Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

The green-haired little one growled and shouted at Leeha, but the gun muzzle swiftly turned around, silencing him.

It was more than just silencing. Even the little one’s whining came to a halt.

“…Sir.”

“Sir?”

“Then what should we call you?”

“Getting agitated, huh?”

Leeha intentionally tapped the magazine or fiddled with the hammer, making a metallic click-click sound.

Although it had nothing to do with shooting, the young dragons were oblivious to its significance.

“…No.”

The dragon kids lowered their heads, glancing at Leeha.

“To call you ‘uncle’—no, forget it. What does it matter if I call you that for you guys?”

Still, Leeha raised his voice for his original purpose.

“You arrogant little brats! What did your parents teach you? To go around stealing from the dead dragon rare? Haven’t they taught you any proper values? Should I call your parents?”

What good would calling them do, actually?

Apart from fighting until they burst, there was nothing Leeha could do. Well, fighting until they burst was also nonsensical… In the end, he was the one who would end up getting beaten to death.

“Don’t insult our mom!”

“Then, kid, you better behave. Your actions reflect on your parents. Understand? How sad your mom would be if she knew. A dragon like you, barely even a juvenile, stealing from the dead dragon rare and causing this mess with humans. Isn’t that right?”

“Sniffle….”

Tears welled up in the eyes of the white-haired little one.

The green-haired little one also wore a gloomy expression. Leeha gave the young dragons a moment to reflect on their own actions.

‘The setting that dragons live a long time and are intelligent is flawed. They grow slowly and are practically dumber than humans. Yet, these kids, over five hundred years old, are crying over this little scolding…’

True, being Juvanaile class meant they were no weaker than humans. That didn’t mean they were shallow in their thinking.

The reason Leeha could treat them this way was all thanks to the achievements he had accomplished and the rewards he had gained.

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< Dragon Slayer\'s Aura—Ancient Dragon >

Description: The aura of someone who slayed an Ancient-class dragon can be sensed by all dragons, regardless of their metal or color.

Whether it’s a brave Adult, a curious Juvanaile, or an ignorant Hatchling, they’ll feel overwhelmed if you take a hostile stance.

You are the one who slew an Ancient Dragon.

Effect:

Overall attributes of hostile Adult-class dragons decreased by 40%.

Overall attributes of hostile Juvanaile-class dragons decreased by 50%.

Overall attributes of hostile Hatchling-class dragons decreased by 60%.

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Currently, Leeha was surrounded by a permanent buff that decreased all his physical and mental abilities by a whopping 50%.

Although the buff applied only to dragons and seemed useless for ordinary users, it was just the perfect fit for Leeha.

He briefly sorted his thoughts as he watched the tearful teenage dragons. Simply sending them away held no significance for Leeha.

Their intimacy with Color Dragons had already dropped to below -200%.

Even if he sent these two away to gain their favor, there would be hardly any change. So, what could he do?

‘Ah… right. These are the ones who have been inside Kuzgugnakh’s rare.’

Fortunately, they were still younglings.

However, there was no guarantee that only Juvanaile-class dragons would come to Kuzgugnakh’s rare. Adult-class or worst-case scenario, Ancient-class dragons might arrive. Even with the Dragon Slayer’s Aura buff, it would be challenging for Leeha to handle them alone.

In other words, he couldn’t stay in Kuzgugnakh’s rare for long! What was the fastest way to overcome this handicap?

“Why were you trying to sneak in with such enthusiasm?”

He intended to utilize the ones who had already explored the rare.

“We haven’t stolen anything yet! We just came to see Kuzgugnakh’s rare, they said it’s filled with more treasures than any other rare!”

“More treasures, huh? What’s there? Probably just regular items that your parents have in their rare too. Oh, is it because your parents are poor? They have nothing, so you come here to steal and cause trouble?”

“That’s not it!” “Our house has a huge warehouse!”

The two dragons exclaimed in unison.

Unable to bear the injustice, the dragon with the white hair began to speak again.

“You don’t even know! Unlike regular dragon treasures, there might be < Easter Eggs > for dragons like Kuzgugnakh who engage in illegal activities—”

“Hey, hey! Quiet down!”

The green-haired little one quickly covered the white-haired little one’s mouth, but it was already too late. Enough keywords had entered Leeha’s ears.

“Hehe… Kids, how about you explain what that < Easter Egg > is? No, why don’t we go together, and you can explain along the way? It’ll be better for us to find out together, one by one. Sounds good?”

There was no need for their agreement.

With the black vest’s gun muzzle lowered, Leeha led the two little dragon kids and headed towards Kuzgugnakh’s rare.

***

Simply put, the dragon Juveniles had no choice but to obey Leeha’s orders. They had to do so in order to survive.

“So, you searched for the < Easter Egg >, but it wasn’t there?”

“Yes… I don’t think anyone took it… Maybe it wasn’t there in the first place.”

“How powerful is it?”

“I don’t know. We only heard about it from our parents. That’s why we thought it was here and came to see it.”

Leeha felt bothered by their use of polite language. He kicked one of the items on the ground in frustration.

“Well, it doesn’t seem like they are deceiving us… Sigh. It must be a really rare item if even dragons like you guys haven’t seen it.”

Leeha had already heard about the existence of the < Easter Egg > item. Among the countless items in Kuzgunak’s Lair, none of them caught his attention.

“So, what’s next on the list? What would you guys choose here?”

“Why should we tell you? You’re like a total thief. You killed Kuzgunak and now you’re trying to rob an ownerless house…”

Thunk―!

Leeha tapped Black Bess’s magazine with his palm once again. The cold metallic sound echoed in the confined Lair.

“Hey, kid? Do you want me to tell you why you should tell me?”

“No… Sorry.”

Leeha gave a wicked smile like a slave overseer with a whip in hand, looking at the two dragon Juveniles.

He did feel a bit sorry for threatening them after saying that he couldn’t kill poor Juvenile dragons, but he also blamed them for trying to ambush him.

Leeha carefully selected five good items while still thinking about the < Easter Egg >.

“An egg? Referring to an Easter Egg? Well, it probably doesn’t have any religious meaning. In a typical game, it might be a hidden element, like a surprise event… But what kind of element could there be in Mid Earth?”

He couldn’t quite grasp the idea of an Easter Egg or a surprise event.

‘An egg… and something that typical dragons haven’t even seen before… It must be something on par with Kuzgunak or even more powerful. It makes sense for parents of dragon Juveniles to be on the level of at least Adult dragons or possibly Ancients… Huh?’

While going over the descriptions, a sudden realization struck him.

An egg?

A dragon on par with Kuzgunak or more powerful?

A rare treasure that wasn’t seen by many?

“Ahaha?”

He got it! He definitely saw it! Moreover, he just couldn’t recall its name!

“Hey! Hey, you guys! Come and pick up the items quickly!”

“The place is vast, and it’s not easy, you know? You asked us to pick good items to be sold at a high price by humans…”

“These kids talk too much! Hurry up! Pick within the next 10 minutes, or figure it out yourselves!”

Leeha wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. While there might be many treasures here, they weren’t real treasures for him (or anyone else, for that matter). He needed to go where the ‘true treasures’ were.

And he knew where that place was.

“Here—”

“Hmm, let’s see.”

However, he couldn’t overlook a thorough inspection.

Leeha meticulously checked the options of the items that the White Dragon and the Green Dragon had brought. As expected, all five items were Legendary and all of them were weapons.

‘So, three one-handed swords, one two-handed sword, and a wand… I guess they understood the condition of “items popular among humans” quite well.’

Even if all the Legendary items in the current auction house were counted, they might not even reach five. Yet, Leeha had managed to get five Legendary items all by himself.

This meant that he had the ability to cause market disturbances on a large scale, but Leeha wasn’t quite satisfied with that.

After all, he couldn’t use any of these items.

“Do you have a shield or something to block the Dragon Breath, or any clothes?”

“Heh, do you think you can easily block it? Humans can’t—”

“Ah, ah, forget it. If you don’t have something like that, it’s useless. Okay, we can go now, kids.”

“Woo…!”

The White Dragon trembled with fear. It was a humiliation that it hadn’t received from its parents in over 500 years.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and leave. Ah, right.”

“Why! …Yes!”

“I saved you, and you don’t even say thank you? Dragons should at least have basic manners. And tell me your names.”

“…Shoblang.”

“…Groanfogel.”

“Shoblang for the white one, Groanfogel for the green one. Your names are really difficult. Well, forget it. Hurry up and get back.”

Leeha patted the White Dragon and the Green Dragon with the barrel of Black Bess.

“I did save you, so you should at least show some gratitude, right? If dragons don’t have basic manners, that’s not good. Tell me your names as well.”

“…Sh-Shobl-Shoblang.”

“G-Groanfogel.”

“Stop stuttering, you brats! Say it properly! Okay, now you can leave, kids.”

Leeha watched as the dragons left and said to himself, “I won’t forget this, Dragon Slayer Leeha…”

The hearts of the two juvenile dragons who felt Leeha’s departure were burning with new emotions.