Chapter 9 - II -

 

The Paladin Prince began his charge towards me on his horse.  At first, it was slow, then as he drew near, he increased his speed, and his lance suddenly came pointing down in my direction.

 

If I got hit by that lance, I’ll be dead, even if there’s a substitute doll in place…

 

“…”

 

However, I remained unmoved in my position.  I could hear the angry shouts coming from what remained of the audience, egging the Paladin Prince to beat me thoroughly.  And also…

 

“Look at the commoner!  He’s so scared he forgot to run!”

 

“Hey, you better run now so we can have a bit of fun, you fool!”

 

“Maxwell, do us a favor and go easy on him!  Let us have entertainment for a while!”

 

These idiots were annoying, I wish they’d just shut their mouths.

 

“…”

 

But I did my best to stay calm, even though in some sense, I’m about to get run over by the tank.  I knew I couldn’t fire yet at this distance.  I needed to make sure my shot counts, or I’ll either be a laughingstock or dead.

 

“!!!”

 

No, it’s way too far just yet.   I remembered a rock song about when to shoot while using a matchlock gun as a weapon.  I repeatedly played it on my mind…

 

See the whites in their eyes, Caroleans are marching on!

 

See the whites in their eyes…

 

Fortunately, the Paladin Prince wore an open type of helmet.  I could see his gritting expression well, as he charged towards me.  In any minute now, he’d be within the range of my weapon…

 

“Beat him to death!” shouted the crowd.

 

See the whites in their eyes…

 

The paladin on his charging steed looked like a furious tank bulldozing everything on its path.  They were a terrible, yet awesome, sight.  Anyone who might end up in my position would be scared shitless by what they were witnessing; but surprisingly, my sanity hanged on.  Honestly, I couldn’t tell what entered my mind when I agreed to join this stupid death game…

 

“Run him over!”

 

See the whites in their eyes!

 

“!!!”

 

Now, Kuro!

 

I quickly pulled the trigger as I turned away to protect my eyes from the blast.  I aimed for the paladin as the loud explosion of burning gunpowder tore through the screams and jeers of the crowd, and the overwhelming recoil of the gun punched through my body.  I almost fell because of the excessive force.

 

“!!!”

 

I heard the horse neighed terribly, followed by a loud crash and shout.  Then I opened my eyes just in time for the armored horse to hit me as it fell; it looked like that my shot went to its head instead and caused the Paladin Prince to be unhorsed.

 

“Guh—” ACK!  Good lord, the pain is terrible!   The iron armor of the war steed hit me fair and square on my chest, and the only thing that went in between that solid mass of steel and muscles was the dagger that I slung across my shoulders.

 

So this is what Her Holiness meant by painful!

 

Good thing that I was pushed away by the fallen horse’s body instead of crushing me with its weight.  So, though in pain, I still got up and return to the fight, using the gun to support me.

 

“…”

 

The crowds continue on their jeers and screams, but their shouts have changed.  They were now desperate; urging the Paladin Prince to get up and finish me.

 

Of course, I won’t allow that.

 

Even though I’m limping and I could feel blood coming out from my mouth, I pulled myself away from the carnage.  The Paladin Prince, trained as he was, had recovered from his nasty fall and was now ready with his sword and mace in both hands.  His face was dirty, and his helmet was gone: a result of tumbling on the wet grass.

 

“!!!”

 

However, I could also see his shocked expression.  He just couldn’t believe I just felled his horse using the cowardly ‘demon weapon’.

 

I quickly took the gunpowder flask and began the arduous process of reloading my gun.  The paladin resumed his charge, albeit slower since he lost his horse.  I still had a considerable distance, but it was getting smaller by every second that passed, so I considered running around while loading my gun…

 

However, the sheer weight of the matchlock was a hindrance for me.  My chest injury didn’t help my cause, either.  With my heart racing, I had to hurry in reloading, or I’ll be fighting this guy using the bayonet and dagger, in which I’m hopelessly untrained.

 

“…”

 

“Aaaaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhh!!!”

 

When he noticed he could quickly close the distance between me and him, the Paladin Prince bolted in my direction.  His sword was raised to protect himself from melee attacks, and his mace was up, ready to be flung down on my head to bludgeon it.

 

Fuck, I need to hurry!

 

“Get him now, Maxwell!”

 

“Here I come!” the Paladin Prince shouted with all his might, as if it was his war cry.  The screams and cheers from the angry and excited crowd were deafening…

 

But I never had the time to notice it.  I quickly emptied the gunpowder on the hole of the gun after ramming in the bullet, and desperation on my part made me quickly aim my weapon at him.  And then I saw his face…the ‘whites’ of his eyes…

 

Good lord, I don’t want to kill someone…

 

“…”

 

But I’ll be dead if this is a true battle!

 

“!!!”

 

I pulled the trigger and off came another loud bang.

 

 

The next few moments were a time of confusion, at least for me.  Smoke from the burning gunpowder temporarily obscured my vision, and when I returned to reality, I noticed that the entire battlefield was quiet.

 

In front of me lay the bloodied Paladin Prince.  His armor had a terrible hole right at the cuirass, and he was bleeding terribly.

 

“Oh my god, I’m sorry Your Highness!” I dropped my weapon and rushed towards the fallen knight.  He was still conscious, yet his deathly pale look was enough to give me nightmares.

 

“D-don’t…wo-worry!” the Paladin Prince tried to speak, “I-I’ll b-be fine!  It’s j-just that, i-it h-hurts, terribly!”

 

Of course it would.  You have a gaping hole in your chest after all.

 

His assistants had come to his side by now, with one carrying a stretcher.  The substitution doll had a pronounced hole in its chest part, a clear sign it absorbed the damage that was done to the poor paladin.  I looked at him again and sighed with relief; his normally fatal injury was healed.  The horse was okay as well, even though it received a bullet straight on its head earlier; one of the Paladin Prince’s attendants was leading it away from the battle site.

 

They should just take a rest for a while…

 

It was then that I came to notice that the entire battlefield was full of shocked people.  They stared at me like I did something awesome, as well as terrible at the same time.  Even the Duke (who reappeared just in time) and Sophia were silent in utter surprise after witnessing what had just transpired.

 

I picked up my matchlock gun and started walking away from the battlefield.

 

“W-wait!”

 

I turned around and saw the judge.

 

“Is this…Is this even allowed, Your Excellency?” he asked the Duke, “He just used a cowardly weapon against our noble knight!”

 

“Yeah!  That’s a coward’s weapon!”  Someone supported the judge’s argument from the crowd.  Soon enough, the entire audience was in an uproar, and the Duke’s guards had to intervene to prevent a riot from breaking out.

 

“!!!”

 

Another blast tore through the air, and the crowd suddenly became silent.  All of their eyes fell on me since I’m the one who fired the matchlock gun once again.

 

“You stupid bloody idiots!” I couldn’t help but berate them, “You keep on saying ‘coward’s weapon’, and ‘honor this’ and ‘honor that’, but what the hell?   You just saw a man almost getting killed by this weapon and all you could think of is your stupid honor and fairness?” 

 

“…” The supposedly arrogant nobles had nothing to counter me.

 

“You may have the best knights or paladins in your employ, but have you thought what would happen if a war breaks out between you and the race who invented this thing?  Let me tell you what an actual war is.  There is no fairness and honor in that; only death and blood, and the ability to kill multitudes of people in a matter of when you blink your eyes!” 

 

Good lord, all these shouts are making my chest burn in pain.  I’m having difficulty in breathing.   But I had to make these morons see reason; at least a few of them would be a good start.

 

“You surely lie!  Don’t lecture us; what do you know about war?  Real wars aren’t fought in deceit!” a noble from the crowd argued with me.

 

“Then so be it!  Wallow in your chivalrous delusions!  From where I came from, we could annihilate an entire city in a matter of seconds, that is, how fast your heart completes a beat.  Do you talk of ‘real war’?  The actual war you’re dreaming of isn’t decided by chivalry; it’s won by killing as many as you can, using any way you can think of!” I brandished the gun in front of them, “If you won’t believe me, then ask yourselves, how am I able to use this weapon?”

 

“Didn’t the demons teach you how to?”

 

“He’s telling the truth!”

 

“!!!”

 

Our attention then fell on the white-haired woman with wolf’s ears and tail.  The Beastman Saint had finally decided to intervene on my behalf.  

 

“You all know that we Saints can read or see through your minds and hearts.” Her Fluffy Holiness explained with a grim look on her face, “As scary as it may sound, but this commoner speaks the truth.  I’ve looked into his memories.”

 

The crowd had no counter against my statement now that the Beastman Saint had said her words.  Everyone just fell quiet for quite a long time, and when they realized the futility of arguing against a Saint, they slowly exited the bleachers to take a break to prepare for the next group’s fight.

 

I guess the advent of matchlock guns in Chersea is a hard pill to swallow…