Manuke FPS Chapter 188

Published at 21st of March 2022 07:02:46 AM

Kay: Sazanka is actually Sasanqua, the all-female clan from the first conquests.

After leaving the Adrar’s mansion, I left the city and opened the envelope I received from Ultimirsan to check its contents. 

“So, it’s them again… Those four Sasanqua clan members are participating…” 

I already knew these four clan members, along with Ophelia Dragrange and her escort knights, participating in this mission. Sasanqua was an all-female adventurer clan based in the Royal Capital. I worked together with them to map out the Emerald Demon Labyrinth once before. 

The names of the four participating members – Frau, Miche, Malinda, and Ru were written on Chancellor Bergman’s letter. And Ophelia’s escort knight, Virginia Parrenberg… It’s that emotionless female knight, isn’t it? In addition to the information about the preceding party, the letter provided some places where the labyrinth was likely to exist. They had similar information, so if I went around there I’d most likely. 

At the end of the letter, it was written that the information should not be seen by others, and it was to be disposed of as soon as I confirmed the content. I felt like a became a secret operative… Well, what I’m going to do wasn’t much different from that… 

The approximate location of the labyrinth written in the letter was saved as a screenshot. The letter was discorded into a small kushiyaki’s fire I saw along the way. I bought a kushiyaki to have a light meal before I headed north. 

The forest city of Dragrange was not surrounded by walls like the fortress city of Barga and the Royal Capital. That didn’t mean that you could freely enter or leave the city. There was a huge gate was built at the end of the main street that led outside to control access to the city. Even now, like me, the trio, who seemed to be an adventurer party heading north, was being checked by the gatekeepers. 

“How many times must I tell you! We’re going out to subjugate monsters in the Devil’s Mountain!” 

“Right, but to do that, you need to have a formal subjugation request from the general guild.” 

“And I’ve said it many times too! We’ve decided to go voluntarily because there hasn’t been a subjugation request posted for days!” 

“That’s right! If you leave it to our leader here, I can bet that the monsters living in the Devil’s Mountain will be wiped out!”

“Gahaha! Very true! That’s why! Give us a pass permit already.” 

“Ha, no matter what you say, we can’t issue a pass permit here. Let me tell you this in advance: if you go north without a permit, you’ll be treated as leaving the Kurtmerga Kingdom. During re-entry, all of you will be subjected to strict examination. Of course, if it turns out that you escaped to the north without permission, the various guild cards created in the General Guild will be void. You will not be reissued or issued new ones in Dragrange. 

If you’re found that you do not have it, you will be arrested as a smuggler.”

Apparently, getting out from the north great gate was a bit tricky. 

No record of my entry was made in the city. As Mrs. Adrar said, I’m someone who isn’t actually here. Therefore, I couldn’t make a record of leaving the city, thus, there was no way I could have a pass permit. Maybe I should avoid the gates altogether…? 

I entered an alley off the main street to avoid the public eye. I watched the movement on my radar and disappeared into the forest when no one was looking at me. I was now in the forest full of coniferous trees, crossed over the hills, and entered the mountain area north of Dragrange. 

No longer did I look like Schwartz, or Shaft. I now wore a conical Viking helm with chainmail, fur backs and insteps, and a fur cloak. A very old-world-looking avatar. This was a VMB’s avatar costume set, the Scandinavian pirate pack. The helm had googles built-in and back of the gauntlet had the TSS, so the VMB functions could be used without issue, similar to other costumes. 

I was also using Ghost Captain Jonah’s appearance again. The skeleton-faced avatar I used during my trip to the southern sea where I also used this costume. This time, the powered suit was changed to a skeleton suit, so I resembled an undead completely from top to bottom. 

I was fortunate to be able to take off the powered suit. The assimilation of my body with the VMB system had progressed and allowed me to reproduce the same athletic performance without the assistance of the suit. And I used this appearance for the same reason as last time. 

Neither Schwartz nor Shaft could be here in such a short time without a transfer circle. Besides, I’m supposed to open Daikokuya in parallel with this work. This was not the purpose of operating the store, but to use Daikokuya as a place to connect with Chancellor Bergman’s liaison. 

It would be unnatural for me to exist in Dragrange and the Royal Capital at the same time. If the sightings of two places were found without documentation of the circle being used – the answer of transportation would eventually come to light.  The fact I had my own personal transfer circle as a special case among special cases was not a good thing to reveal. I can’t use Shaft since he was too famous as of late. And if Shaft appeared here, and was seen entering and leaving the Devil’s Mountains, someone would predict that there was a labyrinth here.

Besides, there were adventurers coming and going into the mountains not only from Drangrange but also from the Drak Kingdom. 

Bergman told me to avoid contact as much as possible, but in case of an emergency, I decided to use the appearance of a monster as not to make the Kurtmerga look suspicious. 

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While the pale flames floated in the fundus (Interior of the eye) swayed as I checked the map floating in my field of view along with the terrain spread out before me. I stared at the spots that moved around me. I could hear footsteps – the pace of movement on all fours, similar to that of a grass wolf. Was it the same kind of monster? There were five of them —. 

I reached out to my back and grabbed the riot shield, a small circular shield that hung between the fur cloak and the chainmail. The riot shield was inferior in durability to the ballistic shield. However, it was a circular shield with a diameter of 50cm. Made of polycarbonate in the setting, except for the handle. It was also transparent and offer good visibility.

I then pulled a single ax that hung from my waist. It was a one-handed hatchet with a total length of about 40cm, but it was different from Shaft’s signature tomahawk. Unlike the throwing ax with a wooden handle, the handle of the ax was a metal cylinder with elaborate metalwork. 

I shouldered the top of the blade to my shoulder as if I was shouldering a rifle. I also took up a shooting stance. I held the handle in my left hand and metalwork similar to a hammer was triggered upon taking up the stance. At the same time, in my field of view, a circle with a 2m diameter spread out to a parabola and its destination – a reticle different from other firearms – emerged. 

The distance is about 100m. Then, the blips on the map appeared to be drawn in the circle — Grass Wolf? No, the fur color is different. Those are two forest wolves. Their body was covered in white fur, the opposite of the black fur of the grass wolves. 

One was behind me, another one on the left and right to surround me for a total of five. The moment the two to the front filled in the circle, I pulled the ‘trigger’ on the ax handle. Along with a light vibration, a stupid sound similar to air and a puff of white smoke came from the handle, and the next moment, the end of the parabola exploded. 

This ax I prepared was a grenade ax that was an original weapon from VMB. It was a firearm that looked like a combination of a flintlock grenade launcher and a one-handed ax. It had an explosion range of around 1m. 

The two forest wolf bombed by the grenade ax had their limbs blown off and could be seen on the ground dying. 

Releasing the shooting posture, I headed for the one that appeared on the left, slid-jump from the dash, kicked up the ground; and flew into the sky before I kicked off a coniferous tree and swung the grenade ax over the wolf’s head. They should have surrounded me but the two remaining wolves were surprised that more than half of their force was instantly crushed. They retreated into the shadows of the trees. So, they escaped…The wolves were on the move, clearly recognizing me as an enemy. As the Ghost Captain Jonah, I may look undead, but the monsters should know I was a normal human. 

While I kept an eye on my surroundings, the column part of the grenade ax was slid clockwise to empty the pods. Then, I took out the 40x46mm grenade from the belt attached to the back of the fur cloak and loaded it. 

The Grenade Ax was designed to imitate the flintlock but didn’t actually adopt the ignition method. The design imitated the shape of the flintlock, though the hammer was just a safety device to prevent accidental fire. 

I left the dead wolf there and headed to the dying ones. 

Jonah’s armament was planned to be operated with the combination of Grenade Axe and Riot Shield, with the addition of the M24A2 and GE M134 Minigun (Simulated bullets) I used in the battle with the pirate fleet. And finally, I prepared a PSS Special muffling pistol as an easy-to-use secondary weapon. 

The PSS  was a pistol developed in the Soviet Union during the US-Soviet Cold War and was a small secret mission pistol that muffled its sound without a silencer. Due to its characteristics, the ammunition used was 7.62mmx43mm. It held seven rounds and had an effective range of 50m, making it a close-quarter firearm.

The PSS was pulled out from the back holster of the waist. With an exhale that seemingly could cut off at any moment, I shot the forest wolf who glared at me with its bright red eyes. I wondered how much damage the PSS Special ammunition could cause, but looking at the hole in the head, it seemed that there was no problem if you shot it in its critical point. 

If this were a normal human, it would be powerful enough too. Satisfied with these achievements, I replaced the magazine and returned the gun to its holster.

Chapter end