The Strongest Gun Magus: I Cast Bullet!-Chapter 6: Autumn Beast Hunt Craze

Finally, Marien nodded.

"Fiiiine. But if you go back on your promise—"

"How can I lie to such a beautiful girl?" Reynard put a hand to his chest.

Marien’s face went even redder.

"Humph! How insolent."

She spun on her heels dramatically and waved her hand. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Work quickly, Reynard! I want my own ’gun’ in a week, no later—so I can prepare for the Autumn Beast Hunt! In the meantime, I will tell others to not pester you like these two scum did. I can’t have you get robbed before you deliver my commission!"

"A week and a thousand gold pieces, princess!" Reynard said at Marien’s back.

She just waved her hand again.

He sighed, watching her hips sway with every step.

’Damn... She’s sixteen, isn’t she? Girls mature so quickly in this era—I mean, I mean, she’s such a brat! But she did me a huge favor just now... So I will take this as a win.’

If before, Reynard worried about being accosted in the school, now he didn’t have to. Marien’s word was the best protection. He merely needed to make a gun for her, but it wasn’t a problem.

’It took me several years to make the first one, but I spent most of this time gathering money for materials, learning how to smith, and creating the design. Now that I know what to do, and my aura has become stronger, smithing more guns will be much easier. As for the money, I can just sell some plants from my new garden.’

Cheered up by this thought, Reynard resumed walking toward his original goal—the mess hall.

***

The rumors traveled swiftly, but Marien’s word was also quick.

When Reynard entered the mess hall, it was lunchtime, and there were plenty of students. They threw curious and often hostile glances at Reynard, but nobody tried to accost him then and there. Even the younger students, who were just kids, just gossiped among each other.

Ignoring these gazes, Reynard went to the food dispensing desk and got his fill of simple dishes served to students: potatoes, meat, and stewed fruit drink, then brought it to an empty table.

Reynard heard that the teachers were dining on rare plants and flesh of magical beasts.

Despite these thoughts, the hungry youth enjoyed his meal immensely until he saw another student approach Reynard’s table.

He was just a boy of fourteen years, but seeing that the student was a Final Cycle Nigredo, Reynard tensed anyway. However, the young student bowed in a show of respect.

"Mister Artemy! Can I sit at your table, please?"

Reynard frowned.

"You brought no food with you, and I’m not about to let you steal mine. But... Fine, I’d like to hear why you interrupted my meal."

"I apologize for stressing your stomach, but I didn’t know where else to find you," the young student said, sitting down on the opposite side of Reynard. "I’m Terence Bardon, we’ve crossed paths a few times in the gardens and workshops."

Reynard nodded, vaguely remembering the kid.

"Right. You became a student later than I did, but you had a slightly better than average talent and some brain, so you are already on the Final Cycle Nigredo."

"Yes!" Terence smiled, nodding. For just a kid, he was very polite. "This means I’m going to take part in the Autumn Beast Hunt in two weeks."

’That thing again...’

The Autumn Beast Hunt was an annual event in which magi from Blue Bismuth School went to the nearby wilderness to hunt for magical beasts and their recently born offspring. The Blue Bismuth School bought the trophies from the students and sold them in the larger cities nearby.

The participation was mandatory for all students at the Final Cycle Nigredo. Reynard, naturally, didn’t think about it until people started pestering him. After all, he has been stuck at the First Cycle for years!

Not only did students get money for it, but there was also prestige involved. Everybody wanted to become the King or the Queen of the Beast Hunt and get an opportunity to become a personal student of one of the teachers.

"Let me guess, lil’ Terence... You want to buy my gun-artifact?"

The kid shook his head vigorously.

"N-no! I know I could never afford something so powerful. But... If you let me borrow it, Mister Artemy... At least I’d be safe if I met a powerful monster!"

Reynard chewed on a piece of potato, thinking about it.

The kid watched him hopefully.

Finally, Reynard swallowed and gave him a level look.

"No way in hell. Go away."

"Whaaaat?!" Terence puffed his cheeks. "Please, you didn’t even let me tell you the cost!"

"No cost. Go away. Tell everybody else that I’m not selling my artifact, not letting anyone borrow it, and so on and so forth," said Reynard, waving Terence off with a spoon.

"But what if I get in danger! I only became the Final Cycle Nigredo a month ago, my spells are—"

"Don’t care. Let me eat in peace, kid."

The boy left with slumped shoulders, grumbling under his breath.

Reynard clicked his tongue and went back to his food.

’He will probably say how stingy I am, but I’m really doing this kid a favor. I imagine there’s gonna be at least ten more people who will want this artifact—at least now Terence won’t become a target for them! And there are teachers present in the hunt, they will watch over him. Hopefully.’

Nobody accosted him for the rest of his meal, and soon Reynard walked away.

***

It was only late in the evening when Reynard was done caring for the gardens. But he didn’t leave Markus’s garden to go to his dormitory.

Instead, he spread a prepared mattress on the ground and sat there.

’The sooner I reach at least the Second Cycle of Operations, the sooner I won’t need Marien’s protection. And it will only last a week. Plus, I also have to craft a gun for her. This means that I should use every free moment to refine my aura! So I will start the fourth Operation now...’

Reynard closed his eyes and focused on his inner mana.

’Separation—to send the mana through a Sieve of your mind and separate the good from the bad. But it’s up to a magus to decide what is good and what is bad. This step will make or break my aura for the rest of the Nigredo stage!’