"Lady Nohime-sama, do you have a moment?" Hidemasa asked while entering Nobunaga's study. After Harumi's outburst of last night she had finally managed to sleep more than a few hours and she felt as if all her energy had returned. She looked up from the papers and gave the warlord a look as to continue with his question.
"If you aren't busy at the moment I would like to give you some special training." He continued while bowing. In the last couple of days Hidemasa was trying to teach her how to use a sword. She wasn't very good and at this point her muscles barely had enough strength to hold a sword upright. Not to mention fight with it.
"Of course!" Harumi said while jumping up. She followed the warlord outside to the back of the castle. This part of the garden was one of the few places that had stayed the same in these last few days. Since the castle was located to the side of a hill, they didn't have to worry about the backside because people couldn't attack from that side so the gardens in that side were unchanged. Hidemasa had prepared a target. Harumi sighted. They had also tried the bow and arrow but she was even lousier with that than the sword. Hidemasa turned to her and handed her a pistol.
"We don't have much firearms at the castle, but I thought it would be beneficial if you knew how to use one." He explained while Harumi looked at the gun. It was very different than the guns she had seen in computergames or on tv. The barrel flared out on the end, the whole gun was lavishly decorated and a lot bigger than she had imagined. She had never shot a gun before, but on occasion she had gone laser gaming with her friends and from time to time she played a shooter video game with her brothers. She knew that would be completely different from the real deal, she just hoped that she was better with the gun than the sword or the bow and arrow.
Hidemasa calmly explained how the pistol worked while showing her were to put the actual bullet and gunpowder. He kept saying how dangerous this weapon was and that she should never point it aimlessly at something. Most of the safety precautions he tolt her were kind of redundant in Harumi's mind. Most of it was just common sense. She reminded herself that most people in this era probably never heard of a gun let alone seen one or handled one. Although she also had never seen one in real life she knew what it was and what you could do with it. You could shoot someone with it.... There went a cold shiver down her spine when she thought about the fact that she could kill someone with this weapon. Of course, you could also kill someone with a sword and stuff, but Harumi felt that in her case a sword would be more used as defense while a gun... A gun was very dangerous and could kill someone in an instant.
"Okay, I'll wil demonstrate first and then you try lady Nohime-sama." Hidemasa said while aiming the gun at the target. He pulled the trigger and a few seconds later there was a small hole in the target.
"I'm not as good with fire arms as Nobunaga, but I can still teach you." He said apologetically while handeling her the gun.
"Watch out for the recoil." Hidemasa said while he helped her get in position. "Close one eye and try to imagine a straight line from the barrel out. But don't hold the gun to close to four face. Stretch your arms more and tighten your muscles." Harumi took a few deep breaths to calm herself before shooting the gun. When Hidemasa shot it just now she was startled by the loud sound the gun had made but now she was ready for it. She pulled the trigger and the loud bang sound came again. Something she hadn't foreseen was the recoil. She had both her hands around the gun for stability. After the short was fired the gun shot back. Because Hidemasa had told her to tighten her muscles the gun shot up. If she hadn't tighten her muscles or if her face had been closer to the gun, it would have hit her in the face. Her shoulders and arms hurt from the recoil but she was happy that was everything. Obviously she hadn't hit the target but Hidemasa told her that it was okay. She wasn't used to fire a pistol after all. After a few tries Harumi began to get the hang of it and after a few more shorts she even managed to hit the target.
"You are a natrual princess!" Hidemasa exclaimed happily after Harumi hit the target tree times in a row. Harumi had small beads of sweat in her forehead and a big smile on her face. Finally something she didn't fuck at!