I can laugh at myself.”
”It is a terrible status-nya. Why don’t we make this a trial run for the magic gun and invite Ines, Feria, Lady Flamil, Carly, Beatrice, and others to go monster hunting-nya? If Lady Miriallia joins us, we should be able to take down most monsters, as long as they’re not Beast Monsters-nya.”
Unlike Miriallia and Aida, Manon seemed to encourage me to get stronger.
Maybe she thought a stronger seed would be better for leaving descendants.
”Can you convince Miriallia, Manon?”
”I’ll take care of the persuasion-nya. Lady Miriallia is a bit too overprotective-nya. If she keeps coddling Sir Kent, he’ll turn into a weakling-nya. If you’re going to claim the title of South District’s king, you have to aim to be the strongest man in the South District-nya.”
Certainly, even if being the strongest in the South District was out of reach, I’d need to be somewhat strong to avoid being underestimated by the tough guys there.
”I can’t deny the current situation… I am a weakling.”
I’m jobless right now, so I only have the abilities of a low-level job holder.
”Kent and Non-Non are so serious. Well, if everyone’s coming along, I guess I won’t die, and I’ll get a lot of data on using the new gun. I’ll put in a good word with Lady Miriallia for you too.”
Aida seems to agree with my monster hunt.
Apparently, she’s going to convince Milly by saying that I’ll be accompanying her on a top-secret test run of the new gun.
If Lina and the others can warn Milly about the dangers of a low ability status, even someone as capable as Milly should approve of my monster hunt.
”Really!? You’re the best, Aida. Thanks a lot. Manon, can you help too?”
”You can count on me-nya. Speaking of which, I want to shoot Aida’s new gun already-nya! I was just shown it last time, but wasn’t allowed to fire it, so I’ve been dying to try it-nya.”
After we were done talking about hunting monsters, Manon went over and picked up the new gun from the shooting range.
Just like I thought, Manon is strong.
She effortlessly lifted the heavy gun and put it to her shoulder, peering through the scope.
”Isn’t that heavy?”
”It is heavy, but it’s not too heavy -nya. But, if you’re aiming at something far away, you should definitely use a bipod for better accuracy -nya.”
With that, Manon laid down a bipod on the ground at the shooting range and started aiming at a target 5 hundred meters away.
When her target was set, she smoothly pulled the trigger.
*BANG!*
The bullet ripped through the target 5 hundred meters away, shattering it into pieces.
It even blasted a huge plume of dirt from the wall behind it.
The power was significantly greater than when I fired it.
The bullet, which pierced the center of the target, easily tore through a ten-centimeter thick steel plate.
”Wow! What insane power!”
”That’s just about it-nya. But this gun is way too powerful-nya. One shot would mince any ordinary monster-nya.”
”As expected of Non-Non. The power is greater than when I shot it, and the recoil is well-controlled.It’s definitely a gun made for super Advanced-level users.Anyway, we’ll see about mass-producing it based on the results of the test.”
Aida was considering the magical rifle she’d crafted this time around, thinking it had quite the kick to it, and seemed to be hesitating over whether it should be mass-produced.
”By the way, does this magical rifle have a name?”
”Huh? A name? It’s just a prototype, so I haven’t given it one.”
”Then let’s call it the Fairlator──nya. This is going to be a powerful weapon against the Beast Monsters. It’s tricky to handle, but a skilled gunsmith should be able to manage it──nya.”
Manon, who envisioned the new type of magical rifle becoming the trump card against the Beast Monster, the strongest creature in the South District, was sparkling with excitement as she named it.
”If Non-Non likes it, we can make it the official name. But keep in mind, it’s still a prototype and might not go into mass production. There’s a chance it could end up being a one-off Manon custom job.”
Aida still seemed hesitant about mass production due to concerns over its tricky handling.
”It all depends on the results of the next operational test.”
”Yeah, the workshop has production limits, and manufacturing the Fairlator for the Beast Monsters is over 3 times more complex than making an Elitzina. Plus, the precision of the parts is very demanding.”
Aida shot a sidelong glance at Josefine, the manufacturing director.
”…As it stands, it would be quite an expensive magical rifle. The manufacturing process is complicated, and if we’re to mass-produce it, we’ll need to simplify the process and downscale the specs.”
Josefine, the manufacturing head, replied that it was difficult to mass-produce the original Fairlator for the Beast Monsters as it was.
Certainly, one could argue that making a few dozen Elitzinas would boost combat power more than crafting a single labor-intensive and costly magical rifle.
Guess it all comes down to the operational test results… You can never be too prepared for a Beast Monster attack.
”The best way to see how it works is to use it in actual combat. For the upcoming operational test, I want at least a hundred rounds of ammunition ready.”
”Gyah, a hundred rounds… I’ll do my best. Let’s have the Non-Non Black Bullet team chip in too.”
”Understood──nya.”
And so, the operational testing for the mass production of the Anti-Beast Monster Gun, Fairer, was set into motion.
To maintain national secrecy, my family, the Blackdagger clan, was chosen to participate.
Of course, Miriallia, persuaded by Aida, Manon, and Lina, agreed to let me join the monster hunt on the condition that she could participate too.
New Character~
Josefine, a 25-year-old woman from the Majin Clan, has been appointed as the manufacturing director of Aida’s Magic Gunslinger workshop.
She excels in simplifying magic gun production and enhancing mass production efficiency.
She’s even skilled enough to make unique improvements to Aida’s developed rapid-fire mechanism.
After falling for Aida’s sweet talk and getting involved physically, she was poached from Abyss Vena’s workshop and appointed as the manufacturing director of Estfort’s Magic Gunslinger workshop, becoming Kent’s lover in the process.
Nowadays, besides managing the workshop, she serves as a temporary instructor for the disassembly and assembly course at Estfort Academy’s elite firearms class, scouting out students with Gunslinger potential.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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