Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

With Leeha teasing her, Shin Nara felt even more flustered. Seeing her speak hastily, Leeha burst out laughing.

“My name is Fernand Magalias. Are you Madame Shin Nara-nim?”

“Phew, Yes, I am. How many female knights are there, other than me? Well, just call me Shin Nara. And calling me madame makes me sound old.”

Shin Nara smiled and waved her hand. Fernand smiled softly and nodded.

“Leeha-nim, Fernand-nim, this way-”

“Ah, yes. Then, Nara-ssi, see you next time!”

“Yes. Good luck! You know that when you get an audience, you need to kneel on one knee in front of his majesty, right? Because if you do something wrong, your intimacy could be lost-”

“Don’t worry, I already know that.”

Shin Nara looked at Leeha with a worried expression and Leeha smiled and waved her off.

When he needs to be reliable, he’s one of the most reliable people on Middle Earth, but when he doesn’t, he’s like a baby on the beach.

‘That’s Leeha-ssi’s charm but……. Ah, look where my mind has gone..’

-After you and Fernand leave the castle, please send me a whisper. I have something to tell you.

-What do you mean? Oh, okay, I will!

Leeha answered Shin Nara’s whisper and looked at her again. Shin Nara made eye contact with Leeha, nodded her head, and entered the conference room.

Seeing Shin Nara and Leeha, Fernand became extremely curious.

‘Interesting……. That’s definitely interesting.’

He said that it was thanks to Lee Jiwon that he found his location. And he is also close with Shin Nara? Judging by his weapon and job, he must also know Luger.

‘Why hasn’t his name spread yet?’

The fight with the Rising Sun was only a small incident for an outsider like Fernand. The guild battle between Byeolcho and Hwahong was big, but it was only within Fibiel. It was only natural that Fernand, an expert from another country, was not aware of Leeha.

“Your Majesty, Pioneering Expert Fernand Magalias and Musketeer Ha Leeha are asking for an audience.”

Come in.

In front of the king, Fernand’s ‘king’ title could not be used, and under the guidance of the guard and servants, Leeha and Fernand finally arrived at the palace

Even after completing the quest to protect the king, it was the first time for Leeha to see the king up close. As Kijeong once said, the noble dignity of the king was flowing.

‘It is also strange that such a king never questioned Lotzac’s words.’

Leeha and Fernand bowed to the king. Except for the commander of the guard, no other NPCs were seen.

“Fernand Magalias.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you for granting this one’s request.”

“You’re welcome, Your Majesty. Rather, I too wish for this.”

Fernand’s voice was somewhat firm. Fernand instinctively realized that pioneering a new continent had to wait for a long time before it could be completed with the power of the users.

So Fernand planned to quickly break through with the power of the NPCs. It was the king who stopped it. Of course, it was unavoidable.

“However, it has become impossible to assemble a fleet right now.”

“Yes?”

“Huh?”

Fernand and Leeha tilted their heads. When the king coughed, the captain of the royal guards straightened his back and raised his voice.

“Right now, the country is preparing for war. We need to do everything we can to erase the sly Minis from this continent. More than anything else, Minis has joined forces with another country and is targeting our country from the sea.”

“……Are you talking about Kraven?”

“Yes. Pioneering a new continent is an achievement that would be enough to show the prowess of this country, however, when we are on the brink of war, we have to be careful about the placements of our troops.”

It was what the captain of the royal guards said, but the content was simple. They were in a situation where Minis surrounded Fibiel by land, and Kraven by sea. Fibiel’s power is not enough to wage war against both countries at the same time.

In other words, they don’t want to use any of their power at sea. They will only have enough force to keep Kraven in check while the remaining resources will be put on the land. And it meant that they could not advance to the new continent after defeating Kraven’s navy with that small amount of force.

“As the captain of the royal guard said……. The country can not pay attention to the new continent. However, after this one punishes Minis and Kraven, I promise to give you the world’s best fleet. Fernand Magalias.”

The situation was not different for Kraven. The maritime blockade towards Fibiel weakened their chances of exploring the new continent. At that time, what if the tip of the sword that was heading to Minis turned to the sea in one stroke? It would put Kraven in danger.

In other words, as long as they could not be sure where and how each other would move, it would mean that no country would be able to move arbitrarily.

‘Does that mean that it would be postponed until the end of the national war? Well, I cleared the dark elf quest as well, so I’m not missing out on anything…… But it’s still a pity.’

Fernand also understood what the king and the royal guard captain were saying.

“Okay. He always keeps his promises.”

“It’s the same for Ha Leeha who had brought Fernand Magalias. I will make sure that you will be able to participate in the expedition to the new continent, so don’t feel too sad.”

“Certainly, Your Majesty.”

As the king nodded, the royal guard captain stomped his feet. Keung-! As the sound rang out, the guards pushed the door open. As they were done talking, it was now time for them to leave.

Leeha and Fernand bowed and left the room.

“Hmm, anyway, it should be considered as a good thing, right? Because we have received a promise to be a part of the pioneering fleet.”

“That’s right. I don’t know how many ships will be left after the war……. But it can’t be helped.”

“Well, Fibiel’s primary enemy is Minis. Will you try to save as many boats as possible? As long as Kraven doesn’t do anything funny-”

“But the Kraven Kingdom is so unpredictable that I don’t know what will happen. In the past, I was commissioned to go out on an unexplored island, but then the people seemed to have changed personalities as soon as they got on the ship. Anyway, I will see Ha Leeha-nim again then.”

“When the war is over- that is.”

Leeha and Fernand talked as they left the central palace.

“Will you accept my whisper next time? The thought of trying to look for you throughout the whole continent is truly terrifying.”

“Haha, no way. It’s not formed yet, but we’re on the same team now.”

The add friend window appeared in front of Leeha. Leeha was not the only one that wanted to be friends with Fernand. Fernand also wanted to be friends with Leeha. It was already proven that his help was essential if they wanted to cross the sea.

“Good. Then, see you next time.”

“I will unblock Ha Leeha-ssi from whispering, so please contact me if there’s anything.

Ah! Ah, was it Kaztor’s Lab, I will tell you if I find something like the 7th or 8th!”

“That would be nice then, thank you. Goodbye!”

As soon as he left the royal palace, he tore a scroll and disappeared. Will he leave without stopping by the town? His position was gonna become unknown again.

‘Did he just go somewhere unexplored……? It was wonderful anyway.’

After going their separate ways, Leeha sent a whisper to Shin Nara. After a while, her answer came, and the two of them met again at the conference room that had been used as the command and control room when they were protecting the king.

***********

They were alone.

“Phew, are you done now?”

Shin Nara untied her hair. The tied-up ponytail had a sporty and neat beauty to it, but her long, flowing black hair suited her well. After a moment of silence, Leeha answered her.

“Yes, well. It has been delayed.”

“As expected……. I don’t know what had happened but I had a feeling it would. The whole royal castle is in turmoil right now because of the war.”

“How is the war going? Looking at it, it seems like we will be dealing with both Minis and Kraven simultaneously.”

At Leeha’s question, Shin Nara’s face somewhat darkened

“It will start in a month at the latest.”

“If its a month……. It’ll be a week in the real world.”

It was less than a week. The grace period given to the users was only that much. When the war begins, users will not be able to trade and move as they do now.

“Yes. Some users are already considering leaving. Some are arguing which side will be more beneficial, others are going to Ezwen to be completely neutral… After the attempted assassination of the king, many NPCs, including the commanders of each military, came and went.”

Leeha had personally experienced this, but what about the other users? If they are friendly with the NPCs or if they are at the level where they can use the Holy Grill’s capital branch, they would have already obtained the information.

‘However, there will be very few. The majority of users who are close to the citizens……wouldn’t even know. As it was closer to a rumor, they will be dismissive and careless, and then they will fall into the whirlwind of war.’

“Will the users also join the war?”

“If they belong to that country, I think they might receive a quest. I don’t know what will happen to the military, but in any case, there are speculations that it will be divided into contributions on the battlefield……

“Hmm……. As expected. That’s the way other games are. Phase 2 is great.”

Another way is to ignore the war and wander around hunting grounds from a different territory. However, there will not be many users who will ignore the falling rice cakes in a large event called war. In other words, through this national war, many users will be fighting against each other. Is this what phase 2 was aiming for all along?

‘Then, what does attack is the best defense mean? Does it mean to unconditionally attack in a national war? The successor to the hero and what they did……. It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with each other.’

If phase 1 was for the growth of the users, would phase 2 be a full-fledged confrontation? Leeha wasn’t sure.

“Anyway, one month is not a lot of time.”

“Yes. Please prepare as well Leeha-ssi. Don’t forget to log in before the war starts.”

“Hmm. Sure. Thank you, Nara-ssi. Ah! Did you call me to tell me about this?”

“T-t-that, yes. T-t-that’s right. That’s right!”

“What?”

Shin Nara’s lips trembled. She didn’t know how to speak.

“L-last time, the meal…. I asked you about.”

“Ah, yes.”

It was the last conversation between Leeha and Shin Nara. In order to hide his disability, Leeha refused, and Shin Nara walked away. She suddenly brought it up again. Shin Nara was certainly more of a female lead than Leeha thought.

“If… it’s too much of a burden with… just the two of us… do you want to go with your cousin? If I come with Bobae……”

“Y-you will go with Bobae-ssi? Kijeong- no, Master Kay? Two on two?”

It would be nice if Kijeong was by his side! Unconditionally! That would be his answer, right?

However, Leeha could not answer easily. Saying no would be too disrespectful to Shin Nara.

‘It’s impolite to decline a woman’s offer twice.

But I don’t feel well going out. Leeha nodded first.

“Yes, I will ask Kay.”

“Really? Really?”

“But when-”

“It would be good after the war is over! Even before the war – no, not before. After the war! Please! Please! ”

Shin Nara moved closer to Leeha with her eyes twinkling. Their height difference was about half a head. It was a size that was too big to hug. Leeha backed away and barely nodded his head.

“Yes, yes I know. A-anyway, see you next time, Nara-ssi!”

“Yes! I’ll tell Bobae! You must ask Master Kay! Please!”

How many times did she need to say ‘please’? Leeha quickly left the palace.

‘After the war……’

It takes a month in Middle Earth just to prepare for war. How long will it take to end? It will take quite a bit of time. Then there was only one goal.

‘I need to collect them until then.’

Leeha had a determined expression. He left the palace and went toward Brown Bess academy. It was time to clear the quest with the information he obtained from the dark elf.

‘Character Window.’

Of course, before that he checked his stats first.

Name: Ha Leeha/ Race: Human

Job: Musketeer / Level: 160 (0%)

Title: Fearless / Achievements: 55

HP: 4,400(3,080) / MP: 1,150

Strength: 248(+166)

Agility: 1,637(+518)

Intelligence: 129(+78)

Constitution: 145(+52)

Mind: 40(+30)

Remaining Stat Points: 42

‘I’m finally Level 160. My leveling is definitely slowing down.’