Chapter 48 (1/2)

Translator(s): DC, s.h.i.+mizuA    Editor(s): Merp    Proofreader(s): DC    TLC(s): Lox

The Pa.s.sion of Life is Equal

Opening up the hinged floor plate[1], a bullet was loaded into the chamber. A light metallic *Cac.h.i.n.k* reverberated. Ludmilla prepared her rifle and laid in a shooting position.

”Fuuu……”

In the dead of night, she let out a deep, yet silent, sigh. She let out excess energy from her stiff body, and like that, Ludmilla finished her own preparation like her rifle's.

The location that she was staring at was the eastern section's main street. There was a fairly large number of people coming and going, it was a s.p.a.cious road illuminated by streetlights. Ludmilla, positioning herself about 300 meters away, obviously couldn't hear all the hustling and bustling with her ears, but she could tell how lively it was through her scope.

”…… Haa”

*Sigh*――This time, Ludmilla let out an authentic sigh.

Frankly, she felt depressed, and immediately after this, she was going to fire a bullet into her leader. She wasn't fond of sniping through congested crowds.

Nonetheless, Ludmilla was on standby on top of a tall building's rooftop. As she confirmed earlier, there was no human presence in the nearby vicinity, and what's more, there was no wind tonight. The distance was fairly far away, but considering her shooting skills, the likelihood of an erroneous shot was nearly impossible.

”Like I said, why can't you pick a better place……?”

Ludmilla murmured her complaints towards s.h.i.+zuru, that wasn't there, who had picked the sniping spot. She was told that the target this time would pa.s.s through there and that she should kill him at that moment, but was it really okay that the location is so crowded with people?

With the gun's performance and Ludmilla's own skill, the sniping was not, by any means, difficult. s.h.i.+zuru had said that as well. She had no issues with having her skills praised but she felt like the words were being said lightly.

”……'Why don't you gather all the information on a target yourself, and then put together a plan' huh……”

Ludmilla was quite aware that she wasn't in a position to make small complaints about her orders. At any rate, s.h.i.+zuru basically did all of the intelligence gatherings in Black Maria's third squad. From the eastern section and flowing gossip, to the influence/strength of other organizations like theirs, to target behavior, etc.

Certainly diverse and versatile. Even Ludmilla wouldn't be able to mimic the extensive intelligence network that he had identically.

Even more.

”Talk about it, the basic design of my gun was also s.h.i.+zuru's doing…… Really, there's nothing he can't do.”

In this world, bolt lock styled rifles, namely, bolt action rifles were common. Structurally, they were close to a Dreyse rifle[2] on Earth. Although, the bullets that she was using were in a cartridge.

However, Ludmilla's rifle structure was completely different from those. The hinge was attached to the barrel, a break-barrel[3] so to speak. It was st.u.r.dy, and it was easy to maintain because the structure was simple. It was lightweight, easy to handle, and ideal to exchange the barrel for adjusting its range. It was an idea that had not existed in this world before.

Although the bolt action excels unconditionally, whether it's good or bad cannot be said, Ludmilla and the gun had a history together. Just thinking about how it was the only one in this world, an original piece, made her feel more affection for it. …She had only recently found out that s.h.i.+zuru made the basic plans for it.

”Why did that guy decided to become an a.s.sa.s.sin. If you can do that much stuff, you don't need such a job.”

Ludmilla, who didn't know of s.h.i.+zuru's past, had only been apart of Black Maria for a short period of time, she had mumbled a question commonly held by almost all of the members and his friends. But now was not the time to think about it.

She placed her pocket watch down nearby, which indicated when to begin the mission.

”…… He came”

A single confused man was reflected in the scope, as he disappeared into the crowd.

He had the same appearance as in the photo. There was no way to mistake it.

According to s.h.i.+zuru's story, the target had said that he had made a reservation at this time today in a shop on the main street. As usual, he had the ability to accurately gather intelligence. She didn't even feel surprised anymore.

”Fuuu……”

Just like before, Ludmilla exhaled deeply, yet quietly.