Chapter 113 - Reunion (1)

First, I gathered the trio's equipment in one place and gave Karon first pick.

"Take anything you need."

"I am not that shameless."

"Do not refuse. You killed one of them, didn't you?"

"If you put it that way..."

Apparently, there were a few things he wanted after all. Karon picked out several items from the pile of loot: a quality leather bag, a few potions, and...

"A two-handed hammer? Is that all you're taking?"

"The rest looks too small to fit me anyway."

Well, he had a point.

Karon grinned brightly, holding his axe in one hand and the large hammer in the other.

"If something is hard to kill with an axe, I can kill it with this!"

His phrasing wasn't exactly refined, but the reasoning itself was fairly sound. Blunt weapons were more effective against monsters like Stone Golems.

Above all...

'Of course. Dual-wielding is the only way to play a barbarian.'

Seeing Karon look so much more like a proper barbarian made even me feel proud. So I handed him a few more pieces of equipment.

"Even if you don't need them, take them and sell them."

"But...!"

Oh, enough with the buts.

Seriously, why were barbarians so nice? A human's eyes would have lit up with greed by now.

"Remember, the stronger you become, the easier things will be for the young warriors."

"... Understood. I will make sure to sell these and buy equipment that will help me."

There was a simple reason I was forcing the equipment on him, even going so far as to instill a sense of duty in him. Sure, I could have made another two hundred thousand Stones or so by keeping it all for myself...

But this would benefit me more in the long run.

"Grow stronger, Karon, son of Tarson."

"I will. Without fail, for the sake of our people."

Of the six races, barbarians were the weakest as a group. Each individual had plenty of potential, but most died early on.

Of course, changing this one guy wouldn't immediately bring about a wave of change...

But what if the numbers gradually increased, starting with him? What if that created a virtuous cycle, where even a few more young warriors survived to become high-level explorers?

'Then the barbarians would gradually grow more powerful.'

Like it or not, I was a barbarian now. The more influential my own people became, the more of those benefits would trickle down to me.

Just look at mages. Without the massive community that was the Magic Tower backing them, could they really have acted so outrageously arrogant?

"Then let us get moving. It could be troublesome if someone sees us here."

With that in mind, I escorted Karon to the first floor and used the time along the way to offer him various pieces of advice.

Choose a team with at least one member of another race. Be especially wary of anyone who acts friendly, but don't let it show; instead, make yourself look vulnerable.

"I think I finally understand what you mean by hiding an axe behind innocence!"

Was it because of the excellent example I had demonstrated with the trio today? Karon understood exactly what I was getting at.

"It might also be good to deliberately find humans as overnight companions and pretend to sleep. If they have some scheme in mind, they will surely reveal their true intentions!"

Ah. Uh. Hmm...

I hadn't taught him that one...

"... That is another good method."

Had today's betrayal, being treated like a monster by his own companions, really been that shocking?

His ability to apply what he had learned was downright frightening.

* * *

[23 : 49]

With the fifth day about to begin, the two of us returned to the Land of the Dead after taking Karon to the first floor. We picked up the pace a little and focused on searching.

We had unintentionally spent almost an entire day, after all.

The second floor would close on day ten. In other words, unless we intended to end this expedition on the second floor, we needed to hurry. Besides, we still had something to do before going to the third floor.

"Huh? We're going to kill a Death Knight? Can we even do that, nyah? I heard they're really hard to find, nyah..."

The rank-six monster, Death Knight.

A bastard among bastards that you had an exceedingly slim chance of encountering in the second floor's Land of the Dead.

Even I had been forced to raise new characters several times before figuring out its spawn conditions.

"Do not worry. Finding it should not be much of a problem."

Perhaps she had grown used to conversations like this by now. Misha didn't bother asking where I had gotten that information. She simply voiced another concern.

"Hmm, even so, I don't know if the two of us can beat it, nyah."

Her anxiety was understandable. We had occasionally encountered rank-six monsters on the fourth floor, but we weren't with a full party now. It was just the two of us.

'And we've only hunted rank-eight monsters so far, so she probably has no idea how much stronger she's become.'

Before meeting me, Misha had operated on the fourth floor with only two Essences. Her stats were lacking, but she had compensated with martial skills honed through grueling effort.

Since then, she had fulfilled her lifelong wish of contracting with a Spirit beast, and this time she had gained two Essences. One of them had even belonged to a Guardian.

'Add in the synergy of that combination... and it's safe to say she's several times stronger now.'

I assessed the situation objectively, from a gamer's perspective. The two of us had more than enough combat strength to succeed in this hunt.

But there was no need to explain every little detail. Barbarians had their own way with words.

"Misha, trust me."

"When you put it that way... I can't say no, nyah."

"Then that settles it."

With Misha's agreement secured, we continued searching the area. Deathfiends, chimera wolves, ghoul lords...

We killed every rank-eight monster we saw as we expanded our search radius.

And...

"We should call it a day and make camp."

Day five ended without any results. The following day, day six, was no different.

[22 : 40]

With a little over an hour left until day seven began, I let out a long sigh.

'I never thought we'd go more than two days without finding it.'

Whenever the Labyrinth opened anew, a stone monument spawned at a random location in the Land of the Dead. Then, at the start of day seven, it summoned a Death Knight.

In other words, all you had to do was find the monument and wait in front of it for an easy encounter.

But...

'Sigh. Just my luck.'

For two days, we had barely bothered with hunting and had run ourselves ragged searching, yet we hadn't found so much as a chip of the monument.

I hadn't expected this. No matter how big the second floor was, we didn't even need to search all of it, just the rank-eight area. I had figured two days would be enough.

'Tsk. Should I just give up on the Death Knight?'

As I smacked my lips, regretting the wasted effort of the past two days, Misha trotted up beside me.

"Don't be too upset, nyah. Books aren't always right, are they, nyah? A huge stone monument in the Land of the Dead? I've never even heard of anything like that, nyah."

Well, I should probably take that as an attempt at consolation, right?

"So stop holing up in the library all the time and go out somewhere with me once in a while, nyah."

"... How did you arrive at that?"

"W-well! Hikurod said so too, nyah. He said you'd learn more from talking to explorers at a tavern than spending that time reading a few books, nyah!"

Apparently, that dwarf had been teaching Misha nothing but bad habits...

Still, I couldn't quite bring myself to rebuke her. Most explorers were like that, after all. They preferred gathering information by socializing in taverns over reading books.

Some even called drinking and partying an extension of their work. That said it all.

"... Why aren't you saying anything, nyah?"

"I simply had nothing to say."

"Why didn't you have anything to say, nyah?"

"Enough of this. Let us keep moving."

Not wanting to waste time on a pointless argument, I started moving again.

How much time had passed since then?

[23 : 59]

I checked the clock and let go of my lingering hopes. Day seven was about to begin, and the Death Knight would start roaming as soon as it was summoned. That effectively put it out of reach for this expedition.

'The point was just to get EXP in the first place...'

Putting my disappointment aside, I took out my compass.

"Oh, are we finally going to the third floor, nyah?"

"Yes."

Instead of wandering aimlessly in search of the monument, I turned north.

That was when it happened.

"Huh? Bjorn?"

"Did you feel it too?"

"Yeah, something just sent a chill down my spine, nyah."

The air had changed. It was hard to put into words, but the change was so distinct that my body reacted the instant it happened.

'Could it be?'

A possibility occurred to me. I borrowed a sword from Misha and cut the back of my hand. As I pressed the blade down firmly and drew it across my skin, acidic blood trickled from the open cut.

"Ah! What are you doing, nyah! You'll damage the blade, nyah!"

Ignoring Misha's grumbling, I watched the wound and counted.

'One, two, three, four, five, six...'

With each number, my smile grew wider. A wound that should have closed in seconds still hadn't healed.

Which meant...

「Your character has been exposed to [Grudge].」

The Death Knight we had searched so desperately for was nearby.

「Healing and regeneration effects are greatly reduced.」

Very nearby.

* * *

'No wonder we couldn't find it even after looking almost everywhere. It really was around here.'

Despite the inexplicable sense of deflation, I snapped to attention. I had just realized something.

'[Grudge] is already active...'

The curse-type aura [Grudge] was an active skill. The monster, or a character who had absorbed its Essence, could switch it on and off at will.

Simply put, there was no reason to use it under normal circumstances.

Unless it was in combat.

[00 : 00]

The circumstances were perfectly clear. Less than a minute had passed since the Death Knight was summoned. It had entered combat the moment it opened its eyes.

It wasn't impossible that some passing explorers had happened to get caught up in it...

'But that's highly unlikely.'

Rather than assuming such an extraordinary coincidence, it was far more reasonable to think someone had been waiting in front of the monument.

'Could it be a Player?'

That was my first thought. But I couldn't rule out other possibilities.

Hadn't the Djarwi Clan, which was considered a large clan, even known how to summon an Orc Hero? Perhaps information about the Death Knight wasn't quite so exclusive.

'Well, I'll know for sure when I get there.'

Putting off my final judgment for now, I hurried along with Misha. Pitch-black darkness surrounded us, but finding our way wasn't difficult.

BOOM!

Whoever it was seemed to be fighting with plenty of firepower; explosions kept ringing out.

Misha must have pieced things together from those clues alone. She tugged on my wrist and asked,

"Bjorn, has the Death Knight appeared, nyah? Is it already fighting someone, nyah?"

"Yes."

"Wait, stop a second, nyah! What are you going to do when we get there, nyah?"

What else? Land at least one basic attack and collect the EXP.

"What? They might attack us if you do that, nyah!"

When I translated my plan into this world's terms, Misha was horrified.

Her concerns were reasonable. Though not on the same level as plundering, barging into a fight or stealing someone's prey was considered extremely bad manners among explorers.

But...

"It is fine. I have no intention of claiming the Essence or magic crystal. I can simply say I thought they were in danger."

"Hmm, even so, nyah..."

"Do not worry. If anything does happen, I will take full responsi—"

"You idiot, nyah! Do you think I said that because I wanted you to take responsibility all by yourself, nyah? Ugh, seriously, how did I get mixed up with someone like you... Forget it, let's go, nyah! I don't care anymore, nyah!"

Hmm. That felt a little unfair. It wasn't as if I was doing this just for my own benefit.

'... Anyway, plundering aside, this much falls within acceptable limits.'

Filing away that new piece of information, I quickened my pace.

About ten seconds later...

["Kyaaaaaah!"]

Beyond the sword-swinging Death Knight's back, I could see four explorers.

"Huh?"

Apparently, they had spotted us too. So before they could say anything to stop me, I struck the Death Knight with my mace.

THWACK!

Okay, that secured my EXP.

As if I had been waiting for this moment, I shouted my prepared line.

"Do not worry! I will save you!"

This was why barbarians were overpowered.

"Behelraaaaaaaa!"

A human might be another matter, but after seeing this, who would think I had done it on purpose?

* * *

The Death Knight staggered under the heavy blow.

["Kyaah?!"]

Apparently, my intrusion had caught it off guard too. Though probably not as much as the four wide-eyed explorers over there.

"What are you doing?!"

The human warrior closest to me belatedly grasped the situation and shouted. Next came the elf archer in the back.

"What do you mean, help us? If you don't back off immediately, I'll attack you too."

The voice was soft-spoken yet utterly sharp. I shouted, feigning bewilderment.

"I-I only wanted to help!"

"Did anyone ask for your help?"

"Huh? No one did? I thought I heard someone..."

"... Never mind. Just get back! Unless you want to get caught up in this and hurt!"

"U-understood!"

I had blocked the Death Knight's sword several times even during that exchange. Knocking it away with my shield, I retreated to Misha's side.

"Damn it, what the hell was that about?!"

The human warrior seemed reasonably skilled. Despite his complaints, he smoothly took over the Death Knight's aggro, and the battle naturally resumed.

Dropping every trace of my bumbling barbarian act, I spoke quietly enough that only Misha could hear.

"Well? I don't think the trouble you were worried about will happen now."

I wanted to reassure her, since she had been worried we would be branded ill-mannered explorers. Her reaction, however, was a little unexpected.

"You really are..."

Misha couldn't finish her sentence. My performance must have left quite an impression.

"Sigh... Forget it. What am I supposed to say, nyah? Other people should know what you're really like, nyah."

"What are you talking about? You're the only one I show this side to."

"Huh? W-well, that's true, nyah? Wait, is it, nyah?"

Anyway, we ended our chat there and watched the ongoing battle. How often did you get to watch another team's hunt from this close?

'It's not a full party, but the balance is pretty good.'

There was the human warrior, doing a fine job of tanking on his own.

"I'm sending another one in! Fall back!"

The damage dealers were a mage blasting away with fire magic and the elf archer.

And...

'I think this is the first summoner I've seen since coming here.'

There was also a human man filling a utility role, using creatures summoned through Summoning Abilities to deal damage or provide buffs.

"Bjorn, doesn't that man... look familiar, nyah?"

At Misha's sudden remark, I took another look at the summoner. He had a slight build and looked about 160 centimeters tall. His hood cast a shadow over his face, making it difficult to make out the details...

Yet I still felt a strange sense of familiarity.

'What is it? Where have I seen him? There's no way I'd forget a summoner...'

Just as I was trying to work out why he looked familiar...

"E-everyone, get out of the way! The attack I told you about is c-coming!"

The summoner stammered out instructions, and my hazy memories snapped into focus. After taking another look at the face of the elf standing near him, I reached my conclusion.

'Oh, that fucking moron from back then.'

There was no mistaking him.