Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Yes?”

“Where can I meet him?”

Leeha blinked, asking eagerly. Mikhail waved his hands dismissively.

“I can’t tell you that! It’s dangerous, and I can’t just reveal our country’s secrets to a foreign noble so casually.”

“Officer Mikhail? How about we go to Remlin Manor and ask, ‘I heard from Officer Mikhail, where is it?’”

“Oh, um…”

Mikhail clutched his head, but Leeha wasn’t going to let him off easy. Once you catch a weakness, it’s basic in warfare to pursue it until the end. A moment later, Leeha emerged from the ranger outpost with a smile on his face.

“Hey! I promise not to spread any rumors about where we’re going, so don’t worry!”

undefined
The location where the White Reaper’s ghost appeared was not far from where they were. But even for Leeha, who had purchased a map of the entire Shazrashian region, it was a place that didn’t seem particularly noteworthy, a very remote spot suitable for hiding secrets and maintaining control.

“Alright. Let’s start by visiting the nearby village. Oh, I should inform.”

Using a return scroll to teleport to the village, Leeha inserted a note into the warp gate directing towards the village near the location where the White Reaper’s ghost manifested.

Leeha: Blaugrunn! Do you want to hear some exciting news?

Blaugrunn: What is it?

Leeha: The White Reaper- I mean, the Human Flesh Hunter, do you know who it is?

Blaugrunn: Yes, but they’re dead-

Leeha: Their ghost remains.

Blaugrunn: What?

Leeha: Their ghost remains intact! And apparently, they are attacking people around. Doesn’t it sound exciting? Quickly-

undefined
Before Leeha could finish speaking, a cyan light shimmered around him.

“Where!? Where are they?”

“You seem to be coming faster than when I call for help?”

“Oh, come on. Do I look like someone who would do that? But where’s the Human Flesh Hunter’s ghost? Is it due to necromancy magic?”

As Leeha spoke disgustedly, Blaugrunn put on a cute act.

“I will tell you on our way there. Come on, let’s go! Shazrashian Federation, Hamina Castle, Warp Gate 2!”

Leeha chuckled and flipped a coin to the Warp Gate NPC.

“Don’t underestimate my Dignity.”

“What??”

“No, nothing. I thought you would naturally figure it out by coming this far, but it’s tougher than I thought.”

Leeha and Blaugrunn were seated facing each other at the pub. Leeha let out a sigh. He had started gathering information as soon as they arrived at Hamina Castle, but because there was no significant harvest, he felt a bit drained.

“Mikhail must not have lied. Considering the scale of the castle, there are a tremendous number of knights wearing armor.”

Since the number of roaming users wasn’t that high, most of them were not high level yet.

“White Reaper? What’s that? Oh, a beast hunting class?! Don’t talk to me.”

“… If it’s about the beast hunting class, I have nothing to say.”

“Who’s bringing up such an unlucky name? Do you want to fight!?”

However, there were no easy talkers who could provide Leeha with the information he wanted.

Giants often dispersed at the mention of a White Reaper or a name like ‘Shimo.’ It would have been fortunate if that was the case, but some individuals turned aggressive and guarded against Leeha.

Leeha regretted activating 『Dignity』 a bit late.

“But there are limits to extracting information with dignity. Above all, it’s risky.”

In front of Mikhail, he could act arrogant and cause a scene, but this was unquestionably the castle of a nation. Asserting his power with the dignity buff in a place like this could backfire. Leeha instinctively knew when to assert dominance and when not to push it too far.

“Is what’s here true?”

“Yes, it should be true. Since Mikhail wouldn’t lie. Then everyone must be trying to hide it.”

Initially, Mikhail also dismissed it as ‘unofficial business.’ But that was when it was just a rumor; this was a place Mikhail had directly mentioned.

“It’s near the execution site for White Reaper. Meaning, the patrols and knights around here are well aware.”

The reason for openly concealing the conversation might be because he was not affiliated with Shazrashian.

“Shazrashian… being associated with them. Not because I’m not a giant? Hmm, not really. It’s more of a visceral response of disgust, like seeing feces or insects… What could that be?”

Something unpleasant lingered in one corner of Leeha’s mind, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

“Should I just spill the beans?”

“Hoho, it’s a good idea, but at least not within these walls. It wouldn’t end well if you did it recklessly.”

“But what about the other side trying to do so?”

“Ah… Blaugrunn gestured towards the door of the tavern. Leeha turned his head to look in that direction.

In front of the swinging doors stood a group of knights, unmistakably members of a knightly order.

Clank, clank, clank.

They walked straight in, opening the door and approaching the table where Leeha and Blaugrunn sat.

“I am a Knight of the 7th Squadron, Unit 1, Guardia. State your business. Whom are you after?”

The knights questioned.

Leeha, despite the presence of the knights, remained calm.

“Even in the face of the giants, the existence of the informant network has not been compromised. Who are you looking for, guardsman?”

Blaugrunn replied.

“Wait a moment! Blaugrunn, stop!”

It had only been about an hour since they arrived to gather information. Why were they being targeted for arrest already?

Leeha thought it was rather fortunate.

“Fine, go ahead and make the arrest then.”

The knight winked at Blaugrunn, who glared at Leeha with resentment as he obediently held out his hands.

“Trying to endure it?”

Leeha teased.

“Sometimes it’s good to be tied up by humans. It’s all part of the experience, isn’t it?”

To Blaugrunn, the knights from the insignificant town were nothing but mere nuisances. Having his arms restrained by handcuffs and sighing in resignation was simply a natural progression of events.

Leeha and Blaugrunn were immediately separated and taken for interrogation at Hamina Castle. It was quite a fresh experience for Leeha.

“Who sent you here?”

As the giant slammed the table, the hanging lights above trembled. Leeha, with a surprised expression, looked at the figure before him.

“You’re quite strong.”

“What’s with you bastard! You kept asking about the Human Flesh Hunter, and you bastard just keeps dodging my questions! Who ordered this?” the giant interrogator demanded.

“Who else should order it? I was curious, that’s all,” Leeha replied calmly.

“You said you’re from Fibiel!” the giant continued.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then why keep asking about the Human Flesh Hunter?” the giant questioned angrily.

Thud!

The giant investigator slammed the table once more. Leeha worried that the table might break from the impact. Dragged by the guards to the interrogation room after parting ways with Blaugrunn, over 20 minutes had already passed, but it seemed like the story was going in circles.

“I mentioned it before, but I still don’t understand what I did wrong! Is it a crime to ask questions out of curiosity? Why can’t I ask? Is being from Fibiel is a problem?”

“It is! There’s no need to ask! But you asked. Because you’re not from Fibiel!”

“Gah, geez, this is so frustrating! I am from Fibiel-”

“Then what about this rifle? Isn’t it the White Reaper’s rifle!?”

“-The White Reaper’s rifle! No, it’s nothing. Ah…?”

Remembering the vanished rifle, swallowed down the words of its consumption, and calmed down the excitement. Thinking about the disappeared rifle made him feel regretful.

“Mm, it seems like Black Bass absorbed it… but it didn’t absorb its performance, so it just disappeared. But until when will he keep asking these pointless questions?”

He had followed along willingly, thinking he might gather some information, but the frustrating situation kept dragging on.

“Oh, and by the way, there’s a profession called a musketeer in Fibiel, so why is it strange for me to use a rifle?”

“… Because the Human Flesh Hunter use firearms.”

“They used to use them, not are currently using them?”

He narrowed his eyes and glared at the Giant Guard.

The present tense suffix. Leeha knows something.

“Ahem! No, there’s no need to listen. Liars are only sent to the deepest underground prison. Hey! Take this guy out and bring the next brat!”

At the same time, he was hiding something. He shouted towards the investigators as he was being dragged away by the Giant Guard.

“If you treat that brat like you did to me, you’ll be in big trouble~”

“Quiet!”

Looking at the investigators disregarding his sincere(?) warning, he couldn’t help but feel like laughing.

‘They’ve dug really deep underground. Although it’s uncertain whether it’s a transport loop, it’s at least 7 floors underground. Impressive construction skills, huh? But again, since there’s no building on top, maybe it was possible. Being purely designed for prison purposes, the underground extension was quite deep indeed.

Considering the size of the castle, it was an unreasonable scale.

To be imprisoned in the underground prison of a remote castle in the allied nation, the Shazrashian Federation, was something he had never even thought of throughout his time in the Middle Earth play.

He was dragged to the lowest level and thrown in.

“Get in!”

“Oh, this is too much. What did I do? I’m not a suspect yet, a suspect! I haven’t committed any crime, why am I being locked up like this-”

“Shut up!”

The giants held up torches and ascended the stairs once more.

In the dimly lit corridor, he smiled.

“I haven’t committed a crime. They didn’t even hold a trial for me. But why the lowest level of the underground prison out of the blue? Something’s up. If they treat ordinary people like this, there’ll be chaos.”

Therefore, the excessive reactions of the NPCs indicated that things had already reached a significant level.

“There is an answer in the question, there is an answer in the question… What could be the meaning of that question?”

The Shazrashian Federation is not composed solely of the Giant race.

There are clearly humans present, and occasionally users who seek perverse (?) challenges like Wood Elves, Miyaw, Lizardia, and others.

“So, the Musketeer profession is rare but not non-existent. But holding a rifle like that? What if that was the White Reaper’s rifle? What’s the point of confiscating it? What would you do after confiscating it?”

Should we even bother passing on the message to the hunter who has already become an executed ghost?

A laugh could be heard from Leeha.

“No, that’s just nonsense. Aren’t the Human Flesh Hunter causing chaos, attacking people around, and just going berserk? Isn’t it said that you can’t get close to him?”

The nuance of Mikhail’s words was clearly like that.

Maybe calling for Blaugrunn was also to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances. But why worry about delivering a rifle to the White Reaper?

“Really, what good would it do to deliver it to a ghost? But… Wait, hold on. Something seems strange. Why worry about that?”

The White Reaper is already a ghost that has been executed. What could possibly change by delivering a weapon to them?

Perhaps the concern is not about delivering the weapon.

Is it about guarding against someone who can approach them?

Wait a moment… So, does that mean there is a category of ghost that the White Reaper does not attack?

If such a category exists, then what would it be?

“Oh, wait, wait!”

Clearly, the answer was in the question. The Giant investigator kept asking.

Where are you from?

Where in the Middle Earth user would there be a home country?

The character’s origin becomes the country they belonged to when creating the character. Even if you later seek asylum or change nationality, the original country becomes the homeland and birthplace of the Middle Earth character.

‘But I kept saying Fibiel over and over, but they didn’t believe me. Why didn’t they believe it?”

Suddenly, Leeha stood up from his seat. Clatter… Pebbles fell from Leeha’s fingertips.

“Maybe… Huh?”

There was a strange feeling as he pressed the wall. Despite the rough stone wall, there was a sharp indentation that seemed artificial.

“Oh, I can’t see anything useful to light here.”

Items like torches or light magic cannot be used here. It is a penalty that the prison imposes on the users. Leeha expressed it as being “taken away” and caressed the imprint on the stone wall with his finger.

He searched in the direction of this room, that room, and finally succeeded in finding the beginning of the indentation on the wall.

“Is this where it starts? It’s big. It seems like something written in large letters. A sentence? A writing?”

Leeha touched it cautiously, following it bit by bit.