Chapter 144
"I'm from Earth. Unlike you guys, I'm an ordinary person... You can think of me as a Villager."
"Oh, stop being so modest! You're an incredible sniper, good enough to give people from Earthclear a run for their money!"
"I can only provide support. I can't do anything without relying on a Digder, and if an enemy gets close, it's all over... And stop patting my head!"
Ignoring Merry's prickly protests, Yuki smiled cheerfully, trying to satisfy her own desire.
The others tilted their heads. Merry didn't seem to have any weapon that looked suitable for a sniper, and they couldn't imagine someone from Earth like her having the muscle needed to fire an arrow far enough for it to be called a sniper's shot.
"Oh, right. I guess people from Earthclear would be confused when they hear 'sniper,' huh? Well, on Earth, there are Digders known as weapons left behind by the ancients. They're made using materials that are hard to come by these days and technology from a lost civilization, so they're incredibly rare... Among them are particularly rare magic firearms that shoot bullets made of magic. Merry-chan is skilled with one of those."
"Magic firearms?"
"This is one."
When Rex asked her to repeat herself, Merry swiftly drew the black object from the holster at her waist, pressed the trigger, and fired a rainbow-colored round from what looked like a barrel with a thunderous bang!
The rainbow-colored round shot past Rex's side too fast to see, then struck a palm-sized creature clinging to the wall of a house behind him. The round flashed and burst apart.
"Merry-chan, you can't use that inside the facility! It's dangerous!"
"It was quicker to show you. Besides, are you doubting my aim? There's no way I'd miss... Look, it's an earth gecko. It dug through the ground and snuck in here. Score—rare food!"
Merry picked up the earth gecko that had dropped to the ground when the round hit it, then tucked it into a small leather pouch.
"That's basically it. Right now, Merry-chan only has a magic-modified Government, which can fire rapidly but has a short range. Usually, though, she uses a magic-modified Dragunov, a sniper rifle that can hit targets much farther away, and picks off monsters one after another. I should warn you, hitting your target without missing is really difficult."
"Heh. Well? Do you respect me a little now?"
Merry proudly puffed out her flat chest, but the others just stared blankly at the magic firearm in her hand—the Government—apparently not understanding how impressive it was.
"So this is a magic firearm... It fires incredibly fast. I'm not sure even I could dodge it."
After a little while, Takako murmured in admiration. Rex and Menou seemed to agree, nodding along. Then Parna said, "I definitely couldn't dodge it, though I could deal with it by making a barrier with magic or something." The women nodded as if they agreed.
"The fact that you can even think about dodging it or finding a way to counter it makes you lot more impressive than this Digder. Anyway, that's why you can fight just fine without relying on Digders like this, while people from Earth like me use them to fight."
"Seems like you'd be able to fight just fine with that, but... From what that guy Kurusu said, it still wouldn't be enough, right? What kind of monsters are out there?"
"I told you, weapons-class Digders are extremely rare. There aren't many... And besides..."
At Parna's words, Merry started to say something, but then said, "Well, you'll see when we actually fight," and started walking down the street again. The thought that an opponent formidable enough to make her hesitate might be waiting ahead left Takako a little uneasy, and—
"Why go so far as to fight? You said just now that it's over if an enemy gets close... Compared to us people from Earthclear, you must be at far greater risk of losing your life, right?"
She was simply curious about what drove people from Earth to boldly face such opponents.
"Huh? We can't have people from Earthclear doing all the fighting, can we? Sure, we don't fight on the front lines. If we died and lost a rare Digder, that would defeat the whole purpose. But you people from Earthclear aren't an endless supply of fighters, either. We'll at least support you so everyone can make it back alive... Besides, reclaiming Earth is something we want, too."
Merry's wistful expression conveyed a conviction much like the one Alice had once held: a dream worth pursuing even at the cost of one's life. Overcome with emotion, Takako blurted, "That's admirable," and vigorously ruffled Merry's hair.
As expected, Merry leaped away, shouting, "Stop it! Don't touch me! Don't treat me like a kid!" Takako gave a knowing chuckle. "You're so stubborn... That's where you're completely different from Alice-chan." Then she followed after Merry.
"I've explained a lot, but there's no need to be so worried. Whatever threat we face, we have an organization to make sure you come back alive. The important thing is not to push yourselves to the point of death, and to rely on your comrades as you fight."
"Was that the unit you mentioned earlier? We're heading there now, right? Are there a lot of people fighting there, including people from Earthclear besides you two?"
"Yeah. There's a resistance made up of people from this underground facility, Noah, just ahead. There are Heroes like you there, too... people from Earthclear."
"I see... So Kagami-san is there, too."
Following Kurusu's suggestion to ask the people fighting nearby, Alice moved closer to Merry, her face brightening as she tried to find out if Kagami was there.
"Kagami...? Who's that?"
But Merry tilted her head in confusion, apparently with no idea who he was. She glanced at Yuki to check, but Yuki tilted her head too, apparently just as clueless.
"There should be a man whose role is Villager who came here three... no, one year ago."
"A Villager...? Oh, you mean that 'most disappointing Hero in history'? The Villager who arrived just before you?! Wait, you know that damn Hero?"
"T-the most disappointing Hero in history...?"
At the outrageous way Merry had described him, the others exchanged confused glances. But seeing how furious she was just from remembering who it was, they realized she wasn't joking.