Matan’s Shooter - Chapter 203

An assassin had already come and was hiding. There couldn’t only be one. Leeha focused on surveilling those who entered, but it was not limited to that. Before searching inside, they had to be strictly vigilant inside and outside of the palace.

‘No one has crossed the wall or escaped in any other way. Space movement and scrolls were also not possible. Because there was a possibility that there may be a secret passage or crypt under the fortress wall, he had asked Jacheong and Tale thoroughly. However, they said that there was nothing special yet……. In other words, there were an unknown number of assassins who were able to stay inside without getting out.’

It could be said that they already knew about their colleague who was discovered and killed. What was the surest way to get out of such a situation?

‘Logging out.’

He remembered Biyemi’s words.

It was possible to log out for a day or so in Middle Earth.

However, he said that they could not log out often if they wanted to be thorough in their transformation and disguise.

They wouldn’t know what their surroundings would be like when they logged back in, but it would be too risky to enter Middle Earth while the transformation was released.

In the end, it would be a battle of patience.

“I will be walking around?”

“Yes. If you find an assassin, please use a restraint scroll to capture them if possible.”

“Okay. Just sitting still doesn’t fit my personality. Ah, I have a question for you.”

She was a long-ranged dealer, but she’s not weak to close-range either.

She was able to avoid an assassin’s surprise attack with her agility. If it were her, she would be able to deal with all the assassins except for Petyr. Leeha nodded as he thought about his plans and Petyr’s psychology.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Does Leeha-ssi have a girlfriend” 

“What?”

It was as if he could hear a clicking noise in his head. It felt like everything that he had thought about Petyr until now was vaporized.

“Girlfriend? Why all of a sudden?”

“Oh my, why? Because I’m curious. What? Do you have a girlfriend? So you haven’t even dated Nara yet?”

“No- what do you mean? Who are you doing this with?”

What did she mean?

Their backs were turned against each other and watched in opposite directions Leeha managed to prevent his body from turning toward Bobae without realizing it.

“Really? Don’t you have a girlfriend? Okay. I’ll tell her later.”

“What- What are you talking about Bobae-ssi? Who will you tell?”

“Who? Nara, of course.”

“Shin Nara-ssi?”

“Then who else would it be? Haha.”

Bobae sighed and let out a laugh. Leeha’s mind went black for a moment.

He looked ahead at the inner gate used to enter the palace, but nothing caught his eyes. His heart skipped a beat.

Why would she tell Shin Nara that he had no girlfriend?

“No way……”

“What?”

“N-nothing. Nothing at all.” 

He wanted to ask Bobae, whether Shin Nara had a crush on him. However, he didn’t have the courage to ask.

‘That’s nonsense. What did Nara-ssi say about me? No, we didn’t talk much.’

Wasn’t it necessary to have a ‘seed’ for a bud to sprout and a stem to grow?

However, Leeha didn’t think that he and Shin Nara had such a thing.

‘No way, what am I thinking?’

However, his heart rate beat faster. Flutter, flutter, hope appeared in his heart.

Another day passed like that. Several days went by peacefully and there was no movement from Petyr or Midnight Circus.

*****

“It’s a lot easier than expected.”

“At this age, continuous access is a bit tiring, but…. I have to do it too.”

Tale and Jacheong looked back at the results of the past few days.

The Ram Hwayeon-Ram Hwajeong group and Biyemi-Kidd group took turns guarding the east and west walls every day, and Jacheong and Tale also conducted a thorough investigation of the area designated by Leeha, so the scope of their search changed every day.

Bobae prioritized finding the assassins who had broken into the palace but to no avail.

In other words, until today, after five full days in Middle Earth, the palace was peaceful.

‘Right, it’s only a day in the outside world. The assassins didn’t log in for a day.’

Leeha looked at the faces of the people gathered in the conference room. The fatigue that continuous connection gave was something he already knew.

Besides, it was neither hunting nor war, it was a boring ‘surveillance’.

Did any of them look tired, or disconcerted?

‘No……. Indeed, experts are experts.’

Although fatigue had piled up, the fact that there was no need to ease the tension made Leeha happy.

However, it would be inefficient to push it further here. When they needed to rest, they had to rest.

“Because of the first assassin we found, we had a lot of trouble working. Now we will work in shifts.”

“How are we going to do the shifts?”

“Oh, that-“

Leeha was perplexed by Shin Nara’s question. To be precise, it was not because of the question, but because Shin Nara looked at Leeha’s eyes. Her eyes were twinkling despite the fact that she was getting more and more tired as she endured alone until Leeha gathered his colleagues.

‘Bobae-ssi was only talking nonsense.’

On that day, after hearing the strange story in the Central Palace’s tower, he had a hard time looking at Shin Nara properly during meetings these past few days.

Seeing Leeha’s figure, Kijeong smiled widely, and Ram Hwayeon and Ram Hwajeong frowned.

“Speak quickly, we should go to sleep as well.”

“Oh, okay. First, it would make sense to rotate every two days in Middle Earth time. It takes about 10 hours in real life. I think you must have been prepared from the moment you accepted this quest, but we don’t have much time to spare. Even if we eat just a spoonful of rice in the real world, hours pass by here.”

“If we have 10 hours of freedom…. We would only be able to eat a piece of bread and log in as soon as we wake up.”

Jacheong let out a sigh. It was too harsh for someone whose age had passed his prime.

“Hang in there, Jacheong-nim. Sometimes fasting is one way to boost your metabolism.”

“That- That would be possible for Tale-nim, who only practiced kumdo all his life, but it is quite hard for an office worker.”

“Now, now, don’t cry. I will prepare a healthy meal for you.”

The two middle-aged men became closer after surveilling together.

Should it be called funny, or should it be called inspiring? Leeha also looked at them and smiled.

“It may be hard, but it is only for 42 days. It would only take 9 days in the real world. Me, Nara-ssi. Ram Hwajeong-ssi, Tale-nim, and Biyemi-nim will work as the first team. Those who have not been called can log out and rest-”

“Wait! Why Hwajeong? What about me!” 

“-well. Huh? Ram Hwayeon?”

“Why? Is there a reason not to?” 

Ram Hwayeon looked at Leeha and Nara alternately.

The first and second team assignments outlined by Leeha were designed for combat balance and flexible response in case of emergencies. Although there’s a big difference in power between Ram Hwayeon and Ram Hwajeong, he and Shin Nara were there. That should be sufficient.

“Hmm……. Well, nothing will change much. Rather group 2 would be a little more relaxed. Aren’t you being considerate of your younger sister, Ram Hwayeon-ssi?”

 “Hehe. Of course. Our Hwajeong will need to go to bed soon.”

Ram Hwayeon hugged Ram Hwajeong in her arms. However, her younger sister did not seem to be happy with her older sister.

“……Me too, with oppa-”

“Huh?”

“No…”

She wanted to say something, but Ram Hwajeong shook her head.

Jacheong recognized her gloomy expression but the opinion of the ‘eldest daughter’ had to be given priority.

“Then see you in two days. Have a good rest everyone.”

“Ahhh, I’m going to die of sleepiness, but it’s okay. It’s hard, hyung.”

Kijeong logged out first. Jacheong and Ram Hwajeong waited for a while and logged out together. Bobae whispered to Nara and logged out. 

After getting briefly curious about  the two women hitting each other’s arms while saying, “This, this!” 

Kidd approached Leeha.

“Won’t you sleep?”

“What am I going to do outside?. If I sleep here, I can rest for two days.”

“……Well, you were such a person. No, I think it would be more efficient. Will you recover your fatigue?”

“Of course.”

As long as the connector and the body were connected, Leeha was suspicious that it would not work, but he did not pry further.

Kidd looked at Shin Nara for a moment and then came closer to Leeha.

“Lotzac is suspicious.”

“What?”

Why did he suddenly bring up Lotzac?

Leeha tilted for a moment but soon realized. Kidd was also a member of the Three Musketeers, and most of the quests he did must have been completed by Kidd already!

“But- didn’t Nara-ssi say that there was nothing wrong onLotzac’s side?”

Leeha didn’t think Kidd knew the relationship between Lotzac and Nara, and the current quest, but he was fully aware of it.

In other words, it meant that Shin Nara had investigated Lotzac from all possible angles for the past 5 days.

Kidd knew about it too. Hearing Leeha, Kidd slowly shook his head.

“Every time Lotzac came near the walls, he looked carefully.”

“What happened?”

“He has the habit of walking either in the east or the west garden every morning. The lizardia wasn’t sure, but he guessed that it’s a trap update.”

“Huh, is that so?”

“It did not happen today.”

Kidd said quietly. It was a short sentence. but it meant a lot.

“……There was no trap update? Is that what you’re saying?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it wasn’t a trap update. It could have been just mana training, or it could have been a simple walk.”

“Hmm…”

Leeha tilted his head. How should he interpret this? If it had been another NPC, he would have ignored it.

What Leeha wanted to do now was to protect the king, not block the entire castle.

‘But what if it was Lotzak……?’

It cannot be lightly ignored. However, they should not over-invest either. If they misinterpreted it and called everyone who went to rest, it would mean that they would have wasted everyone’s stamina without any result.

“Alright. For now, Kidd should also rest.”

“Of course.”

He didn’t mean to help from the start? He just let me know?

“R-right. Well, okay. It’s okay.” 

Leeha laughed at Kidd’s answer. It was because he was confident that they could handle any situation by using the two shifts. After Kidd left, Leeha gathered the group.

(To be continued…)