Matan’s Shooter - Chapter 285

TL: xLordFifth

ED:

“Now, sit down.”

Luger and Kidd moved frightened that Browless’ words would fall again. Three chairs were placed opposite the director’s desk, and two people sat at both ends. And there was only one empty seat left.

“Oh- I-I-”

“You have a seat too.”

“Yes…… director-nim.”

Leeha received a death glare from Luger while Kidd avoided his eyes.

In the end, the seat next to the German fighting maniac was occupied by Leeha.

Browless smiled happily at the three seated people and turned the blinds to darken the room a bit. As soon as at atmosphere calmed down, the calm smile on his face began to fade.

“I have called you today for only one reason. Leeha-kun must have already heard from Luger, right?”

“If… it is about Le, then yes. I already heard.”

That was the only topic of Leeha and Luger’s conversation. Browless nodded as he heard Leeha’s answer.

“Okay. It isn’t usually a big deal that one of the Fragment of the Demon King, ‘Bluebeard’ Le, is alive and roaming the continent. Obviously… we thought he was dead.”

Browless bit his lip. Luger opened his mouth.

“He’s alive. I don’t need to tell you that the pope confirmed his mana. I even saw him myself.”

“I know, Luger-kun. It’s not that I don’t believe you. I was thinking about his tenacious vitality.”

Kidd’s brows furrowed as he listened to Browless and Luger’s conversation Leeha was surprised.

He’s still a instructor-type NPC, so is it okay to talk to him like that?

‘Come to think of it, Kidd really respects Browless……. In any case, the two cannot really stand each other.’

Browless pondered for a moment before opening his mouth again.

“I haven’t seen any special signs yet, but it isn’t just ‘Bluebeard’ that worries me. The Fragment of the Demon King are both individuals and connected. They are one and two, three and four beings. As you already know.”

“Yes, since it is said that they came from the demon king, they must have been one from the beginning.”

Leeha, Kidd, and Luger all heard it from the dark elves, so they already knew Browless nodded at Leeha’s answer.

“Okay. So if ‘Bluebeard’ woke up, I think the others might be hiding somewhere. Didn’t the Pope say anything about that, Luger-kung?”

“Nope. First of all, the only thing he said was that humans had to stop senselessly killing each other .”

“Are you going to tell that after the conclusion of the peace treaty? It might be too late then.

That’s why I called you guys first.”

When Browless finished speaking, a notification window with similar content appeared in front of the three of them.

[The Three Musketeers and the Three Musketeers]

Description: ‘If Bluebeard acts in earnest, the other fragment of the demon king will also react. However, it is dangerous to go after Bluebeard on your own. Most importantly, you might have to deal with the [Matan’s Shooter]. If [Matan’s Shooter] comes out after rushing them…. It’s going to be a problem. So let’s look for other information. It might be difficult alone, but with the Three Musketeers, you can do it. Just like me, Mr. Brown, and Ms. Elizabeth.’

Browless wanted to prevent the recurrence of human-demon war, but decided that with the current skills of the Three Musketeers, he could not make them directly go after the Fragments of the Demon King. If the Fragment of the Demon King start to move, their first action was to gather monsters.

Figure out the movement of ‘Crolang’, one of Bluebeard’s pillars during the second Human-Demon war.

Content: After forming a party, investigate Crolang, who reigns as the king of the northern troll, and his tribe(0%), or kill Crolang

Reward: Continental Reputation +100, 3 gold, Title – Lookout

Condition for Failure: Getting into party aside from the Three Musketeers, death of at least one of the Three Musketeers

Penalty for failure: Fibiel National Contribution – 300, Continental Reputation -200, Achievement – The Beginning of the Fall

Additional Compensation: In the case of killing Crolang, one person gets 10 stat points

– Do you accept??

The three, including Leeha, quickly read the notification window.

‘So are we going to do a trial run?’

It looked like he intended to test the trio against a weaker(?) enemy before facing the [Matan’s Shooter], who must have been Bluebeard or the renegades Mr. Brown and Miss Elizabeth.

‘The content is relatively simple, so the reward is simple. All you have to do is look. It’s not about killing people or stealing items. We literally have to look.’

Fame and gold no longer mattered.

The only thing that stood out was the title. But what did ‘lookout’ mean? Unlike overlapping achievements, only one title could be selected. At least when looking at the name, it didn’t seem to have much effect compared to the title ‘Fearless’.

‘Well, we have to clear it to know. I just need to wait a few hours or a few days before coming back’

The percentage behind it was also clearly understandable.

Similar to getting to 100% by keeping the corresonding point for a certain period of time in the high ground battles, they would reach 100% if they watched Crolang and his tribe for more than a certain amount of time.

“Do we just have to look?”

“Right. It will take a week to fully check their movements. Can you do it?”

It meant they will need a full week to reach 100%.

At first glance it was an incredibly easy test. Howeve, Leeha had no choice but to feel anxious while seeing the failure condition and the horrendous penalty for failure that followed.

“What happens if we fail?”

“Crolang will start rampaging in the north. That would speed up Bluebeard’s actions. If you think about it, you should never fail.”

That was the part that Leeha’s eyes were glued to.

‘Achievement – Beginning of the Fall’.

Does it mean that the 3rd Human-Demon war will start immediately if they failed? Besides, why was it given as an achievement?

‘It could always be a penalty. Just as users with negative contributions received experience penalty in war…”

Like Leeha, Kidd also had doubts. But he focused on a different thing.

“What will happen if we kill Crolang?”

“Crolang is someone who showed his monstrous strength during the 2nd Human-Demon war. It’s on a different level from a monster like Hijuit-Ka. Those who can deal with Crolang will grow , but…… as a teacher, I don’t recommend it.”

“Does growth only apply to one person?”

“Probably.”

“Hmmm…”

Leeha listened to Kidd’s words about the additional compensation part.

If someone killed Crolang, they would get 10 stat points. In fact, it meant that it had the effect of leveling up twice.

However, it was only for 1 person.

‘In a 3-person joint quest, only one person would be rewarded?’

Then the feeling came. There was a condition to kill Crolang, but it was not a quest. It was even more certain when he tried to combine the hints that Middle Earth unknowingly gave.

‘The quest title was the Three Musketeers and the Three Musketeers. The intention should be to show the difference between the past and present Three Musketeers, and making them better. In other words, making the three of us work together. Not killing Crolang is a part of it too-’

Just quietly observing and returning. That’s probably why Browless talked like that. Leeha and Kidd’s eyes met. However, there wasn’t only two people doing the quest.

“I will go. If it’s a troll, I can catch 3,000 of them. I can do it alone.”

“Uh, ohh, wait! Wait, Luger!”

“Wait! We must party!”

“Shut up and follow me.”

Luger got up from his seat after pressing the accept button. Leeha and Kidd quickly pressed the accept and followed him.

“Please be careful, gentlemen. The trolls of the north will be a little different from the trolls of the Sentinel Mountains……”

Looking at the three people walking away, Browless put on an uneasy expression.

As soon as Luger left the academy, he rummaged through his bag. He took out a crystal ball. Leeha shouted loudly.

“Luger! Luger! Where are you going?”

“I told you to shut up and follow.”

“Hey- did you understand the contents of the quest properly? We have to party and finish it! Besides, we don’t even know where Crolang appears, but-”

“I know.”

Luger turned around and raised his weapon. It was in regular musket form that hadn’t transformed yet, but a deep blue light hung from the barrel.

“Don’t interfere and follow me quietly, Kidd. Let’s go and have a party.”

“Stop it, Luger. Ammunition needs to be replenished, and we also need to maintain our supplies.”

“I am ready. And you guys don’t even need to.”

“What do you-”

“I will catch everything on my own anyway. Follow me quietly and pick up the items. I will get the stat.”

Luger was already convinced.

Although he did not inflict any damage to Bluebeard, he had reached the mouth of the abyss.

He had a history of dealing with all types of huge monsters that came out on his own. Compared to them, the northern trolls were relatively low in difficulty.

However, that was only the idea of Luger, ‘an experienced person’.

I can’t go, I knew this would happen.”

“What?”

“Isn’t this completely stupid? Luger, don’t you know the purpose of this quest?”

Kidd wasn’t the only one angry at the blonde man’s abnormal words and actions. Leeha said with and angry face.

“Stupid..?”

“Yes, stupid. This is purely stage play. Click, click, click……. Is there only a straight line in this world? Use your brain, Luger-ssi.”

“……Do you want to give it a try, [Bullseye]?”

He didn’t attack, but his meaning was clear. The blue musket Luger was holding had turned into a heavy gun barrel before they knew it.

He had used the [Weapon Transformation] skill.

Even after seeing that, Leeha did not back off.

“Do you want to shoot in the capital? Try it if you have the confidence to turn all the Sacred Knights into your enemies. And damn it, why do you call Kidd, Kidd-ssi and you call me [Bullseye]? I have a name as well, don’t you know my name? Would you like a bullet in the head?”

Strength went into Leeha’s hand holding the [Black Bass].

Luger’s eyes shone, and quickly scanned Leeha’s hand.

It was somewhat predictable that the quest given in the sense of the Three Musketeers cooperation operation began as a confrontation between [penetration] and [Bullseye].

Everytime Luger’s shoulders twitched, Leeha’s arms wriggled as well.

He didn’t even use a skill. He didn’t even know if he was loaded. However, the two were already fighting.

It was an instense fight.

Even in the midst of that, Leeha was a little impressed. About the fact that Luger didn’t actually attack and didn’t say ‘Let’s go outside’.

There was a reason why Alexander, the first in the ranking and was a Dragon Knight, and Lee Jiwon the second in the ranking and a Magic Swordsman trembled at Luger. It was because he was a user who fully understood Middle Earth. ‘Even if his words and actions are like that, he was able to adapt to Middle Earth. Since the Three Musketeers is a quest, even if only one died, the quest will fail. It means that he understood the quest just because Luger didn’t kill me…

If so, how would I defuse the situation? How should I deal with this guy who seems to be about to rush at me? While Leeha pondered, Kidd spoke first.

“You both should know. There are two ways to clear this quest, and you need to prepare for both to increase the chances of success. If Luger is trying to clear it by killing Crolang, wouldn’t it be easier if I take care of the surrounding mobs and Leeha takes care of the ranged targets?”

He was certainly someone who had dealt with Luger more than a few times.

Listening to Kidd’s logical and reasonable words, Luger’s hard expression relaxed a little.

“Okay. I don’t want to carry you guys for free. Prepare to be able to pay for the minimum meal.”

Luger’s commanding tone until the very end widened Leeha’s pupil again, but he immediately hid his expression. For now, it was necessary to maintain the atmosphere that Kidd had managed to hold on to.

“Phew……. Okay. Then, investigate what needs to be investigated, and prepare what needs to be prepared. We will meet here again in 2 hours. Call?”

At Leeha’s words, Kidd nodded but Luger did not reply.

The three began to prepare for the quest on their own.

“It’s been a long time since I met a guy who lived and scratched his temper like that. Isn’t that right, Kidd?”

“Hmmm..”

“W-why are you looking at me like that?”

As Leeha snorted while acting vigorously, Kidd looked at him with strange eyes.

Kidd had seen Leeha a few times before he had yet to get the achievement of the Three Musketeers, even in those days when he was fiddling with muskets. Therefore, he already had a first impression and preconceived notion of Leeha to some degree.

‘I thought he had a mild personality……. He’s wilder than he looks. He didn’t even get pushed by Luger.’

(To be continued…)