Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Thank you very much, Sir Knight.”

From Abendone’s perspective, Leeha was an NPC and a noble, and moreover, he used to be an enemy as part of the Minis faction. However, after witnessing Leeha’s remarkable performance, he was addressing her with utmost respect, as if she were a member of Minis royalty.

“No, um… I’m not a knight, remember? Leeha. What are you doing, Ram Hwayeon? Hurry and take care of them.”

Leeha awkwardly received their greetings and quickly handed them over to Ram Hwayeon.

Already, a large crowd of dignitaries had gathered at the Warp Gate in the capital, and Ram Hwayeon had organized them well in advance and was able to welcome the NPCs without any confusion, thanks to the information Leeha had passed to her during their journey.

“I am Ram Hwayeon, a special envoy from the Reinforcement Treaty Committee of Fubell. Thank you very much for coming all the way. I will take care of you from now on.”

“I am Abendone de Front, the leader of the Minis Reinforcement Treaty Delegation. I look forward to working with you.”

A delegation for the treaty, and it was just the delegation leader and his escort knight? It was an unusually small party, but Ram Hwayeon already knew why. She didn’t inquire about it, nor did the representative of Minis complain about what they had gone through. From now on, it was a place where they had to face each other’s national pride.

Apart from her personal gratitude to Leeha, there were other matters that needed to be addressed.

“Are you near the royal palace?”

“Hmm, no, there’s no need for that. Since you have nothing to do, just wait until the treaty is over. Oh! And when the king calls you and asks you to choose a city or a castle, just remember one thing.”

“I am the envoy leader for the Minis Reinforcement Treaty, Avendone de Front. Please take care of me.”

Ram Hwayeon was truly remarkable. Already, she was leading the Minis delegation, engaging in conversations with them, and whispering to Leeha at the same time!

Watching her back, Leeha made a tongue-in-cheek comment and asked, “What’s up?”

“Goza.”

“Goza?”

“Goza, the ruler of ‘City Goza.’ Sit on that throne.”

“Leeha… Do you think I can trust your choice, Ram Hwayeon?”

“Hmph, if you can’t trust it, then choose something like Castle Van Gaul. Do whatever you want.”

“Leeha, like that’s an option. Anyway, thanks! Thanks for taking care of everything. You truly are a trustworthy person.”

“…”

Leeha noticed that Ram Hwayeon’s back shook slightly. Was she trying to look back?

But that was as far as it went. Ram Hwayeon didn’t reply to Leeha’s question anymore.

Nobody knew that she was feeling embarrassed and flustered.

“Oh well, one quest is done… City Goza? I’d love to visit in my heart, but I probably won’t receive a warm welcome anyway.”

It was currently a Minis-affiliated city. Leeha knew very well how she would be treated in a city belonging to Minis.

Instead of going there and inviting more hatred, she thought it would be better to visit after Fubell’s affiliation was established.

“Alright, then, I’ll go to Goza when it’s time to Goza!”

Leeha yawned as if she was stretching.

“Uh, why does the name of the city keep coming out of my mouth?”

[Quack?]

“Does Blaugrun think the same way?”

[Quack, laugh!]

The cyan Hetchling Dragon flapped its wings.

Leeha laughed while looking at its appearance and prepared to log out. When she logged in again, the treaty would probably be completed.

…

“How did this happen, Choyo! Why was Leeha there?”

“Are you asking me that now?”

“Then? You gave me the information, but you’re asking someone else? No, before that! You were wrong about the number of the escort knights. Didn’t you say there were about twenty of them?”

Faust was angrier than ever before.

In her heart, she wanted to overpower Choyo by force and vent her anger, but Choyo was not an easy opponent either, so she had no choice.

The 8th ranked and the 7th ranked in the rankings glared fiercely at each other.

“I’m sorry about that. We made a slight mistake on our side too-”

“Mistake? Did you say it’s a mistake? Because of your mistake, three of my subordinates logged out! For a whole ten days, ten days!”

A level down was a given, and on top of that, they couldn’t log in for a whopping 48 hours. It was already a considerable penalty even in normal circumstances, let alone for Faust, who was given a specific mission as part of the Demon Army, and especially when their main goal was to “buy time,” it was an even bigger penalty.

“Kuhehehe, well, it can happen! Even experiments rarely succeed at once! They go through trial and error, and then-”

“I told you to shut up, Kruelie.”

After seeing Faust’s fierce and piercing gaze, Kruelly closed his mouth. Normally, he would have teased her by saying, “What? Shall we have a match?” but the atmosphere wasn’t right for that.

“I’m really sorry about the reinforcement treaty, Faust. Naturally, we won’t just sit still.”

“And what are you going to do about it? How will you compensate?”

“You mentioned it briefly before, right? The first goal is to delay the reinforcement treaty as much as possible… But now that the Minis delegation has arrived at the Fubell palace, that can’t be stopped. So let us help you achieve the second goal as much as possible.”

Kruelly used her fan to carefully cover her mouth while speaking.

This was a critical moment where she couldn’t afford to provoke Faust. If she did, the contact with the “Demon Army user” could be completely cut off.

“How?”

“Users who want to get stronger… All you need to do is connect them with users who have enough strength to hold hands with them and maintain security.”

“Leeha! What nonsense are you talking about? Where would I suddenly find such people?”

“We can find them.”

Snap! Kruelly quickly folded her fan and sent a whispered message to Faust.

There was a moment of silence. Faust’s expression was gradually calming down.

“…Can we really connect with such individuals?”

“They also hold negative emotions towards the person you’re after. You know that very well.”

“Hmm, that’s true… I heard there was such a battle within Fubell.”

Faust nodded. Kruelly’s suggestion meant that the individual she mentioned was undoubtedly a powerful ally.

“Alright. Then, please do it.”

“Understood. I’ll get in touch soon. Oh, and… There might be an opportunity for revenge against Leeha.”

“How so? Can you locate where he is?”

“Well, that’s something we’ll have to wait and see… But whether he’s there or not, we’ll definitely be able to deal him a blow. Don’t worry and wait. I’ll contact you again later.”

Kruelly left the safe spot with a snicker.

She was well aware of Faust’s suspicious gaze on her, so she sent a whisper first.

“Stay hidden, Sasuke.”

“Yes.”

Currently, Faust didn’t have a precise understanding of Choyo’s organization.

She only knew as much as she could glean from her profession’s characteristics and her contact with NPCs.

Naturally, she had to keep Sasuke and the others hidden from her.

“Get in touch with Jyar. Let’s meet soon. This time, not just one Igor, but some of Jyar’s people should come as well.”

“Isn’t there a chance they might cause trouble?”

“Well, those fellows of mine have caused trouble before. If they say they’ve found a way to overturn the rankings, I’ll have to humbly bow my head, won’t I?”

“Understood.”

The forces that Kruelly mentioned were Igor and Jyar.

Despite being branded as pawns for the Demon Army, joining forces with Faust would align with their desire for strength and their purpose of expanding their influence in Middle Earth.

“And… After the reinforcement treaty is signed, Leeha will receive a castle, right? Is that certain?”

“Yes, it’s definite. It was announced through the broadcast, and we also confirmed it from the NPCs we bought inside the Fubell palace.”

“Good. Once it’s decided which castle Leeha will get, let me know immediately. I’ll have to give Faust a chance to vent her frustrations as well.”

“I hope our frustrations will be relieved as well.”

“Hehe. Indeed. Oh! Continue to keep track of Alexander’s location. Even though Leeha knows that Chimeras are weak against fire, I don’t know how he found out… Anyway, if Alexander appears too soon, Faust’s forces will be significantly weakened.”

“Understood, Okasan.”

It wasn’t only Faust who was fuming against Leeha. Kruelly had also accumulated grievances against him. He wasn’t part of the Demon Army, yet he sought to cooperate with them and push back the human alliance.

Once Sasuke confirmed that Faust’s gaze was completely gone, he used Teleportation to leave.

* * *

“Ughhh….”

“Are you awake?”

“Yes. Are you already going to work?”

“What is she talking about? I woke you up to have dinner.”

“What?”

In real time, after meeting with Shinnara, he immediately came in and guarded the delegation in the Plains of March. He barely got a few hours of sleep until dawn. Of course, he couldn’t survive on just two or three hours of sleep.

“It’s, it’s not 9 a.m. now, it’s 9 p.m.?”

“That’s right. Hurry and eat.”

Yawning, Leeha got up, already realizing that it might have been over three days in Middle Earth.

What happened to the reinforcement treaty? Surely, even if she was logged out, the compensation wouldn’t disappear, but you never know. After all, Middle Earth is a game designed to torment players!

“Oh, by the way, son.”

“Yes?”

“That… about the restaurant.”

“Ah! Yes. What happened? Did you meet that Lee Soo-Baek person?”

“Yeah, well… he said he had a suitable property. How about going to take a look next time? He said it will be auctioned, so the price should be reasonable…”

Supporting Leeha as she hurriedly changed her position in the wheelchair, her mother broached the subject.

Leeha had spoken with confidence, but she knew it could be somewhat burdensome from her mother’s perspective. So, Leeha answered even more confidently.

“Uh, alright. I’ll take care of the money. Don’t worry and just try it out.”

“What? Without even seeing the place or knowing the price?”

“You trust him, so I’m sure he’ll handle it well. Ah, let’s go take a look next time. It will be a place you’ll be running, so I should know the location too.”

“Yeah, sure, sure. Let’s go together next time.”

He had legendary-grade equipment obtained from Kuzgunak’s Lair. There were even five of them.

Moreover, after the national war broadcast and video footage spread, the value of Middle Earth was skyrocketing even further! Naturally, there was a high demand for gold and items.

“And that’s not all. Leeha.”

Now, what awaited him when he logged in? Leeha quickly transferred his consciousness to the capsule and logged in.

As soon as he fell to the capital of Fubell, an announcement popped up.

[Fubell-Minis Reinforcement Treaty Concluded-2]

You have completed the quest.

Reward: You can choose a monopolized city for upper domain.

Reward Claim Location: Central Palace of Elstock, the capital of Fubell

Your level has increased.

“Leeha, there you go. Clean level up!”

As Leeha expected, the reinforcement treaty went smoothly.

And as he had hoped, the reward was still available. Leeha checked the friends’ list as soon as he logged in and then rushed to the palace. No, he attempted to rush.

Wooaaaah! Just a few seconds after logging in, a cyan-colored liquid oozed from his shoulder, but fortunately, it didn’t spread.

[Kyuu!]

“Ah, Mr. Blaugrun! Can you use magic?”

[Kyuu Kyu, Kyuuuuu!]

Leeha received summoning and skill magic as a partner. Each one allowed him to summon his partner or fly to the partner’s location.

It was something Leeha also had, so it was only natural for a dragon to have it too.

‘I wonder if creatures that can’t communicate can use magic?’

He couldn’t communicate with them at all, so….

Leeha shook his head with uncertainty, but while Leeha was absent, Blaugrun, who had been alone, was enthusiastically rubbing his face against Leeha’s cheek.

“Well, I’ll figure it out eventually. Alright, let’s go claim the city!”

Leeha lightly stepped towards the palace. It was the moment that would become the first in his ‘individual’ position, not as part of a group.