← Previous Chapter | Chapter Index |Next Chapter →

IN SEARCH OF BULLETS

Treat me to a Ko-Fi to give me more motivation!!!

*****

At long last, Rob set foot in a new world.

Up until now, the train had stopped at several other worlds, but he had been unable to disembark due to various circumstances.

There was World Number 78, "Marsus," a highly advanced civilization; a subterranean world riddled with countless massive tunnels large enough for the Interdimensional Train to pass through; and a digital world composed of a sea of data where electronic information-based lifeforms ebbed and flowed.

The visit to World Number 78 had been cut short by the timetable, Rob’s environmental adaptation hadn't been ready in time for the subterranean world, and disembarking in the digital world had been fundamentally impossible to begin with.

For these reasons, the fact that he could finally step off the train filled Rob with deep emotion.

A bustling open-air market had formed around the Interdimensional Train and the platform, with alleys radiating outward like a spider's web.

Under the brilliant, pouring sunlight, stalls selling "Ghost-Grilled Dragon" and metered "Ice Gasoline" for drinking shouted out spirited cries. In a dim corner, a dwarf covered in gears sold weapons from a mobile vending cart, while a witch perched atop a small walking tree sold medicines and charms displayed on its branches.

A battle-hardened lizardman walked with a flashy elf on his arm, and a human in a butler’s suit diligently tended to a suspicious-looking mermaid sitting in a wheelchair.

It was a chaotic, vulgar crowd without a hint of advanced-world refinement, but for Rob, this pervasive air of shadiness was comfortable. A faint smile naturally played on his lips.

This was "World Number 199, the Trade City of Drula in the Republic of Luba, Continent of Sandris." It was a city where many were aware of the Interdimensional Train and the existence of countless other worlds—a place where the products of a thousand worlds gathered, a jumble of both treasures and trash.

Guided by Arcelia, Rob used some of the money he had earned on the train to shop for daily necessities. Because he had accepted Arcelia’s invitation almost exactly as he stood, without returning to his home on the western frontier, he was short on light clothing and underwear.

「This should be enough for now.」

「If you find yourself lacking anything, it is also possible to purchase items on board the train. They are somewhat overpriced, however.」

「Heh, do they sell contraceptives too?」

It was a comment that, one wrong step further—no, it was already complete sexual harassment—but Arcelia answered without a hint of agitation.

「They do.」

「Does that include, you know, brothel-type services?」

Rob continued with a smirk, looking for all the world like a dirty old man, but Arcelia remained unfazed.

「No.」

「Then is it alright if I take care of business in this city?」

「I cannot permit that. While the minimum examinations have been completed, you have not yet received preventative treatments for local diseases. Please endure it.」

「Well, that's rough. In that case, you could always be my partner.」

「...That is not included in an investigator's duties. Please endure it.」

The tone of her voice chilled slightly at the end, but in the end, the reaction Rob was fishing for never came.

Rob wiped the smirk off his face and racked his brain on how to break through this wall of "by-the-book" stiff-neckedness. It wasn't that he was so starved for a woman that he couldn't hold back. In fact, he was perfectly prepared to nod along if there were mutual consent, but his current goal was different.

He wanted to restock his ammunition. That was all.

To do that, having Arcelia with him was a problem. It would be an issue if she even began to wonder why a man with his "extraordinary ability" needed to buy bullets. Sneaking away from Arcelia to buy ammunition—that was his current objective.

「Can I hit the restroom real quick? Oh, you can head back to the train ahead of me.」

Rob looked toward a restroom located on the edge of the market.

「Let us return to the train together, then. The distance is not significantly different, so please use the facilities there.」

Arcelia simply felt that it would be improper for her to enter a local men’s room and that leaving him alone was a security risk. Her response wasn't because she had sensed Rob's true intent.

「Impossible. I'm gonna leak. That tiny distance is the boundary between heaven and hell.」

「...Understood. I shall accompany you.」

Rob met Arcelia's earnest gaze, refusing to back down.

「...Fine. Lead the way.」

It had turned into something of a game of chicken, but Rob couldn't retreat, and Arcelia couldn't deviate from her manual. With every step toward the restroom, the reality of the situation grew in Rob's mind. Relieving himself while being watched over by Arcelia—who was small as a child and could arguably be called a beautiful young girl—was a bit too much of a "gray area" development for his liking.

Besides, it was a lie.

Essentially, all he needed was for Arcelia to look away for a moment, but that didn't seem likely to happen. Just as he reached the restroom door, wrestling with these frustrations, Rob finally raised the white flag.

「...Sorry. I think I'm okay now.」

Arcelia replied with an incredibly blunt, 「I see.」

Rob started walking, grumbling inwardly with frustration, and this time he intentionally plunged into the thick of the crowd. He intended to feign getting lost, but that too ended in failure. No matter where he went, Arcelia's large eyes kept him constantly in sight. The moment they were about to be separated, she would immediately stop walking and return to his side.

He simply couldn't get away.

Rob slowed his pace slightly with a sulky look on his face and stared intently at Arcelia's back. She was slender and small, like an elf or a fairy. However, even through her clothes, he could tell her neck, arms, back, and glutes were toned and well-trained; there were few openings. More than anything, she was loyal to her mission and dead serious, her powerful eyes constantly scanning their surroundings.

(I guess I'm totally beat,) he thought. Just as he was about to give up, Rob’s eyes were pinned to a certain alley.

「—Hah, this really is a different world. There’s even someone floating while they move. And she's a beauty, too.」

It was a casual remark from Rob, but Arcelia whipped around to face him.

「—Where is she? ...Ah.」

While asking, Arcelia followed Rob's gaze and her eyes sharpened.

Masses of fluffy, curly blonde hair flowed down to the woman's feet, and buried within that hair on the sides of her head, the tips of coiled sheep's horns peeked in and out of view. She had light brown skin, troubled eyebrows, a vacant gaze, and full, pouty lips. She wore a simple outfit—a shirt that exposed both shoulders and a long skirt cinched at the waist—but her body was incredibly voluptuous, like a piece of perfectly ripened fruit that had lost none of its firmness or freshness.

Arcelia looked as if she were about to bolt toward her, but she held back at the last second.

「...Doesn't look like an acquaintance. Is there some history there?」

Arcelia kept the woman in her sights and answered in a low, rapid-fire whisper.

「—Berta Andele. Also known as the 'World-Crossing Witch.' Wanted for theft, marriage fraud, professional embezzlement, and violations of the Interdimensional Laws. Her total bounty has accumulated to 4,807,000 Gold. She is a bounty head with an extraordinary ability specializing in crossing worlds alone.」

An amount equivalent to roughly 4.8 million Japanese yen made her a small-timer as far as bounties went. Since she wasn't a violent criminal like a murderer, they couldn't just kill her to catch her, but she was a criminal nonetheless.

Arcelia couldn't simply overlook her, but she had the mission of escorting Rob. She couldn't recklessly give chase and remained rooted to the spot. Seeing Arcelia waver between her sense of duty as an investigator to catch an ability-using criminal and her obligation to fulfill her current mission, Rob had a flash of inspiration.

「In a crowd like this, catching her will be tough. Why not just shadow her for now? If we find her hideout, that’s a win. Doing that shouldn't violate any of your rules, right?」

After a few seconds of hesitation, Arcelia nodded with her usual intense gaze.

And so, Rob and Arcelia began their pursuit of Berta the witch. However, within just a few minutes, their tail was discovered. Berta, who was supposed to be walking ahead of them, suddenly turned around and tilted her head curiously as she looked at Arcelia. It was a seductive gesture that would have left any man weak in the knees, but to Arcelia, it was a clear provocation.

As if deciding that if the tail was blown, she might as well just catch her, Arcelia began to chase Berta down fiercely. Rob watched with a wry smile.

Arcelia was terrible at shadowing. Her body was small, but she couldn't hide that powerful gaze of hers. She was also surprisingly impulsive and hot-headed. It made sense that she wasn't an elf. Though there are individual differences, elves were all uniformly, almost eerily, calm. Berta, seeing Arcelia’s straightforward anger, wore a somewhat exasperated expression as she began her drifting escape.

As Arcelia and Rob pursued Berta through the crowd under the blistering sun, Rob alone slowly peeled away from the chase.

「That worked out, then.」

Having successfully slipped away from Arcelia, Rob headed toward the gun shop he had scouted out. It was located a bit deeper than the open-air market around the platform, right at the entrance to the alleys that spread out like a spiderweb. The gun shop was a modified truck bed with one side opened wide, displaying various firearms behind glass windows.

「—Show me a gun and ammo that are relatively easy to get in any world.」

Rob had heard from Arcelia that even if a weapon used gunpowder rather than magic, there were worlds where they couldn't be used. The shopkeeper, a bald man with a prosthetic mechanical eye, glared at Rob with suspicion.

「That's a strange request. ...Fine. Let me see your license.」

Rob almost looked up at the sky in despair. Of course, there would be regulations on the sale of firearms.

「...I don't have one.」

「...Well, I won't prying, but if you don't have a license, I can't sell to you.」

The shopkeeper glanced at the gun at Rob's hip but said nothing about it.

「...I see. Then, could you at least let me look at one?」

Whether he felt pity for Rob—who was looking at him with eyes like a stray dog in the rain—or whether he felt some sort of sympathy as a fellow gun enthusiast, the gruff shopkeeper silently pulled a single gun from the shelf. It was an automatic pistol that looked like a branch of bluish metal, but the design somehow brought to mind a wizard’s wand.

「I can't sell it, but I'll tell you about it. This is the 'Guernd L8 General-Purpose Magic-Circuit Automatic Pistol.' It takes 9mm Gaze physical rounds and 1F Gaze non-physical rounds, and it’s even compatible with buckshot. You could fire this anywhere in an Alliance member nation. The magazine capacity is fifteen rounds for both types. Options include shields and jamming. It's plenty for self-defense, but the price is a bit high.」

"Mira" meant millimeters, and "F" meant it had the power equivalent to a single fireball. Rob took the otherworldly gun and ammo—which didn't look much like real guns—and stared at them intently.

But that moment came to an abrupt end.

Rob’s ears caught the sound of something collapsing followed by a roar of anger. His eyes, now sharp and narrow, shifted from the gun toward the source of the noise.

*****

Thanks to Fresh Food Chronicles, I've been noticing these sloppy settings the author throw at you. This time it's the gold currency, which is somehow equivalent to yen.

Thank you for reading. If you want to help my hobby please download and install LDP9 with my link down below. Just Click the small yellow LDPlayer Banner.