Marksmanship License Exam

The two of them stepped out of another Warp Gate, appearing inside of a dark, musty room.

『Where… are we now?』[Nova]

『Eh… licenses are distributed by authenticated staff of the Kingdom. This location is in Essence City, a small shop in charge of weapon, armor, and artifact smithing.』[Reagan]

Reagan went over next to a doorway and flipped a switch on, turning the lights on.

『Uh…?』[Nova]

The entire place had a run down feel.

Each wall had some kind of damage done to it, whether it be a hole, a slash, or some kind of burn mark.

There was a smithing area in the corner, a shopkeeping counter, and some furniture.

Reagan stared at the wall for a bit before sighing.

『Seriously...It makes you wonder what kind of things they do in this place.』[Reagan]

He breathed in and put his hand on the shopkeeping counter, as if bracing for something.

『...OI! CYNTHIA! WAKE THE HELL UP! I SHOW UP, AND YOU DON'T EVEN GREET ME?』[Reagan]

Nova's body instinctively froze up from fear.

Immediately after Reagan shouted, he heard rumbling from upstairs, along with a female voice shouting.

After another few seconds, the door slammed open, revealing a woman with messy orange hair and green eyes wearing a tracksuit.

『B-B-Brother! I-I-It's a pleasure to see you! Snacks? T-Tea?』[Cynthia]

『B...Brother?』[Nova]

Reagan nodded at Nova before turning back to Cynthia.

『Yeah, my little sister.』[Reagan]

She looked like she had just gone to sleep the moment they arrived.

『My student is here to take the marksmanship exam. 』[Reagan]

Nova felt guilty about waking her up for his license, so he looked at Reagan to see if it was alright.

『...Should I have waited…?』[Nova]

To his surprise, she was moving around him at a super fast speed.

『...I thought you were teaching a first year class this year, brother? And only one student? Typically don't you get weapons and licenses for them as a group? And it's only midway through the year?』[Cynthia]

She started grabbing at random parts of his body.

『...Thin arms, thin legs, yet… well formed muscles! Mana…?』[Cynthia]

『Uhm..?!』[Nova]

Reagan smacked her on the forehead, causing her to wince and hold her head.

『Please stop sexually harassing my student.』[Reagan]

『Eh…? But, I thought you wanted me to make him something? Like armor or a sword?』[Cynthia]

『No. Just the license.』[Reagan]

She stared blankly at him.

『Wait… did you say marksmanship? Like a bow? I guess that would explain the lack of mass...』[Cynthia]

Reagan and Cynthia went back and forth while Nova zoned out.

Nova started staring at his arms and legs.

「...Am I really that scrawny…?」[Nova]

「Yeah! You definitely are!」[Reischneid]

Nova slumped down a bit.

「...But like… all of my calories turn into mana anyways...」[Nova]

「If you work out, you'd be able to gain muscle- eh, screw it, I'll throw it into the mix of training.」[Reischneid]

Suddenly, Reischneid's tone changed.

「But… you decided to pick up using a gun, haven't you? Without consulting me?」[Reischneid]

「Eh…. But I thought it would be cool to have something in my second hand…!」[Nova]

「You have to have a free hand to use the Torrential Rain Fist. What was your plan?」[Reischneid]

「Well, I was caught off guard with a basic sword that I conjured up when I was separated, so-」[Nova]

「Well, that's obvious! You don't even have a sword style yet!」[Reischneid]

「...But I think that it would be better to pick up a gun for right now, since my range is lacking the most...」[Nova]

Reischneid sounded like he was yielding a bit.

「...Yeah, alright, fine. But you do have to work on your martial arts more before anything really good comes out of it. I'd recommend learning the basics of shooting, then we'll get started on the second martial arts technique, before we throw in some brand new sword training! Not to mention the body building…!」[Reischneid]

Nova had a headache thinking of all of the training Reischneid had in mind.

That was when Cynthia put her hand on his shoulder and he snapped back to his senses.

『...Huh?』[Nova]

『You're telling me this student is a Squire?! There's no way he can have his own gun at his age, right?!』[Cynthia]

Reagan shrugged.

『Strictly, there isn't an age requirement to become a Squire. He simply went out of his way to serve the Kingdom and was put at the Squire rank.』[Reagan]

Cynthia crossed her arms and stared at him before reluctantly agreeing.

『...If you say so, brother.』[Cynthia]

She opened the door she came from and motioned for Nova to follow.

『Follow me. I'll ask a couple of questions regarding weapon safety.』[Cynthia]

Reagan nudged Nova forward, pushing him through the door.

He followed Cynthia through a kitchen area before Cynthia went into another dark room.

Once he went in, he lost sight of everything as the door shut behind him.

A click noise rang out into the room, filling it with a bright light.

『Okay, just the simple questions. Almost like a requirement in name only.』[Cynthia]

She started to fill in some paperwork, while not paying Nova any attention.

『Uh… What is your name?』[Cynthia]

『...Uhm… Nova.』[Nova]

『Nova… what?』[Cynthia]

『Huh…? Just… Nova?』[Nova]

She shook her head.

『No, Nova. I need your full name. House name as well.』[Cynthia]

Nova shook his head.

『I'm not in a House. I'm Houseless.』[Nova]

She looked at him like he was playing some kind of sick joke.

『A Houseless Squire? Come on… This isn't some kind of fantasy story! I'd like to see one too, but a Squire your age in a House is already impressive!』[Cynthia]

Nova looked conflicted, but ended up just pulling out his student ID.

『...Here.』[Nova]

She grabbed it from him, like she was sick of his joke.

『Nova… huh? Where is your House name? And… 17? That would make you… a freshman!』[Cynthia]

『I have some… special circumstances that allowed me to get into Genesis. I'm not a liar.』[Nova]

Cynthia looked like she stepped on a landmine and seemed kind of apologetic.

『...I see.』[Cynthia]

She quickly jotted down his information on a paper before returning the ID to him.

『...I'll ask you the questions myself.』[Cynthia]

She read off the paper for him.

『True or false? The non-lethal mode should be used at all times, save for times of emergency.』[Cynthia]

『...That's true.』[Nova]

『Correct. It is illegal to use a gun in places where collateral damage is possible. True or false?』[Cynthia]

The question actually managed to trip Nova up a bit.

『True… I think?』[Nova]

『It actually depends based on the person's skill with it, but generally, true. If you can get a high ranking on the test, you can be assigned a license for marksmanship in places of collateral damage. There is a minimum of 6 months before you can get that, however.』[Cynthia]

Nova nodded, surprised at her willingness to explain.

『How about-』[Cynthia]

...

『With that, you've passed the exam. Simple enough!』[Cynthia]

Nova stood there with a tired look on his face.

『...It was so boring...』[Nova]

『Can't disagree. Let's move onto the practical test.』[Cynthia]

She pressed another button near the light switch, and the wall opposite from the entrance began to move.

Nova took his gun out and readied it.

Once he had it ready, the wall had fully dropped down to reveal a shooting range.

『Just hit the targets. Simple enough!』[Cynthia]

Several of the targets began to move closer to him.

『Will do.』[Nova]

He raised his gun and shot a bullet into the closest ones, only using his left hand.

『Using only one hand?』[Cynthia]

『I plan to use this gun in my off-hand.』[Nova]

『Off-hand…? Hoooh.. Not bad!』[Cynthia]

Nova continued firing, but after a certain range, he stopped after all of the close dummies had been shot.

『...Well, you must have practiced hard, but any other dummy is advan-』[Cynthia]

He fired off another shot that landed on the lower part of one of the further dummies.

『Woah! Was that a lucky shot?!』[Cynthia]

Nova finally put his gun down for a moment.

Just as she was about to ask him anything else, he raised the gun with both hands and aimed again.

He fired off rounds at a much faster pace, but any of the bullets that left his gun curved and hit the targets, regardless of distance.

She stared at him blankly.

『...Your mana control is… amazing.』[Cynthia]

『Thank you.』[Nova]

She looked at his form, comparing it between his shots.

『...You're controlling the mana all the way until it hits the target, right?』[Cynthia]

Nova put his gun back on his sleeve once he was done.

『...I am. How did you know?』[Nova]

『The bullets don't rise or drop, they curve towards their target, and your form has no sign of compensation for any rise or drop either.』[Cynthia]

Nova felt like he was caught red-handed.

『...Should I have not…?』[Nova]

She shook her head.

『It's an advanced marksmanship technique. I actually used it quite a bit when I did work as a mage.』[Cynthia]

『You can use a gun as well?』[Nova]

『Of course I can. How else would I give you an exam for it, you nitwit?!』[Cynthia]

She grabbed Nova by the neck and grinded her fist into his head.

『A..h… Stop..!』[Nova]

He struggled to escape her grip.

「Why are these two siblings the same?!」[Nova]

He was finally let go after a short while.

『...Still. Excellent job. I know my brother didn't teach you anything regarding the gun, so you may be pretty close to the title of a prodigy!』[Cynthia]

He felt pretty embarrassed being called a prodigy, so he shrugged and shook his head.

『...My mana control just happens to be my best point.』[Nova]

『I can see! Let me get you a license, Nova.』[Cynthia]

She took something blank out of a spatial ring that Nova didn't notice before.

It looked like a sheet of metal with a gun printed on it.

She went to the far side of the room and slid the test into a scanner along with the sheet of metal.

After a moment, she motioned for Nova to come over.

『...?』[Nova]

Once he did, she grabbed his right thumb and placed it onto some scanner with a magical circle on it.

He felt some of his mana leave his body and enter the scanner, which was immediately followed up by the glowing of the metal license.

『Okay. You got special permission to use in places of collateral damage. I'm an A+ tier markswoman, but I can only raise you up to B- rank for now.』[Cynthia]

『B-...? Isn't that… kind of high?』[Nova]

『Well… you displayed a good degree of safety, and your mana control was not unstable at all. I'd actually like to put you at B+, but I'd rather you got some more experience until I put you there.』[Cynthia]

『And… collateral damage areas? I thought-』[Nova]

『It's fine. You seem like an earnest kid. I put you as a special license user under my endorsement though, since my brother seems to dote on you quite a bit. Don't do anything that will get MY license revoked.』[Cynthia]

Nova blinked a few times, surprised that she did that for him.

Not skipping a cue, she smacked him on the head again.

『Aren't you gonna say anything?!』[Cynthia]

『OW! T..Thank you….!』[Nova]

She opened the door to the kitchen, but looked back before they left.

『...Well, if you have anything you need, ask my brother for how to reach me… and sorry for what I said earlier.』[Cynthia]

With that, she left to go meet up with her brother.

『...They really are siblings, huh?』[Nova]

He paused for a bit, before smiling to himself and running after her.