I checked the sandwich in the basket every time I reached a certain distance to make sure it hadn’t been damaged.

The sandwich looked fine, but the meager ingredients inside bothered me. Finely chopped tomatoes, cheese, cucumber, and strawberry jam.

Would this be enough to fill Yuric’s stomach? I hadn’t tried training, but handling a sword would consume a lot of energy, and it was just a sandwich….

“I should go to the mansion earlier than the promised time for the day I make peanut jam.”

I planned to treat Yuric with all the dishes I could make. After meeting a man named Raoul, I had enough time to go to the market to buy ingredients.

“……”

Maybe because I had been on this road before, I arrived faster than I thought. Surveying the surroundings with a dignified air, I planned to quietly leave only the letter and the basket.

“Oh? Goddess, no. Miss Reize?”

Even though I had become a bubble in just a second.

“Did you come to see Yuric? Right now, that guy is talking with the master!”

The voice… Could it be the cause of the complaint that Mabu mentioned yesterday? It’s just a casual conversation, but the man’s voice sounded abnormally loud.

“Oops, it’s the real goddess.”

“…You came again.”

“Hey, where, I want to see too!”

Because of that, other men who were training also gathered. There were a lot more people than yesterday. Among them, a short adult boy even gleamed at me with his eyes.

“Could you please tell this to Yuric for me?”

“Oh, sure. Leave it to me!”

The man who received the basket from me grinned broadly. Since the errand was over, I tried to leave, but the man noticed and grabbed me.

“Oh? Are you busy by any chance?”

“I’m going to the library. Or maybe I’ll go see a play.”

“If you’re not too busy, please wait a bit. Yuric will be out soon.”

“Wouldn’t I be a hindrance if I’m here?”

“Yuric, did he say that? I thought he’d be kind to my lady….”

“Huh?”

“Well, come in for now.”

As he tried to pull me into the training ground, the other men who were watching cheered happily.

Oh, this is not really happening. I always felt uncomfortable when I came to the training ground because I felt like I was being swept away.

“I should have just gone….”

Bang!

The sound of gunfire coming from ahead swallowed my voice.

“Oh, sorry. It’s break time, but there are guys who waste gunpowder by shooting randomly….”

“Shooting is difficult, isn’t it?”

“You’ll get used to it, but if you’re interested, would you like to try shooting? I’ll teach you. Teaching someone is my specialty. Haha.”

I was interested.

“Give it a try. I’ll teach you really well.”

“Oh, then.”

Nodding in response to the man’s eyes that seemed to be pleading, he continued.

“May I ask your name?”

“Of course! I’ve been waiting for this!”

While guiding the way, the man gave me a brief introduction of himself. His name was Berdoy.

Originally from a somewhat renowned noble family, but he said there was no title because he was born as the sixth.

“That’s why I ended up coming to the training ground. Now, like Yuric, I’m training under the same master with the goal of joining the Violet Knights.”

He was one year older than Yuric. And Berdoy said he had seen me before I came to the training ground. It was when Yuric gave me the dress.

“No wonder the voice sounded familiar.”

“We’ve arrived.”

The shooting range was not as impressive as I thought. Swarms of flies, the smell of dirt, the smell of gunpowder. Guns with a lot of fingerprints and broken fences.

If there was something different from my expectation, it was that the targets were far away and not clearly visible, and the guns were much heavier.

The size of the gun wasn’t that big. It was slightly larger than the hand, so it wasn’t burdensome. The appearance was elegant with patterns drawn on it.

“It’s using flint, right?”

As I looked around the gun and spoke, Berdoy nodded his head.
“Yes. Alchemists say that the price of flint is expensive, so they try to create something cheap to replace it. I don’t know if it will work, though.”

“Well. But how do you shoot it?”

Berdoy corrected my posture meticulously, and the other men watching from the side immediately informed me if I had a wrong posture or showed any signs of unease.

The weight of the gun felt intense. I didn’t even dare to touch my finger near the trigger out of anxiety about accidentally pulling it.

After the posture was corrected, and I learned the shooting method from Berdoy, I aimed at the target.

Aiming was difficult. I couldn’t tell if the target was shaking or if my arm was shaking. I just pulled the trigger at the vaguely visible target.

Bang!

Despite the tremendous sound and the shock that hit my body, I endured it. Holding my breath, I lowered the gun and observed the expressions of the men around me. Everyone seemed surprised, their mouths wide open.

“Wow, this is more incredible than I thought.”

I awkwardly laughed, but the men’s mouths didn’t close.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“…Goddess. Do you know? You shot close to hitting the target.”

“Really?”