222 – Barnacles(1)
Just like days clearing after a shower, the tension of holding a bomb disappeared and the space was filled with the soothing sound of running water.
with a splash-
After seeing that the barbarians were leaving, Siron fell to his knees. Lucia, who had been dazed by this, was startled and fell down.
“W-What is it? Hey! Hey!”
“Just… just stay still. It’ll be done in no time.”
“Uh, uh…”
Siron, who had comforted Lucia, took a deep breath and waited for the blessing to change.
Without anyone saying anything, Latera massaged my soul.
The structure of the soul changes from the four elements of anger, focus, reaction, and vitality to calmness, fortitude, perseverance, and omnipotent protection, like a clockwork being engaged.
As soon as the protection changed, the heart rate decreased as if a sedative had been administered, and Siron was able to easily move on to his next action.
“…what are you doing?”
“We need to find the bullets and the gun.”
Siron, who responded to Lucia, groped the floor, not caring that his clothes were wet.
Lucia had a question mark on her face as she heard a word for the first time in her life.
Earlier, she said her name was Kylie, but she suddenly collapsed again and is now crawling around the sewer like a puppy.
However, rather than arguing right away, Lucia decided to help Siron. There was no sense of joking around with Siron at the moment, and he could always ask why later.
Kylie, who only prioritized her own feelings and caused trouble, is dead. Lucia patted the ground, proud of herself for having grown up a bit.
however,
Lucia stopped because of an unexpected difficulty.
‘…What is a gun?’
I’m not talking about gravel. Lucia doesn’t know what these two words are, which she has never heard before, but seeing as Siron speaks of them as if they are obvious, it is clear that they are things that would be considered a barbarian if you don’t know them.
Isn’t there a saying that if you stay still you will get halfway there? As she had not shown herself to be trustworthy in the battle a little while ago, Lucia wanted to show that she could be depended on even in times like this.
Latera, who had just released her spirit form, took Lucia’s place in speaking.
“Hero, what are bullets? I want to help too.”
Instead of answering, Siron held up a dented lead bullet.
“This is it.”
“…Weren’t you going to throw that away?”
“I was thinking of throwing it away, but now that I think about it, I think it’s right to keep it. When I thought about it from common sense, it doesn’t make sense for me to be in trouble with bullets. I must have resorted to some trick.”
As the name of the sword god of reincarnation suggests, the status of guns in this world was ambiguous. Since there is a gun category in the player’s weapon system, there have been several opportunities to use it, but the evaluation of it as a girt naturally follows each time.
From noble mtl dot com
A gun is a good weapon to use in the early to mid-game because it is fast, except for the time it takes to reload, and has constant power regardless of skill level.
However, even the first half of it is limited to interpersonal use.
Guns did not work even on demonic beasts, let alone apostles. Unlike humans who can die from minor penetrating wounds, demon beasts do not die unless their heart is cut out or their head is cut off.
Of course, you can increase the caliber and blow the head off, but you can’t carry a cannon, so training your mana has a higher expectation.
The fact that there are many points where the reincarnated swordsman and the present era are intertwined gave considerable persuasiveness to Siron’s actions.
“Well, I didn’t think anything of it since you just spit it out like grape seeds without hesitation.”
“…That’s right.”
Siron sighed and put the bullet in his inner pocket.
As we all crouched down together to look for metal pieces, I remembered looking for shell casings in the military.
‘I’ll have to be more bluffy next time.’
Since there was no particular reason other than spitting it out as a smokescreen to look strong, Siron had to think over not only regret but also shame.
“found!”
The moment I patted my sore back, I heard Lucia’s bright voice from behind me.
“This is it, right?”
“I found it too!”
Lucia held out three lead bullets with a proud look on her face. Not being able to lose, Latera held out a lead bullet in her dainty hand.
Siron, who was carrying six lead balls and a revolver, looked at the two with an expression that seemed like he was about to die.
*
After completing the search, the group headed to the ground with their battered bodies. They broke through the collapsed passage and walked through the slippery underground, avoiding the flowing sewage.
Latera is in the process of being transformed into a spirit, perhaps because she can’t bear the smell of sewage. Thanks to this, Siron was able to feel like he was alone with Lucia.
“It is a lie.”
A word that came out of nowhere. Lucia asked back, looking at the back of the head ahead.
“huh?”
“What I said to the barbarian earlier, I said I was Kylie. That was a lie.”
“…I did something again. You can’t be Kylie.”
Lucia sighed heavily and smiled as she walked side by side with Shiron.
“Your swordsmanship isn’t cool, and you have strange training methods. Oh, that’s right, you can’t be Kylie.”
“…Why are you splitting the yarn?”
“It’s fun.”
Lucia came down and kicked the dead body away.
“I’m telling this story after it’s over, but isn’t it fun because it feels like an adventure?”
“…what fun is that, I just want to sleep in my room.”
“Is there any point in sleeping in your room?”
Lucia continued speaking as she looked at a faint light in the distance.
“You know, I thought I was stuck.”
“Why are you stopping? You worked hard at the academy.”
“It’s not like that.”
Having slaughtered herself, Lucia removed the boulder blocking her path with one hand.
“Cyriel and you seem to be playing your part, but should I say it feels like I’m the only one floating in the lake? Siriel follows his uncle and follows the future of the Knights Command… You’re a warrior.”
“…”
“What do I want?”
‘Why is he like this? Are you feeling emotional because it’s dawn?’
She looks like an adolescent Yura who had a middle ear disease. Shiron suddenly had the desire to argue, but decided to suit Lucia’s mood.
“What should I do after graduating from the academy? It would be a nuisance if I couldn’t get a job and became unemployed. I don’t like that…”
“You have the title of Sogaju. You can just keep it as it is.”
“Try to be quiet.”
“…”
“So, after going on an adventure with you like this, I feel like I’ve become more certain about who I am and what I should do.”
Tadak-
“That’s just it.”
Lucia got up and went outside ahead of Siron.
Square in front of City Hall.
The commotion underground must have been quite loud, with people murmuring outside, and low-level police officers formed a wall of people to control the crowd.
“Are you okay?”
A person who appears to be a representative of the police officers. The woman I saw last time at the police headquarters came running to me with a worried look on her face. It is not unreasonable to be surprised to see a swordsman covered in blood with a smiling face.
“I’ll quickly prepare an escort carriage. Oh, before that, someone come and bring me some wet towels!”
Bertha looked away from Lucia and shouted. Perhaps thanks to her fairly high rank, a large man immediately approached her and politely handed her a bucket containing wet towels.
“…I told you to go on vacation.”
Siron came out next and accepted the wet towel offered by Berta. But suddenly, his gaze rested on Bertha’s waist.
“It’s a gun.”
“Oh, you mean this? It’s a handheld firearm that has been popular lately, but its power is ambiguous, but I’m also using it.”
“Give me a second.”
“…yes?”
“Check something. It’ll take a minute.”
“Ah, yes…”
Berta cautiously held out her gun, and Chiron looked around at it, checking the chamber for bullets. Then, he aimed the gun at his thigh.
bang-
It didn’t hurt. The bullet was stored as if it were being sucked in, and Chiron could clearly recognize him from the moment the gun was fired.
‘Try to release the protection.’
[yes.]
Latera followed the warrior’s orders. Siron, who confirmed that the shadow engraved on his soul was lifted, immediately continued the experiment.
One shot on the chest and one shot on the head. I also made Lucia shoot.
It doesn’t hurt though.
Bertha’s face turned pale at the sudden act of self-harm.
“W-what are you doing?!”
“Hey, you take a shot this time.”
Siron placed the gun handle in Bertha’s hand whether she was embarrassed or not. Bertha was trembling, wondering what on earth they were doing, and only after getting her butt slapped was she finally able to pull the trigger.
“It’s going to turn.”
Shiron’s face frowned. This is not because of the pain, but because of the savage’s gunfire, which is not as easily resolved as one might think.
I thought it wouldn’t hurt because I shot myself as if I was hurting myself, but the bullets Lucia fired didn’t hurt either.
I thought it wouldn’t hurt because it was an attack from the friendly camp, but the shooting from Berta, who was no different from others, didn’t hurt either.
‘Did he do something to the bullet?’
After organizing her thoughts, Shiron spat out the lead bullets through her mouth.
“Well written.”
He patted Berta on the back without forgetting the thoroughness of his explanation.
“It’s magic practice, so don’t worry about it.”
“…Yes. Yes!”
“And don’t tell His Majesty about something like this.”
“I wonder. Is that possible? We will thoroughly speed up the process of arresting people.”
I have become more attentive to birds that I haven’t seen in a while. Bertha nodded repeatedly and immediately suited Siron’s rhythm.
*
“Are you okay?”
“are you okay.”
A room filled with the smell of medicinal herbs. Yoru waved his hand at Soyi, who approached the bedside.
I said this not as a bravado to pretend to be strong, but because it was really good. And saying that he would have as many children as he killed… as if he was saying he would enslave him, it was a natural result since he could not find a single trace of flesh in the opponent’s attack.
“What did it look like to you?”
“yes?”
“Shiron Prien, and the kid who suddenly appeared… The two we confronted.”
“…It was strong.”
Soyi, the leader of the Chusaldae, obediently acknowledged the powerlessness of the two.
In the basement, I couldn’t make an objective judgment because the blood was rushing to my head, but looking back, it was right to follow the princess’s orders.
“How strong was it? I was out of my mind at the time, so I don’t remember much.”
“…Even if I have five, it seems difficult to guarantee victory.”
“Is it the black-haired man? Or is it the little boy who suddenly joined in?”
“She’s a short girl. In all my life… I’ve never seen someone so strong.”
‘I was curious about Shiron Prien’s opinion… was it okay?’
Yoru looked at Soyi with her eyes wide open and sighed deeply.
“You were stronger than your father.”
“…”
Soyi clutched her pants with a pounding heart. I realized belatedly what I had said. As a warrior and a man of Sileiia who reveres strength, it goes without saying how rude it would be to admit that an enemy is stronger than the Grand Elder.
Even more so in front of the princess who is his own blood…
“It’s okay. I thought so too.”
Yoru patted the back of Soi’s hand, who suddenly became depressed.
“It is not easy to acknowledge the strength of an opponent. And what if the opponent is strong? Our people have been fighting against much larger empires for hundreds of years.”
“…”
“Nevertheless, the empire cannot do anything about us who are accomplishing a great cause, albeit sporadically. We, Sileia, are not only carrying on the legacy, but are also becoming the voice of the powerless.”
Yoru spoke calmly and rubbed his index and middle fingers together to Soi, who was just listening in silence. At the familiar signal asking for a cigarette, Soi held out a long stick with a fireball on the end.
Yoru inhaled the smoke deeply.
Since I couldn’t calm down from earlier, I held the smoke in deeper than usual.
‘I can’t believe Kylie was that guy.’
Yoru thought of a man who was fond of saying vulgar words.
Kylie. The benefactor who saved her from falling off a cliff.
However, the benefactor was the dog of a hateful emperor who had been harassing him in a way that was embarrassing to even mention.
…A person who has the same benefactor and enemy.
Because of the mismatched perceptions, Yoru’s head started pounding… but soon cleared with a cheerful sound.
From noble mtl dot com
Before leaving the underpass, the man shouted to Yoru that he was Kylie. He was so helpless that he couldn’t say anything, but now Yoru believed what he said was the truth.
‘When I think about it, Kylie also committed harassment.’
Yoru blushed, rubbing his groin where the graffiti had been engraved. It was cheap for the price of her life, but Kylie and Siron Prien patted her defenseless buttocks and caressed her thighs needlessly.
“Where are you going now?”
Yoru turned his consciousness out the window to forget the embarrassing memories. Looking at the scenery, you can see a quiet farmland. This must not be Lien, the capital of the empire.
Soyi quickly wiped away her tears and bowed her head.
“We are heading towards the eastern mountain range. Please forgive us if we have to turn back because the southern and western areas are on high alert.”
“…is it.”
Yoru exhaled the smoke and stood up.
“Let’s stop by Kihara-sama’s temple on the way. It helped me a lot in many ways this time.”
Kihara, goddess of the sea.
On the eastern coast of the empire, in a small town where waves and storms never stop, there is a small temple that worships her.
“If I tell you the story of a strong human woman, I’m sure you’ll be happy.”
Yoru’s eyes stopped on the statue in the corner of the hut.