I Become a Mafia in the Academy - Chapter 251

[New Hidden Quest!]

[Hidden Quest]

[I am the Bounty Hunter of Area ‘E’!]

[Hidden Quest: It’s Your Gun That Protects You! Area E is the neighborhood with the largest collection of guns of any area in Korea. With far fewer Awakened, many have chosen to carry firearms to protect themselves!

But with choice comes responsibility.

Zone E is a neighborhood with a low crime rate, but it’s also one of the most violent places in the city.

The person you want to catch committed a heinous crime!

Will you be able to capture the criminal with the bounty on his head and keep the peace in Area E?]

[Objective: Capture the criminal sought by Rick Fester]

[Reward: Rick Fester’s Pistol Skill, Bounty 7,000,000 Credits]

[Additional rewards will be awarded based on your achievements]

A pretty interesting hidden quest.

“Bounty hunting” quests are fairly common in the game, but a quest that grants a skill like this is a very rare find.

But to miss out on a quest like this right in front of my eyes, even the first one I see?

This was absolutely unacceptable.

“That criminal. Can I catch him?”

“……Yes, you mean you?”

“Well, I have to patrol Area E for my nightly walks anyway, so I’m helping out. You don’t mind Latte, do you?”

I turn to Latte, standing off to the side, for her opinion, and she smiles dismissively.

“Yes, if you say so, I’ll go along with it!”

“Then let’s get moving. Ah, Rick.”

“Yes, Master.”

“You’ll teach me pistol skills once we get him, won’t you?”

Rick smirked and shrugged.

“Sure. I’ve had a few guys ask me to teach them some techniques, but none of them have ever followed through.”

The answer beams with pride.

I could see why he was saying that.

The techniques he uses would be daunting to copy without a certain amount of talent and ability.

But…….

‘Not me.’

One of the effects of my trait, 【Hitman】.

[1. Cold-blooded killer – The knife of the organization that disposes of its enemies. Hitmen remain calm in any situation.

Greatly increases proficiency with firearms]

I’ve been steadily increasing my firearms proficiency with all kinds of guns.

Is that all? This trait would also apply while learning from Rick.

“So, I guess we just need to get moving, huh, Latte?”

“Yes, Master. I’ve got all the kids around me.”

Latte was very perceptive in this area.

“Rick. Any BOLOs? Anything left?”

“Oh, yeah. Here it is.”

In response to my question, Rick fumbled in his pocket and handed me a copy of the BOLO with a drawing on it.

It was an elaborate drawing, almost photorealistic.

[WANTED]

[(-∧-)]

[ONLY ALIVE]

[Billy the Killer]

[7,000,000C]

“That’s certainly a pretty nasty looking guy……but why is he only wanted alive?”

“Because the man he killed was one of the powerful men in the area. He asked me to make sure he was brought back alive.”

“Really?”

He’s not going to go easy on me.

Once I had the request, I decided to get moving.

“Latte.”

“Yeah. I’ve got his face and I’m going to untie the kids right now.”

After about 10 seconds of this, she rolls her eyes.

“Okay, now all I have to do is wait. How about we take a break at a nearby cafe?”

……I can’t believe she’s already thinking about taking a break.

“Follow me. There are some places you can’t go with only rats.”

“What…….?”

No matter how much she wants to rest, she has to work.

I grab Latte and head to a more crowded shopping district.

“Ughhh…….”

She follows me with her lips pouting, like a child who doesn’t want to leave the toy section.

“By the way, Master. If you’re looking for criminals, shouldn’t you be going to some of the more seedy back alleys or something? We seem to be heading more and more toward the main street.”

Latte asks, puzzled by the growing number of people around us.

“The back streets of Area E are controlled by small gangs, and I don’t think they would hide the kind of criminals Corleone is after…well, I don’t think it’s very likely.”

The men in the back alleys know better than anyone the consequences of betraying Corleone.

“You said the guy we’re after is a criminal, so there’s no way he doesn’t know about this. We’ll start by looking for a crowded place. They don’t say if you want to hide a tree, hide it in the woods for nothing.”

“If you want to hide a tree……hide it in the woods……! That’s a great saying!”

“Well, that’s one thing, but the biggest reason you’d want to hide in a crowd would be the environment of Area E.”

“The environment?”

“Did you feel anything when you came to this area?”

Latte glances around at my words.

“Well……people are all wearing guns. And……are wearing hats?”

“That’s right. Hats are almost mandatory in this part of town. That’s because…….”

Ding-ding-ding.

A rain shower came out of nowhere. At the same time, I pulled out a black long umbrella from my cube and unfolded it in the growing downpour.

“You know, it never fails to rain in this area.”

“Oh, is that why they wear hats, so they don’t get caught in the rain?”

As if on cue, Latte stepped under the umbrella and exclaimed in admiration as she watched the people around her go about their business, rain or shine.

“Yeah, although the downside is that it makes it hard to see faces properly…….”

I guess that’s the nature of this neighborhood.

At the same time, we feel the eyes on us.

They must have realized that we were outsiders because we were wearing no hats and carrying umbrellas.

But then they see our outfits and the symbols on our umbrellas, and they slowly avert their gaze or go on their way.

“Latte.”

“What?”

“I want you to see if any of them are blatantly avoiding us.”

“What? Zee, now?”

“Please.”

“Hmm, I think I’ll take a look at the kids around me first……! I’ll try!”

She closes her eyes and starts to concentrate.

Little by little, her eyelids flutter open.

“Hmm? Uh…… this guy? Ah, Master, I think I found him!”

“Where.”

“Two o’clock. There!”

I tuck my umbrella into the steady drizzle and start walking.

“Clothes and face. Hat?”

“Yes. A brown cowhide poncho and a black hat with a red band. The face is exactly the same as you saw in the prints!”

“Right along with you.”

Because the floor is completely wet, I can hear a rustling sound every time I step.

“In here?”

“Yep. Six o’clock here. It’s in that little alley over there. I’ve put a mouse on it, so we should be able to follow it at a leisurely pace.”

Her ability to navigate and track was unparalleled.

I never thought it would be this easy.

“Here, the one on the left── Ouch!”

“What happened?”

“There was a gunshot, and the link to my friend broke.”

That meant he’d realized we were on his trail.

“Latte, position yourself above, and put on the in-ear.”

“Yes!”

Now that the attached rat was gone, I had no choice but to follow him with my body.

At my command, Latte climbed up the nearest building.

I stomped my feet as hard as I could in the direction she had last pointed.

At the same time, the faint scent of gunpowder reaches my nostrils.

Realizing that it must be related to the gunfire he had just described, I quickly followed the direction in which the scent of gunpowder disappeared.

“Red band on black hat……red band on black hat……red band on black hat……black hat……──found him.”

In the distance, I could see the figure darting into an alley.

He had a flapping brown poncho and a red band on a black hat.

I glanced up, pointed at Latte on top of the building, and asked.

“Is that him?”

“Yes, the one who just went into the alley!”

Without slowing down, I turn and walk into the alley.

When he finally comes into view, I aim my gun at his back.

I adjust the impact so that it doesn’t kill him. With the aura still in my hand, I squeeze the trigger, and a silent reaper shoots into his back, making no sound or movement.

However, as if blocked by something invisible, the bullet disappeared from view, and he continued to run as if unharmed.

“They say he’s a violent criminal, but he’s no ordinary guy……!”

Maybe I was taking it too easy.

-As soon as he came out of the alley, he turned right.

“I’ll be right there.”

Latte had a good idea of his location from above, so picked up the pace as I loaded aura into Black Mist.

Past the first alley and to the right.

I swerved into the alleyway and came to a stop.

“Hee-hee, gotcha!”

I heard an eerie voice shout, and found a man in the alleyway with a gun pointed at me.

Yeah, I didn’t think a guy like you would be so easy to catch so I prepared this.

“If I pull the trigger, let’s see who looks first.”

It was a shotgun, many times longer and larger than his own.

[Talent [Hitman]’s ‘Hunter of Villains’ is activated]

[Trait [Enforcer] is activated]

Even two talents that increase stats by 1.5x are activated.

With a clang, the shotgun filled with aura emits a fearsome red aura.

“Now, shall we try this?”

As I say this, my finger hovers over the trigger, and his flinches but then he smirks.

“Don’t you know I’m ONLY ALIVE right now? You can’t kill me……so just let me go!”

“……You think I won’t kill you because of that, seriously?”

“What?”

“Aha. You still don’t know who I am, do you?”

The guy with the pistol’s arm starts to tremble slightly at my story.

“……What the fuck are you talking about?”

“The fact is that whether or not I kill you right here and now, there is nothing in this place that can punish me.”

At which point the color of the aura wrapped around my body begins to darken completely.

“Heh, heh!”

Perhaps it was the effects of fear that finally caused it to turn around and run away from me.

“Latte.”

-Yep.

At my command, Latte, who was waiting from above, plunged downward and landed on his.

“What’s with you bitch?!”

“Now, hold still, do you want to be scarred for life?”

After quickly applying a submission hold on the guy, Latte twists his arm and dislocates the joint.

-Mmph!

“Oh, come on. I didn’t break it, really.”

Then, as if she’s used to it, Latte twists both his arm and leg joints, incapacitating him.

……Do they even teach that at the Information Department?

“Huh, that’s it, what do we do? Should we call Rick over here?”

“……Please.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back~”

With that, I sent Latte away then walked over to the guy on the ground, mixing his own tears in the mud, and crouched down in front of him.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something, buddy. Do you……have anything?”

After all, it’s the law of the land to take your prey’s gear when you’re bounty hunting.