Cardboard Houses Do Not Tear

16 – The Spell Sniper

“Let’s get down to business!”

The wizard who brought me PTSD, Locke looked up again and said.

“The reason I came all the way to the North is the same as you. A flash of mercy, because of money!”

“Then did you, No, Mr. Locke, come to kill us?”

Coulson, who had just stopped holding his greatsword erratically, stepped forward and asked.

Oh my God, Coulson. What else is a wizard teacher?

‘Mr. Locke Mage’ shook his head.

“Of course, there are ways to make money by killing people. But I am a wizard walking the path of truth. That’s why I want to suggest a more efficient and benevolent way!”

Locke stretched out his wand again, and the mercenaries were scared, thinking they were going to support him this time.

Among them, I saw members of the Sarrian mercenaries, the ones who saw that six of the seven former Garrosh electric roasters were allies.

However, Ramswith Thunder didn’t fly into their heads.

Locke’s slightly embarrassed voice rang out on the battlefield again.

“…T-Look over there!”

It was only then that everyone who saw that he was pointing somewhere turned to that direction.

A few mercenaries were wriggling on the ground where the lightning struck earlier.

They were alive.

“Now, look at those friends. The 3rd tier magic, being revived without being killed by the lightning bolt.”

The battlefield was noisy. Most of them were the first to see magic, and there were mercenaries who had seen magic, but it was because they didn’t know exactly what it was.

Lies.

“Spell sniper,” Ms. Prianian muttered softly.

It must have been true that in the north, even if you show the fireworks in large groups, they think it’s a fireball. I lightly ignored her who said that, and looked at Locke again.

“Because I don’t like to see blood, I only neutralized it. Please note that it is not a lack of skill…”

“You’re f*cking, you idiot.”

At that time, a mercenary with a bastard sword on his shoulder stepped forward. He seemed more like a thief than a mercenary.

The spirit of coming forward confidently while watching that Ramswi Thunder was extremely spirited.

Looking at the pattern on the armor, it seems to be a friend of ours, but since I don’t have a name in my memory, I think this is probably the first one-

“Huh?”

Looking at the sword he was holding, I knew who it was.

That friend yesterday.

“Oh, no matter if it’s a guild or a battlefield, if you insist, there will always be someone who demands proof. I will be the scapegoat here.”

Locke, who has such a f*cking way of talking, sighed and said tiredly.

“A mercenary whose name I don’t know. I don’t want to be stained with blood.”

“You must be saying that because your skills are lacking, you stupid bastard!”

As if the human live octopuses scattered on the floor were nowhere to be seen, the grim-looking guy arrogantly screamed.

“Don’t be condescending on top of it, come down and fight like a man! You’re a juggler, so you don’t have the strength to swing your fist?”

Locke’s mouth fell shut. And one of Hwar An’s teachings came to mind in his mind.

-If you don’t have any skills, don’t belittle a wizard from afar, and even if you have skills, don’t dare call a wizard a magician. If you don’t want an ice spear stuck in your head.

I thought that was simply saying to beware of wizards.

Just as there is no bastard who says ‘Hey butcher’ in front of a butcher with a knife, I thought there was no one who would say ‘Jang’ in front of a professional.

Of course, in the last five years I’ve seen a guy with nothing on his head, but that was the first time.

That’s right. There was a bastard who actually said that word to the wizard guild members.

“Why. Is there any other reason?”

“…Other reasons?”

Locke said nothing for a moment.

The guy triumphantly raised his fist potato and waved it, provoking Locke.

“Seeing your mother on her knees between the legs of the uncle next door, she feels conquered like that day, or is just about to lose weight, so she is trying to stand above others.”

“……”

“……”

There was silence.

At least everyone here knew that the provocation he was making was not normal. It’s because I don’t know myself.

Why don’t you go home and give your parents a massage with that electric burner? If you haven’t divorced yet.

The guy who said that was showing what it means to be brave if you are ignorant.

“I’m going to die, that person.”

Miss Priyanian muttered quietly.

I felt the same way. And I watched quietly.

Because he voluntarily showed what would happen if a wizard talked about being a sorcerer as a test subject.

“I can’t put it into words.”

Locke pointed the wand at him.

“Curiosity in the storm, a ray of white brilliance,”

The spell was faintly audible, but it was clear that he was casting magic, judging by the crackling at the end of the wand.

“Huh. He’s a juggler and he’s done all the sh*t in this town by himself.”

And the grim guy just laughed. Whether Gao controlled his brain.

Aww, if I rushed at the time to memorize the spell, there would be a possibility.

“Do you memorize spells? I’m good at one of those things too!!”

The guy with the knife stuck in his side mocked him shaking his waist in the air at that golden hour.

At that dirty move, I inadvertently asked Miss Prianian.

“Ms. Priyanian. May I cover your eyes?”

“Okay. It’s not like I’ve seen something like that once or twice.”

“Ah. You’ve had a hard life.”

I nodded in agreement.

Since the mercenaries around him noticeably moved away from him, his friend’s ball shaking skills could be seen from afar, and the effect of the spell was terrible.

“Curiosity in the middle of the night, a white seed. And…”

“…The last beat of a regretful heart.”

The spells of each other crossed.

One had the effect of causing psychological damage, and the other causing physical damage.

As if a candle right before it goes out burns the most fiercely, his words and back movements became more intense.

“With your mother who melted on the bed-”

“Dissipate.”

One word Locke said came a little more clearly.

And the effect was obvious.

“The man next door who shakes his hips on top of it, oh-oh-oh-oh-ok!!!!”

―Quarrr!

Thicker lightning than before, followed by a thunder that shook the battlefield.

The last moment of the road that one person has walked for decades was truly short and thick.

If I had to recite a eulogy, I would say that he lived a life like lightning.

Because it turned off very quickly.

Anyway, I no longer hear the name of the guy who was burned and turned into a lump of charcoal. He didn’t even want to hear it.

“Does anyone test my patience further?”

The mercenaries standing on the battlefield in front of the instant charcoal maker standing alone on the hill were silent.

And.

“That’s rubbish.”

Miss Priianian quietly uttered her impressions.

As an aside, the chilly feeling of selling suited me very well.

“Are you stupid?”

“Shh.”

She began to repeat something slowly.

“Wait, talk to me!”

While everyone must have been thinking, ‘Don’t make the wizard angry’, Guilford, the Lancer of this battle, stepped forward.

Rocke asked.

“Are you the representative of the Hwar’an mercenaries?”

Gilford replied with a nod of his head.

“Guilford Proctor, the lancer of the Hwar’an mercenaries in this battle. Wizard, I know your skills, so I’ll ask you directly. What do you want?”

“I will save you.”

“What are the conditions?”

“Sign the contract.”

“Agree to the terms and conditions carefully.”

“Let me explain. Because I am good.”

Locke took a piece of paper from his bosom and unfolded it, smiling for everyone to see.

I would have seen it if I was on the battlefield, but I’m not an astronomical telescope, so it was impossible to read that text.

Fortunately, explanation bugs are everywhere. Locke recited the contents of the contract.

“This contract is a document informing us that the Hwar’an mercenaries, give 60% of your money to our Sarian mercenaries, and defeat us.”

“……”

“It is signed and notarized by the head of the Hebrides Merchants Guild branch. If you just sign this, I will spare you.”

Guilford said incredulously.

“…Are you crazy?”

“Isn’t it cheap for the price of life? I’m not asking for everything.”

Locke spoke slowly.

“I am a battle mage who has participated in the last Central Territory War as well. I was recognized for my skills and even received a reward from the Viscount.”

“This is the northern part, but there are not one or two guys who have gone down to the central part and been torn apart by a halberd after boasting that they burned and ate some puppies for a day.”

Pissik, said Locke, laughing at Guilford.

“The 2m tall ax spear you are holding seems to be the only window looking at the world. You rely on experience for everything.”

Locke deftly provoked him, and Guilford fell for it.

“How dare you say that!”

An ‘enraged’ Gilford held out the halberd in his right hand toward the rock, giving a hand signal with his slightly drawn left hand behind him.

Our archers were slowly pulling their positions forward.

The movement of one or two trees in the forest of people dyed red did not cause much discomfort.

“How would reality do that?”

The mercenaries who brought their own crossbows carefully hid behind the people and finished loading.

“Nobody. You can’t do that carelessly in the north.”

“Nobody. As long as I’m standing up here, you can’t stop me.”

The atmosphere has changed. Like a tense protest.

One of our mercenaries, who was standing like a folding screen, moved slightly closer behind Gilford, who was watching him speak fluently.

Our archers, who were positioned in a suitable position to shoot the wizard, were quietly raising their bows and crossbows.

So we had to start doing things our way.

“Miss Prianian.”

I called Miss Prianian, who was lying next to me.

“If you look at the second circle down the hill at 11 o’clock, behind the Sarian mercenaries at 4 o’clock, you will see the gunners prepared by Guilford.”

“I checked.”

“Shoot when you want. Of course, Miss Prianian’s experience is better than mine.”

She nodded her head in confirmation.

“And a watch.”

You don’t know. Now she needed a watch that she would have.

“A watch?”

“Yes. If it seems too hard, can I call you tick tock tock?”

Miss Prianian took out a pocket watch from his bosom and threw it at me.

It was quite warm, probably because he was cutting.

“Write it down and return it.”

“I don’t want the last thing I see in my life is the end of a bolt going through my head. Miss Prianian.”

While she was feeling her warmth, checking to and fro she took her watch she received her.

“So, are you going to do it or not?”

“Khehehehe.”

Changes were taking place on the battlefield.

“Do you think we can’t kill you alone there, wizard?”

Shoot!

Gilford’s order came suddenly.

Of course, the arrows flying at the same time were not sudden.

―Puppy Puppy!

-Tutong!

Even with bolts and arrows flying at him, he did not stop laughing.

He just stood there confidently and said what he had to say.

“Oh no, the northern mercenaries are fierce. Please use that kind of remnant- [Protect].”

As I uttered the last starter word, I felt his voice shrink.

A few bolts and more arrows than that fell in front of Locke, who had uttered just one syllable.

At a glance, magic like the symbol of a wizard. It was a shield.

Gilford shrugged his head. I couldn’t see his expression, but he must have been really disappointed.

“As expected, it was too much to deal with a mage. I thought I could do it because I was alone.”

He said dejectedly.

Guilford’s voice, which had been bursting with resentment a moment ago, returned to normal.

Locke grabbed his chest for a moment as if to catch his breath, then opened his mouth.

Strangely, I couldn’t hear his voice very well.

“As I said before, could you please call me Locke? It’s a little too cold to be called a wizard between us.”

As he raised his hand, a group of guards came out from behind a huge boulder and covered Locke’s face.

Those who acted as Locke’s guards quickly prepared for defense.

I spread a pavis shield, an installation type shield, in front of me, and raised a tower shield large enough to cover the entire upper body to surround Locke.

In an instant, they were showing what the 4 drones of the security guard were.

Perhaps these are the remaining elite members of the Sarian Mercenaries.

Recognizing that it was a waste of arrows, our archers lowered their bows. They did their part well.

I picked up the watch.

I haven’t counted yet. I wished I didn’t have to count.

“And.”

Locke, who became a pangolin, hummed.

“Who said you were here alone? I never said anything like that.”

Away, out of reach of the sword but within reach of the bolt, Locke stood still triumphantly, but the shield beneath his mouth was still obscured.

He looked around for a while. He shouted as he lifted his head, which had shrunk as if he couldn’t see it well.

“-Do you want to do more?”

His words, louder than before, rang through the quiet battlefield.

And at the same time.

―Tooung!

Miss Priyanian’s crossbow fired a bolt.

It was a hit.

Lock, whose forehead was pierced, disappeared beyond the shield wall without a sound.

Only the deceased’s mana that hadn’t been scattered was fluttering, showing off its amplified end throughout the entire battlefield.

He used his magic to announce his obituary.

Unintentionally, Fyllian Locke managed to do the most wizardly thing I’ve ever seen.

Meanwhile, the battlefield froze due to his death, and I took advantage of that opportunity to show off my skills.

“Come on. As you said yesterday, did you solve the shield problem?”

“Without doing anything myself.”

She said dumbfounded.

“If I hadn’t told you, it would have been difficult for Guildford to prepare in advance.”

I took my rice bowl. It was of course to lift her up.

“And hinting is also a skill. Just like Miss Prianian shared her views with me.”

Since he has time, he must have prepared himself, but it probably took a little longer to prepare.

Because there is a big difference between knowing and preparing for anyone and dealing with it without knowing.

“…The first keyword. Stop assuming that everything is true.”

“Yes?”

“Wizards are people too. People can lie. That’s why wizards can lie.”

She was suddenly saying what she deserved.

“The spell he cast was four words. Adding one word to each hierarchy is the beginning of magic.”

The order sniper said so.

“The first magic and the magic that turned the mercenary into charcoal were similar in strength. That’s why the first magic he talked about is not lightning bolt, but chain lightning.”

“It’s a bluff. It means that I can use stronger magic than that.”

Bluffing isn’t just about hiding strong skills. Hiding weakness is also a great bluff.

Because people always fall into the prejudice that ‘the main character hides his power’.

“Exactly.”

She nodded her head and continued her words.

“There is only one thing he couldn’t kill those mercenaries. This is because electricity is distributed among too many people. Not benevolent.”

“Well, what do you live for?”

“This is the biggest drawback of electrical magic. Still, it is strong against steel such as armor and knives, and it is effective on the battlefield by causing an electric shock to the surroundings with the blood on the floor.”

Miss Priyanian was showing herself what her tinnitus was.

“And he wasn’t in the middle.”

“I see.”

Having been rewarded for being recognized by the viscount in the middle is the same as increasing the volume of a scarf lizard.

There isn’t even a 24 complaint counter on the battlefield, so how can I know if that guy has received an award or not?

But the reason she said that was quite tough.

“If there was, I would have killed it.”

So said the war hero and missing member of the Countess Molton.

“Second. The timing of my sniping was created by combining information.”

There was a lot of information she recited.

The wind was confirmed by the shaking of the grass near the rock he was standing on.

When that burnt guy provoked me earlier. That he confirmed his spell-casting proficiency.

I couldn’t hear his voice for a while after wearing the shield, and he was a ‘normal’ wizard who couldn’t duel cast because he was humming.

And when he took the head out of the shield again, he heard a loud noise and even said he didn’t cast a shield.

“So I shot right away. This distance is a piece of cake.”

“…Ms. Priyanian. Are you a real person?”

“To hear such a thing from a joker. Should I call this an honor?”

“But Ms. Priyanian. How on earth did you give me this kind of information-“

“By the way, Mr. G-House, why did you ask for a watch earlier?”

Miss Priianian changed the subject. After thinking for a while, I opened my mouth.

“To see the time.”

“Don’t lie.”

At that moment, the suddenly changed sad blue eyes stared at me without a word.

I vomited the truth at the feeling that the meadow was getting colder.

“…If Miss Prianian’s bolts got stuck, I would have evacuated you and stayed behind to shoot you a little later.”

This is a plan in case she fails.

As always. I’m not a genius, of course I am. Miss Prianian is not a god.

So, Plan B had to have at least one if possible.

Of course, I had already made an escape route yesterday, but I didn’t make a plan B after the failed sniping.

Wouldn’t it be offended if someone said, ‘I prepared a plan B in case you fail’.

That’s something you shouldn’t carelessly say.

“Don’t misunderstand me, Miss Prianian. I’m naturally like this.”

In fact, let’s skip the fact that the number of times I moved without making a plan B was higher than the number of times I moved. Because it’s a samurai.

“…Tell me.”

Luckily Miss Prianian was an expert. Seeing that he doesn’t get angry when he doubts his skills.

“Obviously another chance would come, and I was going to aim for that time.”

I responded by tapping the crossbow placed in front of me.

“If the bolt is blocked, the guards will definitely turn their shields this way. The wizard’s vision will be obscured. This is a good situation for you to run away from.”

Miss Priianian didn’t say anything and just listened to me.

I explained my plan.

5 The interval of seconds is just to confuse him that I’ve moved.”

That’s why I asked for a watch. I said so.

Miss Priianian raised a question.

“Then you will definitely be attacked?”

“Is there a mad idealist who jumped into this world risking not to be stabbed? Such a person should be imprisoned in a monastery, not a battlefield.”

After making a joke like that, he told me the plan again.

“But unlike Guilford, who is a Lancer, he will fight back against me as a sniper. So I’ll cast a spell, and the defenses will open for an instant. That’s when I tried to shoot.”

“……”

I finished my sentence scratching my head.

“I asked for a watch because I thought I would have a chance to do it within 30 seconds. If I’m not enough, Miss Prianian will fire one for me.”

When I heard that she even went through a suicide attack, she asked as if she was dumbfounded.

“…Then what if you get hit with magic and die?”

“I will never die.”

“Why?”

“Because he is already dead.”

There are no ifs in history. I tried to change the atmosphere so skillfully.

“…Why?”

But for some reason, she said something unprofessional.

“Yes?”

Miss Priianian asked again.

“Why did you want to do that?”

Aha.

The answer was simple.

“Because I am a guard who has to protect you.”

I gave an obvious answer.

Because I’m the mercenary I chose, this is the mission I chose, and it’s what I have to do.

If I don’t do it, who will?

“There is not much I can say for sure in this world, but I will say this one thing.”

The guard looked straight into the eyes of the target of protection.

“I swear. You will survive on this hill.”

“……”

“That’s my job. I’m just doing my job. Miss Prianian.”

I will never die here.

Sure.

Please don’t look at me like that.

“The wizard is dead!!!!”

Guilford’s cry began, and the battle began again.

The wind has changed. From an uncertain victory to a certain victory.