Warning bells

 
 
 ☆
 
 
 ”And so, from here on, I shall demonstrate the magic rifle’s firing.”
 
 To my words, His Majesty nodded.
 His Highness Gerald as well, dressed as a knight, looked this way with an expression of keen interest.
 
 ”Ah, young lady.”
 
 When I’d turned towards the target, His Majesty opened his mouth as if he’d just recalled something.
 
 ”Yes. What is the matter?”
 
 ”Sorry, but, for the first couple of shots, I’d like to have you change targets for every shot. I would like to properly see how much power they have.”
 
 ”Understood. In that case, once Your Majesty calls for me to successively fire, I shall do so.”
 
 ”Ah, I’m looking forward to it.”
 
 With my confirmation, His Majesty nodded back, satisfied, and I once again turned toward the target.
 
 
 
 Arranged in a single line, were the magic shields and magic armour.
 Looking at it like this, it seems as if they’re realistic dolls lined up.
 
 I lowered the rifle with my right hand, took out a bullet from my bag with my left hand, and loaded the bullet from the muzzle with a light tumbling sound.
 
 ”And so, here I go!”
 
 I declared so and set up my rifle, and set the safety device from [0] to [1].
 
 While aiming at the target magic shield, I pulled the trigger slightly.
 
 With a bwoon sound, a magic circle floats at the end of the muzzle.
 
 ””Ooh…””
 
 The knights made a stir.
 
 (Still, I haven’t done anything yet, though)
 
 I chuckled inwardly.
 
 (——— but, it’s not a bad feeling)
 
 With a sense faint sense of elation, I pulled the trigger.
 
 
 
 The discharge vibration^[1] was transmitted to my shoulder with a thunk.
 The spinning, shining muzzle’s magic circle.
 
 The moment the air from the secondary acceleration reaction was expelled to the surroundings with a puff^[2]———
 
 Bang!!!
 
 The target magic shield placed 30 metres ahead shot off.
 
 ””Oooooooh!!””
 
 Cheers rose from the surroundings.
 
 ”Oooh!!”
 
 Seems that was His Majesty just now.
 
 ———So far, so good.
 
 The development, and reaction, as when I fired at the magic shield during the unveiling at our mansion.
 
 What’s different, was the fate of that which was behind the shield.
 
 ”Look! The armour behind it is…!”
 
 One of the knights shouted.
 
 A moment of silence.
 Immediately after———
 
 ””OOOOOOOooooooohhh!!!!!””
 
 A huge cheer shook the training ground once more.
 
 
 
 An unexpectedly loud response.
 I lowered the muzzle, and looked at the target once again.
 
 One glance at the magic shield, and I could tell that it was blown to pieces, with the fragments scattered around.
 
 What should be noted was the magic armour that was behind it, just as the knight had shouted.
 
 ”Woah…”
 
 It was in such a state, that my voice unconsciously leaked out.
 
 ——— in a word, it was battered.
 
 Developed by the Owleyes House’s head a few generations ago, the magic armour has become the current standard equipment of the kingdom’s knights.
 
 The magic armour, which has a structure that disperses the impact force all over at the moment of receiving the enemy’s attack, had holes all over its surface, with numerous fragments stuck into it.
 Although it barely maintained its function as armour, there’s no doubt that it received considerable damage.
 
 I could hear the commotion of the knight’s shaken voices.
 
 The magic shield and magic armour, which had protected them on the battlefield up till now.
 That shield has been scattered, and the armour has become battered.
 
 ——— what if that’d been a flesh-and-bone human being?
 
 It’s not like I couldn’t understand why they were so disturbed.
 
 In such an atmosphere, two knights brought the armour over before His Majesty.
 
 His Majesty gasped.
 Shortly, surprise changed to confusion.
 
 ”This is… absurd, huh. If we were to mass produce these weapons, the state of the battlefield would likely completely change.”
 
 Staring firmly at the armour while murmuring so, His Majesty soon looked in my direction.
 
 ”Miss Leticia.”
 
 ”Yes. What is it, Your Majesty.”
 
 ”I have come to understand the power of a single shot. Next, let’s see continuous firing.”
 
 ”Understood.”
 
 
 
 I returned to my firing position, and exchanged the magic stone for a new one.
 In any case, they’d like to see 5 consecutive shots.
 
 ”And so, here I go!”
 
 I loaded the bullet again, and set up the rifle.
 
 The remaining shields and armour were four each.
 
 Just how far can I go?
 
 (——— no, that’s wrong. I’ve already received an acknowledgement of its power, so next, it’s fine if I just demonstrate its rate of continuous fire.)
 
 Having changed my mind, I decided to aim at a new target, and pulled the trigger.
 
 Boom———tang!
 
 The first shield set up broke into fragments with a flashy sound.
 
 I immediately load the next bullet, aim, and shoot.
 
 A large hole opened in the set up armour’s abdomen with a bang.
 The armour caught the impact of the first shot that went through the shield, doesn’t seem to be able to withstand the load anymore.
 
 ””Ooooh!!!?””
 
 The knights became noisy.
 
 Next, the third shot.
 
 Batang!!^[3]
 
 The second shield was blasted away, and the armour at the back received damage more so than any of those before.
 
 Fourth shot.
 I opened a hole right in the centre of the next armour, and the third shield got cracked.
 
 And then, the fifth shot.
 
 At the same time that the out-of-magic-power light on the sight turned red ——— the third shield and the third armour got seriously damaged, and the fourth shield got a huge crack.
 
 
 
 ”……”
 
 Everyone became speechless.
 
 In the span of a few seconds.
 
 In less than a minute, three magic shields were scattered, and three magic armours had large holes opened in them.
 
 To be honest, I too was just as scared.
 
 I returned the safety switch to [0], sigh, and took a breath, then turned about toward His Majesty.
 
 ”——— that is all.”
 
 With my rifle in my right hand, I held the hem of my skirt with one hand, and greeted him with a curtsey.
 
 Soon after———
 
 Clap clap clap….
 
 His Highness, standing up from his throne, began clapping with an expression of [uncontainable excitement].
 
 That was probably the cue.
 
 ””OOOOOOOOoooooooooohhhhh!!!!!!!””
 
 The applause and cheers like a storm, resounded throughout the training ground.
 
 
 ☆
 
 
 Once everyone’s excitement had abated shortly after, His Majesty opened his mouth.
 
 ”Amazing…! This that you’ve produced is something absurd, Miss Leticia!!”^[4]
 
 His Majesty Conrad, with his face flushed, called out to me.
 
 ”For this unworthy self, your words are a waste.”
 
 I replied, and His Majesty looked straight at me.
 
 ”No need to be modest, young lady. Ever since the founding of our kingdom, we’ve been invaded by the neighbouring countries countless times, and have repelled them. At the outset of our kingdom’s founding, our superior magic armaments were imitated over many long months and years, and currently not only our magic techniques, but even our magic technology has been partly left in the dust by other countries. In the middle of something like that, this invention is indeed splendid! Our kingdom shall have superior magic technology once more, and this will elevate our national defence power, of that I am certain!!”
 
 In response to His Majesty’s powerful words, a lot of “oohh…”‘s resounded.
 
 His Majesty turned to face my father.
 
 ”The goods presented by the Owleyes Count House on this occasion, have been truly splendid! Therefore, I think I would like to bestow the Count House some sort of reward. ——— Count. Do you have any wishes?”
 
 The stage was now set.
 
 My father, who gave me a fleeting glance and nodded slightly, opened his mouth, and———
 
 
 
 Clang, ka, clang!!
 
 Clang, ka, clang!!
 
 
 At that moment, the ringing of bells reverberated around us.
 
 ”What’s going on?!”
 
 King Conrad shouted.
 
 ”Alarm?!”
 
 His Highness Gerald and the knights looked up at a corner of the castle.
 
 I was also drawn to look there.
 
 
 
 The bells’ ringing was coming from the eastern watchtower.
 
 Full of force, a soldier on watch rang the bell.
 Another soldier shouted something this way. But, we couldn’t catch what he said over the ringing of the bells.
 
 Then, something crossed overhead.
 
 ”What the 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕’s that?!”
 
 ”Is it a roc???”
 
 Someone shouted.
 
 ”No, that’s wrong! That’s… that’s, a flying dragon^[5]!!”
 
 The flying dragon flew over the watchtower and circled high above the castle walls as if observing us.
 
 And on its back, something could be seen.
 
 ”It’s a person! A person’s riding it!!”
 
 
 
 At that moment, I froze.
 
 
 
 The pouring rain.
 My father and second eldest brother in mourning clothes.
 The attending knights.
 The coffin being covered with earth.
 
 
 A flashback, of an old memory.
 
 
 I shouted.
 
 
 ”….No way! Why’s [that] here?!”
 

TL Notes:

[1]Oscillation? Vibration? Reverberation? Who knows, but the word the author used is oscillation/vibration, so we’ll go with that. ↩

[2]once more, I am reminded how much I hate JP onomatopoeia. This was sort of in between puff and boof. Literally speaking, it was baff actually, but that’s nonsense XD ↩

[3]Mwuahahahaha! I have decided to give up on the sounds! Revel in pain as you experience the confusion of trying to figure out what sound it actually is meant to be!… jk, it just happens to be that this is the closest I could get it. ↩

[4]I believe he means it positively… ↩

[5]Undecided as to whether to name them wyverns or not. Will change it in later chapters if it’s pointed out as such, but until then… ↩

 

To all those who celebrated today, Merry Christmas!