The Author's POV

"I thought that it might come in handy to you."

After having witnessed the prowess of the dwarves with their gun-like artifacts, I thought that it would've been a perfect fit for Leopold, who usually always helped out from the back.

This way, he wouldn't need to join the fights when commanding the others directly.

Aiming the gun around, Leopold asked.

"What are the requirements for using this little thing?"

"Just inject some mana, and it'll work. It's a ranked artifact."

The artifact was something that only dwarves could create and essentially worked as a gun.

Upon injecting mana into the device, the artifact would activate, releasing the bullets that were loaded inside.

Well, that's how it should work. Never used it, so I didn't know.

"Take good care of it; it cost me quite a lot."

Aiming the gun towards the distance, Leopold put his finger on the trigger.

"Sounds easy enough."

"Well, I still think you need time to get used to it."

Just like any weapon, it needed time to be mastered, and although Leopold was already good with the sword, at the end of the day, his talent did not lay in swordsmanship but in commanding.

Plus, just because he was now using a gun, it didn't mean that he couldn't use a sword.

He could very well use it during short-range fights and then replace it when he's helping out from the back; after all, the gun would be more useful when he's commanding a lot of people at once.

Looking through the status of the gun, Leopold suddenly asked.

"How's the recoil on this thing?"

"…how about you try?"

I also was curious about this.

Raising his brow and looking around, Leopold picked his ear to ensure he didn't hear wrongly.

"Try? Here?"

"I don't think anyone would mind being honest. Just shoot the air."

We were in the open, and most likely, the sound that would come out from shooting the weapon would get drowned out by the sound of the rain.

Furthermore, I don't think the dwarfs would mind this.

"Guess you're right."

Leopold was a simple person. At my words, he stopped thinking too much and put a bullet inside of the gun-like artifact.

Chi Chak—

Loading the artifact, Leopold aimed towards the distance with one hand.

His semi-long hair was already wet from the rain.

Closing one of his eyes and aiming towards the barrier in the distance, he softly muttered.

"I'm going."

Looking at him and taken aback by the fact that he was only using one hand, I blurted out.

"Wait, why are you using only one hand?"

"...just cause."

As soon as his words faded, a gentle hue shrouded his hand, directly entering the artifact.

Click—!

Leopold then pressed on the trigger.

—Booom!

Accompanied by a thunderous sound, a blue ball of energy shot out from the gun, directly aiming for the barrier in the distance. Travelling at incredible speeds, the blue energy travelled through the air, splitting the rain apart.

Before long, it appeared right before the barrier.

However, right as the energy was about to hit the barrier, something miraculous happened; the blue ball stopped mid-air before suddenly disappearing out of thin hair.

On the other hand, while the energy ball shot out from the gun, Leopold, the one responsible for the shot, was sent a couple of steps back.

"Uukkk..."

to rebalance himself, staring

"Bloody hell!"

one that held onto the

on

we can go ask the dwarves

an expert with guns, I do think that the way that Leopold held onto the

way up in the air, and

using both hands next time and keep your feet planted on the

still needed a lot of practice before using the gun properly. If every time he shot this happened, there was no use

Leopold nodded

I need to

"...Mhm."

at the barrier that had now enveloped

using the

long the dwarves were planning on keeping the barrier, I estimated that we

the weather cleared

barrier because of the weather. So we've got till it stops raining to

"…Thought so too."

small box in Leopold's direction,

carelessly treat the bullets as though they are as easy to get as water.

converted into U, it would total

there was a reason for

could be turned into powder which would in turn function as gunpowder. In fact, demon cores could also

I had quite a lot of bullets on me was because I traded

I thought of giving it to Angelica, but at the mere mention of

though; after all, even I wouldn't be very excited at the

another note, the bullets could only be created by the dwarves as

why humans didn't have

bows or other

engineering skills that understood the core underlying principles of

though. After all, humanity had only been exposed to mana

on the shoulder, I

"Take good care o—Ukkk."

an electric current suddenly ran through my body and head.

was next to

"Wow, Ren, you okay?"

He worriedly asked.

for him, I couldn't

"Ugh..."

"Ren? Ren?!"

my teeth, Leopold's voice was faint in my

vision blurred

luck, this did not last for long as I soon got myself

rebalance myself, I reassured Leopold that I was

"Ren, are you okay?"

I'm now

my head, I painfully

that my head suddenly started to hurt.

away and carefully

have some time, you should probably get some

"Yeah..."

"You okay, now?"

"Yeah, no problem."

a smile and stood up

pain left as fast

Leopold no longer

he looked at the

on

"...got it."

you need anything, tell

simple nod, Leopold soon

Leopold's back, the smile on my face disappeared as

'What was that?'

was still messed up due to what had happened at

it felt as though

in

I thought about it, the

wrong with me? Or was this really something due to

it was the latter

—Booom!

an explosion suddenly sounded. Following this,

originated from, I saw a faint ripple appear on the enormous barrier enveloping the entire

miniature waves appeared on the barrier before

me that the barrier had absorbed

direction of where the

"They've started the siege…"

***