Manuke FPS

The clan master of Sazanka, Cypria Aznavour, intervened in the fight between Felix and me.
Her crimson greatsword, the aptly named Flames of Cypria, blocked his sword with a screech.
The guy was still on edge even now. 

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But it wasn’t like I was any different.
Cypria might’ve held down the barrel of the AS_VAL so that its muzzle faced the ground, but I was still applying upward force inorder to place it on Felix’s chest.
In the meantime, my left hand slowly reached up to my chest pocket where my combat knife was. 

“Stop it.
If you insist on continuing this, I will not limit myself to just stopping you.”

Cypria’s crimson eyes looked to Felix, then me. 

“Who are you?”

Felix asked me.
His cold jade eyes bored into me. 

“Shaft.”

Hearing my response, the knights who watched us became noisy. 

“— Shaft? The ‘Black Mask Shaft’?”

“ He doesn’t look human to me.”

“Is that why he always wears a mask…?” 

In contrast, the other two looked calm. 

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“I thought so.
My [Magic Sense] perceived him as such.
A real ugly face there.”

Felix, on the other hand, sheathed his sword and left, disappearing among the knights.
I really don’t know why he was even here. 

“Keep your killing intent down, and don’t move your left hand.”

“Fuuh~”

I took a deep breath to calm myself.
The fight seemed over.
I looked to the alley and saw that the ground had been scorched, cracked, and destroyed by the skill Felix released.
Not only were the dead clowns caught in the attack, but also Blue, who’d been incapacitated, had been caught up in the strike. 

With all of it destroyed, I could no longer extract information.

“Have you calmed down?” 

“Yeah.
It’s alright now.
You can let go.”

Once Cypria let go of the barrel, I straightened myself and engaged the safety before I slung it over my back. 

“Should I be grateful for your intervention?” 

“No need to, don’t mention it.
I don’t even know what will happen next.”

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“Is that so…”

“It would be unpleasant to leave your face exposed.
Please keep it covered.”

She reached into her red knight uniform, then offered me a long, thin silk-like cloth.
I checked the map as I received it.
I could see more blips behind the Fourth Knights. 

“Open the way! Commanders, please report the situation!” 

I heard this voice before… I forgot his name, but it belonged to the Deputy Leader of the Fourth.
Following that, I heard the familiar steps of Ophelia. 

“Shaft! Are you al–”

She pushed her way to the front of the crowd, but stopped when she saw my face.
It was a normal reaction… Given the nature of the face paint I was using right now.
So, I began wrapping my face with the cloth I was given.
I covered everything but my right now to see.
The cloth, it smelled good, and was a little warm.
It made me wonder where it’d been stashed before. 

“Ophelia-san, pardon me, but Nekoyangi managed to escape.”

“I-I see… Then they got away with the stone?” 

“No, it’s over there.” 

As I said that, I pointed to the garbage box at the end of the alley. 

“Do you mean… Inside the garbage container?” 

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“It is.
Koti used water magic while inside.
It’s gotta be a mess there now.”

The garbage container had a foul odor coming out from the now oily water mix Koti made.
The dot on my radar signified that the transmitter I attached to the stone was still in there.
But…

“Now, how do we take it out…?” 

Two days passed since the alley fight. 

I originally visited the capital to sell the Great Magic Stone.
However, I had since also learned about the truth behind Manukes as being people from different games other than VMB.
Then, I had ended up in that alley when pursuing Nekoyanagi and ended up being ambushed by the clowns.
Eventually, had a short ‘exchange’ with the Deputy Leader of Rafflesia. 

These past ten days had been filled with all sorts of accidents. 

Afterward – the stone had been forcibly recovered by blowing up the garbage container.
I was temporarily detained by the Fourth Knights for questioning.
Questions such as whether I was truly Shaft.
What happened while I was pursuing Nekoyangi and my relation to the dead clowns. 

The questioning was carried out by the Deputy Leader of the Fourth Knights himself, Ode Samantha who appeared at the end.
Not that I had much to lie about.
I was most definitely the Black Mask Shaft, and I had been attacked by the clowns while I chased Koti.
That was all I could say.
I also mentioned that the clowns were actually assassins sent by Cactus.
He seemed more concerned with the fact I had clashed with Cactus assassins within the Royal Capital during the King’s Festival. 

Cypria Azanvour went elsewhere after the alley, but Ophelia tagged along to the station and was also surprised after hearing my story.
About my face — Ophelia no longer appeared upset when she was with me and was slowly acting her normal self when she talked to me. 

However, she still showed ire when Cactus was mentioned.
Even to the far reaches of her homeland, Dragrange Margrave, Cactus, who had control over the other dark guilds within Kurtmerga, was known there.
According to the Deputy Leader, it was rare for Cactus’s intention to be so clear.
The dark clans beneath them could be tracked down, but the people behind them, Cactus, were difficult to get. 

It had been charred, but there was probably a lot of information that could be obtained from the corpses sent from the Overlord Tree Cactus. 

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To verify my identity, I had asked Duke Barga, who I’d saw attending the auction, to cooperate.
Since he happened to be at the station as well, things went smoothly.
Al5though, I had to show my real face to many more knights and nobles present.

In addition to the fourth knights, many young nobles, mainly from magical families, had gathered at the station.
There had not been anything major damage, but it seemed that the attack on the venue where the Royal Family was attending caused quite the uproar. 

After the questioning, Ophelia immediately headed north to pursue Nekoyanagi as Koti and three of her colleagues had been seen north of the capital in a village.
Meanwhile, the nobles went out with the knights to crush the dark guilds still hiding within in the capital.
I, on the other hand, promised Ophelia we’d meet again before, and returned to Hirasha. 

Malta-san and the chairman of Yamigasa waited for me there.
The labyrinth core had been recovered and its buy finally received it.
The bid for it had been the highest in the auction’s history at 150 platinum coins.
Of that, Hirashia’s portion was 10% of that and Malta would receive 20% of it.
The remaining 70% was mine. 

Despite not getting the full amount, I had received 105 platinum coins and 100 million gold coins. 

In the guest room where the item had been handed over, I saw the chairman, a rat beastman, happily sniffing at the stone. 

To be real honest, the stone had bee soaked in sewage for quite a bit, so it smelled.
However, the handover could not be delayed any longer, so I simply wiped it with a cloth before I brought it here. 

“Chichihi –  so this is the scent of a Great Mana Stone! It reminds me of the evil labyrinth, how it disgusts me still even now! But this brilliance! This amount of power! Truly amazing!” 

He was practically smooching the stone as he spoke.
Naturally, I couldn’t tell him what had happened to it… 

And now I rested in the guestroom of Malta-san’s mansion.
I had stayed there since yesterday, taking note of how the crackdown by the knights was going while I dealt with Minnea.
It had not resulted in anything notable, however, though I’m sure the hunt for Shaft would reside for the time being. 

With that gap, Shaft would disappear while I planned for my next destination.
Yes, the labyrinth subjugation that I had set as my goal to live in this world.
I will head to the Snakehead Labyrinth.