“Traveler. Traveler!”
“I think you have the wrong person.”
*Splash, splash.*
It was midday on the beach, where waves *crashed* against the shore.
The traveler lay on a makeshift bed, covering their face with a large hat, just waking up and letting out a *sigh*.
A familiar voice was close by.
At this moment, they could only desperately wish that the voice wouldn’t be heard anymore.
“Can we talk for a sec?”
“Where are your parents? Did you lose them?”
“Don’t play around…”
*Rustle.*
As the hat was removed from their face, the traveler let out a huge *sigh*.
Of course, there stood Tiltitz right there.
To an unfamiliar onlooker, she might just appear to be a stubby little girl.
“I’ll be honest. I came here asking for help.”
“Okay. Let me give you a piece of advice, Tiltitz. You see that beach over there? I can see the torch as well.”
“Y-yeah…”
“Those were fortresses that used to have annihilation cannons embedded in them. But it seems like they took all those cannons away somewhere. So now, the beach is a perfect spot for attack. Load all the fanatics from the asylum that you love so much onto a ship and land them here. Who knows, the Emperor might just be surprised and surrender.”
“Excuse me…”
That was nonsense.
What money would they use to get a ship, and how would they load the isolated fanatics from the continent onto it? And how would they approach the Imperial Navy without being seen?
Even if they somehow succeeded, they would just be surrounded and isolated all over again.
The traveler was spouting off random words.
At first, Tiltitz listened with intent, but quickly caught on to the absurdity.
“I’m serious, traveler.”
“So am I. Really. If such a ridiculous operation were to succeed, wouldn’t it boost the fanatics’ morale? If you do a little flashy magic when you land, the humans would run away in fear, right?”
“Traveler. I need your help. I need your strength.”
“Is that so? Too bad, I don’t need you.”
“You will need me.”
“No.”
“You need me. Don’t ignore the fact that you’re facing a survival threat. We can only survive if the majin wins this war and eradicates Schlus Hainkel.”
“Hah…”
An annoying noise started to build up.
The traveler’s irritation peaked as they rose to confront Tiltitz, locking eyes with her.
“Do you think I’m in danger? Then what put me in jeopardy?”
“The war between majins and humans.”
“Then who started this war?”
“……”
“What? Schlus Hainkel is trying to kill us? Who started it? Who told that madman to attack, causing all this chaos? It was you, Tiltitz. Right now, the biggest threat to the majin is you.”
Tiltitz fell silent.
Cornered by the traveler’s words, she could only bow her head in defeat.
It was all true.
Tiltitz was the one who didn’t recognize the magician who spread authority to threaten humans, and it was her anger over the magician’s death that had led to the attack on Schlus Hainkel, giving him the chance to gain the majin’s power.
The current crisis for the majin stemmed entirely from her.
“So if I disappear, will all this be resolved?”
“What?”
“Admit it. I made a mistake. I became paranoid and messed things up. But now, it doesn’t matter what the cause of the war is. What matters is that the war has already started. Do you really think that if I surrender and die, Schlus Hainkel will be satisfied? Do you think he’ll let you and Alexia live in peace? No. He’s a cunning individual. He likes certainty. He’ll talk about peace but will be secretly waiting for a chance to brutally kill you and Alexia, seeking to be the sole remaining majin.”
Now wasn’t the time to lay blame.
Of course, if it came down to it, it would all be Tiltitz’s fault.
But that didn’t give the traveler a reason to attack Tiltitz.
No matter how big her mistakes were, she was still a majin.
A comrade bound by fate with the traveler and Alexia.
Even if they wanted to sever ties, a strong chain of power made it impossible, creating an inescapable fate between them.
“Help me, traveler. This is a matter of our survival.”
“Ugh…”
With their head in their hands, the traveler let out a *groan*.
They were trapped in the worst dilemma they had ever faced.
*
There was a lot of time left.
Of course, even within that time, there were duties to handle daily, but there was still quite a bit of free time.
Most of that free time was spent with Emilia, Iris, and Trie, but occasionally, there would be moments of personal time as well.
‘Should I try making a gun?’
Having so much free time, such thoughts crossed their mind.
They understood the basic structure of a gun and knew the components of black powder, so perhaps it would be simple enough to attempt an invention… but…
“Is this even right? It would take almost a minute to load it, it doesn’t aim well, getting ammo is tough, and it takes a long time to make. At this rate, I might as well teach a farmer some simple flame magic.”
*Blank.*
The reality that it was more than just impractical hit me like a punch to the gut.
Holding the hideously crafted “handgun” (which looked like a wooden piece with a metal bowl on top), I let out a *sigh* of regret.
Mass-producing it for military supply would be impossible.
As the carpenter said, it had too many drawbacks.
Still, creating one or two to use as a last resort should be fine.
Among weapons that didn’t require mana in this world, this one clearly had the loudest and most potent firepower.
Weapons targeting unsuspecting majins had been developed by assassins, with wrist crossbows shooting projectiles being about the limit.
If they packed black powder to the brim, it might deliver a critical hit to a relaxed majin.
“To experiment…”
I naturally turned my gaze toward my stomach.
Surely, there’s a majin around here.
A majin I could use as a target.
As long as I took care with the heart or brain, Iris could fix them up in no time.
I quickly ran to Iris and made my request.
“Not happening.”
“Huh? Why? Why not?”
“Of course not… I can’t watch Schlus hurt himself.”
“I can do it without you! The majin’s recovery ability will probably take care of it. Too bad, then I’ll just go experiment without you—”
“Ah. Stubborn, really…”
I succeeded in persuading her.
I readied Iris as medical staff for emergencies and began conducting experiments using the gathered materials to create several combinations of gunpowder.
“Cover your ears.”
“Is it going to be loud?”
“You might burst your eardrums.”
“Hick… *gulp*…”
Giving Iris just a hint of fear, I loaded the powder into the handgun.
It was the fastest-burning powder I had created.
Using the majin’s strength, I compressed the powder to the point that the metal bowl was about to crumple, then created a thin partition so that no powder leaked out, and inserted a metal ball.
The mechanism was simple: pulling the trigger would scratch the back powder with sandpaper, igniting it to fire.
Of course, it was a one-time use.
*BOOM!*
“Ahhh?! ”
“Noo…”
*BOOM.*
Not just a *bang*, but a *boom.*
It sounded like a cannon firing with a tremendous noise, causing me to clutch my stomach and topple forward.
Startled, Iris rushed over, quickly laying me down and tearing my clothes, but—
“Wait? You’re fine?”
“Ugh… You scared me!”
Surprisingly, my stomach was unharmed.
A metal ball was discovered about 100 meters away, actually broken into pieces.
“Then let’s try putting several small metal balls in next time…”
“Are you doing it again?!”
“Of course. My goal is to create weapons that can deal damage to a majin. You’ll help, right?”
“Hic… That’s too much, really…”
I embraced a tearful Iris and wiped her tears.
Sometimes, I worried that Iris was too nice and might get taken advantage of.
I had to protect Iris from any wicked individuals approaching her.
“Let’s see. This time, since the metal balls are small, we should use something strong that might have a slower burn rate.”
“I can’t watch this…”
“Just close your eyes and come running after I shoot.”
“Fine…”
As Iris covered her face with her hands and ran out, I began reassembling the handgun.
I was just about to finish preparing for another shot when—
*Thud…!*
“Trie?”
“Schlus…! Ahhh! This is bad!”
The door burst open as Trie rushed in.
She looked like she had come running, with sweat dripping down her forehead.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s Erica… Erica is…”
“What about Erica? What happened?”
A sense of unease surged through me.
Could it be that an enemy attacked Erica?
If that were the case, she would have communicated with me much earlier, but I hadn’t received any signals from Erica regarding a rescue.
Could it be the work of an assassin skilled enough to interfere with communications?
Was there really such a reckless fool who dared to carry out an assassination against my comrade on imperial soil?
All sorts of thoughts raced through my mind as my teeth ground in frustration.
“Ah! Calm down! She’s fine! It is serious, but…”
“What’s going on? Stop beating around the bush and tell me quickly.”
“I’m not trying to beat around the bush, but it’s just that… it’s a bit ridiculous…”
“Spit it out!”
“Erica… there’s been a controversy about her character. A massive one.”
“What?”
For a moment, my brain short-circuited.
Trie’s words were far too perplexing to comprehend rationally.
