Kino's Journey - Manga Special 1

Special Emotional Afterword Short Story

Author: Sigsawa Keiichi

A Conversation on Guns -Fire Control-

A single motorrad (Note: Two-wheeled vehicle. Refers to only ones that cannot fly) was running through a prairie, somewhere out there.

Its rider was a young person, wearing a black jacket, a visor on the head, and-- Well, you know the drill; it was Kino. With persuaders (Note: Firearms) in tow.

On Kino's right hip was Canon, and on the backside was the Woodsman; strapped on to the back was the Flute; over the right shoulder was a small full-automatic persuader; over the left, a pump-action buckshot persuader.

Above Hermes' rear wheel was a rucksack, on top of which was a sleeping bag, and on top of that were persuaders, laid down horizontally and well-fastened together.

Each and every one of them were rifles of no lower caliber than 8mm; some were bolt-action, requiring manual reload after each shot, and others were automatic. There was also a grenade launcher, which shoots explosive projectiles.

The largest and longest among them, the 12.7mm anti-material rifle, (Note: Extremely high firepower) had both its barrel and stock jutting out prominently on both sides of Hermes; it would hit the trees if they were to run through a narrow forest route, which would make for quite an amusement.

"Hey, Kino."

Called out from below by Hermes while riding along,

"What's up, Hermes?"

Kino answered while looking straight ahead.

"Aren't you carrying a bit too much? The persuaders, I mean. They're real heavy. Don't your shoulders get stiff at all?"

"I'm stiff, yeah. They're super heavy. And the slings bite my skin. It's all sore."

"Then why?"

"Isn't that obvious!?"

"What is?"

"Listen up, Hermes. We're traveling through an extremely dangerous wasteland. What if, when we were attacked by the enemy, we can't properly deal with the situation? If the attack came from where Canon and Woodsman can't reach, then it'd be Flute's turn, but in cases when a large amount of enemies rush us in close range, I'd need something full-automatic. Or the buckshot! Or even both!"

Kino strongly insisted, with a voice of indomitable spirit.

"Ah-- yeah, well-- Sure thing--"

Hermes ignored them all.

"However! What if we were under aim from more than a kilometer away? I'll need the long-range anti-material rifle. Every small thing can be the difference between being dead or alive! DED-DO OR A-LAI-VU!"

"Is it just me, or were you speaking in another language for a bit there?"

"Still, even with a rifle this powerful, I'd have no chance if I were to be attacked while reloading. That's why I need to have at least three rifles. I've heard that a long time ago, there was a Shogun who conquered the land by having three rows of Samurai shoot in rotation!"

"That last bit is considered to be fake nowadays though... Oh well."

"I actually wanted more, but for the time being, this much is enough for me to handle any battle! Come, my enemies! If y'all want a piece of me, come get some! I'll reduce y'all to rust on my bullets!"

"C'mon, don't go mixing up phrases like that... Oh well, whatever's cool for you, Kino."

And so the travelers kept running onward.

In search of unknown lands, unknown countries, and unknown adversaries.

Probably The End

To Be Continued... Not