Chapter 120 - Dark Clouds (4)

A rich woody scent lingered in the office.

Nile Urbans, the Explorer Guild's seventh district manager, let out a quiet chuckle as he recalled something his daughter had said not long ago.

["I have no intention of spending the rest of my life as your puppet, Father."]

When the jailbreak first occurred, he had noticed his daughter's suspicious activities. After all, she had no reason to be meeting privately with the branch manager at the time.

Unable to shake his suspicions, he had conducted a thorough investigation and discovered that she had been secretly consolidating her position within the guild.

'Women have their own place in life.'

For a passing act of rebellion, it was quite impressive. Troublesome though it was, he felt a private glow of pride. She truly was his daughter.

However...

'I told him to be careful even how he breathed.'

The only reason he could regard even such ambition as endearing was that she was his daughter.

'So the branch manager has chosen my daughter after all.'

Bjorn Jandel.

The barbarian whose manners he had resolved to correct someday, but who had grown tremendously in a remarkably short time.

Today, the branch manager had attempted to contact him.

He still did not know what his daughter intended to do with that barbarian. But it was now clear that the branch manager had placed himself under her command.

That displeased him immensely.

'You dare turn against me.'

It was not that he could not understand the branch manager's choice. The man had already fallen out of favor, and Nile had already selected someone to take his seat once he was removed. Knowing that, the bastard must have decided to grasp at even a rotten lifeline.

But understanding and forgiveness were two very different things.

'I should take this opportunity to dispose of them both.'

Nile Urbans sipped his tea, his eyes gleaming.

Originally, he had intended to leave the barbarian alone. The humiliation he had suffered still made him grind his teeth, but the barbarian had established a position of his own in just a few months.

There was no reason to go out of his way to make another enemy.

But things had changed.

His clever daughter must have had a reason for trying to contact the barbarian.

'... Besides, he keeps getting on my nerves for some reason.'

Nile Urbans made his decision.

If something bothered him, he need only remove it.

Before it turned into a bigger problem.

* * *

KRA-KA-BOOM!

How long had it been since I left the Explorer Guild?

As I headed back to my lodgings, thunder cracked out of a clear sky, followed by a torrential downpour.

'Fucking hell.'

At some point, gloomy black clouds had blanketed the sky.

I considered simply walking through the rain, but it might only be a passing shower, so I stepped into a nearby restaurant. It was time to eat anyway. I could have a meal and see how the weather developed.

"Here's your meal."

Roast meat, pumpkin stew, and rye bread.

The food warmed my stomach and filled me up nicely, but somehow, something felt lacking. It wasn't as though I'd gone to one of those cheap places that charged 300 Stones a meal like I used to.

'Misha really does... cook meat better.'

Thinking I should buy a few pounds of meat when I went out tomorrow and ask her to cook it, I ordered some rum as well.

Since things had turned out this way, I might as well kill time until the rain stopped, or at least eased up a little. Misha wouldn't be there even if I went back anyway.

'Oh, maybe she's still there because of the rain too?'

As I drank alone to the accompaniment of the rain, stray thoughts wandered through my mind.

It felt like only yesterday I'd been eating stone bread and watching out for goblin traps, yet half a year had already passed.

'Scallion pancakes and makgeolli... No one here would sell those, would they?'

My longing to return home had faded considerably. Everything had simply become familiar.

The creaky bed, the tiny single room with its attached bathroom, the days spent laughing and chatting with my companions over cheap beer.

'I've really changed a lot.'

I could spend all day listing the fucked-up things about this world. But if someone asked whether that meant I'd never enjoyed myself here...

At first, survival had been my goal, but gradually, watching myself grow had begun to give me the satisfaction of a gamer. Joking around and laughing with my companions wasn't bad either.

It was a somewhat unfamiliar feeling.

'If I hadn't been summoned here, I'd probably still be holed up in my room, gaming alone.'

Lee Hansoo, a twenty-nine-year-old office worker, had an extremely small social circle. Of course, that had never bothered or inconvenienced him.

He had been steadily preparing for retirement and could get by alone without relying on others.

Unlike this world, where companions were a necessity.

'If I'm thinking like this... I guess I really have grown attached.'

I took a sip of rum. Its aftertaste was needlessly sweet, as though someone had added sugar.

Dwalki, Rotmiller, and the dwarf.

Thinking of those three left a bitter taste in my mouth.

'If I want to reach the upper floors, I'll have to form a new team after all.'

Our current members wouldn't be enough from the fifth floor onward. You could say their limits were already plain to see.

For starters, Dwalki wasn't from the Magic Tower, and he had the serious problem of being born with low mana reserves.

'He picks up new spells pretty regularly now, but I can pretty much assume rank-six spells are beyond him.'

Rotmiller went without saying. On the lower floors, finding the way was enough, but on the upper floors, even a Scout needed considerable combat strength.

After all, a party could have no more than five members.

'Unless he awakens as a Guide or something, the fourth floor will be his limit.'

Of course, unlike those two, the dwarf could hold his own on the upper floors with the right equipment.

But a team didn't need two tanks.

'... Once Misha's stats improve a little more, I'll have to look into forming a new team.'

It was something I'd considered before, but only now had I firmly made up my mind. The recent troll battle had played a major part in that.

I would keep climbing, and I couldn't achieve that goal with them.

It might seem coldhearted, but this decision was for their sake too. The upper floors teemed with monsters worse than trolls.

It was best not to expect us to keep surviving through sheer luck like this—

"Jandel?"

Huh? Where did that come from?

Turning toward the voice calling my name, I saw someone I hadn't expected at all.

Mister Bear.

No, I mean...

"Eggfried?"

"... It's Urigfried. If that's hard to pronounce, just call me Avman."

"I'll do that, then."

Perhaps determined to live up to his macho appearance, Mister Bear sat down opposite me without asking permission.

I did that often enough myself, so I wasn't particularly offended.

"Never thought I'd see you here as a customer."

"A customer?"

"Ah, I didn't mention it. My wife runs this place."

So he was the owner...

That was news to me, but nothing to be particularly surprised about. A rank-five explorer would have more than enough money to open a restaurant.

If anything was surprising, it was something else.

"You have a wife, and you were going into the Labyrinth alone?"

"Business has been losing money lately. At least I ought to work hard to bring some in, don't you think?"

Well, I had nothing to say to that.

It wasn't my place to meddle.

"Anyway, what a strange coincidence. I come in to get out of the rain, and you turn out to own the place."

"Strange doesn't begin to cover it. It's convinced me, Bjorn Jandel."

"Convinced you of what?"

Mister Bear answered as though it were nothing.

"Would you let me join your team?"

Huh? What was this now?

* * *

He wanted me to take him on as a companion, out of nowhere?

It was an unexpected subject, but after hearing him out, I could understand. From Mister Bear's perspective, I was a proven explorer.

"If you'd save a complete stranger in a situation like that, you're not likely to stab me in the back."

I had demanded five million Stones, but apparently, he thought highly of the fact that I'd even used a Top-tier potion to save him inside a rupture cut off from the outside world.

'... So this is where that leads.'

A summon to support the tank, and powerful ranged physical damage.

Someone like Mister Bear could undoubtedly pull his weight on the fifth floor and beyond without trouble.

However...

"You seem to have misunderstood. I only went in separately this time. I have a regular team."

I turned him down indirectly. I planned to stay with Dwalki's party for the time being. I couldn't kick someone else out just to make room for him.

Surprisingly, Mister Bear nodded readily.

"Fair enough. We can revisit today's conversation when a spot opens up, or if you leave your team."

"A spot opens up?"

"You know what I mean, don't you?"

His meaningful look brought the matter of joining the team to a close. Afterward, we briefly discussed when he would repay the five million Stones.

"I've already listed some equipment I wasn't using on the Trade Market, so I should be able to pay you on the agreed date."

Looking around the deserted restaurant made my heart feel rather heavy, but...

We agreed to meet here again in ten days and exchange the five million Stones for his collateral.

"See you then."

"Here, wear this. It should fit even you."

It didn't look as though waiting any longer would make the rain stop, so I borrowed a raincoat from Mister Bear and headed back to my lodgings.

SHHHHHH...

Rain poured down as though a typhoon had struck.

Running through streets so deserted they felt unfamiliar, I soon reached my lodgings.

But what was this now?

"Oh, you're back, Bjorn? You've got a visitor, nyah."

"Waaaaah! Mister...!!"

Like rain falling out of a clear sky, an unexpected reunion awaited me.

* * *

Ever since that incident ten years ago, she had lived a life of considerable restraint.

That was why she had thought she knew how to control herself.

Until today, at least.

"If you covet something that belongs to someone else, don't you deserve to be punished?"

Erwin stiffened, startled by the true feelings that had slipped out of her mouth.

"Hmm? You're... a lot tougher than I expected, nyah."

Fortunately, the other woman didn't seem to have noticed what she had really meant, but...

'Wh-what am I saying...?'

Strictly speaking, nothing had been stolen from her. Mister wasn't some object.

Besides, she herself had chosen to leave his side and go with her sister.

Then what was this feeling?

GRIND.

An uncanny surge of hostility welled up inside her.

Could she win in a fight?

She found herself studying the other woman, the thought coming unbidden.

"Come to think of it, we don't even know each other's names. I'm Misha Karlstein, nyah."

"... Erwin Fornacci de Tersia."

"Wow, even your name is pretty... Nice to meet you, Erwin, nyah."

"Yes..."

Hiding her reluctance, she accepted the offered handshake.

Then they sat down to talk. She had no desire to befriend this woman, but there was something she wanted to ask.

"Are you seeing anyone, Miss Karlstein?"

"S-seeing anyone...? Don't be ridiculous. Bjorn and I are just companions. Companions, nyah!"

"Hmm, I see."

For some reason, her anger seemed to subside.

She had only asked whether Misha was seeing someone. Why had Mister's name come up immediately?

She would have to investigate a little further.

"I'm sorry. You said earlier that you'd bathed together, so I misunderstood."

"B-bathed together? What are you talking about? I only borrowed his bathroom for a bit, nyah."

"Borrowing the bathroom in an unrelated man's room... Your lodgings must be very far from here."

"Uh, they're not particularly far, nyah..."

"... They're not?"

Erwin's brows arched at that answer.

Mister might not have any such intentions, but this woman clearly harbored indecent thoughts.

Enough to resort to such vulgar tactics.

"Ahem! So how do you know Bjorn, nyah?"

Was she trying to turn the conversation away from herself?

This time, the other woman asked the question, and Erwin answered honestly.

"Mister and I were companions."

"Huh? Mister...? But Bjorn's only twenty, nyah..."

"Oh, it's something like a pet name just between us. You needn't worry about it."

"A pet name... you say, nyah?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

As Erwin tilted her head innocently, the Therianthrope woman gave an awkward smile.

"No. A problem? Of course not, nyah. Nyaha!"

Her mouth was smiling, but her tail lashed back and forth against the bedspread as though expressing her displeasure.

The sight gave Erwin a curious sense of victory.

Until an unexpected counterattack followed.

"Mister and I have a rather special relationship. For one thing, we were each other's first companions, and we shared our first return drink—"

"Oh? But doesn't that only mean something to you, nyah?"

"... Pardon?"

"Well, I've been spending time with Bjorn for months, and he's never once mentioned you, nyah. Nyaha!"

The Therianthrope woman smiled brightly as she plunged a dagger into Erwin's heart. Erwin couldn't hide her bewilderment at the sudden change in attitude.

But instinctively, she understood one thing.

"Erwin, was it? I could let your little antics slide as something cute if I wanted. But... when you make your hostility this obvious and treat me like a fucking idiot, don't you think I'd get annoyed too, nyah?"

Misha Karlstein.

It was only natural that Erwin had felt hostile toward this woman from the moment she saw her.

"Hmm, there's one thing I should thank you for, though. Thanks to you, I don't think I'll be confused anymore, nyah."

"C-confused? What do you mean?"

"Who knows? Don't you already know what I mean, nyah?"

This woman was an enemy.

One who was trying to take away something precious to her.