Arcane Sniper

“Oh, look, that… Hehe. I-I have to eat and live too.”

Leeha remembered clearly. What the general store owner said when he brought the bread sprinkled with Buwak herbs. He said that he would sell them to him for half the price of gunpowder, which would mean that from ten coppers each, it would become five coppers each!

He pretended to lose money and patronized Leeha! He was trying to cut off Leeha’s nose with eyes wide open. It might be because he had loads left!

From the start, he was selling an item worth four coppers for ten coppers. The profit margin was like no other. Bob didn’t even make the gunpowder himself, which meant that the actual cost was cheaper. Leeha did not stay too angry about it.

“I do not have a Buwak herb.”

“Aaah! Aaah!!! Leeha-nim, Ha Leeha-nim! Wait!”

Leeha walked out of the general store. Bob would come out of the general store anyway, and Leeha planned on using that for leverage.

“Well, I am sorry for that. But it’s true that our gunpowder is a top-notch product-”

“Selling what he brought as it is, what high-end and low-end product are you even talking about? Anyway, it is true that it was sold for more than twice the cost. Do you want to know something about the Buwak herb bread? Well too bad, I don’t have one.”

“Please! Please don’t be like this, look at the bigger picture.”

The general store owner ran out and grabbed Leeha’s pants, crawling on the floor.

“Let go!”

“Please give me one more chance! I will give you something else. So what do you need? Our general store doesn’t just sell gunpowder!”

“Let go of my pants!”

“No! The Buwak herb bread is mine! *cough cough*.”

It was close to a scene from a movie. The general store owner grabbed Leeha’s pants and begged for bread. His appearance and the fake coughing looked similar to a Korean drama.

“Don’t go! Please don’t go!”

The grocery store owner, who said he would never let go, hung onto Leeha. He was doing his best to get out of this predicament.

“Really? Okay, are you really going to give me something else? What would you give me?”

Like a cicada, it was impossible to move Leeha.

However, Leeha was curious about what he would get out of this new opportunity and how much he could rip him off for.

“Are there any muskets here?”

“Well, that’s probably in the weapon store.”

“What about armor? Well, pants or shoes.”

“In the Tailor’s Shop…”

“What about a ring or necklace?”

“Maybe you can get it from the Jewelry store…”

“This- huuu, then what can you give me?”

Come to think of it, the grocery store was a place that only handled miscellaneous goods. It was a place that didn’t have anything that would presently help Leeha, nor was there anything he needed.

“Eh, what to give you…. gunpowder?”

“I will buy it from Bob. I asked you to introduce me to him and that was the deal.”

“Umm…. Then let’s see…”

“You have nothing to give me, right? Then the Buwak herb-”

“Ah! Ahhh!”

First of all, it was bait that Leeha threw at random to get a hold of the conversation.

Normally, it was a tactic that people used to get discounts from stores, but at this moment Leeha turned around to truly leave.

The grocery store owner finally declared surrender at his actions.

“Pick one for yourself, whatever you see that you want! I’ll give you literally anything!”

Leeha suddenly stopped and stood tall.

“You’ll let me pick out anything I want?”

“Anything! Everything you see right now is cheap too.”

“C-Cheap! There are items that cost five silver coins… And you call it cheap?”

Leeha did not have a lot of money left and he did not know the intention of the general store owner who was trying to dispose of the items that were not selling well.

But this time the general store owner was wrong, and Leeha knew very well what the most expensive item was.

“Okay. I can only get one it seems.”

“Hehe, you can get whatev-”

“The map of Fibiel Kingdom.”

“Wha- you can’t! Do you know how much that is that you are asking for!”

“Then, buwak herb bread is off the table.”

Even if there was a map or not, it was enough. It was 5 gold, so he just asked for the most expensive one. The general store owner was greatly flustered, and when Leeha tried to go out again, he screamed in a hurry.

“Wait! Wait!”

“Huu, huu…”

The general store owner was out of breath. He had no hair, so the sweat on his forehead could be seen. Leeha stared at a middle-aged man who wiped his sweat off his face like washing his face with a hand towel.

‘G-Great.’

Bob did not only sell items at Candle Castle but he also supplied large quantities of goods to remote villages in the Fibiel Kingdom. As a peddler, he had thick bones, but there was an opponent he struggled to face and it was the general store owner of Candle Castle.

‘Boss, isn’t it different from what you said?’

‘And what can you do? Didn’t you obviously know that the number of strangers coming to our village has decreased recently? This time, I will only pay for this amount, and I will be sure to pay you back on the next payment.’

‘I can’t even get to the next town if you get it.’

‘Hoho, I know that there is nothing more unbelievable than the sound of losing to a merchant. Please, just this time, bob-ssi. Yes?’

What could he do if the general store owner had no business ethics? He was a villainous storekeeper who smiled while eating the customers’ pockets alive.

Bob may have the upper hand in terms of supplying goods, but Candle Castle was a place where these unknown strangers continued to come in. If he couldn’t deliver to the general store owner for some reason, bob’s pockets were bound to get lighter.

‘Such a person now… Is crying and holding onto the pants of a young man? Did he figure out his weakness?

“Okay. I can only get one.”

“Hehe, you can get whatev-”

“The map of Fibiel Kingdom.”

Hup, bob took a breath at Leeha’s words.

‘His discerning eye is outstanding!’

(E/N : wow unicorns can fly!)

At the same time, the eyes of the grocery store owner died. Most of the items sold at grocery stores are close to junk, even to a peddler like Bob.

‘In the meantime, if I can pick one of the only valuable items… it would be the map. Moreover, the map here is not just a rough scale and location. It was a complete map officially published by King Fibiel, which is different from cheap maps. The mages of the royal castle made it themselves, and the cost was basically enormous, and the performance was great.’

Even Bob, who traveled only to remote regions, did not carry a complete map of Fibiel Kingdom because it is too expensive.

‘It would be nice if they lowered the price a little, but you can’t bargain against the strong. There might even be a chance to get your merchant’s license revoked if you try to lower its price. But it’s really nice stuff.’

He knew better than anyone that it was expensive, but he couldn’t buy it anyway. 5 gold? He would rather use that money as capital to sell other items. Seeing the general store owner handing over the map to Leeha, bob felt excited. And at the same time, he admired the young man.

The young man in front of him was discerning, knew how to bargain, and was… very unusual. Such a person shouldn’t ever be looked down upon. Bob thought that he needed to think long-term and form a collaborative relationship with this young man in front of him.

“Can I call you Ha Leeha-nim?”

When the owner of the general store left for a short break, bob said in a very polite manner.

“Yes, you can speak comfortably.”

Bob’s eyes were pointing towards the map held by Leeha.

“Your bargaining skills are really great. I learned a lot.”

“Aigoo, I have a knack for it. And, please take care of me in the future for when I need gunpowder and bullets.”

Leeha spoke more politely than Bob.

Bob replied to Leeha with his twinkling eyes.

“Sure. You won’t ever have to worry about gunpowder in the future. The gunpowder I sell is made by the best artisan in the kingdom.”

“You know the best artisan in the kingdom? Whoa, that’s incredible. Can I get an introduction?”

“Haha, that’s a trade secret.”

Looking at Bob’s laughter, Leeha could see that this NPC wasn’t normal. He probably was concerned about ‘directly dealing’ with the craftsman, and Leeha going right through him. Bob surely wanted a connection with Leeha, and didn’t want to waste the opportunity.

“I know what you’re thinking about. Even if I meet him, I will still do business with Bob-nim. However, I think there is something that can improve its performance in the future.”

“Oh, in that way… I can introduce you, but it will be difficult right now..”

Bob laughed with Leeha.

“Haha, I see. Then, give me only 60 sets of gunpowder and iron balls. Oh, I’m leaving for the capital soon; where and how can I get to you?”

“You can use the common bank safe. If you open a safe with the account in your name, you can always buy the amount you want. Of course, there must be a bank.”

Leeha knew that it was possible not only to entrust money but also to exchange goods. However, it was a common safe, did it really have such a function?

“And what about the payment?”

“Put it in the safe and I can find it. You can write down the items you need and I can get them for you.”

“Ah… It’s almost like paying online. But, what if I don’t put it in?”

“Haha, how would I be able to work without that much trust for clients?”

Bob just laughed. Leeha liked Bob’s attitude. The disadvantage of no putting in money would be a reduction of intimacy, not to mention the infamy you would receive! He really did look like an expert in Leeha’s eyes.

“Okay. 4 copper for gunpowder, and 1 copper for iron balls. I will use it well.”

“Good. Let’s go to the bank. When opening up a transaction, both parties must go together.”

Leeha felt good when he met a decent merchant, while he was dealing with the general store owner. Maybe the general store owner was the reason why there were no musketeers in Candle Castle? Leeha suddenly thought that way.

‘Now, I bought gunpowder, and I opened a bank account. Am I done now?’

Leeha was alone in front of the banks of Candle Castle. Bob said he would like to meet him again in the future and left.

‘The bank doesn’t even give you a separate quest… It could be said that it is the end of the day. It means that I have taken care of all the small things I can do at Candle Castle.’ It was now time to leave Candle Castle. It wasn’t long before Leeha’s steps became a bit heavy.

The place where he felt free, the town where he first arrived in Middle Earth. In a sense, it was like another hometown. In addition to the strange fear and anticipation of having to go to a new place, there were also practical reasons.

‘Above all, my level is still 12. If it were a normal user, they would hunt until level 15, but… I have to leave already..’

Madame Lu’s quest and Musket Academy were all in the capital.

‘Let’s go to the capital and meet Kijung.’

Knowing much more about Middle Earth than Leeha, meeting Kijung would surely help him.

“This is good!”

Leeha energized himself and pulled out the map. He learned how to use the map from Bob, but the fastest way was to use it directly.

‘But the map is really… It’s amazing, it’s amazing…

When he heard that it was 500,000 won in reality, he thought it was too expensive, but it was worth far more than a mere 500,000 won.

‘It was named a map, but in fact, it is a GPS navigation!’

When he picked up the map and turned, a small triangle on the map turned the direction. It could even expand and contract like a smartphone map. Since all the revealed areas within the borders of the Fibiel Kingdom were marked, the question was how he would look at a map of such scale…

‘Because it expands and contracts… He can also use only the part where he currently is by expanding the radius. When making the overall movement, you can zoom out and look at the whole area.’

The function was the same as the map on a smartphone, but the shape and content were the same as the old map. The colors, topography, and landmarks were a perfect mid-century. In addition to such marks, contours were drawn on mountains and hills, so it was a little dizzy for the general public to read right away.

‘Compared to studying Dokdo law at the NCO’s school… This is like a questionnaire with an answer sheet.’

The most important thing for a sniper was location selection, how to read a map, and how to read the ‘Dokdo method’, which he learned so hard that he could do it in his sleep.

‘It’s so good, why not use it?’

Of course, the average users of Middle Earth rarely used maps, but it was because the maps were expensive.

In fact, there was a point that Leeha overlooked, but in general, even if the military had learned the Dokdo method, it was not used for looking at a map.

In addition, at low levels, it was better to change weapons than to buy a map, and at higher levels, it was better to move using a horse carriage or to move using magic scrolls such as teleport, warp, or gate, so there was no need for a map.

‘Now, shall we go?’

Leeha, after roughly setting the way to Aelstock, put the map in his bag. In the bag, a map, 100 sets of gunpowder and bullets, 3 pieces of bread, and a lunch box to be delivered to Madame Joo.

He only had 27 copper left.

‘I can hunt for food! I need to use the skills I learned after getting cursed at.’

The small arrow on the map flashed, flickered, and started to move out of the area of the Candle Castle.

(To be continued…)