He just barely managed to keep one leg underneath him to avoid completely collapsing.

A dull shock struck his cheek.

Calling it a slap made it sound nice, but he had more or less been hit with the grip of the flintlock pistol. It felt similar to being hit by the end of a hammer’s handle.

The blow shook Kamijou’s brain and he finally fell to the side onto the asphalt road surface.

His movements looked as frail as a marionette that’s strings had been cut.

“At least do some research into how guns work... But I guess that might be too much to ask of someone from Japan. But you at least fought in the center of World War III.” Birdway spun the pistol around in front of herself while she watched Kamijou struggle on the road surface due to temporarily losing his sense of up and down. “With a flintlock gun, the gunpowder and bullet have to be inserted through the barrel before firing. The work can be shortened by switching out the fuse for a percussion cap, but you can’t avoid having to load the bullet. …Do you understand now, boy? This gun cannot be fired just by pulling it out.”

“Gh…gh…!!”

“All I wanted from you was an opening to get in a decisive blow. And I don’t blame you for faltering at the sight of one of these aimed at you. After all, the pain and fear of guns is still etched into your body.”

If Kamijou had calmly thought about the deficiencies of the flintlock design, he might have realized that. But he had not had time to think calmly. When that thing was suddenly pointed at him in the middle of a supernatural battle, he needed time to switch over the gears of his mind.

His options had been to freeze up in fear or aim for a miraculous recovery and steal the gun, but the result would have been the same either way.

Once his focus had been pointed solely at that elegant pistol, she had used magic to attack him head on.

“Now then.”

At some point, a small bottle, a metal ball about the size of a pachinko ball, and a thin rod about the size of a chopstick had appeared in Birdway’s fingers. The bottle was filled with a black powder.

“I’ll teach you the proper way of doing it.”

Birdway pointed the elegant pistol’s barrel upwards, poured the powder in, and then dropped the metal ball in as if using it as a cover. Lastly, she stuck the thin rod down the barrel and used a bit of strength to force the ball and powder down.

“You really are not supposed to point this type of gun’s barrel downwards. But this one isn’t cheap. The bullet isn’t going to fall out.” Birdway tossed the rod and bottle away and aimed the gun at Kamijou where he lay collapsed on the ground. “Give up on Fräulein Kreutune. I will give you a reason to give up. You have shown that you are not the type to give up even after being shot in the stomach. Then what about the leg? Once you lose your ability to move around and your ability to support the weight behind your fist, you should have enough of an excuse to just lie in a hospital bed.”

“Heh…”

The symptoms of his light concussion must have been gradually softening because Kamijou was now able to look up at Birdway with hazy eyes. A slight smile was on his lips.

“Do you feel the need to go this far because you feel anything less will not make up for the damage at Hawaii and Baggage City?”

“So what if I do?”

- To Aru Majutsu no Index NT Volume 6 Chapter 7 Part 10