Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter SS6

A Falcon’s Daughter is Still a Falcon 

There was a loud bang, and several flashes of crimson light shot through the sky. Hajime’s railgun-accelerated bullets shot straight through the wolf-shaped monsters. Each bullet blew up a monster’s head. 
“Aww. Thanks to your Artifacts, the only time we ever get to fight is when we’re in a labyrinth, Hajime-san.” 
“That’s just how it is. Master’s Artifacts are so powerful that at long range, they make magic look like a joke.” 
Shea and Tio chatted while they watched Hajime mow down an entire pack of wolves. Kaori smiled awkwardly and said, 
“I’m not sure you could even call those Artifacts... they’re more like weapons out of a sci-fi story.” 
Yue tilted her head in confusion. “Sci-fi?” 
“It’s short for science fiction. Basically stories that are based off of science but aren’t very realistic. There’s guns in our world, but they’re not like the rail guns Hajime-kun’s made. You’d only see something like that in books or movies.” 
“Well, I had to use the cheat known as magic to make them work so I’d say they’re more ‘fantasy’ than sci-fi.” 
Hajime walked up to the girls while reloading Donner. He’d already wiped out the monsters. Myu was sitting on his shoulders. She seemed to be enjoying herself quite a bit. She’d just had front row seats to a monster massacre, and it appeared she’d quite liked what she’d seen. 
“Daddy, I want to try using that thing that goes bang too!” 
Yep, Myu was really enjoying herself. 
Kaori, who tended to be sensible in all things not involving Hajime, furrowed her brows. 
“Hajime-kun, you’re a bad influence on Myu-chan. She’s saying some really ominous things with a smile on her face now. I’m worried what kind of woman she’ll grow up into.” 
“Well, you’ve got a point, but... This world’s pretty dangerous.” 
“Yeah. You’re being naïve, Kaori. Here it’s kill or be killed. Even if your enemy doesn’t look like they’re going to kill you, kill them anyway. In fact, if your eyes meet, kill them. It’s best to have at least one kill a day. You can only get what you want by wading through a sea of blood and climbing over a mountain of corpses. That’s the kind of place this world is.” 
“You’re way too bloodthirsty, Yue! We’re not in Fist of the North Star! It’s true that this world is more dangerous than ours, but it’s not that violent!” 
Yue ignored Kaori and turned to Myu. In an imposing voice, she asked 
“Do you desire strength?” 
“Wait, Yue that line’s supposed—” 
Before Hajime could finish, Myu interrupted. 
“I do! I want to be able to make bad people explode like Daddy!” 
Yue nodded solemnly. 
“Very well. Then Hajime shall grant you strength.” 
She implored Hajime with her gaze to let Myu shoot Donner. Hajime’s expression stiffened. Not only would letting her shoot Donner be dangerous, it really wasn’t good to teach a little girl how to kill. Hajime hesitated, showing a rare display of common sense. 
Myu hopped off of Hajime’s shoulders, ran over to Yue, and turned back to Hajime. She looked up at him with pleading eyes, and his common sense vanished. 
“Alright, you can shoot.” 
“Don’t you think you gave in a little fast there!?” 
Hajime pulled some ore out of his Treasure Trove and began transmuting. Red sparks flew from his hands as he worked. All of the guns he possessed had too much recoil for Myu. So he made a toy gun that she could fire safely. He crafted this gun with even more care than he’d crafted Donner. He named his newly forged toy gun Donna. It wasn’t strong enough to kill anything, but it was still powerful enough to have some fun with. The exquisite craftsmanship of the toy revolver showed just how skilled a Synergist he really was. Myu’s eyes began to sparkle as she looked at it. It was as if she’d received the birthday present she’d always wanted. Though, not many four-year-old girls wanted a revolver as a present. 
“Alright Myu, I’m gonna teach you how to shoot. But first you have to promise me you won’t pull the trigger without my permission.” 
“I promise!” 
Her cheerful reply was at odds with the murderous weapon she held in her hand. 
“Haah, I’m not sure this is a good idea.” 
Kaori’s muttered worries were swept away by the wind. 
And so, Hajime began teaching Myu how to shoot. He set up a target ten meters away, and showed her the Weaver Stance. 
“Alright Myu, this may be a weaker gun, but it still has a lot of recoil. If it hurts too much to hold, just let go of the gun.” 
Myu nodded. Then, without hesitation, she fired. There was a soft pop, and Donna bucked in Myu’s hands. She didn’t even scratch the target. Myu pouted, and Hajime consoled her with a smile. 
“Don’t worry, it’s not that easy to hit a target. You’ll get better with practice.” 

He pulled out another set of practice bullets. 
“Hajime-san, Hajime-san, I want to try shooting too, if possible…” 
It looked like watching Myu shoot had piqued Shea’s interest. 
“You have Drucken’s bombardment mode, don’t you?” 
“I know, but that’s different. I want to try the precision shooting you do.” 
“I told this to Myu earlier too, but it’s not easy to hit a target.” 
Hajime was sure Shea didn’t really want to practice precision shooting. If anything, he suspected she just wanted to experience the feeling of shooting a gun. And it looked like Yue, Tio, and Kaori were all interested as well, judging by the expectant look in their eyes. Hajime sighed, shrugged his shoulders, and lent the girls Donner and Schlag. 
“Here I go! Take that!” 
Shea wasn’t prepared for the recoil, and her shot went wide. 
“Hmm, despite the simple principles it works off of, this weapon is quite difficult to handle.” 
Thanks to Tio’s draconic strength the recoil didn’t affect her, but her aim was still off. 
“Kaori, the target’s over there.” 
“I could say the same to you, Yue. You’re supposed to be shooting in front of you.” 
Neither Yue nor Kaori could hit their targets either. After a few shots, Yue at least got the hang of it enough to graze the edge of the target. 
“Well, I expected that to happen,” Hajime said with a wry smile. 
What he didn’t expect though, was the speed at which Myu learned. 
“Daddy, I need a new target.” 
Hajime had been watching Myu out of the corner of his eye to make sure she didn’t do anything dangerous. So he hadn’t properly seen her shots. He pulled out some bullets, not realizing at first that she’d asked for a target, not more ammunition. He looked over at Myu’s target, and saw that she’d pulverized it already. 
“Myu, let’s try putting the target a little farther away this time.” 
“Bring it on~” 
Hajime made a mental note to speak with Tio about the kinds of words she taught Myu and put the target twice as far out this time. Twenty meters away. Myu took the stance Hajime had taught her and fired. 
Her first shot missed by a mile. Just as Hajime thought he’d overestimated her, he watched her second shot graze the edge of the target. Yue and the others were watching her now too. Myu’s third shot was only ten centimeters away from the center. 
“Hey, are you kidding me?” 
Myu’s fourth shot hit the target dead center. Her fifth and sixth shots were a few centimeters off, but they were still within the bulls-eye. 
“M-Myu, you think you’d be interested in shooting a moving target now?” 
“I wanna try it!” 
Within ten shots, Myu was able to shoot down the practice plane Hajime was moving around for her. Even when he tried moving the planes in unpredictable patterns, Myu would be able to read their movements after a few missed shots. 
“Want to try sniping now?” 
“Yeah!” 
Myu held out her hand and Hajime crafted a miniature sniper rifle for her. He gave it to her and showed her the proper posture for sniping. Myu did as she was instructed and tucked in her elbows, stood up straight, and pressed the gun’s stock against her cheek. She looked through the scope at her target—a dummy plane hovering one hundred meters away. No matter how good she was, no one was expecting Myu to hit this. But she betrayed all expectations. With a shot even a pro sniper would be proud of, she shot down Hajime’s dummy plane. 
“Daddy, what’s next?” 
“Oh uh, here, try this.” 
Hajime looked at Myu with newfound respect. Myu proceeded to cheerfully shoot down the next ten planes Hajime prepared for her. It was only the moment she pulled the trigger that Myu’s eyes narrowed into the sharp glare of a falcon. Once he started moving the targets again, even Myu couldn’t get them every time. Still, her accuracy was uncanny. Enough to leave Hajime and the others dumbfounded. 
“Hajime-kun. Are you sure Myu-chan isn’t your real daughter?” 
At Kaori’s words, everyone turned to Hajime. It was clear to everyone that her talent as a marksman was unparalleled. 
“Mmrgh, I’m not as good as Daddy yet. I was off by five millimeters.” 
“......” 
Most people wouldn’t even notice they were off by five millimeters. After seeing his daughter’s unbelievable talent, he couldn’t bring himself to deny Kaori’s accusation. He simply stared off into the distance, wondering what the future held.