Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

Anyone who could imagine such a sight couldn’t help but smile.

“Well, maybe this isn’t such a bad thing after all.”

Ghibrid, the one who had most recently caused Kijung’s death, was known to be ruthless and terrifying, having suffered an attack of unknown origin, as heard from a member of Byulcho.

He recalled the days when he faced Toon. Didn’t it take quite a long time to defeat him?

Leeha: Kijung, you should at least acknowledge one thing. Can such a person be a tank?”

The courage and determination to face an opponent who instilled fear in him, not once but twice or thrice, even daring to jest and engage in bare-handed combat!

“Kek… He seem to have improved.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it seems like some weight has been lifted off Kijung’s shoulders… even a little.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing, just talking to myself. Let’s hurry.”

With a chuckle, he moved his steps. Of course, as it was the courtyard of the Royal Palace of Fibiel, he couldn’t move recklessly.

Carefully avoiding hidden traps scattered around, he headed towards the front courtyard where the personnel waiting for him were.

“You still have a face I want to punch.”

“Hey, can’t spit on someone’s face while wearing clothes, but why are you saying that as soon as you see me after ages?”

Luger stood with a frowned expression, carrying luggage, looking relaxed at first glance but to Leeha, he seemed prepared and tense as if he were “organized chaos.”

“Let’s hurry. Do you know how much time I have wasted because of you?”

“Just go in first. Let’s go!”

Kidd also stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall at the entrance. Both of them had postures that complemented each other perfectly.

“If we could just enter like that, we would have entered naturally,” muttered Luger, bringing it to a perfect conclusion to his complaints!

Finally, the Three Musketeers reunited. Moreover, it was in front of the Mage’s headquarters in Fibiel where Kaztor, the Dark Elf, resided, and where Fibiel, the chief mage, dwelled at the serene Palace in Fibiel.

“Stop, stop! Please show your permit!”

Despite seeing Luger and Kidd standing in front of the entrance to the West Palace for a while, the guards at the entrance rudely blocked the Three Musketeers. The sharp voice and rough attitude were nothing more than a brief indication of how strict the internal control was at the moment.

“Brown Bess Musketeer Academy – belonging to, first disciple Kidd, along with two others, and a dragon to assist with the investigation. The royal seal is stamped.”

Kidd took out the permit from his bag and presented it. While the document itself was nothing special, it contained enough words to rattle Luger and the others.

“What? ‘First disciple,’ who came up with that? We are just ‘two others’ at the end? Without even an introduction?”

“If we’re inheriting the Three Musketeers’ legacy, I should be the number one, shouldn’t I? You damn rascal? Need me to remind you again?”

“Ahem, be quiet.”

Ignoring Luger and Leeha’s grumbling quietly, Kidd waited patiently. After inspecting the permit for a while, the guard returned it to Kidd with a nod.

“You are allowed to investigate Kaztor’s residence and laboratory. Follow me.”

Finally, the massive door opened. There were countless people inside the West Palace, with the most noticeable being those wearing robes of the Mage’s Guild.

“It looks like you hardly find Mage Robes in the Mage’s Guild headquarters. Who are those people in black outfits?”

“Due to the downsizing reform, and also because the Mage’s Guild headquarters were prohibited from use, almost all personnel were expelled, except for essential internal personnel for item concealment locations or deactivation of transparency skills.”

“There’s no way they would let Mage Corps’s members, the special investigation targets, move around the Mage Corps’s headquarters.”

“Oh, so the people walking around now are-“

“They’re investigators directly appointed by the Chief Justice, the ones who persistently pursued us right after the end of the war.”

“Why did they-“

“…there’s such a thing.”

“Isn’t the Chief Justice a judge? No, in Middle Earth, should we say it’s a judge who is also a prosecutor? Are these investigators the ones who chased us during the war- Ah… Bluebeard?”

Although Luger did not reply to any of the questions, Leeha interpreted this as a signal of agreement. The first user to notice that Bluebeard had awakened was Luger.

“How did you find out about it?”

“Was there no treachery?”

It seemed like a deep investigation had been conducted on Luger regarding these matters.

“Crazy, they’re going all out… Surprisingly, I’ve had anything but a peaceful gaming life, haven’t I?”

The nickname “Reality Itself” was not given for no reason. In fact, Leeha himself had gone through various hardships, so his gaming life was far from peaceful. It was just a different kind of experience altogether.

How long had he been climbing up and down the stairs chasing after the NPC[?] to guide him? Even Leeha, who prided himself on his spatial perception abilities, lost track of where he was going and how many steps he had taken.

“The path… feels strange, doesn’t it?”

“It’s a creepy place.”

This was true for Luger too, especially for those with heightened animal instincts. Although it was clearly a staircase that had just been passed, there were several instances where the length seemed to change, confusing pedestrians. Blaugrunn, who had been silent all this time, spoke up around that time.

“It’s a basic mana trickery. Humans like this kind of thing.”

“Is that so?”

“If you try to see with your eyes, you’ll only be deceived. And now we’re here.”

When Blaugrunn said they had arrived, the NPC, who had been guiding them, turned back with a frown.

“What are you surprised about, human? Do you think you can deceive me with a clumsy mana illusion?”

“No, sir. Then, may the three humans and the dragon enter with your permission. However, please be aware that unauthorized removal of items from the premises is not allowed. I will wait here.”

Where the NPC stopped was in the middle of the staircase. He pointed to the wall and stopped. When the Three Musketeers stood there puzzled, Blaugrunn moved first.

“Leeha-nim? What are you doing, not entering.”

“Wh-where?”

“Where is it? Right here.”

His body swiftly disappeared into the wall.

Without any sense of resistance, the Three Musketeers threw themselves into a different space than before. After passing through the wall, the place they saw was like another paradise.

“It’s spacious! And those patterns over there…”

“It’s certain. Kaztor.”

“There’s no time to make a fuss.”

The giant magic circle drawn on the floor, with two intersecting triangles forming a star shape, was something that should have been forgotten but couldn’t be.

“We surely don’t not know what we are looking for, right?”

“If we find it, it may not remain a secret. Know that whoever conceals it must be willing to die.”

“That’s what I want to say, Luger.”

Though Kaztor’s last research facility was left behind, known as the ‘Poubiel Chief Wizard’s Private Research Facility’ in name only, the trio felt disappointed that there were no significant achievements credited to its location and immediately began their investigation.

In the expansive research facility, there were numerous items scattered without order, from various experimental tools to all kinds of books, enough to frustrate the searchers, yet the trio searched meticulously, determined not to miss a thing.

“It seems like there are no writings in the Dark Elf language at least.”

After flipping through one book swiftly, Leeha placed it back on the shelf before moving on, causing a commotion behind him.

“This is the royal palace of Durbiel, after all. They wouldn’t have done something so foolish.”

“He learned how to maintain the polymorph so flawlessly from the Gorilla Paleos. After infiltrating among humans with a firm determination to play the part perfectly, would he really engage in such behavior?”

“… Attacking for just saying one word, see these guys. I just said it!”

As if waiting to seize an opportunity to attack, Kidd and Luger caught on to Leeha’s words and went on.

Blaugrunn watched the three with a subtle smile playing on his lips.

“It seems like you might understand what friendship feels like. It’s not a common emotion among dragons.”

“W- What are you suddenly talking about?”

“Oh, nothing. Just a feeling I got from watching you and those humans. That’s all.”

“What- Ridiculous comments, and friendship my foot! Blaugrunn, please hurry and find it. It might look different from an ordinary book if it’s something like ‘Matan’s Shooter Journal.’”

“Understood, kek.”

Blaugrunn didn’t even spare a glance at Kaztor’s experimental tools. Knowing his design to be ‘a curious dragon,’ Leeha found this attitude even more intriguing.

“Isn’t it natural? They said Kaztor was a genius Dark Elf in manipulating mana. Then why was he ‘posing as the Chief Wizard’ here?

Or did the research he was conducting here while disguised as Lotzak truly hold any significance? With everything being exposed?

If you think that way, there’s a high possibility that everything they were researching here was just a show. Merely pretending to research known magic while setting up the facility?”

For a curious dragon like Blaugrunn, it would have been a magic long finished.

“Perhaps if Blaugrunn feels the slightest bit of charm, that would be more remarkable.”

The skill of Kaztor must have been at an adult-level dragon or above, lucky that such a thing didn’t happen. Kaztor was a prudent mage as Kidd had mentioned, refraining from engaging in adventurous attempts such as dabbling in new magical research when there was a possibility of someone entering or guests coming to the laboratory in his absence.

After over two hours of relentless searching by the three individuals and the dragon, they couldn’t find any results. Even when they changed their search areas and did cross-checks, wondering if they had missed something, it was the same result.

“Phew… It would’ve been easier if the laboratory was straightforward to find. The ‘disguised laboratory’ was much more difficult to locate.”

“I agree. There is nothing that seems like an ancient scroll here.”

“Um… Did they take it?”

“No way. Right after the incident, this place was sealed off by everyone,” Kidd nodded.

Luger looked at Kidd in disbelief.

“You guys mentioned that you lost track of that bastard while fighting, and he might have sneaked in here…”

“No, the truth is… isn’t there a ‘messenger’? Literally, right after the incident, this place was sealed in the name of the king. Upon verifying the seal, the headmaster and I chased after Ha Leeha and shot bullets into him.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

The time between Kaztor exploding the chunk of magic and fleeing wasn’t long. While the party pursued, the heroes from the Second Human-Demon War appeared and bought some time, but they still didn’t have much freedom.

Amidst this, while Kidd was handling the scene of the incident, he also obtained the renewal of the seal on the Chief Mage’s Research Institute from the king. Meanwhile, Browless, who came chasing after him with Ha Leeha, was also there.

“Well done. It’s not just a mere [shot] gun.”

As Kidd gazed at Ha Leeha with an admiring expression, Ha Leeha looked at him strangely.

While the Three Musketeers were pondering dejectedly, Blaugrunn began pulling out dozens of books using magic.

“B-Blaugrunn, what are you doing?”

“Huh? We’ve visually confirmed everything, but we need to check the content now.”

“Content? Didn’t we check the content so far?”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

Blaugrunn smirked. Ha Leeha and Kidd couldn’t understand what Blaugrunn was doing, but Luger was different.

“Damn it! Was even that a disguise? You fools! How did you forget how they got in here?”

“Oops… Uh-oh?”

“Oh no! Did you alter the appearance and content of the books?”

Ha Leeha and Kidd clapped in realization, while Blaugrunn looked bewildered instead.