Ganersam Volume 1

It was midnight, and I waited at the agreed spot. Not far from the guild, there is a small garden. This garden is where the maintenance tunnel is located. The garden is dimly lit, relying only on a small light in the center and some street lamps on the side.

I can’t help but feel I’m walking into another trap. I spent the whole afternoon thinking about how to grab the two without Amel, but I can’t find a way.

“You’re ready?”

Asked a voice that came from behind me. I nodded to that voice.

Amel, who just appeared, made her way to the maintenance hole in front of us. Her black cloak is nowhere to be seen, replaced by a black shirt covered with a gray jacket and black short pants.

Half of her lower face was covered by a mask. She threw me a similar-looking mask. As I wore said mask, she opened her small leather bag and pulled out a small tool. It looked like a screwdriver.

Putting it beside the cover, the screwdriver’s metal point lit up. She pushed the item into the gap between the cover and she lifted the cover out of the way.

She then made her way down and I followed behind her.

Using a flashlight to light up the way, we made our way through the sewers.

The sewers were surprisingly clean, and clear water flowed through them. Actually, aren’t sewers supposed to be stinky and full of shit? Why is this one so clean?

Well, I guess this world doesn’t have much pollution yet.

We navigate the sewers in silence. I’m admittedly a bit surprised that Amel didn’t say anything, but I decided against asking.

“Here we are.”

She said as she pointed her flashlight up, revealing a hole in the surface.

“Hey, is it just me, or are the sewers lightly guarded?”

There’s no iron fence or the like to stop people from coming in. Isn’t a suspicious noble like him supposed to have more defense than this?

“Everything in this complex is linked to a central control system. If we remove the cover, alarms would light up in the complex.”

She casually said as she climbed up.

“Isn’t that bad?”

“I’m a bounty hunter, you remember? I live for moments like this.”

While hanging on the ladder, she pulled out a small box. She put the box beside the cover and started working on it. After that, she pulled out her screwdriver. It once again lit up, and she removed the cover soon after.

“Come on.”

She said heading upward.

Just what is that screwdriver?′

I wondered as I followed her up.

We arrived at a beautiful small garden. Around us is some pathway to the main complex. This is the first time I saw the building, which is terrible in most cases.

The building looked like an old English country house.

“I forgot to ask this before, but you knew how to use paralyze and sleep, right?”

I shook my head. You said nothing about those two.

She then reached into her bag and pulled something out.

“Here, use this.”

She threw me a yellow handgun.

“What’s this?”

“A sleep gun. Shoot it at someone and they’ll fall asleep.”

“I thought we’re going in guns blazing?”

“Yes, we are. I mean, that’s technically a gun. Also, we’re just reducing their numbers a bit.”

She said before moving toward the house.

In front of the main doors, two guards were having a chat with each other.

“Sleep!”

Amel whispered a spell. A small black cloud sprang from her hand. The cloud moves at a relatively high speed and hits the left guard. Surprised, the right guard quickly looked around. I gripped my gun and fired three shots to be safe.

The first two shots hit, and the man soon collapsed.

We approached the main door. Amel pulled out a device from her bag and used it on her head. She gave me a similar device.

“Night vision goggles?”

“Yes.”

Amel pulled something from her pockets, and with a few clicks, turned off all the lights.

“Emp?”

“I’m surprised you know about this, this is a secret weapon developed by the bounty hunters guild. Maybe I need to shut you up someday.”

Her face may be covered by the mask, yet I could still see her grin. She’s creepy.

Pushing the door, she glanced at me.

“Come on, we won’t have much time before the backup generators kick in.”

We entered the mansion. The insides were dark, with the only source of light being the pale shine of the full moon.

The light shines through the large wooden windows that decorate the side of the hallways.

“Where are we going now?”

I whispered as I followed Amel.

“The master bedroom.”

Following the staircase in the center of the mansion, we ran to the second floor.

The exact second we arrived on the second floor, the lights came back up.

“That was quick...”

Amel muttered, annoyed. I pulled the goggles upward, so that the lens wouldn’t obstruct my views.

I now have a clearer look at the interior of the mansion. The floor and the pillars were made of dark oak wood, while the mansion walls were painted creme. Plant pots decorate the sidelines. It looked like your typical luxurious mansion.

“Give me the handgun!”

I gave the handgun back. She pulled a small switch on the gun’s side and tossed it back to me.

“It’s now in full auto, you’ll need more hits to make someone fall asleep, but it will fire much faster. Make sure you don’t hit me, though.”

“Wait, why didn’t you just turn it on when you gave it to me?”

“I don’t trust you wielding a gun.”

Amel said frankly. She then approached the left door. The footsteps of guards from the other side could be heard progressively getting louder. She looked at me with an expectant smile on her face,

“Let’s have some fun tonight.”

-and kicked the door open.

The door swung violently, making a loud noise as it slammed into the walls.

Not expecting the door to be violently opened, the guards on the other side tried to stop.

“Sleep!”

“Brtttttt!”

Amel fired her spells and I fired a barrage of sleep lasers toward the horde of incoming guards. I could feel as the gun jolted back. I hold it firm, trying to maintain my aim. Now I understand why she only activated the auto now, it’s so that I could get a feel for the gun before firing it. We pushed forward, ignoring the guards who were collapsing on the floor.

“Watch for the other side!”

I turned around. As she said, the door on the other side of the staircase violently opened.

I fired my handgun, and the guards immediately fell.

I then closed the door. I pulled a heavy pot on the side and blocked the door. Not long after, banging and yelling could be heard from the other side. I quickly abandoned the door and chased after Amel who was already a distance away from me.

We opened fire on the other group of guards who were coming from the end of the corridor.

Without much resistance, the guards collapsed to the floor, creating a large human wall composed of sleeping guards. It’s a pain trying to transverse my way through the pile of bodies.

After a while of striding over the sleeping guards, we manage to reach a room.

This is the only room that had two doors on its entrance, contrary to the other rooms which had a standard one-door setup.

“This is it, I think. You enter, I’ll cover your back.”

“Alright.”

I don’t know why you sound unsure, but I’ll follow for now.

...

Also, why am I the one entering first?

I decided that Amel probably knew more about the place and decided to trust her for now. I held my handgun tightly, and I kicked the door open.

Inside, there’s a large king-size bed, with a work table beside it. Other than that, it’s empty.

“As expected.”

Amel said as she glanced into the room.

“You expected this? Why did we even bother going here, then?”

“Guard the entrance. I need to grab something.”

Amel rushed to the table beside the bed and started ransacking through the papers left on top of it.

Amel grabbed the papers and put them into her bag before starting to search the drawers.

I heard sounds from the hallway and went out. More guards were coming, but this time they were expecting guns. They hid behind the pots and the pillars.

They did not have long-range weapons, however, so all they could do was hide.

“Use this!”

From inside the room, Amel threw me a small tube with a pin on its side.

“A sleep grenade?”

I pulled the pin, as I assumed that’s how it worked, and threw it toward the group of guards. A black cloud of smoke burst from the ball, and the guards collapsed.

I immediately closed the door to stop the smoke from coming in. I also leaned on it, to make sure no one entered without notice.

Inside, Amel is still making a mess.

“Are you done yet!?”

I yelled, Amel replied with a firm head shake.

Steps and yells could be heard coming from outside. The sounds were getting louder. I could hear some kind of machine being turned on. I assumed it was to remove the sleep cloud the grenade created.

The machine went on for a while, before getting turned off. I could then feel the push as someone on the other side attempted to force the door open. I hear muffled voices as the guards try to force themselves in.

“A bit more!”

I’m lucky I have high strength. If not, the door would probably be slammed open by now.

“I’m done!”

“Alright!”

I moved away from the doors. The doors slammed open, and the guards in front of it were greeted with a barrage of sleep spells. I manage to just barely dodge getting squished by the massive wooden doors.

“Follow me!”

Amel headed out and turned left.

“Did you find anything?”

“I have an idea on where the basement is.”

An idea? I thought we were fully prepared for this? Well, to be fair the original plan is to find Alexander...

Wait, what happened to those plans? I shook my head, resetting my thoughts, I followed her while firing at the guards who were chasing us. This mansion is full of them. I didn’t bother counting how much, but I’m confident there are over 30 guards so far. We’re lucky they don’t have ranged weapons though.

Amel headed toward the staircase at the end of the corridor, as we were about to step on it, laser fire came raining from above.

“They have guns!?”

“Of course they do, what do you expect? Activate the energy shield on your night goggles, it would protect you. It’s the button on the right!”

I expected harmless guards who are as equipped as your average adventurers. At most, I expected bow users, not full-on guns.

I ran my head through the right side of the goggles, accidentally hitting the lens. After a while, I managed to find the button. There’s a small rubber circle that I could push.

“It’s on!”

“Alright, follow me!”

She ran to the staircase and started firing her spell upward. A couple of laser bolts hit her, although it didn’t seem to deal any damage. She ignored the hits and returned fire.

I followed behind her, while still firing at the guards who managed to reach the staircase.

We managed to reach the top of the stairs unharmed. Amel pushed around the bodies of the sleeping guards, clearing a path. She then turned toward the center of the building. There’s another door there.

“Three... Two... One...”

I kicked the door open. Amel threw a grenade in, and abangsound could be heard. It’s probably a flashbang grenade.

We pushed into the corridor. There were five guards waiting with guns on the ready. They didn’t fire at us, since they couldn’t see.

We managed to take them all out and ran through the small corridor.

We were now back at the center of the building, albeit standing on the third floor.

Pushing a large flower pot to the side, we could see a keypad in the wall.

“Is this a secret door?”

“Yes, cover me as I hack through it.”

There was only one door leading to this room, the one we just went through, which means I could easily take out all incoming guards.

“Done!”

Amel returned to the entrance and dropped a small prism under it. The prism opened up and blocked the door from moving.

“That should buy us time.”

We entered the small room behind the other door. Inside was a lift.

We entered the lift and started heading down. The lift was small, it could only fit around five people maximum.

“By the way, why didn’t you use a gun?”

I asked, trying to reduce the tension I’m feeling. Amel is leaning against the wall, not a hint of tension on her face.

“I don’t need it. Guns are for those who can’t use magic. It’s significantly more expensive compared to normal weapons. There’s a shop that gives you some for free, although exclusive to bounty hunters and you only get the basic weapons. Well... if you have some connections, you could get something better. You want that gun?”

Amel suddenly asked.

“Well, it’s light and versatile. I still need to get used to the recoil, but other than that it’s fine.”

I said as I examined the gun. It looked just like a normal handgun, other than the fact that it is colored bright yellow.

“Well, you could keep it. I mean, you already owe me a favor, what’s wrong with adding another one?”

Yeah... I should have expected that.

We arrived in a large dimly lit room. The room is mostly empty, other than several wooden boxes scattered all over the place. This room gives me boss room vibes.

It’s around 10 meters wide and 20 meters long. Its wall is painted a clear white, with two large pillars on its side.

On the other side of the room, two figures I recognized were tied up on a chair.

“Emma! Nia!”

I rushed to their side. The door to the lift suddenly shuts, and we could hear the lift moving up.

“Finally! It’s really boring down here!”

Emma said with relief. I started untying Emma. Seeing me do that, Nia started untying herself.

Looking at that, I couldn’t help but pause.

“You could do that?”

Emma asked, surprised. Standing up, Nia nodded.

“Yes. I was taught how to do that a couple years ago.”

“Then why didn’t you just untie us?”

“We don’t know how to escape. I was expecting that man to return, so I thought it’s better if we’re still tied.”

Suddenly, the sound of the elevator could be heard, followed by a lightting.

Emma went in front of us, I aimed my handgun at the door, and Amel gave Nia a small staff.

The door opened, and Amel let out a gasp.