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She turned the gun sideways, opening the long body of the weapon in the middle; she pressed in new rounds and closed the stock again. She righted the gun and then looked down the sights, bringing the scope’s crosshairs to bear on the statue of the guardian saint.
She held her breath, preventing the motion of her inhales and exhales from transferring to the gun. And then, just as she had practiced time and again, Berta pulled the trigger.
Boom.
The bullet was spat out with an earsplitting gunshot. According to Yukinari, the round was far more powerful than that in either Dasa’s Red Chili or his own Durandall. The gun kicked back hard against her body as the bullet went flying.
It was more than powerful enough to tear through the puppet she’d used for target practice. But...
“Oh...” Berta breathed.
She had hit the statute. But it produced only a spark on the surface; the giant didn’t so much as stumble. She could see through the scope that there was a small scratch on its armor, but that was all.
“It... It didn’t work...?”
She wasn’t targeting a person, a living being. Hence Berta was able to pull the trigger with comparatively little reluctance. But if her shots had no effect, then it was all pointless.
“No...”
She held her breath, pulled the trigger again. Another bullet sped toward the statue, leaving another forceful recoil and thundering gunshot in its wake. And it produced only another spark.
Berta tilted the gun again, opening the stock, loading new rounds in place of the empty ones that had been automatically ejected. Thanks to all the practice she’d done, she hardly had to think about the process anymore. But it looked likely that no matter how many hits she landed, she wasn’t going to bring down the statue of the guardian saint.
Derrringer, as a weapon, worked on the same principle as Yukinari’s Durandall. Maybe he, or perhaps Dasa, might have been able to use it more effectively. Maybe she really was incompetent, incapable of helping.
The thought caused a profound sadness to well up in her chest, but she had no time to indulge it. The situation around the observation tower was a matter of one step forward and one back. Ulrike and the other familiars were giving battle well. They still weren’t able to use Yggdra’s full power, and their weapons and attacks weren’t powerful enough to destroy the statue. But the team of familiars had quickly adapted their thinking, targeting not the statue, but the knights beyond it.
With the knights, the familiars could fight on even footing, or perhaps even have the advantage. And precisely because the missionaries were under attack, the statue couldn’t ignore the familiars and move forward. The statue couldn’t move on its own, and in order for the organist who gave it its orders to advance, the huge wagon bearing the instrument would have to be brought forth, along with all its guards.
However, the battle between the missionary knights and the familiars was almost at a stalemate. At this rate, neither side looked likely to gain the upper hand. Right now, the only one who could act freely was Berta.
That meant she had to do something. If that statue succeeded in reaching the town, executing a pincer attack against Yukinari with the other statue, it wouldn’t matter how strong her lord was. He would never win.
“If I don’t... If I don’t do something...!” she murmured, and returned to sniping. Even if it wasn’t very effective, this was everything she could do. It was the job she’d been given. Clinging to that fact, she continued to work.
“Calm down... Calm down...” She repeated the words to herself over and over. Panic only caused you to miss things you should have hit. That was what Yukinari had taught her. So Berta dedicated herself to doing as he had said. Calm down. Don’t panic. Don’t worry. Don’t think. Only load, aim, fire, eject, as if you were a part of the gun.
But then...
“Hey, woman!”
“Wha?!”
She cried out as a voice suddenly came from behind her. Had the missionaries snuck around her position without her realizing it? Terror made her body go stiff; she let go of Derrringer and turned around. Turning the long, heavy gun around with her was impractical; Berta didn’t even think about it.
“M-Mister A-Arlen...?”
To her surprise, it was Arlen standing there. Sweat pearled on his forehead, and his shoulders were heaving with his breath; he had obviously run as hard as he could to get here.
“What’s the situation?!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
“No, not ‘Yes, sir!’ I’m asking you what’s going on!”
His fervent shouting only caused Berta to freeze up again. She knew Arlen, of course, but she had rarely spoken to him herself. So to find him exclaiming angrily at her was terrifying enough.
“Ahhh, fine, get out of the way!” Arlen didn’t have time to wait patiently; he shoved Berta aside and knelt at the edge of the platform, observing the battle.
“So they did bring out the statue of the guardian saint—I knew it!”
His muttering made Berta think: Arlen had also had a guardian saint statue when he had come to Friedland. He knew the weapon well. Perhaps he could tell her where to aim—where its weak point might be.
“E-Er, L-Lord... Lansdowne...?”
Arlen spun. “Woman! Is this the ‘sniper rifle’ or whatever Yukinari called it? The gun that can strike an enemy even from this distance?”
“Oh! Y-Yes, it is! B-But that giant is too strong... When I hit it, nothing happens...”
“Of course not! Do you know how thick the armor is on those statues?!”
“I—I’m sorry...”
“You can’t just shoot them anywhere and hope something will happen!” Arlen held up a hand to shield his eyes, squinting into the distance. It looked like he had something in mind. Berta looked at him expectantly, but...
“If you need a target, aim at the organist controlling the statue!”
“Wha?”
“The statue of the guardian saint is controlled by the music of the organ. If there’s no one to supply the melody, it won’t be able to move—so shoot him! The man on the seat on that wagon!”
Berta could say nothing.
The organist was a human.
“Shoot... Shoot a person...?”
“What’s wrong with you?! If shooting the statute doesn’t work, you shoot the person controlling the statue! It’s obvious!”
“But—But he’s a... a person...!”
A living thing, with blood running through his veins. A human, just like her.
And she was to shoot him. To kill him.
“That’s... That’s awful...!”
“Then why did you bring that thing here?!” Arlen asked angrily. “Those who aren’t prepared to kill shouldn’t have weapons! They shouldn’t be in battle!”
“I—I’m sorry... But...”
“Hrr—”