Matan’s Shooter

‘Lark had said that as long as I aligned with Ewin, there would be no delays… but honestly, knowing that Kaztor had already left, I couldn’t help but feel anxious.’

Towards the place where it was presumed Elizabeth and Brown had headed, had they safely arrived at the Far East of the New Continent?

Kaztor would already be on his way there.

With the support of Bluebeard, no less.

‘Damn, I haven’t been able to start my full-fledged life in the New Continent yet. If others don’t act, there might be an opportunity…’

Lark had said something once.

Regardless of opportunities, if the 〈Sacred Alliance〉 crumbled, everything would be over.

And what was the highest probable cause that could lead to the fall of a force like the 〈Sacred Alliance〉?

‘《Matan’s Shooter》. If… if Elizabeth and Brown failed to properly control Kyle from Kaztor’s grasp―’

No, one could call it a ‘trick’ that clumsily copied one of the Matans’ skills.

How many elite knight NPCs from Shazrashian had been eradicated by that trick shot?

“This is driving me crazy.”

It seemed more important for the vanguard to move first to stop Kaztor than for Ha Leeha to join as a follow-up.

Ha Leeha’s heart was far from peaceful, as he had to wander the northern part of the Old Continent in this dilemma-ridden situation.

“Let’s finish the setup quickly.”

Ha Leeha looked around.

At the foot of a hill where the biting mountain wind of the ‘Razor Wind’ mountain range blew, Ha Leeha quietly rummaged through his bag and took out a Snowball.

“If it’s a dragon… I’ll go straight away.”

After confirming the 〈Partner: Stand By〉 skill, storing his current location in the crystal ball for backup, Ha Leeha carefully picked up the Snowball.

‘Please, please… let’s finish it in one go!’

If the Snowball were destroyed, he might have to start by procuring 20,000 gold again!

Could he exchange it for rare minerals if the Giants found them?

No rare mineral could possibly be worth 20,000 gold.

‘So please―’

Tap.

Ha Leeha gently placed the Snowball on the neatly laid snow.

───────────────!

At that moment, a blinding white light burst forth.

“Ah! Wait― No―”

Ha Leeha reached out to pick up the Snowball.

Just before the light obstructed his vision, he saw the Snowball cracking and splitting.

‘Am I failing like this?! Damn it, they said it was pure snow, where in the world can I get purer snow than this―’

Giggle.

‘―Huh?’

The light hadn’t disappeared. Amidst blaming the world with his eyes tightly shut, Ha Leeha heard something laughing.

And he saw one thing.

The Spirit of Snow and Ice had been summoned.

The one who governed snow and ice. The Shimo had respected so much was neither a Chromatic Dragon nor a metal dragon.

It was something more fundamental than that.

Ha Leeha, with a spirit affinity higher than most Spirit Masters yet unable to properly recognize spirits, wanted to hit his own head.

* * *

―Prea?

―Oh my, it’s been a while since you contacted me! How have you been?

―… I think you should have contacted me occasionally even if I didn’t reach out first.

Hearing Ha Leeha’s whisper, Prea’s lips curled into a smile.

―I would if there was anything to report. Chiyou is so wary of me these days~. I’ve been having a hard time because she started wandering again.

Though Ha Leeha couldn’t see her, Prea suddenly grabbed her knee and pretended to struggle.

After a brief pause, Ha Leeha’s voice resurfaced.

―Ah, it’s not that. Let me ask you something first.

―Yes, go ahead.

―That time, you mentioned knowing the Spirit of Ice, right?

―Yes.

It was one of the disclosed facts when climbing the perpetual snow mountain.

It was Prea’s high-level usage of the Spirit of Ice that enabled her to greatly increase Chiyou’s ice resistance and protect her.

―Then, do you know a spirit named ‘Gerda’ by any chance?

―Gerda― of course.

‘Did he contact me to check on Chiyou’s hideout or activities, and now suddenly mentions Gerda? Most Spirit Masters don’t know that name.’

Prea tilted her head at Ha Leeha’s whisper.

No one knew more about the kinds or names of spirits than Prea. More importantly, it was a name only a Spirit Master would know.

Why did Ha Leeha mention Gerda at this timing?

―Do a good job from now on.

―Pardon?

―I found Gerda. Be diligent from now on. Loose contacts and sloppy work as a spy… won’t be acceptable.

―Hold on― What― What are you―

―I’ll end the contact now.

―Wait! Ha Leeha! Ha Leeha-nim!

Without giving Prea a chance to say anything more, Ha Leeha’s whisper ended.

Prea tried calling Ha Leeha several more times, but there was no response. Flustered, the white spiritualist urgently summoned someone knowledgeable about this matter.

“Gerda?! Gryphain, Gryphain!”

Whooosh…!

Before Prea, the advanced Spirit of Ice, Gryphain, appeared.

『You called.』

“Ge- Gerda. Gerda!”

『Gerda? Why are you seeking her?』

“Has Gerda made a contract with anyone? Or― is there something going on?”

『That I cannot know. However…』

Gryphain folded his arms and closed his eyes briefly. Prea waited with a pounding heart for his words.

『A short while ago, she was seen leaving somewhere.』

“Where? Where did she go!”

『I only saw her power leaving the spirit realm. Do you think I would know about her business?』

Gryphain’s face was twisted with irritation before he vanished with a gust of cold wind.

Prea, left standing in the cold breeze, couldn’t mask her bewilderment.

“God… Leeha, seriously?”

Did he summon Gerda!?

“That’s impossible! I’m still stuck with Gryphain!”

At the moment when Prea was shouting in distress, Leeha let out a sigh. To him, whispering to Prea had been just a form of ‘annoyance.’

“So… basically, I should start with the water spirits, right?”

『Yes. But as soon as I saw this guy, I knew. You are the one Elaim favors, aren’t you?』

“Favors… is a bit much, ha-ha.”

Leeha scratched his head.

Jellypong was held by someone else, looking uncomfortable.

A figure who commanded such presence that each step made snow whirl around her.

『In addition to Ifrit-nim, the Fire Spirits’ realm also heard about it… the dark spirits are quite curious about this person… and we, too, haven’t seen the horror known as “Uncanny” for a long time. And now, such a human has summoned me, the top-grade ice spirit… ignoring Gryphain and every other spirit of ice and snow, you directly summoned me…』

Gerda, the top-grade ice spirit, was glaring at Leeha.

Leeha struggled to understand the situation.

“Well, the thing is—I didn’t exactly summon you because I wanted to. Um, how can I explain this?”

All Leeha had to go on were hints from the system notification windows.

Affinity with water spirits is above 50%.

Affinity with more than four types of spirits is above 30%.

He also had intimacy with all spirits.

The spirits of snow and ice recognize him.

‘Perhaps those conditions were something like that.’

Maybe they were the minimum requirements to summon a snow and ice spirit.

Leeha had incredibly high affinity with water spirits, Jellypong included, so much so that he could be said to have 100% affinity with them.

‘In other words, I exceeded the minimum requirements by far…’

Shimo never mentioned this.

Looking back, there seemed to be hints to learn something from the spirits of snow and ice, but the term “top-grade” had never been mentioned.

Normally, a lower or mid-tier snow and ice spirit would have been summoned.

However, Leeha’s path had always been unique and pioneering, which Middle Earth’s system acknowledged.

『Interesting.』

“Pardon?”

『A person so intertwined with spirits… now comes to us as the “White Reaper”.』

“Uh, um—thank you very much.”

Leeha hastily bowed.

He didn’t know for sure, but one could easily assume who held the key to this quest.

Moreover, the fact that Gerda knew about the “White Reaper” was proof enough.

‘If that’s the case, I need to make a good impression!’

As if reading Leeha’s mind, Gerda scoffed and spoke.

『No matter the place, time, or situation, you wish to use our power… and to wield the “White Reaper” based on our strength, right?』

“That’s correct, Gerda-nim.”

Seeing Leeha bowing as if to break his back, Gerda laughed softly.

『Alright, I will teach you. But…』

“Yes—”

『However… we have recently been concerned with something. Could you check it for us?』

“—Excuse me?”

An unexpected spirit had shown up.

Even though he was flustered, Leeha had a deep connection with spirits, to the point where he could be called a “Spirit’s Shooter” so his intimacy with them was high.

Therefore, he thought things might proceed more easily, but of course, that wasn’t the case.

Shwaa…!

A holographic window appeared in front of Leeha.

『Unsettling Underground』

Description: “Over there… Do you see the cave at the foot of the mountain? There’s a path leading underground if you enter there. Can you investigate the underground? Recently, it began emitting an uncanny cold that even terrifies us. It’s a chill so severe that it could devour me whole… I can sense something sinister. If you find anything, I will inform the spirit king.”

The top-grade ice spirit Gerda seemed to have sensed something in the underground of the Gale Mountain Range. Investigate the area and report the cause to her.

Objective: Find the source of the ‘unsettling chill’ under the ‘Gale Mountain Range.’

Reward: Skill—Snow Storm

Do you accept?

* * *

‘One go!? A skill in one go—no, but…’

The quest reward was so enticing that Leeha’s eyes glimmered.

Snow Storm, a blizzard.

Just from the name alone, he could ascertain that the skill would definitely be the foundation of the “White Reaper”.

“So… what might be in the underground? What did you feel?”

『Would I ask you if I knew that?』

“Ah, yes, you are absolutely correct… but aren’t there types of chills? Like cold, eerie, chilly, stuff like that… If you, the top-grade ice spirit, could describe exactly what you felt, I would understand right away.”

Despite Gerda’s cold response, Leeha kept smiling. The quest needed to be accepted anyway. The task was simply to find the cause, not to eliminate it.

‘This is… too easy.’

It alarmed Leeha’s intuition. Middle Earth didn’t hand out skills so easily.

It usually requires finding an unsettling cause, destroying it, or implementing measures to bring warmth to the place.

‘But just finding the cause ends it?’

That alone made it valuable for Leeha to show humility to Gerda.

『My, my, you sure know how to please. Want to be my slave?』

“Uh… what?”

Perhaps Gerda liked his attitude.

Despite her revealing appearance, Leeha was not one to be swayed by it.

After briefly losing his composure, Leeha quickly fixed his expression and asked her again.

“Instead of that… if you could answer my question, it would aid me in carrying out your task, Gerda-nim.”

If you favor slaves, I’ll play along!

Though he hadn’t agreed to be a slave, Leeha’s kowtowing attitude seemed to greatly satisfy Gerda.

‘Having high intimacy with spirits isn’t always beneficial… this just feels like unnecessary hassle.’

As Leeha muttered to himself, Gerda finally wore a serious expression.

『It’s an unsettling tremor. Eerie… even ‘eerie’ might not be enough to describe it.』

“You, a top-grade ice spirit, feel it? Feeling the cold—”

『We don’t understand the concept of coldness. We are the cold itself. As such, the chill I sense isn’t related to temperature, understood?』

“Of course.”

『Something… exists. Even the lowest or mid-tier spirits are frightened by the occasional screeches they hear.』

Like the spirits of darkness that dwelled in the “Forest of Shadows”, it seemed the ice spirits inhabited somewhere in the Gale Mountain Range.

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