Chapter 12 Part 1: Request – Rescue

“Hoo, it’s over.”

“You worked hard.”

Right after sending back the man who kept bowing, I frowned as I pulled out the wire that was forcibly connecting my body and the TV.

“Tsk, damn it… I can’t use this anymore.”

“Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay….”

Immediately after returning to the office, I contacted the client.

I was preparing to show the video as soon as the client came, but I discovered a serious problem that I hadn’t expected.

“…Why do you use these standards here?”

“I think it’s weirder that Ella-ssi uses those kinds of terminals.”

“It was standard in Neo City, so I can’t help it, damn it.”

That was that I couldn’t transmit the video stored inside my body.

If my prosthesis was broken or the TV was broken, I wouldn’t be so annoyed.

Does it make sense that both are working fine, but I can’t use them because the standards of the terminals I use don’t match?

In the end, I cut off the end of the terminal and forcibly connected the wires to use it, but I couldn’t keep using it like this.

It’s a headache if I force a connection like this just to transmit a video to the TV and it breaks down.

I didn’t want to do this stupid thing again.

“…Um, Ella-ssi.”

“What?”

“What should I do?”

Just as I was venting my anger and disconnecting the temporarily connected wires.

Haran asked me what she could do.

“Um, I didn’t do anything while Ella-ssi was handling a request…”

“Ah, that’s true.”

“….”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make a space for you to work before the next request is over.”

Originally, I was just going to have her do paperwork, but… It seems like Haran doesn’t want that, so I can’t help it.

Since there’s a problem with the terminal standards, I was thinking of changing the office so that Haran could provide rear support by modifying the standards of the surrounding devices.

No matter how strong I am, I’m still an individual. If there’s someone who briefs me on the situation, the combat efficiency will be different, so it will be a big help.

“I, is that so.”

“Yeah. More than that, Haran. I’m starting to have a really scary thought right now?”

“…A scary thought? Ella-ssi?”

“Yeah. It’s such a terrible thought that my hands are trembling.”

Tick, tick.

I aimed the revolver with the magazine emptied at my head, pulled the trigger, and sighed.

It was a terrible hypothesis the more I imagined it… But no matter how I thought about it, the thought that this seemed to be the correct answer lingered in my head.

“Wh, what are you doing! It’s dangerous!”

“What’s dangerous? There’s no magazine. And even if there was a magazine, this kind of gun wouldn’t even scratch me.”

“OTL.”

While enjoying Russian roulette with no chance of dying, I handed Haran the things I had in my hand.

“More than that, take a look at this.”

“…This is?”

“It’s a bullet. Is there a place that makes the same specifications as this?”

“Just a moment. I’ll search…”

Tap, tap.

While watching Haran search for the specifications written on the bullet, I prayed in my heart.

Please, please let there be one.

But, betraying my prayers, Haran just shook her head.

“There isn’t one?”

“Damn it.”

It’s my fault for praying to a god who died a long time ago.

…From the moment the terminals pulled out from the TV and my body didn’t match, I had the terrible thought that the specifications of the bullets might not match.

But this was a much bigger problem than the TV.

What’s the point of a gun without bullets?

There are some weapons stored inside the prosthesis that can be used without bullets in case of a shortage of bullets, but… Not many.

If this continues, a significant number of biological weapons will simply become empty piles of scrap metal as I repeat requests.

It was a really big problem that bullet supply was impossible.

“Really, there isn’t one? Are you sure you didn’t look wrong?”

“Would you like to see it, Ella-ssi?”

“Where… Damn it, there really isn’t one.”

What should I do about this?

Due to the nature of doing rough work, I had a lot of things prepared in case of an emergency. To the point where I was told that there was no need to prepare even these things.

However, even I didn’t put much effort into bullet supply.

In some ways, it was a natural thing. I had prepared close-range weapons in case I ran out of bullets, but I could buy and replenish them after the battle was over.

Who would imagine that I would fall into a place where the bullets I use are not produced at all?

I realized that the terminal specifications didn’t match the TV, and I really hoped it wasn’t the case…

If this continues, my combat power will plummet before long.

I have to find someone who can supply me with bullets somehow.

“Haa.”

“Is it because of the bullets?”

“Yeah. The bullets used in my prosthesis aren’t unlimited. I have to replenish them after the request is over…”

“Because you came from another world, there are no items that match the specifications.”

“Exactly.”

I grabbed my head as the memories of the past that I was trying not to think about started to come back to me.

I suddenly regretted the bullets I used when I caught those monsters that appeared inside the gate.

I shouldn’t have tried to show off.

I started to miss the bullets that I literally scattered to show the difference in power.

“Tsk.. What should I do….”

It’s not that I can’t fight without bullets.

There are also a few items with single-molecule technology that have extremely high cutting power.

However, I didn’t want to use those items if possible.

It’s much safer to eliminate enemies from a distance than to risk fighting at close range.

“…Um, it might be possible. Making bullets.”

“What?! Really?!”

“Yes, yes… There’s someone I know.”

There might be a way to make bullets.

When I leaned my face towards her at that story, did she feel burdened? Haran took a step back and said.

“There’s a person named Yoo Jin-ssi, someone I had a brief acquaintance with in the past.”

“That person can make bullets?”

“Yes. …I don’t know if she’ll lend us her strength.”

“I’ll tell you in advance, I don’t have the blueprint for the bullets, let alone other blueprints. I don’t have the facilities either.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be able to make it without those.”

“…How?”

“There’s a way. Awakened aren’t always just fighting.”

Not all awakened go out to the gate.

As she said that, Haran shifted her gaze towards the weapon I had brought as spoils.

It was something I had with the intention of selling it later because it was a bit difficult to give it to the client.

“Those weapons aren’t made in factories. Because there’s a mana barrier on the corpses, it’s so difficult to process them unless they’re awakened. Blacksmiths make them.”

“What does that blacksmith have to do with bullets?”

“The blacksmith isn’t important. The fact that the blacksmith I know is an awakened is important.”

“Huh?”

What kind of nonsense is she talking about?

As I glared at her with a questioning expression, she smiled as if she was happy to have gained an advantage over me.

“The ability of the person I’m talking about is replication. If you fold your hands together and shake them three times, the object is replicated.”

“…!”

“The range is too narrow, and it can only replicate objects that don’t contain mana, and the efficiency is too low, so she received a low grade…”

“It’s okay. Being able to make it is enough.”

Those minor flaws didn’t matter at all.

The bullet was a size that could be held in one hand, and it was an object that didn’t contain mana.

I was a little worried that the efficiency was bad, but not being able to produce bullets at all and being able to produce them even a little were completely different stories.

To think there was someone with that ability.

According to her, she was someone I shouldn’t miss.

“If you ask that person, it might be possible.”

“That’s right. But you’ll have to pay money. Because she has to use her ability, it’ll be quite expensive.”

“I have to bear it. It’s better than not having a way to get it. The problem is whether that person will accept the request…”

“She’ll accept it. She’s short on money.”

“Money… It’s okay. I don’t have a shortage of bullets yet.”

I didn’t receive any financial compensation from the client, so I’m short on funds right now, but it’s okay.

I still have enough bullets, and if I work a little more, I’ll have money soon.

“However, that’s…”

“What is it?”

“Her tastes are a little unique.”

“Unique?”

“…You’ll find out when you meet her in person later.”

Haran blurred the end of her words while avoiding my eyes as if she didn’t want to talk about it.

Why is she so uneasy?

…Well, the story of what that person’s personality is like and what their tastes are like is irrelevant.

If that person is the only one who can make bullets right now, I have to adapt to that person no matter who they are.

“So, that person? Where does she live?”

“There’s a shop in this neighborhood… It’s also business hours, so would you like to go?”

“Sounds good.”

Since there’s nothing I can do right now anyway, it would be better to get acquainted in advance.

Judging that way, I left the office with Haran and started walking…

Soon, I couldn’t help but look at her with an unbelievable expression.

“…Here?”

“Ye, yes. Is something wrong?”

Yes, as Haran said, the building in front of me was a shop.

If a shop that had turned into a ruin, as if someone had rummaged through it, could be called a shop.