If I were to pick the most dangerous among the three top executives of Loki Familia, I would choose the Braver.
"Haha... I'll take it."
The one who met Loki and received her grace before Riveria and Gareth, leading and guiding Loki Familia for over 28 years since its founding, an adventurer and captain of the Familia with exceptional judgment and intellect in battle situations, and currently regarded in Orario as the closest to a hero for devoting everything to his clan, was Finn, the Braver.
'A person like that suddenly hands over an item worth millions as an apology? It must be a calculated favor with some expectation.'
It might be overthinking, but I trust my gut, honed by various experiences, and the momentary reactions of those around me.
"Well, we'll be going now."
As I accepted the fire stone, his retreating figure toward the dungeon somehow reflected not a prum but a seasoned veteran who had seen it all.
'I hope I don't accidentally give away any weaknesses.'
Well, since I got the fire stone I wanted, I decided not to dwell on it further and headed straight home.
.
.
.
After confirming the black-haired boy walking away with light steps, I immediately turned to Finn beside me and spoke up.
"Why did you give that child a fire stone?"
"I already said, as a token of apology for the last incident."
"...Finn."
After all the time we've spent together, does he really think I wouldn't notice there was a hidden intention behind that action?
"Haha. Don't look at me like that, as if I've committed some crime."
"..."
As I silently stared, Finn smiled wryly and looked at his thumb.
"It's just... a simple hunch."
"...That's unlike you."
"Right, it was unlike me. So I took a chance to see if that boy is an auspicious sign or an ominous one."
"He didn't seem like a bad kid, though..."
Including this conversation, I've only met him three times, so I can't fully assess him yet, but if Finn reacts like that, there's definitely a high chance he'll achieve something—whether good or bad, it's still unknown...
"I think so too, so I just left a good impression for now."
"...You should expect to get stabbed in the back someday."
.
.
.
With all the materials gathered, what else was there to do?
'Bang!!!'
Making gunpowder, of course.
"Cough!!?"
I was trying to combine ingredients sparingly since fire stone is such an expensive material, but
"Grr..."
I had no idea the power would be this strong.
"...!!? Huff... huff..."
I expected to die a few times from the start of making gunpowder, but I didn't anticipate my entire front being blown away and burned in an explosion right from the beginning.
"No... it's only the size of a finger, so why is it so powerful?!!"
I tried making it with a ratio of charcoal 1, sulfur 1, nitrate 1, and fire stone powder 0.6, and this happened.
Ah, where did I get the nitrate? When I returned to the shop, Naza handed me a grayish stone, saying it was an ore that catches fire easily, and upon checking, it was saltpeter, the mineral form of potassium nitrate.
"Thanks to that, the reason for getting fire stone became unnecessary... but I experimented with it just in case, and who knew it would be this much..."
I should blame my own head for forgetting about saltpeter, not anyone else.
"...I should move locations first."
I was experimenting by the outer wall where no one was around, but since the sound of gunpowder exploding was so loud, I decided to move and continue experimenting just in case.
"If 0.5 had that much power, this time let's try 0.35..."
'Bang!!'
"Guh..."
Just as I was getting used to facing the bones and muscles hidden beneath my skin,
'Pop!!'
I succeeded in making gunpowder with the desired power.
"Finally done... how many resets did I even have..."
Actually, I quickly completed gunpowder without fire stone. Just...
"Since I'm in a fantasy world, it's romantic to mix in materials only found here."
After finalizing the gunpowder recipe, I hurried back home.
"Welcome back, Kai. The experiment... seeing your clothes slightly burned, it must have gone well..."
"It's the final step now."
"...Already? Then I'll go watch with Miach-sama..."
"Um... can you wait about 20 minutes? And could you draw a target on this iron plate, like for archery..."
"...Got it."
After speaking, I hurried into my room and started assembling the bullets.
"If I make five each of the basic gunpowder version and the fire stone mixed version... since fire stone is added to the gunpowder, I should change the primer to a magic stone to match..."
A bullet containing gunpowder adapted from Earth knowledge to fit the fantasy world was born.
"For now, I'll just take two of each for testing."
Grabbing the completed bullets and gun, I headed to the back of the home where the god and Naza were waiting.
"I drew the target on the iron plate as requested."
"Haha. I'm looking forward to testing the weapon you made."
Explaining to the two that it would be very loud and they should cover their ears when I shoot, I took my stance.
"Hoo..."
Pulling the spool under the trigger guard with my index finger, the lock on the chamber released, and the barrel 'clacked' forward.
"First, the normal bullet."
I pushed one basic bullet into the freed chamber and flicked the barrel up with a wrist snap to close it.
"..."
Confirming the chamber was properly closed, I immediately aimed at the target and briefly held my breath.
"Inhale... exhale..."
At the moment of exhaling, when it was most comfortable and the air flow was minimal, I pulled the trigger.
'Bang!!!'
As the bullet fired, the loud gunshot echoed, and despite covering their ears, the god and Naza's expressions twisted.
"Oh!"
Regardless, my attention was on the target.
"I hit it!!"
The distance was only 10m, but happy to have hit it, I approached and saw the impact point slightly dented and penetrated.
"It penetrated."
"And it went through very cleanly..."
"I remember this being over 5cm thick... is it because the bullet head is made from drop items?"
"Which monster was it made from...?"
"Killer Ant."
"...No wonder the iron plate couldn't hold up."
Satisfied with the result, I was about to use the fire stone mixed bullet when
"Haha... this is on a level where a god's meeting would definitely be convened..."
Seeing Miach-sama smiling like an enlightened being, I hesitated to take it out.
"...What's wrong, Kai?"
"Actually... there's one more left, and I'm wondering if it's right to bring it out."
"...There's one more?"
"What I just showed was the normal one without fire stone, and this is the one mixed with fire ston..."
Before I could finish, Naza put a hand on my shoulder and spoke in a voice more drained than usual.
"You... what have you created..."
"...Huh?"
And so, besides the gun, I ended up demonstrating the gunpowder I made in front of Miach-sama and Naza.
"This is the gunpowder without fire stone that I showed earlier."
To test how powerful it was, I put gunpowder in a potion flask, inserted a fuse into the cork stopper, and made a makeshift grenade.
"Since the amount of gunpowder is small, the explosion won't be that big, but please step back for now."
'Fwoosh!!'
Then, I lit the fuse with the lighter from my pocket and threw it as far as I could.
'Bang!!'
A moment later, an explosion occurred with enough power to blow off an arm if hit directly.
"Hmm... as expected, since the amount of gunpowder is small, the power is..."
I was disappointed by the lower-than-expected power, thinking it was decent even without fire stone, when
"Aack!!?"
A glass fragment flew and embedded itself in my forehead.
"What's the point of warning others if you get hurt yourself..."
"Hmm... fortunately, it's not embedded deeply."
After a quick examination, Miach-sama skillfully took out tweezers from his sleeve and removed the glass fragment from my forehead, then gently wiped it with a clean cloth soaked in disinfectant alcohol.
"...Huh? Wait, why are medical supplies coming out of your sleeve?"
"Just in case."
"Oh..."
I always wondered why he wore loose long sleeves, but that was the reason—
"Is that so...!"
"Oof?!"
Anyway, I successfully made gunpowder and bullets.