Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

He immediately activated the crystal ball. In the southernmost desert of Fibiel, there was a small village and Dragon Lair, where once Basillisk had been defeated in one blow.

If there was no special quest route, except for a few users related to the quest, it was a village of NPCs where there were few passing by, making it a place where most people didn’t even feel the need to deploy defense forces if they hadn’t determined the goals of Igor and Faust. Kidd organized his thoughts as soon as he arrived.

“Even though I talked about Lugermon, Ha Leeha, you didn’t chase after it. Luger, who has already logged in, feels wronged to the point of pursuing me… In the meantime, the place you turned towards is the Shazrashian Federation.”

Kidd was meticulous in tracking the movements of Leeha and Luger. He expected Leeha to immediately chase after Manticore-Luger, but Leeha did not.

And he had recently learned that Igor and Faust had been running amok on the old continent to stop them. Even so, Shazrashian? Isn’t it too inefficient of a route to move to stop Igor and Faust?

“You wouldn’t have moved without any purpose. Then what was the reason for you to go there?”

In the small and humble village with even no guards, there were not many buildings. Kidd glanced around briefly and headed towards the pub. Without a doubt, the pub in such a small village was the most convenient place to obtain information.

“In such a small village… that doesn’t seem to have any particular significance, what is the reason for sending me out?”

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Kidd took off his hat and lowered his head. He had thought that if there were any troubles here, the duo would likely be present, but there had been no sign of them so far. As he leaned against the swing door, gunfire rang out from inside the pub.

Taaaaang—!

It was the sound of musket gunpowder exploding, a sound not heard in a long time.

Kidd instinctively drew his Crimson Geckos. He had a hunch that the musket gunpowder explosion in the small village pub was definitely not an accident.

However, Kidd felt that the atmosphere inside the pub was somewhat agitated. People were sitting around a round table and some were excitedly crossing their arms behind them.

The white smoke from the musket was rising there.

“Is this… a gambling den?”

The bustling atmosphere in the pub, as if it were an everyday occurrence, relaxed Kidd’s tension. Kidd naturally joined the crowd. He judged that it would be easy to obtain the information he wanted in this place, the most lively spot in the pub.

“Bill, if you mess around one more time, I won’t let it slide.”

“Mess around? Me? Wahaha!”

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Kidd had the belief that he wouldn’t get tangled up in the antics of these unruly NPCs in this small village more than anything else.

“Fight me!”

“Have a duel, a duel!”

The onlookers goaded the gamblers, as if a good show was unfolding before them.

Kidd quickly assessed the situation. The disgruntled look on the 148 with a hat and a musket pistol in hand, the contrasting faces of a scruffy, bearded man, and their shouting. It was enough information to understand how the gambling scene was unfolding.

“That bastard just messed with us again! He thinks we didn’t see the smoke coming out of the pouch just now-”

Clang-

“Got any proof.”

-Thud-

It happened in the blink of an eye. In that short moment when Kidd turned his eyes away from the gambling table to look elsewhere, the musket pistol was now inside the mouth of the NPC with a hat.

“Huh? What just happe-?”

Kidd’s eyes widened. Yes, he did try to look elsewhere. But even then, missing the hand movement of the NPC?

“Tsk, you sh- sh- you basta- bas-”

“You shouldn’t draw your rifle when you’re defenseless. The only one suffering will be your mouth, not mine. Isn’t that right? Keep yelling, only your mouth will hurt, and paying the price for drawing a rifle means losing teeth and more. Shoo.”

The bearded man chuckled nonchalantly. However, even with broken teeth and blood dripping from the hand of the NPC with a hat, the musket pistol was clearly still clenched. Despite holding the rifle, the expression on the NPC with the hat remained unchanged.

“You- you, you cun-”

“Wanna try it? If you can hit me with the back of your head blown off, that’s fine too! Boss, looks like you’ll have to work hard to clean the blood today! The brain matter is so sticky, it’s hard to clean!”

With the rifle barrel in his mouth, the NPC with a hat couldn’t move recklessly. The situation was clearly a defeat for the NPC with a hat, but their deadlock did not seem to be resolved.

“Do you think I’ll go easy on you even after hearing you say you’ll kill me?”

The cockiness of the hat-wearing NPC only provoked the actions of the bearded NPC.

Click, click…!

Kidd’s grip tightened gradually as he looked at the finger of the bearded NPC, slowly pulling the trigger of the musket pistol.

“If a gunfight breaks out here… even in a small town, it will get loud.”

So, why did Lark and Shin Nara send him here? Could it be that the NPC with a beard will cause trouble… a special case?

Just as Kidd was about to take a step back, the sunlight poured in through the saloon swing door.

“Stop and let go, wild Bill. It’s an order.”

Upon hearing the heavy voice, the hand of Wild Bill, the bearded man, paused. Onlookers immediately showed tense expressions upon hearing the voice.

“Who is this, isn’t it Sheriff Huff?”

“You don’t have an obligation to pay off gambling debts by cheating. As the sheriff of Deadwood, I order you to put the rifle down.”

Kidd was absorbed in the conversation between the two.

“Wild Bill…? Sheriff Huff?”

Kidd looked at the bearded man’s face and then at the sheriff’s face. There was no need to match faces and names.

“If I don’t put it down, then the f—”

Thunk.

“Ugh, uhh?”

Kidd blinked once again. A musket pistol had somehow appeared at Sheriff Huff’s waist. The rifle barrel of the already pulled musket pistol was pointing towards Wild Bill’s head.

“I have to enforce the law. As a sheriff.”

Kidd quickly shut his mouth that had involuntarily opened.

The relief of not recognizing any users around was an unfamiliar experience. At least one thing was certain – this time, it was truly like nothing he had ever seen before.

The movement of pulling out a rifle and aiming at the NPC, who used the musket pistol, was missed. At least within Middle Earth, the very action that Kidd himself was most confident in performing was that action.

“And twice at that!”

The first one was Wild Bill, with a nose as sharp as a knife. The second one was Sheriff Huff, with a forehead quite far apart. Kidd felt a sensation flowing down his spine, though he didn’t have time to confirm whether it was true or not.

Shwaaa-…!

It was because of the hologram screen in front of Kidd’s eyes.

『The Good, the Bad, and…

-1』

Description:

“Bill, wild Bill, wild-Bill-Hitchcock. It’s widely known that he’s not your average gambler… What is he after in this small town? If he’s hiding his intentions until the end, I have no choice but to do what I can…”

“That darn Huff. As a sheriff, that guy just cares about money. Just the fact that he got paid by Wyatt Huff in Deadwood means that no gambler can ignore me! If he doesn’t pay up until the end… Oh well. I’ll have to take matters into my own hands.”

The small town of Deadwood is on the edge of a crisis. However, the two who know each other’s skills well are in need of each other’s help. What can you do for the peace of the town?

Content: Meet Wild Bill and Sheriff Huff respectively and listen to their stories

Reward: 6,000 Gold, 820 Experience, the Good, the Bad, and…

-2

Condition for Failure: If either Wild Bill or Sheriff Huff is killed by the other

In case of failure: Return to the original quest route 『Outlaw on the Law, Desperado』 – Cancel and return to the original quest route?

Kidd’s expression began to change gradually.

‘Cancelling the quest that was not undertaken, and returning to the original quest route… Ah, by now, you must have met the NPCs, right? That stubborn bastard with the pointed nose is trying to chase away the Sacred Knights as soon as he sees them, and the badge-wearing sheriff is going crazy trying to chase away the Virtue Knights as soon as he sees them! What do you think, Kidd? Can you control them?’

Just then, Lark’s voice resounded.

Kidd couldn’t respond to his words.

It was then that a confirmation assassination flew towards Kidd, who was reading the quest window over and over to make sure what he had seen was true.

Lark: Oh, by the way, when you meet Igor or Faust, you must contact us first. Since you took on the job, you have to do it, as those bastards have a high chance of “second job advancement,” and you definitely can’t handle them alone.

Kidd: Is that so, “second job advancement”?

Lark: Ah-hah, Kidd, are you also a police?”

Lark’s casual words and the hologram screen in front of Kidd’s eyes made him tense.

Kidd: I am a police. This is the first time I am fascinated while playing Middle Earth. What kind of sick hobby is this, locking up the world of “Macaroni Western” in one place?

Lark: What’s that supposed to mean?

However, it wasn’t fear or apprehension driving him.

Even to Lark’s question, Kidd just smiled without answering.

※※

“Blasted son of a gun… cursed…!”

Luger muttered as he made his way towards the Bottleneck’s Smithy, still unable to forget the humiliation he had endured a few days ago when he logged in and heard Kidd’s mocking words.

“Lugermon is your responsibility, Luger.”

“What the heck are you talking about? Lugermon?”

“… Are you going to play dumb?”

“No, I genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about! Damn it, what’s happening to me!”

Stung by a Manticores’s sting and forcibly fused by Gibrid’s power, how could he forget that time? However, as the person directly involved, Luger couldn’t know how the ‘result’ turned out, and he only heard about it through Kidd’s words.

“A monster? Me? Damn Kidd, what the heck is this Lugermon name!”

Kicking a pebble on the street, Luger’s anger was still not subsided. Never before since starting Middle Earth had he felt such a deep sense of shame.

“You damn Lugermon bastard! You should’ve at least killed Kidd if you were gonna go down like this! Running away!”

Strictly speaking, Kidd and Manticore-Luger didn’t have a showdown. Gibrid’s intervention made him aware of the Chimaera legion’s retreat, making it impossible for Kidd and Manticore-Luger to engage in a fight. It was more of a suspended match situation than a draw. But Kidd wasn’t one to accept it as it was.

“With wings at your disposal, you’re pretty good at running away.”

“Krrraaa!”

Kidd, in his own irritated state, was soothing his frayed nerves by teasing Luger, but Luger couldn’t grasp that far. Thus, whenever Luger recalled Kidd’s words, he had no way to vent his anger besides yelling into a pillow.

“Beard Brothers! Get me Bottleneck!”

“The boss is off today! If you want bullets, it’s already prepared there.”

Upon entering the Bottleneck’s Smithy and causing a commotion, beard Brothers hesitated in response.

“Huh? Dwarven blacksmiths taking a break on their own accord? You should be working like slaves!”

“If that’s what you think, huh? Our boss is no longer at your level to deal with!”

“That’s right! Thanks to the Lord, how much he has changed!”

Not only the dwarves’ unusual attitude but also their words touched a nerve in Luger.

“The Lord? Are you talking about Leeha? So what happened, then?”

Luger muttered between clenched teeth. Beard Brothers tried to cover up the mistake, but it was too late. Sensing Luger’s heightened sensitivity due to the Lugermon or Manticore-Luger incident, they couldn’t hold back and eventually had to spill everything.