Volume 8 Chapter 9 Against Beast Monster Gun Fairlater
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After wrapping up my morning duties, I made my way to the Aida’s Magic Gunslinger Workshop, adjacent to the mansion.
I had heard that Aida had successfully crafted a new type of magic gun, and I was there to test-fire it as part of re-obtaining my [Gunsmith] job.
The Magic Gunslinger Workshop, a separate building a short distance from the mansion, served as the primary equipment facility for the South District Margrave’s military Gunsmith team.
It housed the production facilities and gun development rooms for Elitzina and Dragunov, the main weapons.
Inside, several women with the [Gunslinger] job were busy at work, checking the quality of gun parts ordered from various towns and assembling rapid-fire mechanisms.
Aida’s repeating magic guns were the utmost secret in the South District Margrave, with strict regulations against taking them outside the country.
Losing a loaned magic gun could even land you in prison for a certain period as a criminal.
Currently, the only groups supplied with these guns were the Black Bullet, Ane’s Cavalry, a faction of the old Estfort Army, and the Godard and Felward defense teams, all managed by serial numbers.
The production numbers were strictly controlled, with a thousand Elitzinas and 5 hundred Dragunovs, and so far, none had been lost except for those discarded due to malfunctions.
The reason for such stringent management was the fear of these guns’ overwhelming power spreading to other countries.
It was a pity for the women working in the workshop, but I had them become my Carriers.
Well, they were already smitten by Aida before I even became a Carrier, but I made sure to secure them just in case.
Aida’s recruits, the Gunslingers, were a sight to behold, each one handpicked for their skills and beauty.
They were earnest workers, fully dedicated to their craft.
Instead of various Bindings, Aida compensated them handsomely as Advanced-level technicians, but they were so busy that they barely had time to utilize their impressive abilities.
As I stepped into the workshop, one of the Gunslingers spotted me immediately, halting her work to rush over.
”Sir Kent! You made it! I’ll hurry and fetch Chief Engineer Aida!”
The girl who approached was Josefine from the Majin Clan, responsible for manufacturing magic guns in the workshop.
Aida had recognized her talent and, true to form, had formed a special relationship with her to bring her on board.
Josefine was entrusted by Aida with the assembly of complex rapid-fire mechanisms and was also involved in mentoring the newcomers.
On top of that, she held the Gunsmith job herself and served as a temporary instructor for the firearms course at Estfort Academy’s advanced classes, scouting for potential Gunslingers among the students.
Josefine brushed past me, heading upstairs to summon Aida from the firearms development room.
After a short while, Aida appeared, looking exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes.
She was being supported by Josefine as she stumbled over to me.
”K-Kent! We’ve completed the new magic gun. With this one, we should be able to pierce through the skin of Beast Monsters, even those that can repel Elitzina’s rifle rounds. I struggled with the recoil suppression mechanism, but thanks to an idea from a friend I made, it’s finally done!”
”W-What? So the new magic gun has more power than Manon’s sniper rifle? Even the high-velocity armor-piercing rounds can’t penetrate!”
Aida’s face lit up with delight at my interest in the new rifle.
”Yes! This magic gun pierced through the tough tissue of a Silver Tiger from 4 hundred meters away! It penetrated both its fur and muscle!”
I was taken aback by Aida’s words.
When the Beast Monster Silver Tiger attacked Abyss Vena, a part of its body was left as a prize in my hands after its magic elements had drained away.
At Aida’s request, however, I had given up some of its tissue for shooting experiments.
The fur and muscle tissue of the Silver Tiger boasted hardness beyond that of steel, rendering existing firearms ineffective against it.
While Elitzina and Dragunov could handle monster-class beasts, Aida grew concerned that against tougher opponents like ‘other world monsters’ or higher-class Beast Monsters, many would be resistant to regular gunfire.
Thus, she prioritized the development of high-powered magical firearms.
A high-powered magic gun capable of penetrating the Silver Tiger’s tissue from 4 hundred meters away was thought to be something incredibly formidable, unlike anything before.
”Four hundred meters!? Can it really penetrate from that far? What kind of magic gun is that?”
”It’s at the shooting range, so you should try it out too, Kent. It’s absolutely amazing!”
With a confident smile, Aida beckoned me towards the adjacent outdoor shooting range.
”Don’t laugh if I can’t shoot well, alright? I’ve lost my [Gunsmith] job, remember? I’m really just here for rehab.”
”I’ve fired Lady Aida’s new gun too, but please be careful not to get blown away. If you get hurt, Lady Miriallia will definitely give you a talking to.”
As we made our way to the shooting range, Yozefine looked at me with a worried expression.
Seeing her anxious face, I began to think that Aida’s new gun might indeed be a dangerous piece of equipment.
Arriving at the shooting range with the two of them, the gun lying there was a heavy magical firearm, measuring about 100 50 centimeters in total length, complete with a rather large caliber barrel.
”W-wow, it’s huge! And heavy!”
I attempted to lift the magic gun, which rested on a sandbag.
Its length was daunting, and it felt significantly heavy.
I estimated its weight to be around 15 kilograms, which was quite a burden to bear.
”I tried to make a high-caliber magic gun, and this is what happened. The bullets are special too. This gun’s caliber is about 3 times that of Elitzina’s, you know.”
Aida showed me the new gun’s special ammo she had placed on the desk.
It used 3 times thicker bullet tips and longer casings than normal bullets, and considering the amount of magic element that accumulated in the casing, the high power made sense.
”Special bullets, huh…One shot will probably eat up a ton of mana…Aida, how many can you make in a day?”
At my question, Aida’s smile froze.
I guess I hit a sore spot.
”…maybe ten, at most…These casings are really mana hungry…I’ve been making practice rounds non-stop since yesterday, so I’m feeling pretty wobbly.”
Aida, who could normally replenish Elitzina’s ammo at around 5 hundred rounds a day, could only make ten rounds?
That meant that making these bullets was dangerous for anyone who wasn’t a high-level Gunsmith or Magician.
One shot is equal to 50 shots of Elitzina…Considering my Explode Gunlance consumes 2 hundred shots worth of mana and its power, the amount consumed for this gun seems to be within a practical range.
I lay prone on the firing range, supporting the long magic gun with sandbags and peering through the scope.
The muzzle had a muzzle brake shaped like a box with holes drilled into the sides.
Just looking at it, I could tell the recoil of this gun was terrifying.
The target is about 5 hundred meters away…There’s no way I can hit it with my skill.
I briefly took my eyes off the scope and loaded a magazine into the gun.
The special bullets Aida showed me earlier were in a 5-round clip.
Like Elitzina, this gun seemed to have automatic feeding.
After cocking the bolt and loading the magazine, I looked back through the scope.
”Sir Kent…Be careful…”
I could sense that both Josefine and Aida had moved away from me.
I peered through the scope, bringing the sight onto the center of the target.
When I had the Gunsmith job, I didn’t mind things like hand tremors using Skills, but now that I’ve lost my job, the scope constantly shifted, making it hard to aim.
Even so, I managed to center the target and pulled the trigger.
*BANG!*
The jolt from the gunshot reverberated through my stomach as the recoil slammed the butt of the rifle hard into my shoulder, almost forcing me back.
A billowing black cloud erupted from the muzzle brake attached to the gun, but despite that, it seemed the recoil couldn’t be fully tamed.
Ouch… What was that kick? The blast was insane…
I squinted through the scope to check if my shot had hit the target, and saw that the left edge of the target was gouged and curled up.
”Looks like I hit it. I just pierced a steel plate over ten centimeters thick from 5 hundred meters away… Kent, how about you?”
”Ouch, that’s not something a novice should shoot. My shoulder feels numb!”
”Are you hurt!?”
As I was trying to get up, Josefine hurried over to check for injuries.
”Josefine, I’m fine! But with this much recoil, the only ones who could handle it properly are us and Manon… And it’s pretty heavy too.”
While its power was beyond impressive, the weight of the gun was a significant drawback.
This magic rifle was 3 times heavier than Elitzina’s, making it likely that even Manon, who handled the Elitzina SC with ease, would have to use a bipod to shoot it properly.
”Yeah, it’s heavy… Even when I tried it, the recoil was strong… I developed it with the aim of penetrating a Beast Monster, but it turned out to be a really heavy and kick-heavy gun.”
”But the power is hard to give up. It’s a weapon that can definitely deal damage to a Beast Monster from a distance. If Manon likes it, I think it would be fine to loan it to her as a prototype. I definitely don’t want to use it myself.”
Surprisingly, Manon had a lot of muscle for her appearance, and she easily wielded the Elitzina SC, so she could probably handle this heavy magic rifle made by Aida as well.
”Non-Non could definitely handle it. Even from a kilometer away, I bet she could hit the target.”
”Josefine, sorry, but could you go get Manon? She should be cleaning her magic rifle in her room right now.”
”Understood.”
While Josefine went off to fetch Manon, I moved to a medium to close-range shooting range to regain my shooting feel.
I took out Elitzina and loaded the magazine.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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