Sniping

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Settle in, take your time, and let's see what waits in the dark 🖤

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For nearly half a month, Corvin had been diligent and useful.

He did more than he was asked and stayed well clear of anything that might cross a line.

That reliability had gradually earned him a place in the shop's small circle.

Sol often said he was satisfied with him, but Corvin did not use that as an excuse to relax. He remained careful in what he said and did, avoiding anything that might cross a line.

He understood Sol's casual nature was real. When Sol accepted him, he had not cared much about Corvin's past or identity. He looked only at the value Corvin could show now.

But if Corvin stopped showing value, or if he made Sol unhappy, the current situation could change in an instant.

That was why he stayed highly alert around Sol at all times.

As for Sunny, once he understood her personality, they became familiar over the course of those ten or so days.

After Corvin picked his second target, the biggest problem was not how to kill the man.

It was Sol's attitude.

"Sunny, if I kill the guy next door, do you think Sol will have a problem with it?"

Corvin leaned against one side of the mostly closed shop door, looking through the gap at the alley outside.

Sunny raised her head and looked at his profile.

"Which guy?"

"Albert Red. You gave me his information. The name isn't fake, right?"

"Are you questioning my intelligence-gathering ability?"

Sunny, the shop's resident intelligence broker, raised an eyebrow and fixed him with a sharp look.

Corvin thought of how she could read the same newspaper for hours.

He thought it, but he did not dare show it.

With a serious face, he said, "How could I question your ability? Every time I look at the neighbor files you gave me, I can't help wondering what kind of professional intelligence officer could dig up that much dirt on people who live nearby."

When he first received the neighbor files from Sunny, the level of detail had been outrageous enough to make him wonder how unlucky someone had to be to live next to her.

Sunny did not look pleased by the elaborate praise. She only snorted.

"A lot of people in town use false names, so I can't guarantee every name in every file is real. But if it's someone next door, I can guarantee that much."

Corvin asked carefully, "Did they offend you?"

"No."

"Then why investigate them so thoroughly?"

"Because they live next door."

Sunny looked at Corvin as if he were the strange one.

He had no answer.

After a moment, he quietly dragged the topic back. "You still haven't answered my question. If I kill Red, will Sol be angry or anything?"

"How would I know something like that?"

"Fair enough."

"Red has nothing to do with you. Why kill him?"

"He's too loud."

Corvin casually made up a motive.

In truth, the reason he had noticed Red was that the man had staggered past the shop drunk several times and shouted in the alley with that booming voice of his.

Most of what he shouted involved his performance during raids on merchant ships. How many people he had killed. How he had tortured stubborn victims before killing them.

But what left the deepest impression on Corvin was not the drunken bragging itself.

It was the ugly pride on Red's face as he treated those things like accomplishments.

Thanks to Red's loud mouth, Corvin realized there were plenty of suitable targets right beside him. There was no need to look farther away.

Sunny listened to his excuse and nodded as if it made perfect sense.

"True. He is loud."

"You believed that?"

Sunny stared at him.

Everything was in place.

After thinking it through, Corvin decided he still needed to test Sol's attitude first.

If Sol did not care, he would immediately take the gun and set up an ambush for Red.

If Sol objected, Corvin would have to abandon the idea.

If something like a suppressor existed here, he would not need to worry so much. He could find an opportunity and kill Red with a hidden shot.

But the root of the problem was still his own weakness.

If he were strong enough, why would he need to worry so much about the consequences of killing a target he had chosen?

That night, after dinner, Corvin went to Sol.

After hearing what Corvin wanted, Sol smoked his pipe and looked at him from the corner of his eye.

"Why kill Red?"

Like Sunny, Sol wanted to know the motive.

This time, Corvin could not offer a flimsy reason like the man being too loud.

"Practice."

It was the answer he had prepared.

No extra explanation. Simple and direct.

Sol looked slightly surprised. He studied Corvin's expression.

In the pirate world, using another person's life for practice and blooding oneself was common enough.

Just as he had made Corvin personally kill Watt, who had practically fallen into Sol's hands, in order to cut Corvin away from his past.

But Sol had not expected Corvin to raise the idea on his own. He had originally planned to give the boy a little more time to adjust.

It would happen sooner or later, so Sol did not refuse. He only gave Corvin a warning.

"You handle the consequences."

Short and clear.

It was a warning, and also a form of permission.

As for whether Red lived or died, Sol cared less about that than what they would eat for dinner.

"Understood."

Corvin's heart lifted.

With Sol's answer, he could act freely.

As for the possible consequences of killing Red, he had already prepared himself for them when he got the information from Sunny.

At worst, Red's pirate crew might come looking for revenge.

But as long as he handled it cleanly, there would be no need to worry.

Three days later, clouds covered the moon and left the alley nearly empty.

Corvin hid in the shadows above a building and set Usopp in position, silently watching the end of the alley through the weak light.

From the corner at the far end to his hiding spot was roughly a hundred meters.

Under ideal conditions, the effective range of a smoothbore flintlock could not compare with a rifled flintlock, but it could manage within a hundred meters.

Still, considering the gun's age, Corvin planned to fire only after Red entered sixty meters.

Eight full hours had passed since he watched Red leave the alley at dusk.

In the evening, pedestrians had been moving in and out of the alley, so there had been no suitable chance to fire.

Now that night had deepened, there was barely anyone on the street. That removed many concerns.

As long as Red returned at this hour, Corvin would pull the trigger without hesitation.

Time passed slowly. The moon disappeared behind dark clouds.

Visibility in the alley was extremely poor. If not for the few lamps hanging along the walls, it would have been completely black.

Corvin waited patiently.

After several more minutes, Red had not appeared, but his voice came first.

Corvin's focus sharpened. He narrowed his eyes toward the end of the alley.

Moments later, two figures entered side by side.

'Two of them.'

Corvin cursed silently.

A smoothbore flintlock held only one shot. After firing, it took time to load the second.

That meant that even if he successfully killed Red, the other man would have enough time to find cover and judge the shot's path from the gunshot and the direction of Red's blood spray.

He considered giving up.

But Sunny had said Red's pirate crew would leave at noon tomorrow. Corvin could not act in daylight, because only the night gave him the cover he needed.

In other words, if he missed this chance, who knew when the next one would come?

Corvin frowned.

The two men kept walking closer, step by step. The time left to decide grew shorter and shorter.

In that moment of hesitation, Corvin never noticed the gaze watching him from the dark.

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