Matan's Shooter

Chapter 467

TL: xLordFifth

ED:

“We’re not suspicious people! Well, I should probably explain the concept of being human first—uh, so, well—”

“Eldest brother.”

“Hmm. They are different from the ones we encountered earlier. They might be our ‘friends.’”

“Huh?”

While shouting, Leeha managed to hear their conversation. It wasn’t perfect, but he could understand the last few sentences.

‘Our friends? What does that mean? The ones they encountered earlier were probably members of the expedition to the New Continent, but what’s the difference between them and us?’

However, there wasn’t much time for contemplation.

“If that’s the case…”

As Leeha was about to respond, another gorilla paleo, referred to as ‘eldest brother,’ raised its arm and loudly exclaimed.

“Lowland! Help against the Rhynodilos!”

Lowland!

The response was concise, and the movement was swift.

The intricately divided muscles and well-developed physique revealed their strength.

However, the weapons they used with such muscular bodies seemed a bit mismatched.

“…Bows?”

The gorilla paleos lined up in a row were holding bows. It was too large to be simply called a longbow. Should it be referred to as a huge bow or a giant bow? Despite their robust, club-like bodies, they used delicate bows. It didn’t quite match, but seeing the huge bows, it didn’t seem entirely implausible.

“Hmm, considering the draw weight, the pulling strength of the archer is undoubtedly essential, but…”

What just passed above Kidd’s head was their thrown projectile. The gorilla paleos immediately strung arrows on their bows and began to draw. There was no warning against the trio, but the outcome was obvious.

“Fire!”

Low—land!

“But they don’t consider our circumstances at all. Duck!”

“Ugh! Luger! You get it now, right? When you attack, you always do it like that!”

Shiiiiii— Shiiiiiiii—

Like the roar of a giant, the arrows flew swiftly. Given their large size, every arrow that passed cast a shadow on the face of the prone Leeha.

Buooooo—

The sound of a powerful impact that could drown out the cries of the rhynodilos followed immediately. The huge arrows, much like the ones used by the gigantic beings, flew rapidly.

‘Facing each other head-on, it should be hitting the skin of their stomachs, but… they could match Kidd, me, and Luger’s joint attack, and kill them with mere arrows?’

Leeha could roughly estimate the attack power of the gorilla paleos. Thinking about it, red goats and black cranes didn’t even have specific weapons. Red goats used throwing attacks, but that was only to hit airborne black cranes. On the ground, they all fought together in a chaotic melee. Their muscles and their bodies were weapons in themselves.

‘If those guys have weapons that can leverage their body characteristics, it’s natural that they would have extraordinary destructive power.’

The attack power of the gorilla paleos was by no means weak. The rhynodilos, numbering over thirty, seemed unable to withstand the onslaught of arrows, turning and running away.

Thud, thud, the impact sound turned into a ticking-tack sound.

Even their powerful arrows couldn’t penetrate the Rhynodilos’ armor.

‘Hmm, I should tell Kijung about that later. It would be good to make a shield with their shells. What was that friend’s remark earlier? And where did they appear? Although the ups and downs of the hills make it a bit difficult, me and Luger wouldn’t have completely missed them.’

While still lying on the ground, Leeha pondered various thoughts. At that moment, a large shadow was cast over the faces of the trio.

“Everyone, get up.”

“Lowland!”

Were they worried about them running away? The gorilla paleos forcibly lifted the arms of the trio. It was like an adult lifting a stuffed animal. Looking at their arms as thick as Leeha’s forearm, he was amazed again. The strength of a gorilla was enough to tear off a human forearm.

“Who are you?”

The eldest gorilla asked.

Who should answer? Kidd and Luger were already exchanging glances. In situations like these, there was only one person who could handle it smoothly.

“Uh, we are… humans from across the sea.”

Leeha barely opened his mouth.

“Across the sea?”

The nostrils of the big gorilla flared.

The gorillas surrounding the trio were breathing heavily, and just the sound of their breath was enough to make their hair stand on end.

It was clear they reacted to the words ‘across the sea.’ fre(e)webnovelcontemporary romance

“Yes, across the sea… ‘friends’ from beyond.”

The big gorilla nodded while sniffing the trio.

‘Different. Different from red goats and black cranes.’

On the contrary, they were the ones living near the beach. While Redwood is a vast forest, if they knew something about what lies beyond the sea, it is more likely that they would know.

But why are they so fixated on the phrase ‘across the sea’? Moreover, they didn’t miss the word ‘friend’ that these beings mentioned.

“We will take them.”

Lowland!

At the big brother’s words, the gorilla paleos tightened their grip on the trio’s arms.

“Uh, wait, where are you-“

A pink light flashed from the gorilla paleos. There was no need to confirm that it was teleportation magic.

“What is this? Is this-“

“Gorillas do everything.”

“An underground city…?”

Leeha, Luger, and Kidd looked at the changed scenery in an instant.

On the ceiling were various stones emitting light instead of the sun. Below was a quite large town. It was different from the savage villages in Redwood, resembling more of a city. Their difference from red goat paleos or black crane paleos was clearly felt once again.

Kkang-! Kkang-! Kkang-!

Gorilla paleos were moving around restlessly everywhere. Entrusting their bodies to the guiding hands, the trio observed their surroundings carefully.

“It’s vast. And it doesn’t seem like a natural cave that leads underground?”

No natural light entered from anywhere. Everything was in an artificial state, and most gorilla paleos were busy breaking and constructing something after their transformation.

‘How long did it take to construct such a wide area underground? They’re still expanding it…’

There was no natural light from anywhere. Most of the gorilla paleos moving around were breaking or expanding constructions.

‘It must have taken quite a long time to construct such a wide area underground. And they are still expanding it…’

This city of gorilla paleos living underground was the opposite of the red goats or Black cranes that lived in harmony with nature. It was a fully artificial city.

It was a city with a perfect sewage system and waste treatment facilities, astonishingly civilized.

How did they achieve civilization?

Leeha surveyed the surroundings, focusing on that point.

‘According to Aibex and Hudid’s words, mystical creatures are fundamentally individualistic. They don’t seem to have any desire to unite with someone or expand their influence. Although the personalities may vary between species… how on earth did they organize themselves, build cities, and progress?’

Moreover, the paleos didn’t seem like ambiguous concepts like the ‘children’ of mystical creatures. It seemed nearly impossible for them to gather wisdom and advance knowledge on their own.

Therefore, Leeha had one hypothesis.

‘Someone must have taught them. Should I consider that entity their ‘friend’? Could their use of the term ‘friend’ be related to that? If so, this ‘friend’ is… First, someone from across the sea, and second, definitely not a player. A dragon? Or an NPC? While it’s not possible to rule out the possibility of someone coming over after the Great War, looking at the progression of the story, it seems more likely to be a ‘person who came alone.’

‘Or it could be as Luger believed…’

It could be Kaztor.

While Leeha was the only one who had conversations with the magical beings, both Kidd and Luger were skilled hunters. Their direct senses in the Middle Ages might be less reliable than Leeha’s, but they were still superior to his.

Moreover, they had been searching for Kaztor for a long time. The combination of various pieces of information about him must be in their possession.

‘Considering the progress of the Matan’s Shooter quest so far, the possibility of Kaztor seems high. I shouldn’t be too biased…’

While Leeha was organizing his thoughts, an adolescent paleos, still in its human form, approached and asked, “Eldest brother! What is that? Food?” The young one was cute, but food?

Leeha was momentarily surprised by the young paleos’s words.

“It’s likely our ‘friend.’ We’re taking it to the Lord, so stay away.”

“Ookay! Friend?! Is that the friend you were talking about? The one who came 20 years ago!?”

The boy paleos made monkey-like sounds and hopped away. Leeha, Kidd, and Luger exchanged glances.

“Hush! We shouldn’t say more. If the Lord decides they are enemies, we might have to kill them. Go away.”

“Woookay! Rowland!”

The young paleos giggled and moved further away. The brains of the trio quickly turned, trying to understand the situation.

Leeha: 20 years ago? What was happening then? Kaztor disappeared 100 years ago.

Luger: Um, Kidd! Use your sharp intuition!”

Luger couldn’t figure it out, and Leeha was left with more questions. Platinum Dragon Bahamut arrived here thousands of years ago. So, what happened just 20 years ago?

‘Clearly not a dragon. Then what could it be?’

While Leeha and Luger were still pondering, Kidd’s expression darkened a bit.

Kidd: Maybe things just got more complicated.”

Luger: What did you think of?

Kidd: If this incident is related to Kaztor—

Leeha: —If it is, Kaztor might be connected to the Second Human-Demon War.”

Luger: Huh? The Second Human-Demon War? Suddenly?”

Kidd: Yes. 20 years ago marks the end of the Second Human-Demon War.”

Luger: Ah! The Second Human-Demon War happened 20 years ago. Those who crossed over to the new continent at that time were all related to the Demon King’s Fragment, Ghibrid, Pyrot Cocri, and other demonic creatures!”

Leeha: If Kaztor is associated with them… But there has been no mention of such a story until now.”

Kidd: No, that’s what I mean. We can’t know if what they’re talking about is Kaztor or not.”

Luger: Perhaps their ‘friend’ refers to the demons. Prepare for escape anytime. We might need to make a hole in the head of that so-called guardian deity before we run.”

Leeha: No, that’s not it. He mentioned that we are different from the people he encountered earlier. Since then, the demon army must have passed through here. Some user from the expedition must have passed by, and calling us ‘different’ from them is… illogical.”

Luger: Well, that’s true…”

Luger was trying to play along, but his logic was severely lacking. Leeha also gave him a skeptical look, but with no precise information available, they were left uncertain.

Either way, they would only find out by confronting the situation.

“Rowland! We’ve come to see the guardian deity!”

What’s going on?

“We encountered a group fighting with rhynodillo on the surface. We went to eliminate them, but they are using a weapon similar to our ‘friend,’ so we brought them in!”

What? A similar weapon?

“Rowland! And all of them said they came from across the sea!”

…What? What the heck! Let them in! Let them in!

Loud voices of hospitality could be heard from beyond the door. At this point, Leeha was certain. The fact that they could transform into gorillas from the start meant something.

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