CH 152

Chapter 152 – Night Hunt

It is late at night in the town of Sarz, and snow is falling.

The black-and-white world, deprived of sound and motionless, is like an illusion, but… that illusion is disturbed by a group of insolent people.

“Finally, we’ve spotted the hostile forces, huh?”

“They were slower than I expected.”

On top of a city wall where the silhouette is curled up by the snowfall.

Myrril and I were hiding behind the breastworks, staring at the group of assailants unfolding in front of the “Wolf’s Tail Pavilion.” The winter clothes that had been made from Casemaian’s magical beasts kept our bodies from freezing, but not our fingertips.

We were relieved that the battle was finally about to begin as we repeatedly gripped and closed our fingers in the thick mittens to keep them from becoming numb.

Through the green visibility, I could see a large man gesturing to his men’s positions and trying to get around the building.

“If they go around the back of the inn, it’s going to be troublesome. We’ll take them down from there.”

“I’ve already adjusted my sights. I am ready to go at any time.”

◇ ◇

The story goes back to yesterday evening.

After guiding Calmon and his family, along with five other members of the Battlecry, to the “Wolf’s Tail Pavilion,” we went outside to pick up the silver spoon at the dwarves’ jewelry store and returned to the inn.

On the way back to the inn, Mir-neesan makes a grumpy snorting sound. It seems that the watchers, whom we had not seen for a while since we left for Calmon’s house, are now stalking us again.

Well, it’s fine since we are only going back to our rooms from here.

“Market.”

Back in our room, I call up Simon while Myrril is taking a bath. This time he was standing in front of the counter, looking like a businessman, as if nothing had happened.

“Hey, brother. I got what you wanted.”

“As I expected from you. What are your terms?”

“Perfect. It’s got night vision, a sound suppressor, and bipods. Caliber 7.62 mm NATO rounds.”

I asked him to procure a military sniper rifle that could be fired under cover of darkness. Since the distance I expected to shoot was only 200 meters at most, the type of gun was not important. All that was required was whether or not it could be fitted with a silencer and night vision equipment.

“The gun was supposed to be an M40, but it was actually a modified M700. It has a fixed magazine with a five-round capacity.”

It’s not an officially adopted military rifle but a civilian customization of a Remington commercial rifle, the base model.

“No problem. Just settle up with the gold coins I deposited with you. Also, could you please take this to the appraiser?”

“This is… Oh, a carved seal, huh?”

“I’m in another country, the Republic. Here’s the gold.”

“I’ll check it out, but I think it’s probably okay. I heard that in that world, gold coins are called “common continental gold coins” and are of the same standard and weight in all countries. Any country that violates the agreement is subject to economic sanctions in the form of tariffs. I don’t know if this is still the case today.”

I took the rifle in a hard case and three hundred rounds of ammunition in a box. Simon was very considerate, and the ammunition was one hundred subsonic rounds tailored to the sound suppressor, armor-piercing rounds for superior penetration, and high-precision rounds for long-range shooting.

After we closed the deal, I handed him a wooden box with a ribbon on it.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a gift for that innocent angel who looks nothing like you. It was made by a skilled dwarf craftsman over here, and he is very proud of it.”

At the mention of his daughter, Simon’s face turns into a disheveled mess, with his nose stretched out in a slack-jawed grin.

Frankly speaking, it’s pretty creepy.

“Heheheh… I see, thanks. I’ll pass it on to my angel. Her awesomeness is echoing through the rest of the world, huh? Oh, no, that’s just too much…”

I never said anything about that.

Simon’s brain was already covered in a light pink fog, and he looked like a drunkard who won’t listen to a word I say, so I gently closed the market while looking at him warmly.

Now, it’s time for the carnage.

◇ ◇

The snowfall around midnight increases in density, robbing us of sound and sight. I wondered if I should have used a temperature-sensing device.

“The first target, just before the inn. A large man in a dark jacket with a long sword.”

“Yes, I have him in sight.”

The large man put his hand on the hilt of his sword to give the order.

It appears that he is quite skilled. He probably knows that the long sword will be a hindrance if he rushes indoors, and he plans to remain outdoors; perhaps he uses it as a substitute for a command sword, which is easier to see in the dark.

“The way he carries himself, I wonder if he used to be a soldier, a mercenary, or a low-ranking commander of some kind.”

“It doesn’t matter. If he goes the wrong way, he’s just a target.”

Myrril nodded her head in agreement, and the big man was blown off his head and rolled over. The combination of a sound reducer and subsonic rounds suppresses the sound more than expected. The high-pitched sound was almost cut off, and there was no indication that the assailant had reacted to us. Because of the blind spot of the main group, no one had yet noticed the commander’s death.

“I knew that, but these bullets are much more sluggish compared to conventional rounds.”

Subsonic rounds have heavier warheads and fewer charges in order to reduce their initial velocity. In exchange for the quietness, the range and accuracy are reduced.

Myrril pulls the bolt to load the next round. The first round was also loaded in the chamber, so there were only five rounds left.

“Next, a well-dressed old man surrounded by shield-bearers.”

“I can see him, but not his head.”

“That’s fine. That 7.62 millimeter round will kill him no matter where it hits.”

“Roger that.”

The old man, who was protected on all sides by guards with shields and his head covered by them, was blown off his skinny chest plate and fell down.

I don’t know if he was on the lookout for the bandit guild or if he was involved in the case, but it was his own damn fault for showing up all this way.

“Next, escorts in order.”

“Copy that.”

Before they even realize their object of protection is dead, one by one, the shield-bearers were shot through their exposed stomachs and chests, and they fell.

“Reload.”

The gun, this time, had a fixed magazine, so it was necessary to reload every five rounds, which Myrril did in less than three seconds with a skilled hand.

“Done. Ready at any time.”

“Next, ladder-bearer for the raiding party.

“On sight.”

The bandit guild raiders were about to step onto the third floor where Calmon and the others were staying but failed when the ladder collapsed before they could get the signal to move in.

The man supporting the ladder was blown off his thigh and fell, wrapping around the ladder.

One of the three raiding party members, who was hit head-first on the hard, icy road surface, lay motionless, writhing, and the two who managed to survive were also killed when their heads were blown off.

The man whose leg had been crushed by a gunshot wound had probably died of shock when he was hit, and he remained in a rolling posture, not moving a muscle.

“No other movement was seen…”

“No, but there are some watchers at the end of the street, behind the brick house.”

“Don’t shoot.”

“Don’t worry; they haven’t noticed anything wrong yet. …No, they have just noticed it.”

The two watchers come running toward the wolf’s tail pavilion from the back of the house. It was too far away to see their faces.

“They are guards, after all. The young man we met before we entered Sarz.”

“If he leaves, we’ll move on. If he stays…”

“Woof.”

“Yeah. Then you will need a diversion, Moff.”

Fortunately, both of the guard watchers called for backup and ran off, probably deciding that the nearly ten dead bodies were too much for them to handle. It was a wise decision.

In the meantime, I teleported to the front of the inn, stowed all the corpses and equipment, and left.

“They’ll probably go to the inn and come back, and we’ll have a little time to kill them.”

“A quarter of an hour at the most, half of that at the earliest.”

I stow the M700 rifle that Myrril handed me and notice her hand is still outstretched.

“What is it?”

“Look at that.”

From all over the street, we saw figures with weapons gathering in front of the inn—five in total.

I thought they might be new members of the bandit guild, but their equipment was in disarray, and their movements were uncoordinated. I recognized the leader of the group. Or, more precisely, the red hair.

“He went out of his way to get himself killed.”

“Pull it out!”

I put a MAC10 with a silencer onto Mir-neesan’s hand, who flapped her arms, demanding a weapon.

The men were approaching, swords, spears, and bows in hand, spreading out to encircle us.

“Hey, you still don’t get it, do you, after being shown the difference in our abilities?”

“Don’t screw with me; know your place, you outsider! Just because you can win a fistfight doesn’t mean you can win a fight to the death…”

“Of course, you think so.”

Ah, it was when a .45-caliber pistol shot out with a muffled sound and was sucked into the men’s crotches that I realized that Nojalori-san was really angry.

“”””Aaaaahhhh…!””””

The chorus of despair emitted without force was like the ghosts of hell, and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pity.

The sight of the men bending forward on their inner thighs, holding down their private parts, writhing and pleading, was a sight that made me cower and tremble no matter how many times I saw it.

“…What… is… this…!?”

“There’s no shit whatsoever. It is a path you have chosen of your own volition, despite repeated warnings and even punishments. There is no longer any need for you to repent. At best, you will die with regrets.”

When they fell to the ground, they must have been completely dead. When I put them in storage, the men disappeared instantly. All that remained was fresh snow strewn with fresh blood and trampled on.

From deep in the darkness, we heard the sound of guards running toward us. It was time to move out.

“Thank you, then, Moff.”

“Woof.”

The young snow-wolf, perhaps realizing that everything had been taken care of, dexterously unlocks the door and returns to the stables on his own.

We went around to the back of the inn and went back to our room through the window.

“Finally, tomorrow… or rather, today.”

“The second town of the Republic. I’m looking forward to it.”

A short time later, when the guards had gathered, and it was noisy outside, I fell into a happy sleep, snuggled up to the warm body of Myrril.