Matan’s Shooter

Leeha suddenly wondered.

How much had the enemy grasped about their movements?

“Come to think of it, how much do those guys actually know? Even if Lark and Shin Nara told them everything sincerely, there’d still be limitations. Faust lacks intelligence-gathering capabilities. So, they probably don’t know about our defense lines, right?”

That was the key issue. The enemy no longer had a user to provide them with information.

Chiyou’s defection!

Both Shinobigumi and Yamato would work for Chiyou.

With Chiyou having defected from the Demon King’s Army, it became highly unlikely that Bluebeard and Ghibrid would detect the special movements of the users.

“I feel relieved, but at the same time… I feel uneasy.”

It was good that the Demon King’s Army didn’t know, but then, what exactly was Chiyou doing and where?

Even in Prea’s last intelligence report, there was no mention of Chiyou related to Bluebeard.

‘While keeping Kyle around, along with Elizabeth and Brown… No, she even has Shinobigumi and Yamato at her disposal― not to mention, she can utilize the Vampire Queen’s power…’

Why wasn’t there any movement?

Leeha pondered for a moment. If she led everything and became a third force to intervene in the battle?

A battle of this scale couldn’t possibly have escaped Chiyou’s notice.

Perhaps she already knew about the gathered defensive forces as well as the imminent invasion of the Demon King’s Army?

‘It’s entirely possible.’

Even excluding the shot Kyle used, there were still six bullets of Arcane Bullet left.

‘If we take Bahamut, Tiamat, Le, and Ghibrid, the four main NPCs, as hostages!?’

Ghibrid wouldn’t be able to move the Manticore and Chimera recklessly.

Le, of course, could not be ignored. And Bahamut and Tiamat? Wouldn’t they have to stop the movements of all the dragons following them?

“This is troublesome.”

But waiting indefinitely for Chiyou to appear wasn’t an option.

The choice wasn’t theirs to make; it was up to the invading ‘other side’!

How could they stop the gears that had already started to turn?

“We can’t stop Arcane Bullet anyway, and worrying won’t provide any answers, so I’d be grateful if she just showed up.”

If Chiyou showed herself, then…

They’d just need to kill her.

If the one giving orders was eliminated, they’d have time to persuade Kyle, Elizabeth, and Brown.

‘If only I could find out how to release Elizabeth from being a vampire during that time, persuasion would be possible.’

Leeha shook his head and took out a crystal ball.

Arcane Sniper was not someone who could be dealt with by mere predictions. Leeha stopped thinking about Chiyou and Kyle.

“I wonder how much preparation has been completed.”

Dealing with the immediate threat took priority.

He teleported to Gaza City, to Bottleneck’s smithy.

* * *

“Bottleneck-ajussi! Is the thing I mentioned last time completed? Soon, tia―”

“Damn it all! The sample you gave me was already an incredibly complex item! Yet you’re rushing me after only two days, wanting multiple copies of something even larger and more intricate!?”

Leeha couldn’t even finish his sentence.

Even while unleashing a barrage of harsh words like lightning towards Leeha, Bottleneck neither looked at him nor stopped his hammering.

After concluding his calculations with Ram Hwayeon last time, Leeha had immediately asked Bottleneck to craft the requested item.

He had even brought an item to use as a sample and thought it could be made rather quickly. However, it didn’t come out as expected.

“Is there anything you need? I can somehow manage to get the necessary materials. Right now, making this should be our top priority.”

“… I understand. You already explained how this would be used. But — I can’t focus solely on this.”

“What? Why? Bottleneck-ssi, you are the head engineer of Gaza City! It’s your job to handle Gaza City’s affairs first!”

“That’s true. But I can’t ignore the requests from Kidd and Luger either!”

When Leeha tried to argue, Bottleneck finally looked up and met Leeha’s eyes.

A faint smile played on Bottleneck’s lips.

“Huh? What did they ask you to make?”

Requests from Kidd and Luger? If it was the ammunition they usually took, there was already a mountain of it stacked in the forge.

Boxes specifically storing ammunition for the Three Musketeers, Leeha, Luger, and Kidd, had been set up due to the importance and frequency of ammunition supply.

But a new request?

“Haha! It’s pretty funny. True to their name, the Three Musketeers showed up the same day, each whining at slightly different times! Their requests weren’t that hard, and they had already thought up designs, so I could quickly draft blueprints. That’s why your request got delayed, so understand that! But don’t worry, your stuff is being made by me personally, while the Beard Brothers are handling Kidd and Luger’s.”

“What?! The Beard Brothers! What are they making right now?!”

Leeha rushed into the forge.

If the Beard Brothers were working, it meant they were crafting the new items Kidd and Luger had requested!

“Phew, the Lord is here.”

“This is—”

“This is what Luger asked for.”

“This one belongs to Kidd.”

Leeha discovered two items. Each had more than one completed product.

“This is…”

Even looking at them, Leeha couldn’t predict their use.

—

“What are these? I mean, they look completely different from each other.”

Leeha first focused on Luger’s item.

Simply because it seemed easier to understand compared to Kidd’s, though Luger’s item didn’t make immediate sense either.

“Right, they are different.”

“Did Luger order several of these?”

“Yes. Haha, they might look simple, but getting the balance and center right was pretty tricky.”

The younger of the Beard Brothers wiped his nose smugly yet humbly boasted. Leeha could comprehend one thing.

“It looks… like a bullet.”

Among the items on the table, Leeha picked one up.

It was an elliptical object. Many times larger than a typical bullet, but similar up to a point.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

It started streamlined and then thickened.

The difference was that while regular bullets ended with a fixed cylindrical shape containing gunpowder, Luger’s item tapered off again into a streamlined shape.

“However, it seems to lack gunpowder… In that sense, it resembles Luger’s early cannonballs.”

Back in the days when bullets were propelled by the explosion of separately installed gunpowder instead of containing it within the bullet itself. The form was similar to initial cannonballs, like iron balls.

For Luger, who had mastered all sorts of modern ammunition, it was rather primitive.

Leeha wanted to check the item’s description.

But the Beard Hyung grabbed Leeha’s wrist, preventing him from doing so.

“If Luger finds out I told you or if you check in advance, he’ll raise a fuss. Hehe, just look for now.”

“Tsk, I’d love to say this is my blacksmith shop in my city! But you’re right. That bastard would curse me endlessly.”

From the dwarf’s words and actions, Leeha could deduce that his guess was somewhat accurate.

The fact that they prevented him from handling it, and that the Beard Brothers tried to gloss over it, indicated that Luger’s item was either a bullet or somehow related to bullets.

“Keke, alright then! Next is this. Do you know what this is?”

The dwarf, with an excited expression, pointed to the next item. Leeha immediately shook his head.

The second item was something he couldn’t even begin to imagine.

“I truly have no idea. A horn? But the holes all over…”

It looked vaguely circular but wasn’t quite a circle.

The item resembled a combination of a trumpet’s bell and a circular shape.

Moreover, there were numerous holes around the circle, making it appear even stranger.

The problem was that the holes were not small enough to be covered with fingers.

Could it be that you block the holes with your fist and blow into it to produce sound? But there didn’t seem to be a place to put your mouth.

“Don’t know? Hehe, let me give you a hint. Here, if you apply force to this part―”

Wham!

As the dwarf touched a part of the bell, four rods suddenly popped out.

“Whoa!? This is your hint? Is a horn with four directional wings supposed to be a hint?”

“Indeed, indeed!”

Leeha tilted his head and examined it once more.

The wings were aerodynamic, designed to minimize air resistance and maintain direction.

‘So, this thing that looks like a horn head is the front… with holes on the upper left, lower left, upper right, and lower right. Why?’

Judging by the aerodynamics, it was clear that it was meant to be shot.

That would mean this too was a kind of bullet…

‘How do you shoot this? The shape being fundamentally close to a ball means it could maybe be stuffed into a barrel and shot.’

But what would be the point?

This, too, lacking any gunpowder, bore similarities to Luger’s item. As Leeha shook his head and put it down, the Beard Brothers burst into hearty laughter.

It felt somewhat like Luger was mocking him, which somewhat dampened his spirits, but he didn’t have time to think about that now.

Leeha had to focus on Kidd’s item, having failed to determine the exact purpose of Luger’s items.

“Kidd’s items―oh, there are already three kinds?”

“Keke, if you couldn’t guess Luger’s, don’t even think about guessing this!”

The older dwarf of the Beard Brothers looked at Leeha with a confident expression. Leeha turned to look at the younger dwarf working on Luger’s items.

‘The item being made now is the same as the ones placed on the table. So, did Luger request these two?’

It appeared Luger’s requested items were already mass-produced. However, Kidd’s items were slightly different.

Both items placed on the table and the current item being refined on the anvil all had slightly different forms.

“What should I call this? Armor? At least it doesn’t look like a bullet. It doesn’t seem to be for offense either.”

The item, much larger than a person’s hand, had a handle like that of a shield. The only reason to think of it as armor was that handle.

It didn’t look like an offensive weapon due to the lack of pointed parts.

‘The material… it feels like thin aluminum. It’s extremely light.’

Blocking anything with this would be impossible. It didn’t even seem to be a piece of jewelry.

‘Shrink the shield from a Hollywood ‘Captain America’ movie considerably, and it might look like this? But blocking anything with it seems…’

Leeha gave up.

“Ugh! I give up! Damn it. They must have left these here with such self-satisfied faces, right?”

“But your item came first from the lord!”

“Oh! So my item! Did those guys see it?”

“They did!”

“What did they think? How did they react?”