CH 7

Chapter 7 – Escape from the Royal Castle

I decided to wipe out the enemies in the room with my pistol first.

Of course, I have nothing personal against them, but if I don’t kill them now, they will kill me. I have no ability to escape from captivity; I have no friends and no political backing. At the moment, everyone else in this world is my enemy.

I fired two shots at two soldiers who were coming towards me. One of them rolled over and stopped moving, while the other one was hit in the breastplate with the sound of a coin and a high-pitched clang.

“‘Oof! Oh, really?”

It is unclear whether the breastplate had a defensive spell or the angle was wrong, or whether the exposed lead warhead did not have enough penetrating power, but at this point, the remaining bullets in the M1911 had no chance of solving the problem. I shot him in the exposed face, kicked him off, and pointed the muzzle at the following soldiers.

Should I aim at the exposed part or prioritize hitting it? There is no time for using storage either. If I strip off his armor and am still held by a naked soldier, I’d be done for.

I took advantage of their approach and shot a bullet into his face — one more. The last four are neutralized. With two bullets left, it’s impossible to deal with the three who are running down from the upper floor.

I put away my pistol and switched to the assault rifle. At that moment, an unpleasant sensation spreads across the palm of my hand.

“Simon!”

Perhaps it was for maintenance, but the AKM’s body and wooden parts, such as the gunstock, were covered in grease, and some of it was almost caked on. When I pulled the heavy bolt handle, I was relieved to find that it worked surprisingly smoothly. The curved magazine is inserted by hooking the front end. The large selector lever on the side of the receiver is lowered to disengage the safety and switch from fully automatic firing to single-shot firing.

The recoil of the large-caliber 7.62mm ammunition is so great that fully automatic firing will only result in the ammunition being scattered around me, especially as I am new to AKs. I’ve heard that’s the way it’s designed, but I’m not going to put up a pointless barrage with only one loaded magazine.

The sound of a heavy, powerful shot and the recoil. This time the ejection energy was four or five times greater, and the warhead weighed an order of magnitude more, so the bullet struck the breastplate lightly and engulfed the soldier behind it, scraping the stairs. But just as I was relieved, the front door was opened, and three soldiers with swords came in.

With three single shots from the AKM, they rolled over and stopped moving. In order to secure the remaining ammunition for the assault rifle, I take out one of them on the stairs with the remaining two rounds of the pistol. He doesn’t seem to be instantly killed, but his breastplate is broken off. He can’t move, and it’s only a matter of time before he dies.

After confirming that no reinforcements are coming, I take out my AK mags and a box of 7.62mm rounds from storage. I load them, struggling with the stiff spring, and secure four mags with 30 rounds.

As a reward for my efforts, I took the soldiers’ armor and interior decorations.

“This… makes me look like a terrorist on the run, not a hero out of danger.”

I let out a sigh and started moving out the door.

The main gate of the royal castle is naturally guarded by guards. Would it be possible to hide behind the luggage of the outgoing merchants and nobles? With no contacts or acquaintances, no connections or money to bribe, the only option is to threaten them, but it’s hard to get them to comply if they don’t understand the threat of guns.

What I lack now are knowledge, experience, and allies. I know what I need, but I don’t know where to get it.

I could go in head-on with my gun, but then it would be like a big action movie where I fight until I run out of ammunition. And that’s probably where I’ll die.

The world of swords and magic means that there will be offensive magic, and before that, even if someone shoots an arrow at me using a bow, I have no way to prevent it.

“…It’s a problem.”

If I follow the template, the first step is to go to an orphanage or a slave dealer to get a party member who will follow me and adore me. Or maybe to get a follower through a chance encounter or a blossoming talent.

But maybe not. I may be able to kill with a strange weapon or use a strange spell that can steal things, but those are not the kinds of abilities that earn respect or loyalty.

Name: Takefu Yoshiaki

Occupation: Merchant of Death, Terrorist

Rank: 01

Physical Strength: 22

Magic Power: 11

Attack: 24

Resistance: 49

Defense: 54

Skills

Appraisal: 78

Teleportation: 05

Storage: 108

Market: 09

Let’s ignore the new job for now. As you can see, there is a slight increase in the number, except for the cordage. My magic seems to have recovered a little, so I measure the distance as I move in the shadows. It’s a short distance to the end of the castle gate, and that’s where my magic ran out.