CHAPTER 4: ALL ABOUT MODERN GUNS

**Greg**

After reassuring the students that I would do something about their situation, I dismissed them, and somehow, there were weak smiles on their faces. It was a relieving sight; at least, they were confident that their school was doing its best to protect them. Then, once I was alone, I was thinking of heading to my own room to rest.

It’s been a while since I get to sleep properly, see? The dilated time inside Alexa’s tower made my body clock wonky.

Just as I walked towards the dormitory where my room was, however…

“!!!”

Successive gunshots were heard outside, at the courtyard of the Conclave. The students inside the classrooms rushed to the windows and the corridors, in an effort to see what’s happening. Some of these children were veterans of the past conflicts in Cherflammen, and so they were familiar to the terrible sounds of gunfire. Of course, I was alarmed too; I also ran to a better vantage point, only to see the Lord Tenguri, the Lady Baraquiel and some of their aides doing practice shootings at the school grounds.

One can only imagine how relieved I am when I realize that it’s nothing serious…

“…”

But then, I remembered it was the tradition of the Conclave to forbid weapons inside its territories. Alexa meant it because it was something that she grew up to, while the demons, especially under Emile Biorno, were worried that it could be used against the administration. Honestly, as someone who came from a world where the school was supposedly a ‘safe place’ for the students, I agree to its implementation. While the situation in around its walls were a compromise, we—together with the Lord Gracchio and Lady Capaldi—made sure that the armed forces deployed inside the Conclave wouldn’t bring or use their weapons near the students and the dormitories.

Perhaps the Lord Tenguri and his goblins forgot our agreement?

----------

In any case, I headed over to the grounds to remind them of the rules.

“Ah, Lord Greg,” the goblin noble greeted the moment he saw me. “Did we happen to disturb you?”

“Err…not really, but we agreed upon some rules regarding weapons inside the Conclave, milord,” I was careful of my words; I didn’t want to offend the few allies I had.

“Yes, I accept responsibility,” he replied. “However, in our defense, we’re actually conducting research. Researches are allowed within the Conclave’s grounds, right?”

“Research?”

“Hmm…I guess the Lord Gracchio forgot to tell you about it,” the Lord Tenguri then gestured for one of his aides to show me a bunch of papers. When the goblin spread those over a nearby table, I realized those were some sort of blueprints for a volley gun.

“This is?”

“Milord, my husband is working on a multiple-barreled crack horn,” it was the Lady Baraquiel who explained. “We wanted to harness the power of crack horns to punch through armors, and deliver as many shots against our enemies in a short amount of time.”

“I see…”

“And, so far, my models are all failures!” the Lord Tenguri revealed. “The recoil is too much for an ordinary goblin to handle. If it can be applied on practical terms, then an orc is strong enough to wield it in battle.”

“The reloading time is also a chore!” Lady Baraquiel added. “I keep telling on my husband that if his prototype multi-barreled crack horn would be used in battle, its operator would have to be defended by company of his allies.”

“Which defeats the purpose of the multi-barreled crack horn! If it continues like this, then it’s definitely better to equip an entire battalion of goblins with the old, single-shot crack horn, than defend an operator of a multi-barreled one!”

I listened to the arguments put forward of the Lord Tenguri and Lady Baraquiel, and I could say I agree with their observations. Actually, in my old world, a volley gun was also a failure. It was initially classified as an artillery weapon, but, just as the orc lady said, it was hopelessly difficult to reload once discharge, making it more of a liability on the battlefield than an asset.

“And that’s why,” the Lord Tenguri then showed to me one of the M1911 pistols we confiscated from the teachers involved in the Dormitory Massacres before, “I’m trying to understand how this brilliant crack horn works.”

“Oh, isn’t this weapon from your world, Lord Greg?” the orc lady asked. “I remember you talking about how dangerous and destructive this is.”

“Indeed, it is a weapon from our world, where we call it a ‘pistol’, or a ‘gun’,” I explained. “And milord, please don’t do that; at the very least, don’t look down its barrel even when you’re not holding its trigger. It can kill you by accident, like many of my own people in our world.”

“Ah…my bad,” the goblin lord quickly did as I tell him.

“So, do you know how it works, milord?” Lady Baraquiel asked me once more.

“Well, I do,” I remembered I watched a lot of Yo*tube videos before about how a gun worked, and fortunately, one of the examples I saw was the M1911. “First thing you need to know about a modern gun like that is, it is ‘automatically’ fed by a magazine.”

“Magazine?” the goblin lord blurted out. “Those things that is published weekly?”

“No, it’s a different magazine,” I took hold of the pistol and showed them the part I was talking about. “This is a magazine of a gun. See those ‘golden’ things inside? Those are its bullets. If you take it apart, you’ll find its primer and the slug, which are the equivalent of the crack horn powder and its shots.”

I removed one and let the goblin lord examine it. “This is like a pre-packed ammunition!” he commented.

“True. It is designed for rapid firing, unlike the crack horns where one shot discharged meant one reload. A modern gun is fitted with a magazine-fed firing system, where the user would just change magazines once his bullets are depleted. That way, a company of soldiers equipped with those can deliver devastating hail of fire equivalent to a regiment armed with one-shot crack horns firing in unison.”

“Oh…so that’s why I can fire it fast!”

“But milord,” the Lady Baraquiel took the sample bullet from her husband, “where does the slow-match enter this bullet? All I can see is that it was all-metal!”

“You don’t need a slow-match in a modern gun,” after making sure that there was no bullet inside the pistol, I showed in front of them how its mechanism worked. “This thing is fired using a ‘firing pin’ inside the body of the pistol, which hits the circular bottom end. The primer would be ignited, and hot gases from the resulting blast would expand the bullet, propelling the slug to the barrel and pushing this gun’s movable part over here to ‘re-cock’ the weapon for firing the next ammunition.”

“Oh! I can use that for the model I’m working on!” the Lord Tenguri exclaimed.

“There is a problem, though, milord,” I told him. “The crack horns use a powder that in our world is called ‘black powder’. This type of powder leaves residues in the crack horn after a prolonged fight, right? That’s why each of it comes with a ramrod, to help the user push the bullet and the primer down the barrel and into position for firing. A modern gun, however, uses another type of powder—what we call the ‘smokeless powder’, which is why, if you’d notice, there’s little to no smoke to obscure your sight.”

“Ah, now that you mentioned it, yes…this crack horn is wonderful!” the goblin lord was full of praises for the M1911, that it was left to his wife to ask the important questions.

“Do you know the chemical composition of the powder you are talking about, Lord Greg?”

“Sadly, I don’t,” I admitted. “Our country heavily-restricts gun possession, because of the associated dangers of its proliferation.” I suddenly remembered that gun-loving big country in my old world. Their problem with guns were so severe, that tragic shootings were an everyday occurrence, and it made the rest of our world accustomed to those events.

“Oh…” the Lady Baraquiel’s expression was downcast. I guess she was expecting me to be the ‘solution’ to their problem about the gun model they were working on; it’s kind of disappointing when I failed to give them the answers they needed.

Also, now that we’re talking about it, the appearance of these types of guns in this world would shift the way wars were fought here. Matchlocks like the demon ‘crack horn’ severely limited the killing power of these weapons; now that semi-automatic pistols like the M1911 was being used in some battles, I’m guessing that it won’t be long until everyone possessed these, and terrible bloodshed would ensue.

The Lady Madelaine suddenly appeared in my thoughts. Alexa explained to me that she was fighting against the influence of her mother, an ancient evil called ‘the Seductress’. And for that monster to become powerful, there should be negative events happening.

And there can be no other alternative in giving this ‘Seductress’ more power than having wholesale killing of many, which can only be achieved through wars and genocides…

“…”

And so, these weapons need to be regulated; there are no ‘good guys with guns’—it is only a myth created by those unwilling to give up their killing tools. And for that to happen, Cherflammen has to have a powerful central authority.

Among all the demon clans, the House of Usarved was the only one mighty enough to lead the demons. If the rest would unite under their banner, then creating and implementing laws that benefitted the people would be easy.

----------

But, first things first, I had to make the Usarveds become the dominant clan in all Cherflammen. The goblins had no problems in cooperating with them, as shown by the Lord Tenguri and Shevaun. Perhaps the orcs too, as Lady Baraquiel was fine talking with the demon lord’s chamberlain. Lady Srexe’s attitude towards Princess Noir wasn’t born out of historical enmity between their clans; rather, it was a personal rivalry between them.

As for the Tambara clan, I had no idea yet. The only werewolf close to me was Nari, one of their kin. The Biorno clan was another problem, for they really disliked being under another overlord, and with the killing of their master, their bitterness against the Usarveds would make convincing them extra difficult.

“…”

Then, there’s the ‘Knights of Cassandra David’, which I believed, were the ones responsible for the proliferation of these modern guns from my world. I didn’t know how they did it, but they might be doing these acts to undermine Princess Noir’s/Prince Hurion’s rule. I mean, clans with powerful militaries didn’t want to let themselves be ruled over with a power seemingly ‘weaker’ than them, right?

What the hell is this? Did I get myself involve in some sort of Meiji Restoration?

Anyway, I guess it’s safe to assume that our enemies might be arming themselves with these kinds of weapons. If so, then we had to match their firepower with our own. However, if we’re talking of sheer numbers and mass infantry assaults, it’s not exactly applicable in this situation. After all, just like the appearance and use of the Sturmgewehr 44 in the Eastern Front during World War 2, the proliferation of these modern guns in a matchlock-dominated battlefield could spell disaster for the army that was technologically inferior…even if they got the numbers to their advantage.

Argh…damn it. I guess, I have no choice, eh?

Well, I’m not an engineer. I hated mathematics when I was a student. And certainly, I had no background in inventing things, save for that one failed science investigatory project when I was in high school. Nevertheless, the situation I was caught in wouldn’t give me a handicap, nor it would wait for me to get my shit together. While the Lord Tenguri had a failed prototype in his hands, I guess with my knowledge on how modern guns work, I could develop on his designs and make it practical for this place.

“Lord Greg!”

“H-Huh?” I was returned to my senses by the Lady Baraquiel. She was shaking me back to reality.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “You’ve been awfully quiet for a long while now.”

“Are you thinking of something?” the Lord Tenguri stared at me.

“Well…yes. I’m wondering if I can borrow these blueprints of yours, milord.”

“Oh?!” the goblin lord’s eyes sparkled. “You’re going to improve on my designs, then?”

I nodded, “But don’t expect much from me; I’m just an amateur myself!”

“Well, no matter, Lord Greg!” he got on to the table and slapped my back. “If I find your improvements practical, then I and my wife will improve on it! We goblins are engineers, after all!”

----------

And so, after I borrowed the Lord Tenguri’s blueprints, I went to the Conclave’s library to conduct some research. See, I realized that, while I spent several weeks here in Cherflammen, I still had little idea about the geography of the realm of the demon people, especially the economics of this place. Now, if I’m trying to improve on the goblin lord’s design, I needed to know if the parts like metal, wood and the ingredients for the demon powder/crack horn powder were readily available, or if we’d have to import products from the other realms.

Yes, I’m thinking of the mithril industry in the Kingdom of Cherwind. My connections to their queen, Lady Ursura, can be used to our advantage.

“…”

Well, I knew that what I’m doing was no different to those who were distributing the modern guns. The ideal dictated that such weapons shouldn’t be used, nor allowed to develop further, or Cherflammen could end up like Earth. However, I had to be realistic; as the Roman general Vegetius said, ‘if one wants peace, then one must be prepared for war’.

Looking for books at the library was pretty easy. The Conclave’s system was the same as that of our old world; perhaps Alexa had influenced its arrangement and organization. Besides, it’s not that long since I left the Saint’s Tower, so I could still remember how to search the catalogue for the articles that I wanted.

“…”

The books discussing the detailed geography and economics of several of Cherflammen’s known regions consisted of around 20 or more thick, cumbersome, and dusty tomes numbered from volume one to oblivion. Opening a page, the letters were relatively small…which was a research nightmare for an ordinary person. For scholars, though, it was a wonderful and ideal information dump.

As for me, however, as much as I wanted to read all those books about the products sold and traded by each clan of Cherflammen, my time was woefully limited. The Lord Tenguri had agreed to come with me tomorrow, in crossing towards the Biorno-held territories as soon as the long sleep ended. As we’re going to negotiate with the vassals of the Biorno clan, I’d like to have a sharp and prepared mind. But I hadn’t rested yet since I came back from Alexa’s place.

“…”

Maybe I’d just read a bit then go to my quarters once I get sleepy.

So yeah, though I love books and reading, looking at the giant collection of volumes about the geography and economics of Cherflammen felt like an eternity of suffering. Nevertheless, I still grabbed a book, and sat on a hidden spot of the library to read.

“The geography of the Sea of Sand, volume 1,” I read that with a relatively loud whisper, as I’m trying to fight sleepiness…

----------

The next thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a beautiful lady sitting on the opposite side of my table. She had a black hair, black gothic-style dress, and black mourning veil that obscured nearly a quarter of her face. The lady just stared at me, as if she observed the entire time I was asleep.

“Of course,” I heard her say, “I’m not a rude person. I can wait for you to wake up.”

And she could read my mind. She must be a saint.

“Yep…and yes, I can’t see anything exceptional about you.”

H-Huh? I’m still out of myself, so I couldn’t reply to what she just said, aside from the usual, “Who are you?” Well, it’s not that I don’t know her completely; I knew I met this person before, for she looked familiar to me.

“Wake up, otherworlder,” the black-clad lady told me. “You know, if this is a normal situation, you’ll be dead by my own hands. But then again, I won’t waste my time hunting for you.”

“I-Is this a dream?” I looked around to make sure it wasn’t.

But she flicked my forehead to bring me back to reality. Suddenly, I remembered everything…

“S-Seirna!” I blurted out.

“Heh,” she had a proud grin on her lips, as if she’s confident that she woke me up completely. “You’re a teacher, yet you’re so noisy inside the library. And why are you even sleeping in the first place?”

When I remembered that I was reading a book, I searched for it, only to find out that it was set aside properly, and I was actually sleeping on something soft like a pillow.

“Don’t you remember?” Seirna asked. “That’s the pillow from the Beastman Saint’s stone palace in Cherwind. She told me to let you use that if necessary, so there, I placed it under your head while you’re sleeping.”

I was left speechless. Last time we saw each other, I slashed her neck in an attempt to kill her, to avenge my mentor and friend, the Marquise of Monfort. And now, she’s taking care of me? Something must be wrong!

“Oi, otherworlder, let me be clear,” the saint clicked her tongue. “I’m just doing this to make amends.”

“I don’t understand…”

“My servant is the one who caused your memory loss, see?” she revealed. “If you can still remember that fight you got involved with back in your school in Chersea? Yep, it’s my servant who attacked you and Lady Madelaine.”

“I knew I can’t trust you.”

“Stupid! The fact that I’m telling this to you means I’m trying to earn your trust. Look, I’m sorry for that incident, but aren’t you glad that because of that, you got to meet your old student in the end?”

Well, if Seirna put it that way, then I guess it’s all good. Besides, the reforms the Conclave badly needed won’t happen if I didn’t end up amnesiac. However, there’s something that’s bugging me…

“Wait, you say you wanted to earn my trust? What for? For you to make me lower my guard and kill me?”

“Hey, I admit, I haven’t forgiven you for what you did to me,” she pointed at her neck, which was covered by her turtleneck gothic dress. “But, let’s set aside our grievances for now and cooperate.”

Oh, now I get what she’s trying to say. “Is this about the Seductress?”

“I’m happy that your old student explained to you what’s going on. Saves me a lot of time giving you the background of the problem. In any case, if I wanted to kill you, I would’ve done so while you were sleeping earlier. But I even took care of not dropping your head on the table while I put the pillow under you. On a second thought, should I do that instead?”

My body suddenly tensed up, and I pulled out a pen from my pockets, ready to stab Seirna in case she made the wrong move. But, she defused the tension by raising her hands and laughing.

“I’m joking, otherworlder, put the pen away. It’s not good to kill you now, or we’ll all be dead sooner than you think. The Lady Rubinforth misses you so much, see?”

Well, now that I thought about it, she did have a point. I’m quite a heavy sleeper when tired, so I won’t wake up even as she dig and cut out my heart. But Seirna didn’t, so I guess I could give her a chance? I took away my pen and asked, “What do you want from me?”

“I’m here to fetch you. Time to come home to Chersea, otherworlder.”

I was taken aback by Seirna’s words, “Eh? Why?”

“You are aware of our precarious situation because of the existence of the Seductress, right?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then, here’s the thing. Her daughter, the Lady Rubinforth, is currently resisting her mother’s attempts to exert control over her. I mean, the Seductress did succeed once, and it’s not a good experience. She did give us a hard time subduing the Lady Rubinforth…you know that time when you were spirited away by the Usarved princess because the Human Saint went ‘berserk’?”

“How did you—”

“Your doggie slave a.k.a. the Beastman Saint told me the story, yes.”

“Oh…”

“That event’s the trigger that made the Seductress’ return possible,” Seirna explained. “For short, Lady Rubinforth’s insecurities and jealousy about you is what brought us here now.”

I fell silent when I heard those. To make it simpler, I was the culprit of the Seductress’ reappearance, because I neglected Lady Madelaine…or so what I could vaguely remember from ‘Kuro’s’ memories.

“Well, if you understand,” the saint took hold of my hand, “then let’s go.”

“Please wait,” I told her.

“What?”

“So I need to go back and help her?”

“You don’t need to do anything,” Seirna replied. “From what I can see, your mere presence beside Lady Rubinforth is enough to reassure her.”

Another silence from me. Deep in my thoughts, I was weighing my options. Lady Madelaine was a good friend, and in ‘Kuro’s’ memories, she was her lover. Learning about her suffering made me worry on her well-being, and the desire to return to Chersea grew strong in my heart.

“…”

However, I made a promise to Lady Srexe, Tama’lee, Nari and the other students. A promise that I would protect them, at least, until a peaceful solution to the brewing conflict was found. And they were expecting me to deliver…

No, this isn’t an issue of pride. I know what it feels to be betrayed by someone whom you put your trust, and it’s not a good feeling.

“…”

Besides, I never broke a promise to my students, not even when I was in Earth.

“Hey, you’re okay with damning this whole universe just to fulfill your promises to some demon brats?” Seirna raised that point. “Isn’t that stupid?”

“They’re my students! I don’t care if you think of them as ‘demon brats’!”

“Eh, I don’t know about you, but you can just leave the demons to their fate. They are rebellious, despicable, and wicked violators of every decree given by the heavens!”

“That’s not how I see them. Human, demon, beastmen…every race has an asshole and a good person. Don’t generalize.”

“You’re really weird.”

“I hear that often.”

“I do not meant that as a compliment, otherworlder. Isn’t your own world have their share of demons?”

“Figuratively, or literally?”

“Both. Aren’t you taught to hate them?”

“I did. But the demons of Cherflammen are different once you get to know them. And besides, you know what’s about to happen here,” I countered. “A powerful clan lord was assassinated, and his followers are crying for blood. Now, if you say that this Seductress is trying to assert control over Lady Madelaine, then it means her powers are slowly returning to her.”

“Of course, don’t state the obvious!”

“Then look, demon or not, I’m working to stop the war, Lady Seirna,” I never took my eyes away from hers; I wanted to show my determination for my decision. “Isn’t the Seductress benefitting from the negative events? Then, I must say that preventing widespread violence and slaughter is a big boost to Lady Madelaine’s struggle.”

“Tch. You’re pissing me off, otherworlder!”

“You can see through my heart and mind, Your Holiness,” I continued, “you know my sentiments. I’d like to return to Chersea as soon as possible, but I wouldn’t leave until I finish what I started here. I’m sure the Lady Madelaine will understand; I know her—or at least, ‘Kuro’ knows her! She’s a brave and strong lady, and she would rather be someone who fights, instead of someone who relies on the help of her ‘Prince Charming’.”

“Grr…I said I already know! Stop yapping!” she muttered, “You do make a good point.”

“Alright! Alright! My bad!”

“Hey, it’s not like I don’t understand where you’re coming from,” Seirna told me. “But, your job is a teacher, and it ends after your class. Yet, you’re doing more than what is required of you. Haven’t you learned anything from your past mistakes?”

“I did learn something…and I try not to commit those mistakes again,” I admitted. “However, once a teacher, always a teacher. And it’s not only my duty to guide my students, but also to protect them.”

Having understood each other, and realizing that she couldn’t persuade me to change my mind, Her Holiness the Lady Seirna told me…

“Since you wanted to ‘finish what you started’, I’ll allow you. But, make sure you come back in one piece; if you die, I’ll hunt your spirit in the heavens and kill you once more. I’m the one responsible for letting the Usarved princess ‘borrow’ you, after all.”

“I don’t know how you’d do that, but yes, I will take care of myself…Lady Madelaine is waiting for me.”

“Hmph!” the saint then disappeared in a flash.

What is her official title again? If Maddie is the Human Saint of Chersea, then Seirna is…?

“…”

Well, whatever.