Matan’s Shooter

“Lepanto-ssi?”

Leeha politely opened his mouth again.

“Ehehe, Lepanto! Lepanto! Let’s go! Our war is not over!”

However, the crazy beggar only took actions such as dancing with a stooped posture.

Following the NPC’s strange reaction, Leeha was convinced. This NPC is different from normal NPCs.

‘The smell is different…  hmm…  Even the useless things were realistically made… ‘

Every time the crazy beggar moved his body, the strange smell emanated from him stimulated Leeha’s nostrils.

‘And the behaviour.’

Come to think of it, the movements Leeha thought were dancing were similar to those of using a rapier.

“Lepanto-ssi! Lepanto-ssi! Calm down!”

Leeha ruffled his hair. The crazy beggar had a scruffy face that hadn’t been washed. Eye mucus and snot were dripping down his eyes and nose, but his eyes were clear.

“Are you tickling me? If so, I’ll use a tickling attack too!”

“Wait. Stay still a little!”

“It’s angry! The troll is mad!”

“What troll? Come on, wait! Lepanto-ssi!”

As the crazy beggar started running, Leeha followed. What was the meaning of this?

“Ehehe, run away! You must not be caught!”

“Stop right there, Lepanto-ssi!”

“Run away, run away! Attract more enemies!”

‘Damn he’s fast…  he’s extremely fast.’

The crazy beggar was so fast that Leeha had a hard time keeping up with him, who was slouching, with his armless sleeve fluttering.

So he was confident. He’s not completely crazy!

‘I have to somehow pursue him!’

Of course, the question was whether Leeha could pursue the crazy beggar.

“Lepanto-ssi, wait! Wait a minute! I am not trying to attack you.”

“Hehe, hehe, run, run!”

“Mister Brown! I have a question for you about Miss Elizabeth!”

“Hehe, hehe, run, run! Stand still or bullets will fly! You’ll need at least five shields to stop Mister Brown’s bullets!”

“What?”

For a moment, Leeha lost the strength in his knees.

The words that the beggar spat out while running made Leeha dizzy.

‘Mister Brown’s bullets are flying?’

The crazy beggar still ran around Nitai’s alleys and squeaked. Fortunately, there were no other NPCs or users around.

“Run, uh, get on a horse! You must go further! Elizabeth is looking at us from nowhere!”

“Elizabeth… as well!

“Lepanto-ssi! Lepanto-ssi! Haa, haa…  Damn it, why is he so fast?”

The distance was getting wider.

Even though he was tired, Leeha didn’t show any signs of stopping.

Finally, Leeha shouted with all his might.

“Is it true that you saw the two of them go to the Demon King’s army? I’m here because director Browless ordered it!”

The crazy beggar stopped.

Leeha was also startled by his sudden movement and stopped.

He gasped for breath. He was wondering if there was anything special in the city, but he was also nervous.

Leeha put strength to the hand holding a musket.

“Lepanto-ssi?”

“Hehehe, that’s a lie! Mister Browless went with the separate wing. He’s not coming!”

“A separate unit?”

“Mister Brown! Mister Brown! Do not go! Are you abandoning us!”

Lepanto cried and wept.

“S-suddenly-!”

There was sincerity in his voice.

Watching him act as if the other party was in front of him, he could tell at a glance.

‘This person was still at war.’

Twenty years ago, in the last war, Browless said that he acted like a detachment.

‘Is he affected by post-traumatic stress disorder?’

Post-traumatic stress disorder.

Leeha recalled the video he watched as educational material when he was in the military.

Those were the common symptoms of people who experienced terrible war.

‘The drinkers in the pub… ‘

Most of the people who started drinking before sundown were veterans… 

Was this what Middle Earth was talking about? Sadness before and after?

However, the present Leeha could not afford to think about such a thing.

If one had PTSD, listening to them was the first part of the treatment. It was likely to get worse if they were asked persistent or overbearing questions.

‘Has he been like that for 20 years?’

Leeha looked at Lepanto, the crazy beggar started to run again.

However, Leeha didn’t follow.

If he followed, there was a possibility of the door to his heart closing even more. First Leeha had to let the crazy beggar go.

‘I need to change my plans a little.’

It was after lunch the next day that Leeha appeared at Nitai.

It took him all night long to go outside the village to gather things for his new plan.

Leeha lit a fire and started cooking while squatting on an alley a little further from the center of the village.

Chiiik—.

He placed a small chunk of fat on a thin, flat stone to squeeze out its oil.

He loosely wiped off the stone plate and placed pieces of meat on it. Every time a piece or two were raised, the sound and smell spread in all directions.

It was not for sale, but Leeha began to carefully grill the meat.

“Gulp, gulp, what kind of smell is that?”

“Is that the smell of soup? Were there any restaurants nearby?”

“The restaurants are near the west entrance.”

The smell tickled the nose of the users. Of course, Leeha was not targeting the users.

“Hmm, hmmm, good, good. How fortunate that there are a lot of rabbits in the area.”

Leeha took a spoonful of soup and inspected its taste.

He used to mainly cook a lot of grilled dishes, but the soup was simple. Even more, he was a chef from ‘Holy Grill’.

[The succulent rabbit meat is ready.]

[Rabbit meat soup and diced potatoes are complete.]

“Hmm, good, good! As expected, it’s definitely easier after I have done it so many times.”

On his way to the capital alone, he had grilled dozens of bear steaks.

While traveling to and from Sheymoore, he sometimes made jerky using meat and ate it. 

Thanks to that, his cooking skill had already reached level 5.

‘Now, let the smell spread farther… The food people crave the most in the field is some meat that is oily. If Lepanto’s spirit is still on the battlefield… ‘

There was no way he would not take this bait. Moreover, since he was a beggar, he was susceptible to food.

‘If I can’t catch him, I will just make him come.’

When the second piece of meat was grilled to golden color, a shadow of a person was cast at the entrance of the alleyway.

“Gulp. Hihi, it smells delicious– ”

When the one-armed man with thick hair covering his face appeared, Leeha exclaimed inwardly.

“Does it smell good? I’m grilling for someone. Did you eat?”

“Gulp.”

The man approached with a wrinkled nose. He can’t seem to hear Leeha’s words.

“The meat is well cooked, slurp! Where did you get this meat?”

“Wait!”

“Ah-!”

Leeha slapped the beggar’s hand that was trying to pick up the meat.

The beggar was startled by that and took a step back.

Of course, one could tell just by looking at his behavior yesterday, but Leeha wanted to make sure.

“Not just anyone should eat this. What is your name?”

“Hihihi, don’t you know me? Squire! Bring me my rapier, and in the name of Lepanto, I will defeat the Demon King!”

As expected! As Leeha predicted, this person was Lepanto.

Leeha thought that Lepanto mistook him for his servant…  If so, it was rather good.

“Eat this, Knight Lepanto-nim. I might have misunderstood for a moment.”

“Hihihi, you idiot, squire! There are still heaps of things to do in order to deal with the Demon King!”

Lepanto grabbed the meat and began to eat.

Leeha didn’t know if it was a symptom of severe PTSD or hallucination, but in any case, he barely managed to have a conversation.

If so, Leeha was confident.

‘Acting is a little difficult, but… ’

It was not like he would live with Lepanto for the rest of his life anyway.

Watching Lepanto eat the rabbit meat, Leeha grilled another piece of meat.

“Do you like it, knight-nim?”

“Of course, squire! Hihihi. I’m so excited, let’s get back to the battlefield!”

“Wait a moment, knight-nim. Wouldn’t it be dangerous to just go to the battlefield?”

“Then?”

“Why don’t we ask Mister Brown and Miss Elizabeth for help? If we had the two of them as sniper escorts, we could come back safely.”

“Stupid, stupid, stupid squire! Didn’t I tell you! The two of them are already gone.”

‘Gone?’

“T-that’s right! Both of them are already dead. Ehehe.”

Leeha lowered his head with a foolish smile, Lepanto waved his hand in excitement.

“Hihihi, you idiot squire! They’re not dead! We can’t simply force them!”

“Where did they go?”

And Lepanto gestured to stand up again and stopped.

“They won’t come back.”

“Yes?”

Leeha couldn’t see Lepanto’s face with his head down.

“They made it clear, the next time we meet, we will be enemies. I couldn’t catch them either. No, I reported back in order to go catch them, but what came back was only rebuke and punishment. Because they couldn’t corrupt a national hero. I didn’t think about it either.”

‘Catch?’

Lepanto let out a quick mumble.

‘Besides, I don’t just know those two. It was the last time we had a conversation.’

‘He spoke to them directly! So, the fact that the two of them disappeared was really a cover-up of an incident at the national level?’

Does that mean that the heroes could not be made a traitor, and ended up being treated as disappeared? 

‘No, looking at the rumors that they died, maybe… even that rumor was fabricated.’

“The traitors must be punished, squire! Hihihi, bring me my rapier!”

“Yes? Rapier?”

“What would I do without you squire? Hihihi.”

What did he mean? Just as he was trying to interpret Lepanto’s words, a notification window appeared in front of Leeha.

[Escorting Veterans]

Description: The fencer, Lepanto, lost his arm in the Second Human-Demon War. Follow his past and lead him to reality. If you escort him and find a way to face reality, his spirit might come back.

Condition: Finding Lepanto’s Rapier

Reward: 

Increase Lepanto’s intimacy

Increase Fibiel Kingdom National Contribution by 10

Condition for failure: 

Lepanto’s death 

Penalty for failure: 

The intimacy of all NPCs in Nitai will decrease by 50%,

Fibiel Kingdom National Contribution decreased by 30

—Do you want to accept?

‘Escort… ?’

Leeha scanned the notification window. Anyway, the content itself was finding the rapier. Where is it?