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..."

rebalance himself, staring

"Bloody hell!"

that held onto the artifact, he

on

held it wrong? Perhaps we can go ask the dwarves for things that can be added to reduce the

with guns, I do think that the way that

his hand flung all the way up in the air, and he was pushed

try using both hands next time and keep your feet planted

using the gun properly. If every time he shot this happened, there was no

Leopold nodded

right; I need to practice

"...Mhm."

that

the barrier, you've got some

long the dwarves were planning on keeping the barrier,

the

I'm not wrong, the dwarves have chosen to erect the barrier because of the weather. So we've got till it stops

"…Thought so too."

in Leopold's

please don't carelessly treat the bullets as though they are as easy to get as water.

that if converted into U, it would total around 500,000U

was

powder which would in turn function as

why I had quite a lot of bullets on me was because I traded them for the core of the

Angelica, but at

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

the bullets could only be created by the dwarves as humans were incapable of

why humans didn't have guns

create bows or other relatively simpler

but also advanced engineering skills that understood the core underlying principles

only been exposed to mana

Leopold on the

"Take good care o—Ukkk."

an electric current suddenly ran through my body and head. My knees buckled, and I almost tripped

to me,

"Wow, Ren, you okay?"

He worriedly asked.

him, I couldn't

"Ugh..."

"Ren? Ren?!"

Leopold's voice was

blurred

last for

to rebalance myself, I reassured

"Ren, are you okay?"

I'm now

my head,

started to hurt. Probably didn't

away and carefully looked at

you should probably

"Yeah..."

"You okay, now?"

"Yeah, no problem."

a smile and stood up

as fast as it

Leopold no longer asked about my

bullets away, he looked at the entrance of the tower in

on the

"...got it."

need anything, tell

nod,

the smile on my face disappeared

'What was that?'

messed up due to what had

it, it felt as though I had a similar headache

what in the

more I thought about it,

Or was this really something due to my

hoped that it was

—Booom!

was then that an explosion suddenly sounded. Following this, the whole

sound originated from, I saw a faint ripple appear on the

waves appeared on the barrier before disappearing not

the barrier had absorbed the attack

the ripple centered, my brows furrowed

"They've started the siege…"

***