Chapter 43

One day, while I was mass-producing Remote Bombs, Alice called for me.

Without giving me a say in the matter, she ushered me toward the living room.

Since she had been immersed in development for the past few days, I had left her to her own devices, but perhaps she had made some sort of breakthrough.

She stood before me and broached the subject with an air of formality.

“There’s something I want to give you, Jack.”

“Heh, you’ve got my interest.”

“I’ll show you right away. Follow me.”

Alice beckoned me along as she headed for the basement.

The idea of her having something to “give” me was a bit unexpected.

I wondered what on earth it could be.

The only thing that came to mind was the unveiling of the upgraded golem car.

I knew she had been working on it with great enthusiasm.

However, the way she was making a show of it felt slightly different.

‘Well, I’ll find out if I follow her.’

I trailed after Alice as she climbed down the ladder.

Upon reaching her development space, Alice pulled something out from a cupboard.

“This is what I wanted to give you.”

What she showed me were two handguns.

A black semi-automatic pistol and a revolver with a silver base.

Since I had never seen these models before, they were undoubtedly firearms of this world.

I actually picked up the two handguns.

The grips fit perfectly in my hands, and the forms were sophisticated.

They were lean and looked easy to customize.

It was obvious they were built with practicality as the main focus rather than aesthetics.

These were definitely not mass-produced items.

They were custom-made, designed with meticulous thought.

I returned the handguns while feeling impressed.

“These are amazing. Where did you buy them?”

“They aren’t for sale. I made them myself. Jack, you mentioned you were dissatisfied with the guns you were using, right?”

“Ah, now that you mention it, I did say that.”

I had been searching the market myself for guns capable of rapid fire.

However, I still hadn’t found any.

The numbers were extremely low, and in the first place, they weren’t in general circulation.

Single-shot rifles were the mainstream firearms in this world.

That was likely the case due to a balance of technical aspects and manufacturing costs.

“Are you using golems in these handguns?”

“Yes, that’s right. I adopted miniature golems into the internal structure. It was quite difficult to maintain portability.”

Alice glanced toward a corner of the room.

A cannon was sitting there.

The barrel was large enough for a human to fit inside.

It was probably an earlier prototype.

It seemed she had crafted the handguns based on that cannon.

If such extensive modifications were truly necessary, it made sense why rapid-fire types hadn’t become widespread.

Even if they were to be deployed to knights or soldiers, they likely wouldn’t be cost-effective.

“You’re quite handy. No, I’ve known that for a while, though.”

I muttered deeply while glancing at the proud-looking Alice.

As expected of an alchemist who possessed the memories and abilities of thirteen generations.

Her technical prowess was incomparable to that of an ordinary person.

Since a person like this was advocating for the destruction of the world, it truly was a terrifying world to live in.

“Do you want to try firing them? I’ve prepared a place and targets for that.”

“You’re well-prepared. Let me give them a shot.”

The place Alice led me to was an adjacent space.

There was a stand in front of us, with glass bottles and iron plates placed on top.

Those were apparently the targets for the test firing.

Alice placed the two handguns and their ammunition on the desk before me.

I picked up the semi-automatic pistol and its bullets.

“Do you know how to use it?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it.”

I ejected the magazine of the automatic pistol and loaded the rounds.

I slapped the magazine back in and took a shooting stance.

I was able to perform the movements up to this point smoothly.

It was proof that the construction of the handgun was solid.

It wouldn’t go this well with a defective product.

“Alright, here I go.”

I fired toward the target.

The gunshots rang out.

With every pull of the trigger, the empty bottles shattered one after another.

The bullets embedded themselves deep into the iron plate.

After firing until the magazine was empty, I lowered the semi-automatic pistol.

“Well done.”

This automatic pistol excelled in rapid-fire capability and shooting accuracy.

The magazine capacity was high at ten rounds, worlds apart from the rifles that required reloading after every shot.

The power was roughly on par with a standard rifle.

The center of gravity of the frame was a bit toward the rear, but I’d get used to it as I used it.

Next, I decided to test-fire the revolver.

The silver revolver had formulas carved densely across its surface.

It was a magic tool circuit.

Having studied a little, I could tell that an incredibly complex circuit had been constructed.

It integrated a wide variety of formulas perfectly, without a single error.

I could never imitate something like this.

“So this is the work of a professional.”

Muttering lightly, I swung the revolver open.

I began loading bullets into the swung-out cylinder.

Looking closely, the surface of the bullets also bore magical formulas.

They were apparently specialized ammunition.

By the way, the capacity was seven rounds.

“Lucky seven. How auspicious.”

I took my stance with the revolver and fired.

A recoil stronger than the previous one traveled through my shoulder.

The bullet punched through the thick iron plate, then pierced the wall behind it and vanished.

I fired the remaining six shots in succession.

In an instant, the iron plate and the wall were riddled with holes.

“Quite a wild horse. But just my type.”

I whistled while spinning the cylinder and ejecting the empty shells.

The revolver type was clearly focused on power.

It had a simple structure to make the gun body more robust.

Compared to the automatic pistol, its firing rate and accuracy were slightly inferior, and reloading would take more time.

However, the destructive power per shot was outstandingly high.

It was a trait that more than made up for its flaws.

Even a monster with a tough hide or scales would likely be pierced easily.

“How is the new weaponry? I’d like your feedback.”

“They’re the best. You don’t encounter masterpieces like these often. Did you use something as a reference?”

“I referred to our daily conversations, Jack, and the opinions of the gunslingers in this city. From there, I extracted the elements that should be incorporated and turned them into two types of guns.”

“I see. That’s marvelous.”

It seemed she had worked seriously on these just for me.

Truly, I have to take my hat off to Alice’s diligence.

I felt a deep sense of gratitude for her kindness.

“I should be able to make guns with even higher performance eventually. Please make do with those for now.”

“Thank you. I’ll take good care of them.”

As I exchanged a handshake with Alice, I heard a voice from a short distance away.

It came from the direction where the test-firing targets were placed.

An intruder?

To show up at this timing—they certainly had some nerve.

I had Alice wait there and circled around behind the wall with the holes in it.

There was no one.

The revolver bullets had simply pierced through some luggage and the wall.

The voice could be heard from further ahead.

While following the bullet holes, I arrived at the hidden room used for interrogations.

In the rotating entrance, there were exactly seven holes.

It appeared they had happened to be in the line of fire.

The voices were coming from inside.

I pressed the button in the indentation and activated the revolving door.

Inside, there was a single corpse.

Among the captives, a beastman male lay dead and covered in blood.

Gunshot wounds were clearly visible on his torso and face.

Apparently, he had been struck by the revolver bullets that had over-penetrated.

The voices I heard were actually the screams of the survivors in their shock.

A person right next to them had suddenly been turned into Swiss cheese and died.

It was only natural for them to be terrified.

“…Well, these things happen. Don’t mind it.”

I shrugged at their misfortune and closed the hidden room.