CH 184

Chapter 184 – Curiosity Killed The Cat

“Preemptive strike, annihilate them all, is the easiest way to do it…”

It’s very hard to believe that they are clearly following me and have zero intent to harm me, but it’s a big problem if they had no intent to harm me. Even if that were the case, the problem itself would disappear if I just put all the dead bodies in my inventory, but I don’t want to do that.

Once in the forest, I run through the forest at high speed, using the sprint command action as well. I purposely don’t use strafe jumps but leave a trail behind me. After advancing for a while, I came to a place where the forest had opened up a bit. I run through the open area, and at the place where I entered the forest again, I climb up to the top of the tree with a double jump using both my own jump and a command jump.

“I’ve become a bit of an inhuman myself before I knew it…”

I jump from tree to tree in the same manner, blurring, and moving around the open space I just plunged through and hid in a treetop that gives me a bird’s eye view of the open space.

“Ta-da, silenced sniper rifle…”

I pulled out of my inventory a silenced sniper rifle with a large suppressor covering most of the barrel. The effective range is only about 400 meters, but it is compact and uses specially developed large-caliber subsonic rounds that have an immensely effective silencing effect. It can be used with either 0-round or 20-round magazines. It is also easy to use and capable of full-automatic fire.

Thanks to the improved accuracy of the Golem workbench, it is now possible to make guns with relatively advanced mechanisms such as this. Unfortunately, the cost is so high that mass production is absolutely impossible. The cost of bullets is not that different, though.

Incidentally, it is known that polymer and rubber materials can be substituted with slime. Ever since I figured this out, I’ve been diving into the sewers of Erichburg every so often to clean slime, fufufu… And I can get gunpowder materials with it, too! I don’t want to go there too often, but the slime material is very useful… Could I share it with Lime and the others?

So I sent the first round into the chamber of my silenced sniper rifle and waited for a while. Finally, the three men who seemed to have been tracking me appeared at the edge of an open area. Perhaps sensing that it was an obvious place for an ambush, the three men seemed to be on high alert. They did not come out to the open space easily.

“──…I can’t find──…”

“If it’s kept like this… we’ll lose him──…”

They seem to be discussing something briefly, but I can’t hear them very well. I’m sure Sylphy and Melty can hear them. My ears aren’t long, and I don’t have animal ears either. So it can’t be helped.

In the end, they decided to track me rather than risk it and stepped cautiously into the kill zone I had set up. No, I’m not going to make the kill. At least not yet.

The target is within 50 meters, at a rough estimate. The ammunition used in this gun has a heavy warhead weight, and when sniping at long range, the drop of the warhead has to be taken into account, but at this distance, there is no need to worry about it.

I looked through my optical scope and set my sights on the knees of the pursuers, all of whom seemed to be men. It must have been very painful, and if not treated properly, it would have been more serious than an arrow in the knee, but if they were not hostile, I think I can cure it with a potion and a splint, so please forgive me.

I heard a very small “toot” sound of firing and, at the same time, a cracking sound of the engine working. In the next instant, a red flower of blood bloomed around the knee of the pursuer who was walking at the rear.

“Gyiih!”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, the two men in front look back at the anguished voices coming up from behind them. Yes, I had it.

A small “thud” sound was heard again, and a 16-gram lead bullet flew out of the gun’s muzzle at a speed of about 300 meters per second, hitting the clean air of the forest and hitting the ground. It tore apart and landed on the thigh, a little above the second person’s knee.

The lead bullet that landed penetrated the leather armor with ease, tore through the outer skin and plunged into the muscle tissue, causing it to roll over in the flesh and tear the muscle tissue and blood vessels in the thigh to shreds, causing great damage.

“Gaaaah!”

The second one also falls down, holding his leg as he struggles to stand. The last one seemed to understand that they were under attack, even though he had not yet grasped what was happening, and he lowered himself to an alert posture.

But no. He was not aware of the existence of guns and could not take the option of getting down as quickly as he could. Even if he got down a little lower, it would be impossible for him to escape my sniper fire.

Three small gunshots rang out, and the third man fell to the ground.

“…I shot them without hesitation.”

Talking to myself, I watch the three fallen pursuers through my scope. The third one was a lucky shot, as he fell down but got back up again, so I shot him in the opposite leg.

“Aaaaahhhh!”

They are screaming terribly. It must be painful. However, there is a possibility that there are others following behind, so I cannot just show myself right away. It might be an act to lure me out. Maybe they have a means of recovery, like a life potion I make and are waiting for me to approach them with it.

I feel like I’m doing something worse than killing them all at once, but it’s also for my safety.

After three minutes of waiting and no followers, I decided to show up, maybe a little early. I put my silenced sniper rifle away in my inventory, and I take up my short spear and shield.

I approached the three men, stepping through the grass, and called out to them.

“Yo. I’m going to ask you straight out, what were you pursuing me for?”

They had already noticed my approaching presence. The man who was shot through the knee first looked up at me as he fell to the ground. The other two men also looked up at me while holding the spot where they had been shot. Their faces were distorted with pain. I thought I might have hit the artery in the thigh of the second guy, but apparently, it wasn’t a fatal wound. No, maybe he used some kind of potion or restorative magic or something?

“You think you can do this to us and get away with it?”

“Oh, no, don’t be like that. I said, “Just be direct,” right? Well, I could tell by your reaction that at least you weren’t trying to build a friendly relationship with me.”

With that, I thrust my spear into the ground and pulled a handgun from my inventory, a .45 caliber with a magazine load of seven rounds. Do you like .45s, submachine guns, and handguns? Sorry, I’m a .45 believer. It’s a subsonic round, so the suppressor is very effective. It’s great.

“So what? You think I’m going to talk to you honestly?”

“No? There are three of you, and I’d be willing to take one or two less.”

With that, I pointed the muzzle of my gun at the shoulder of the man who was looking at me provocatively and pulled the trigger.

With a popping sound, the approximately 15g warhead landed on the man’s shoulder, tearing his skin and shattering his bones. The man, who had been hit by a large-caliber handgun bullet at close range, began to sprawl on the grassy area, screaming. To my own surprise, I was able to pull the trigger without hesitation. Perhaps something around the mass murderers of achievement has a special effect on my mentality.

The other two turned pale as they looked at their friend, who had been shot in the shoulder and was sprawled out screaming.

“I ask you again, for what purpose have you been following me?”

I say this quietly and point the gun’s muzzle at the shin of the third person, who has shot both legs.

“I-I would never talk… Gyaaahh”

Bang, the sound bursts out. I purposely missed this time, but the guy went blank and passed out. I point the muzzle at the last man, the one who was shot in the thigh by me.

“What about you? You want to take another one just like it?”

“I-I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

The third man twisted around as if to escape the gun’s muzzle, holding his thigh where he had been shot. Fear was evident in his eyes. The fear of being wounded by unknown means must have completely taken over his mind.

“Then, let’s hear what you have to say.”

There is a possibility that he will lie, but if I take this guy to Lime and the others and let them handle it, they will be able to double-check. They’ve said before that they could do that. I wonder if they are showier than slimes anymore. I wondered if they were really slimes, but then I came to the conclusion that the prototype for the existence of slimes was the Sh*ggoth, so I guess it’s not that different.

The man’s story was interesting in its own way. The man told me that these guys were spies dispatched by the mainstream who suspected that Ellen was in cahoots with us, the Liberation Army.

However, they are not really agents of the Adol mainstream but rather personnel dispatched by the outlaw group… that exists in the Holy Kingdom, in other words, a guild of thieves.

“I see… you guys also have a tough time, don’t you?”

It is just unfortunate that they tracked me, of all people, who is nothing but a bundle of secrets for the Liberation Army.

Probably because I met Ellen with a letter of introduction in front of her in a dignified manner… Well, it was bad luck. Now that they’ve seen me and my gun, I can’t let them leave alive. I had to use it to be safe.

With the remaining bullets in my head, I stood up and looked sideways at the other two people I was talking to. Apparently, both of them were unconscious. I aimed at the forehead of one of them and pulled the trigger.

With a bang, the unconscious man’s body jumps up with a jerk. I see a hole in his forehead and a pool of blood on the ground, even though it is grassy. The second man, who had confessed everything to me, began to shake, his teeth clattering.

Bang. The other man’s body trembles. At the same time, I stowed the two bodies in my inventory. I’ve heard that when conducting an interrogation, it is necessary to ask the same questions to several people to get consistency, but one person should be enough for a direct look at the contents of the brain. It would take a lot of effort for me to take two or three people by myself and bring them to Lime and the others.

I pull a pair of metal handcuffs from my inventory and place them on the terrified survivor’s hands.

“I’ll heal your wounds. Now, come with me obediently.”

“I-I-I don’t want to die; I don’t want to die…”

“You do what I say, and I’ll think about it.”

“I’ll just think about it, though, I mutter to myself as I pour a little of the life potion on the man’s thigh and make him drink the rest. The wound on the man’s thigh was completely healed in no time at all. The life potion still works like a charm.

I stood the man up, put the spear that was still propped up on the ground, the pistol and shield in my hand in my inventory, and took out my submachine gun. I also retrieve the shell casings.

“Walk as I tell you. I still have questions for you.”

“H-hey! I’ll tell you everything! Help me! Please!”

“Shut up and walk. Do you want to be like your friends and just disappear from the world?”

“H-hyii…”

I kick the man’s ass from behind and make him walk. It’s depressing.

But it’s a little late for that now, after blowing up a thousand people with bombs. Or, more specifically, after I handed everyone weapons and let them fight the Holy Kingdom at gunpoint. Nothing like getting my hands dirty firsthand. Yeah, it’s no big deal.

I told myself as I kicked the guy’s ass and headed for Lime and the others’ sleeping quarters.