Matan’s Shooter

The Curve Shot learned from Elizabeth.

Leeha watched as Elizabeth aimed at him.

He also saw Kaztor use some kind of skill and then hide behind Kyle.

Before Elizabeth pulled the trigger, Leeha thought he should first eliminate the source of trouble.

‘Even though the “Mana Vaporizing Shot” worked, he still used a skill… Was I overthinking?’

Leeha had to doubt himself.

Due to that strange skill, his attacks might just end up floating in the air. In that case, wasn’t it better to aim at Elizabeth’s gun to make her miss?

But Leeha couldn’t take such a gamble.

“Brown! Bess! You fools! You, you foolish friends!”

“Senior!”

Browless and Leeha quickly approached them.

Brown rapidly approached Kaztor and supported Kyle, while Elizabeth ran towards Browless.

“Less! Less!”

“Bess! You fool, why! Why did you do that—without even telling me! Brown! Brown!”

After hugging Elizabeth, Browless also embraced Brown, who came over.

Brown, holding up Kyle, joined in the hug with Browless.

Elizabeth held them both and cried her heart out.

Finally, the previous generation Three Musketeers had reunited.

『Pierce』 Brown.

『Accuracy』 Elizabeth.

『Rapidfire』, Browless. Seeing them, Leeha slowly lifted his head. He thought for sure that tears would be flowing from his body connected to the Middle Earth terminal.

* * *

After their emotional reunion, Browless hurriedly spoke with red-rimmed eyes.

“What happened? Why did you come all the way here—Ah, is it the son you mentioned before? Can I see his face once—”

“No!”

As he attempted to unveil Kyle’s hood, Elizabeth stopped him.

Seeing her shake her head, Browless was so startled he couldn’t continue his actions.

“Sorry, less. But we don’t have time. Was it Leeha-ssi? Are you able to shoot Kaztor?”

“Yes? Ah, yes. That’s correct. Mr. Brown.”

“Shoot. Quickly! We have to kill him. At the very least, we need to inflict some fatal injury to buy us time to enter Saur Land.”

Click, Leeha pulled the bolt and loaded a bullet first.

While he couldn’t fully understand everything Brown said, he didn’t ask further.

Leeha raised Black Bass.

“Black, devour.”

—Hehehe… the taste of this fancy blood. Know you the joy of gnawing at a well-hidden life’s vitality?—

With Black Bass’ confident voice, Leeha pulled the trigger.

Ba-boom!

The gunshot reverberated loudly, but there was nothing at the spot where Kaztor had been.

“Where?”

Without panicking, Leeha quickly scanned the surroundings.

Just then, a voice came from behind!

“Ha Leeha! Yet again you’re ruining my work—”

Chiyou had pulled Kaztor out and was blocking in front of him.

As soon as Leeha saw Chiyou, he turned his head. Did Kidd and Luger miss Chiyou?

That was not the case.

—Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Aaaah—!”

Kidd’s countless bullets, and Luger’s explosive cannons that absorbed all the gunshots, were heard.

Though many were evaded, quite a number of hits had landed on Chiyou’s body.

Her figure, holding Kaztor tightly, flew into the distance.

‘Chiyou sacrificed herself?’

Leeha was surprised. She, who always prioritized her own life above all else, protected someone?

When she rushed to save Kaztor, she must have foreseen that she would be attacked as soon as she redirected her focus from the confrontation with Kidd and Luger.

Nonetheless, she saved Kaztor and bore the wounds.

In other words, this meant that Kaztor held enough value, and there was only one reason why that could be.

“Damn it!”

Having quickly concluded his thoughts, Leeha shifted the aim of his gun back to Kaztor, who Chiyou held in her arms.

Although she cradled him close, hitting the seasoned dark elf wasn’t a problem.

“Multi-Warhead Shot!”

“Blood Mist!”

Unfortunately, he hadn’t expected this.

He hadn’t anticipated that she could use vampire skills even in broad daylight as a Vampire Queen.

Though the power was reduced, it was enough for evasion.

Leeha, seeing the hazy red mist, was taken aback. He had known that Chiyou had such a skill

But what happened to Kaztor?

“C—crazy… how is this—”

Why had he also turned into a fog of blood?

『Hoo… I thought I would be late, but this was easier than I expected.』

Chiyou wasn’t a fool.

She knew very well how she had become the “Vampire Queen.”

The moment Bathory’s fangs touched her nape, it happened!

Not only drinking blood, but if transfusion was possible!

『I can use it enough for my own purposes. Khuuhuuhut!』

“You crazy bitch!”

Boom────────……!

General attacks wouldn’t work on the blood fog that had resisted multi-warhead missiles. The bullets simply passed through the fog.

‘Black! What’s happening?! Is that some form of evasion?’

—Isn’t it similar to me being embedded in their body? Remember, contractor. I can only drink blood when I am connected to them.—

‘Exactly! That fog is “blood” fog! Even if it just brushes by, you have to—damn it!’

Would it nullify all attacks?

If they intended to capture it, how should they do it?

‘The range of the blood fog itself isn’t wide. It can move in a fog state, but… the overall distribution of the fog is low.’

What if they attacked everything within the fog’s range?

Area magic?

But he had no area magic.

Multi-Warhead shells spread wide, but they didn’t bombard the entire range; they just created a relatively wide spread.

‘I don’t have area magic… no, I do. I do.’

If there was any possibility, it was just one.

Something that couldn’t be used right now, that’s all.

Leeha bit his lip.

Kaztor, who managed to find his consciousness within the blood fog, raised his voice.

『Haa… haa… vampire.』

『I’m not aware of any instance where a Dark Elf became a vampire, but… I believe the teacher will find it out better. Some of my blood is currently being transfused to recover, but it’s slow—』

『This is enough… You’ve done me a great favor. Huff!』

Something black flickered from the fog.

The fact that skills could be used meant that attacks were also possible! As Leeha hesitated and stepped back, something caught on his heel.

Leeha turned his head to look back.

“Stop, Kaztor.”

『Pierce』 Brown.

“It won’t go as you wish anymore.”

『Accuracy』 Elizabeth.

“Rotzak. I’m so glad I can finally shoot your face.”

And 『Rapidfire』 Browless.

The Three Musketeers pointed all their firearms at the sky.

『Kyaaaa──────!』

Confirming that they were no longer being restrained, Alexander and Bailephus took positions.

“If you mo~ve~ even a bit~”

“I will tell you we’re going to blow you~”

“Blow you to bits~”

Luger, holding the Acht-Acht, shouted from a distance while Kidd stood by Leeha’s side.

Leeha shivered for a moment. Even as he spoke, his jaw trembled.

“…almost turned into a chicken.”

He wondered how goosebumps must have felt on the physical body connected to the Middle Earth network.

Leeha hoped he wouldn’t embarrass himself.

* * *

At least to Leeha, further combat seemed meaningless.

Chiyeo and Kaztor weren’t foolish enough to challenge the fully tilted scales.

『Hmm… Poor humans, do you think this will suffice?』

However, the voice wasn’t as despairing as Leeha had imagined.

『Elizabeth, oh, Elizabeth. Is this how you repay the blessing I bestowed upon you?』

“Shut that mouth!”

────────────……!!!!

Elizabeth instantly fired.

To Leeha, the gun seemed too long to even hold properly. Kidd’s eyes were also fixed on the gun she was wielding.

‘That is…’

‘The gun used by the 《Arcane Sniper》, isn’t it?’

At least she used it. However, both Leeha and Kidd guessed that what she just fired wasn’t the Arcane Bullet.

There had been no change in Kaztor, who was in a state of Blood Mist.

『Kaztor-nim.』

Chiyou’s urgent voice was heard.

Kaztor’s voice resonated soon after.

『Ha, did you think I would be bound by the magic of a weakened Gold Dragon upon entering the East? This… Me? But today, today… I will retreat.』

『Where do you think you’re going! 〈Electric Imprisonment〉!』

Pzzt― Pzztzt―!

Bailephus, who had approached unnoticed, cast a binding spell that Blaugrunn had attempted to use once.

The electric prison closed in from all sides, successfully surrounding the Blood Mist, but Chiyou did not seem particularly flustered.

Shuuuu…!

Something black began to spread out again, soon starting to push those confines away.

『Remember this. Kyle belongs to me. You all can’t do anything.』

“Don’t be ridiculous. We will definitely go to Saur Land and―”

『Heh, heh, heh, your mana surely can’t be traced there. But how long do you think you can stay there? And more importantly… do you think you can fix everything there?』

“We can. Even if we can’t, we won’t act according to your will.”

『Fine, fine. Have it your way. You will all come back to me, crying. Go.』

『Yes.』

Chiyou hurriedly began to move.

She knew better than anyone that the skill’s duration was running out. Nevertheless, she did not show any sign of panic.

Booom—————ooom!

But their figures vanished immediately.

“A Dark Elf…”

“And a Vampire attribute…”

“Even then, it was Chiyou, the Vampire Queen the second Bathory, who directly infused her blood.”

Leeha was deep in thought.

“Huuu… It’s okay, it’s much better now. From now on―”

Thud, thud, thud.

However, there was no need for complicated thinking.

NPCs understood it better than users did.

“―Listening to these friends should give us some responses. Right, friends?”

With a smiling face, Browless squeezed in between Elizabeth and Brown, putting his arms around their shoulders.

The sunset was still setting in the sky.

* * *

“This is overcooked.”

“You call this overcooked? Do Americans eat raw meat?”

When Kidd prodded the meat, Luger knocked his stick away. Kidd slightly lifted his hat and glared at Luger.

“… In Germany, raw pork is considered a delicacy.”

“Th- that’s a very― very rare! Köln region cuisine only! How can someone who only knows about hamburgers talk about meat!”

Luger was shocked at the mention of cuisine from the Köln region in Germany.

Even though he tried desperately to counterattack, Kidd merely scoffed.

“Texas is the land of steak. Moreover, if we talk about the origin of hamburgers, it was German immigrants who brought them to America―”

“Shut up! You, you! Do you run a meat restaurant in real life!?”

“It’s common sense. Common. Sense.”

A sudden debate about the fundamentals of meat cuisine ensued!

Kidd and Luger kept boasting about whose country’s cooking methods were superior.

The reason both could have such an animated discussion was simple. They weren’t the ones cooking.

Sizzle————–

“Hmm?”

“Ugh, smoke! There’s smoke!”

When the cook intentionally pressed down on the meat to create smoke, Kidd and Luger complained.

The cook lifted a blackened bass, inserting a magazine.

Click.

“Hey, can you two just keep your mouths shut if you’re not going to help? Just… silently eat, okay?”

“I-I was just teaching that American, who knows nothing about meat, a lesson!”

“Once again, Texas is the land of steak.”

Wedged between Kidd and Luger cooking the meat, Leeha finally had to take drastic measures.

“You guys really test me, 〈Soul Link〉!”

────────────────!

“Ugh!”

“C’mon―”

Luger and Kidd briefly turned their heads as a red light burst out. As the light faded, a giant bear emerged.

“Grr?”

“A, a bear… Yes, right. Ha Leeha, you―”

“Koma, I’ll give you this chunk here, so just move these two humans over there.”

The steak chunk Leeha tossed was quickly caught and eaten by the bear.

“Gr…”

“Move it, bear!”

“Do you have any idea how much this coat costs!?”

Although they could escape, Luger and Kidd followed the bear’s guidance(?).

After pushing the two far enough from the makeshift grill to the campfire, Leeha could finally focus on cooking again.

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