The Lone Sniper: I Was Just Minding My Own Business Sniping Players, and I Ended Up Becoming a Raid Boss

Chapter 96

Chapter 96

Although both Tsukinami-san and I are high-school girls, neither of us had any festival experience, so we charged every stall we saw like a couple of elementary-school kids.

Yakisoba, grilled squid, grilled corn. Candy apples, cotton candy, chocolate bananas. Goldfish scooping, ring toss... we ate, drank, and played to our hearts' content. My stomach was packed tight.

Tsukinami-san stayed expressionless the whole time, but I felt her walking speed had gone up just a tiny bit from the start—almost as if she were saying "next, next."

She's enjoying herself... maybe.

"I wanna try that."

What Tsukinami-san pointed to was a shooting-gallery stall.

It looked intensely enthusiastic, taking up space equal to three normal booths.

"Sounds good! Let's do it!"

This is my specialty! A chance to show off!

"W-we're lining up..."

Maybe it's a festival staple. There were a lot of customers; it looked like a ten-minute wait.

"......"

"......"

For the first time since coming to the festival, we had a moment to talk at leisure.

(Should I ask... about that?)

There's actually something I want to ask Tsukinami-san.

Something that's been bothering me for a long time.

Now's the chance. I'll ask.

"U-um, Tsukinami-san. That is... when you first logged in, I wasn't the only one who got transferred to the moon, right?"

"Right. Besides you, there are two more. Some might have been beaten before they even realized they were beginners."

"So... could you tell me about the other two?"

Only those who have the potential to defeat Tsukinami-san get summoned to the moon.

In other words, those people are my rivals.

"I won't tell you."

"Eh!?"

Sh-she turned me down flat!?

"Wh-why!?"

"Because telling only you would be unfair."

Unfair... I understand what she means. If she told me about those two, I'd investigate them. If we ever fought by chance, I'd be the only one who knew the opponent... and if our strength were even, that information gap could decide the outcome.

"But... I'll give you a hint about one of them. That person probably doesn't care about fairness one way or the other."

A hint...?

"Of the two, you've already met one of them."

"Eh...?"

"It's our turn. Let's go. Shooting gallery."

"Y-yes!"

I've already met them...?

(T-there are too many candidates... I can't narrow it down!?)

Ms. Shina? Tsubasa-san? Six Sages? Nico-san, Ms. Kurenai, Ms. Ren, Rabi-chan... just off the top of my head that's seven people. I can't narrow it down...

(Grr! Focus on the shooting gallery for now!)

Ugh... eyes on my back...

(Eyes... I'm bad at this. But I'm still better than before. Because Tsukinami-san is next to me. Because Tsukinami-san gave me confidence...!)

The shooting-gallery rules are simple. With three cork rounds, if you knock a prize off the shelf you get it. Apparently you can play up to two turns in a row.

Tsukinami-san and I each played twice, and we both hit with every shot. We each put one of those prizes—an animal mask—on our heads and took a break in an empty park.

Tsukinami-san and I sat on a wooden bench.

"As I thought, you're good with guns."

As soon as we sat, Tsukinami-san praised me. I think she's talking about the shooting gallery just now,

"B-but Tsukinami-san, you hit every shot too."

Tsukinami-san shook her head.

"I hit every shot, but I only knocked three items down. You managed to knock every single one off the shelf. Just from looking you grasped the exact center of gravity of each prize, identified the weak point that would throw it off balance, and shot it precisely. A flawless shot without the slightest deviation—something I could never imitate."

Tsukinami-san said that sounding somehow happy.

Tsukinami-san is perfect. She can do anything. That's probably why she's delighted when someone can do what she can't. I always thought perfectionists would feel jealous seeing a skill they lack, but Tsukinami-san is the opposite. She's always looking for someone who's better than her in at least one thing.

"Well, I do have some confidence in shooting. But... I'm still a long way from being good."

What floats in my mind is that humanoid. A copy of Tsukinami-san.

"...I hesitated to say it, but I... lost to a humanoid that copied your ability. A copy far weaker than you..."

To think I lost to such an inferior product...!

"Is that so? That must've been a shock. If you can't beat a fake, there's no way you can beat the real thing."

"Ugh! ...You're absolutely right."

"Besides, it doesn't feel good. Having a copy of me made without permission."

Tsukinami-san stood up and looked straight into my eyes.

"...I want you to defeat her quickly. My copy—"

Saying that, she placed her hand on my cheek.

It was so cold it almost made me forget the heat.

"O-of course! Leave that to me—yes, sir!"

"And... there's one more thing that doesn't feel good."

Saying that, Tsukinami-san operated her phone and showed me a certain image.

"Buhah!?"

It was—an image of a certain sniper kissing a certain Phantom Thief.

"I don't really care whom you kiss, but..."

"That's not it! I was forced! Besides, it happened in the virtual world, so it doesn't count!"

Why am I making excuses so frantically?

I wondered, but what exactly is my relationship with Tsukinami-san? Acquaintances? Friends? Definitely not lovers... and yet I feel like a husband being grilled for cheating.

"Was that your first kiss?"

"Y-yes. But like I said earlier, it was virtual, so it doesn't count!"

"Then you still haven't done it in real life."

"Yes! Of course—"

Something soft touched my forehead.

(Eh...?)

It was a little warm. Unlike fingertips, these were lips carrying the summer heat.

It's different from the virtual world after all... From a real person's lips I could feel her breath.

"Your first time in reality is mine. Not your lips, though."

Still expressionless, Tsukinami-san stood up and turned her back to me.

Fireworks went up near the riverbed. When they lit up the sky, Tsukinami-san was also faintly illuminated. From behind, I could clearly see the color of her ears. They weren't red at all—they stayed white, stayed colorless. What that surely meant—

"I'll send you the change of clothes we're keeping later. I'm giving you that yukata. Next year too... I'd like to go to the festival together again."

Tsukinami-san looked back at me just once.

She gazed at my stunned face, let her own cheeks relax ever so slightly, and then left the park.

For the next thirty minutes I couldn't move a muscle.