Matan's Shooter

‘Anyway, the word ‘escort’ is attached to it… It might be outside of town.

Is it in a region with a lot of monsters? But where?

‘And the failure condition is Lepanto’s death?’

If Lepanto dies, won’t Director Browless’s quest also fail? If he died, he would no longer be able to acquire information.

‘And the public contribution would decrease by 30? In any case, Middle Earth…’

There were a lot of things he didn’t like, but he had no other option than doing it.

“I will cut down the head of Mister Brown, and Miss Elizabeth! Let’s go find them, squire!”

“Huh? Ohh? W-wait, Knight Lepanto-nim!”

Leeha could not calmly organize his thoughts. The one-armed man who had been wiping his oily hands on his clothes suddenly got up and started running.

In any case, Leeha found out that ‘Nitai’s Crazy Beggar’ was Lepanto.

Leeha also understood that Lepanto recognized him as his squire.

‘Does that mean I need to follow along like Lee Mongryong’s Bangja? Ugh, time flies while I’m doing this!’

Leeha had no information, and he couldn’t prepare either.

And right now, his only clue was this Crazy Lepanto.

Leeha quickly pressed the accept button and started running after him.

The crazy beggar ran with his bangs fluttering and escaped through Nitai’s south entrance.

“Knight Lepanto-nim! Where are you going?”

“I left my rapier behind! I have to go get my rapier!”

Lepanto looked back and cried out. Right, it is the same as the quest description up to this point.

What’s next?

“Where? Where are you going? Where did you leave your rapier?”

“Hehehe, you stupid squire! Where else would it be? Of course, it’s on the battlefield!”

“Battlefield? Shit!”

We’re heading to the Marching Plains? Outside the border? With this nutjob?

“Come on, squire! The slower we are, the more damage our allies receive!”

“Well, those allies are no longer there…  I understand! I’m coming!”

What else could he do?

Leeha and Lepanto started running and left the village of Nitai.

Lepanto stopped after running for a while. Leeha stopped as well and opened his bag.

If they went straight to the battlefield like this, he had to check his item’s status. His musket was in excellent condition because he changed it before coming to Nitai. It was not the same for his armor. He had about 100 sets of gunpowder and ammunition.

‘Would this be enough for escorting?’

The biggest problem was Lepanto, which Leeha did not know where he would go.

The problem was, in addition to Lepanto getting up and acting suddenly, he also did not have any armor or weapon. If he made a mistake, Lepanto could die in an instant.

And lastly, there was no information about the Marching Plains.

‘The place where the last war took place. The Human Alliance won, but they did not do any subjugations.’

It will not be a common field either. Leeha did not know what kind of monsters inhabit the place… He had a feeling that it would not be an easy task.

“The Demon King’s army is already gathered like this…  Be careful, squire!”

“Knight Lepanto-nim! Walk slowly, I will lead the way.”

“That’s funny. Should a knight lag behind his squire? Ahahaha!”

Lepanto still took the lead.

He didn’t run, but his pace was still fast.

It was unavoidable.

‘My gahd…  What kind of plains are these…

It’s definitely flat. It’s not a mountain.

However, the vast flat land was dyed with a black-brown color and was extremely wide—

There seemed to be a few people hunting.

Since it was not a part of the map, its geography was not known, and only monsters roamed the plains, it was natural for Lepanto and Leeha to be nervous.

“Hmm, the Cursed Treants and Dark Fairy Legions.”

“A Cursed Treant?”

“Squire! Are your eyes blind! Can’t you see those trees walking around?”

Of course, Leeha knew it was a monster.

It was strange to see a walking tree. But Leeha did not know the name of that monster.

“Then, those insects flying around… ?”

“That’s right, they are Dark Fairies. They have some pretty annoying monsters. They are such a piece of work…”

Sparkling wings were reflected around the Cursed Treant.

Their distance from Leeha was about 70m. He could faintly sense that there was something there, but he could not know what they really were.

‘Can I hit them…? They are about the same size as Browless’s feather test.’

Creatures that were the size of a feather, that even had wings that could quickly change direction in midair… and at this distance?

Leeha shook his head. It was not a matter of can or cannot.

It was also important to know when something is impossible and find a different course of action. Just trying was not an answer.

‘Besides, Lepanto does not even have a rapier. It would be better to turn bac-’

Most importantly, Leeha was not here to hunt.

Their main purpose was to find the rapier!

He had decided that it would be better to move around the monsters and take a detour towards the Marching Plains.

And Leeha would have acted on the plan…

If Lepanto hadn’t jumped out.

“This guy! I, Lepanto the Skewer, will deal with you! Hahaha, bring me my rapier, squire! Ah, ohhh! You, you-”

Was he crazy? Leeha could not finish the sentence.

Grrrr—

Hiii— Human? Human?

It was because Lepanto was already discovered by one Cursed Ent and two Dark Fairies.

The Cursed Ent, a slow but tall tree monster. And even the Dark Fairies that were flying quickly.

“Hahaha! Go, get ready, squi-”

“Get out of the way, you crazy man!”

Leeha spat out a curse and pulled Lepanto’s shoulder.

How could they deal with three monsters that were 70m away and are already approaching?

What was worse is, they don’t even know how strong the monsters are.

There was no time to think. Leeha quickly used his skill.

‘Damn it! This should be used sparingly!… Delicate Hand Technique!’

Leeha’s reload time will be fixed at 30 seconds for 5 minutes, but the cooldown time was a whopping 6 hours.

It was not an exaggeration to say that the Delicate Hand Technique should not have been used until the search for the rapier was over, however, it was an unavoidable situation.

‘It should be fine to search for the rapier slowly, the most important thing in this search is Lepanto’s safety.’

Because if the crazy beggar died, the quest would automatically fail.

Leeha quickly put his hand into the bag and took out a pouch of gunpowder. The sensation of his fingertips that were at the limits allowed him to accurately estimate the amount of gunpowder.

“Huu, huu…”

Two dark fairies approached them, messily stirring up the air.

Of course, they were fast and it was not easy to follow their movement. Leeha felt like crazy acrobatic choreography was going through his head.

‘They are fast! It’s hard to aim for their heads. It’s because of their size…’

I have to shoot as soon as I finish reloading! A loud gunshot resounded across the Marching Plains.

But the only thing that came next was the sound of bark getting smashed.

Grrrr—….

The Cursed Treant hesitated for a moment and started walking again.

‘…It’s thick! My bullet will not be able to pierce that tree.’

It meant that, even though Leeha changed his musket into the needle gun and his attack power increased by threefold, he was still not able to pierce the Ent.

What is the weakness of the tree? He couldn’t figure it out either.

Roots? But it’s walking with its roots.

Should I target the holes that look like eyes, nose, and mouth?

‘It’s too late.’

The fairy was already close. Leeha grabbed Lepanto’s armless sleeve and started running.

“Come here, Knight Lepanto-nim!”

“W-where are you going, Squire! Those naughty bastards, I can take care of them with a single swing! ”

“You can’t do it right now because you don’t have your sword! Come quickly!”

“Hey, squire! Where did you put my sword?”

Is it not hallucination from PTSD? Is it dementia? Leeha forced his brain to work.

Hiii —- Humans! Don’t run! Don’t run!

“Stay with us fairies!”

The Dark Fairies’ voice echoed through the air.

However, the fluttering sound of gigantic blades that was enough to cover their voice sent chills to Leeha’s spine.

It was similar to the sound of dozens of wasps flying in the air.

“Squire! Let’s try something!”

“Knight Lepanto-nim, please don’t do anything rash!”

Lepanto realized that he did not have a sword, so he ran without arguing.

What should Leeha do now that he was not holding Lepanto? Of course, it’s to reload while running.

‘Okay, I should be able to reload in 30 seconds even while running.’

The skill ‘Delicate Hand Technique’ was definitely great. It would give a fixed reload time regardless if he was moving or stationary.

After he reloaded, he stopped and turned around.

As soon as he turned around he saw a worm. No, it was a fairy.

Hiiii–? Human, I will eat you!!

“What kind of fairy has a face like that?!”

The Dark Fairy that was 4 to 5 meters away opened its mouth.

With wings like a fly, black, flat body, and above all, a small face with crooked teeth, it looked more like a monster than a fairy.

The Dark Fairies instinctively performed an evasive maneuver.

They dodged creating the character 8! However, it was difficult for Leeha to miss at that distance.

‘I don’t even have to hit their body. I can see their trajectory…’

Baaang—-!

Ahhh!

The bullet hit one of the fairy’s wings. With the loss of one wing, the Dark Fairy crashed.

‘I will finish it later. I have to suppress them first! Still, it would be easier if fairies were like this.’

‘At the right time…’

It was only a matter of time. Another one flew towards them with the sound of its wing making Leeha’s hair stand up.

And Leeha moved as planned.

—Humans!!

He did not miss it.

“Bayonet Charge!”

The muzzle of the needle gun extended. And a mana bayonet appeared beneath it.

It was difficult to dodge a bayonet that appeared at the right timing. The body of the Dark Fairy that came rushing was pierced by Leeha’s bayonet.

Gaah!

The Dark fairy, with black smoke spewing out of its pierced body, suddenly turned gray.

Looking at the stature of the Dark Fairies, Leeha was able to estimate their approximate health.

‘It’s 1/3 of my attack power, but with this alone, the Dark Fairy can be dealt with. I will clean up the one that’s left.’

There was a wingless bug floundering on the floor.

It was the first time Leeha saw the monster, but since Middle Earth was ‘realistic’, he was able to come up with a countermeasure to deal with them.

Leeha easily shoved the Dark Fairy and started reloading.

(To be continued…)