Chapter 38: Magic Stone Princess – First Part (2/2)

Even supposing the main body could withstand the explosion magic, the damage to the magic stone couldn’t be prevented.

For a magic stone of that size, depending on quality, it would cost about 1 – 5 silver coins (10,000 – 50,000 Japanese Yen) per stone.

To use magic stones as disposables on a magic tool that can’t even accurately hit a target from 2 meters away is insane.

And yet, without using magic stones, the S&W M10 could fire multiple shots in succession, and with excellent accuracy, to boot.

Completely unable to understand how it was made, Meiya was at her wits’ end for a while.

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Several months after purchasing the S&W M10, and after failing in researching on reproducing it, the merchant who sold the revolver came bringing a similar magic tool and information on the creator.

Same as last time, they were in the parlour.

The merchant respectfully places a tube that was bigger and longer than the revolver.

Apparently, this magic tool was called an “AK-47”.

Meiya didn’t even bother haggling and bought the AK-47 and the information on its creator with at the merchant’s asking price.

The first thing she did after the merchant left was look at the papers holding information on the creator.

The S&W M10 and AK-47’s creator’s name is Lute.

Raised in an orphanage in Hod of the Aljio region in the Fairy Human Continent.

It seems the merchant got lucky and came across and asked a former resident of Hod.

Lute had been a genius since he was in the orphanage, having learned to speak, read & write as well as basic arithmetic at the age of 3.

At 5 years old, he developed toys such as Reversi and sold the rights to it to a merchant. With the funds procured from that, he set aside a part of it to buy magic liquid metal for the development of the S&W M10 and AK-47.

At 10 years old, he graduated from the orphanage.

After taking a Level II quest as an adventurer, it is likely that he died fighting against a monster.

There was no corpse, not even bones. Suspected that it was already eaten by a monster.

“This can’t be… To think the creator is already dead.”

Meiya was dejected.

For the holder of such talent to die at the age of 10… for such a thing to have happened…

How could the gods do such a cruel thing?

Next, she performed some test firing with the newly bought AK-47.

Same as last time, she went to the courtyard.

The maids placed down some bricks to be targets.

Meanwhile, Meiya looked over the instructions for the AK-47.

It would seem that it was a magic tool made to be able to shoot more bullets than the revolver.

“Certainly, it makes sense…”

After shooting six shots with the revolver, one would have to take out the cartridges from the cylinder and reload it.

However, the AK-47 had something called a “magazine” which was loaded with 30 shots. Also, it seems that reloading could be done simply by replacing the magazine.

Meiya understood that, with this, one could fire a lot of bullets like those from the revolver; but with a much higher capacity.

Since preparations for the brick targets were done, test firing was about to begin.

”Full automatic”, which according to the memo was for firing a large number of bullets

“Here goes nothing.”

She grasped the grip without pressing the stock against her shoulder, and fired while just holding onto the checker ring.

“Kyaaa!?”

Surprised by the recoil from the 7.62mm x Russian shots, she was once again on her behind due the full automatic’s rapid-fire.

She lost her grip on the AK-47 and it tumbled onto the ground.

Meiya turned pale.

Because she imagined that the bullets would shoot out the same way as with the revolver, the AK-47’s full auto completely took her by surprise.

She was, once again, clueless as to its structure that allowed it to fire so quickly in succession.

It was even less comprehensible than the S&W M10’s structure.

In the first place, the concept of such a magic tool didn’t exist in this world.

That’s why she was all the more confused.

(This alien-like magic tool design orientation was created by a mere 5-year-old child!? Th.. That’s impossible!)

However, the real thing was right before her eyes.

Meiya looked at the AK-47 as if it were a cursed magic tool created by a devil king.

But even more than the unpleasant thought, the realization that her talents could never match up to Lute, the genius who created this magic tool, was painfully clear.

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Ever since the day when she test-fired the AK-47, Meiya’s was greatly wounded and she drowned herself in alcohol in order to escape from reality.

Scattered around the bed in her room was a large quantity of wines, spirits, liqueur, and the like.

“There’s no more alcohol… Quick, bring me more alcohol…”

“Me, Meiya-sama… any more than is bad for your health.”

“Tsu! Me, to that inventor! Are you saying I’m inferior to Lute!?”

”Hii!”

Meiya threw an empty alcohol bottle at the servant.

Since she was drunk, her aim was a mess and the bottle smashed into the wall.

The maid ran out of the room with a pale face.

“Ri, right away ma’am!”

“… hmph.”

While waiting for the maid to bring back some alcohol, Meiya collapsed onto the bed.

When the maid came back with alcohol, she snatched it away.

“Gulp, gulp”

With alcohol in hand, she forced practically all of it down her throat, some of it spilling.

And thus, she continued spending her days mostly drinking alcohol.

Not just the maids, but also people from outside the mansion were despondent for Meiya.

She was no longer the genius magic tool inventor that they knew.

“Past the age of 20, you are just another person”. While this parallel world didn’t have such a saying, but nobody doubted that her talent had withered.

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One morning, such as she was, a revelation came… she came to realize the reason she was born into this world.

She realized that with the limited talent she was endowed with, her role was to make sure that the name and great exploits of the true genius who created the S&W M10 and AK-47 would be known by future generations.

Once she realized that, she was quick to act.

She ordered a maid to clean up her room and prepare a hot bath.

Dipping her body in steaming hot bath water washed away any alcohol left in her body.

She brought the S&W M10 and AK-47 to her workshop and immediately started her research.

She started her analysis of the S&W M10 and AK-47’s structure anew.

Since the revolver’s basic structure is quite simple, making a replica shouldn’t be impossible.

The problem is the AK-47.

Even now, she couldn’t understand the principle behind its ability to fire so many bullets so quickly.

Even though she would like to disassemble the AK-47, it would be troubling if it turns out she couldn’t reassemble it.

Now that God Lute, the true genius, is dead; another AK-47 will never appear again in this world.

Before starting on the actual thing, she decided to start off her research on the cartridges.

If she could only understand how the explosion magic charged inside the cartridge was activated by the hammer, the need to use magic stones as disposables would disappear.

Thus, she restarted her observations on an empty cartridge.

Explosion magic is sealed up inside a small pipe; when its butt is stimulated, a small piece of metal flies out.

A concept that didn’t exist until now.

Furthermore, its power was at a level where it could easily kill.

For example, if it comes to be that mass-production of AK-47s and cartridges is possible, even non-magicians could overthrow a country if they got hold of it.

The existence of the magic tool created by God Lute once again sent shivers down her spine.

“It seems that this sealed space is an important part of the cartridge, huh…”

By causing an explosion within the sealed space, it maintains the impact’s directivity and thus, it attains its propulsive force.

It’s by maintaining that directivity that the piece of metal can sublimate to a level where it can kill creatures.

It’s a new concept where one maintains directivity on scattered energy.

She still didn’t know the method in which the hammer activated the explosion magic within the cartridge, but…

“… … I wonder if this concept can’t be applied using magic stones.”

Truly a train of thought befitting the Magic Stone Princess.

As a result, she started dedicating half her research time trying to establish a means to incorporate magical power through magic stones… she called it the [Focused Mana Charging Method].

Putting a magic stone inside the metal tube, she held up both hands.

The mouth of the tube was widened, and it became narrower to its butt. It looked like a funnel.

The interior’s surface was smeared with a special chemical that perfectly reflects magical power.

Thanks to that, when magical power is transmitted, the amount that leaks without being absorbed by the magic stone is drastically reduced.

Magical tool inventors everywhere praised Meiya for this innovation that overshadowed the rainbow sword that she invented in the magic university.

The people who propagated the rumor that “Meiya’s talents had withered” all quieted down.

And people lionized her, saying “Meiya Dragoon is the greatest magic tool inventor in history”.

However, it was impossible for Meiya to be sincerely pleased with that evaluation.

She had simply stolen the idea from the true genius, the god, Lute.

Also, at the same time she was conducting analysis on the S&W M10 and AK-47, she was collecting information.

She had asked the merchant who brought her the S&W M10 and AK-47, as well as other merchants, to search for similar items in the world.

She recruited help in collecting information without minding the costs.

However, having caught hold of such talk, sly merchants and vice individuals swarmed toward Meiya as ants toward sugar.

Needless to say, the information and goods they brought were all fake.

Though they were counterfeits that simply imitated outward appearance, the resemblance was disgustingly uncanny, so she had her hopes up. However, she was able to immediately tell they were fakes as soon as she picked them up.

Such days of parsing through a large amount of jumbled information continued, until one day a plausible piece of information came.

Someone who grew up in the same orphanage as Lute… of the Beast race’s White Wolf tribe, a girl named Snow apparently owned a magic tool similar to the S&W M10 revolver.

It was said that she was studying in a magic school in the Fairy Human Continent at the moment.

According to the merchant who brought in the information, he approached her to try and buy the magic tool, but he wasn’t even given the time of day.

So he visited Meiya in the hopes that she would at least buy this information for a high price.

Naturally, she only paid the merchant as much the price for the information.

Meiya instantly made up her mind to go to the Fairy Human Continent to visit the aforementioned magic school.

However, a one-way trip from the Dragon Continent to the Fairy Human Continent would take at least half a year by ship.

A round-trip would take approximately one year.

But she was one of the few people in the world who owned a private airship.

Her private airship looked visually like a regular ship, but it used a large quantity of magic stones to float.

With this, even a trip that would usually take half a year could be completed in approximately one short month.

Without delay, in order for her to meet and directly negotiate with Snow, Meiya set her sights on a certain magic school in the Fairy Human Continent.