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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Golden-toothed Jesant.
Also known as Jesant the First Shot, this pirate appeared to be an aggressive fighter on the surface, and that was indeed true, but…
His first shot was different.
His initial attack using the pistol, a unique weapon unknown to most people, was literally a weapon that caught people off guard because they didn’t know about it.
However, the girl who had lived in the Chokugen Faction and learned solely to kill people already knew about the existence of the pistol as a weapon.
Bang!
The bullet that flew towards Sen failed to fulfill its role and lodged in the wall, dissipating into mana.
‘It’s not a bullet?’
One of only seven Maesters among the dwarves.
One of the masterpieces created by Gares, known as a unique genius or a crazy weapon maniac.
The demon pistol Balester, which consumed its owner’s mana to create bullets.
Jesant, who kept pulling the trigger of the weapon boasting its black body, let out a mocking laugh.
“What, even a Chokugen Faction brat knows about pistols? What the hell are those bastards raising?”
“I told you, I’m not with the Chokugen Faction.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s what you think.”
That statement had been irritating Sen’s mood since earlier.
She had found a suspicious person in the city at Daniel McLean’s request, and she had hit the mark.
But rather than feeling satisfied with completing the mission, there was an unsettling aftertaste that kept sticking to the soles of her feet.
‘I should run away.’
She absolutely had to escape.
This was an officer of the Pirate Lord, no less.
Just a few months ago, even Zavalanco, who had been utterly defeated, was a has-been who had been ousted from his position of an officer.
But this time it was a current officer, and Jesant was quite famous for his combat prowess.
For now, he was just pulling the trigger, caught up in the taste of the pistol, but the moment he drew the cutlass at his waist, Sen would be no match for him.
‘But I don’t want to run away.’
Strangely, Sen didn’t want to flee.
During her time in the Chokugen Faction when she didn’t know emotions, such cheap provocations would have had no effect on her whatsoever.
But now that she knew emotions, it was hard to just let it go.
She felt she needed to land at least one hit to feel satisfied.
Smiling slightly at the realization that emotions had side effects, Sen drew two daggers from her waist and gripped them in reverse.
“Kid, what are you doing there! Come out and go home already!”
She had heard that normal pistols were loud weapons, but the Balester was completely the opposite.
Using the user’s mana instead of gunpowder, it was truly silent, a weapon perfectly suited for assassins.
‘Then for now…’
Sen threw one of her daggers in the opposite direction.
The mana bullet that was immediately fired hit the dagger accurately and fell to the floor after bouncing off a chair.
However, Sen had already moved in the opposite direction and was quickly approaching Jesant.
‘Let’s look at the muzzle exactly. Because it uses mana bullets, it’s much slower than regular bullets.’
As she had expected, the bullet passed by as she twisted her body while watching the direction of the muzzle.
If someone had seen it, they might have laughed at Jesant’s poor skills, but both people present knew that Sen was dodging well.
“Are you from a circus, not the Chokugen Faction? You dodge well, kid!”
“……”
She charged in with the dagger still gripped in reverse.
Jesant was still firing the pistol, or perhaps he had become stubborn, and kept pulling the trigger, but…
Sen had already approached right in front of him.
Bang!
The last ditch effort mana bullet pierced through Sen’s long, disheveled hair.
Messing up her hair was the only damage Jesant and the Balester had inflicted on Sen.
Sen’s dagger flew precisely towards Jesant’s heart.
Sen thought the perfect assassin’s strike was about to pierce him, but there was still a smile on Jesant’s lips.
“Kid, you’re too slow to be an assassin!”
Clang!
The dagger flew away.
The cutlass, drawn in an instant, had perfectly deflected Sen’s dagger, sending it flying into the air.
‘There was no strength behind it?’
It was clearly a dagger overflowing with killing intent to end his life, but when he deflected it, there was no strength behind it at all.
Thud!
A blade mercilessly pierced Jesant’s abdomen.
From the outside, it looked like Sen’s foot was pushing against Jesant’s stomach, but when she withdrew her leg, a small blade was protruding from the tip of her boot.
“What do you think an assassin should handle best?”
Not stopping there, Sen immediately twisted her body and planted a roundhouse kick in Jesant’s face.
Due to the blade on her boot, a long cut was drawn across his nose.
“Ugh!”
“I thought it was obviously assassination weapons. Starting with daggers, then crossbows, flying daggers, flying birds, shuriken, needles. I learned how to handle numerous weapons in the Chokugen Faction, but they were all wrong, he said.”
Sen felt as if she could hear Daniel McLean’s voice in her ear, clicking his tongue and saying she had learned completely wrong.
“It’s killing intent.”
Basically, combat was a situation that an assassin should avoid as a top priority.
Facing an enemy and crossing swords meant the assassination had failed.
Nevertheless, such situations were inevitable, and at those times, the most useful weapon was killing intent.
“Because I imbued that dagger with the intent to definitely kill you, your attention was drawn to the dagger.”
But that was a fake.
Knowing the dagger would fail, Sen had hidden her real blade.
In the end, the small assassin had properly landed a hit on the 2-meter tall giant.
“Yeah, you’re a bit different from those rigid assassination machine bastards, aren’t you?”
Jesant wiped away the blood flowing down his nose and wetting his lips, and was about to charge in with his cutlass in anger, but…
Sen was already leaping far away.
Jesant had dropped his pistol from the impact of the roundhouse kick earlier.
Judging that he had no means of long-range attack left, Sen was fleeing without looking back.
‘I definitely landed a surprise attack, but if the fight continues, I’ll lose.’
The difference in their physical build was too great to begin with.
Originally, a roundhouse kick like that would have been enough to knock out an adult man, but Jesant had recovered as if nothing had happened and was charging in.
“Aaargh!”
Jesant, who had been watching with his eyes as the white assassin disappeared into the darkness, had no way to vent his anger except by roaring violently.
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“Hmm?”
Feeling a weight on my stomach, I slowly opened my eyes, but it was still dark around me.
However, the window was open, and the night air was coming in chilly.
Ares, sleeping in the bed next to me, pulled up his blanket slightly, probably feeling a bit cold.
But I couldn’t close the window.
Because a white-haired girl was sitting on my stomach.
Moreover, she was covering my mouth with her hand to prevent me from saying anything in surprise.
“Quiet.”
Sen slowly removed her hand, putting a finger to her lips.
I immediately opened my mouth to say something, but she covered it again.
“I said be quiet, what if you wake up Ares?”
“……”
She wasn’t wrong.
I nodded to show I understood, and Sen removed her hand again.
“So why did you come?”
“To deliver information.”
“Did you go out in the early morning? I told you not to do that.”
I had asked for her help, but I had said there was no need to push herself since Lavender would be moving at night.
Sen crossed her arms and made a sulky expression.
“Do you not want to hear it?”
“…Sorry, go ahead and tell me.”
But did she have to do it while straddling me?
Before I could ask that question, Sen had already started explaining, so I just quietly listened, going along with the flow.
She told me about the deal between Hendrick from Pales Academy and the pirate officee Jesant, and how she had landed a hit on Jesant and escaped.
After hearing the report, I was a bit surprised.
From what I had heard, Jesant was several levels above Zavalanco, whom Sen had experienced a complete defeat against before, but she had managed to gain a perfect advantage for a moment and escape from such an opponent.
Not only was the information Sen brought valuable, but her growth was admirable.
‘I didn’t know she had grown this much.’
I had taught her a few times during early morning exercises, but I didn’t expect her to apply it like this in a real situation.
I smiled, feeling proud, and Sen opened her mouth matter-of-factly.
“In the Chokugen Faction, they give rewards when a request is successfully completed.”
Right, I had heard about that.
You kids do all the work, but they take everything under the name of brokerage fees.
They say since you’re using what you learned in the Chokugen Faction, you receive almost at the level of volunteer work.
“Don’t friends need rewards too when they complete a mission?”
“Yeah, I know. Actually, that’s why I…”
I was about to say I’d put in a request with Hayun to gift her a pretty accessory, but Sen smiled brightly and then suddenly shook her head vigorously, returning to her expressionless face.
“Give me something else.”
“…What do you want?”
It was the first time Sen had wanted something, so I felt uneasy, but I asked again, wanting to grant her wish if possible.
She leaned her head in.
I knew what she meant and wanted to refuse, but hadn’t she risked her life fighting because of my request?
“This isn’t anything rational, it’s just a simple mission reward. You understand, right?”
“Brother, hurry.”
Code for Novel Scrapers
She only called me brother at times like this.
I pulled my hand out from under Sen’s thigh and patted her head.
She went limp like a cat with no strength and almost lay down on top of me.
At first, I was going to tell her to get up, but something felt off.
Unlike usual, I could feel through her slightly trembling skin that she was feeling anxious.
“I’ll stay like this for a moment, brother.”
“……”
“Just for a very short while. Give me your warmth. Let me feel clearly that you’re by my side.”
I didn’t know what that pirate Jesant had said to her, but it was clear he had made Sen anxious.
Sen slowly closed her eyes, resting her ear on my chest.
It seemed like she might break if I let go here.
So I gently stroked Sen, as if petting a cat.
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[Honestly Sen ship is gud but May ship forever i shall not be swayed as i have sworn my allegiance already]
damn