Manuke FPS Chapter 39

“N- No matter what you say, i-it’s just my skill . ”

I remembered going through this before, but I still couldn’t say anything else in response . I had no intention of telling them about VMB or the fact I fell into this world from another one . Only a few families possessed bloodline skills, and none of them had publicized any information regarding their skills . Even the Kurtmelga only proclaimed their skill as “The Royal Family’s Skill . ” I couldn’t do anything besides sticking to this story .

“What’s wrong, Mitche?”

Ruu-san was the first to come back after dealing with the remaining hobgoblins in the room . Marindsan and Frau-san also came to check on how I was doing .

“Ruu-nyan, listen, nya . Schwarz isn’t injured at all, nya . ”

Eh? Wait a minute… Ruu-nyan? Not Ruu+ her usual ending word, but “Ruu-nyan”? Ruu-san didn’t talk much during party discussions and she didn’t seem to be the type who’d like chatting with other members . She usually just stood around with a poker face . Yet, she was close enough with Mitche-san to be called like that…

[T/N: The way Mitche called Ruu, -nyan (no not nya), is equivalent to an affectionate pet name . In Japanese culture, only those in close relationships call each other like that . ]

“Mitche, stop doing such things during exploration . ”

“Yeah, nya…”

“Schwarz! I saw you deflect the hobgoblin’s sword, but you really weren’t injured?”

Even Marindsan got worried – she was looking at my left hand intently .

“No, I’m not . My skill [Arms] can be both offensive and defensive . ”

“Bloodline skills really are mysterious things huh . Maybe it’s capable of other things besides attacking and defending too?”

It was Frau-san who said this . Her words were not only sharp enough to sting, but her jade-green eyes were also boring into me, demanding an explanation .

“Frau-neesama, my healing magic doesn’t work on Schwarz-san…”

[T/N: -neesama is a very polite and respectful way to call an older woman . ]

Lali-san’s lamentation ended Frau-san’s questioning, not a confession from me .

“Because he’s a Manuke?”

“I think so . Lali-san, could you cast some physical boosting magic on me?”

“Eh? O-Okay . ”

At my request, Lali-san began chanting .

“～～～～, ～～～～, Strength Boost . ”

When her magic was cast, a thin film of light began to envelop my body, but halfway through it suddenly scattered as if being burst open .

“Hah~~”

Seeing her magic failed to work on me again, Lali-san sagged down to her knees .

“As expected, bestowal magic and healing magic don’t work on Schwarz . ”

“No, they don’t . Both bestowal and healing magic work by interfering with the recipient’s magic, right? For a Manuke, someone without magic like me, there’s nothing to interfere with . So they can’t work . ”

“I haven’t tried, but I think debuff magic also won’t work since they work on the same principle, though in a negative way . ”

I considered Frau-san’s reasoning while consoling Lali-san, who was still moping about her magic failing on me . What the hell was a Manuke anyways? In a world were every little thing required magic, how did people with no magic come into existence? Well, thinking about it wasn’t going to help anyway . We must move forward first .

[T/N: I think manukes are people who came from other worlds like Schwarz, or their descendants…]

We regrouped and continued deeper into the labyrinth’s depths, but I avoided any risky pre-emptive strikes this time – I wouldn’t be able to heal if I got injured . If healing magic didn’t work on me, healing items also wouldn’t . Since my body did have natural healing power, I could still heal myself if I got injured after some rest though…

We passed the small room and went further into the labyrinth . Looking back on the battle just now, even though I had been distracted by Mitche-san’s scream and missed my shot, the Scar’s offensive power was still satisfactory .

However, the gunshot was too loud for a beast-woman like Mitche-san . It’d be best to give them a warning next time . In VMB, a suppressor could be attached to submachine guns like the P90, but not to AFRs like the Scar . Offensive can be used, but attachments like suppressors could not . This was so the game would have balance .

By the way, I don’t smell any gunpowder at all .

Once again, I switched to the P90 and continued walking while keeping tabs on my goggles map . According to what I’d heard from Will, once we passed that small room and went deeper, there would be a higher-ranked monster in the area . Since hobgoblins were the norm here, that higher-ranked monster was no doubt the Gatekeeper .

We continued walking, killing goblins on the way . Then a large room showed up on my map . With multiple blips inside of it, of course . I also heard multiple heavy footsteps .

“Take a turn here, go forward a bit, and there will be multiple enemies ahead . It’s a large room . ”

“If it’s a large room, then we’re near the inner sanctum . ”

[E/N: I’ve always wanted to say that . ]

Frau-san nodded and gave out commands . This time, Frau-san and Lali-san will use ranged magic attacks . I would also attack from a distance, leaving the other 3 to advance in on the enemies and crack down on them . I told Mitche-san beforehand that I’d be using the Scar-H again .  She said OK, and flattened her ears to her head .  Looked like she wouldn’t be hearing anything directly .

[T/N: The author did use “direct” here (直接) . I guess by flattening her ears, Mitche could muffled the sounds somewhat . ]

The room’s entrance came into view, and we caught sight of the hobgoblins inside . There was a total of 7 of them, 3 were in the center, and 4 were just loitering around . Frau-san and Lali-san were right behind me, but they didn’t look like they planned to attack at the moment .

“There are mages . Even if they don’t come out of the room, they’ll set up a barrier once they notice our chanting . ”

“You mean those 3?”

The 3 hobgoblins in the room’s center were wearing something I’d never seen on any of the other hobgoblins . Normal hobgoblins left their upper-bodies bare, but these 3 wore something like knee-length tunics with necklaces .

“That’s right . Lali and I probably can nullify the barrier, but with those 3 in the fray, I don’t know how much damage we can cause . Schwarz, focus your attacks on those 3 . ”

“Understood . ”

“Marinda, please take care of the other 4 . ”

“Leave them to me! I’ll charm you all properly with my performance!”

The hobgoblins had also noticed us, and were growling while readying themselves for battle . I didn’t know why monsters gathered in these rooms, but it seemed as if someone was insisting on having group battles no matter what .

“～～～～,～～～～,～～～～, Storm Dance Cyclone . ”

“～～～～,～～～～,～～～～, Whirling Tides Waltz Aqua Dance . ”

Frau-san and Lali-san began their magic attacks . At the same time, the hobgoblins started to harp something and the air in the room distorted – they had set up a barrier . I watched the tornado and the disk of water swirling around the monsters like a vortex . If such magic were directed at me, how would I deflect it? Flee with a slide-jump, defend with CBS, or prevent them from casting in the first place…? While thinking on future tactics, I went down on one knee and aimed my crosshair at the storm and whirling water .

The magic attacks came to an end and after the area cleared up, it was confirmed that the 3 mages still lived . Out of the 4 normal hobgoblins, 1 seemed to be outside of the barrier’s range and had been torn to pieces – he was laying face down on the ground . The other three had only sustained some minor injuries . Since the mages hadn’t launched their counterattacks yet, I put them in my crosshairs and began to finish them off . Flipping the selector to semi-auto, I aimed at the one in the center and squeezed the trigger . He looked to be the leader of the group .

[E/D: Remember kids, squeeze . Don’t pull . ]

[PF: So most of the novels I’ve read are wrong then… T-T]

Three shots rang out, the sounds overlapping with each other . Metallic clangs rang from the discarded shells and three monster heads exploded .

Once they had confirmed that the mages had been killed, Marindsan, Ruu-san, and Mitche-san charged out from their positions by my side . My duty was to deal with the mages . Even though I had enough bullets left to deal with the normal ones, there wasn’t a need to do so .

I placed my crosshair on the normal hobgoblin that was lying face down from the first magic attack earlier . After confirming he was sinking into the black mist, I then watched the other 3 fighting through my iron sights .

Chapter end