Matan's Shooter

“Leeha! Next time, let’s have a group meeting, you annoying fly! We’ll bring the beauties on our side, so make sure you leave the old folks behind!”

“Foolish talk. Are you saying you can summon Tiamat, the Queen of the Color Tribe? Even our Metal Tribe doesn’t know that method.”

“Ah, ah, so noisy. Can’t you wait and see? Leeha, let’s go, Faust.”

“Yes, Count… uh, sir.”

Smack!

The blue-bearded man swung his staff and struck Faust on the head, creating a cheerful sound that echoed through the air.

Just when it seemed like Faust was about to touch his head, the two of them had already disappeared.

“Is it really possible to summon Tiamat…?”

Baileyphus murmured quietly as he looked at the vanished location.

He had captured Kuzgunak’s ‘She’ and retrieved his Dragon Heart, but his heart was still not at ease. He realized that this was only the ‘beginning.’

“Is it over now… for me?”

Baileyphus scanned his surroundings with determined eyes.

“As long as Lord Bahamut’s name is here, he won’t return to this place.”

Their mana was undetectable even by Baileyphus himself. However, Baileyphus believed that Bahamut wouldn’t come back because of his commands.

“Well, it would be nice to see something at least…”

The blue-bearded man was just as skilled as Red Dragon Kuzgunakşi in hiding his mana. It was impossible to find him with just the limited duration of the ‘Mana Vision’ that had already ended.

The golden dragon, whose gaze was fixed on the empty space, turned its massive body towards Haeyin and Hyein.

Haeyin flinched for a moment, but Baileyphus casually nodded his head towards the two.

The long neck of the golden dragon lowered as if it would touch the ground.

It was the best etiquette of dragons towards their opponents, as Blaugrung had shown to Haeyin before.

“Thank you, Haleha. And you, magician who manipulates space.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m the one who should be grateful for including me in this plan, Golden Dragon.”

While Haeyin remained composed, Hyein hurriedly bowed her head towards Baileyphus. Seeing her, Baileyphus gave a faint smile.

“At least in terms of space magic, you are stronger than an adult dragon. Maybe you are even stronger than our Metal Tribe’s Ancient-level beings. However, don’t go around flaunting that you used Complete Hold on Kuzgunakşi. The Color Dragon Tribe won’t look kindly upon you.”

“I’m not planning on doing such a thing, sir. I will be cautious. Thank you, Golden Dragon.”

Listening to his words, Haeyin could roughly guess what kind of achievement he had accomplished. It would be an achievement that worsened his relationship with the Color Dragon Tribe. There was something similar in one of the notification windows she quickly skimmed through and closed.

“What is your name?”

“It’s Hyein.”

“Hyein. I will remember your name.”

As Baileyphus finished speaking, Hyein flinched again.

“If the Golden Dragon remembers your name… did you achieve something?”

Haeyin’s guess was correct. Hyein stared at the empty space for a moment, smiled faintly, and bowed her head once again to Baileyphus.

“Thank you.”

Baileyphus nodded at her and looked at Haeyin.

“Well, are you ready, Haleha?”

“Ready for what?”

“We’re going to Lord Bahamut.”

“Oh, so it was just a bluff when you said he was coming. It would have been a big mess if you had attacked.”

Baileyphus rubbed his chest as he recalled the situation just now. He didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if he had fired at the blue-bearded man.

In his imagination, Leeha had a picture of what Kid would look like if he turned into an animal. And in the midst of that brief commotion, Hyein, who had been chuckling, lightly tapped Leeha’s shoulder.

“Thank you for calling me, Haleha.”

The somewhat fragile-looking young man smiled brightly and expressed his gratitude to Leeha.

Come to think of it, Leeha still didn’t know Hyein’s age. How old could she be? She probably wouldn’t be too far off from Leeha’s age. Accepting Hyein’s gratitude, Leeha also expressed his own gratitude. If this mission could be considered a national operation, Hyein had shown remarkable performance, almost reaching the level of a ‘top contributor.’

“I’m the one who should be thankful. You did even better than I expected. You achieved a lot, didn’t you?”

Leeha joked, and Hyein nodded with a smile. There was no trace of the mutual resentment they had felt towards each other before.

“So, does this build trust?”

“Well, who knows? At least between you, Hyein, and me, there won’t be any ‘debt of trust.'”

Leeha lightly shrugged his shoulders as he looked at her. Hyein’s expression showed a hint of disappointment.

“I guess so. We can’t build trust with just one occasion. But that’s enough. Just looking at my achievements… I think I’ll have a chance to meet you again, Haleha.”

“What’s that? I haven’t seen your achievements yet…”

Hyein had no intention of personally solving Leeha’s curiosity. Holding his staff, Leeha drew a magic circle on the ground and spoke.

“You’ll see it later. Well, then, I think I haven’t received an invitation from this Bahamut person, so I’ll go now. I’ll see you next time our paths cross, Golden Dragon.”

[Hmm.]

“Goodbye, Hyein.”

Hyein raised her staff and inserted it into the middle of the magic circle, and in an instant, her body disappeared. Leeha opened his friend window to check where she had gone.

“Why did she leave so suddenly? She can’t even take a break.”

Although it was his first time seeing the place, Leeha recognized the presence of Kijung, Taeil, and Biyemi. It was probably somewhere near the city defending the Blue Beard Noble Legion.

[Shall we go then?]

“Yes!”

Leeha closed his friend window and smiled.

He had suffered without a break for the past few days, enduring quests. Now it was his turn to receive rewards.

“Leeha! I wonder how many items I can get!”

Before he could even collect his wide smile, Leeha and Baileyphus’s bodies had already moved to the rare of Metal Dragon Lord Bahamut.

There were still dragons who had transformed into humans in Bahamut’s rare.

The grand round table and the size of the dragons were too large to be accommodated in human form alone.

And the golden dragon that illuminated the vast space had just transformed into a human in front of Bahamut.

“It looks magnificent.”

As the wounded golden dragon transformed into a human, the golden knight with scars all over his body had also become a reality.

The dragons, including Bahamut, seemed to already know.

Considering that Baileyphus was there with Leeha, and that they didn’t act rashly even after coming to Bahamut’s rare, it was natural to make that level of guess.

They had succeeded in killing Kuzgunakşi!

“Baileyphus.”

“Lord, I have completed the mission and returned.”

Ooooh!

Of course, that was only a speculation. The dragons couldn’t help but exclaim in excitement when their speculations turned into certainty.

“Now we can go back!”

“This is unbelievable, Baileyphus!”

“It was impossible without Baileyphus! Then, is it because of this human hero? That human must be an incredible person!”

The dragons’ murmuring was impossible for Leeha to hear. Leeha deliberately widened his shoulders and extended his chest, assuming a confident posture.

“Heh, calm down, everyone.”

And at Bahamut’s words, the dragons’ whispers stopped.

“Did the power you needed prove useful, Baileyphus?”

“Yes, Lord. It certainly did.”

Baileyphus nodded and took something out of his pocket.

Although it had already lost all its light and even its form was indistinct, Leeha could tell what it was.

“A Dra… Dragon Heart!”

“Kuzgunakşi’s?! Is that it?”

“But I can sense Blaugrung’s mana in it?”

“Alright, alright, calm down, everyone.”

Thump, thump.

When Bahamut tapped the table again, the dragons quieted down. Even for them, such an event must have been rare. Leeha silently nodded his head.

“So, this really happened.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Baileyphus’s efforts were crucial in bringing about this situation. Not to mention Hyein’s achievements. But in the end, it was always the person who scored the goal that received the most attention.

“Human Haleha accomplished the preservation of Blaugrung. It was him who killed Kuzgunakşi.”

Baileyphus directed all the credit to Leeha.

Bahamut smiled and accepted Kuzgunakşi’s Dragon Heart with Blaugrung’s bullet embedded in it.

“Haleha.”

“Yes, yes, Lord Bahamut.”

“You not only eliminated a threat to our clan but also… saved a member of our group who couldn’t find peace in the sanctuary.”

“Oh, it was nothing. I can’t really take credit for it.”

Leeha spoke modestly. The words had already been relayed. Moreover, at this moment, pretending to be superior didn’t suit him.

He knew better than anyone that it was an accomplishment made possible by the collective efforts of everyone, not just himself.

“You have an uncharacteristic humility. Leeha, but it’s true. Without you, it would have been impossible even with Baileyphus’s power or anyone else’s. There would have been no one but you who could have avoided Kuzgunakşi and other hindrances.”

Bahamut stood up and approached Leeha.

As he walked around the round table, Leeha could feel the majesty of the Platinum Dragon, the only Platinum Dragon of the Metal clan, which he had not been able to sense from the other side of the table.

Leeha forcefully restrained his weakening legs. It felt as if someone was pressing down on him, as if it was a pressure exerted by the system.

“Thank you so much.”

As Leeha lowered his head, Baileyphus, who was standing beside him, poked his side. Leeha could recognize the shape of his mouth, telling him to kneel.

Leeha kneeled down on one knee as Baileyphus took a step back. The other dragons also looked at Bahamut and Leeha with reverent expressions.

“Human Haleha, I have a question for you.”

There was a point that Leeha had been concerned about.

It wasn’t just a matter of completing a quest. If it was a ceremony similar to the appointment of a king and a knight… should he answer like Alexander? He wasn’t good at understanding those concepts.

“Yes, my lord.”

“Do you have the heart to uphold justice and execute righteousness?”

Amidst this, Leeha had one worry.

“Do I have to answer like Alexander? I’m not good at that concept…”