Chapter 104 - Mafia (3)

The rank-seven monster, the yeti.

Its Essence had some pretty respectable stats.

[Yeti]

Strength +10, Agility +10, Bone Hardness +15, Cold Resistance +25, Cold Affinity +15

For starters, it had both of the stats considered top-tier, while Bone Hardness and Cold Resistance were also high-tier defensive stats.

And it even came with Cold Affinity on top of that?

'This should easily last her a few years.'

Affinity was a core stat for an elemental damage dealer like Misha. Just as higher Strength increased physical damage, Affinity modified the power of its corresponding element.

'She really does have good luck.'

I'd felt it back in the Witch's Forest, too. Misha was the exact opposite of me. How should I put it? Everything just seemed to work out for her.

The yeti dropping an Essence—and a blue one at that—was proof enough.

(P) Chills - All attacks deal additional Cold damage, and targets that take this damage have their Cold Resistance reduced.

Setting aside the passive, which was the same regardless of color...

(A) Cold Concentrate - Temporarily increases Cold Affinity significantly.

We'd gotten exactly the active skill I wanted from the yeti's pool. [Cold Burst] wasn't bad either, but in terms of potential, nothing compared to this.

'Tsk. With better base stats, this skill would've made it an endgame Essence.'

[Cold Concentrate] shone brighter the further you progressed into the late game. Of course, the stat bonuses were so low that you inevitably had to erase it later on.

*'If only yetis were rank-five monsters...'

*This game really was well-balanced only in the most pointless places.

That was when I heard her.

"H-how much could it possibly cost...?"

"Huh?"

"H-how much does it cost that you're dragging it out like this, nyah!"

What? She was still hung up on that?

"As you know, I spent a lot this time, so I don't have that much left, nyah..."

By this point, I was starting to wonder what her problem was, but thinking about it, I could understand.

That was how ruthless explorers were about distributing Essences.

When an Essence dropped, they first looked for someone to absorb it. Once someone claimed it, that person paid the party members based on the average price published by the Guild.

But...

'Things get stupid when nobody on the team can buy it.'

Sometimes there were no buyers, not because nobody needed it, but because nobody could afford it. In fact, that was overwhelmingly more common.

Even then, they would wait thirty minutes for it to dissipate naturally before resuming their expedition.

'They just refuse to do anyone a favor for free.'

That was the kind of people explorers were.

But Misha was lucky again this time.

"Don't worry about money. That kind of distribution is for people who'll work together a few times and go their separate ways."

"I-is that so, nyah?"

I was a barbarian who knew how to invest in the future.

For the sake of my own safe exploration career, Misha needed to become an even better damage dealer.

"Then I'll absorb it... nyah?"

"Why do you keep looking to me for permission? Just absorb it."

"Uh, I'm really going to absorb it, nyah?"

Seriously, how many times did I have to tell her?

After so many years as an explorer, Misha seemed uncomfortable receiving something without giving anything in return.

"What's holding you back? Having you stay by my side is enough for me."

"I-I appreciate you saying that, but... Agh, whatever. I'm really absorbing it, nyah!!"

Despite her bold declaration, she reached for the Essence cautiously.

「[Yeti Essence] seeps into Misha Karlstein's soul.」

Radiating blue light, the Essence swirled into her body.

"... Is it because it's been two years? It feels really weird, nyah."

"You'll get used to it soon."

Deciding to explain the details of the yeti later when I had time, I turned toward the "Jensson" pair. It looked like they'd finished discussing things, too...

"What did you decide to do with that?"

Karlson answered cautiously.

"Um... We decided neither of us would absorb it."

That was a little unexpected.

They were going to throw away an Essence that had actually dropped?

These newbie bastards?

"Well... Apparently, Miss Jenssia saw this Essence drop from a Frost Wolf."

"And?"

"If it's a Frost Wolf's... I decided it wasn't right for me."

So that was how he was going to play it.

Watching his expression closely, I asked, "Do you happen to know anything about Frost Wolves?"

The rank-nine monster, the Frost Wolf.

Its rank was low, but outside ruptures, you couldn't encounter one until the sixth floor, so information about it wasn't widely known.

And an explorer who frequented the first and second floors knew about it?

Not impossible, but certainly uncommon.

"Um... I don't know much, but it's a rank-nine Essence, isn't it? Something better might drop later..."

"... I see."

I was a little suspicious, but there was nothing to fault in his answer.

Outside, it might have been a different story. But we were inside a rupture, where Essence drop rates were astronomically higher. With only one slot available, filling it with a rank-nine Essence probably felt like a waste.

"Oh, of course, I only mean we'll take whatever's left over. I wasn't suggesting anything else."

"I know. No need to make excuses."

After finishing my interview with Karlson, I moved on to Jenssia.

"Is it the same for you?"

"Yes... I only have one slot, too, so I'd like to be a little careful..."

Careful, huh.

That hardly seemed like something a swordswoman who'd swallowed a goblin archer's Essence should say...

"Um... Erasing an Essence costs an awful lot, doesn't it? So I thought I shouldn't make the same mistake again..."

So she'd learned from her past mistake.

That left me with nothing to say.

"I'm sorry. You went out of your way to let us have it, too."

In the end, neither interview yielded much.

It was a real disappointment.

'Tsk. I thought I'd be able to establish who at least one of them was.'

My original plan had been to cross whoever absorbed this Essence off my list of suspects.

But...

Neither had taken it, and their explanations were perfectly sound.

'Fuck, they're not all in on it together, are they?'

Keeping that worst-case scenario in mind, I put an end to my musings. The final wave would be starting soon.

"By the way... Is it all over now?"

Jenssia murmured anxiously.

At that very moment...

CRACKLE, CRACK!

The spare time we'd earned by killing the yeti miniboss early ran out, and the last wave of the second chapter began.

Nine layers of ice walls had already broken away, leaving the chamber about four times larger than before.

"Above us!"

The ceiling, laced with spiderweb cracks, broke apart, revealing a beast three meters across.

["GRAAAAAAAH!!"]

Grayish-white fur covered its hide, and a mane ran up its spine and around its neck.

A bipedal rank-seven monster that specialized in tearing enemies to shreds with its sharp claws.

"... It's a lycanthrope, nyah!"

A lycanthrope.

Mister Bear questioned Misha's cry.

"Isn't it too big for a lycanthrope? And what's that club in its hand?"

Reasonable questions.

If you didn't know that it was the final boss of this rupture, that is.

The Guardian of the Glacial Cavern, Tyrant Tarunbas.

"You'd better be careful."

Perhaps instinctively sensing that this was no easy opponent, Mister Bear grew tense for the first time and offered me a warning.

Of course, I more or less let it go in one ear and out the other.

Sure, it was the final boss...

But we wouldn't be fighting it until a little later.

"Oh, watch out, nyah!"

Faced with an obviously formidable enemy, everyone focused harder, bracing for what came next.

And then...

「Tyrant Tarunbas is enraged upon discovering intruders.」

「Tyrant Tarunbas casts [Shatter].」

It slammed its club into the bare floor.

KRAAAASH!

The impact was powerful enough to shake everything around us.

Fine cracks spread across the floor like a spiderweb, just as they had across the ceiling...

"H-huh?"

"B-Bjorn!!"

"... The floor's collapsing!"

The ground gave way, and we fell.

"Aaaaaaah!!"

Time to move on to chapter three.

* * *

「Your character has entered a special area.」

「Field Effect - Glacial Cavern is applied.」

「Status effect [Hypothermia] is applied.」

「Agility is significantly reduced, and Cold damage taken is doubled.」

* * *

"Pwah!"

I broke the surface and sucked in the breath I'd been holding. Then I trudged ashore and lay down on the ground.

A curse came unbidden.

'Goddamn reality patch.'

In the game, all you had to do was wait through a loading screen. You lost a sizable chunk of HP, but chapter three began with you already on the shore.

But how had it gone in reality?

'I thought I was actually going to fucking die.'

An underground stream ran through the place we'd fallen into.

A very fast one.

I had to ride the rapids, swept along and crashing into everything, and by the time I got my bearings, I was being flung over a waterfall.

'So that's why you lose HP.'

My whole body ached from slamming into every bend.

I desperately wanted to rest here for a bit... but I supposed rest just wasn't in the cards for me.

"B-Bjorn! Are you okay, nyah? Wake up... Wh-what do I do? Oh! Th-there was that!"

I opened my eyes at the commotion to find Misha's face right in front of mine. Pushing her chin away with one hand, I sat up.

"Urk! What are you doing, nyah!!"

I should be the one asking that.

"It's Byon, not Bjorn."

After murmuring that quietly enough for only Misha to hear, I quickly checked our surroundings.

"Urgh! Bleeegh!"

First, I spotted Karlson retching up water.

"Um, are you all right?"

Next was Jenssia, gently patting his back.

As for Mister Bear...

"I'm freezing my ass off."

He was warming himself at a campfire he'd somehow already lit. When our eyes met, he beckoned.

"If you're awake, come over here."

"I'll take you up on that."

"Wow, you usually carry firewood around too, nyah?"

"Traveling alone, I ended up having to carry a bit of everything."

Had he really meant it when he said he explored solo?

I couldn't tell, but I headed for the fire to dry myself and my clothes. Before long, the Jensson pair joined us and huddled there in silence.

"... Do you happen to know where that lycanthrope disappeared to?"

Karlson asked, shivering with cold. Mister Bear answered curtly.

"How would we know? It's not like we studied this place before coming in. Don't disturb my rest."

"Ah, yes... Sorry to bother you."

We spent some time resting and sorting out our gear. Everyone took off their clothes and equipment, spread them near the fire, and had a simple meal.

Only...

"I-it's unnaturally cold."

Even though we were mostly dry and kept warming ourselves by the fire, the cold wouldn't go away. It was better than when we'd been soaking wet, but we couldn't seem to warm up beyond a certain point.

Eventually, Mister Bear reached a conclusion.

"Looks like this is a special area."

"A special... area?"

"Oh! You mean somewhere like the Witch's Forest, nyah?"

"Yes. Cold or not, it's unnatural for our bodies to be this stiff."

"Hmm, is it that cold? I can't really tell, nyah..."

Misha tilted her head as she watched us shivering by the campfire.

She probably wasn't trying to rub it in. She meant it.

Her Cold Resistance would be far higher than ours, after all.

'She must be taking much less of a penalty, too.'

Misha had contracted with the ice magical beast Scadia. And hers was the enhancement type, which offered the largest stat bonuses.

Now she'd even absorbed a yeti's Essence...

'Her Cold Resistance must be around forty.'

Forty was by no means a low stat in [Dungeon and Stone]. Even my Pain Tolerance was only seventy.

Damage reduction aside, with that much resistance, she wouldn't normally feel cold at all.

"... Are you really cold, nyah?"

"I'm fine. It's cold, but it doesn't hurt."

"Uh, I don't know what you mean, nyah..."

I meant exactly what I'd said.

The cold made me shiver, but it didn't register as pain.

Still, had that answer only made me seem more pitiful?

"Honestly, you clueless barbarian, nyah."

Misha sighed and shuffled closer to me. Then she lifted the blanket wrapped around her in place of her drying clothes and made an absurd suggestion.

"Get in here. It'll help a little, nyah."

... What was she talking about?

"Whew."

Judging by Mister Bear's whistle, I wasn't the strange one here.

* * *

Our maintenance break lasted longer than expected.

Drying all our clothes and equipment took considerable time, and on top of that...

"It's getting awfully late."

We'd already been in the rupture for over twelve hours. Since it had opened around 7 p.m., that meant we'd gone a total of thirty-one hours without a wink of sleep.

"Um... There don't seem to be any monsters here. Why don't we all get some sleep?"

In the end, everyone agreed to Karlson's suggestion, and we decided to get at least a little shut-eye.

"We'll go sleep over there separately."

"Won't you be cold?"

"I carry emergency firewood."

"In that case, suit yourself."

Sleeping around the same campfire as them was out of the question, so we went to a secluded spot far away and lit a new one.

We also agreed to take turns keeping watch.

That would cut our sleeping time in half, but... I'd rather get a little sleep alive than all the sleep I wanted dead.

"Bjorn, go ahead and sleep first, nyah."

"Hold on. There's something I want to talk about first."

"Talk about, nyah?"

Now that we finally had some time alone, I put sleep off to catch up on everything we needed to discuss.

First was her Essence.

She needed to know what she'd absorbed if she was going to use it properly in combat.

"Wow, you had all that memorized, nyah?"

"It's nothing special. Anyway, listen carefully from here on."

After explaining the Essence in this world's terms, I lowered my voice even further.

"Did any of those three do anything suspicious on the way here?"

I'd deliberately put Misha at the very rear. My stated reason had been for her to watch our backs until fighting broke out at the front...

But the main purpose had really been to keep an eye on our companions.

I'd figured following at the back would give her a good view of what everyone else was doing.

"Hmm, anything suspicious? I'm not sure, nyah."

"I see. That's all I needed. If you can, pay a little more attention to them from now on."

"Will do, nyah."

With our conversation finished, I lay down under my blanket.

I went back over what Karlson, Jenssia, and Mister Bear had said and done, checking for anything I'd missed.

I'd observed their every move throughout the day, continually dropping bait into ordinary conversations and gathering clues.

As a result, I'd identified a prime suspect.

But...

'I still don't have any decisive evidence.'

It wasn't enough to conclusively identify the mafia member.

If only I had just one more clue...

As one thought led to another and I gradually drifted toward sleep, it happened.

"Um, Bjorn, nyah."

Misha gently shook my shoulder.

"Now that I think about it, there was one strange thing, nyah..."

Tired as I was, I listened closely to her story.

And then...

"Well done, Misha."

"Oh, did that help, nyah?"

"Of course."

It had done far more than help.

The final piece of the puzzle had fallen into place at last.

I looked toward Mister Bear's campfire and grinned.

'I'd been wondering which of the three it was.'

So it was you after all, mafia.