The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

We didn’t have the ability to repair the broken parts, and it was getting late, so we all returned to our rooms for the night.

It wasn’t until the next day that I informed Jennifer about the damage to the training ground.

“Since it was designed with shooting in mind, it’s only natural that it broke when hit so hard,” Jennifer said, nodding after hearing the story.

“Bullets pass through without causing the mechanisms to bend. But if you strike it with a sword and apply strong force, it’s not impossible for the parts to break.”

Jennifer, who had been inspecting the ruined mechanical device, stood up.

“If you inform the academy, we have spare parts, so it can be fixed. There’s no need to worry too much.”

In truth, I wasn’t really concerned. Even if it cost a lot to repair, I could afford it if I really wanted to.

“By the way...”

Jennifer looked at the three of us.

Sophia Bianchi, who had apologized countless times last night, hadn’t needed to come, but she had insisted on coming anyway. She must have genuinely felt sorry.

Or perhaps it was because she had to appear genuinely apologetic.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a knight train here. Honestly, there’s not much a knight can do in this kind of training ground,” Jennifer remarked.

“Is... that so?” Sophia Bianchi asked.

Jennifer shrugged.

“Combat with firearms is all about reaction speed. It’s important to shoot and take down targets that pop up unexpectedly. But for a swordsman, the ability to clash swords is the most crucial, isn’t it? While reaction training is necessary, what matters most is training with someone who actually wields a sword.”

“Is that so...?”

Sophia Bianchi hesitated, and Jennifer tilted her head as she looked at her.

“If you really need training, it might be best if the two of you help out.”

“....”

I had a feeling something like that would be said.

Since the incident in the battlefield, Jennifer had greatly overestimated me. That was only natural. If there was someone who could change the course of a battle by themselves, anyone would think highly of them.

Lena coming from the autonomous country was likely because she wanted to observe my movements as well. Though it seemed like Lena didn’t notice that at all.

In the modern world, even if there was an exceptionally strong person who had achieved numerous feats in battle, they wouldn’t necessarily be seen as a “hidden card.” In a normal scenario, such people would just be gathered into a unit to slightly increase the chance of success in operations that regular soldiers would struggle with.

But this world, with its characteristics of Japanese subculture, was different. The mere mention of a war hero entering a battlefield made the enemy tremble. Even in a world where those heroes would still die from a bullet, their presence alone could change the course of the battle.

“Hmm?”

Sophia Bianchi asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

“The two of you are, aside from instructors, the best firearm users at this academy.”

Jennifer gave her a very simple reason.

“Besides, the ‘Princess’ here has already made a name for herself on the battlefield. She single-handedly saved the Empire’s army from a dangerous situation, rescuing them from a deadlock that could have turned into a pointless war of attrition.”

“Oh, is that...?”

Sophia Bianchi glanced at me, her expression questioning.

“Was that really true?”

“Of course,” Lena quickly intervened.

“The person who played the biggest role in dealing with the warlord group was Sylvia. Even soldiers from the autonomous country who were with the Empire testified to it.”

“I was there too. When Sylvia went to the battlefield, she was alone. Not just me, but nearly every soldier on the frontlines saw her as a crazy person, so there are plenty of witnesses.”

It was no wonder they thought of her that way.

Heroes can change the course of a battle, so in reality, it’s rare for someone to be sent into battle as a hero. Such a person, almost like a tactical weapon, couldn’t simply be wasted.

“If you think that story is just imperial propaganda, then how about a sparring match to test it?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean that...”

Sophia Bianchi spoke in a flustered voice.

“Here?”

“No need to worry about the surroundings when sparring.”

Honestly, the only one who wouldn’t care about the surroundings would be Jennifer.

“No, well...”

Sophia Bianchi’s gaze shifted to the gun I was holding.

“Using firearms would require cover...”

“If it’s one-on-one, there’s no need for cover. Besides, your opponents here are Sylvia and Lena. So, no advantage in using cover, right?”

I hadn’t even responded, but Lena had already started preparing for the spar.

“...Can we spar with automatic pistols?”

“Ah, about that...”

Jennifer took a pistol from the holster at her waist.

It looked almost identical to the one I used, but the barrel was blocked off. Not just blocked, but it had a unique design, with a hole drilled to the side, like a compensator.

“This is your Browning, right? I asked to have a training firearm made. With blank rounds, it’ll feel almost like using a real gun.”

Jennifer handed the pistol to me, and I accepted it with some hesitation.

“Now you won’t get confused watching me shoot, counting the number of bullets.”

Normally, people wouldn’t be able to keep track like that. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Well, I had enough tact not to mention that.

I took the training pistol from Jennifer, and Lena didn’t need any special equipment. The gun wasn’t a design with a slide covering the barrel, so Jennifer probably had Browning make a blank round adapter. It might make aiming a bit awkward, but since Lena had always fought with guns in both hands, she’d manage fine.

After loading the blanks into the magazine and facing each other, Jennifer looked back and forth between us and Sophia Bianchi before speaking.

“Alright. Let’s—”

She paused for a moment with an excited expression.

She really did enjoy this sort of thing.

“Start!”

---

Now that I thought about it, there were a few things I hadn’t seen in this world yet.

For instance, shouting out the names of techniques while swinging swords.

Each character had their own skills, and each of those skills had a name.

And characters would always shout the name of their technique when using it.

Of course, for some characters, the name of their technique wasn’t really a name but more of a short phrase. In that case, they would usually shout the phrase instead of the skill name.

Thinking about it, it made sense that shouting technique names in battle was unrealistic. It would be like announcing to the enemy exactly how you planned to fight. Plus, in a real battle, there’s no time for posing like in turn-based combat. Oh, I could understand it for mages, since they need to chant spells.

So, I hadn’t really thought much of it, even though I knew about it.

But—

“Goddess, grant me light...”

I never imagined someone would actually shout lines like that.

...Ah, right, she’s from the Law Country.

It might not be weird for her to fight while reciting prayers.

The problem was, hearing that from someone else was just... awkward.

The company that had hired the voice actor for Sophia Bianchi was known for using famous voice actors, and the one who voiced her had starred in major roles in many prominent works.

If this were a game, it would have been in Japanese. If the language used in this world had been Japanese, I probably wouldn’t have felt so uncomfortable.

But the language in this world is a constructed language based on English.

Even though I understood it just like my native language—

Hearing her shout “By the power of light...” was like watching a dubbed Japanese anime in English. It was a feeling that was hard to describe but left me utterly cringed out.

It would have been a little better if it had been in Korean.

And because of my ability, I had to rewind and listen to that sound again and again during the battle.

Damn it.

---

Fortunately, I was able to finish the spar before running out of ammo. If it had gone on longer, I might have given up on the training altogether to avoid that embarrassing moment.

“Really... impressive.”

Sophia Bianchi seemed shocked that we had finished the training with a shot before her “By the power of light” could even come out.

...Well, she’s a cathedral knight, so she probably has some magical gear that can block bullets.

“Of course,” Lena said with a proud expression.

“After all, she’s the Empire’s princess.”

Well, usually, a princess wouldn’t be doing things like this.

...But thinking about it, all the imperial princes and princesses were skilled in one thing or another.