The Protagonist’s Party is Too Diligent

Ta-da!

In the end, we won.

Over a third of the noble class received a fatal verdict, but there were none from the group like you. In fact, it wouldn’t have been surprising if more than half had received a fatal verdict, but it was Mia Crowfield’s magic that played a significant role in bringing things to this point.

Looks like the commoners were completely thrown into a frenzy by the enormous bright light flying over their heads. They might know in their heads that there really can’t be any dangerous magic flying around in a situation like this… but seeing it with their own eyes is a whole different story.

Besides, that magic wasn’t without its effects. At least it was able to obscure one line of sight for sure. Thanks to that, the ones who got hit by the shots from afar could be narrowed down to the noble group that had started the charge.

Honestly, if I had been crafting swords in my hands just before jumping over the sandbags, I could have gotten away from the danger… but the kids in my group were all holding rifles instead.

Sure, we had two shots in the chamber, but they were double-barreled rifles that didn’t need pumping when firing. It wouldn’t have been that hard to take out the enemies right in front of us.

And then we drew our swords and charged in, which probably left the commoners even more flustered.

Just because it’s swordsmanship doesn’t mean it’s simply about wielding a sword; the very idea of being slashed by one, and having someone full of life charging at you with a sword, is terrifying from a defensive perspective. Plus, there’s this common belief that nobles are generally skilled with swords.

So it couldn’t have been too difficult to intimidate the psychologically weakened commoner kids.

By the time I jumped over the sandbags, the noble kids had nearly gained the upper hand.

All I did was shoot and take out a couple of people after jumping across. Well, it wasn’t like they actually fell over due to getting shot or anything.

“Your shooting was something else,” Alice said once the battle ended.

“When we jumped in, everyone was huddled behind the sandbags, I heard they thought, ‘If I peek out, I’ll get shot’ or something like that.”

…Although to be fair, it was more because I already knew their positions.

And every time the enemy didn’t get hit, or our allies did, I simply reversed time. Of course, from their perspective, I must have seemed like I was killing them one after another without mercy.

“…That’s right.”

As I was talking with Alice near the sandbags, someone suddenly intruded into our conversation.

“I’m curious how you managed to hit the enemies in a situation where you could barely see because of the light.”

Even though it was a ball of light created by magic, there’s a limit to its range. No matter what, you can’t send the commoners too far away where they can’t be seen due to the light. From Jennifer’s perspective, who was standing on a high platform, she could see most of the commoners’ situations and could declare their elimination.

And through Jennifer’s eyes, my shooting must have looked quite strange, like I was hitting the commoners.

“…”

“…Hmm.”

The issue was I had no way to explain. Saying I reversed time would be risky in many ways. If I mentioned it to my classmates, they might just brush it off as a joke, but Jennifer had a serious personality that took everything seriously despite appearances. Even if she didn’t believe me outright, she could very well consider it ‘possible’ and dig into it.

It wasn’t only Jennifer; the Emperor and my other siblings were the same. There was a reason I didn’t mention my abilities to anyone, even in jest.

“Well, whatever.”

Jennifer shrugged her shoulders with her arms crossed.

“If it were the usual me, I would have said something about executing such a risky plan and moved on. At first glance, it could appear as if you were simply relying on luck.”

…Although, there was honestly no other way.

After all, there were no mortars or artillery, and besides, the distance was too close for such things anyway. In truth, we were closer to a street brawl than anything else.

Probably, Jennifer wanted to have us personally experience ‘this is how dangerous the battlefield is.’

That’s what the conclusion of the original story was too. “But in battle, even that luck ultimately is the result. Well done.” I think Jennifer might have said something like that in the original, though it didn’t come to me very clearly.

“But… your shooting.”

Jennifer said quietly, staring at me.

“Honestly, it doesn’t look like you were just shooting by feel. You seemed to know exactly where they would appear. So… yeah, it would be unfair to call that ‘luck.'”

Well, it was luck, you know.

Of course, I made that luck into inevitability by reversing time multiple times. To be honest, the number of bullets I shot couldn’t possibly be just seven or eight. It must have been much more than that.

Since every time one of our running party got eliminated, I reversed time and shot like crazy at where the bullets would fly.

The difference from real combat was right here too. A gun without gunpowder doesn’t make noise. So there’s no way to know where or who got shot. All I could do was reverse time and slowly move the gun, hoping the opponent would get hit.

What else could it be if not luck?

Well, I didn’t want to wish for actual combat. I didn’t want to see the characters I had grown fond of genuinely get hurt or die from gunfire.

“Thanks to that, my plan got messed up.”

Jennifer said, looking over at the commoners who were watching us with expressions that seemed somewhat horrified.

Originally, it was meant to show that even commoners could use firearms to take down nobles, but instead, since we suffered far less damage, it ended up concluding that ‘nobles can even turn the situation around.’ Especially since there were double the numbers on the commoners’ side.

I could see a few kids who became the main character party in the original story among them. Some of them were looking at us with bored expressions, while others gazed at us with a look of great interest.

Should I try talking to those kids next time?

My affection knows no classes; they could be commoners or nobles. No, there were characters I liked even more because they were commoners.

“Well, it’s fine. Nobody says commoners can’t become officers. In fact, looking at it from that perspective, today’s events will serve as a lesson. It has proven that battlefields are filled with monsters with ridiculous skills.”

Well, that’s certainly true.

In reality, it was a world overflowing with monsters wielding swords.

“Anyway, a victory like this requires adequate compensation for the one who led us to victory.”

Jennifer said that and stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets.

Oh.

It seems that instead of just saying, ‘You received an item,’ in this world, it was exchanged for words from a person. I mean, this is much more natural than simply having it pop into your pocket.

“Here.”

What Jennifer handed me was a gem carved into the shape of a ruby, like a crystal ball.

Marmaros.

This gem, which uses the Greek word that became the origin of marble, shines a subtle red light as its name suggests, ‘shining stone.’ Anyone could tell that it was a gem imbued with magical power.

As I held the stone that rested in Jennifer’s palm, the part that touched felt subtly warm. It wasn’t hot enough to burn me, but it felt like a perfect temperature for use as a hand warmer in the middle of winter.

Of course, it was a very expensive item for that purpose.

Marmaros is refined magical stone. Magical stones have a basic ‘attribute.’ Usually, portions with these attributes are all mixed up, making it impossible to use them for a specific purpose when used as-is.

Magical stones that get too many types mixed and can’t be refined are simply used as fuel, but sometimes there are magical stones that are almost purely of one attribute. The part of that attribute is cleanly cut out and additionally magically processed to make it safe for use, and that is exactly this Marmaros.

In the original story, it could change the weapon’s attribute by being attached to it or provide additional damage.

It shouldn’t be any different here either.

“This is a fire attribute Marmaros. It’s yours now, use it however you like.”

I nodded.

In fact, by the later half, there would be an abundance of Marmaros of different types. You could even obtain something powerful enough to possess two or three attributes while simultaneously bearing the strength of just one. Of course, those wouldn’t be the magical stones mined from the ground, but obtained from monsters in water.

So for now, it means it’s quite useful. In the game, days just flew by, so the latter part came relatively quickly, but in my situation living here, a year is a year.

“If you want, I can introduce you to a craftsman. I’ll also return the firearms you’ve personally entrusted. Honestly, I’m quite curious about how you’ll use that Marmaros.”

…This was a storyline that didn’t exist in the original.

Well, I have a feeling I kind of know who the craftsman being introduced is.

“Thank you.”

I said, slightly bowing my head toward Jennifer in response.

*

“So, where will you use it? Still planning to use it for your firearm?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

But I’m still pondering which firearm I’ll end up using.

I’ve realized that there are peculiar differences between the original and this world. People who couldn’t use any weapon in the game were using firearms and swords together here as if it was the norm. So it’s clear that ‘bullets’ would definitely follow the laws of physics.

In the original, I mounted the Marmaros with attributes on the gun to add attributes to the attack. So I should be able to do the same here.

But how does one fire a bullet with the ‘fire attribute’?

It seems there’s no particular meaning in heating up the bullets. After all, bullets fly out hot anyway.

But if they get too hot, that’s a problem. If the barrel overheats too much, it leads to a malfunction. Having a gun jam in battle means death. No matter how much I can turn back time, I don’t want to die.

Besides, I’ve never died to rewind time before. The first time I reversed time? I can’t be sure if I wasn’t just knocked out instead of dying.

So… for now, I’ll avoid dying unless it’s an unavoidable situation. And that ‘unavoidable situation’ naturally refers to situations where I might die without realizing it.

I hope I don’t end up creating a situation where that’s the case.

“I’ll think about it slowly and consider which firearm would be beneficial to attach it to.”

“Well, since they say it can be reused anyway, there’s no need to worry too much, right?”

…That’s also true. Thank goodness. In the original, if needed, it could be taken off to be attached to other equipment, so it’s only natural it’d be the same here.

“…”

“…”

Then we walked for a while in silence.

The people walking were the same six that had just gathered in the gym; me, Alice, Claire, Leo, Charlotte… and Mia Crowfield.

Mia Crowfield, who seemed to have followed us by chance after being nearby, wore an extremely awkward expression.

And that awkward atmosphere had infected us, leaving us walking in silence.

Having lived among the noble society, they might not have any sense of it…

“Ah, right!”

There might be no way they wouldn’t be awkward, huh.

The one who broke the sudden mood with an unexpectedly bright voice was Claire.

“How about we hit the café together after class? I found a place with delicious parfaits last time.”

“…Should we?”

And perhaps the awkwardness was so thick that it was warmly accepted by Alice.

“Parfait, you say? There are several wonderful cafés in Lutetia as well… very well. It wouldn’t be bad to compare which is better, Rondarium or Lutetia.”

And the three turned their gazes towards Leo, Mia, and me.

“….”

Even if they stayed silent for a bit, all three didn’t have a reason to reject it, I suppose.

After all, they were all characters I liked, and not joining in this situation would be quite rude as a fan.

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