The Strongest Gun Magus: I Cast Bullet!-Chapter 20: A Bag of Explosions

As soon as he pulled them out, Reynard unloaded both guns at the charging beast.

It only served to slow it down, but this was all Reynard wanted.

To the side, Terence was casting another spell, only to stutter mid-word and miscast it. The half-finished spell dissipated in a cloud of cold air.

Reynard glared at the boy.

"Can’t you see that your shitty spells don’t work? Use something that can slow it down! Make some potholes, I don’t know!"

Terence winced and nodded vigorously.

Ahead, the Forge-Boar was grunting and charging again.

Reynard pulled out only one gun this time. He didn’t keep count, but he knew he had to save them...

’If only I could cast spells one-handed, like the Albedo magi,’ he thought.

Instead, he used both hands to aim.

Terence began to make magic passes, only to stumble midway and miscast a spell again.

BANG!

"Squeeeeeeee!"

’A lucky shot!’ Reynard thought, grinning.

The bullet hit the boar’s back, but it must’ve struck a major blood vessel: an entire fountain of boiling blood flew out, and a cloud of pink mist shrouded the Forge-Boar’s figure.

But this time, the boar didn’t slow down from the blow. It was still running!

Reynard’s elation turned to dread.

At the current speed, he had a shot or two at most, unless the boar slowed down. Although it was leaving behind a thick trail of bloody mist, with the boar’s size, it was going to take much longer than until it would die from blood loss.

Terence miscast another spell, and Reynard knew that he would have to do everything himself. Everything.

"You don’t even know how much money you are costing me right now, you little shit! You will pay me back every silver piece!"

With this shout, Reynard dropped the gun, grabbed a small bag of Boom Powder that was still lying on the fallen tree, and threw the entire thing at the boar.

The bag spilled mid-flight, and the heavy powder got stuck all over the boar’s snout. Flames from the beast’s nostrils licked it, but the powder didn’t explode.

Naturally—it was an alchemical concoction that only exploded when charged with mana. By Reinard’s tests, it only exploded by accident if you tried to cast a spell while a gun was directly where the unfinished spell appeared.

Reynard reached out with an open palm and released a pulse of mana.

It flew like a slightly shimmering wave, disturbing the smoke and mist slightly. As soon as it hit the boar, the Boom Powder stuck to it exploded.

"Squuuuueeeeeeeee!"

It was a miniature firework! Dozens of tiny explosions covered the entire boar.

Terence gasped, miscasting another spell; Reynard squinted to avoid the bright flash of explosions.

The boar stumbled and fell, then squinted another pace forward over the ground. There, it moved its tusked head left and right, looking entirely dazed.

A couple of much smaller explosions popped to the sides.

Reynard pulled out two more guns and ran out to the stunned boar. Before it could get up, he finished it off like the first one.

This time, he knew what to expect and jumped away before getting scalded or set on fire. But he couldn’t avoid breathing the smoke and blood mist for a moment.

Instead of doing victory laps, Reynard was forced to cough and curse his luck. And Terence.

"You... You did it! You saved me—thank you so much, Mister Artemy! I owe you now..."

"You sure do!" Reynard shouted, jumping to his feet, and turned on the approaching kid. "Do you know how much the ingredients for the Boom Powder cost? Each shot is worth five silver, but this bag—it was at least forty gold! And imagine if it were all the Boom Powder I took with me... Thank god I have more foresight than that, at least."

Terence hunched his shoulders.

The kid looked miserable. Tears were in his eyes, snot was coming from his nose, his black robe was smeared with dirt and grass, and there were fresh scratches on his hands. His short blond hair looked oily and was covered in soot.

"I... I will earn money on the hunt and repay you, Mister Artemy! My family’s honor would accept nothing else..."

Reynard let out a long breath.

"You ain’t earning anything this week, kid, because you will be following me the entire time. But work as my servant, and I will shave off some of your debt."

’He might be talented enough to achieve Final Cycle Nigredo at fourteen, but Terence is still just a kid! Forge-Boars are tough, but not THAT fast—he was running away from it fine enough until I appeared, even with that pack on his back. I bet if Terence didn’t panic, he’d find a way to shake it off entirely even without my help. But he is too immature and unused to stress! If I leave him be, I will be as responsible for his mauling as the Magister who forced him take part in the hunt. And I’m not about to maul kids.’ 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Terence cheered up a little.

"I... My family isn’t rich... I know how to help out. I can even cook for you!"

"We will see about that. These Forge-Boars have edible meat, as I know. You can cut some."

As he spoke, Reynard was already busy picking up his guns. He counted the loaded ones and, with a shudder, realized that there were only two.

To the side, Terence put his hands on his hips and nodded. The kid was trying to look more mature. It wasn’t working.

"Alright. What about other stuff? I saw their hides being sold on a market..."

Reynard shrugged and picked up the last dropped gun. It was covered in crusted blood.

"Honestly, I only know how to skin a rabbit. Besides, they are too heavy to carry. I’m here for much larger prizes."

Reynard wiped the gun with a gun-cleaning rag and went to his backpack to dig out the main bag with his Boom Powder. Terence trailed after him like a lost duckling.

"Oh, prizes... You mean the baby beasts, mister? That’s just why I met that boar, actually! I stumbled onto a den with piglets—and right now, they should be defenseless!"