Shoot the Rhino
Shoot the Rhino
006.
A little while before shooting the rhinoceros.
- "Ugh, Eonni had to go and believe in some weird Outer God. Outer God-nim! You're watching all this right now, aren't you? If there really isn't a herd of rabbits, just you wait, okay? Got it?"
Second was grumbling as she crossed the grassy field in the middle of the night. She was moving to the position I designated.
"Mwahaha. Sorry!! There are no rabbits."
Of course I tricked her. Second seemed like the type to grumble a lot. So I planned to trick her into doing something really important.
Soon, she arrived at the operation point.
And just as she crossed the bushes where the target was, I saw [ Flustered ] pop up.
- "Heeeek!!!"
Then, after [ Covering Her Mouth with Her Own Hands ], she muttered. Sleeping right in front of her was a rhinoceros.
- "You crazy Outer God bastard!! You said it was a rabbit!!"
She hastily rummaged through the pouch she carried. Still, watching Second's character rely on the pouches I gave her when faced with a real situation was kind of cute.
These were three Romance of the Three Kingdoms-style Silk Pouches I had prepared beforehand, since she didn't believe in me yet and I couldn't perform a direct <Revelation>.
In truth, they were rabbit-skin pouches, written and handed over by Vivian on my behalf.
Soon, she [ Opened the First Pouch. ]
< Shoot the rhinoceros. >
- "What? You crazy bastard!! I told you we can't shoot a rhinoceros!!! No, what the hell am I supposed to do with this..."
She [ Hurriedly Opened the Second Pouch with Trembling Hands. ]
< Just trust me and shoot it. If things go wrong, I'll take responsibility. >
- "W-W-What is with this Outer God! H-How are you going to take responsibility!! What on earth do you want me to do?"
I told her to open them one by one because they would help in critical moments, but soon I saw her hurriedly [ Pull Out the Third Pouch ].
"Hehehe, I knew a character like you would open all three at once."
< Ahem, all you have to do is shoot just one arrow and bolt back home. You really don't trust me, huh? If it doesn't work out, you can just stop believing in me from now on. >
Second's character trembled violently. Somehow, this felt different in nature from the way Vivian usually trembled. She seemed pissed off.
"Kukuku."
It was so cute to watch that I burst out laughing. However, Second soon calmed down. She drew her bowstring from maximum range.
- "Ah, seriously... Outer God-nim. If this goes wrong, you have to take responsibility, okay?"
There was no way it would be delivered, but I nodded vigorously at the monitor. Yet somehow, that must have reached her heart.
- "Screw it, I don't care anymore!!!!"
She released the drawn bowstring.
Shweeeeeeeeek!! Thwack.
An arrow struck right into the butt of the soundly sleeping rhinoceros.
- "Kkweeeeeeeeeng!!!"
The rhinoceros woke up. It spotted Second. Excited, it charged forward.
- "Euaaaaaaaa!!"
Second immediately turned around and started running toward the grassy thickets.
[ Thump Thump Thump Thump. Sprinting in Rage ]
The rhinoceros's status window was also desperately pursuing her, as if describing it running with its massive body.
The rhinoceros was naturally faster than Second's running speed, but Second just needed to slip away in the meantime.
'It's almost time!'
The movement route and encounter were already fully calculated. On the route Second was running back home, there was the merchant caravan's campsite.
- "Ugh... What is this noise? W-What is this vibration?"
The caravan leader camping in the nearby grassy field seemed to have woken up from the commotion, as a line of muttering dialog popped up.
Shweeeeek.
Just then, right on cue in the darkness of the night, Second flashed past the side of the campsite.
- "W-What the? Did someone just pass by? Who is it?"
As the caravan leader went to the campfire to look for a torch, [ Realization ] instantly appeared on his status window.
- "Everyone wake up!! Wake up!!! It's an emergency!!!"
The caravan leader shouted. At that shout, everyone sleeping woke up. However, humans were the only ones who could understand that emergency summons.
- "Kkweeeeeeeeeng!!!"
The rhinoceros charged straight in and rammed into the flank of a sleeping pack cow. The pack cow flew off and burst.
- "A-Attack!!! All hands, attack!!!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dudadadada!! Dudadada!!!
Since this game was a wilderness world built on the ruins of civilization, the technology level was a complete jumble.
All the caravan members who had been sleeping pulled out guns and began shooting at the rhinoceros. Gunshots echoed around.
- "Kkweekkkweek!"
Even while being hit by bullets, the valiant rhinoceros charged toward the caravan members.
Thwack-.
- "Ugh, argh!"
One person got hit in the flank and flew back. However, the valiant rhinoceros had taken too many bullets.
- "Goo-eek..."
Soon, the rhinoceros collapsed. The rhinoceros was dead.
- "W-What kind of disaster is this!! Is anyone over there injured!?"
The caravan leader was frantically cleaning up the situation.
"Mwahahaha."
Mission accomplished. Blowing one's nose without touching it. Now our settlement would secure rhinoceros leather and meat from the undamaged parts, even if the amount wasn't huge.
I quickly shifted the monitor's camera angle back to our settlement.
- "Haa... Haa... Eonni, that Outer God really seems crazy, seriously."
Second was just catching her breath inside the settlement, and Vivian, who had been waiting for her and was startled by the gunshots, offered up a prayer.
- "O-Outer God-nim. Could this be... Are we going to be alright?"
However, if everything went according to plan, now was Vivian's turn to shine. I immediately clicked <Revelation>.
- Vivian, could you go outside and help the caravan people? They seem injured.
[ Balance: 2,500pt ]
Vivian [ Hesitated ] at my revelation, then [ Nodded Her Head ] before grabbing medicine and heading outside.
It was the darkest time right before dawn.
The campsite area was bright with fires lit as they were dealing with the aftermath of the recent incident.
It was tragic.
2 injured, 1 pack cow dead. The luggage the pack cow had been carrying was scattered all over the place.
- "Damn it, what kind of region is this... Luke's side is severely injured."
Among them was a critically injured person.
[ Goodwill with the Redam Resident Union decreased by 5. ]
Since it was an incident that occurred in this area, it was bound to raise suspicion.
'Fufu, an acceptable level.'
Soon, Vivian cautiously approached them.
- "...May I offer some help? I know a bit of medicine."
The caravan leader stepped forward.
- "Oh! I-Is that so! What a relief! Quickly, please take a look at our Luke."
Vivian went over and examined Luke.
She [ Flinched ] upon seeing the injured person's condition, then immediately began treating him with our medicine.
Having performed nearly 16 prosthetic leg surgeries in a single day, our Vivian was now the sovereign of medical dressings. I watched as Vivian treated him, leeching experience points once again.
- "How is he? Is his life in danger?"
Once Vivian finished the treatment, the caravan leader hurriedly asked.
- "Yes, he's passed the critical crisis for now. He'll need careful rest. As long as he doesn't overexert himself, he should be fine."
- "Oho! What a relief. My goodness, to think such a talented person was in a remote place like this. You are a savior to our caravan."
Vivian displayed [ Blushing with Her Head Bowed ] and trailed off.
- "No... It's all His will..."
Soon, dawn broke.
[ Goodwill with the Redam Resident Union increased by 15. ]
Seeing the notification pop up, I was clapping my hands.
"Kheeuh! Giving the disease and then the cure, killing two birds with one stone, eating the pheasant and its eggs too!"
The caravan loaded up their luggage to move. However, with the luggage that had been packed full onto 4 cows, one cow was dead, and now they even had to carry an injured person along.
- "Excuse me, I'm sorry, but since we're short-handed, it seems we'll have to abandon some luggage here and leave."
Vivian, who was helping clear things up, opened her eyes wide.
- "A-Are you sure you're okay with that? These look like they're worth quite a lot."
- "Oh my. We're the ones leaving our luggage behind here, so if anything, we're the ones who should be sorry. Would that be okay with you?"
Leaving them behind meant 1 rhinoceros, 1 cow, and the hides that the cow had been carrying. At the caravan leader's proposal, Vivian suddenly displayed [ Looking Up at the Sky ].
For a moment, even though it was a game, I ended up making an excuse.
'Ah. I didn't mean to go that far either, you know.'
However, that appearance seemed to look like hesitation to the caravan leader. The leader suddenly handed a weapon over to Vivian.
- "I-I'm sorry. Please do us this favor. In return, I'll give you this. Will you accept it?"
- "Huh? Ah? Th-This is..."
- "It's the pistol that Luke, whom you treated earlier, used. There should also be quite a bit of ammo in those abandoned supplies over there. Well then, I'm counting on you."
Leaving behind Vivian, who was frozen in surprise for a moment, the caravan leader repeatedly did [ Bowing Head in Respect ].
Then, he hastily loaded the remaining cows and luggage with the caravan and fled the area in a hurry.
From the caravan's perspective, they were dumping waste, so they probably felt self-conscious toward the local settlers.
But for us, we hit the jackpot.
"Wow, damn... I didn't expect the cow to explode, but this turned out unexpectedly sweet."
Vivian was also surprised by the sudden windfall, entering the state of [ Covering Her Mouth with Her Hands and Frozen ].
Soon, searching for her eonni's whereabouts, Second was approaching while shouting from afar.
- "Eonni! Are you okay? No matter how much I think about it, that Outer God is crazy..."
Then she arrived, saw the scattered luggage, and froze dead in her tracks.
- "E-Eonni. What is all this? Where did the caravan that was here go?"
- "...They all left."
- "Leaving all this behind?"
Vivian nodded.
Second walked through the piles of luggage as if she couldn't believe it. She lifted bundles of leather, opened ammo crates.
Then, she stopped dead in her tracks in front of the rhinoceros carcass sprawled out over there. The arrow stuck in its butt. It was her own arrow.
- "...Eonni. This rhinoceros."
- "Yeah. You shot it, right? You killed it."
- "Me? No, I just shot it and ran away. From over there toward the house..."
Mid-sentence, Second's [ Pupils Shaking ] popped up. The spot where the caravan had been. The exact spot she had run past while luring the rhinoceros.
The exploded pack cow. The abandoned luggage left behind due to lack of hands. Second's mouth slowly agape.
- "...No way. All of this... from the very beginning?"
I nodded contentedly in front of the monitor. Of course, I hadn't expected the cow to explode either, but that didn't matter.
- "Th-Then... Saying it was a rabbit, telling me to shoot the rhinoceros, telling me to run in that direction... All of it..."
Second looked down at [ Three Empty Silk Pouches ] held in her hand.
Doing exactly what those scraps of paper instructed had resulted in a mountain of supplies stacked before their eyes—supplies the settlement would never have touched in a lifetime.
- "Unbelievable. Who on earth could do something like this... Wait, but is it really okay to do this?"
Second collapsed onto her butt. Vivian approached and placed a hand on her shoulder.
- "...To Him, we are more important than some strangers in a merchant caravan."
For the first time, Second displayed [ Raising Her Head and Looking Up at the Sky ].
- "Ah..."
It was at that moment.
The monitor screen suddenly went dark. Text slammed down from above with a thud.
[ Discovered Delphine's trait! (2,000pt) ]
"Oh, wh-what! Found another one?"
Since it was a name I had never seen before, this was the first time I realized Second's name was Delphine. Soon, the chugga-chugga choo-choo sound of a train echoed from somewhere again.
A giant card engraved with a question mark embedded on the side of the train came chugging from the right, grandly whipping along.
Soon, with a pop-pop-boom, five-colored fireworks shot up from below.
And then, with a bang sound, the card flipped over.
[ Positivist - Does not believe unless directly seen or experienced. Cannot gain proficiency through books, oral traditions, or revelations, but proficiency gain for tasks directly performed is +200% ]
"Huh? No, 200%?"
I slammed the desk with a thud and stood up. The mod creator made yet another marvelous trait.