CH 5

Chapter 5 – Arrow of Retribution

Every time I pull the trigger, the knights roll around noisily. Well, they were actually bounced.

First, five bullets, five men.

One by one, the bullets are sucked into the center of their chests and fly away, spewing blood from their backs. I didn’t even check the type of warhead, but it’s obvious that it’s not a coated conventional bullet. The ejection hole is too big, and it’s the type of bullet that will collapse and spread inside the body, inflicting a fatal wound. A person carrying a handgun loaded with such bullets is surely not a good thing.

“Where did you get that gun?”

“That’s a company secret. I’m a merchant, you know, and there’s a lot more where that came from.”

In response to the thin macho hero or sage’s question, I smile and play the bluff.

In my mind, I was wondering which of the two remaining bullets I should shoot at. It would be troublesome to leave any of them unharmed. I wish I had time to load more bullets in my pocket.

I guess I can’t.

“I don’t think it’s acceptable to point a gun at royal families and heroes…”

“I do. You’re the one who started it. If you’re not going to let me leave here alive, I’m going to have to kill you. Hey, let me ask you something. What do you think this situation is about, other than killing each other?”

I shot a bullet into the chest of the gorilla macho who stepped in from my blind spot.

Perhaps, because of his martial arts defense, he crossed his arms, and his huge body fell forward. The bullet does not escape to the backside. There was a strange feeling of being bounced off a transparent wall. I wasn’t sure if I should shoot him or not, but I pointed the muzzle of my gun at the thin man. His handsome face twisted in fear and humiliation.

“Die!”

Ignoring the opponent’s movement who tries to escape to the rear, I swung the muzzle and shot the last shot into the mage.

The mage, who was trying to set up some kind of magical barrier to protect the heroes, stood there with a look of surprise on his face. The bullet that hit him in the forehead blew off the back of his head and sprayed the royals behind him with cerebral plasma. It seems that he was not prepared to defend himself, either because he could not cast two spells at once or simply because of priority.

The pistol, which had fired all its rounds, was in a hold-open position with the slide down. It is unlikely that a Japanese civilian would see it and notice that it is out of ammunition, but I store it away just in case.

“Hiyaaaaaa……!!!”

Ignoring the screams and shouts, I run out of the room. Whether or not I’ll make it out alive is a matter of five minutes, and this means that I am one big step away from this critical situation.

Chapter 6 – The Revival of an Old Soldier

After escaping the white chalk room, I ran through the corridor and up the stairs.

I pulled out the magazine of the M1911 and loaded it with bullets from my pocket. The warhead is bare of lead and has jagged slits in it. That’s why the ejection hole looks like mincemeat.

I loaded seven rounds into the chamber and was about to refill the magazine with one less, when I stopped. Simon had left six rounds in the magazine, which might have caused a malfunction if fully loaded. There were only two rounds left.

“Unless you finish at seven, huh? It’s not over, damn it. I can’t fight the world’s most powerful fucking kingdom and its shitty heroes with seven bullets!”

As I ran through the corridors, I stored every piece of armor, decorative weapons from the walls, paintings, vases, and carpets that were on this floor. If I steal and redeem all of them, the stubborn Rastaman will be a little more willing to negotiate.

Putting aside the ordinary soldier, it’s no joke to take a gun against a hero or a sage.

As I went up the stairs further, I saw the light shining into the floor from the window.

I seem to have reached the surface floor. There are two guards in breastplates in front of the entrance and two on patrol or guards as they are called. There were also three guards just visible at the top of the stairs on the front side of the entrance.

There is no reason why there should not be soldiers on the way to the gates of the castle, both beyond the entrance and further beyond, and in the first place, I won’t say that I succeeded in escaping until I left this country. I don’t know how much distance and obstacles there are in between, but the sound of gunfire is bound to draw more and more soldiers.

Of course, I don’t have the skill to use the static kill method, and seven rounds are already far from enough.

It’s a dead-end, isn’t it? I’ll have to listen to the voice of God.

“Market.”

“Oh, Brother, you’ve come to the right place.”

As soon as the white light faded, Simon, his head and neck covered in jewelry, was smiling at me.

“I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t trust you until I appraised it, and it appears that it was worth a lot of money. At least the precious metals will be worth at least $25,000. I’ve decided to keep it for a while, though, because I’m afraid it will get hammered if I sell it too quickly.”

“That’s all right. If you don’t do too badly, I’m sure you’ll get ten times that.”

The jewel is the treasure of the kingdom, after all. I’m sure it’s not an imitation.

“How much for the M1911 copy, by the way?”

“Three thousand. It’s my favorite tuned-up piece.”

About 300,000 yen? Hmm, the market price should be lower than that, of course, but I don’t know whether it’s expensive or cheap in this situation. Well, for the first transaction, the asking price is acceptable. I shrugged my shoulders and urged him on.

“The armor and swords are in the hands of an art dealer, waiting to be appraised. Once they’ve been appraised, what do you want to do with the changes? Do you want your dollars back?”

“No, I want the real stuff. I want two assault rifles, three spare magazines each, and three thousand rounds of ammunition. Ten hand grenades if you have them.”

“I don’t have any grenades. I’ll look for an old one if you like. As for assault rifles, I have AKM, FALs, and G3s in stock and MAC10s and UZIs if you want submachine guns.”

Yes, the line-up looks African. And old.

“If it’s an AK, I want it to be a Kalashnikov. No copies from Eastern Europe or Asia.”

Naturally, I have no experience using them, but from what I’ve read in the documentation, none of the copies have been very popular.

“…Oh shit, that’s not good.”

Out of the corner of my eye during the conversation, I saw a soldier notice me and start to move slowly.

“You’re always on the take, aren’t you? Can you get away with an AKM? Well, it’s still greasy, but it’s an old Soviet one.”

I stored the two automatic rifles, magazines wrapped in greaseproof paper, and a box of ammunition. In return, I put the things I took from the castle on the offering plate.

“We’ll settle up later. See you later.”

Simon hands me one last thing: an AKM magazine.

This one is brand new, and it’s the only one I’ve got loaded. Good luck.”

Time is running out, and the world starts to move at once. Damn it; I should have asked for a gun with a silencer.