Yuri Empire

「Well, what do you think?」

「Hmmm―――I think it's a little too predictable.」

After shooting 10 shots each at the short and medium range targets set up on the shooting range. Melfalude replied to Ilorina's question.

「I think your archery was probably instructed by a knight or a soldier, right?」

「Oh, yes. How do you know?」

「Yes, I can tell. Your shooting posture is just too good.」

The bow is held perpendicular to the ground and drawn wide, and Ilorina's shooting form is specialized for sending arrows with maximum power and in the right trajectory.

―――This is not a bad thing, of course.

In fact, most of the 20 arrows that Ilorina shot were close to the center of the target and were powerful enough.

If the posture is perfectly maintained, even the small frame of Ilorina can shoot with sufficient power and accuracy.

Of course, it's not a bad thing.

However―――Melfalude can't shake the impression that every shot is『too careful』.

What Ilorina is doing is a way of shooting that is suitable for the formation of the『arrow bedding』that the army does.

They line up their archers without gaps and send arrows flying without gaps to eliminate the enemies approaching from the front. There is no doubt that this is the most suitable way for a group of people to efficiently destroy a group of enemies.

However―――it was probably not the best way for an explorer to fight in a 『Labyrinth』, unfortunately.

「The way you're shooting now, of course, is fine. Why don't you try practicing so that you can draw the bow in a more appropriate posture?」

「A proper… posture?」

Ilorina tilted her head, seeming to have no idea what the words meant.

「I think that when you were first taught to use a bow, you used a longbow instead of a short bow right?」

「…You're right. You can tell that too?」

「The posture in which Ilorina shoots her arrows is very complete. I think it's a skill level to be proud of, being able to shoot an arrow once every five seconds while maintaining that posture. 

But you see, a short bow is supposed to be able to shoot at a much faster rate. Can I borrow it?」

「Oh, yes. Of course, please.」

Melfalude accepts the short bow offered to her by Ilorina.

The first thing she did was to check the tension of the string, just to get a feel for it beforehand.

In the same way that Ilorina had done earlier, Melfalude shot ten arrows at each of the short and medium range targets.

「Fast…!」

When she saw Melfalude shooting arrow after arrow, Ilorina shouted in admiration.

Melfalude shoots arrows at a rate of roughly one every two seconds.

This is two to three times faster than Ilorina, who takes five to six seconds to shoot an arrow.

That said, the power of each shot is moderate. Even so, with that many moves, the firepower will naturally increase.

It is also quite uncomfortable for the opponent to constantly be bombarded with attacks. At the very least, the opponent will be unable to do anything that requires concentration, such as chanting magic or sorcery.

「I think Ilorina is pulling the string a little too hard. The more you squeeze the bow, the more powerful the arrow will be. It makes it take more time to shoot, it's better to improve it.」

「I-I see…」

「The advantage of a short bow is that it can use tension to gain power efficiently. But the way you're doing it, you're pulling the strings a little too hard, which makes it less efficient. 

This is not the way to shoot a short bow, let alone a longbow, with the string pulled to your chest. It would be more convenient to adjust the tension of the bow a little more, so that the string is pulled only to your shoulder.」¹

The short bow is not a difficult weapon to handle. If you have already mastered the technique of handling a longbow, you will be able to handle it with the same feeling after an hour of practice.

However, to take advantage of the short bow, you still need to correct your bow handling style a little.

「Hmmm… The shorter the pull, the easier it is to shoot continuously, right?」

「Of course, that's part of it. The biggest advantage of shooting arrows with the string pulled only to the shoulder is that you can shoot arrows regardless of the direction of the bow.」

「The direction of the bow?」

「Ilorina. I wonder if you have ever shot an arrow with the bow horizontally?」

Melfalude asked.

Ilorina pouted for a moment, then shook her head left and right.

「…No, I don't. I learned that the bow is to be held parallel to the body.」

「Well, why don't you try shooting the bow sideways?」

「O-Okay.」

Ilorina did as she was told and then held the bow horizontally. She slowly squeezed the string as she placed the arrow on the body of the bow.

As soon as she did so, Ilorina seemed to notice.

「I see… If you hold the bow sideways, you can only draw the string up to your shoulders, right?」

「Yes. Well, if you try hard enough, you can pull it up to your neck, but… beyond that, you'll never be able to. The strings will hit you somewhere.」

「I see. If you hold the bow horizontally, the width of the pull will decrease.」

The knights and soldiers never would have taught her how to shoot with the bow horizontally.

Ilorina nodded in agreement with her new realization.