In front of the Police Station, Goa Kingdom.
At King Pat's scream, Commander Renato snatched the SVT-40 rifle from the soldier beside him.
His expression darkened as he removed the magazine, quickly ejected the ten rounds inside, and then clenched them hard in his hand.
At once, the brass 7.62×54mmR rifle rounds in his hand crushed against one another under immense pressure, producing a constant series of crisp metallic clinks.
In the end, the bullets warped and split apart one by one, yet none of the familiar black powder spilled out.
Commander Renato's face turned even more livid.
He remembered that these bullets and rifles had been delivered to the royal army five months ago.
They had test-fired them at the time, and not only had there been no problems, they had indeed been far better than the Flintlocks and round shot they had used before.
Afterward, to familiarize the soldiers with firearms, he arranged monthly target practice sessions in batches.
There had been no abnormalities then either.
The earliest of those target practices had been eight days ago, which meant everything had still been normal until then.
Commander Renato fell into deep thought.
He did not ask the soldiers about the recent situation, because asking would have been pointless.
After every target practice, they returned their firearms and ammunition to the armory, then collected them again before the next use.
That was King Pat's rule, supposedly adopted from the professional military regulations of the Demon Slayer World.
But everyone knew he was simply worried that someone would fire their guns recklessly and waste the bullets he had paid for.
So during ordinary patrols and guard duty, the royal army still wore armor and carried spears, while captains and above wore swords at their waists.
"So the armory people are