"Amazing!"
Ciri looked at the minigun in her hands, which she had just used to blow several targets to smithereens. Of course she didn't succeed at the first attempt, she collapsed on her butt and blinked dazedly for about five minutes, looking at the minigun she'd just used to shoot into the air.
"Such a weapon!"
She shook her head.
"How many monsters could be destroyed! Even ordinary peasants could handle a wyvern!"
"Can..."
I nodded at Ciri's words, confirming that I understood what she was talking about, but hurried to bring her down to earth.
"...but the appearance of such weapons in your world will bring about the end of the age of magic. People will decide that once they have such weapons, magic is no longer needed and they will be dealt with in the same way as the Witches..."
In the few days that Ciri had been visiting us, she had managed to tell us the history of the world, so we already knew that witches in her world had indeed been almost completely wiped out. More precisely destroyed the institute of witchcraft, completely destroying the knowledge of how to properly conduct mutations. Of course, someone else can probably do the right mutation, but how many intelligent enough hidden reserves of schools?
And the fact that the hidden reserves there are, that's for sure, because Ciri mentioned that she could well pass the necessary mutations, and only Vesimir refused to conduct them because he believed that since people themselves have abandoned the witches, the emergence of a new can lead to terrible consequences and complete extermination, now not only the institute of witches, but the last surviving representatives of the profession.
"Hmm... Fair enough."
Ciri nodded at my words.
"And what is offered to me as a weapon?"
"Look..."
I pulled two Uzis out of my briefcase and handed them to Ciri.
"It's called an Uzi. see how to properly insert the clip..."
I showed her how to insert the clip and load the magazine, and then she tried out her weapon and was a bit disappointed. No, not disappointed, she was delighted with the weapon, compact, powerful, but compared to the minigun...
"Why do I get the ultrasound and Becca gets the minigun? That's not fair."
"It's just that they fit the maneuvering style of combat. Becca, on the other hand, will stand mostly still and just sow death..."
"Okay..."
"Well, if it's clear, guns to base..."
I held out my hands and Ciri handed me the Uzi with some resentment.
"So what now?"
"Now..."
I grinned.
"...You and the girls will continue your training, but with lesser quality weapons, while I modernize these toys..."
"Yes! (Laughs)"
Becca jumped up happily and quickly put the minigun in its case, then hurriedly dragged it off the range in the direction we'd come from. I knew she'd taken it to Hippo's.
"Uh..."
Ciri looked dumbfounded at Becca and shifted her gaze to the other girls.
"She just knows that once the weapon is modified by David, it will be much more deadly."
"Uh..."
Ciri blinked puzzledly a couple times.
"...even more deadly?"
"Yeah. (chuckles)"
"Classy..."
Ciri blurred into a satisfied smile and now wasn't looking sadly at the Uzis I'd already stashed in their case.
"All right, well. I'm gonna get back to work while you get used to your armored suits."
"Okay..."
The girls nodded, and I hurried to get down to business... I had a lot of work to do, and not much time left as I would have liked.
For the next few days I worked with virtually no sleep or rest...
"So which one of you is dating him?"
Ciri's voice distracted me from looking at the finished minigun. I had to improve the Uzi for Ciri and the assault rifle for me, but I was done with the sniper rifles. And that was good. or rather bad that I had another 24 hours of hard work ahead of me, but it was good that I had already finished the most extensive part of it.
"Well, uh. Actually, we're all, uh."
Panam's voice was slightly embarrassed.
"How's everybody doing?"
Ciri was clearly shocked by my Cherry's words.
"Well... it just kind of came out that way..."
I directly pictured Panam now shrugging his shoulders and looking away embarrassed.
"But wait... how is that even possible, is that allowed?"
"Not that we have anything forbidden right now..."
Lucy intervened in the conversation.
"What do you mean?"
"Yes, in the most direct way possible. You do what you want, and minorities--
Now in my mind's eye it was Lucy who was shrugging her shoulders.
"Okay, let's not get into any of that stuff."
Kiwi entered the conversation and her voice was slightly annoyed.
"And yes, we're all dating David. So if you want to join our tight-knit family, you'll have to get our approval first.
"Pfft!"
"Well, well, well..."
Oh, Judy's joined the conversation... I wonder if they chose to have this conversation right under my workshop window. I realize the window is tinted and they can't see what I'm doing, but still...
"Do you think any of us aspired to enter the harem?"
"Well. I don't know... but if you're not kidding me, your relationship is at least very strange."
"Which is what it is, but the question is... what choice did we have?"
Those words were spoken by Becca.
"Did he make you do it?"
A trace of squeamishness and disgust flashed in Ciri's voice.
"Well, if by "forced" you mean helped us without asking for anything in return, got us into trouble for us, or just helped us find ourselves and become reasonably well off, then yes, he forced us."
"Hey, uh. is it okay that, uh."
Uh... I don't get it. What does Lucy mean now?
"А... Never mind."
Judy's tone was slightly flippant.
"...when our David is immersed in his work, he doesn't notice a damn thing."
"Uh-huh, just like you...
Panam's voice just oozed sarcasm.
"I don't deny we're both passionate, though we all are. I think Becca, if she were on the range right now, would lose track of time, as always, as Panam is digging into the engine of Tortik2, and Lucy and Kiwi are also often lost in time when immersed in the network."
"Well, uh. it's hard to argue."
Becky's voice was in agreement with everything Judy was saying.
"So, uh. he won you over?"
"Uh-huh. You know, this may sound crazy to you, but there aren't many men left in this world. And by man, I don't mean a man with a dick.
"Becca!"
"What's up?"
Becky's voice sounded a little hurt that Judy had interrupted her.
"We're all grown-up girls and a penis should be called a penis... No, I could of course say pipirka, or pod, or think of a thousand and one other names for male genitalia, they will not stop being a penis...
"Tz..."
Judy didn't object.
"...anyway, what am I talking about? Oh, yeah! I'm not talking about those who have a dick, I'm talking about those who are willing to be courageous and responsible and take care of a family. What you're seeing here. is more of an exception to the rule, as nomads have always lived somewhat apart from the rest of civilization..."
"Don't listen to her..."
Panam decided to interrupt Becca.
"...she's not exactly objective."
"Hmm?"
"How can I make this any clearer to you? Well, uh. let's say. you're a strong girl, right?"
"Yeah..."
There was a hint of suspicion in Ciri's voice.
"Tell me, could you imagine having the most ordinary peasant next to you as your man?"
"No, I don't."
Very quick response.
"And the nobleman?"
"Well. it depends. and not just the nobleman. a witch doctor, for example."
"Oh. are you in love with your mentor?"
"Well..."
"Oh, look how she's blushing!"
Becca intervened in the conversation again and her voice was extremely caustic.
"Becca shut up..."
Panam silenced Becca.
"Well, it's the same with us. we're strong girls, we can't imagine being around office plankton. Although if you look at them from the point of view of girls like them, they may seem brave, reliable... but that's from their point of view. We're mercenaries, we have a slightly different life and a different view of men..."
"Let's say. but what does it have to do with you all deciding to live with the same man?"
Ciri was clearly puzzled.
"It's really simple, girlfriend..."
Becca lost her cheerfulness.
"...too few options. No, we're not desperate with David. After all, it's better to be alone than with someone you don't love, but there really aren't a lot of options. All the good guys are long gone. and believe me, there are girls either at the throats of rivals, or just like us share one normal among themselves ... And we don't want to deal with a psycho anymore. So it turns out that David, even though he's younger than the rest of us, is the best option."
"Uh-huh...
Kiwi intervened in the conversation.
"And given that he's handsome, smart, not prone to excessive spontaneous risk-taking, cares about us and helps us solve our problems...
"Anyway, it just sort of worked itself out..."
Panam drew a line under this conversation.
"But I'm not from here!"
"Well, uh. David probably has some plans for you."
"А?"
"Don't take this the wrong way, but you're a stranger. well, you were a stranger a couple days ago, but now you're an acquaintance, almost a friend."
"AND?"
Ciri hurried Panam, wanting her to elaborate on her thought
"It's simple, he wouldn't risk us for you. He might have gotten into this adventure himself, though it's not in his nature, but he wouldn't risk us, which means he has some plan that can help us or the clan. Probably both us and the clan."
"What could it be?"
"Who knows?"
I could directly feel Panam shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.
"But don't worry, knowing David, it won't be something you'll have to worry about. Maybe he'll ask you to set him up with mages to train him and us, maybe he'll want to be a mercenary in your world, fulfilling complex orders, because with our technology it's..."
"Yes, with your technology it will be easy, but all the options you named so far depend on my willingness to help..."
"And you're gonna have to."
"А?"
"David didn't mention it of course, but it was read between the lines."
"Are you gonna make me?"
There was apprehension in Ciri's voice.
"Calm down, white girl. Hmm. we have a white Lucy, too."
Becca was light-hearted at the beginning of the sentence, and slightly pensive by the end.
"Lucy Snowflake, and Ciri ..."
"And Ciri is a princess."
I decided to raise my voice so I could be heard.
"Eek!"
"Did you hear everything?"
It was Ciri's slightly panicked voice.
"Uh-huh...interesting conversation... and yes, the girls are right, I will need a favor from you. But right now, it's too early to talk about it. after all, before we can agree on anything, we have to show you that we can help you ourselves.
"And what do you mean by that?"
"We'll get rid of the Wild Hunt's illusory bodies, then we'll talk..."
"Okay, but I won't promise, much less fulfill, something that goes against my part..."
"I don't have to!"