Chapter 58: The Trigger Safety
Hearing that simple compliment, Jenny’s chest tightened far more than she expected.
Her lips curled into a pleased smile as she giggled softly.
She wanted to slap his hand and say ’stop it!’ like those ’cute’ girls in the movies, but she held in that urge.
She wasn’t a small baby to act that way.
Coughing to regain her bearings and not melt completely at a small compliment, she cleared her throat.
"Thank you for your kind words, mister. However, you still need to help me with this moral dilemma. Can you just help me explain to them what you told me? Cutting off the roots stuff?" Jenny said.
Fredrinn laughed, "Yes yes."
Then, turning towards the crowd, he was surprised to see that everyone’s focus was on him. Looking at him with different expressions.
Jacob was interested, Max looked complicated, a mix of envy and quiet respect, while Toby looked at him with exhaustion.
"Well, to be honest I don’t really know. How about we decide who all are in the group that’s going out first?"
Jenny blinked incredulously.
She wanted him to support her debate, but he simply postponed it instead?
However, to her surprise, the tension in the air began to dissipate like magic.
Max cleared his throat and scoffed. "I am going. Obviously."
"Me too, if I may." Charlie’s gruff and deep voice resounded.
"I would rather not, we need someone to manage the crowd over here." Jacob politely bowed out of the danger, smiling as he said.
Aadav, now feeling a lot better than yesterday, casually hooked his arm around Jacob’s shoulders after hearing his words.
"Staying to manage the crowd or are you too much of a pussy, huh?" He grinned, saying in a teasing tone, "Keep this up and you’re going to be stuck at level 5 all your life, ’leader’."
He spoke the last word with heavy emphasis, as if it was a joke.
’Bitch, let me copy some decent abilities and then I’ll show you. I will be copying yours first. It’s the easiest anyway. Let’s see how you fare when your skill is gone.’ Jacob scoffed in his mind, glaring at Aadav’s mockery.
But outside, he simply laughed, "Oh come on, I am serious. There needs to be someone in here capable of protecting the others, no?
And I am afraid that if I go out right now, I will steal your spotlight. I can’t do that to my dear friend. I am just nice like that."
Aadav cackled, slapping Jacob’s back lightly, "Steal my spotlight for sure indeed." But then, his laugh slowed down as he glanced at Fredrinn, who was still carrying Aadav’s pistol behind his back.
And Aadav had no courage to ask for it back.
After all, everyone saw that it was much more useful in Fredrinn’s hands than Aadav’s.
"You’re quite generous when assuming that I am even going to be near the spotlight at all. Especially with Max and Fredrinn going." He added.
Max chuckled at Aadav’s words, before casually adding, "Fredrinn didn’t say he would come yet though."
"I will." Fredrinn replied calmly, ignoring Max as he looked in Jenny’s direction.
"Haah... As a responsible awakener, it would be a shame for me to not go." Jenny shrugged her shoulders, speaking with a playful arrogance.
Some of the crowd laughed at her words, before Max’s other partner volunteered to head outside along the group.
He also carried a pistol, dressed in a vest like the others, while the woman decided to stay behind alongside Jacob, opting to help inside the room instead.
Fredrinn looked back at Andrea, who was looking at him with dejected eyes.
She felt upset about the fact that she wasn’t capable enough of raising her head or volunteering to accompany him.
She knew that she couldn’t.
She was a normal human, with no outstanding strength to her name and nor a weapon to defend herself with.
If she went with them, she would only hold them back.
So she feigned a smile when he looked at her.
Fredrinn smiled back, before patting her head, ruffling her hair warmly.
He didn’t want to spread pda amongst the crowd, but looking at her unhappy expression, he couldn’t help but pat her head.
Then, he leaned closer, sliding one hand behind his back as he pulled out a metallic object that made her eyes widen.
He was now holding a pistol.
The weapon was solid black, featuring a textured polymer grip molded perfectly to his hand. Light glinted sharply off the heavy steel slide, casting a reflection down the short, blocky length of the barrel.
Before she could react, he pulled her hand out and placed the gun on her palm.
Andrea flinched feeling the cold steel on her skin.
"W... Why?"
Fredrinn shrugged his shoulders carelessly, "I have another one for emergencies. Use this one to protect yourself if need be."
Then, he casually walked behind her, wrapping his larger hand over hers, curling her hand onto the handle.
She could feel his breath hitting her ear, his chest pressing against her back.
"This is the safety. It’s currently on." He guided her thumb to the back of the slide, rubbing against a small mechanical lever that was currently flicked upwards.
"To shoot, you will need to push it down with your thumb and then..." He curled her index finger onto the trigger, before pulling it slightly, "Pull the trigger. It’s that simple."
Of course, the gun didn’t actually fire since the trigger was currently locked tightly into place.
Andrea nodded breathlessly, her chest heaving as she glanced at the small gathering of crowd that was nearby.
She felt like she was surfing naked on the waves of embarrassment.
The tips of her ear turned slightly red, but somehow... she felt safer and warmer in her heart.
When she heard Jenny was going to be alone with Fredrinn outside, and his casual compliments to her, she was feeling jealous.
But now... she felt complicated.
She couldn’t even decide if she wanted to stay mad at him for flirting with others or just smile warmly and thank him for everything he had done for her till now?
In the end, the choice became obvious to her.
"T-Thank you...? But are you sure you’re going without the gun...? Even your sword broke earlier."