Arcane Sniper

Chapter 983

Bernard was about to awkwardly rise from his chair when the office door swung open.

The guard NPC gave a slight nod towards Bernard and ushered in the woman behind him.

Bernard, neither standing nor fully seated, held a pose like a horse rider, observing the newcomer.

The woman regarded Bernard with a bright smile and greeted him.

“Hello, Bernard?”

“Yes, hello? Excuse me, but who might you be… Hehe, I don’t think I know you.”

“Of course, Bernard, you wouldn’t know me. But I know you quite well.”

The woman moved toward Bernard.

She sat across from him, with a dirty table piled with scattered documents between them.

“I’ll excuse myself now. Please, go ahead and talk.”

Confirming the situation, the guard NPC exited the room.

Bernard, not knowing who the woman was, whether a user or NPC, chose to sit down.

He couldn’t even look directly into the eyes of the woman sitting opposite him.

After sneaking glances at her several times, he finally managed to speak.

“For what purpose…”

Bernard stammered, sounding unsure as if he was the guest. The woman smiled at Bernard’s demeanor.

“Oh, I’m late with introductions. I came from the Intelligence Guild under the direct command of the King of Fibiel. Please call me Ju.”

“Ju? Hehe, what a lovely… name.”

The Holy Grail’s Ju.

Bernard responded with an awkward laugh.

Regardless of how he reacted, the female NPC leading the Fibiel Capital’s Intelligence Guild maintained an unbroken expression.

Ju observed Bernard for a moment before her gaze subtly shifted.

Behind Bernard, between the window and the wall, rested a large cross.

She stared at the cross briefly before refocusing her attention on Bernard.

“I understand you have recently become the successor to the hero of the ‘Crusader’ class, so I’ve come to discuss something with you.”

Madam Ju of the Holy Grail traveled to the papal offices of Ezwen for precisely this reason.

To fulfill Leeha’s request, average NPCs simply couldn’t measure up.

It was an event made possible by Leeha and Ju’s mutual relationship beyond the ordinary. Neither Leeha nor Bernard were aware of it yet.

“The hero’s— Ah, that’s right. Yes, that’s what happened. I’ve been oddly lucky.”

The newly selected user as the successor to the ‘Crusader’ class hero.

Bernard, seeming embarrassed by Ju’s praise, spoke in a muted voice.

“Not at all. Without your remarkable achievements and skills, Bernard, it would have been impossible.”

“Oh, hehe. If you say so, there’s some truth in it… even if just barely.”

“So, although it seems unlikely that you, being affiliated with the Ezwen Theocracy, would join Chiyou’s side… could you assist us?”

Cutting through Bernard’s halting words, Ju swiftly got to the point. Fortunately, Bernard didn’t notice her small sigh.

Bernard briefly observed Ju cautiously.

“Who do you mean by ‘us’?”

“To be direct, I meant Ha Leeha.”

Bernard’s eyes widened.

“Ha Leeha? The Exorcism Cardinal and… the Saintess frequently meet with… They’re going to verify the ‘Physical Substantialism’ theory this time, right?”

“Yes, he’s the one who killed Tiamat.”

To a user belonging to the Ezwen Theocracy, Leeha was a well-known figure.

Partly because of Leeha’s own exploits, but also due to his prominent acquaintances, such as Kijung, who now confidently occupied a seat in the ‘Council of Nine Cardinals,’ and Raphaela, famed as the ‘Saintess’.

Bernard’s breathing quickened as he listened to Ju.

“I doubt what kind of help I can offer to someone like him… Heh, hehe. Of course, I also want to verify the mysteries of the ‘Physical Substantialism’, but I am already busy with just my work here—.”

“Please consider it well, and I look forward to your favorable reply.”

As Ju watched Bernard stuttering with his words while glancing around, she eventually rose from her seat.

Leaving a note with ‘Messenger Magic’, directly connecting to herself, on Bernard’s desk, she headed straight for the door.

“Uh, well, yes.”

Even as Ju was leaving, Bernard continued to show a frustrating demeanor.

As soon as Ju exited his office, an assistant NPC from the Intelligence Guild followed closely behind her.

“Were you able to achieve a satisfactory outcome, madam?”

“It’s hopeless, hopeless. I wondered how he got into that position… He’s a complete fool, stumbling over his own words.”

“What?”

“At this rate, it’s embarrassing to show face to Ha Leeha, the lord.”

Thump, thump, thump!

As Ju and the NPC from the Intelligence Guild walked down the corridors of the Vatican, someone who appeared to belong to the Ezwen Theocracy hurriedly rushed into Bernard’s office.

The NPCs paused briefly to observe.

There was the urgent sound of knocking and someone barging in, followed by a brief commotion.

Bang—!

When the door swung open again, Bernard, along with the intruder who had just gone in, dashed out.

Seeing him, Ju quickly adjusted her expression and tried to greet him.

“Oh my, Bernard—”

“Guide me quickly!”

“It’s near the boundary with Kraven— there’s a village nearby too—”

“Not necessary. I’ll take responsibility. I can’t leave such scum alive in my jurisdiction. I’ll report to His Holiness after the fact, so let’s depart immediately.”

Bernard shouted over Ju, ignoring her as he rushed down the hallway like the wind.

As soon as they reached the end of the corridor, they teleported and vanished.

Ju blinked her large eyes in surprise.

The NPC assisting her cleared their throat, prompting Ju to regain her poker face.

“What you mentioned earlier about not being of help to Ha Leeha-nim, it seems you were referring to such a resolute disposition.”

“Firm… no… Who did I just see? Was that really Bernard?”

“Yes, it was, madam.”

“How can a person change so drastically? When he was just speaking with me—and that enormous cross he was carrying on his back…”

It was one of the reasons Ju was astonished while watching Bernard.

Apart from his completely altered expression and voice, the fact that a man with an ordinary build managed to carry a cross as large as himself was astonishing.

There was no question—it was the same ‘thing’ that had been resting against the wall in Bernard’s office.

“Though I haven’t verified those rumors myself, I only noted them in the remarks section of the report…”

Listening to the NPC, Ju lightly clapped her hands.

“When Bernard’s ‘professional nature’ is triggered, his personality changes—that one?”

“Yes.”

“And his job is…”

Bernard, a descendant of the ‘Crusader’ class hero.

To date, he had been a quiet user belonging to the Ezwen Theocracy without any notable traits.

Despite being part of the Ezwen Theocracy, Bernard had chosen the ‘Crusader’, a support DPS and healing hybrid, instead of a healer class. His combat skills were almost non-existent.

He hadn’t even turned off the combat assist system, leveling solely through party play, leaving no room for doubts about his gaming skills.

He had started Middle Earth for research related to religion.

Especially, the difference in doctrines between real-world religions and those within the game.

How do ‘NPCs who do not believe in that religion’ react to various miracles being realized within the game?

If such reactions occurred in reality, what distinguishes those who believe in religion without miracles or believers who think miracles exist?

He had focused on research regarding faith, and he delved deeply into the responses of top-grade AIs following the utilization of big data implemented by “Middle Earth”.

The research results were so outstanding that they were partly adopted in real-world papers. Thus, it was no surprise that he received new authority when the descendant of a previous Crusader hero lost rights due to long-term disconnection.

It was also not surprising that “Middle Earth”, which “understood!”

Bernard’s personality, assigned him a new ‘〈Second Advancement〉’ quest.

Bernard, the descendant of a Crusader-class hero.

At present, after completing the second job advancement, his job was not Crusader.

Jou quietly recited the phrase written in Bernard’s report.

“Bernard, the 〈Inquisitor〉……. Where to next?”

Bernard, the descendant of a Crusader-class hero.

Current job after completing second job advancement: 〈Inquisitor〉

“It’s the fishing village in the southeastern part of Kraven.”

“Ah, that fisherman?”

“Yes, madam.”

“Good. Let’s move quickly. There’s one more person after that guy.”

The two people of the Holy Grail teleported.

Besides the 〈Inquisitor〉, she was recruiting two more people for Leeha.

* * *

Around that time, Leeha was looking at the monitor with a satisfied face.

“Good, good.”

The comments briefly exposing Chiyou’s misdeeds, as well as the rebuttal to Chiyou’s 〈Third Faction〉 recruitment posting, were recording explosive views.

However, Leeha’s satisfaction was not 100% compared to the views and comments.

A significant portion of the reactions was not much different than when seeing a celebrity. ‘Wow, the hero of the Tiamat War appeared in such a place!’

This was not what Leeha wanted.

‘But if these continue……. people who truly sympathize with my words will increase. It’s something inevitable.’

Nevertheless, it was a time to cherish each response.

Even while Leeha was struggling to write a long post, Chiyou’s post was gaining viewership and comments on a level unreachable by Leeha’s.

“As expected, the dark attribute job classes……. Damn, I don’t think I can catch them.”

As originally heard from the GM, a significant number of the users joining the Demon King’s army belonged to the dark attribute job classes.

“Middle Earth” had set the system to favor those job classes, so it was only natural.

But why hadn’t they crossed over until now?

The 〈Sacred Alliance〉 dealt swiftly enough that the Demon King’s army didn’t have time to recruit users. Furthermore, Chiyou had a substantial information network and underground forces constructed.

They didn’t need the information brought by new users, so even as Bluebeard, he didn’t recommend such activities, and Chiyou also moved with a minimal number of users due to security concerns.

However, Chiyou had to seek power reinforcement, and now that Bluebeard also wanted vivid information from the 〈Sacred Alliance〉 side?

It was as clear as day that the number of defections from the dark attribute job classes would gradually increase.

Just as the necromancer Faust went over to the Demon King’s army, Leeha pondered which other job class users and how many might defect.

“After all, this is the best I can do right now. I can only hope that players will recognize that playing to protect Middle Earth is not outdated. Still, it’s fortunate to have someone like this.”

Indeed, the rebuttal comment against Chiyou’s post by Leeha had been augmented with content about the game’s existential crisis.

Woo-hoo~~☆ Do these guys want to cross over to vampires and ruin the game ww But super lucky! As more folks give up being human, more prey for me — get it all!

“Hm, hmmm…… I’m not sure exactly what this means……. But crossing over to being a vampire definitely increases disadvantages. It’s recognized as hunting, not PK. Yet it’s amazing that they even realize Middle Earth would be doomed if users defected. Why is the wording like this? Is this trendy on the internet these days?”

Thanks to the short yet impactful comment, the lengthy (?) rebuttal written by Leeha gained more traction, and it was only right he felt grateful.

The commenter’s nickname was So_EZ. Leeha shrugged momentarily but soon shook his head.

“No way……. No matter what, it couldn’t be Lee Jiwon. Hm, ultimately, what does it matter whether it’s Lee Jiwon or not? I’m busy to death anyway.”

Leeha checked the time. The appointment time with Bottleneck was approaching.

“Cutting it close for a shower too.”

Only after refreshing his body sullied by the lengthy sessions in Middle Earth did Leeha re-enter the world of Middle Earth.