Later that day, Liza apologized in front of her Grandparents. She blamed herself as to what happened to Komekko that day. However, Hyoizaburo and Yuiyui thanked her instead saying that both of their daughters are now demon king general slayer and that they will get a lot of money from the bounty.
It's mostly the latter though. They were so overjoyed of getting the money that they almost forgot to ask about Komekko's condition.
Tonight, Megumin and I decided to let Liza sleep with us.
"Are you sure, Okaa sama, Otou sama…" Liza said, walking into the room in her pajamas. Just like her other clothes, Aqua already modified her Pajamas with flaps to accommodate her wings. Though, I do wonder if those wings are going to be in the way.
"Of course," I pat a spot between me and Megumin. "When was the last time we slept together, hmm?"
I was about to ask her about the wings when Liz lied down on her stomach between us.
"Is that comfortable?" Megumin asked.
Liz turned her head towards Megumin. "The bed is a little thin, but it's alright…"
"No, I mean, do you always sleep on your stomach?"
"Of course,"
Huh, another one of her dragon traits I guess.
"Well then, good night, Liza chan."
"Good night, Otou sama, Okaa sama…"
---
"Okay, Fantasia Mark IV, is done…"
I looked at the assault rifle sitting on the table in front of me. It is pitch black, with a beautiful intricate pattern carved all over it. The casing is made out of reinforced adamantite and the inner mechanism is made out of mithril and manatite crystals.
At the other side of the table is Hyoizaburo, looking at me sternly with both arms folded on his chest. It's been two days since I became his apprentice, and now is my fourth attempt at making this work.
Hyoizaburo picked up the weapon and begun inspecting it. I couldn't help but gulp nervously. As faulty as he seem, Hyoizaburo is actually an expert at making magic item. He just doesn't want to tone down the complexity of his items, thus making them completely useless.
"Interesting…" he flicked between the burst fire, bolt action, and automatic fire. "I cannot find anything wrong with it," he took off the detachable power source below it. "You used manatite crystal for the power source, right?"
"Yes, sensei,"
The Magic Craftsman began disassembling the weapon. He then inspected every part of the weapon, from the numerous runes in its interior and exterior, the manatite crystals I used to contain its energy, and even the adamantite shooting mechanism that's honestly much more complex than anything I've ever made in my life.
After a moment, he seems satisfied and start assembling it once again.
"Good work Kazuma, I expected no less from my apprentice," he put down the fully assembled rifle and grinned. "Go on now, give it to her, it's a present isn't it?"
"You're right, it's for my daughter," I chuckled a little. "To be honest, I think she's powerful enough to get by without weapon but…" I shrugged a little. "I dunno, I just feel like giving her something."
"I know the feeling Kazuma, I too wanted to give my daughter something but," Hyoizaburo sighed a little. "Megumin chan always refused the magic items I made for her, saying that she doesn't need it. I wish you a better luck than I did."
Sensei, you tried to give your daughter a ring that regenerates their mana but halves their spell power. That's the opposite of what she needed.
"Thank you Hyoizaburo san, I'll go look for Liz now,"
"See you later Kazuma, I'll be here in the workshop if you need me."
With that, I stepped out of the workshop to the backyard outside. There, I saw Liz and Komekko running out of the forest. The latter held… is that Darkness's great sword? What's Komekko doing with Darkness's great sword? How is she even carrying that?
"Good Afternoon Otou sama!"
"Kazuma onii chan!"
They ran up towards me and looked at the rifle in my hands curiously.
"Otou sama, what is that?"
"It looks pretty! Can you eat it?"
Komekko walked around me and peeked her head through the muzzle. I quickly raised my weapon towards the sky and gently pushed Komekko away.
"This is dangerous weapon Komekko chan and…" I took a closer look at the great sword in her hand. She has it dragged slightly above the ground with both hands but doesn't seem to be struggling to lift it. "Also, why do you have Darkness's sword with you?"
"I borrowed it!" Komekko exclaimed. "Well, Liza chan borrowed it and then she borrowed it to me!"
I blinked a little and looked at Liz. She slowly averted her gaze and hummed to herself.
"Elizabeth?"
Liz turned back towards me with an innocent look. "I borrowed it from nee sama, saying that the sword shall be used to slay powerful beasts," she explained. "And I wasn't lying, this sword was used to slay powerful beasts. Such as the One Shot Bear, the Black Wolves, and the Lightning Tigers roaming the forest nearby."
I blinked a little and looked at Komekko. The girl didn't look all that different, but one check on her magic stat tells me that she's already stronger than most beginner adventurers. I mean, obviously, that sword weigh like fifty pounds.
"And the one doing the slaying was…"
Liz put a hand around Komekko's shoulder.
"We were all in it together,"
Liz said so and they both gave me a thumb up.
I sighed a little and turn to Komekko. "Komekko chan, why don't you return this to Darkness?"
Komekko gave me a salute. "Got it! Kazuma onii chan!" she then ran around the house, shouldering the blade like it weighs nothing.
Once I'm sure she's away I turned back to Liz. She has that slightly afraid look on her face, as if bracing herself. But I just pet her head a little and chuckled.
"Darkness will chew you out for this later you know?"
"You will tell her?"
"No," I jabbed my thumb at Komekko's direction. "But she will."
Liz clicked her tongue. "Darn it, that was a trap."
"By the way, I have something to show you," I looked around for a target and decided that the innocent tree nearby will be a perfect one. "Stay beside me and watch, okay?"
Liz moved beside me and looked at the rifle in my hands curiously. I gestured at the tree and she simply stared at it.
I attached the power source on to the rifle and switched off the safety switch. I looked through the thin scope resembling a monocle before aiming straight to the tree. Honestly, the only reason I can use this is because I made it myself, I have no idea how real rifles work or behaves.
"Here goes…" I muttered before switching to bolt action and pull the trigger
A flicker of light shot out of the muzzle and spark of light came from the tree. When it dies down, a three inch diameter hole formed on the tree. The hole is a perfect circle and went straight through the tree and the tree behind it.
And the tree behind it, and a large boulder that was shattered into pieces.
"Whoa… What an impressive piercing capability!"
"That's not all," I switched it to Burst Fire Mode. "This one is for the more, persistent target,"
Flickers of light shot out of the muzzle and flashes of light came from the tree. The poor tree didn't stand a chance and quickly fell down to due to the numerous holes all over it.
"I see… You increased destructive power by increasing the amount of shots and sacrificing the accuracy," Liz said, impressed.
"That's right, but maybe, a few shots in one go isn't enough right?" I switch to automatic and grinned a little. "Say you're fighting a fifty foot tall golem or an evil dragon, or all around hard to kill baddies," I aimed at the tree and braced myself.
Continuous flicker of light appeared on the muzzle and numerous magic bullets started ripping apart the forest in front of me. I kept it going for ten seconds, ripping apart trees and boulders until only splinters remains.
I stopped shooting and the weapon began to glow brightly in my hands. I can feel the power source draining my mana and the weapon emitting a powerful residual magic.
"Amazing! I've never seen such weapon before!" Liz exclaimed with stars in her eyes. "Where did you find that Otou sama? Was it perhaps from your old adventures? Spoils of battle?"
"I made it," I took off the power source and crouched down to her level. I handed her both the power source and the rifle on each hands. "This is Fantasia Mark IV, my fourth attempt at creating a weapon worthy of the Ruler of All Dragons."
Liz simply stared at the weapon in her hands with wide eyes. "You're… you're giving it to me?" she watched in awe as the power source began absorbing her magic. The magic patterns glows brighter and brighter until it's crimson red. "Thank you Otou sama… I'll be sure to treasure it for life…"
I gave her a thumb up. "Good, now let me tell you how to use it," I held her hand that's holding the power source. "This is the power source and the key to the weapon. It cannot fire without it, now put it in,"
Liz attached the power source with relative ease before trying aiming with the weapon.
"Good, now, I want you to promise me one thing," she turned towards me. "Do not attach the power source when you are not in danger, understand?"
"I understand,"
"Can you promise me that?"
"I promise that I will not attach the power source when not in danger."
I nodded at her. "Good, since I'm teaching you, right now is an exception," I then gestured at the tiny switch near the trigger. "This is another safety switch and to switch between single shot, burst shot, and continuous shot,"
Liz tried switching between the different shots before turning it back to the safety switch.
"Okay, now try aiming, just aiming,"
Liz nodded and aimed at the single standing tree. I fixed her way of holding the rifle by my design. Then I helped her aim at one of the last standing tree in the distance.
"Now switch to the single shot and shoot it,"
There was a flash of light, a huge hole formed on the tree trunk. It is around ten inch in diameter, a clean ten inch diameter hole straight through the trunk.
"Good, now let's play around with this before Darkness gets here," I said with a grin.