Volume 1 Chapter 12 (2/2)

She raised her head up and called for attention.

“Yeah, I know, I promise.”

Just like that, Tenko kissed my cheek.

“Tenko!?”

“It’s a promise kiss. Oto-san has to absolutely, definitely keep his promise.”

Maybe it’s because she herself was embarrassed but her face reddened and separated away from me. She then trotted towards the transfer array that Succubus was preparing.

◇

After we returned to our house in Marcho’s Dungeon, the two of us, Tenko and I, had a meal.

The Skeletons were stored away. There wasn’t enough space for them here.

It was a little bit awkward. She was still feeling shy about the kiss earlier.

I used [Creation] to make her favorite food, the steak, but she still ate her meal slowly.

While I thought that, she opened her mouth.

“Oto-san, what kind of monster will you make this time?”

Her voice trembled for a bit.

It was probably her desperate attempt to break the ice.

“Oh, yeah. I initially thought of making a higher ranking undead type monster.”

Training the Skeletons consumed a lot of effort.

If I was able to call forth a high-ranking monster with high intelligence and could also command the Skeletons at will, I would then be able to train the Skeletons in an easier and not to mention more efficient manner than what I was doing currently.

“You talk like you’re not going to anymore.”

“Yeah. After all, the [Earth] medal is the only original medal I have right now. I won’t seem to have great options if we factor in the attributes that imitation medals and my [Creation] would add.”

[Earth] and the undead didn’t have a poor compatibility but that didn’t mean they were perfectly compatible neither.

If that was the case, I thought it would then be better for me to wait for a more compatible medal.

“I see but then, what will you make? It’s going to be Tenko’s little sister or brother so it should be cute.”

Tenko chimed in.

Her awkwardness was gradually going away. It was great.

“I think I’ll make a dwarf that can do some smithing. [Earth] and dwarves have excellent compatibility. Also, I’ll use an imitation of [Person]. Finally, I’ll transform [Creation] to [Alchemy].”

I had heard of the existence of [Alchemy] from Marcho. She was teaching me as much as she could about medals that seemed useful. Her lessons would certainly be used as guidelines on what kind of monster I’ll make.

I intended to summon the highest-ranking dwarf using [Earth], [Person], and [Alchemy].

“Why a dwarf? They’re not that strong.”

“Well, they’re not really for battle. I plan to use them for their smithing abilities.”

“But aren’t Oto-san’s weapons strong enough?”

“Yeah, they are but don’t you want to see them be even more powerful? Let’s take your shotgun, the Remilton M870P, as an example. If we increase the amount of powder and also increase the size of the bullets, its attack power will jump up.”

“Woah, that’s fantastic! Tenko wants that shotgun!”

Tenko’s eyes sparkled as she imagined it as a new toy to play with.

I smiled wryly at that.

“For a shotgun like Tenko’s, the size of the bullet is measured by gauge. The smaller the number of the gauge, the larger the caliber becomes. The power of the gun will increase too. The standard for the Remilton M870P is a 12 gauge shell. However, shells range from 4 gauge up to 24 gauge. The power of a 4 gauge and a 12 gauge differ by about three times. But, regrettably, the Remilton M870 only uses 12 gauge and there aren’t any shotguns in my memory that uses the 4 gauge shells.”

4 gauge shells were considerably unique shells. A 12 gauge was 18.1mm in diameters but a 4 gauge shell measured 25.2mm, roughly 1.5 times larger in size.

Even bears and sea lions were not a match for 10 gauge shells and 4 gauges were really only used when going against something like a tank.

“That’s disappointing. I want to shoot the triple powered 4 gauge.”

“Tenko might be disappointed but it’s only natural for something like that to not exist in my memory. Their recoils were too strong that they were not practical. No person could use it.”

“It’s no problem for Tenko. Tenko’s strong!”

What Tenko said was true.

The physical strength of monsters might just be able to handle a 4 gauge shotgun.

“It might not be a problem for Tenko but the gun itself may not be able to bear it.”

4 gauge shotguns were used in an era when black powder was the main component whereas modern day shotguns employed smokeless powder.

Smokeless powder delivered more power than black powder so a gun that could endure being used with 4 gauge shells made of smokeless powder probably didn’t exist.

“Guns have no guts at all. I wish they’d work harder.”

She puffed her cheeks and uttered such absurd things.

I couldn’t understand what she’s feeling.

“Another thing, there aren’t any 4 gauge shells in my memory to begin with so I can’t make any with my [Creation].”

I can’t make any so of course there wasn’t any of it.

“Oto-san’s mean. Now I’m not excited anymore.”

“Don’t give up so quickly… I only said that I can’t make any using [Creation]. If by chance we have a remarkable blacksmith, they will be able to disassemble the gun I made using [Creation], examine its construction, make a 4 gauge shell, and reconstruct a shotgun which can use the said 4 gauge shells. Furthermore, there are magic metals in this world. If a bullet was made using these magic metals, the bullet alone would increase the weapon’s power. And if we made the gun using magic metals, it just might be able to endure firing 4gauge shells.”

That much was my goal; to improve our weapons.

Moreover, if I may be so greedy, I wished for a mass production of weapons that didn’t rely on my [Creation].

I was aware of the performance of the Skeletons through our daily level up battles and I aim to push them beyond that.

“I get it. A dwarf really was most suited! They’ll make Tenko’s shotgun even more amazing!!”

Tenko was hyped up, suddenly straightening her fluffy fox tail.

It looked like someone excited about her new favorite toy.

Well, I was the same.

My thoughts went from our new companion, the dwarf, to the new weapons it would create.

The author, Tsukiyo Rui-sensei, wants to take this opportunity to promote the release of the first volume of her other work, お菓子職人の成り上がり～天才パティシエの領地経営～ (Upstart Pastry Chef ~The territory management of a Genius Pâtissier). It will launch on the 30th of October (although futabasha states it will be available on the 29th).

The synopsis say that it’s about a genius pastry chef reincarnated into a noble albeit of low nobility. And after some twists, becomes the ruling lord of an area. And so, he want to build up his territory while also fulfilling his previous life’s dream of becoming the best pastry chef.