Lute, age 7.
After repelling the goblins, Elle-sensei checked us for injuries. There was only a cut on the little girl when she fainted, so with Elle-senseis healing magic she recovered in the blink of an eye.
After that sensei led us back to the orphanage.
A party of guards were called from town to serve as lookouts. During that time, Elle-sensei went inside the forest alone and killed the 2 goblins that ran away. Moving easily around the forest, she looked for other monsters that might be a threat, then went back. It seems she didnt find anything besides the goblins.
That night, a meeting was convened at the mayors house.
The agenda was this evenings Goblin Attack Incident.
There are cases where monsters individually attacked towns, but its the first time they did so en masse.
To start with, ferocious monsters like goblins had never been found in these forests. Its the first case ever since the town was founded.
A villager jokingly said Isnt this the revival of a demon king?. The mayor admonished him for indiscretion, and he went quiet.
On the bright side, through my and Snows efforts there are no casualties, though some did get injured. It was a rather fortunate outcome.
But we cant expect good luck to happen every time. At the meeting it was decided that once every 30 days, the guard party and Elle-sensei would come together and look around the forest, patrolling to make sure there are no dangerous monsters.
Tonight, the guard party will take shifts standing watch on the outskirts of town just in case.
Everyones words of thanks to me and Snow kept on coming until the next day.
After the goblin attack incident, peoples opinion of me underwent a complete change.
Originally among the townspeople I had gained a bad reputationI was the creepy kid who, even though I became the orphanages #1 contributor through my earnings from reversi and other toys, spent the money doing suspicious research with magic liquid metal.
As for myself, because I had immersed myself in handgun making, I never noticed that I had a bad reputation.
Through this incident, the public opinion of me became that of a Genius who had no talent as a magician, but compensated for it with magic devices.
Really, a complete change.
The mayors complete change was particularly severe.
The girl that Snow and I saved was the mayors daughter, and she was taken at first sight by me. Via the mayor, she pressed to have me as her husband. The mayor also eagerly suggested that I marry her and stay and protect this town.
Of course, I declined. I like this town, but protecting this town for the rest of my life is something I could not do.
Also, I was happy to be praised, but in terms of actual combat experience, there are a lot of points where I was lacking.
I could control my magic power as I wanted during practice, and yet control became sloppy in actual combat. Because of that I spent magic power uselessly.
Also, I realized that the revolvers reload speed, number of rounds, and power are insufficient.
It turned out okay since the number of opponents was small, but if next time there is more of them, I dont think Ill be able to fully protect Snow and the others. I still get cold sweat now when I think back on it.
Before the incident, the S&W M10 was to be the prototype for a S&W M19 Combat Magnum chambered for the more potent .357 Magnum round.that could fire magnum bullets. I woke up to the fact that now its no longer a matter of pursuing a hobby.
I postponed the M19 temporarily, and decided to start working on an assault rifle.
After finishing lunch, I returned to the boys room.
It was in order to prepare the things I need for making an assault rifle at the test firing range.
Since the goblin attack incident, by the mayors decree, kids are not to go to the river without adults. But only I was allowed, for the sake of magic device experimenting.
Well then everyone, now we shall begin magicians basic class Look, Snow. Elle-senseis starting class. A little more, I want to tickle you a little more. You cant be like that, everyones waiting. See, go along. Uuuuu. Lute-kun is mean.
She reluctantly let go of me while uttering complaints.
Well, see you again then. Dont make trouble for Elle-sensei and the others. Okay, see you later. Snow-kun, your words and actions dont match. Let go of me.
Snow pinched the edge of my shirt in futile resistance. Her face went timid when I pointed it out, but in the end she let go of her hands with a smile and ran back towards Elle-sensei.
I picked up the cask and went towards the test firing range.
I arrived at the test firing range.
I held my stuff, except for the cask, under my arms to keep them out of the way.
I opened the casks lid, and put my hands in. I felt the cold touch of metal on my skin. Relishing the cold feel, I once again thought of the gun I was going to make.
The gun I was going to make now was an AK-47 assault rifle, a masterpiece created in the Soviet Union. Though there are lots of improved variations like AKM, for now lets just call it an AK-47 for convenience.
Why did I choose the AK-47 out of the many assault rifles? Its because it had the simplest structure.
Moreover, it was, generally speaking, sturdy, being able to pound away perfectly in the freezing cold of the Arctic circle, the deserts of Africa, or the jungles of Southeast Asia, and even without going through maintenance after being soaked in muddy water.
Some even think that rusted and dirty AK-47s that had been buried in a wet rice field and dug out again after half a year can be fired without a problem. Such dirt and rust resistance, terrible firepower that can shoot 600 rounds per minute, a structure that made it hard to get jammed, and able to fire even when it hasnt been maintained in decades, it was that kind of tough assault rifle.
Because of these advantages, in the world of my previous life, it was often copied and would pop up in all corners of the earth. Appearing in national flags and banknotes of several countries, it was a weapon that redrew the geopolitical map of the world after the cold war, falling in to the hands of guerilla and anti-government forces around the world.
It is said that several hundreds of thousands of people each year lost their lives because of this weapon. Because of that it was also called the little WMD.
That is the reason why I can say that this is the most appropriate assault rifle for this underdeveloped alternate world.
But there are two problems.
Number one: although the structure is simple, its still an automatic.
It uses what is called a gas-operated system, where the next round is loaded using the gas that is produced when the first round is fired.
In the case of the AK-47, it is done by using a gas piston located on top of the barrel. This is called a gas-operated system. Whether I can make something that works by this system or not..
I learned this the hard way while making the revolver, but although I have the know-how, the difference between theory and practice is like heaven and earth.
Problem number two: the cartridges.
Rifle cartridges are very different in appearance and contents to handgun cartridges.
First, the outer shape of the cartridges is long and narrow, with a neck like a wine bottle along the way.
The powder inside the rifle bullets burn slower than that of handguns (although only by some 1000ths of a second). Because the combustion speed is slower, the pressure in the airtight compartment inside the case and barrel increases, so it can fire bullets at a higher velocity and energy.
To reproduce such a powder, it is necessary to do extraordinary experiments.
Well, I know the final form though. Since there is no need to do trial and error to get the answer, its still easy.
The design of the bullet is way more complicated than the gun body itself. It even raised heated discussions between ballistics experts. Small changes in the bullets weight, shape of the tip, and powder quantity will make them into entirely different weapons. If I could make it, it seems its going to be a reliable weapon.
I exhaled lightly once again, and closed my eyes. I used the power of imagination I cultivated while making the revolver to the utmost.
The first part I should make is
I gently put my hands into the cold liquid metal.