You’re Right, They’ll Expel Me if I Run into the Store with a Weapon!! - Chapter 21: It's Already Late at Night... I Shouldn't Have Said I'd Prepare It by Tomorrow
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- You’re Right, They’ll Expel Me if I Run into the Store with a Weapon!!
- Chapter 21: It's Already Late at Night... I Shouldn't Have Said I'd Prepare It by Tomorrow
Ding-dong…
“Hiroki?”
Despite ringing the intercom, the owner of the room doesn’t appear.
“………”
Activating human enhancement… auditory enhancement.
……
(No footsteps… no noise… no sound of breathing…)
While listening at the closed door for any sound inside, he hears nothing.
“…Hiroki isn’t here!?”
Meanwhile, a girl was losing her mind elsewhere…
“!?”
“What’s wrong? You look pale.”
“No, just got a chill…”
Hiroki was at the laboratory.
He visited to pick up the equipment he had ordered the day before.
“About the equipment… I kinda changed the design of the ‘Pikobiri Hammer’… I got some comments from the others around here…”
Haruna, who had been so positive the day before, seemed downcast. After the previous day, she had been pressured by her colleagues at the laboratory to make changes.
“So, here’s the finished product.”
What she presented was a rectangular box with a metallic white finish.
“A pencil case? It looks like the one I used in elementary school.”
“Yeah, I thought the same. There’s a button on the corner; try pressing it. Oh, hold it like this.”
He pressed the button as instructed.
As soon as he presses it, the box transforms into a fifty-centimeter-long rectangular object that looks wieldable.
“A close-combat weapon. It’s for striking, not cutting.”
Told so, he holds the transformed handle and swings it around.
“It feels like swinging a bat.”
“Well, it’s not a thin weapon with a blade. It also has a stun gun feature.”
Trying to find where the electric current would flow, he noticed that aside from the handle, the surface was flat with no apparent modifications.
“The parts other than where Hiroki touches will conduct electricity. To explain in detail…”
The handle part was an infrared fingerprint recognition device, and after transformation, it could only be touched by Hiroki’s hand.
If anything or anyone else touches it, an electric current will flow.
“Doesn’t that mean I’d get zapped if it touched my shoulder?”
“Don’t worry. It was equipped with advanced AI to prevent shocking the user.”
Relieved.
Looking again at the transformed item… a hammer?
“It’s not a hammer anymore, right?”
“It’s completely different now.”
Haruna, looking dejected.
Now, it’s more like a special bat than a hammer.
“The new name is… ‘E’.”
That became the name of the weapon.
“I wanted to name it after ‘Electric’… but someone else decided.”
She seemed frustrated about not being able to choose the name.
“…Huh… Hahaha!”
Suddenly, Haruna starts laughing.
Feeling uneasy, Hiroki stepped back a bit.
“No one will control me! The weapons I make are mine! My creations! My children!”
She begins a passionate speech.
“Look, Hiroki! A button appeared after transforming! Press it!”
“Okay, okay.”
Click… pop…
“What’s this?”
“It’s a ball!”
“Yeah, a ball. …But why?”
A ball rolls out from the handle part onto the floor.
“I’ve packed gas inside! It inflates the ball with a pop!”
“Uh, okay.”
Haruna proudly explains, leaving Hiroki at a loss for words. He’s still determining what he’s holding.
“Furthermore! Shake or swing ‘E’ with the ball out!”
Following her instructions, he swings ‘E’…
“OhーOhーOhー”
“Here comes the chance for a home run with bases loaded! The batter, Shiori Himeji, is replaced by pinch hitter Hiroki Ogino!”
“OhーOhーOhー”
“…What’s this?”
“I’ve made it play baseball commentary and cheers! It has other sounds, too!”
The sounds emitted from ‘E’ were familiar from TV broadcasts – custom versions of support songs and commentary.
“If you have a ball and a bat, you gotta play baseball! Try it next time!”
“Sure.”
Understanding that this is just how Haruna is…
“Hiroki! Where are you!”
An intruder enters Hiroki’s house and goes berserk in the living room.
“Where!”
Bathroom
“Where!”
Inside the washing machine
“Where!”
Balcony with laundry
“Where!”
Toilet
“Where!”
Bedroom with a closet
“Now, onto the guns. I removed the safety and added infrared fingerprint recognition, like ‘E.'”
Two pistols are placed on the table.
Both resemble glossy iron blocks painted in dark green camouflage.
They look similar but have slight differences in shape.
“They resemble Desert Eagles, but inside, they are completely different. Their name is ‘Artemis.'”
Named after the goddess of hunting and archery.
Hiroki holds both guns, but their weight makes his arms wobble.
“I increased their power and recoil, so to make aiming steadier, I made them heavier.”
While receiving further explanations, he puts Artemis back on the table.
Then, two different colored bullets are presented.
“Next, the bullets! One is based on the 50AE bullet, a new bullet I created called ‘Forest’!”
By strengthening the material of Artemis, Haruna was able to use more powerful gunpowder in the bullets. Forest’s feature is that it flies faster and hits harder than normal bullets.
“And the other bullet is called ‘Disaster’!”
Disaster’s feature is its explosive nature.
The bullet is not just a piece of iron but a bomb developed by Haruna – a mini grenade. It explodes upon impact and can blow up a tank with one shot.
“Haruna, isn’t a tank a bit excessive…”
“Use different bullets in the two Artemis! Call them ‘Forest’ and ‘Disaster’!”
Haruna interrupts his question.
Following her instructions, he quickly got equipped with holsters and gear.
Close combat weapon… ‘E’
Firearms… ‘Artemis Forest’ and ‘Artemis Disaster’
Everyday item… ‘Hidden Umbrella’
“…So, you didn’t change the hidden umbrella?”
“I’d appreciate it if you kept it a secret!”
It’s just a regular umbrella, and she’s managed to keep it a secret from everyone. Hence, the ‘hidden’ umbrella.
“Hiroki’s scent!?”
“So, do you have any plans coming up?”
Haruna asks while drinking tea.
“No, nothing’s decided yet.”
“Really? I heard you teamed up with Shiori but haven’t heard about any missions.”
“I haven’t heard anything. I teamed up with her yesterday, and there’s no mission. …Really, absolutely nothing.”
He continued to wonder about the norms of Combat College.
After all, they easily violate gun laws.
Hiroki was beginning to understand what Combat College missions might involve.
“I’ll casually ask Shiori. Thanks for the tea.”
“Yeah! If there’s any problem with the weapons, bring them to me! I’ll fix them!”
“Got it.”
He stands up, exchanges a few words with Haruna, and leaves the room.