An active hunter from Hokkaido was thrown into another world - Chapter 54

Request of the Goddess – Chapters

Chapter 54   The end of the witch

“(They’re here, they’re here!)” (whispered)

Saran, who was observing in front of the shrine, shakes me gently.

I can confirm it too. It’s 184 meters away, so you can see them with the naked eye.

The hero… and the accompanying witch. And the priest.

…They look even more outlandish in the daylight.

The hero is clad in dazzling, attention-grabbing silver armor, walking with his sword unsheathed. It’s a stark contrast to us, well-hidden in camouflage.

And then, the witch.

With a pointed hat and long golden hair, she wears a fluttering cloak, but underneath, it’s undeniably a black bikini.

Not just any bikini, it’s a string bikini.

The triangle sizes look all wrong, revealing the sides, bottom, and cleavage of her chest.

Long boots and long gloves too. Is there any practical purpose for that?

The priest…

At first glance, she looks like a nun, but when you see her through the scope, the cleavage at her chest is quite impressive.

She’s a beautiful woman. The thigh-high slit, which seems impossible to wear, extends all the way to her waist.

Happily, she rushes to the front of the shrine and offers her prayers.

At the maximum 16x magnification, the field of view is about 3.8 meters at 184 meters distance.

A single human appears smaller than half the scope’s size.

This is the highest magnification. Oh, it looks smaller than I thought.

As I’m used to seeing large deer, a tall human looks small in comparison.

The witch…

She steps forward, readying her staff, preparing to do something.

That red stone floating gently on top of her staff is a magic stone.

It’s about 8 cm in diameter… almost like a headshot on a prairie dog.

“Could you shoot and shatter that magic stone at the tip of the witch’s staff?”

Nanotesu-san said it so casually, but it’s quite a challenging task.

There’s no choice but to do it.

She began her prayer in front of the shrine.

It seemed like a long incantation.

As she raised her staff, she came to a complete stop.

The magic stone sparkled brightly.

If it gets too bright, the scope might glare. I need to shoot quickly.

Gently squeezing the trigger…

BANG!

I quickly pulled back the gun and my face.

BANG! BANG! BANG… …

The gunshots and the sound of the magic stone shattering echoed through the valley.

The rifle bullets are traveling faster than the speed of sound.

You should hear the gunshots after the impact.

If the magic stone exploded here, they might not notice the sound of my gun.

Although the possibility is extremely low.

The sound of the bullets flying is a high-pitched metallic noise “Kyuinn” (※2).

In reality, by the time you hear it, the bullet has already passed.

In scenes where guns are fired, you often see onomatopoeic words like “Bakyuun!” or “Zugyuun!” in old manga. Well, that “Kyuun” is the sound of bullets flying toward you.

It’s quite distinct, a loud noise. Those who know it will recognize it as the sound of bullets.

People in this world wouldn’t be familiar with it, though.

Why do I know about that sound? Well, just leave it at that, please.

“(you hit them!)”

Upon hearing Saran’s voice, I quickly retreated.

“(Withdraw!)”

I swiftly stashed away the mostly organized equipment into the magic bag and carefully moved backward. I want to peek out and assess the situation, but I must resist the urge. The opponents are a hero and a mage, and I have no idea what abilities they might use to locate us.

Descending behind the cliff, being cautious not to make any noise, we reached the small stream below and hurriedly made our way downstream, splashing through the water.

For now, we need to put as much distance between us and the hero as possible. The river’s current became deeper. We pulled out a piece of driftwood, both holding on to it, and covered ourselves with a camouflage sheet as we floated along.

We must have distanced ourselves about 2 kilometers now…

“How is it?”

“No signs of pursuit.”

It seems we managed to escape somehow.

After all, the hero is a native of this world. Unlike me, they probably never even considered the possibility of being shot by a gun. It would be great if they assumed the magic attack from the witch failed.

“Shin, you’re really cautious. About everything.”

“That’s the key to living a long life.”

“Hahaha!”

It seems like things went well. At least, I want to believe that.

The river merges into a larger one, the very river we always use for traveling between the Elf Village. We climb up the riverbank, stow away our wet camouflage clothing, and change into ordinary civilian attire.

We find lodgings near the main gate and gaze at people passing by the city from the third-floor balcony.

I’m feeling hungry.

Since it’s a high-class inn, they offer room service, so we can enjoy a slightly more lavish meal. While taking turns to keep watch on the main gate, we dine together.

“They’re coming!”

As evening approaches, Saran raises her voice.

I step out onto the balcony to take a look.

…I’m astonished.

The hero is carrying an elderly woman on his back.

Is that the witch with the pointed hat and draped in a cloak?

The hands and face of the elderly woman look wrinkled and emaciated, like the bones of a chicken…

Is that her true form?

Following behind them is the white-robed monk.

What’s with that delighted expression? That can’t seem to stop grinning.

The elderly woman holds onto a charred staff in her hands.

The hero carries her with a somewhat reluctant expression on his face…

People started gathering around the hero.

The hero seems irritated.

They’re frowning and shouting at the townspeople who are coming up to ask various questions.

Being a hero is tough, huh?

From our vantage point on the third floor, they seem completely unaware of us.

Well, that’s understandable since people are peeking out of every window and balcony to witness the commotion.

“Shut up! I never thought she’d be such a hag!!”

Um, isn’t that a bit harsh? Hero…

They continued walking towards the center of the town.

Right in the middle of the town stands the Hero’s Church, after all.

Well, I guess there’s a lot going on.

We also withdrew our heads and decided to add a whole chicken to our dinner for two.

“Hey, Shin, Saran, have you heard?”

“What is it?”

The next day, as we walked towards the pier where we docked the canoe, we were stopped by Bartil, the leader of the Ballistes from the Hunter’s Guild.

“Guess what? There was some trouble yesterday, and it seems the mage with the Hero turned out to be a witch. They’re planning to hold a witch trial at the church.”

“Oh, that’s scary.”

“Yeah, they say the hero was deceived, and she was plotting the resurrection of the Demon Lord.”

“That’s a serious matter.”

“Absolutely. The hero won’t get away with it easily. Quite a predicament he’s in.”

“It’s because he refused the local hunters’ company.”

“You’re right about that.”

Bartil burst into laughter.

“Are you two leaving already?”

“Yes. We’ve finished shopping, and we don’t have any specific business here.”

“What? Weren’t you interested in the hero’s affairs?”

“We’ll study this,” Shin said, showing the Bible he bought from the church.

Bartil looked surprised at the seemingly unrelated Bible in Shin’s hands.

“You’re quite the diligent students, huh?”

Bartil chuckled, seemingly unconvinced by the study and devotion angle.

“If you come back, drop by the guild. Let’s do something together again!”

“Yes, definitely!”

On the way back in the canoe, I was reading the Bible, and Saran asked, “Shin, are you going to become a follower of the Hero’s Church?”

“No, I follow the Nanotesu faith.”

“Huh? I’ve never heard of that.”

Ahaha.

“What kind of gods do elves believe in?”

“Well, we’re technically aligned with the Hero’s Church. There’s a shrine in the village too.”

“I see.”

“But in truth, it’s different. You see, the gods reside in everything – the mountains, the trees, the rivers, and the lakes.”

It’s a primitive form of nature worship. It reminds me of Japan’s Shinto.

“The most revered one is the Sun, right?”

“Yes, that’s the most important.”

Amaterasu Omikami, the Sun Goddess, just like in Japan.

Around the world, in ancient beliefs, the Sun is often considered the highest deity. Surely, it’s a common belief.

“Our creed as elves is to live in a way that we won’t be ashamed before the Sun!”

Kyukyuu!

Today, the river dolphin is full of energy as always.

I hope days like this will continue forever.

— Request of the Goddess – Chapter END —

――――Author’s Notes――――

※1. Field of View (FOV)

The area visible through a scope. Even at the same magnification, the FOV differs between scopes. There are various scopes available, ranging from narrow FOV in cheaper scopes to wide FOV in high-end scopes.

Normally, the manual specifies the FOV at different magnifications, for example, Field of View at 100 yards: 25.2-8.4 ft.

In movie sniper scenes, the view from the scope is often portrayed with inconsistencies. The magnification changes with each cut, and there are extreme close-ups showing faces as if it’s impossible to detect targets. Unrealistic aspects include scopes unaffected by flames after shooting, stable visuals with no tremors, and the moment of impact on the target is visible without any muzzle rise. Additionally, the “pshh” sound of the bullet impacting at the same time as the shot is mostly false. However, without these exaggerations, action movies would lose much of their excitement.

※2. High-Pitched Metallic Sound

The twist rate of rifle rifling is typically 12 inches or approximately 30 cm, making one complete turn. A bullet fired at 800 m/s will spin around 2625 times per second, resulting in an extremely high rotational speed exceeding 150,000 rpm when expressed as revolutions per minute like a car engine.

The sound “kyuinn” is what the target hears when the bullet is coming towards them. On the other hand, the shooter does not hear the “kyuun” that goes with the “bakyuun” sound in manga’s shooting scenes. In movies and TV shows, dramatic gunshot sound effects are added to enhance the impact, but the actual sound of gunfire is relatively consistent, going like “pan,” “ban,” or “tatatatta.” Of course, real gunshot sounds are difficult to capture with a microphone, and standard speakers can’t reproduce the actual “shockwave” beyond the speed of sound. Therefore, the impact is not something you hear, but rather, it’s an audio experience that your entire body perceives, like receiving the sound pressure.

Also, it is not true that “a rifle bullet can cause injury or unconsciousness even if it just grazes.” While bullets do exceed the speed of sound, the compressed air volume they create beyond the speed of sound is only a few millimeters wide, not forming significant shockwaves like those produced by fighter jets. This can be confirmed by the fact that even thin target paper like copier paper, when attached to the target, only shows small round holes, without tearing or flying off.

If someone gets injured or loses consciousness from a grazing shot, then the bullet did hit them. Unfortunately.