Esperanza let out a small laugh. Whether he was showing off or complinting himself.
"Try it."
"It would be difficult here. Let's go down to the shooting range."
"......Of course. From now on, that thing is banned from entering my laboratory."
"Says the one who made it."
They went straight down to the shooting range, dismissed the servants who were cleaning, and faced the distant targets. Esperanza shouldered the gun and loaded it.
"Huh? Hmm. Ah, is this how you do it?"
She reduced the output to minimum and loaded magic power. Indeed, the efficiency was exceptional.
A status window appeared before her eyes. Esperanza clicked her tongue at the trendous stats of the equipnt. Attack, agility, attack speed, magic efficiency, magic recovery speed, accuracy, critical rate—almost all hit maximum values.
The highest among them was magic efficiency. Ordinary weapons give about 1 when you put in 10, Esperanza's gun gives about 2, but this treasure gives 3 when you put in 10.
The attached buff was bleeding. Dealing up to 100% of damage dealt as continuous damage—wasn't that basically getting it for free?
The gun Esperanza had been carrying was also quite efficient equipnt, a rare item plastered with upper-level monster byproducts, but this surpassed that level. To reach this degree without monster byproducts.
Wait. If there are no monster byproducts, then what on earth was used here?
"Don't tell
you used my blood for this?"
"Then what else would I have used it for?"
Cider, who had been watching with arms crossed two steps behind, answered. She had no idea. She had grumbled and stomped on his feet really hard too. Of course, it was the fault of the one who didn't tell her.
"......So this is why you asked
for blood."
"Aren't you going to shoot?"
When she glanced back, the man whose neck had reddened turned his head. But it was no use. His ears were red too.
Her mood beca refreshed. Esperanza smiled and fired the gun. Three shots went out in an instant.
"Wow, this. This is trendous."
Admiration ca out naturally. The efficiency, the sharpness and accuracy of the attack. Moreover, it was trendously light.
"Are there any lacking parts?"
"Let
ask just one thing first."
"Tell ."
"Do you happen to have aliens in your laboratory?"
What kind of talk is this now? While wondering whether to listen to this novel nonsense or not, Esperanza continued.
"Isn't this technology that ca from torturing aliens?"
"Is that a complint?"
"Ah, I'm not sure. Torture is a bit much."
When their eyes t, both burst into laughter at the sa ti.
"That joke wasn't funny."
"But you laughed."
"I laughed because it was absurd. So, is there anything uncomfortable?"
She hesitated for a mont. Esperanza asked subtly.
"Seriously? In detail?"
"Seriously. In detail. Since you'll be using it, I need to adjust it properly."
You'll regret it. But if that's what he wants, it can't be helped.
"Well, first it's too light. The weight should be twice this for easier balance. And the barrel is a bit short. For
to use it, it should be about half a span longer. I'd like to be able to adjust firepower with a lever instead of a dial, and the focus seems to lean slightly to the right, so it would be good if you could improve that too. The magic discharge thod isn't a big problem, but the sound of gears turning inside is a bit loud. I rember there was a way to eliminate that but I can't rember. It's fine now, but if a lot of magic goes in, the sound might get too loud. Oh, also the magic bullet format is a bit botherso, since I usually use continuous attacks a lot. If that's difficult, it would be better if you could make it about 100 rounds at once. 50 rounds run out too quickly. Um, um, and......."
Cider leaned against the wall with a pale face. Esperanza, feeling embarrassed, scratched her cheek.
"That's why I asked if you were serious. I'm a bit picky about weapons. It's perfectly good as it is now."
However, the other party was the type whose motivation blazed when hearing the word "perfectly." She could almost feel the heat on her skin.
"Did the person who made that gun before adjust all of that for you?"
"Dr. Sullivan? He couldn't adjust everything but more or less...... Originally that person was dedicated to making my weapons so he knew what to do and how. So, this is also excellent as a single product, but my preferences and habits aren't reflected in it."
"So you're saying it's like a ready-made product."
The man, whose pride seed greatly hurt, snatched the gun away. As her hands beca empty, Esperanza spoke as if making excuses.
"But, I did like it."
"Wait. I'll fix everything you ntioned. I'll make sure you never say such things again."
"Were you offended?"
Cider glared and shook his head. He already had that chanical smile back on his lips.
"Not really, but my pride was hurt. I don't know how many years it's been since I heard soone say I'm worse than soone else."
"That's not what I ant by worse."
Should she not have spoken after all? Honesty sotis ruins relationships. Especially when dealing with soone like Cider Claiborne who has strong pride in his abilities, criticism isn't a very good approach.
She had said sothing unnecessary. Anyway, with any weapon, what's important is carrying it for a long ti and getting used to it. There's no weapon that fits perfectly from the beginning. Even what Dr. Sullivan made had uncomfortable parts, and she had made it her own by adapting her body to it. It was ridiculous to complain about it not fitting her body well now.
Since he had gone to the trouble of giving her a gift and heard such words, he had every right to feel bad. Esperanza, who had beco dejected, clenched her empty hands.
"It's obvious what you're thinking, so I'm telling you, it's not what you think."
'How do you know what I was thinking?'
Esperanza looked up blankly. However, thinking about it, Cider was right most of the ti. Even though they hadn't known each other for more than a few months. Yet Esperanza had no idea what Cider was thinking.
"Finding direction by groping around alone without guidance or instruction isn't easy even for soone like ."
Cider said, not forgetting to include self-praise.
"I wasn't offended. I was so focused on using good technology that I seem to have forgotten this was a gift for you."
"Um, thank you for the gift."
"Say thanks when you actually receive it. It's confiscated for now. Try to endure with your old-fashioned gun."
"Old-fashioned......."
Esperanza smiled ambiguously while thinking of Dr. Sullivan's rifle. Cider shouldered the gun as Esperanza did and headed to the study.
The young maids who had been squealing among themselves at the sight of his muscled forearms sighed after checking his face. As if no matter how good-looking, you don't eat poisonous mushrooms.
Esperanza followed behind the poisonous mushroom with similar strides and asked.
"Haven't there been people saying what was uncomfortable until now? Ask the magic goods store. They'd tell you what custors say, wouldn't they?"
Cider slightly tilted his head back to look at Esperanza following behind and answered.
"I'm not interested in their opinions. They're not particularly valuable opinions either."
"......What's the problem?"
Personality? Is it personality?
"First, they're generally stupid."
"Ah, yes."
"My technology is cutting-edge, right?"
"Ah, yes."
Cider frowned.
"Please listen to the end. When such technology first cos out, people usually only think about what's changed because sothing new appeared. Such fuss isn't very helpful. It's not bad, but it has no utility."
Though arrogant, it was at least a proper reason.
"You can only know the problems with new technology after at least one season passes."
Cider opened the study door with a bitter smile and placed the gun on a stand. Esperanza blinked.
"So? You can just ask after a season passes."
"By the ti they know, I already know too."
"Ah, I see......."
In other words, there's no imdiate feedback, and by the ti feedback cos in, he's already figured it out himself, so either way it's useless.
Esperanza wasn't a particularly different species from them. ......She might really be a different race in terms of having magic power, but she wasn't exceptional in such areas.
However, Esperanza from 13 years in the future had already experienced advanced technology and was a skilled warrior who was picky about weapons.
"Well, what can they do if it's uncomfortable for them? They have to endure and use it. There's no need to accommodate everyone."
As if worried about being misunderstood, he always adds one nasty comnt.
There was nothing more to say. Esperanza briefly watched Cider disassemble the gun, then pointed to another machine he had taken out. The not-large machine had a lens and funnel-shaped magic absorber attached.
"What's that you took out?"
"It's a dungeon detector to take to Mabelwood."
"Dungeon detector......?"
How does a gentleman who has never even seen a dungeon detect dungeons?
"It can't detect dungeons right away."
"Then what?"
"If the Mabelwood incident really happened because of a dungeon, there would be differences in magic waves or flow. It's a device that picks out minute wave differences, recognizes them, and sounds an alarm when similar phenona appear. Though it's a bit large."
As it turned out, the interpretation organ attached next to it was all one machine. That interpretation organ was larger than Cider's body and spun around making frantic whirring sounds. The paper being pulled out continuously was full of incomprehensible symbols and graphs.
Cider made an excuse that wasn't an excuse, saying he was "recognizing Nine Holder's magic power," and pulled a lever to stop the machine's operation.
"How are we supposed to load this? You said we're taking the train!"
"That's why I wanted to borrow your...... space."
If they borrowed her inventory to transport it...... Esperanza would only suffer a bit putting that thing in. It wouldn't make noisy sounds, and she could see the performance in the status window. Most importantly, this was all Cider accommodating Esperanza's needs, so there was no way she would refuse such effort.
Once the dungeon detector entered the inventory, Cider brightened and handed various laboratory supplies to Esperanza. In an instant, the laboratory beca sparsely empty as if moving house. Esperanza's inventory was complaining of saturation.
"The inventory...... isn't infinite!"
"Put in as much as you can."
So even without being a farming shuttle, you can beco a luggage bag. Esperanza finally stuffed both their luggage bags full into her inventory.
The inventory was full. The inventory she had expanded by throwing ridiculous amounts of cash at it...... The inventory that had never been filled to the end even during major dungeon conquests.......
Esperanza sighed while looking at the inventory window in dismay.
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