Hello to all readers, sorry that this update is a day late, there were a few technical issues with the computer I write on so I basically had to rewrite the whole chapter. Also, thank you to all reviewers, this is the first fic I have wrote that I published so I definitely appreciate your comments and feedback!

To nhehvnukl :Thank you! I hope to keep all readers interested until the end of the story.

To Pushhim: I agree that the earlier chapters could have been longer. It is something I will definitely try to improve on, though.

To the guest reviewers: Glad you like the introduction of Dust, I like his spin-off series quite a bit so there may be characters from there guest appearing in some chapters but that would be way in the future. More guns is also something I have planned but nothing too fancy or overpowered of course.

Chapter 4: Shopping for bullet materials!

I was back in that dark room again, the Goddess Eris sitting in front of me again. She seemed busy sorting through some papers. Was this a bad time to appear? Not like I knew if I was in control of bringing myself here but if I was, I wish I knew how I did it. Eris stacked the papers together neatly, then noticed I was here.

"Ah Fujiwara-san, you're here.

I have called you here because one of Senpai's angels noticed her say the word 'rifle' recently, it is a word I remember you saying. That would concern you, no?" Eris smiled.

Wait, was the Goddess Aqua somewhere I could reach? Perhaps in this world now? That would be the only reason why her talking about a gun might concern me.

"Eris-sama, can I please ask why Aqua was preoccupied when I was summoned? She is in this world right now isn't she?"

"That is very astute of you. Yes, Senpai is currently in your world, working as an adventurer, an Archpriest if I recall correctly. All hero candidates get to choose one powerful item or ability when they get summoned from your world into this world, Aqua was chosen as that by the previous candidate, Satou Kazuma-san. Aqua- senpai is the one who vets through hero candidates from your world and uses her power to send them here. This was why no one was expecting anyone to appear as a hero candidate after she was sent down. Senpai's angels still held part of her power but they needed someone with authority over this world to send you here, which was why I got involved." She looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Usually, we do not get this involved with the happenings of this world, maybe we come down and fulfil like a few innocent wishes but otherwise we stay here and let the affairs of the world happen. However even though we did not intend to, we were forced to compromise and bend some rules…" Eris bowed her head down, as if in apology.

"Hey now, no need for that, it is not like you were to blame."

"No, we still owe you for not granting you a special power. Your class and its weapons would have eventually come up in this world, which is why it can exist here for your use now. Still, as the pioneer you will face many challenges. You have the benefit of having some knowledge from your world, but it is a path you must forge alone. Still, we shall help you with some hints."

"But you told me you don't even know what the difference between different guns are. How can you help me with something you are not even sure about?"

"Aqua-senpai knows about your world though and I think she was talking to Kazuma-san when she mentioned rifle, so maybe it is something that may be of use to you?"

"I won't know until I see it for myself, where did this happen?" Honestly even if there really was a rifle at the location where Aqua and Kazuma were at, there was no guarantee that it would be in working condition. Still, with the skills I can acquire from the Gunsmith archetype, I could possibly modify or even repair it.

"This happened in the Crimson Demon Village, my followers have things to do there, I may be able to influence them to bring you along as protection." Eris said confidently. She must have something up her sleeve then. Well, if I was able to check out the source of this weapon, maybe I could find some ammunition or even suitable resources I could make bullets with!

"Thank you for your help, Eris-sama. Also, for your blessing yesterday, I was able to have quite a successful first quest!" I bowed my head in gratitude.

"Oh, that is something I rarely get to hear about, tell me more!" Eris lost her all business attitude which was replaced by an inquisitive and curious one.

Waking up in the stable

Eris had given me a method of travelling to the Crimson Demon village. Apparently though it is isolated due to being constantly under attack by the Demon King's army, the powerful Crimson Demons are able to drive back the constant attacks with ease. Still, any travellers that want to go to the village hire strong adventurers to guard them from any possible attacks from stray members of the Demon King's army. I was not sure how Eris could get me in as a strong adventurer but well if she was confident then no need to doubt her, I guess… Now onto locating the shops that Dust had told me about. Checking that both guns were functional and loaded just in case, I brought the small fortune I had made and set out to go shopping.

Out in the town of Axel

The first shop was a disappointment. The magic item shop that Dust told me sold really esoteric magic items was closed, with a notice saying that both the shopkeeper and assistant had left town to meet a magic item artificer. Apparently, according to the shopkeeper of a neighbouring shop, this was a rare occasion.

"Yeah, Wiz was a talented adventurer before she retired to open her shop. She is very hardworking, rarely taking breaks and always sourcing for items to stock her shop with but…" the shopkeeper looked around before continuing.

"Don't tell her I said that her business sense is rather poor. A lot of what she buys seem useful at first glance but then have drawbacks that make them useless. Also, as Axel is a town of rookie adventurers, not many want or need to buy such expensive high-level gear. I don't think the shop had made much money until Vanir-san came in."

"Vanir-san? The assistant?"

"Yes, but he is honestly better of starting his own shop if he wanted to get rich. He brought in the few goods that made a lot of profits, such as this lighter." He showed me a small pocket lighter he owned, flicking it on. It looked suspiciously like it was designed by someone like me, a person from my world, hmm… Anyway, if Wiz's shop was a bust, perhaps there would be better luck at the blacksmith. Luckily, the blacksmith was close by, so I headed there after saying goodbye to the shopkeeper.

The blacksmith was open, thankfully. I had two objectives here, one was to check if the metals used in my bullets are able to be sourced locally here, the second was to get a suitable alternative to my guns just in case of emergency. I had technically met him yesterday as Dust tried to introduce us , but it was interrupted by the blacksmith scolding Dust regarding driving some of his customers away.

"Ah, hello, if it isn't the next big adventurer in Axel. I wasn't expecting to see you here today as I heard you have good weapons but come in!" The blacksmith greeted me warmly, as if he had forgotten that we had seen each other yesterday. Still, it was helpful that he seemed to like me so much so I began my questions.

"Oh, the metal for these cylinders is brass isn't it? It is impressive that you got it this thin and light yet still quite strong. Also, these dented pieces made from lead should be easy to get, if you are willing to compromise a little on quality there would be no problem sourcing for these materials you need. Though don't you need a smith to shape them into the shapes you require?"

"I might need to. I just want to try some things out with my skill and experiment with it. Next, I want to commission a weapon, do you have any paper I can draft this idea on?" Nodding, the blacksmith went to the back to get me the writing materials in requested. The experience I had on my quest showed me that I needed a quiet way to kill weak enemies. If not for Dust being there, I probably would have used up all my ammunition and probably gotten swallowed by a Giant Toad. Still, when I asked to try out Dust's sword to see how the debuff would work, I realized that it was rather significant. I had learnt Kendo back in Japan, but when I held a sword, it felt unusually heavy. I also tried holding other weapons in shop to see if it was unique to Dust's sword, but it was the same. So, in my attempt to get around this debuff, I would have to make my weapon gun-related . If I designed a knife that could be mounted onto a gun, perhaps the debuff would not apply and I would be able to use it. Fortunately, I could draft up new weapons so maybe this bayonet idea could work.

"Usually commissioning a new weapon would take a while since I have to gather materials and forge it. Fortunately, yours seems like it could work by modifying an existing blade. If you do not mind this, I could have it done in a few hours but it will be more expensive of course." A few hours? That would be great, I could try it out the next quest I went.

"Yes, please do. I will make a down payment now and pay the remainder when I come here to collect it." Paying for the weapon, I left the blacksmith to work. Well, since I could not get everything I needed to make bullets, I should probably go house-hunting. If I could secure a way to make bullets indefinitely, money would not be an issue and it would be good to be prepared to move to a better location than a stable.

"Ah there you are! I have been looking all over town for you!" I heard the voice of a teenage girl behind me. Huh, that voice sounded familiar for some reason, but I can't recall anyone in particular. Turning around, I saw a girl with short silver hair and noticeably a scar on her right cheek. Had I seen her before? I don't remember having met her yet.

"Hellooo, Fujiwara-kun? Oh, you are listening. Good, I am Chris, an adventurer with the Thief class. I have accepted a quest to escort a caravan for people of the Eris faith. After hearing about your exploits on your first quest, I decided that you would be a good fit for our journey so I came out to recruit you." She cheerfully explained.

Me as a good fit in escorting people? Wouldn't me firing my gun alert monsters and draw them in, making it harder to protect the convoy? Maybe my skills have been overestimated by others. Wait, the Eris faith? Was this what Eris meant by influencing her followers?

"Hey, I know about how you fight, don't worry I asked Dust. I am a Thief so I can use skills such as 'Lurk' to hide the caravan from enemy detection. Most of the time we wouldn't need you to shoot at all, but in case my skill fails and we are detected, you will deal heavy damage to the enemy while we retreat." Chris assured. That was indeed true, perhaps this was why it was easier for Eris to influence the world so I could go on this trip. Still, I had this unshakable feeling that there was more…

"We have not met before, have we? I don't know why but I feel like I know you from somewhere..."

"Wah, saying such words to a girl when you first meet her. I'm kidding, no need to get so flustered haha!" Chris chuckled upon seeing my reaction. She seemed to act much like Eris, maybe Eris could influence like-minded people easier. The similarities between the two were rather startling though, and I knew that even Eris had said that they could come down on the rare occasion… Well whatever the connection between Eris and Chris, this was my chance to head out to the Crimson Demon village and investigate what Aqua had said.

"Well, never mind about that. Eh, when are we leaving for the vill-, I mean when and where are we to escort the caravan?" I wasn't sure if Chris knew about Eris's plan even if she might be her point of influence and decided to act as if I had no idea this trip was coming.

"Eheheh did I not tell you; we're heading to Alcanretia first to drop off some devotees of the Eris Order to the members there, then we will head to the Crimson Demon village to pick up the latest reports on the Demon King's army. We are still packing up supplies so we will leave later today around noon. Why, do you have something that needs to be done?"

"Just need to pickup some equipment, it will be done before we head off so it will be fine." Funnily enough, it was fortunate that Wiz's shop was closed, or else I probably would have gone on this quest without a secondary weapon. Even if the trip to Alcanretia and the Crimson Demon village was uneventful, it would be useful to be fully equipped when near a hotspot for the Demon King army. Chris accepted that easily, then invited me to accompany her through the town. I obliged, after all, there was nothing much for me to do until the bayonet was done.

(At the caravan)

Chris and I had split up before I went to collect my bayonet. At its core, the bayonet was a knife that was mounted to long guns such as rifles. A way to mount a bayonet to a rifle was through a specially designed crossbar with a loop in it, as well as a notch at the back of the hilt as another point to secure to the rifle. The barrel of the rifle would fit through the loop and be tightly secured. The bayonet I had the blacksmith rush make for me was simple in design. Modified from a blade he had yet to attach a crossbar and hilt to yet, the blacksmith was able to forge and hammer out the loop like I had designed. I had paid him handsomely for this quick job and honestly it was money well spent. It felt more natural in a way, compared to the swords and other weapons adventurers in this world usually wielded. Of course, this bayonet was smaller than most of the other weapons but still, I felt as if I could wield it well. The bayonet now sat in its sheath, which was attached to my belt using straps. Granted, though I had learnt Kendo back in Japan, short knife fighting was definitely different in application, but I guess I could look for a suitable teacher to learn from when I got back. The purchase had set me back quite a bit, leaving me with 160000 eris left, about 70% of the money I had made from killing Giant Toads.

"You got your new weapon Fujiwara-kun? Alright let's prepare to head out! Before that though, I'll need to introduce you to the leader of our caravan." Chris brought me into the caravan. There was only one caravan? The priest of the Eris Order introduced himself and his associates before they started discussing their plans regarding the Eris Order. He was friendly and welcoming, but it didn't seem like he was the influencing factor here, bringing me back to my idea that Chris's actions to take me on was the more likely candidate of Eris's influence.

Chris and I exited to the front of the caravan where the driver was. The plan was for Chris and I to be at the front of the caravan, Chris would use her skill 'Lurk' the moment enemies were detected and if that failed and we were attacked, I would take out or scare the enemy of using my guns. Thus, we would have a good view of the landscape during our journey. I was already leaving to another town on Day 3 of my time here, things were just progressing so quickly!

(At night out in the wilds)

The caravan had stopped to set up camp after travelling for a full day. We were more than halfway to Alcanretia, the city known for its hot springs and according to the Eris devotees in the caravan, the home ground of the Axis Order. It didn't click for me until Aqua was mentioned to be the Goddess of the Axis Order. This was weird wasn't it? If the Eris was the leader of this nation's religion the Eris Order, shouldn't followers of Aqua be known as the Aqua Order? Anyway, as it was time for my shift in guarding the caravan, I should probably push thoughts like these out of my head.

"Fujiwara-san, before you start your shift, is there anything you want to ask me?" Chris asked a weird question. Wait, she referred to me as Fujiwara-kun the whole day today, but just called me Fujiwara-san…

"I knew it! There was something about you, you are Eris, right?" I looked around to check that everyone else was asleep before whispering. Afterall, it didn't seem that the members of the caravan saw Chris as anything but an adventurer who was also an Eris devotee so knowledge of Chris being their Goddess Eris would be too much for them to handle.

"I knew there was no hiding this from you, you are way too observant. Yes, I am Eris but when I meet you here please refer to me as Chris. You remember what I told you about how Gods and Goddesses usually do not interact with the world?" Chris sighed before explaining. I nodded, indicating for her to carry on.

"Well that is true but some tasks I do require me to come down to this realm and interact with the people here. For example, you know that hero-candidates like yourself either get an ability or item right? When the hero dies, those who chose an item would leave the item in this world. Thus, it is my job to secure these items and find a suitable hero to use these items. If I were to descend down as Eris, my devotees would want to interact with me and though they may not intend to, it would disrupt my work. Thus, by taking the form as Chris the Thief, not only do I get to locate these divine items as part if my job using skills that a Thief has, I also get to interact with the new owners of these items without them knowing that Eris was the one in charge." Chris explained.

What she said made sense I suppose. Afterall, if there were many hero-candidates like me, there would be a few of these powerful items lying around. It made sense that there would be someone in charge of cleaning it up and who better than the Goddess that guided adventurers who died here in this world? She would know the last known location of these items better than anyone and react accordingly.

"Is the rifle we were talking about one of these items you need to reclaim? Or are you here now to help me with investigating?"

"No, the rifle is probably an artefact of one of the adventurers with abilities that Senpai sent down. Afterall, he was tied to the creation of the Crimson Demons so it makes sense that a rifle would be something he created as an idea from your world. I know he created many powerful artefacts such as the Destroyer but as these are his creations and not items granted by Senpai, I have no authority to deal with them. I am just here to help you out as well as check on the progress of the Demon King's army myself, because I am curious about it." At least Chris was honest about her intentions, good. I had heard about the Destroyer being taken out in front of Axel by some of the townsfolk and seen it as a piece in a popular chess like game played here but didn't know much else. So, the hero-candidate was granted and ability in magic or creating, which may explain the rifle. Still, with the middling-magical ability I had limited only to skills in my class, I was not sure if a magical rifle would be of use to me, but it was still worth investigating.

"Since you are a Goddess, does this mean you will keep watch throughout the night?" I wanted to tease her, to get her back for her comment she made earlier today after I figured out Chris was connected to Eris.

"What do you mean Fujiwara-san? I am the human Thief Chris here, I may have better stats but I need to eat and sleep as well." Chris pouted.

"Alright I was just kidding. Just call me Fujiwara when you are Chris okay?" I preferred to be called casually over being addressed by honorifics like san and kun by my friends and Chris felt like one of the few I had made.

"Okay, Fujiwara. Wake me up when its time for my shift." Chris nodded before heading to her sleeping roll. The waxing moon was almost a full moon now, the bright light giving some level of visibility even in the dark. Here's to hoping for an uneventful journey to Alcanretia and the Crimson Demon village. Afterall, with the Goddess of Fortune with us, things should go along quite smoothly.

(Alcanretia)

The night had gone well, with no monsters disturbing the journey. We thus were able to make good progress and reached Alcanretia in the late morning. Alcanretia was a beautiful city and was known as the city of hot springs until recently as it was attacked by a general of the Demon King. While the general was defeated, it seems like there was lasting damage to the hot springs in the battle and thus the hot springs were closed until further notice. I had been warned that the Axis Order in Alcanretia was more aggressive in recruiting members by the members of the caravan but nothing could have prepared me for them. The moment I showed myself out of the caravan, I was swarmed by a crowd who were offering to pay me to join the Axis Order and spread the word to to other adventurers out there. I naturally declined and rushed to join Chris.

"I knew Senpai's followers were very devoted, but I didn't expect them to be of this level. Well, it is good that we won't be staying here much longer. Is there anything you want to do here?" Chris asked after we escorted the devotees to their new home.

"Selling Holy water that cures all ills, cleans away dirt and grease stains and makes your skin look younger!" A peddler yelled out. I don't think a battle with a Demon King General would make the water holy so I dismissed it as a scam.

"No, there is nothing I want to do here, let's go." This place was insane, hopefully the actual Goddess Aqua herself wasn't like that. As insane as this place was though, it was the last safe region before we reached the Crimson Demon village. In fact, the caravan would not even head towards there, meaning that Chris, the priest and I would have to walk there on a two-day journey. Well, since the three of us were technically class-holders with skills that adventurers used, we would stand a better chance reaching there compared to the average civilian. The priest was waiting for us at the entrance of Alcanretia, a smart move by someone who had definitely come here before and knew better than to stay inside for too long, especially as a priest of another faith. As we set off to the Crimson Demon village, I felt a little nervous for I was leaving the safety bubble of territory that civilians usually travelled into wild territory.