SCENE: MELTY leads NAOFUMI, CONSTANCE, FILO and RAPHTALIA through the corridors of the castle. Soon, they come face to face with FULANA JEN, who is flanked by two SHADOWS. FULANA JEN gives a courteous bow.
FULANA JEN: Welcome back to the castle, your royal highness. We made sure to secure a safe room for your arrival - if you would follow me?
They follow after FULANA JEN and soon pass through a meeting room with a long table into a spacious office. The office has an expensive wooden table, several chairs, and a set of cabinets filled with documents. Another pair of SHADOWS is already inside. After they exchange a series of signs with FULANA JEN, she waves MELTY through. MELTY plops down at the table in the middle. RAPHTALIA and NAOFUMI sit down on chairs on the opposite side of the table. CONSTANCE leans against a wall. FULANA JEN remains standing, facing MELTY. FILO lays down on the floor and starts napping. MELTY claps her hands together and faces FULANA JEN.
MELTY: Alright, let’s get down to business. Have you found all the traitors among the Shadows?
FULANA JEN: Not yet, your royal highness. I have a core set of people cleared of suspicion, but we aren’t even halfway through the ranks.
MELTY nods.
MELTY: About what I expected, really. Alright, get me my treasury minister, and send a word to the dukes - yesterday you said they were all already in the capital. I want to meet them all as soon as possible, ideally before noon. Get Sir Ren too, if he is in the city. It’s time to create a fund for the defense against the Waves.
FULANA JEN nods, and heads for the doors. MELTY calls out to her.
MELTY: Oh and, who is my captain of the guard?
FULANA JEN turns around.
FULANA JEN: Viscount Erher von Merrath. I believe he was heading out to meet you at the gates - did you use a different entrance?
MELTY stares at FULANA JEN.
MELTY: We did meet, and I immediately fired him - which I wanted to report to the captain of the guard. Maybe I should have asked what his job was first…
MELTY sighs. RAPHTALIA frowns.
MELTY: Well, no matter, get me his second in command - apparently he just got promoted.
FULANA JEN nods.
FULANA JEN: I’ll send the runners.
FULANA JEN heads for the doors again. MELTY turns to the other SHADOWS in the room, and motions to them.
MELTY: You two, go guard the door from the outside. And send someone for tea.
SHADOWS follow FULANA JEN out of the office and close the door. MELTY starts searching through the desk.
MELTY: Give me a moment to find something to write on, and then we’ll figure out a list of what I could do for you.
RAPHTALIA rubs her forehead.
RAPHTALIA: Why did you fire him?
MELTY looks up at RAPHTALIA curiously.
MELTY: You didn’t seem confused before.
RAPHTALIA: I figured you knew he was your enemy - but if you didn’t even know who he was...
MELTY waves her off and continues searching through her desk.
MELTY: He probably was. And if he wasn’t, then he was stupid enough he should have been fired for that alone.
RAPHTALIA: How was he stupid? His question was legitimate.
MELTY stops and arches her eyebrow at RAPHTALIA.
MELTY: Mind control shield? Seriously?
RAPHTALIA crosses her arms.
RAPHTALIA: What? The shield can do all sorts of strange stuff. It has abilities that could affect other people, and it’s not too far out to assume it could, potentially, mind control someone. It’s not like you have records of its exact powers and limitations. Given that you have left the castle with someone that has essentially never interacted with you, it’s not that unreasonable to wonder.
NAOFUMI joins MELTY in arching his eyebrow at RAPHTALIA. MELTY sighs, putting a stack of papers and an inkwell on the table.
MELTY: Look, it doesn’t matter if it’s reasonable or not. I could never allow that sort of question, let alone in public.
RAPHTALIA: So what, you just want to leave yourself open to the possibility of being mind controlled, with your guards doing nothing?
MELTY rubs her forehead and leans back in her chair, supporting her head with one hand on an armrest.
MELTY: Alright, I’ll humor you. Say that there was some kind of policy for the ruler being mind controlled, or otherwise mentally incapacitated - my guards would put me under house arrest, whatever. There is just one problem - how do they know I am being mind controlled?
RAPHTALIA frowns.
RAPHTALIA: You do something you wouldn’t have done before, for example.
MELTY nods.
MELTY: Okay, reasonable. But that sort of standard is inherently subjective. I do things I have never done before every day, because of a change in circumstances, new information I have learned, or simply because I’ve changed my mind. How do they decide when to act? If we leave it entirely up to the judgment of the captain of the guard, then they will be free to imprison me at any point based on a hunch.
RAPHTALIA’s frown deepens, and she doesn’t respond. MELTY gestures with her free hand as she speaks.
MELTY: How long do they keep me under guard? A day? A week? Hypothetical mind control is neither visible nor detectable. There is nothing whatsoever that I could do to prove that I am no longer mind controlled - even if my behavior goes back to the baseline, it is always possible that this mental influence has simply gone dormant. Even if some form of mind control was detectable, why should we expect this to apply across the board? Furthermore, who would rule the country while I am “incapacitated”? Say that it would be my sister. If we had such an “incapacitation” policy, then all she would need to do is ally with my captain of the guard, get him to put me in isolation under false pretenses, and freely rule in my stead. Just putting the possibility on the board will make coups easier to accomplish. But there is a deeper issue at play.
MELTY sits up and leans forwards, with her elbows on the table.
MELTY: Why do you think my family are the ones ruling the country?
RAPHTALIA raises an eyebrow at MELTY.
RAPHTALIA: Is that a trick question?
MELTY shakes her head.
MELTY: No, just give me your honest answer.
RAPHTALIA crosses her arms again.
RAPHTALIA: The honest answer is that I don’t think your family should be ruling this country at all.
MELTY smiles.
MELTY: But that’s not what I asked. I didn’t ask if you think we should be ruling it in the future - I asked why you think that we currently are.
RAPHTALIA frowns and thinks for a moment.
RAPHTALIA: Because you carefully pit the various power players against one another to prevent any threatening alliance from forming? Because some ancestor of yours won a civil war? Because the church claims you hold the divine mandate to rule? I am not sure what answer you want here.
MELTY leans back, smiling.
MELTY: Heh. All true, but no, I was going for something much simpler. The truth is that we rule because people expect us to rule.
NAOFUMI and RAPHTALIA frown.
RAPHTALIA: That’s circular.
MELTY: It really seems like it should be, no? But it is not. We rule because everyone - or at least, enough key people - is convinced that my family is the one that should hold the throne. They are convinced of this due to a variety of factors - support of the church, the favors we grant them, lack of a viable alternative to rally around, tradition, and so on - but at the end of the day the only thing that matters is that they are convinced that we are the royal family. In truth, a lot of it is down to entirely irrational factors. But as long as this idea is in place, we get to live in this shiny castle, and the people follow our orders.
NAOFUMI: That’s a very progressive way of looking at it for a member of the royal family.
MELTY: I take it you know what I am talking about?
NAOFUMI nods.
NAOFUMI: Social constructs, things that only have power because enough people believe them. For example, money - gold may be rare, but so are many other things. In principle, anything can be used as money - for example, in my world, we used special pieces of paper. What makes money valuable is the perception of other people that it is valuable. In a way, it is entirely circular. Similarly, your position as a monarch is a social construct.
MELTY nods.
MELTY: Very good. But this in turn means that anything that would undermine this societal idea - this social construct, you called it? - is harmful to our rule. This obviously goes double for my guards. They shouldn’t serve me because they conclude that I am the best ruler available - that sort of logical chain is incredibly easy to subvert. They should serve because that’s what they do, that’s their life and duty.
RAPHTALIA crosses her arms. MELTY fixes her hair.
MELTY: Fortunately, these “social constructs” don’t decay immediately, and can be reinforced if you know what you are doing. Which is precisely what I did.
RAPHTALIA: So what, am I next on the chopping block because I said I don’t want your family to rule?
MELTY waves her off.
MELTY: Please, Raphtalia. You are demihuman. No serious political group in the country is going to listen to you no matter what you say, and as long as it doesn’t affect the dukes, I couldn’t care less.
RAPHTALIA squints at MELTY. MELTY shrugs. NAOFUMI taps a finger on his cheek.
NAOFUMI: I have to say, I didn’t expect you to think of your own rule in this way.
MELTY raises an eyebrow.
MELTY: Why not?
NAOFUMI: Because it means you don’t believe your own rule is justified by anything other than historical happenstance. Most of the time rulers tend to buy into their own myths.
MELTY shrugs.
MELTY: You are probably right - I know that neither my father nor Myne would agree with me there. I suppose studying in Faubrey gave me a perspective that they lack. I think this is true of all rulers everywhere - will you call me cynical for it?
MELTY squints at NAOFUMI.
MELTY: Hmm. I wonder.
NAOFUMI: What?
MELTY leans forwards on the table with a slight smile.
MELTY: This look you have on your face. It’s similar to the one from back when you talked about slavery in that tavern. Do you have something to say about my rule, Naofumi?
CONSTANCE sends NAOFUMI a meaningful glance. NAOFUMI crosses his arms.
NAOFUMI: We don’t have time for a debate.
MELTY: Oh come on, you can’t leave me like that! At least give me a summary?
NAOFUMI sighs.
NAOFUMI: Look, this problem of needing to slap down any appearance of disloyalty among your subordinates is just a consequence of your ruling system. In my world, we had more advanced ones that could tolerate dissent much easier.
MELTY: Oh? Like what?
NAOFUMI: Honestly, just about anything would work better than a monarchy. For example, in a presidential republic the ruler is elected by a vote of the people. If they get incapacitated by something, that is really not much of an issue - in the worst case, people can simply elect a new president. Elections are also a more robust social construct than what you have, due to the inherent buy-in of the people. Oh, an election is -
MELTY frowns and waves him off.
MELTY: I know what an election is, it’s not a complicated concept. What do you mean by “people” though? Is that a term for your equivalent of the dukes?
NAOFUMI: No, it means the people. Everyone in the country, man, woman, human, demihuman, whatever - one person, one vote.
MELTY opens her mouth in confusion.
MELTY: But how -
NAOFUMI claps his hands on his knees and gets up.
NAOFUMI: Alright, like I said, we don’t have time for a debate, so I am going to remove the temptation in the form of myself. Fredalia can discuss with you the details of our remuneration. Filo, you stay here to guard her.
MELTY grumbles. FILO gives him a thumbs up without getting up off the floor. NAOFUMI heads for the doors. RAPHTALIA follows him.
MELTY: Well, if you are going to leave, you might as well see if you could get Sir Itsuki to come for our meetings - Sir Ren told me you know where he is.
NAOFUMI nods from the door. NAOFUMI and RAPHTALIA leave.
----------------------------------------
SCENE: Office of ITSUKI. RAPHTALIA and NAOFUMI are relaxing with cups of tea. ITSUKI is supporting his head with his hand.
ITSUKI: So you managed to sneak into the trusted circle of a princess?
NAOFUMI: More or less.
ITSUKI: Well, congratulations, I guess. Would make it much easier for you to make her Melromarc’s first astronaut.
NAOFUMI: What?
ITSUKI: With a car bomb, you know. That’s what you anarchists do, right?
NAOFUMI squints at ITSUKI. ITSUKI raises his hands in a placating gesture.
ITSUKI: Hey, I didn’t mean it as a bad thing. It’s great! It’s going to be useful eventually. I’d appreciate it if you held off a bit though - I don’t have the forces to monopolize on that right now.
NAOFUMI: You don’t have forces to monopolize on it? If I do it, I’d be the one doing the monopolizing.
ITSUKI waves at him dismissively.
ITSUKI: That would require you to be capable of organizing forces, which, as an anarchist, you are ideologically incapable of doing.
ITSUKI grins.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
ITSUKI: I am joking. Mostly.
NAOFUMI folds his arms on his chest. RAPHTALIA puts her cup of tea down.
RAPHTALIA: And how many forces did you organize so far?
ITSUKI leans back on his chair.
ITSUKI: That depends on how you count, but raw numbers aren’t that important at this stage - they can grow exponentially later on. The vanguard party has to adapt to the material circumstances: if a revolution is possible, then we do a revolution; if an insurrection is more likely to succeed, then we do that; and if neither is possible, we shape the material and ideological conditions to make them possible in the future. Currently, our main target is increasing class consciousness in the country, and in that vein we are being pretty successful. I am getting my hands on more printers, and moving printed copies of the Spark around the country. Your articles are in it, by the way, have a look.
ITSUKI reaches into one of the cupboards in the room, and takes out a paper magazine with a bright red title. He hands it over to NAOFUMI. NAOFUMI flips through a couple pages, then puts it away.
RAPHTALIA: That’s all well and good, but if a Wave happened tomorrow, how many armed soldiers could you bring with you?
ITSUKI shugs.
ITSUKI: Perhaps fifty. Up to a hundred, if I really stretched. Why do you ask?
RAPHTALIA and NAOFUMI share a look.
RAPHTALIA: We are going to be getting our hands on Faubrey guns soon, and so we need to know how many to stock up for you. Unless you have a supplier already?
NAOFUMI: By “soon” she means later today. We already had preliminary talks, now it’s just a question of the price.
ITSUKI gives them a measured look.
ITSUKI: Will I need to eat my words about you being bad at organization?
RAPHTALIA: I don’t know. Will you?
ITSUKI sighs.
ITSUKI: Well, I’ll adapt to the circumstances. Still, guns? I admit I haven’t looked into it too closely, but don’t they lose out to magic arrows in this world? Besides, they are banned - it would be harder to move them in the open.
NAOFUMI gives him a vague nod.
NAOFUMI: It’s all a question of logistics, ultimately. Magic arrows are on par with guns, but they rely on magic ammunition, which can only be produced by trained mages. Melromarc stocks up on it in between wars, but we don’t have that luxury. Furthermore, once it runs out, you aren’t getting more - mages can only produce so much per day, and that rate is relatively low. We have no real way of getting a lot of mages on our side - they are more or less all nobility or in the church. Producing it ourselves with our legendary weapons is an option, but the amount you can manage per day is simply too low - you run out of mana quickly. Guns, on the other hand, don’t have this bottleneck of relying on mages.
ITSUKI: How about if we train our own mages? You mentioned rotating people through your party as an XP share.
NAOFUMI: We ran the numbers on it, but they simply don’t get to a high enough level to produce ammunition quickly enough. Maybe if we figure out how to significantly increase the XP gain of hunting, but for now, it’s not really an option.
ITSUKI sighs, gets up and heads for the doors.
ITSUKI: I see. Well, I suppose I’ll ask this princess of yours to rescind the ban when I see her. In the meantime, bring the guns here, my people will hide them.
NAOFUMI and RAPHTALIA raise eyebrows at him.
NAOFUMI: I figured you wouldn’t bother.
ITSUKI: I told you already, the vanguard party adapts to the circumstances. I wouldn’t waste my time in the capital otherwise, but if you say there is a good chance of getting the crown to pay for the revolution, I might as well show up for a couple days.
ITSUKI turns back to them.
ITSUKI: You said she was very open to concessions if it meant getting the heroes on board? I was in the junior shooting league back on earth, so I think I could argue her into rescinding the ban on guns. It would make it easier for us to operate.
NAOFUMI: Well, good luck with that.
NAOFUMI and RAPHTALIA get up. All three head out.
----------------------------------------
SCENE: NAOFUMI and RAPHTALIA are led through the palace by a SHADOW. Soon they come to the large meeting room from before. Inside, CONSTANCE and MELTY are listening to a story from ITSUKI. FILO is lying on the floor, slowly thumping her head on the carpet. She raises her head as they enter.
FILO: Oh finally. I am never agreeing to stay here again, this was so boring.
ITSUKI stops his story. MELTY looks over at FILO.
MELTY: Today was rather exciting and combative actually, as these things go.
FILO angles her head to look at MELTY in sheer terror, then looks back at NAOFUMI.
FILO: Get me out of here.
MELTY snorts.
MELTY: Give me a moment to pack some things, and then we could go.
MELTY leaves the room to head into the adjacent office. NAOFUMI and RAPHTALIA sit down at the table to wait.
RAPHTALIA: Did things go well?
CONSTANCE reaches over to a nearby seat and hefts a small bag onto the table, then hands it to NAOFUMI. NAOFUMI opens it and whistles.
CONSTANCE: That’s just for our services in guarding Melty. Officially, we are now a part of her security detail. Agreement on the overall Wave defense fund is progressing surprisingly quickly, but it will still need a couple days.
ITSUKI: She also signed a limited exception to the ban on gunpowder weapons for the purposes of Wave defense. It’s not ideal, but it’ll do, for now.
NAOFUMI: That does sound good.
RAPHTALIA: And the slaves?
CONSTANCE: The palace butler is compiling a list for her - where they are employed, how they could be replaced, and so on. He seemed reluctant at first, but Melty really pushed the issue - it seems like she wasn’t lying to you last night. My personal guess from her attitude is that a good half of the slaves in the palace would be freed tomorrow, and the rest soon after.
RAPHTALIA frowns, but doesn’t comment. ITSUKI shrugs.
ITSUKI: You should come to tomorrow’s meeting, Naofumi.
NAOFUMI looks at ITSUKI in bafflement.
NAOFUMI: You want an abrasive combative asshole like me at this delicate negotiation meeting?
ITSUKI rolls his eyes.
ITSUKI: I want you there because you are an abrasive combative asshole.
CONSTANCE: For what it’s worth, I do not agree.
NAOFUMI: You two talked?
CONSTANCE nods.
CONSTANCE: Some, during intermissions. Enough to coordinate some things together.
ITSUKI: She seems to think it’d blow up in your face.
CONSTANCE sighs.
CONSTANCE: The issue isn’t with what could be theoretically done, it’s with what Naofumi could practically manage, with his set of skills, and what you are proposing is beyond him.
NAOFUMI: What are you proposing?
ITSUKI shrugs.
ITSUKI: Look, it’s simple. Do you know what an Overton window is?
NAOFUMI: Sure.
RAPHTALIA: I don’t.
ITSUKI turns to RAPHTALIA.
ITSUKI: Alright, so imagine you have a set of ideas that are being discussed - oh just as a wild example, what to do about slavery. You have some ideas that are accepted as the societal default - for example, do nothing about slavery. Then you have discussion that happens around that default, but the ideas can only get so far from it before they are too radical for “serious people” to consider. With me so far?
RAPHTALIA: Sure.
ITSUKI: The set of ideas that are up for discussion around that default are what is called an “Overton window”. This assembly of dukes that is arguing over the funding has one too, and I want to shift it by having you, Naofumi, bring up some radical anti-slavery ideas. In comparison, my proposals will seem much more moderate, and the agreed upon terms will be closer to what we both would want.
RAPHTALIA frowns at ITSUKI.
RAPHTALIA: I get the idea, but why should we care about their Overton window at all? Let’s not pretend that they will abolish slavery. Haggling over minute details is a waste of time.
ITSUKI: Because these so-called “minute details” are about a large amount of money, and I want the north-eastern duchies - which own the most slaves - to have less of it. I suspect you do too.
NAOFUMI: Uh huh. And the reason you can’t do the exact same trick with Ren, or Fredalia is…?
CONSTANCE sighs.
CONSTANCE: The reasoning is that you already have a reputation for abrasiveness and rashness among the dukes after your duel, while we do not. Furthermore, you are an inherently negative figure in the Three Heroes religion, which is common among the nobility. It’s best to work with the cards you have, not try to change the deck midway through the game - it would be entirely natural for you to push on the topic, unlike Itsuki. As for Ren, he could only play the moderate in this game, and frankly, neither of us trusts him to push strongly enough from that position. He is too scared of the entire edifice falling apart, and you can’t gamble if the only move you are willing to make is to fold.
CONSTANCE glances at RAPHTALIA.
CONSTANCE: Raphtalia is out due to being demihuman. Since I am merely sitting in on your behalf, I can’t act freely enough for this tactic. This leaves you.
NAOFUMI: I thought you said you don’t agree with the idea?
CONSTANCE: The reasoning is sound in theory. My problem is that I think you actually would push too far. Overall, the risk-benefit is just not there.
NAOFUMI folds his arms.
NAOFUMI: You don’t trust me to hold back my opinions?
CONSTANCE levels a stare at NAOFUMI.
CONSTANCE: Frankly, no. I think that when you are put into a rhetorical corner, your natural impulse is to double down, even when folding would be advisable. This goes double for topics you care about. There is nothing inherently wrong with being a direct and open person, but it makes you a poor choice in this case.
NAOFUMI pouts. RAPHTALIA giggles.
NAOFUMI: Come on. I think I could do it.
CONSTANCE shrugs.
CONSTANCE: If you think you can do it, then I won’t object. Just be aware of the risks.
MELTY comes out of her office, carrying a pair of bags.
MELTY: I think I have everything. Are you ready to go? If you’d like to stategise more, I could give you time.
RAPHTALIA: What did you need to bring, even? We are only going away to sleep.
MELTY: Bills, financial statements, draft of the agreement we discussed, that sort of thing. I like to read before bed.
NAOFUMI: That’s good. Could you lend me that agreement draft?
MELTY: Oh? Were they trying to convince you to join us tomorrow?
NAOFUMI sighs as he gets up.
NAOFUMI: More or less. I might as well prepare better.
----------------------------------------
SCENE: Morning in a tavern. CONSTANCE and NAOFUMI are eating breakfast together, seated facing the stairs to the second floor. They are talking in hushed tones.
NAOFUMI: I am only about a third of the way through with moving the people we rescued to Shieldfrieden. I know we aren't in a hurry, but are you sure we should be taking it this slow?
CONSTANCE shrugs.
CONSTANCE: They should be relatively safe in the safehouses. Better to keep you out of sight than rush it. Instead of worrying about that, you should prepare to start hitting more plantations.
NAOFUMI: You said finding good targets was difficult.
CONSTANCE nods. A loud clap comes from outside the tavern, but both of them ignore it.
CONSTANCE: It is. We need a place that is isolated, of a medium size, where my people have already spread the rumors that there is some sort of active liberation movement and with a tightly knit slave community to minimize the risk of some rat telling on you. Ideally, the entire operation should take less than a day. Despite the difficulty, I think that I have a couple places that you could start scouting out.
NAOFUMI: I am supposed to be in the capital today, no?
CONSTANCE: I think it would be best if you only came for the morning session. Introducing ideas does not take a long time, so there is no real point in keeping you there.
NAOFUMI taps his cheek, then nods. As they keep discussing, MELTY comes down from the second floor and approaches them. CONSTANCE smoothly switches to talking about maximizing XP gain from hunting mid sentence as she notices MELTY descend.
MELTY: I see that I am the last one up. Hopefully my tardiness won't delay us.
MELTY flags down the INNKEEPER and orders breakfast. Another loud clap comes from outside the tavern. NAOFUMI and CONSTANCE ignore it. MELTY looks around curiously, but doesn't comment.
MELTY: I couldn't help but overhear your plans to hunt. I don't suppose you have changed your mind on allowing me to come along?
CONSTANCE shrugs.
CONSTANCE: Sadly, Raphtalia still does not agree to it. We'll try to convince her.
MELTY hums.
MELTY: Hopefully she changes her mind after I am done with the palace slaves. This reminds me - Naofumi, I believe you have first met her in Melromarc?
NAOFUMI frowns.
NAOFUMI: Bought her, sure. Didn't have another choice, really.
MELTY: From which slave trader did you purchase her? There are several operating in Melromarc. They tend to keep good records - perhaps we could find her family.
NAOFUMI: I don't know his name. He operated from a pavilion that looked like a circus tent, in the north of the city.
MELTY frowns.
MELTY: Was there a chapel nearby?
NAOFUMI: I don't remember. Perhaps?
MELTY swears.
MELTY: Well, so much for that lead. I've sent a Shadow yesterday to collect a list of slave traders in the city, and apparently just days back one of them suffered from a fire. The trader died, and his records didn't survive.
NAOFUMI sighs.
NAOFUMI: How unfortunate. I suppose you would just have to free all the slaves in the country to make sure you got Raphtalia's parents.
MELTY snorts.
MELTY: No, I don't give up this easily. I will send my people to check taverns in the region - some of them keep a record of their guests, and major settlements tend to collect an entry toll. Perhaps we could trace back where her caravan came from.
Another loud clap comes from outside the tavern. MELTY frowns.
MELTY: Alright, what is that?
NAOFUMI: Oh, that. I believe Itsuki told you about his idea for gunpowder weapons? I went to visit him this morning, and he offered some to our party. Filo and Raph are out testing them.
MELTY: What, he already had some? The cheek on that man, to ask for approval after the fact.
MELTY sighs and glances at CONSTANCE.
MELTY: I suppose I shouldn't complain, given how you saved my life with one.
CONSTANCE: I live to serve.
MELTY stands up.
MELTY: I think I'd like to watch their training while I wait for the food. I admit I never took the time to visit a shooting range in Faubrey.
NAOFUMI stands up too.
NAOFUMI: Come on, I'll show you the way.
They leave the tavern and walk outside the village and towards the forest. There, FILO and RAPHTALIA are sitting on the grass with a dozen rifles laid out around them. RAPHTALIA and FILO are reloading a pair with practiced motions. As they approach, FILO aims at the tree in front of the forest and fires.
BANG!
One of the branches on the tree splinters, sending shards of wood into the air. FILO cheers loudly. RAPHTALIA notices the other three approaching, and taps FILO on the shoulder to get her attention.
FILO: This is awesome. Naofumi, do you think they have larger guns?
NAOFUMI frowns.
NAOFUMI: There are cannons, I suppose.
FILO: We gotta get one of those. Or two. I've been trying to make the bullets fly faster with air magic, but it's tricky.
RAPHTALIA: They are pretty finicky to reload, if I am being honest. You have to pour the powder in, ram in the bullet, then pour more powder on the flash pan… I can’t help but feel that there should be a better way of doing it.
RAPHTALIA aims at the same tree and fires.
BANG!
CONSTANCE: There is, but it tends to be more expensive. There are paper cartridges that portion the powder together with the bullet, though they are somewhat awkward to use compared to a dosage horn. The highest degree of advancement, however, is a full cartridge combined with a percussion cap.
CONSTANCE takes out her revolver, opens it and takes out a brass cartridge.
CONSTANCE: This model had only been designed in Faubrey last year. Very expensive to make and maintain, and the cartridges themselves cost me quite a penny. There is no flash pan, and ignition is initiated by a small glass capsule which explodes when hit by the hammer. It makes it very resistant to moisture, and reloading is much faster. Sadly, it’s not viable for military use due to the expense.
NAOFUMI: Might make sense for our party though. I’ll see if Itsuki has something like that.
MELTY watches FILO and RAPHTALIA for a bit.
MELTY: Can I…shoot one of these?
FILO motions for her to come closer.
FILO: Sure, easy. Come around.
NAOFUMI: Just make sure you don’t blow your fingers off.
MELTY rolls her eyes.
MELTY: Please. It’s not the first time I get to play around with dangerous weaponry.
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DRAMATIS PERSONAE
NAOFUMI IWATANI, THE SHIELD HERO. One of the socialists. Protagonist.
PRINCESS MELTY Q. MELROMAC. First heir to the throne of Melromarc. Social constructivist.
RAPHTALIA. One of the socialists.
CONSTANCE VON MARUKIEVICH / FREDALIA. Secretly demihuman.
FILO. Newly born gun nut.
KAWASUMI ITSUKI, THE BOW HERO. One of the socialists. Leninist.
FULANA JEN, SHADOW. Head of MELTY’s SHADOWs. Secret service.