The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 96

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 96

“Huh? You really don’t want to participate? Why? It’s such a great opportunity!”

“A great opportunity?”

“It’s a chance to show everyone how amazing Teacher Rita is as a shooter, and what real marksmanship is all about!”

Lavinia’s eyes sparkled as she chattered excitedly.

“No one has ever won the Shooting Competition with a gun before! If you win the competition and receive the Black Dragon’s Eye, then you could really humble all those people who look down on guns without knowing anything!”

“Hmm, people like the old Lavi?”

“…Uugh.”

At Rita’s teasing question, Lavinia’s face instantly crumpled as she fidgeted with her hands and mumbled.

“I, I said I was sorry for that… I apologized, and you even accepted my apology gift… I’m reflecting on it, but if you scold me again…”

“I’m not scolding you.”

Rita chuckled and added.

“You should try it, Lavi.”

“Huh?”

“Humbling those people who look down on guns like you used to – you should do it yourself.”

“Whaaaat? Me? How could I? That’s impossible!”

Her light green eyes widened. Rita rested her chin on her hand and continued leisurely.

“You want to do it though, don’t you?”

“Wh-what?”

“Win the Shooting Competition.”

“…W-well, of course I’d want to. If I could… But it’s impossible for me. I’ve been practicing every day like you taught me, but my best record is only hitting 5 out of 6 shots, let alone 6 consecutive hits.”

Lavinia mumbled while avoiding Rita’s gaze. Rita replied in surprise.

“You already hit 5 shots in a row? That’s amazing, Lavi!”

“No, n-not in a row, combined, combined – 5 out of 6 shots total…”

“Huh? That’s incredibly impressive too. Lavi, you haven’t been properly practicing marksmanship for very long. You’ve been working hard, haven’t you? That’s wonderful.”

“Uah, ahuu.”

When she praised her sincerely, Lavinia turned bright red, grabbed her own hair, twisted it, and hung her head low.

It was an adorable sight.

Suddenly, Lillieta wondered if Gid might have found this side of Lavinia endearing too. According to the heroic tales in Pascal’s history, Emperor Gideon had a good relationship with his empress.

‘Someone so innocent and transparent might suit Gid well. He could be comfortable in front of his wife without having to calculate or consider anything…’

Suddenly, something caught in her heart like a fishbone again. Her mood, which had been fine just moments ago, strangely sank.

‘Is it because Gid doesn’t talk to me about these things?’

She seemed hurt that the friend she thought was closest to her didn’t share his troubles or introduce the person he would marry.

‘Why is he hiding things from me too? He used to tell me everything before.’

Feeling somewhat choked up and wanting to grab him by the collar, she calmed herself by recalling what a great figure Emperor Gideon had been in the history books.

‘…Never mind, I’ll hear about it someday.’

Rita decided to focus on her cute student’s diligence and talent instead.

‘With this level of talent, the combat division with knights and mages participating might be too much, but there’s a real possibility in the general division where ordinary nobles participate.’

She recalled the general division competition details she’d learned while studying the three major festivals with Lindsey. Unlike the combat division that required advanced techniques with various obstacles, the general division simply involved shooting 10 shots at targets and adding up the scores.

‘Since it’s a cultural competition for nobles… hitting the center with all 10 shots would probably mean victory, right? The range might be an issue though.’

Revolvers had shorter range than bows, so accuracy dropped as distance increased. This was especially true for current revolvers, which were outdated compared to those from the Ash Ruin Era 200 years later.

‘But I can solve that problem.’

Gun maintenance and adjustment were basic skills for Mage Gunners. Just as she had customized Silvergrass, she could adjust Lavinia’s revolver to suit her.

After asking Lavinia several questions about the specific format of the competition and target distances, she watched her basic shooting stance directly.

They were at the Garden House where they had met before. Lavinia’s bullet marks appeared one after another on the target set up in the nearby open field.

It was endearing how the childish girl’s face became determined whenever she held a gun.

‘She really has been practicing hard. As if she’s been doing nothing but this all day…’

Perhaps she really had been practicing all day. When Lindsey had gathered social circle gossip to report, she’d mentioned that the Duirebourg Noblewoman hadn’t been appearing at parties or balls recently.

Finally, Rita spoke with confidence.

“If Lavi is serious about training to aim for victory, I’ll help you. You have the potential.”

“Really… really? V-victory? I have that kind of potential?”

Lavinia asked in bewilderment. Rita smiled and nodded.

“Of course. Lavi has talent and you’re diligent.”

“D-diligent? Me? That’s the first time I’ve heard that…”

“I can tell just from your shooting stance. How hard you’ve been practicing.”

“I just did it because it was fun, because shooting guns is so much fun…”

“If you find practice fun too, that’s even better. Lavi has the qualities to become an excellent shooter.”

“Ah, uuuu…”

Lavinia’s eyes welled up with tears. With a bright red face, she sniffled and stammered.

“T-Teacher, you really mean that? Can I believe it? I, I really, it’s the first time anyone’s said I’d be good at something. That I, hic, have qu-qualities or anything… It’s the first time I’ve heard that… It’s also the first time I’ve worked so hard at something, huu, or been praised for working hard, huuu, so…”

Lavinia, who had been shedding tears, finally burst into loud sobs with a “hueeeng.”

Rita was slightly flustered, then clicked her tongue softly and pulled the noblewoman, who was crying pitifully like a child, into her arms. Lavinia was startled for a moment when embraced, but soon clung tightly to Lillieta and wailed loudly.

Rita patted her while thinking.

‘What kind of home education did Duke Duirebourg give that the child is so moved by words like this? First time being praised for working hard? Did he just spoil her rotten while neglecting her?’

Her prejudice against Duke Duirebourg, whom she’d never met, accumulated. She understood once again why Annemarie followed around and looked after the snappy noblewoman.

‘I was planning to ask Lavi about Sister Anne today.’

It seemed that conversation would have to wait.

After sniffling in Rita’s arms for a while and finally calming down, Lavinia clasped her hands together and spoke passionately.

“Teacher Rita, I can do anything you tell me to! Even if you tell me to practice without sleeping a wink, I’ll do it! Even if you tell me to practice until my hands bleed, I can do it!”

“…You need to sleep well, and you shouldn’t hurt your hands. I have no intention of making you do anything so extreme.”

Rita sighed and taught Lavinia training methods.

“Continue your existing practice but gradually increase the target distance, and add this training at the same time.”

Training to keep the gun barrel steady while pulling the trigger with an unloaded gun held close to an empty wall. Once comfortable with this, the next step was placing a coin behind the front sight at the gun’s muzzle and pulling the trigger.

“If the coin doesn’t fall when you pull the trigger, you succeed. This greatly improves shooting accuracy.”

“Yes! I’ll practice every single day starting today!”

“Good, and can you give me your revolver? I’ll tame it for you.”

“Tame it? The gun?”

“Think of it as the process of maintaining the gun to fit Lavi’s hands. A tamed gun becomes much easier to handle and more precise.”

“Wow. That sounds so cool! A tamed gun…”

Lavinia gaped and quickly held out her revolver. Rita handed her the revolver she’d received as a gift before.

“Practice against that empty wall over there while I’m working on it. I’ll check on you in a bit.”

“Yes, Teacher Rita!”

Excited, Lavinia took the revolver and headed toward the low wall that divided the garden sections.

Lillieta confirmed that she was pointing the gun barrel at the empty wall, then turned her attention to Lavinia’s revolver. She recalled how she’d been shooting earlier and inspected the revolver’s condition while making estimates.

‘Hmm… the inside of the barrel is definitely rough. Must be the technological limitations of this era. First I’ll smooth this out, then file the hammer spring a bit… Lavi seemed to struggle slightly with pulling the trigger, right? I’ll lower the trigger pressure then adjust the grip weight to balance it out.’

Fortunately, these were all adjustments she could handle. Rita quickly disassembled the revolver and began refining it using Oaths.

Then, sensing a presence, she looked up to see Hanna entering the garden.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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