Aurora, Ruby, and Rita walked out of the room after the meeting with the elves.

"So, what's a gun?" Ruby asked as they continued walking.

"I actually want to know too," Rita said. "If you don't mind."

Of course, they were curious, Aurora thought.

"It's a new type of weapon," she said. "Think of it like a bow, but better."

"Oh! Now that I think about it," Rita said. "I did hear about the rumor of an unknown weapon being used by elves when our knights were chasing the second prince. So, that was a gun?"

Aurora nodded.

"I see," Ruby said. "But is it worth the effort if it's just a slightly better bow?"

"No, the improvement will be massive," Aurora said. "Like it'll be stronger, have longer range, and much more."

"Oh, okay," Ruby said. "But if they're as powerful as you mentioned, are you sure they will willingly give us these weapons?"

"Don't you wonder why they're looking for help when they have such a great weapon?" Aurora asked.

"They refuse to use it?" Rita guessed.

"Huh? Why?" Ruby asked. "Are they idiots?"

Aurora smiled. "Pretty much. Some people, or in this case, elves, put much more importance on their traditions and pride. They're not willing to change no matter what."

"Even if that kills them?" Ruby said. "How dumb."

Not far from them, Prince Casper was waiting. They approached him.

"How was it?" Casper asked.

"I believe we're doing well," Aurora said. "And can I ask you one more thing?"

"What is it?" Prince Casper asked.

"Don't let Serena, the Elf Princess, leave this place no matter what," Aurora said. "Even if that means using force."

"Why?" Casper asked.

"She will be the key to strengthening our military force without adding more soldiers and knights," Aurora said. "Isn't that what Nova wants too?"

"Really?" Casper said, a little doubtful.

"Everything I told you so far was true, right? Just trust me," Aurora said.

"Okay," Casper said. "I promised that I will support you with anything. So I won't go back on my words."

"Great," Aurora said, smiled. "I will talk to them a few more times. I will try to persuade them with words first, vut if they still aren't willing to work with us, we will persuade them with other means."

"Aren't you... getting a little too extreme?" Ruby asked, a bit worried.

"No," Aurora said. "A gun is THAT important. For example, if you're inside that tower over there, can you kill us over here with magic?"

Ruby looked at the tower Aurora pointed to.

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"No way, that's too far."

"That's right," Aurora said. "Most magic only works in short or medium range. The farther away you are, the harder it is to control. But a gun can do it. Not only that, it can kill you in one attack."

"What?" Ruby exclaimed. Rita and Casper were shocked too.

"Now do you understand why it's important?" Aurora asked.

"Well, kinda, but..." Ruby's voice trailed off.

"I get it, my words alone might be hard to believe," Aurora said, "but you guys will see it for yourselves later, and then you can decide whether my words were true or not."

***

The next day, Aurora and the others came back to meet with the elves. Inside the room Serena and the rest had already been waiting for some time. They seemed less tense than yesterday, but still looked uneasy.

They all sat down and Aurora began to speak. "Okay, let's continue our conversation from yesterday," she said.

The plan was to convince Serena to give them a gun, but it's seems like the elf Princess had another plan.

"Before that," Serena interrupted. "I want to talk to you privately. Just you and me."

Aurora blinked, not expecting that.

"Princess?" Altea said confused. While the twins looked at each other, not understanding what was going to happen. It seemed like they didn't know about this either.

"Don't do it," Ruby said, worried. "You don't know what she might do."

Rita nodding in agreement.

That's true, Aurora thought. There's no need to agree with this, but...

"Don't worry, I just want to talk," Serena said, copying what Aurora had said yesterday.

Aurora wondered if Serena was trying to insult her, but she felt like it was just a friendly jab. So, Aurora ignored it and said, "Okay, let's do it."

"Aurora!" Ruby snapped, immediately standing up.

Aurora raised her hand. "It's okay, don't worry," she said.

"But..." Ruby's voice trailed off.

"You believe me, right?" Aurora asked.

"That's an unfair question," Ruby said.

"But still, you did it, right?" Aurora insisted.

Ruby sighed and unwillingly said, "Okay."

"You guys too," Serena said to her friends. "Please leave the room for a moment."

"Are you sure about this, Princess?" Altea asked, looking uneasy.

Serena nodded.

"If that's what you want, Princess," Talia said. Salia looked worried too, but she could just follow along.

They all left the room, leaving only Aurora and Serena.

"Okay," Aurora said, breaking the silence. "We are alone now. What do you want to say to me?"

"I'm going to go straight to it then," Serena said. "Are you a transmigrator too? You must be, right? Or else everything wouldn't make sense."

Aurora didn't answer immediately. She just observed the elf princess.

"I'm sure you're keeping it a secret," Serena continued. "I did too. I didn't tell anyone, not even my friends. So I get it if you don't want to talk about it. But right now, it's just us. It would be easier to talk if we had the same understanding."

"If you're going that far," Aurora said. "Fine, I admit it. I'm a transmigrator too."

"So you did! I'm relieved," Serena said excitedly. "You know what? I feel really alone in this world. Even after living here for several weeks or months? Getting to know some people--or elves, and being friends with them. I still feel alone sometimes. Knowing that I'm not the only one from the modern world, I'm feeling better already!"

"Well, I get what you mean," Aurora said, "but just because we're from the same world doesn't mean anything."

"Oh, come on!" Serena said. "We're practically best friends now. Anyway, where are you from? America? Japan?"

"No, we're not," Aurora said. "And forget about that. We're not here to talk about that."

"Boo! Boring," Serena pouted. "I'm tired of acting like an elf princess. Can't you let me be me for a second? You're lucky to transmigrate to a human body. It must be easier to adapt. Though I never knew there was another kingdom in the game, let alone someone named Aurora."

"Can't you tell already?" Aurora said, surprised. "I came into a different game. It's a dating sim game called 'The Wicked Villainess of Ruin.' This world was a mixture of several games."

"Oh... so that's why!" Serena said. "Sorry, I didn't really play games that had a lot of text in them, so I wouldn't know. I mostly play shooter games. One of my favorites back then was RE4. I'm so frustrated I got transmigrated before the remake version was released. It's impossible for me to play it now!"

"About that," Aurora said, "do you know what exactly happened to us? Why and how are we transmigrated?"

"Uh... not much, sorry," Serena said. "I remember going to bed pretty sleepy, and then the next day I woke up here. I'm not sure how and why... I mean, I get that I played 'Gunslinger Goddess' right before I transmigrated, so that might be why I'm inside that game, but that's pretty much it."

"I see, same with me then," Aurora said. "I too just woke up here. I'm not sure if I'm dead or not in the original world."

"Are you thinking about wanting to go back?" Serena asked.

Aurora sighed. "I don't know. Is that even possible? Or is that the end goal all along? Are we supposed to hit certain events before we get booted out back to our world? Or what? I don't know..."

"So, you're worried about it too?" Serena said, smiling. "Turns out you're more normal than I thought."

"That's rude," Aurora said, displeased.

"Sorry, sorry," Serena laughed. "But yesterday, you were kind of scary to me, you know? I thought you would kill me if I was lying."

"Well, someone decided to bring a modern weapon to a medieval fantasy world," Aurora said. "What kind of image do you think I had for that kind of person?"

"I'm not a warmonger, I promise!" Serena said. "I'm just desperate!"

"Do you understand how much something like a gun can change this world?" Aurora asked.

"I know, but I had no other choice!" Serena said. "You know the DLC, right? If things continue like this, I will be dead and the Elf Kingdom will be destroyed!"

"So you're okay as long as you survive? Even if your actions have the potential to start an endless war all over the world?" Aurora asked.

"Don't put it that way," Serena sighed. "I'm just... a stupid teenager who likes playing FPS games. What do I know about stuff like that? I just want to keep living."

"Right, sorry," Aurora said, feeling bad. "I might have been too harsh. Anyway, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know," Serena said. "If you think my weapon is dangerous, why do you want it anyway?"

"If it's going to exist in this world, I prefer it to be on my side," Aurora said. "And there's another reason too, but I can't tell you. We're not allies yet."

"Oh, come on!" Serena said. "We're best friends already! No need to hold back."

"We're not," Aurora said. "And let's just get to the point. We've already talked too much, and everyone is waiting for too long."

Aurora gestured toward the door. It was slightly open, and someone was peeking, but they couldn't tell who it was.

"Fine," Serena said. "About the gun, right? Okay, I've decided you can take it. I think I can trust you now. After all, we're best friends already--"

"We're not," Aurora cut her off.

"Stop being stingy," Serena said. "Anyway, as long as you're helping us survive, then I'm okay with it. I'm sure you're not going to backstab your own best friend, right?"

"We're not--whatever," Aurora said. "And backstabbing was more of your thing than mine anyway."

"Ah, right," Serena remembered the second prince they betrayed. "Then I promise I won't backstab you, my best friend."

"Great," Aurora sighed.

***