Matan’s Shooter - Chapter 204

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Hello, Dame Shin Nara.” 

The two guards bowed their heads toward Shin Nara. In the king’s bedroom, located in the middle of a wide and long corridor, two NPCs guarded the front door.

‘Compared to the Sacred Knights, they are low-leveled. The royal guards are different from the Knight Templars…’

Their priority was maintaining order in the royal palace. The most necessary thing for the job was authority and etiquette, not absolute skill.

Shin Nara knew that most of the personnel selected as NPC guards were children of noble families.

So, compared to other knights that prioritized competence, the Royal Guards were on the weak side.

“Well then……”

Even Shin Nara could not sit in front of the king’s bedroom, so she took a seat a little far from the NPC guards.

Even though there were various art decorations including portraits of successive kings, the large hallway looked even larger at night.

Shin Nara shook her head to awaken her tired brain.

‘Phew……. Wouldn’t it be great if we could arrange more of our members here? I would also be able to log out and sleep.’

If only ten, or at least, seven of the Sacred Knights took turns in guarding the front of the king’s bedroom, she would be able to spend a safe night.

Although Petyr was quite good, if the Sacred Knights had similar skills to the highest level users, seven of such people could completely block Petyr’s surprise attack.

‘Who would have known that NPCs, who were friendly before, could change in a day like this?’

Shin Nara let out a small sigh. When ordinary people raised their level through hunting or academy quests, she took a different path.

In a quest she did by chance, she got involved with the Sacred Knights, entered the royal palace, and leveled up by solving problems within the palace.

At least before this quest, for Shin Nara, the royal palace was like Leeha’s ‘musket academy’. In a sense, it could be said that it was as comfortable as her own home, but…….

‘Should I call it a political confrontation? Tsk, I didn’t know I would think like this. If I had known this would be the case, I would have just gone hunting with peace of mind! I wish I had done a solo raid like Lee Jiwon-’

Shin Nara, who had been lamenting about her situation while remembering the second-ranked magic swordsman for a moment, took a deep breath and organized her thoughts.

It was a luxury to be doing it now.

As the only person who could stand next to the king’s bedroom, she must do her best for the current quest.

‘Leeha-ssi made a special request. And- if I show him my cool figure-’

Shin Nara’s face was dyed red. She didn’t expect it, but Bobae came forward and did something unnecessary. 

‘He shouldn’t have said that! What if Leeha-ssi knew about it? Did he notice? However, in the last few days, there were no signs.’

Shin Nara recalled the fact that  Leeha did not have a girlfriend and laughed.

Ting, ting, ting-

“Hmm?”

Shin Nara and the guards jumped at the sudden noise. A small ball rolled in from the other end of the dark hallway.

“Who?”

One of the guards made a low, thick voice.

The king’s bedroom was perfectly sound-proof, however, the guard could not raise his voice recklessly.

“What is this?”

There was a picture painted on the small iron ball that rolled over. There was no way Shin Nara would not be able to recognize the picture.

“Everyone, dodge!”

A white face with humorously emphasized cheekbones, a strawberry nose, and even painted around the eyes-!

“Yes? What?”

“Oh?”

Psssh——!

There was the sound of steam gushing out of the iron ball. White smoke leaked out beyond the reaction speed of humans, and the guards who inhaled it fell to their seats.

“Cough, cough, no-”

Shin Nara quickly pulled herself out, but she could not stop breathing. Maybe it was because of the smoke she inhaled for a moment.

Her vision sharply blurred. Shin Nara saw a white face appear in the dark hallway. It was not a clown mask, but a customized face, Middle Earth’s most terrible assassin!

“Petyr.”

However, that was all, Shin Nara’s body crumbled down. Before she lost consciousness, the lively and gloomy lyrics of a nursery rhyme sounded in her ears.

“London Bridge is falling down, Falling down, falling down〜 London Bridge is falling down, My fair Lady!” 

London Bridge is falling falling falling down, London Bridge is falling down-

“My beautiful lady- Uwa, Uhihihihi!”

Petyr’s protruding cheekbones shook. He danced like a child and approached Shin Nara. The tailed that protruded from his butt swayed in the darkness.

“Like this, uwahaha, you got caught so easily like this! Stupid! Idiot!”

And then he mercilessly kicked her as she fell. The sound of kicking a pig that had been slaughtered echoed through the dark hallway.

“It was so! Annoyingly! Difficult! Kuhahaha!”

Although she was wearing armor, there were a lot of areas that were not protected. Rather than killing Shin Nara, he acted as if he was taking small revenge on her, like a child.

His actions, which had been kicking Shin Nara with a giggle for a while, stopped. He glanced around as if he was being chased by something, and with a smile on his lips, he put his ear to the king’s bedroom. His ears opened like a cat, and collected sound.

“Are you having a good dream? It’s now time for the fun Hokey Pokey! Once I come back with the king’s head, we’ll- uwahaha, I- kuhihik! Like this, like this!”

Petyr, with a bizarre smile, as if he was possessed, ran out of the blue and kicked Shin Nara’s body again. It was like a little kid’s kick that was not used to kicking a soccer ball, but he did not care and smiled.

“Haa, haa, good. Alright, I will play with ma’am again later.”

Petyr went to the king’s bedroom. After gently pushing the head of the guards leaning on the wall, he pushed the two huge doors. The door opened without even the noise of the hinges, and finally, the Fibiel king’s bed appeared.

“I win!”

There were no guards. No one could stop him. The naked body of the most powerful person in Middle Earth will soon be revealed! And the drastic change that one gesture of his, will bring shock throughout Middle Earth.

“That moment is the most enjoyable! I will shock the entire continent! There’s nothing more enjoyable than seeing people’s shocked faces-!” 

Petyr felt a sprain for a moment. A ray of light came from behind!

Kiyoooo!

Pang-!

The space where he had been was pierced. The fierce energy, that seemed to tear even the afterimage to death, did not stop.

“Lunge!”

When he heard her voice as sharp as her skill, Petyr had no choice but to face his favorite ‘surprise’.

“Puhi, puhihihihi! Shin maaaaaa’aaaam! How?!”

Bang- Bang- Bang-!

It was a chain of stabbing attacks, but Petyr’s movements were as fast. It was a movement unique to the “Miyaw” race, in which all attacks were nullified by continuously performing high-speed back tumbling.

“Shut your wretched mouth, Petyr! I am arresting you for the act of attempting to assassinate the king!”

The position of Shin Nara and Petyr changed after a few attacks. In front of the king’s bed, holding a rapier wrapped in soft blue light, Shin Nara pointed the tip of her sword in a dignified posture.

“There’s no way the sleeping gas’ duration is already over……. Pfft, did you think I would come?”

The cat’s whiskers twitched across his bulging white cheekbones. However, Shin Nara did not respond to Petyr’s words. Even if they actually knew, they had a reason for making such a situation, even by acting.

“Your majesty! Wake up! The proof that Lotzac’s trap has been broken is right before your eyes! Someone tried to harm you by breaking into the palace!”

It was for this reason. It was a plan that Leeha made in order to implicate Lotzac perfectly! In order to do so, they had to let the king see Petyr with his own eyes even if they had to take a risk.

‘Alright! In the end, no one was able to catch Petyr until he had come this far, but now-’

Scrolls and potions to resist all kinds of status abnormalities were provided by Hwahong. All the others were outside surveilling, and only Shin Nara was placed in front of the king’s bedroom.

They were supposed to notify her immediately once they found Petyr, but she did not receive any message

‘It means that everyone missed him.’

When the iron ball rolled in, the plan the Leeha had set up and they had practiced fell apart, but it was fine anyway. Now, if the king personally confirmed that he saw Petyr, the royal palace’s security would be strengthened several times, and they would also be able to catch the suspicious Lotzac’s tail!

“……Your majesty！”

Shin Nara raised her voice once more. However, there was no response from the king’s bed behind her.

“Puhihi, puhi! Did you not think that you were already too late, ma’aaam~?”

“Your Majesty?!”

Already late? As soon as he opened the door, she ran in. But late? Does that mean the king is dead? Shin Nara hurriedly turned around. It was an action that had to be taken at risk in front of the Miyaw race’s assassin, but she had no choice.

“Your majesty!”

The expression of the king lying on the bed was very peaceful. His chest could be seen going up and down. At that moment, Shin Nara already knew. She knew that Petyr knew that the king would not wake up. In other words, Shin Nara expected the sleeping gas from outside to have an effect here. And what was the reason she turned even if she knew? In a battle between experts, even a 0.1-second delay in reaction could be fatal!

“Ta-da, Supriiiiii-se!”

Shiiing-!

The cat folded his body in half and flew in a flash. The place that the nails of the Miyaw, which boasted greater strength than steel, aimed at the nape of Shin Nara’s white neck.

“Contre-”

Shin Nara immediately cast a counterattack skill, but she felt that it was already too late. And at that moment, a thick green light spread from the entrance to the king’s bedroom.

“Poison cover – Toad! ”

It was the fact that they had decided to notify each other immediately when one of them found Petyr, it meant that when the iron ball rolled, everyone already knew that Petyr had arrived.

(To be continued…)