159: Gambling Chocolate

"Come on, the ancient rifle race has begun! Observational skills to pick the right parts! Physical prowess to outdo your rivals! Precision in assembly! Skill in handling the weapon you've crafted! This challenging event demands every aspect related to the rifle—so who will triumph? Aaaaaaaah!!"

The ancient rifle race had begun.

Well, according to the schedule, it looks like there are multiple preliminary groups, followed by a final round featuring the top sixteen qualifiers who advanced from the preliminaries.

Since the event starts with rifle assembly and ammunition preparation, it's going to take quite some time.

Also, regarding assembly, if there are steps that simply require leaving things unattended for a long period, it seems allowed to use a time acceleration mod to shorten those parts.

Too much acceleration ends up doing more harm than good, but going too slow is just boring, apparently.

I can't say exactly where such steps fit into the assembly process—this is beyond my understanding as a layperson.

"Shall we eat some bullet-shaped chocolates before entering the venue?"

"Is regular tea okay for a drink?"

"Please. A flavor like that goes better with something sweet."

"Mr. Vee. I'll go buy some light snacks."

But more importantly.

Let's prioritize unusual foods.

With that in mind, as Johariss prepared a plain, unsweetened tea in a plastic bottle, I opened the package of bullet-shaped chocolates—Russian Roulette and Silver Bullet flavors.

"Um, the Russian Roulette flavor comes six to a set, and apparently only one of them has an extra-spicy cookie filling inside."

"That means, since each package contains eighteen, we can play up to three times."

"That's right. Then let's get started picking them out."

First, the Russian Roulette flavor.

Five regular bullet-shaped chocolates and one spicy version are mixed together, making them indistinguishable by appearance.

Although described as "spicy," in reality, one of three types—chili pepper, mustard, or wasabi—is randomly included, so it's impossible to tell which kind of heat you'll get until you try it.

"Then, I'll go first."

"Next is my turn."

"Alright, I'll take this one."

The order of picking is Vilijaniro, Johariss, then me.

It just ended up that way somehow.

I eat the first chocolate... hmm, it's ordinary, I guess.

『Oh no, it's a fierce scramble! No hitting allowed! Hitting is not permitted! The one who touched it first gets priority, and if it's perfectly simultaneous, then the random number generator decides!!』

"Ordinary."

"It was ordinary."

"Same here."

The competition is starting to get a bit noisy.

But from Vilijani's expression, it seemed this level of excitement was perfectly normal.

"Then it's the second one."

"You go first, Sata. You were last time."

"Yeah, that's fair."

"Then I won't hesitate."

We reach for the second chocolate.

And each of us puts it in our mouth...

"~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~!? It's coming through my nose...!"

"Sata got the lucky one, huh."

"From the look of it, it's wasabi flavor?"

"Yeah... it's happening..."

I'd hit the wasabi flavor.

The wasabi taste, recreated by the mod, traveled from my mouth through my throat and up into my nose, delivering a sharp, piercing spiciness.

I'd already sensed the mod the moment I touched it, knew it was a miss, and had braced myself—so it wasn't too bad. But still... this is pretty intense...

『Hit! It's a hit! I've just shot through a target that's normally supposed to be taken down at close range with a precise sniper shot!』

"Kkraaaah! It's so hot!?"

"Oooohh, it's tingling all over...!"

"Zero for me, one for Joharis, two for Sata. A decisive victory for me."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Vee-sama."

Afterward, as expected, Joharis naturally drew the chili pepper flavor, and I drew the mustard flavor too.

It's not unpleasant, so there's no issue, but the spice is quite intense.

"By the way, Satā seemed to know right away whether it was a hit or miss when touching it..."

"Hm? Ah, yeah, I knew. But once you've touched it, you should just take it— that's the point of the game, isn't it?"

"Satā's always so conscientious, huh."

"I think it's a great sense of fair play."

For now, I drink some tea to reset my mouth.

Then, I open the Silver Bullet flavor.

For some reason related to the ingredients, this package contains 12 pieces, each a silver-colored chocolate bullet, all shimmering with a metallic sheen.

"Only twelve pieces, but the price should be the same, right? Why is that?"

"Well, apparently it's because using mods adds extra cost. Also, the cookie inside seems to be slightly different."

"I see. Then let's get started."

With that, I decide to try one right away.

Hmm, I see. That makes sense.

Is the silver appearance on the surface achieved through a color-changing mod, rather than actual silver leaf?

Therefore, it won't affect the flavor.

And inside the cookie...

Just the right amount of spicy—ginger takes center stage, with a variety of spices coming through.

Yeah, I feel really refreshed.

"This chocolate seems just right for fighting drowsiness and giving your brain a nutritional boost. It's delicious."

Apparently, it contains various spices.

With every bite, different flavors spread throughout my mouth, making me feel warm all over and mentally refreshed.

According to the back of the package, "Silver Bullet" means protection against evil spirits and misfortune, so maybe the flavor was inspired by that idea.

"An outstanding first qualifying race. Please give the athletes your fullest applause."

"I was thinking, while my mind feels so clear—how exactly did you plan to cause trouble in this traditional rifle race? I don't think it's easy to cause a major incident in a competition with such thorough preparations in place."

"You're right about that. How about that part, Vee? Memoqsi?"

"Yes... I wasn't given detailed information, as I was told to avoid paying special attention to it. Memo."

"Yes, I'm aware of Memo. And since it won't happen anymore, I'll tell you—apparently, an assassin or someone like them had infiltrated among the competitors, planning to secretly use shield-piercing bullets. Of course, given the security in this room, the chance of success was nonexistent, even in the most remote possibility."

Suddenly, Joharis raises a question.

That's certainly a mysterious part, isn't it?

So, Meqoshi responds.

"Got it. So, from the criminals' perspective, it was like this—kill the guest, then have Nilianteck noble family find fault with the operation of the antique rifle."

"Probably. But as you know, the Nilianteck viscount family has collapsed, so that sequence no longer exists. We've just been informed that the assassin who was supposed to carry out the act has already been apprehended."

"I see. So the incident that was supposed to happen today has been averted, then. That's good news."

Hmm?

Hmm... what is it?

Something feels off. I can't quite put my finger on it.

Considering Vilejanila's eyes, there shouldn't be any threat. The nobleman who served as the public face of the criminals, Lord Nillianiteck, is no longer around, and the mastermind behind the creation of the fake space monster also seems to have no presence within the Nillianipotts system.

So there really shouldn't be any reason to worry... yet...

"Sat? Is something wrong?"

"No, I just have a nagging feeling. Let me check the main body for anything unusual."

"Could it be tampering around the module? That's something only Sat-sama could easily verify, so it might be worth checking just to be safe."

"If we find nothing, that'd be fine too, wouldn't it?"

For some reason, I couldn't shake the feeling, so I decided to quietly investigate various things on the main body.