酷视

At first, I felt hurt by the question. Not hurt because of how accurate it was, but quite the opposite.

Because this question proved Fay completely missed the point of my worry that pushed me to ask Makary for more potent guns.

"Back then, I nearly saw you skewered by a spear," I pointed out in a faint voice, feeling agitated and fearful at the mere memory of that moment. "It\'s not that I don\'t feel safe over there. Honestly speaking, I believe walking around the streets of my shed was more dangerous than anything I\'ve encountered back in that forest."

I sighed before taking some time to grope away at Fay\'s tits that somehow were pleasantly heavy to hold yet as soft as a cloud to molest. Yet, rather than doing so for the sake of pleasure, for the first time, I actually hoped to have my hands help me get rid of my uneasiness.

"I do not fear for myself when I\'m back in that forest. But after seeing what I saw…" I shook my head before pushing it forward and hiding my face in the corner between Fay\'s shoulder and her neck. "I\'m restless because I nearly failed to protect you."

Back then, were I a second or two late to arrive, were I to waste a second or two hesitating when it came to pulling out my gun or squeezing the trigger…

And just as my soul rilled up, Fay\'s body tensed up, indicating she realized something. Thankfully, from what I could feel, through her aura most likely, rather than getting anxious herself, she somehow found my words… to her satisfaction.

"What that fight proved, though, was that as long as the people of your world don\'t expect guns and as long as they don\'t have some sort of special countermeasures in place for them, the weapons of this world will remain effective."

Hiding my face in Fay\'s neck, I took a deep breath, getting myself high on the faintly sweet scent of the citrus shampoo covering her skin.

"I\'m not sure how long the guns will remain effective, especially their weaker versions. And rather than hoping for the best…"

I saw no need to finish my sentence. Contrary to Fay, who was only starting to understand the intricacies of my worries… I didn\'t actually put that much faith in the guns.

They were my crutch, my ace in the sleeve that had to help me survive and protect Fay for as long as it would take me to master the abilities offered by my system.

For now, I\'ve proved that an unexpected barrage was enough to deal with whatever defenses mercenaries slash adventurers of Fay\'s world would put up. But would that still be the case once the world would get out and those potential enemies of mine would figure out new ways to protect themselves?

A simple handgun already proved not to be as effective as I expected. And the sight of the heads of those attackers exploding under the onslaught of my bullets was exactly the reason why I didn\'t dare to get too arrogant in the presence of Makary\'s mean.

For if those warriors failed to defend themselves against the bullets, how conceited I would have to be to assume I, a complete amateur, would do any better?

\'In the end, guns growing irrelevant in a fantasy world filled with magic and armor made of some powerful beasts… might be exclusive to works of fiction,\' I thought, struggling to gripe with the difference between my expectations born from the novel I\'ve read and the actual, harsh reality.

Sadly, the topic of guns had one, extreme similarity to the topic of aura. It was how little we knew about the issue, that made us unable to form any valid opinion on it.

\'I guess once we get back to Fay\'s world, we will have to ask Madam to help us verify some things.\'

If Madam ended up unable to stop a series from a proper rifle, I would feel much more at ease in their world, while inevitably acting with a lot more care on earth. On the other hand, if Madam could simply shrug off the bullets…

\'Well, there\'s no point thinking about it right now. There will be time for it once we learn the truth.\'

I shook my head. Strangely enough, after all that we\'ve talked about, it turned somewhat challenging to clear my thoughts and reorient them to the next topic on the agenda.

"To sum it all up, you want better guns so that you will be able to kill more enemies?" Fay miraculously managed to turn this extremely wide, complex issue with countless caveats and assumptions… into a single, simplistic statement.

And what was pretty damn scary, was how accurate her sentence was.

"More of them, faster than before, without the added delay of changing the magazine after only a few shots and at a much greater range than before, if necessary," I replied with hardly any thought.

And how could I, when her question was so accurate? The only thing I could achieve by thinking my answer over and over again… would be putting it in slightly more pleasant words, for I didn\'t even think about lying.

Not now, not tomorrow, and to the best of my ability, not ever.

"You don\'t strike me as the murderous type, though," Fay pointed out, this time without any attempt at looking up at my face. And from what I could sense, there wasn\'t even a single shred of doubt about it in her soul.

"So…" she let go of my hands that she formerly kept pressed to her chest and brought them up, catching both sides of my head between them before pulling her head as far back as she could to actually take a look at my expression…

Or rather, to look me deep in the eyes.

"So, why do you want to be that much more lethal? Do you plan to go and murder scores of people?" she asked, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes. "You don\'t plan to massacre the entire kingdom just because some of its people encroach on the forest, do you?"

Hearing the question, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Not at all. That\'s not it," I shook my head, eager to calm the anxiety I saw in Fay\'s eyes. "But… I saw it."

Contrary to how I wanted to talk with Fay, rather than elaborating on the point I turned silent instead.

And Fay, most likely sensing the slightly shaken state of my soul, didn\'t press me for an explanation. She simply continued to caress my cheeks with her hands while trying to hide the blush from her won cheeks, most likely caused by how long I\'d continued to grope away at her chest.

"I saw the look in yours, in your mom\'s and Leinei\'s eyes when I mentioned how it might be possible for all of you to escape the forest." After some time, I finally revealed the reason why I was so desperate to grow stronger, even if by external means.

If Fay wanted to leave the forest, then that\'s what I was going to make possible. And while I already learned what was the greatest threat of both of the areas one had to cross to leave the forest… I couldn\'t dismiss the possibility that some dangerous predators lurked in the depths of the starlight plain or the misty valley.

"If we want to cross the misty valley, we need to be prepared for whatever we might end up facing there."

Hearing my words, Fay turned silent. She then let go of my face and lowered her hands while pushing her head back to a more natural, less straining position.

"What about the supplies? What about the strange ways space works within the realms of the starlight and the mist illuminated by it?" she asked, clearly trying to quell my desire to cross those areas rather than pointing out the issues we needed to solve to do so.

Yet, what she most likely expected to be a good killing strike for my plans, only ended up putting a small, smug smile on my face.

Reinvigorated, I squeezed both of my hands and pushed my chest forth a bit, as if trying to fully envelop Fay\'s body with my own flesh.

"And that brings us to another point, likely, the most important one of them all," I announced before allowing my lips to form the smile that would reflect the amused state of my mind. "It\'s time to talk about the changes to my system that I\'ve kept on hold ever since I\'ve finished my missions."