Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 230: Arc 4, Act II, - 75: Armaments

"HAHAHAAHAHA!" "BLAST!" "PI-nG, Ting, PUFF!" The pistol flew out of her hand as smoke emanated from the end of the barrel.

"Ow..." Fumeko wriggled her hand. The brown flintlock pistol lied in the grass before Arabella picked it up with a scowl over her face.

"Alright, now give me an actual bullet!" Fumeko turned with a hop.

Arabella’s eyes glazed over and she signalled with one hand.

"I only know a little, I can’t figure all that out!"

"She’s saying, you should’ve held that with a tighter grip, like she said before, and probably that you’re not getting a bullet," Jotou got the gist of what Arabella said.

"It was my first time, come on! I don’t want a blank shot," Fumeko tried to swipe the pistol away, but Arabella held it higher. She growled, "Warp!"

Purplish-black shadows formed from the tips of Fumeko’s fingers into her palm. The shadow swiped in the blink of an eye towards Arabella before she could react.

Fumeko stood proudly, holding now... one of the feathers Arabella kept in her hair? The flintlock remained in Arabella’s grasp, but the dark-haired woman’s eyes bubbled, feeling with her hand for the missing feather.

"Dammit," Fumeko glared to her hand.

Arabella huffed and put her hand out with a searing glare.

Fumeko began to smirk, "This means something to you huh? Well, if you give me the pistol with a proper shot~"

Arabella stared... She drew her sabre with her left hand and spun it to point towards the brunette. Fumeko recoiled and shadows coalesced around her feet as she blinked away.

Arabella scoffed, worry taking over her face. She turned around to see Fumeko further behind. She waved the feather in the air from afar.

The sand began lifting up around Fumeko’s vicinity. "HEY!" Fumeko blinked away to another spot as Arabella’s eyes trailed the brunette, the sand following suit.

"I WILL GET OFF THE SAND AND RUN INTO THE PALACE! YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME!!! THIS IS YOUR DEAL- Woah, hey! HAAYYY!!!"

The sand began swirling beneath her feet, barely within view of Arabella, who had her arm out, spinning her fingers in a similar motion.

Sand began whirlpooling in the air around her as Fumeko’s legs began sinking. "STOP IT!" The shadows formed under the sand, popping up purplish-black magic from the sand swallowing her.

Fumeko winced and blinked! A few feet up from the swirling sand before she landed back in. She looked to her right and blinked before her feet were engulfed, making it across and away from the vicinity.

She blinked forward a couple of times and hid behind the blonde’s coat. She panted and pointed, "SHE TRIED TO KILL ME!"

Jotou—who had been staring at the whole ordeal with her arms crossed—looked down, "It’s kinda your fault isn’t it?"

"Over a FEATHER!?"

"It’s clearly special, I haven’t seen her wear any other than those two every time. Might wanna give it back detective."

"Not until I get an actual shot."

Jotou sighed, "Meko, we’re lucky Arabella even had time today. Enough shenanigans."

Arabella strode forward. "One more shot, come on!"

"Detective..."

Fumeko glared, "...Don’t use that voice."

"Arabella, just give her one more; she’s gonna do something stupid if you don’t."

Arabella rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Finally- Wait, HEY!" she looked up to Jotou. Arabella took the feather back and gently smoothed it out in her palm before carefully setting it back in her hair; a solemn expression painted.

With the whole ordeal set aside, they prepared themselves for Fumeko to have another shot.

"Blast!" The flintlock fired a round bullet into the dummy, smoking at the barrel. Fumeko held the gun steady, her other hand holding her armed arm steady.

A gasp came from behind, "You got a gun Meko!" Asobi’s voice rang.

"So this was training?" Hotaru’s voice following.

"It’s something good to know," Jotou looked behind and shrugged.

"It’s good for everyone to figure out," the princess alongside Feyan walked towards them as well.

"All of you done with library training?" Fumeko side-eyed.

"It was quite insightful," Feyan replied stepping into the sandy area. Equipment was strewn about, sand in chaotic patterns and Jotou not stood in her adventuring gear, but had a scabbard for her blade.

"Why don’t you all give it a shot? In an emergency, it might help any of us." Jotou suggested.

"I already know how to use one... However, we have magics we do not require firearms; in fact, they might be a hindrance," Feyan voiced.

Asobi raised her wand and pointed it like a gun. "BlaST!" A bullet of light shot into the sand, phasing through. "Oh, I thought I made that real..." Asobi batted her eyes.

"He has a point," Daiyu raised a shoulder to the blonde.

"Well, I still wanna give it a shot. How’s your magic going Sobi?" Jotou stepped forward, putting a hand out in front of Fumeko.

"Ooo! Ooo! Look at this!" Asobi held her wand in both hands. A bright white butterfly appeared atop, flapping its wings. She stared it down, releasing finger by finger till she held the wand in one hand. She looked back up, "Ta-da!"

Fumeko handed the flintlock over to Jotou. "Test it on something then, don’t keep us in suspense," the brunette snarked.

"On what though?" Asobi eyed the butterfly.

Arabella pointed to the test dummy while she took the pistol away from Jotou to prepare it.

"Okay..." the magician whispered and took one step... then the other... then the next...

"Will you just go over already?"

"Shh... I might lose the spell..." Asobi took another minute before she finally reached the test dummy. With a smile and her tongue stuck out to the side; "TSsss..." She began carving through.

The light of the butterfly fluttered across the soft fabric, burning it with precision till- "Poof!" It caught fire. "OH NO!"

Fumeko jolted back a step. "Splash! PUFF!!" Hotaru splashed water across it before it got out of hand. "Nice job Asobi," the redhead beamed.

"My turn," Jotou cooed from afar whilst Daiyu stood behind her, crossing her fingers that the blonde would miss. The two moved out of the way.

Jotou aimed the flintlock in her right hand and pulled the trigger. "Click." She knitted her brows. "Click. Click. Click." She eyed the pistol and pulled back the hammer of the gun. ’Is it on safety?’

She re-aimed... "Click. Click." The spark formed on the flint, but nothing seemed to shoot. "Arabella?"

The Ashen Whisper took the pistol back, testing out the mechanisms. Her face scrunched, everything was done right, so...? She glanced up and raised the gun in a pout.

"It’s busted?"

Arabella signalled something. "I believe Jotou, she means to say this often happens with firearms and she would not be the expert on them," Feyan translated.

Arabella spun the flintlock by a finger.

"Especially the pistols," he added.

"Who’d be the expert then? Don’t tell me the soldiers’re armed with faulty equipment," Fumeko crossed her arms.

"Trust me, I’ve been making sure there’s nothing faulty happening ever since we arrested Cornerade."

"And these are just spare equipment, not what the soldiers would be using," Feyan relayed. "However, we do have an expert nearby," he glanced to the barracks.

_

An open-aired workshop housed a multitude of tools and parts as the smell of oil and metal brushed across their nostrils. Perhaps the biggest attention grabber, was the large vehicle on tracks and a long barrel. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Hued in a desert camo, the tank was much larger than either one that Jotou faced. This one more bulky to the sides with much larger tracks fit for travel across the roughest of terrains.

Workbenches hosted hundreds of bullets, firearms in need of repair and polearms needing a polish. A forge sat at the back of it all, with a large anvil and hammers hanging by the side.

It sat amongst the barracks of the palace, hidden in plain sight amongst the trees. Dozens of workers minded their own business till they turned to see the princess, the Ashen Whisper and their companions approach.

"No need to bow or anything, just continue working," Daiyu raised a hand. The smiths went back to their business with shrugs. A few creepers rolled out from underneath the massive vehicle to catch a glimpse.

One creeper in particular squeaked as its wheels were halted and- "Bang!" Something hit the underside of the tank. "Ow..." a groan following behind.

One by one using their feet, they rolled out using the creeper and sat up, rubbing their forehead, wrench in his other hand. Curly brown hair and tan skin.

He wore horn-rimmed glasses of red, no older than Jotou it would seem. Clean-shaven face and he wore a white shirt with bits of grease stained across and red suspenders till the hips of his jeans.

He got up onto his brown work boots, "I apologize for my clumsiness princess, I shall... get back to work," he sighed in embarrassment.

"Actually Mr Karimi, we were hoping to speak with you," Feyan halted.

"Oh?" he stood upright, bringing his wrench behind his back. "Is there something I can help with?" Arabella handed him the flintlock pistol and signalled.

"Malfunctioning?" he examined. "Hm, it could be the- So sorry!" he looked to everyone present. "I’m Mehrab Karimi, an engineer who works here."

"You make tanks?" Asobi glanced up to the barrel of it.

"Uh, no, this," he turned and touched the tank, "Is the Manolk V5. It’s currently under maintenance before it’s transported to the last stand location."

"You are said to be the most brilliant engineer amongst your peers Mr Karimi, we were hoping you could indulge us."

"Uh," he blushed and chuckled to adjust his glasses, "That might be an overexaggeration Lord Artevik. But if you require any need of me, please."

Daiyu half-closed her right eye, "How come I’ve never met you? You were a part of the fixing of the faulty equipment, right?"

"I was away on a family matter at the time of said meeting, nothing too important. But once I returned, I made sure everything tasked to me was done."

"So, what’s wrong with the pistol?"

"Yes," he examined again and pulled the hammer back gently. He walked over to his separated workbench with no other word, prompting the rest to follow in curiosity and confusion.

He placed the wrench aside and picked up a screwdriver. However, before he even tried anything, "The spring mechanism of the frizzen’s come loose I think.

The spark can’t fall into the pan," he pushed the hammer gently, "And the priming charge hasn’t been consumed. Not too much of a hassle to fix, unlike other damaged flintlocks."

"What would be a hassle to fix?" Jotou queried.

"We only ask because, we’re a bit doubtful of how they’d be in the battle," Hotaru’s ears folded.

"A flintlock in the last stand? That would be useless in most scenarios, apologies," he unscrewed the mechanism and began repositioning the gadgetry within.

"I believe our soldiers will be using rifles and every other one of our allies," Feyan added.

Mehrab continued, "The longer the barrel the better the shot, also reduces recoil. Lots of problems can occur with pistols as opposed to rifles; though they have similar problems still.

The frizzen could malfunction and not create the charge, the priming charge may be insufficient, the gunpowder could not ignite, the mechanism may come loose, the metal within may chip, the touch hole might be clogged."

"All those words make my brain feel fuzzy..." Asobi scratched the side of her head with her wand.

"Sorry," he looked up. "There, this should be done. Although, I am aware of who all of you are; am I wrong to a-assume that you all have affinities?" he stammered lightly as he handed the flintlock back.

"That we do," Jotou replied.

"Then, firearms wouldn’t do you any good. A gun for a magic user is redundant, if not demoting the usage of a mage to that of a rifleman."

"I think we’ve been telling Fumeko that for a while now..."

"Shut it wolfy."

’Makes sense. The technology isn’t the best yet. It takes a minute plus to reload a flintlock; by that time, so many things could happen.’

"It is true," Feyan replied. "Your efforts are better spent to learn magic to use in a pinch rather than relying on a firearm you may or may not have access to."

Mehrab nodded, "Affinity users are better off with weapons that don’t rely on too many mechanisms. Hence why swords, bows or even bare hands are much better for magic users to be able to use their spells.

"Understood. We should go train our spells then," Hotaru told, her ears flickering.