The sour and troublesome gunsmith

Aomura wasn’t particularly big, as it only housed a few hundred people. Sad truth was that the village didn’t do much for the kingdom’s economy and it was mostly a self-sufficient place at the south, somewhat away from any dangerous border.

Wooden houses extended all over the place, with dirt roads separating them from one another. This was the kind of place Raiko was raised in, and the place she loved despite being a calm, boring spot in the middle of nowhere.

With so few inhabitants everyone knew each other, and so Raiko would greet everyone on her way to the town’s temple, a humble, slightly larger structure made of wood like everything else. It was Thursday, so she wanted to pray a little before going on with her day.

The inside of the temple wasn’t particularly big or luxurious either, all it had was a small room for the priestess, and a shrine with a few sculptures of the gods worshiped by the villagers. The priestess herself was nowhere to be seen, but the temple was open, so Raiko entered nonetheless.

It didn’t take her long to find the one she was looking for, the god of healing, Kanami. She lit a candle up and joined her hands in a silent prayer. All she wanted was for her family to enjoy good health on her fifteenth birthday.

Well, not just that.

She was also concerned for her grandmother getting old, and she was concerned about her getting sick because of that, even though her mother was the village’s doctor so finding attention for her wouldn’t be hard. There was also a common concern for any fourteen year old, and that was fun, she asked the god to bring some fun into her life.

She thought for a second about what she just said, asking a god for fun is a bit out of place, but the request was made... but it wasn’t right, so she apologized and asked the sculpture to forget that last bit. Satisfied with herself, Raiko bowed to the shrine and turned away heading to the entrance.

“Oh, ain’t it Raiko?” A male voice called for her.

“Hello sir!”

It was the lumberjack Tito, going out for work with his old trusty axe, the old man seemed to be in a good mood, too. Or maybe not, but he was always kind to Raiko and her family, that was just the way he was.

“Came in to pray?”

“Yes, but Miss Aya wasn’t here today, so I just prayed by myself.”

The priestess leaving the temple open and going away to do something else wasn’t unheard of at the village, the place was calm so she didn’t have to worry about anything being stolen. Nonetheless, the lumberjack still scratched his beard thinking about it.

“At this time of the morning? where did she go?”

“I have no clue, but I could pray anyway.” Raiko shrugged. “What’s with you? Got an errand?”

“Haha yes, the Voruzhin wanted a new closet and placed an order.”

The Voruzhin were the gunsmiths of Aomura, who supplied firearms and ammunition to the surrounding towns and villages. Raiko knew them well, as she was friends with their only daughter.

“Then I won’t distract you from your job, have a nice day sir.”

“You too Raiko, my regards to your family”

And with that, the old man pulled his cart to get going, waving his hand in the air as goodbye. Raiko kept her gaze on his back until a loud and characteristic noise broke her focus.

Gunshots.

Many of them.

“Speak of the Devil.”

They were too spaced out to be signs of a fight, and Raiko had a pretty good guess of what was going on. She headed to the direction of the sounds, outside of the village and into the fields, where the responsible was laying on the ground.

There was a girl with short silver hair and blue eyes, she was taller than Raiko and had a calmer aura around her. She wore blue working clothes and black boots. The way she held her weapon, a hunting rifle, gave away that she was experienced with firearms, too.

In the end, the girl was simply having some target practice, she actioned the weapon’s bolt while lying on her stomach, and carefully aimed for the next target between each shot. A mischievous grin formed on Raiko’s face as she beheld her find.

Yep, prank time.

Walking on her toes, she slowly approached her target, carefully lining up with the Sun so her shadow wouldn’t give her away. She knew enough about gun safety to understand that startling someone with a loaded firearm was not the brightest idea, but patience is the key to success, her grandma tends to say.

The girl on the ground took another shot unaware of the girl sneaking up on her, perfectly hitting another target on the distance with a satisfied look. On a quick move of her wrist the bolt was opened, then she reached for another clip laying on the ground next to her on top of a piece of cloth.

As all the conditions for a successful ambush were met, Raiko struck in a single swift move, shaking both of her shoulders while greeting her as loudly as her voice could.

“Good morning, Shizune!”

“Hya!”

The girl almost jumped into the air as she tried to turn back towards whatever just touched her, only to meet with Raiko’s teary eyes trying to hold her laugh. In less than a second, Shizune’s expression went from startled to angry.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You stupid bird brain!”

And with that, Raiko’s last bit of will gave in to the need to laugh.

“Sorry, sorry! I just had to.”

“You’re just like Hanako, geez.”

“I mean, we are cousins, aren’t we?”

“Right.” Shizune’s attention went to her poor rifle left on the ground.

“So, shooting a round?”

“Yeah, I got a day off so I wanted to make the most of it, then you came in.”

Raiko squatted next to Shizune with an excited look on her eyes, Shizune knew her for long enough to know what those eyes meant.

“Want to have a try?” She said, offering her the rifle.

“Can I?”

“There are enough rounds and targets for you to have a go at it, give me a moment, I think I brought a scope.”

“I don’t need a stupid scope.”

Acting out of impulse Raiko grabbed the weapon without paying attention to her friend’s offer. As she got into a firing position the wind calmed down, giving her an easier time to hit the targets. They were three hundred meters away, but if Shizune could hit them, so could she.

The first shot was lost into the endless void of distance, with either of the girls being able to tell where it went. Raiko actioned the bolt and fired again, but the result was the same.

A third round hit the dirt nearby, so she aimed further left, this time the bullet hit a piece of wood next to the target. Actioning a bolt mounted on the right side of the weapon was uncomfortable for someone who is left-handed, but it wasn’t her first time shooting anyway.

Missing again, Raiko lowered the rifle and spoke to Shizune in a humble voice.

“Maybe I do need the scope after all.”

In a few seconds Shizune installed a simple scope on top of the rifle and returned it to Raiko so she could load a new clip. Even though she was a terrible shooter, she had enough understanding of firearms to load it without issue.

“So, how’s purifier training going?”

“Same as always.” This time Raiko hit the target on her first shot. “Magical theory is a pain in the ass, history is fun and interesting and I get lots of physical training.”

Shizune watched Raiko hit her second, third, and fourth shot in silence. She was conflicted about making more questions, but Raiko opened up on her own accord.

“They said my contractor will arrive in the upcoming days, it seems that they will also bring in a veteran purifier to answer some questions.”

“VIP treatment sure is nice.”

The feelings of frustration and jealousy in Shizune’s words didn’t miss Raiko, and they distracted her enough to make her miss her last shot. She put the rifle down and began to think, not something she did often, but she wasn’t sure about what to say.

“A lot of responsibilities is the tag price for it, I’m still not sure if it will be worth it.”

Raiko thought it would be enough to make her feel better, but Shizune just shrugged at those words and patted her on the back.

“You are the shining star of Aomura, you need to have more confidence.”

“Are you pitying me now?”

“I am.” Shizune showed a smug face.

“Let’s be honest, nothing really happens in this village, I won’t have much to do.”

“That’s why I pity you, you will bore yourself to death.”

“Damn.”

Raiko would never admit defeat, but she had to admit to herself that Shizune had a point, at least she would keep herself busy with her gun shop work. But! That didn’t mean she had to be bored, and she just thought of the perfect comeback.

“Less work means I’ll have more time to think of fun things, just you watch!”