Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

However, Leeha didn’t pay any attention to his words.

He had simply asked if he was the lord of City Gaza, and just from the constant stream of boasting about his family, Leeha could imagine the rest.

“…you, who are you from the capital?”

At first, polite language, but after revealing his family, it quickly turned condescending.

But Leeha felt that it was better this way. People like this were easier to deal with.

To NPCs, including the unnamed noble NPC, and even the users Leeha had saved, all fell silent.

Leeha carefully took out a document from his bag while the injured NPCs were still moaning in pain.

“During the recent national war, the top contributor, the sole recipient of the Medal of Honor from Puvial, and the one directly delegated by the king with the exclusive right and practical management authority over this city, City Gaza—”

Authority could be met with authority.

“—is known as the Ancient Dragon Slayer, Leeha Leeha.”

Just like that.

Leeha’s name, which had burst out simultaneously, resounded loudly throughout City Gaza.

***

“That… is that Leeha Leeha?”

“Yeah, that’s him! I’ve seen him at the Plain of Marches! He’s a sniper!”

“He caused us significant losses in the last war—”

“Shh! We’re all Puvial citizens now. We shouldn’t talk like that!”

Currently, there were Puvial citizens who had come over from within Minis, but there were also those who had been citizens of Minis from the beginning.

While the authority over the city’s management had been transferred from Minis to Puvial, there were still NPCs who chose not to leave their hometown even if the nation changed.

The percentage of those NPCs wasn’t insignificant, and quite a number of them had only recently become Puvial citizens after having been part of Minis.

In other words, City Gaza was a city that was considered livable even within Minis.

“…Leeha Leeha?”

“Yes. Here are the documents. Please verify.”

Leeha handed over the documents to the nominal lord.

“Leeha Leeha… well, I did receive a notice that you’d be coming from Lord Leic, but—”

Even as he perused the documents, his eyes showed no trust in Leeha. As a typical noble bureaucrat NPC, he couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

He was probably set to be someone who couldn’t fathom events like stepping forward to repel intruders and stepping forward to protect the wounded commoners.

“I’m sorry, but perhaps you should contact General Grunvil. No, it might be a good idea to bring Mr. Grunvil here. Will you believe me then, if both General Burke and General Grunvil come here?!”

Leeha’s tone began to escalate.

“That— that’s not what I meant. How could a war hero who holds the exclusive rights to all honors and essentially administrative control over this city lower himself to be—”

“What kind of place do you think this is? Did you think it was a place where you could just hide in the back, protect yourself, and run away when needed, a place where I, as a lord, should be doing what right now? It’s your castle! It’s this city where you’re sitting as lord! Where were you when it was being torn apart by chimeras, golems, and those damn scouts for the Demon Lord?”

“What do you want from me? I’ve only been here for less than two days!”

Perhaps he thought that he had completely exposed Leeha, the ‘actual’ lord.

He seemed to still be giving a pretentious air while rolling his eyes, convinced that Leeha still held him in high regard.

“Did you request reinforcements from the capital? When did the invasion happen? How long did it take from the invasion to the city being destroyed? What was the route of the invasion?”

“I, I didn’t personally stop them. I only received reports—”

“If you don’t believe me, contact Commander Grunvil. No, bringing Mr. Grunvil here might be a good idea. Would you believe me then if I have both Commander Burke and General Grunvil come here?”

Leeha’s tone began to escalate even further.

“That— that’s not— that’s not what I meant. How could a war hero who holds the exclusive rights to all honors and essentially administrative control over this city lower himself to be—”

“What kind of place do you think this is? Did you think it was a place where you could just hide in the back, protect yourself, and run away when needed, a place where I, as a lord, should be doing what right now? It’s your castle! It’s this city where you’re sitting as lord! Where were you when it was being torn apart by chimeras, golems, and those damn scouts for the Demon Lord?”

“What do you want from me? I’ve only been here for less than two days!”

Perhaps he thought that he had completely exposed Leeha, the ‘actual’ lord.

He seemed to still be giving a pretentious air while rolling his eyes, convinced that Leeha still held him in high regard.

“Did you request reinforcements from the capital? When did the invasion happen? How long did it take from the invasion to the city being destroyed? What was the route of the invasion?”

“I, I didn’t personally stop them. I only received reports—”

“About the enemy’s scale? Did you even check the report? When did you find out about the impending invasion? Who made the report? The Knights? Where are the Knights? Where are they?”

“Well, that, of course—”

“Now, what’s the situation like right now?”

“N-now?”

“The situation hasn’t ended, has it? Have you confirmed that the situation has ended? When did you send a request for reinforcements to the surrounding cities?”

“Of course… I’ve just started to investigate that, and, um, right at this moment—”

“It’s been over two hours since they withdrew!”

Leeha’s frustration began to boil over.

Ultimately, Leeha couldn’t hold back and shouted.

Although he was nominally the lord, this was what happened after he took on the position of lord. Until then, he had full authority as the overall responsible person for the city in terms of defense and administration.

What did it mean for someone with such authority to not answer any of Leeha’s questions properly? It meant literally “doing nothing and hiding.”

As Leeha’s voice explosively erupted, the surrounding area fell silent.

“…I can admit that there wasn’t enough time to establish control. It may have been difficult to foresee. But… what about after the situation ended? What if you continue like this during the aftermath? While you were hiding, while you were knocking on the doorstep for your own safety, the wounded turned into seriously wounded, and the seriously wounded turned into dead! There were lives that could have been saved if you had started recovery even a little earlier!”

How can these emotions be expressed?

With a voice that contained half the desire to cry and half the desire to get angry, Leeha vented his frustration to the NPC.

Amidst the back and forth, Leeha’s face twisted.

Of course, it wasn’t a feeling of self-blame.

“Hey… you! Mr. Leeha Leeha is impressive, but I am the lord of City Gaza! Appointed by His Majesty the King as the overall responsible person, I kindly request that you adjust your tone.”

“Heh… sure.”

Even in the midst of this, he was only concerned about proper etiquette?

Even when he heard the words that Leeha had shouted, was there really no trace of guilt?

“Sure, so you said ‘hey’ just now? How dare you attack me, who has been appointed with the authority of lord by Count George Rodeam Almos of Castle Almos and is a distant cousin? You guys are clearly not war heroes but rebels! And surely the reason those intruders came when you gained the exclusive right to honors isn’t unrelated to my affairs. I will definitely—”

“This crazy bastard… hey!”

Clank—!

Leeha was pulled back by Black Vess’s reins.

Seeing the fiery look in Leeha’s eyes, the lord hurriedly hid behind the knights around him.

“You… you fool! You’re trying to attack someone who was appointed as a lord by His Majesty! You clearly weren’t a war hero, but a rebel! And there’s no way the intruders appeared right after you gained the exclusive right to honors! There must be some connection to my affairs. I’ll definitely—”

“This crazy bastard… hey!”

Clank—!

Leeha was pulled back by Black Vess’s reins.

Seeing the fiery look in Leeha’s eyes, the lord hurriedly hid behind the knights around him.

“You… you fool! You’re trying to attack someone who was appointed as a lord by His Majesty! You clearly weren’t a war hero, but a rebel! And there’s no way the intruders appeared right after you gained the exclusive right to honors! There must be some connection to my affairs. I’ll definitely—”

“How dare you… hey!”

The lord’s voice was stopped by Black Vess’s gunshot.

When he fired at the building that had already collapsed more than halfway, the building nearby, which had barely been standing, rumbled and collapsed.

It was as if the building had been demolished with a single bullet.

The mouths of the lord and the surrounding NPCs fell open once more.

“Hey, knight! Are you from the Gaza Knights?”

“…”

“No answer?”

“Well, I’m not… The Gaza Knights are currently composed of the remaining Minis-affiliated knights. I was hired to protect Lord Jarwick—”

“Who are you answering to? Keep your mouth shut!”

Although Leeha’s voice had been restrained, he still slapped the knight’s back twice, but the knight couldn’t easily close his mouth.

Even more so when Black Vess’s muzzle, colder than Leeha’s furious eyes, was pointing directly at his face.

“I am… a private soldier!”

“I don’t know. I don’t understand these complicated matters. Anyway, you’re a knight, right? A knight is supposed to protect, right? That’s the knight’s duty, isn’t it?”

“Of course… I mean, yes, sir!”

“But what are you standing around looking at? Do you think we need protection for the lord in this situation? Knights, immediately patrol the outskirts of the city and assess any potential threats! And you, over there! Are you wizards? You guys should start treating the injured and using magic to clear away the debris from the destroyed buildings! Move now!”

Sir, Yes, Sir!

“Hey, you guys! Who hired you? Where are you going, you bastards! You should be protecting me!”

The lord pitifully shouted, but at this point, all the NPCs were in a situation where they couldn’t resist Leeha’s words.

It wasn’t just due to the authority buff.

Rather, it was the practical and realistic power that Leeha possessed that made everyone unable to oppose him.

“Lord, you are…”

“Yes, yes?”

Leeha reined in Black Vess again and rolled up his sleeves.

He had to admit that he was wrong in thinking that he could stand up to authority this time.

“Oh, looks like there’s some chimera epidermis over there? It’s dangerous, my lord!”

“W-What—Cough!”

“Here! On your back! No, on your side! It seems like chimera venomous epidermis! Be careful!”

“Wait—Cough, hold on!”

Squish, squish, squish, squish!

Sometimes, authority wasn’t needed. There was a fist closer than the law, closer than authority.

Leeha tried to gently, softly, and kindly remove the chimera epidermis from the body of the lord NPC.

“Why won’t this come off like this?”

But it wouldn’t come off. Of course not. Because it wasn’t attached in the first place.

“Damn! Ugh! Hold on—Highha—Lord—! Ugh, cough!”

The surrounding NPCs turned their heads, barely holding back their laughter. The surviving NPCs in City Gaza were relieved in a way.

Even though they had been suddenly attacked and the city had been nearly destroyed, they now knew exactly what kind of person their practical lord was.

The dull sounds of squishing continued until the rescue team from the neighboring city’s temple arrived.

***

The rescue operation proceeded smoothly.

There were no more people causing trouble, and Leeha had already established a solid foundation.

“All the major injured have been taken care of. We’ll send them back to Gaza as their treatment finishes.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Reverend.”

“You’re welcome. I heard that His Holiness the Pope has mentioned Highha’s name several times. It was a privilege for me to share in the honor bestowed by such a person.”

“Oh, you’re too kind. Thank you.”

All the NPC priests were from the nation of Ezwyn.

Recently, the name of “Browlice and His Disciples,” including Bluebeard, had spread quite a bit in Ezwyn as well, following the completion of quests involving demon lords.

“Then, we will continue the treatment activities at Gaza’s temple for the time being.”

“Yes. Please take care.”

Leeha saw the priest-officers who had been dispatched bidding farewell to the priests and busily running around again. It was a situation where they had just managed to rescue people who were on the brink of death, and there were still many people seriously injured.

‘At least people can be treated, but what about the collapsed buildings and the city walls? How are we supposed to handle those?’

Even the reports coming incessantly to Leeha were far from simple matters.

It was a situation where he had to deal with collapsed buildings, in addition to intruders like Igor and Zar.

Out of the 150 members of the Gaza Knights, 60 were dead, and 50 were seriously injured.

And there were 30 more who barely survived but would have to focus on recovery for a while. It was practically the annihilation of the knight order.

What about the city walls?

The alchemist Crowly’s brought substances and reagents had turned the city walls into a mushy mess, and Faust’s undead had utterly destroyed them.