3 bar menu

Volume 1 Chapter 13-1: Bow and Freedom

 

---

Lucy and I left the house a little earlier so we would be on time.

In the middle of the Village Gathering Hall was a single set of armor. The armor they had set up was the higher quality armor that the Captain of the soldiers was wearing. It was no coincidence they had chosen this set.

「Now then Cyril…show us how you will pierce through this thick armor.」

The Village Chief cried out pompously.

Most of the villagers had gathered to watch. I could clearly see many looked uneasy and some looked curious.

Lucy was hiding next to me as her shoulders quivered in anxiety.

Amongst all this I put a look of confidence bordering on arrogance and looked at all the villagers.

I was trying to convey that it was alright, I could do this.

Then I softly placed my hand on Lucy’s shoulder.

Her quivering subsided a little at my touch.

「I’ll show you. I will introduce before your eyes a weapon that can pierce this armor a new type of bow that I have produced. I call it a crossbow.」

I revealed the iron and wood crossbow and held it aloft.

I could clearly see the villagers eyes dim with disappointment and the Chief and his followers’ expressions lighten.

It was the reaction I expected.

「Are you crazy Cyril!? Even your father’s longbow couldn’t pierce the armor. How do you expect such a toy to do so?」
「No matter how you look at it it’s impossible.」
「Remember he said he’d make a bow that Lucy could use? This is probably the bow for women’s use.」

The Chief and his followers jeered.

I smiled as I opened my mouth to speak.

At least a little I wanted to bring this side-show to it’s climax.

「Once upon a time Elf warriors were unrivaled! With the power of wind behind our bows we could defeat all our enemies!」

It was a story of our glorious past.

Even hundreds of years ago the humans desired the magic stones within our hearts. They launched countless invasions…but we continued to defeat them up until they started wearing full metal armor.

「Our Elven warriors commanded the wind as our enemy’s arrows fell short and ours hit their marks.」

Elven warriors who controlled the power of wind.

In battle our enemies would always be forced to fire their arrows through a headwind. Us elves would always have favorable winds and air-resistance would become meaningless to our arrows. We boasted of unmatched and incredible range.

In long-distance warfare we crushed any foe.

「However, five years ago the Empire’s iron smithing progressed allowing their soldiers to don metal armor that could block our arrows. Our arrows were broken along with our pride. Our mighty Elven warriors fell one after another and finally we fell to the invaders.」

The cause of this complete change in fortune was the distribution of metal armor. The craftsmen of the Empire were finally able to make armor that our arrows could not pierce through.

The arrows that would hit no matter the distance, were repelled by armor and once the soldiers closed in on them…our greatest soldiers and archers were killed one or two at a time. We lost our ability to resist.

「Our glory lives and dies with our archery. The only way to take back our lost honor and pride is to craft a bow strong enough to pierce through the Empire’s armor and dignity! With that accomplished we can finally take our next steps!」

I shouted with my voice filled with emotion.

「Now look at the arrow that will rebuild our tattered pride!」

I reverently bowed, pulled the crossbow string, and set the arrow in the groove before handing it to Lucy.

But as I was doing so I stopped suddenly.

I could see her hands trembling.

I looked and saw her face was stiff and her countenance pale.

At this rate things would turn out poorly.

I whispered in a voice that only Lucy could hear.

「If you’re nervous I can teach you a little charm to help. Here put your hands together and show me.」
「U-un」
「This’ll hurt a little but just bear it.」
「Eh?」

Lucy’s face turned blank in confusion as I quickly clapped both my hands over her hands.

A slapping sound echoed out.

「That hurt Cyril…」

Lucy complained in a low voice as the shock wore off. Her expression looked much better than it did a few seconds ago.

「But it stopped your shaking. You don’t need to think too hard. Just do it like you practiced last night. It’s not even 10 meters. At this distance you could hit it even with your eyes shut right?」
「But but what if I mess up.」
「If you do that how about I spank you? Of course it’ll be your bare butt.」
「Saying jokes at a time like this…」
「I say this because it’s a time like this. Look go on our there and knock ‘em dead.」
「You’re the same as always Cyril. You make me feel like it’s absurd to be nervous.」

Lucy smiled a tiny bit. She should be alright now.

Lucy took the crossbow into her slender hands and faced the armor and pulled the trigger.

Bam! A dry sound echoed as the arrow pierced through the armor easily and pierced into the ground behind it.

I roughly mussed Lucy’s hair in joy.

「This can’t be!」
「Unbelievable…」
「An arrow shot out by a little girl can pierce armor?」
「That little bow?」

The surroundings were in an uproar. Their agitation showed no end in sight.

The crossbow I had crafted had around two times the power of a longbow. It show arrows at an initial velocity of 102 m/s. The full speed would reach around 360 km/h. This much power would definitely pierce armor of this quality.

「It’s as you see here everyone. This bow can be used by women and children and each of them can pierce through armor. With these weapons anyone can fight against the Empire!」

I spoke up to raise their excitement further.

However…

「Don’t let him fool you! It certainly pierced through the armor but he was the one who pulled the bowstring beforehand! There’s no way a young girl like Lucy could pull back the string on such a powerful bow!」

The Village Chief quickly shouted his objections.

---