The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent – 153
EP.153 Rolling Stone (4)
The fact that we didn’t have the ability to repair the broken equipment, combined with the fact that it was getting late, meant that we all decided to head back to our rooms.
The next day, I informed Jennifer about the damage to the training ground.
"It was designed to be shot at, so of course it'll break if you hit it that hard."
Jennifer nodded as she spoke.
"Bullets pass through and don’t usually affect the mechanism, so there’s no issue of the parts bending back. But, if you hit it with a sword and apply a lot of force, it’s not impossible for the parts to break."
While examining the wrecked mechanism, Jennifer stood up.
"I can get some spare parts, and if we let the academy know, we can have it fixed. You don’t need to worry too much about it."
Honestly, I wasn’t worried. Even if the repairs were expensive, I could easily cover the cost if I wanted to.
"By the way..."
Jennifer turned her gaze to the three of us.
Sophia Bianchi, who had repeatedly apologized the previous night, had insisted she didn’t need to come today, but here she was, still appearing quite remorseful. If she hadn’t really been sorry, she wouldn’t have pushed herself to come. Or perhaps, she had to make it look like she was genuinely sorry.
"I’ve never seen a swordswoman train here before. In fact, there’s not much a swordswoman can really do in this kind of training ground."
"Is that so...?"
In response to Sophia Bianchi’s words, Jennifer shrugged.
"Fighting with firearms is all about reaction speed. The key is to hit targets that appear suddenly and take them down immediately. But with a sword, it’s all about the skill of clashing blades, isn’t it? Sure, training for reaction speed is important, but the most important thing is training with someone who actually wields a sword."
"But... that’s..."
“Hmm.”
Seeing Sophia Bianchi hesitate, Jennifer tilted her head.
"If you really need training, I think it would be best if the two of them helped you."
"…..."
I had a feeling that this was coming.
Since the event on the battlefield, Jennifer had greatly overestimated my abilities. It was understandable. Anyone would do so if they saw someone who could change the course of a battlefield on their own.
Lena had likely been sent by the Autonomous State to keep an eye on me. Although, Lena seemed completely unaware of this.
In modern times, no matter how skilled someone was, even if they had countless achievements on the battlefield, no one would think of them as a "secret weapon." They would simply gather capable people to form a team for difficult missions, increasing the chances of success in challenging operations.
But this world, with its distinct Japanese subculture, was different. The mere rumor of a war hero joining the battlefield would send the enemy trembling in fear. Even though such a person could still die from a bullet, their presence could change the tide of battle.
"Huh?"
Sophia Bianchi blinked, surprised by the statement.
"The two of them are the best at handling firearms here at the academy, aside from the instructors."
Jennifer gave a very simple explanation to her.
"And, the ‘Princess’ here has already proven herself on the battlefield. She saved the Imperial Army from a deadlock and the risk of a meaningless war of attrition—all on her own."
"Ah, is that...?"
Sophia Bianchi glanced at me with a slight hesitation.
"Is that really true?"
"Of course."
Sophia Bianchi’s words were interrupted by Lena.
"The person who played the biggest role in taking down the warlord group was none other than Sylvia. Soldiers from the Autonomous State who were with the Empire also testified to this."
"And I was there too. Sylvia was definitely alone when she headed to the battlefield. Not just me, but almost every soldier on the front line was looking at Sylvia like she was a madwoman, so there were plenty of witnesses."
It was no wonder people viewed me like that.
One hero could change the course of a battlefield, and in truth, it’s rare to send just one hero into battle. You can’t afford to waste a person who is essentially a tactical weapon.
"If you think that story is Imperial propaganda, how about a duel to settle it?"
"Oh, that's not...," Sophia Bianchi stammered, clearly flustered.
"Here?"
"If we’re dueling, we don’t need to worry about the surroundings."
The only person who would seriously disregard the surroundings during a duel would probably be Jennifer.
"No, but..."
Sophia Bianchi’s gaze shifted toward the gun I was carrying.
"For someone who uses firearms, cover is really important, isn’t it?"
"If it’s a fight with multiple people, maybe. But if it’s just one-on-one, it shouldn’t be a problem. Plus, the opponents here are Sylvia and Lena—two people. There’s no need for cover or any other advantages, right?"
Before I could even answer, Lena was already preparing for combat.
"...Can we duel with just the automatic pistols?"
"Ah, about that..."
Jennifer pulled out a pistol from the holster on her waist.
It looked almost identical to the automatic pistol I used, but the muzzle was blocked. It wasn’t just covered; it had a unique design with a hole on the side, similar to a compensator.
“Your gun is Browning’s, right? I went and asked for a training version of it. If we load blanks, it’ll feel almost the same as using real ammunition."
Jennifer handed the pistol to me, and I took it with some hesitation.
"This way, I won’t get confused while watching you shoot and counting the rounds."
Normally, it would be impossible for anyone to keep track of that, but I kept quiet, aware of the unspoken implication.
I accepted the training pistol from Jennifer, and Lena didn’t need the same modification. The gun wasn’t one with a slide covering the barrel, so Jennifer probably asked Browning to make an adapter for blank rounds that would fit. It would be a bit awkward for aiming, but since Lena fought with two pistols in hand, it wasn’t a major issue.
After loading the blanks into the magazine, we faced each other. Jennifer glanced between us and Sophia Bianchi before speaking.
"Alright, then..."
She paused for a moment, a wide grin spreading across her face.
She really seemed to enjoy this sort of thing.
"Start!"
*
I realized that there were a few things I hadn't seen since arriving in this world. For instance, shouting the name of a technique while swinging a sword. Each character had their own unique skills, and every one of those skills had a name. And the characters would always shout the name of the skill when they used it.
Of course, for some characters, the skill name wasn't really a technical term, but more like a short phrase. In that case, they would shout the phrase instead of the technique name.
Looking back, it made sense that shouting out a technique’s name during a fight would be absurd. It would be like telling your enemy exactly how you were going to fight them. Not to mention, in a real battle, there wouldn't be time for posing and shouting technique names as if it were turn-based combat. Ah, though, I suppose mages can’t avoid it. They need to chant their spells. So, even though I knew all of this, I never really found it strange.
But—
“Goddess, grant me light...”
I never imagined there would actually be someone shouting such lines.
...Ah, right. Of course.
She's from the Papal State, so it might not be so odd for her to chant prayers while fighting.
The problem was that I was the one who found hearing it excruciating.
“By the power of light...”
Hearing that sounded like watching a Japanese anime English dub, and it made me feel a sense of awkwardness I couldn't quite describe.
It would have been better if it had been in Korean, at least.
And because of my abilities, I had to rewind and listen to that line multiple times during the entire fight.
Dammit.
*
It was a relief that I was able to finish the fight before I ran out of bullets. If the training had gone on longer, I might not have been able to endure the awkwardness and might have delayed the whole thing to avoid continuing the fight at all.
"Really... impressive."
It seemed like Sophia Bianchi was a bit shocked that I had finished the training by shooting before shouting "By the power of light."
...Well, she was a knight of the cathedral, so she probably had holy armor that could withstand bullets.
"Of course."
Lena said with a proud look.
"After all, she’s the Empire’s princess."
Normally, a princess shouldn’t be doing something like this.
...Now that I think about it, though, every princess or prince from the Empire who bore that title was always someone capable.