CH 45

Sniping Advice

“I’ve noticed that there is 1 Ogre remaining up ahead.”

While looking into the distance, I tell Mize, who is standing beside me.

“The details of the commission stated that we should only defeat 3 Ogres, but… the client probably miscounted. In order to recover the Ogres’ horns, which will serve as evidence of defeating them, we’ll have to defeat the fourth Ogre that’s lurking about– And I would like Mize to be the one that defeats it.”

“Me…”

Mize let out a small voice and faced downwards for a while, before eventually answering with a determined expression.

“I will try it.”

Even before being overcome with confusion, and even before asking for a detailed explanation, Mize nodded her head.

She probably has a strong desire to be helpful. Her quick response saves me some trouble.

“<Snipe> requires Magical Control. Unlike Magical Power or even Magical Speed, Magical Control is an aspect that can be improved with practice. In other words, it is no exaggeration to say that knowledge and experience are the key to this ability. And Mize– you have an extraordinary amount of knowledge and experience, more so than anyone else.”

It’s from the effect of the special magic, <Wisdom Road>.

Thanks to this power, Mize has an extraordinarily high level of Magical Control.

“Based on what I’ve seen from your <Alchemy> earlier, Mize, your Magical Control is quite high. You should already possess the ability to master <Snipe>.”

“Um, what should I use for a weapon…”

“For this time, I’ll lend you my [Sniper Wand].”

I take off the black bracelet on my left wrist and hand it to Mize.

“After placing it on your wrist, let magic power flow through it.”

“Y-yes.”

Like me, Mize wears the bracelet on her left wrist.

The next moment, a pitch-black [Sniper Wand] appears in Mize’s hand.

“Hyah!?”

“It’s called BF28, Black Feather Two-Eight. In order to use it, you need to have a high level of Magical Control for using <Snipe>, but it should be no problem for you, Mize.”

Perhaps, if Mize had her Magical Abilities measured again at the Guild, she would get an A rank in Magical Control.

In order to use BF28, the bare minimum qualification is to have an A rank in Magical Control. It would still be difficult to use it perfectly, but it would be enough to be an immediate battle asset.

“BF28… Two-Eight?”

Mize looks as if she’s just noticed something.

And for some reason, she became oddly flustered.

“Ah, um, that… i-it’s nice! There’s a sense of romance in giving your weapon your own name–”

“– No. I’m not the one who gave it that name.”

I haven’t told Mize that my codename was “28” yet.

Chris doesn’t really like my current name, “Tweight” because it reminds her of my codename. In fact, it’s not like I don’t understand her feelings since they do sound similar. Because I felt like it would affect my everyday life later on, I decided not to tell Mize about my codename.

“Let me teach you how to use BF28 first… lend it to me for a bit.”

I receive BF28 from Mize and lie down on my stomach.

“This is the posture: place both feet slightly apart and keep your shoulders level.”

“It’s different from your posture earlier, isn’t it, Tweight-san?”

“Shooting on one knee is intended for medium-range combat. Its advantage is that you can move more flexibly according to the situation; you can quickly run or hide from that posture, but… the prone shooting posture that I’m teaching you now is better if you want to prioritize the stability of your line of fire. Give it a try.”

I hand over BF28 to Mize, who fixes her posture.

After several corrections, her posture for prone shooting is well-ordered.

“Do you have any difficulty breathing?”

“I’m alright.”

“Okay, then look through the [Far-sighted Crystal] on top of the wand.”

Following my instructions, Mize looks through the [Far-sighted Crystal] with one eye.

“… I can’t see much.”

“If you put magic power into the wand, it should come into focus.”

“… It focused!”

“Try to support the centre of the wand with your left hand. The formula incorporated inside it should sense your magic power, Mize.”

“… It’s slow, but I can feel my magic power being guided to the front of the wand.”

“That’s proof that it’s functioning normally. Don’t forget that feeling.”

Those who have no sense for it wouldn’t be able to pick up on that feeling. It seems that Mize has an aptitude for [Sniper Wands].

“The next step is to load the bullets… But first, turn the wand back into a bracelet. To do that, let magic flow through the bottom.”

Mize does as I tell her, placing her hand on the bottom of BF28 and letting magic flow through the bottom.

The jet-black wand instantly turns back into a bracelet on Mize’s left wrist.

“Mize, can you use <Bullet>?”

“Yes.”

“Then try to make a bullet on your palm, as if you were activating <Bullet>.”

Mize faces her right palm upwards and closes her eyelids to concentrate.

After a while, a hazy grey bullet manifested atop her palm.

“Like, this…?”

“Can you make it harder and smaller…? It should look something like this.”

To show her an example, I open my palm in front of Mize and create a bullet out of magic power.

Unlike the bullet on Mize’s palm, the bullet on my palm has a distinct colour and outline.

“… Is magic power really that compressible?”

“Mize, you should be able to do it. Try to imagine that the magic power swirls, converging at the centre.”

“I understand.”

The advantage of sniper tactics is that you can take time preparing.

It doesn’t matter if you take time to form the bullets.

“S-should it look something like this…?”

“… That should do for now. It should be sufficient for sniping targets within 800 metres, so you should be able to sustain that.”

I tell Mize, who is observing the bullet she made.

“Okay, now we’re going to go over the movements I explained from the beginning. First, take the wand and get into position.”

“Yes!”

As she did before, Mize let magic power flow through the bracelet and held BF28 in her hands.

After taking the prone shooting posture, she looks through the [Far-sighted Crystal] and focuses it.

“Try to aim at that tree over there.”

“… Yes.”

While regulating her breathing, Mize concentrates and responds.

“When aiming, open both of your eyes.”

Mize, who was looking into the [Far-sighted Crystal] with one eye closed, opens both of her eyes.

“Once it’s focused, place your left hand on the centre of the wand to support it, and form a bullet. The wand will show you where to place it.”

The formula engraved within the wand guides Mize’s magic power.

After that, a bullet made of magic power was formed.

“It’s done.”

“Okay… This next part is crucial.”

So far, I have explained the method to use the magical tool BF28.

From here on, it will be about the method to snipe.

“First, take a deep breath. Imagine the oxygen you inhaled travelling to every end of your body.”

Mize slowly filled her lungs with Oxygen and exhaled it over time.

“Keep your finger on the trigger.”

Mize places her slender finger on the trigger.

“When you have exhaled around half of the oxygen in your lungs, hold your breath.”

Mize’s body, which had been shaking with each breath, suddenly stops moving.

“When you stop breathing, you should be able to hear your heartbeat.”

This can only be heard by Mize.

Mize is now in a world that only she can understand.

“In between heartbeats, that instant when your body is in its most tranquil state– pull the trigger.”

A few seconds after my last instruction.

Tang. In Mize’s hands, BF28 makes a sound.

“… How, was it?”

“Go on and confirm it.”

Mize looks through the [Far-sighted Crystal] and confirms the appearance of the tree she was aiming at.

“I… didn’t hit it.”

“Well, that’s how it usually goes the first time. From now on, you’ll need to practice several more times.”

After that, Mize practiced sniping several more times.

Although it was an unmoving target, she was able to hit it on the third time, and from the fifth time onwards, she would always hit it.

“It’s about time for the real thing. Shoot the Ogre.”

“A-already?”

“The details of the commission stated that we should only defeat 3 Ogres. For the fourth one, it’s fine even if we drive it off even without defeating it.”

It would be ideal if Mize could defeat it, but it would be sufficient for her to just drive it away. If it charges towards us instead of running away, I will just have to deal with it.

Mize lies on her stomach and prepares.

“Um, can’t I form the bullet first, before taking aim?”

“That is impossible because of the way it works. Once you begin to form bullets, the focus of the [Far-sighted Crystal] is fixed.”

“But… I feel that my aim gets a bit off when I form the bullet.”

“Yeah… That’s what makes BF28 difficult to use.”

This is the reason why the agents of the Royal Bureau of Counterintelligence weren’t able to take over this weapon.

“At the same time that the bullet is formed, the magic power needed to activate <Snipe> is also absorbed. If you unexpectedly resist because you can’t concentrate on forming the bullet, you will lose control over the wand.”

“I see…”

“You were doing well while practicing earlier. As long as you don’t rush, there won’t be any problems.”

Mize regulates her breathing and finishes her preparations.

Without a word, I activate <Rage>. This magic also enhances my eyesight, allowing me to see enemies from far away.

Fortunately, the Ogre has stopped moving now.

Perhaps sensing this opportunity, Mize promptly takes aim. Without rushing, calmly and carefully… appearing unlike a princess, she controls herself with great mental strength while preparing to snipe.

The shot released from the tip of the staff– pierced the faraway Ogre.

“I-I’ve defeated it!”

“Just in case, make sure to properly confirm its death. If you doubt your judgement, shoot it once in the head.”

As if to warn herself for celebrating too soon, Mize purses her lips together as she confirms.

“… It’s alright; I’ve hit it in the head.”

“Okay.”

Hearing the result I hoped for, I stroke my chest in relief.

“You did better than I thought you would… In the future, I might rely on Mize to provide support.”

“Y-Yes! I will devote my utmost effort!”

Mize said with a large smile on her face.

Until now, Mize hasn’t been able to help out in combat, and it seems she felt guilty about it. Behind Mize’s joyous expression, I could see a hallucination of a tail that’s wagging back and forth excitedly.

“If it’s possible, I’d like to have another [Sniper Wand] prepared.”

“Ah… You’re right.”

Mize looked at BF28 in her hand and nodded.

“As you could somewhat guess, that [Sniper Wand] is specially made to suit my Magical Abilities. Mize, you can now hit a stationary target with it, but… Mize, you don’t have enough Magical Speed to hit a moving target. The first shot takes a long time to prepare, so if you aren’t blessed with favourable conditions like this time, it will be difficult to use in actual combat.”

I was born with high Magical Speed, and with effort, I managed to improve my Magical Control.

BF28 was created with these two Magical Abilities in mind.

“There are some [Sniper Wands] that automatically aim at moving targets. You should try to purchase one of those.”

“You’re right… I’ll return this to you.”

After saying that, Mize was about to get up from her prone shooting position when–

“– Wait.”

A person’s shadow appears at the corner of my eye, so I stop Mize.

“Don’t get up; turn your body to face three o’ clock… What do you see?”

Even through the enhanced eyesight I gained from using <Rage>, I can’t grasp the true identity of the person’s shadow.

Mize looked through the [Far-sighted Crystal] and investigated the identity of the person’s shadow.

“… It’s one of our pursuers; an enemy.”

I click my tongue.

Once again, they’ve come at a troublesome time.

“Has the enemy noticed us?”

“No… There’s no sign that they have.”

Then, we have time to think of a strategy.

Although we had just been moving for 2 hours, we still have enough physical strength to spare, since we were able to rest in the village. We have many options to choose from.

“Tweight-san…”

As I was pondering on what to do, Mize utters in a trembling voice.

“… Shall I shoot?”