Last Gun Alchemist

Vera stood up carefully. They were still inside the library. Even though most children rarely used the place, a few still came here to read or rest because the room stayed quiet almost all day.

The tall windows let afternoon light pour softly across the rows of bookshelves. Dust floated in the air where the sunlight touched the floor. The lamps hanging above the tables were not lit since the daylight was already bright enough.

That was why Ezra liked coming here. The silence helped him think clearly.

He had stopped visiting during the preparations for the Fourth Trial, but now that the trial had ended, he could finally return to his usual routine.

Vera quietly dragged her chair across the floor and moved it beside Ezra.

The wooden legs scraped lightly against the stone tiles.

Ezra glanced at her.

”Why did you have to carry that chair?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

”Not your concern,” Vera replied sharply.

She sat down and immediately leaned toward the table.

Spread across the desk were several papers filled with rough sketches, mechanical notes, and firing system diagrams. Ezra had redrawn the entire structure of the Baske 1945, remodeling its firing mechanism to resemble the structure of a CAM MKIII classic shotgun.

He had used the knowledge from his ability to guide the redesign of the internal firing system.

The original Baske could only fire three shells with one spare before its structure began to fail. The recoil strain often damaged the weapon before the third shot.

But Ezra’s design attempted to change that.

Instead of the traditional loading structure, he had begun experimenting with something inspired by the Striker-12 revolving cylinder system, which could store up to twelve shells in a rotating drum.

Another variation on the table showed a design similar to the Marine Magnum (CAM MKIII MR) structure, capable of holding six plus one shells or seven plus one shells.

”This looks interesting,” Vera said.

She picked up the paper and studied the design closely.

”The cylinder reminds me of the AA-12,” she said while examining the mechanical layout of the upgraded Baske 1945.

Her eyes moved across the sketches.

”I always knew the Baske had problems handling recoil,” she continued. ”Even the Acu-Vector Mk.I. suffers from a different flaw. One shot and you have to reload immediately repeating a cycle of one shot then reload, over and over again.”

She sighed quietly.

”But what gave you this design idea?” she asked, glancing at Ezra with clear curiosity. ”Most of these mechanical concepts remind me of weapons from the Adept rank or even the Meister rank.”

She crossed her legs calmly.

Ezra didn’t look impressed.

”Does it matter how I know?” he asked.

”True,” Vera said casually, turning back to the design.

After studying it for another moment, she pointed at the Striker-12 variation.

”If you choose this one,” she said, pointing at the Baske with the Striker-12 design, ”its rank would upgrade into Adept. Plus, I think increasing the bullet size by about 1.5 times would make it fit the Adept rank more properly. Otherwise...”

She paused and brought out a pair of glasses from her space bag.

”...it would be difficult for normal Binder-rank Alchemists to use, and Adept-rank Alchemists wouldn’t like using it either. The power output of the gun isn’t fit for the Adept-rank and only fit for the Binder-rank, but the percent of Cognis needed for making the gun would be more than a Binder-rank Alchemist could muster.”

She cleaned the glasses slowly with a white handkerchief before putting them on and placing the cloth neatly on the table.

Ezra looked at her for a moment, a little surprised that she needed glasses.

Vera noticed his stare immediately.

”I wear them because they make me look more serious,” she said plainly.

Ezra didn’t respond, even though the explanation sounded absurd.

In truth, the glasses did make Vera look more mature and composed.

Of course, he had no intention of telling her that.

”I didn’t think about that,” he muttered, looking up at the ceiling.

Not that I ever planned to make it for other Alchemists anyway... although publishing it might bring in a lot of money someday.

He let out a quiet groan.

”Are you worried about the family taking credit for your work?” Vera asked while tilting her head slightly and looking at him through the lenses.

”Not really,” Ezra answered.

”Well,” Vera said calmly, leaning back in her chair, ”it would still be better if you found a way to get your own workshop and produce guns under your own name.”

She glanced at the sketches again.

”But sadly, that won’t be easy.”

Ezra remained silent.

”Enough about that,” Vera said suddenly.

She leaned forward and stared at him more closely.

”Now tell me something.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly behind the glasses.

”What was that gun you used?”

”And by what percentage did you adjust the lightness of the steel to imitate the material you used?”

Ezra reached into his space bag and pulled out a rough jotter notebook.

He placed it on the table and opened it.

The pages were filled with pencil sketches—circles, measurements, arrows, and strange mechanical drawings that looked like complicated metal containers.

”You’re already aware of the different types of bullet holders we have,” Ezra said while pointing at the pages.

Across from him, Vera rested her chin on her palm while lazily flipping through the notebook.

Her expression looked half curious and half bored.

”So,” she said flatly, tapping one of the drawings with her finger.

”You made a gun that can fire more than thirty times without recreating bullets, and without having to slot them in every time for a handgun.”

She glanced up at him.

”I thought that was only possible for Binder-rank guns because of their size.”

Her eyes moved back to the design, clearly amused.

Ezra nodded slightly.

Then he took a pencil from his space bag and pointed at the first drawing.

”This one is the Glock-17 magazine design.”

”A Glock?”

Vera tilted her head slightly, confused by the unfamiliar name.

Still, she didn’t ask about it and instead focused on what he was explaining.

The sketch showed a long rectangular container, with bullets stacked neatly inside.

”The magazine,” Ezra continued calmly, ”is basically a detachable container for ammunition. You usually see this kind of system in guns around the Adept rank and above.”

”Instead of placing bullets directly inside the gun chamber every time like revolvers, or recreating a new gun each time...”

”...you can simply prepare the magazine beforehand and keep it fully loaded.”

He tapped the bottom of the drawing.

”Inside the magazine there are four main components.”

Vera leaned slightly closer, her interest growing.

Ezra wrote beside the drawing.

Spring

Follower

Magazine Body

Base Plate

”The magazine body,” Ezra said while pointing to the outer rectangle, ”is the container that holds the bullets.”

”The follower sits under the bullets.”

He drew a small flat platform beneath the stack of cartridges.

”It pushes the bullets upward.”

Then he drew a long zig-zag line beneath it.

”The spring provides the force that pushes the follower upward.”

Vera stared at the drawing quietly.

”So, the bullets are pushed upward like stacked stones.”

”Yes.”

”And when the gun fires?”

”The top bullet moves into the chamber,” Ezra replied calmly. ”Then the spring pushes the next one up.”

Vera blinked once.

”That’s actually... very simple.”

She adjusted her glasses slightly.

”The gun itself looks like Novice rank, but the capacity concept follows the structure of an Adept-rank weapon.”

She tapped the page thoughtfully.

”Even Binder-rank guns like the Baske 1945 don’t have this kind of quick reloading feature.”

”Some do,” she added after a moment, ”but not as elegant as this.”

”It has to be simple,” Ezra replied.

”If the design is complicated, it jams.”

He flipped the page.

Another sketch appeared.

This one looked wider and longer.

”Now this,” he said while tapping the drawing, ”is the magazine of the Kel-Tec PMR-30.”

Vera leaned forward slightly.

”I remember that gun.”

”It’s the one you used to shoot at Pamela.”

Ezra ignored the comment.

”The PMR-30 magazine holds 30 rounds.”

He began sketching again while explaining.

”The difference lies in the stacking system.”

Vera narrowed her eyes.

”Stacking system?”

”Yes.”

Ezra drew two vertical rows of bullets.

”Most pistol magazines use a double-stack configuration.”

He pointed at the two rows.

”Instead of stacking bullets in a single straight line like this...”

He drew a vertical column of bullets.

”...they are arranged in two staggered columns.”

Vera tapped the page thoughtfully.

Her finger rested on the diagram as she studied the structure.

The afternoon light from the tall library windows reflected softly on the paper, making the pencil lines stand out more clearly.

Her eyes slowly sharpened with interest.

”So, this is how you fit more bullets inside the same space.”

It finally clicked in Vera’s mind.

For a long time, the Gun Alchemists of the Ashenlocke family had been obsessed with one thing—gun size and destructive output. Because of that obsession, they had gradually neglected the development of weapons meant for the lower ranks.

Most research and innovation had been directed toward guns that suited higher-ranked Alchemists.

Over time, that way of thinking became so natural that many people forgot something simple.

The same magazine structures used in higher-ranked guns could also be applied to weapons meant for Novice and Binder ranks.

Vera herself had been influenced by that mentality.

She had always believed that a gun needed to be larger in structure to hold more than twenty rounds.

Even weapons like the Acu-Vector Mk.I., which fired a single round that scattered fifty to a hundred needles, could only function that way because of its large mechanical structure.

The same applied to the Big-4 Barrel Revolver.

Those weapons were considered the strongest guns available within the Novice rank, yet their designs still followed the idea that size equaled capacity.

There were other examples too.

The Horned Pistol, for instance, was nothing more than a standard handgun with a small dagger attached above the barrel.

In the end, nearly every weapon from Novice rank to Binder rank suffered from the same design mentality.

They relied too heavily on size instead of efficiency.

”Correct,” Ezra said.

He continued drawing while speaking.

”The PMR-30 magazine uses a very narrow .22 Magnum cartridge.”

He drew one cartridge beside another.

”Because the cartridges are thinner, more of them can be stacked.”

Then he added several angled guide lines that showed how the bullets aligned inside the magazine.

”But there is another trick.”

Vera’s eyes sharpened slightly.

”Oh?”

Ezra flipped the page again.

He began drawing a slightly curved magazine body.

”This shape.”

Vera raised one eyebrow.

”You curved the container?”

”Yes.”

Ezra pointed at the sketch.

”When bullets are stacked in large numbers, they aren’t perfectly cylindrical in practice.”

He tapped the drawing lightly with the pencil.

”They naturally form a slight curve.”

Vera slowly followed his logic.

”So, if the magazine body is completely straight...”

”...pressure begins to build inside.”

”Yes.”

”That causes feeding problems.”

Ezra nodded.

He drew several arrows along the bullet stack.

”A curved magazine follows the natural stacking angle.”

”So, the pressure from the spring distributes evenly along the stack.”

Vera leaned back slightly in her chair.

”Huh.”

She stared at the drawing for a moment.

”Which means you can increase capacity without the bullets jamming.”

Hmmm... No wonder the AK-47 has that curved magazine design. I should revisit studying how magazines work with guns. She concluded in her mind.

”Yes.”

Ezra flipped another page.

This time the drawing showed a much longer magazine structure.

”This is a theoretical extension.”

Vera squinted at the numbers written beside the sketch.

”Forty rounds?”

”Forty to fifty if properly constructed.”

Her eyes widened slightly.

”In a handgun?”

Ezra nodded calmly.

”If the magazine body is extended and the spring is strong enough.”

”But the spring must maintain consistent upward pressure.”

He tapped the spring sketch again.

”Too weak and the gun misfeeds.”

”Too strong and loading the magazine becomes difficult.”

Vera began tapping the pencil slowly against the table as she thought.

”And all of this...”

She gestured toward the collection of sketches spread across the desk.

”...is simply to avoid recreating bullets with alchemy every few seconds.”

Ezra nodded.

”Alchemy consumes Cognis.”

”A magazine stores ammunition mechanically.”

”So, the gun becomes far more efficient during combat.”

Vera stared at him quietly for a moment.

Then she flipped the jotter back to the first page.

”These are all very effective handgun concepts for the Novice rank,” she said with a faint smile.

”I’m already getting ideas for the gun I’ve been designing.”

She leaned forward slightly.

”But the weapon I’m planning isn’t limited to a single rank.”

Her voice became thoughtful.

”It’s a gun that can be used by any Gun Alchemist, but its true power would change depending on the user’s rank.”

Ezra didn’t interrupt.

”That means...”

She picked up the redesign papers of the Baske 1945 again.

”...if I want to modify the Acu-Vector Mk.I., it would make sense to elongate the entire structure.”

She pointed at the Baske + Striker-12 model design.

”And change the firing structure from a revolver system to something closer to this Striker-12 shotgun mechanism.”

Her finger moved across the blueprint.

”But it would need to be smaller.”

Her voice grew more excited as her thoughts began to move faster.

”And if possible...”

”...I would make it automated.”

”Something similar to the AA-12.”

She adjusted her glasses slightly.

”At least two to three shells fired every three seconds.”

Her eyes now glittered with ideas.

The quiet library suddenly felt a little less quiet.

Because two young geniuses of the Ashenlocke family had just begun thinking in the same direction.