Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy
Iris
A man with flamboyant red hair who suddenly appeared.
Likely the one who annihilated a wyvern in a single blow, his peculiar choice of weaponry caused a stir among the onlookers.
It’s a massive box-shaped rod, about the height of a person.
With some levers on its side and grips for handling with both hands protruding, it had a somewhat futuristic, SF-esque look to it… However, as he carried it, one could confirm a trigger near his hand, proving that it was indeed a firearm.
The redhead who carried what could be better described as a cannon than a gun approached us.
Soldiers around me became alert to his movements and attempted to shield me, but I reassured them with a glance, signaling there was no need to worry.
Ignoring the soldiers, the redhead approached me so closely that one of them looked like he was about to draw his sword…
…then, abruptly, he knelt down before me.
Reaching one hand toward me, and placing the other on his chest, he began to speak.
“Please marry me!”
“My deepest apologies, but I have to refuse.”
The surrounding fell into complete silence.
Only Milly-san, who knew the circumstances, smiled wryly as if saying “Here we go again…”.
“Ah, rejecting me without a second thought… That’s Ku… I mean Iris-chan for you.”
“I could say the same to you… Long time no see, Higami-san.”
“Yeah, glad to see you back again.”
With that, he casually got up and stroke my head as if the previous exchange had never happened.
Even in such a situation, this person hadn’t changed at all. I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“It’s alright, everyone. He’s someone who took care of me a lot when I was missing. His personality is a bit eccentric, but he’s someone you can rely on.”
There was still some confusion among everyone, but the tension finally dissipated after my explanation.
Higami-san, however, quickly assumed a serious expression, leaned close to my ear, and spoke in a volume that others couldn’t hear.
“Hold up, where did Ayame-chan and that childhood friend of yours go…? Aren’t they supposed to be with you?”
“Well, about that… um…”
My body trembled when that topic was brought up. Those two were still in a coma.
In these past few days, I could do nothing other than bottling up my feelings about them… but when Higami-san, who wasn’t just my superior at work but also an older brother figure, showed up, those feeling within me were about to burst forth like a dam breaking.
Tears started to stream down my face.
“…Something happened, didn’t it?”
I rubbed my eyes to wipe away the tears, but they just kept on flowing.
Higami-san gently placed his hand on my head.
Somehow, that gesture reminded me of Reiji-san…
Come to think of it… It’s been so long since the last time Reiji-san patted my head like this.
And that was the breaking point.
The tears could no longer be stopped.
“Hey, wait… Iris-chan?!”
“Waaaaaaaah…! Aaaaaaaaah…!!”
I dove into Higami-san’s chest and cried like a child… We stayed like that for a while.
“…Feeling better yet?”
“*sobs*… I’m sorry, it was unbecoming of me, especially in a time like this…”
The wyverns were still circling overhead, and everybody else was thoughtful enough to look the other way, remained vigilant. As I calmed down, a mix of embarrassment and guilt overwhelmed me.
I then managed to bring Higami-san, or “Scarlet” as he was known in the game, up to speed about our current situation, all the while being soothed by him stroking my head.
“I see… That must have been tough.”
“Like you wouldn’t believe…”
I forced myself to smile as I replied to him because if I didn’t try to jest, I feared that I might break down again. I could only hope that it was convincing enough of a smile.
“Gotcha. I might not be able to replace them, but until Ayame-chan and the other guy wake up, rely on me as much as you need, okay?”
“Yes… Thank you so much…”
His words brought tears to my eyes again, and I quickly wiped them away.
Back in my old world, I hesitated to show my weakness in front of Ayame, who was my little sister, and Reiji, whom I wanted to stand beside as equals one day… Unlike the two of them, Higami-san, who was older and more experienced than me, felt like an older brother figure, and I found myself almost naturally wanting to rely on him.
I need to pull myself together, I thought as I lightly slapped my cheeks and regained my composure.
“You know, Iris-chan… Is it just me or you’re acting completely different now, like you’ve been a girl all along or something…”
“…?”
“F-Forget I said anything!”
I could only tilt my head when he started to get flustered and murmured in a barely audible voice for some reason.
At the same time, the surroundings began to stir again.
Looking up at the sky, it seemed that the battle had already been resumed, as several wyverns began charging toward us, and the ballistae firing their massive arrows in retaliation.
“Anyway, let’s get this over with quickly and wake those two up, shall we? Iris-chan, cover your ears, and don’t stray too far from me.”
With that instruction, I obediently covered my ears with both hands and took a few steps back.
As I glanced at him, Scarlet… I should call him Scar-san from now on, pulled a lever at the side of his gun.
With a clang, a spent cartridge about the size of a marker pen flew out from the side of the gun, danced in the air for a moment, then fell to the ground .
Immediately, his hand reached for the ammunition case attached to his waist, and what emerged from it was a new bullet. Like a flowing movement, the new bullet was loaded into the gun, the lever was returned, and the chamber closed again.
Similar to our old world’s firearm, his gun operated by igniting the primer in the base of the cartridge in order to fire bullets, but with magic instead of gunpowder.
In the game, guns were a relatively new weapon category, only available to the Archer grouping’s specialized class, Gunner.
To obtain the Gunner class, one must clear the notoriously difficult magic gun creation quest, unlocked after leveling up to the latter half of the Archer grouping’s secondary class and consumed a staggering deal of rare materials upon completion, and that’s not the last hurdle a Gunner player had to overcome.
Unlike the “reincarnation”, their level didn’t reset after becoming a Gunner, but they would lose the entirety of their archery skill tree and had to start over from scratch. That’s why they were often looked down on by players who remained in the so-called “proper” Archer grouping, leading to frequent disputes on the forum… but I digress.
There were various types of magical firearms within the game, such as the initial single handgun, dual pistols, rifles, etc… but I’d never seen one as large as the one he carried.
So his gun must be one-of-a-kind, because…
“I’ll show you the power of the Gunner tertiary class, Der Freischutz…!”
With a snap, the air around us cracked, and I saw Scar-san’s hair standing on end as if electrified.
Several lines of magic circuits shimmered on the magic gun, and small magic circles lit up at the tip.
Those magic circles were projected in the direction ahead, about twenty meters apart, and extended into the air.
Just as I wondered what it was…
…A thunderous explosion pierced even the hands covering my ears.
It wasn’t just the explosion.
The moment the released projectile passed through the magic circle deployed in front of the gun—blinding light and thunderous noise resounded, followed by the air bursting, and a sound that pierced beyond limits, leaving only a streak of lightning burned into the retina before disappearing.
It was an almost instantaneous moment, barely recognizable.
The wyvern unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of the gun’s payload had a gaping hole on its body, where its heart and lung once were, and fell powerlessly toward the ground without leaving so much as a death throe.
Instant death. The wyvern’s hard scales provided little protection against Scar-san’s bullet.
Although it pained my chest to see another life snuffed out in an instant… I was aware that if we didn’t take down those wyverns, they would kill and devour us as prey. Thus, I grasped the chest of my robe tightly and made sure to witness the scene without averting my eyes.
“…Amazing.”
Muttered Hayato-kun. Everyone around, including me, honestly felt the same way.
In terms of sheer destructive power, Milly-san’s magic probably had an edge over Scar-san’s bullets.
However, Scar-san clearly surpassed Milly-san in terms of penetration and killing power.
Boasting the highest DPS among all physical attackers without regard to consequences, that’s the Gunner class in the game.
Scar-san, who obtained the tertiary class of that specialization, had well inherited that glory.
“…And that’s the basics of my current ability. Hope I can be of help in combat, Iris-chan.”
Saying so, Scar-san looked up at the sky.
There, changes were happening in the movements of the wyverns.
The wyverns, which had previously returned to observing once one of them was defeated, were not retreating.
On the contrary, several wyverns that had been circling changed their course… one after another, they were heading towards us or into the city.
“…Looks like those guys are starting to get serious too. Iris-chan, if it’s too dangerous for you, you can head back inside the gate-”
“…It’s fine. I can do this.”
Despite his concern for me, I shook my head.
I didn’t intend to push myself too hard, and it’s much more scarier to hide and tremble without doing anything. So…
“Like you said earlier, let’s get this over with quickly and wake those two up… Scar-san, please lend me your strength.”
“Yep, heard it loud and clear!”
Once again, a cartridge was ejected and fell to the ground with a clang.
It resonated strangely loud, as if heralding the beginning of the real defense battle of this city…
APM - Translation 