Chapter 173 - Choice (1)

The day after Raven and I visited Commelby, the whole team gathered at the tavern to settle our final earnings.

"We really did make a fortune."

25,190,000 from magic crystals.

3,010,000 from the Expanded Backpack and assorted equipment.

9,000,000 from the Ifrit's Essence, after deducting the cost of the vial.

750,000 from the Millar Rodent parts.

Which added up to...

'37,950,000 Stones in total.'

Of course, we weren't splitting it into five equal shares. We'd agreed that Aynar would take 15% of the magic crystal earnings and Mister Bear 25%... and since the Essence and Millar Rodent parts counted as special loot, Raven took 40% of those.

'Let's see, then my share is...'

7,102,500 Stones.

Exactly the same amount as Misha's, for the record.

"Ms. Aynar, your share comes to 5,843,000 Stones."

"Oooh!!"

"Now, how will you be paying for the Essence?"

"Uh, the Essence...? How much was that again?"

Aynar's delight at her staggering payout was short-lived, her expression quickly turning to confusion.

"... I'll help pay for that."

I took 2,157,000 Stones out of my share and handed it to Raven.

"What about Ms. Karlstein's share?"

"Oh, I agreed to let Aynar pay me back later, nyah."

"Hmm, fair enough. Uh... wait, doesn't that mean Ms. Aynar gets nothing today?"

Was getting nothing really the problem here?

She'd worked hard in the Labyrinth and only wound up deeper in debt.

Four million to Misha, and 7.5 million to me, including the equipment I'd bought her last month.

A grand total of 11.5 million Stones.

"Th-that can't be...!!! I had money, and now it's gone!! S-something is wrong here!!"

"That's how the world works, nyah. Still, you absorbed an Essence and got stronger, didn't you, nyah?"

Unlike Misha, who offered words of comfort, I decided to offer something tangible.

"Anyway, I think it's time we increased Aynar's share."

She'd absorbed a rank-five Essence. At this point, it was hard to call her combat strength below average.

"Oh, that's fine with me."

"... I'll take just 20% from now on, then."

Mister Bear agreed without complaint, raising Aynar's share of the magic crystals to 20%.

We were finally splitting them equally.

'Whew. I'd like to renegotiate the special loot shares too... but she'd definitely throw a fit, so let's leave that for later.'

Actually, thinking about it, this felt a little unfair.

I was the tank, the leader, and even a navigator, a role I'd never signed up for...

Not to mention I was spoon-feeding them all the hidden pieces.

Shouldn't I be getting something like 30%?

"Oh, once everyone contributes to the team fund, we're all done for today."

"How much was that?"

"300,000 Stones per person."

"You're taking even more...!!"

Aynar's debt grew by another 300,000 Stones.

Well, considering I was feeding her and putting a roof over her head anyway, the debt hardly meant anything.

* * *

Three days after we settled our earnings, Misha went out with Aynar to apply for her promotion to rank six, while I lay in bed sorting through my thoughts.

'I've already saved up another ten million Stones.'

That didn't include the money I'd lent Aynar or what was in my joint account with Misha.

As expected, reaching the fifth floor had accelerated my growth.

Now that I could take the initiative, I could finally put my knowledge of the game to proper use.

'One year.'

I drew up a rough plan.

'Spend just one year building a foundation on the fifth floor, then move up to the sixth.'

Of course, once we reached the sixth floor, we wouldn't be able to grow as quickly as we were now. It wasn't a floor you could clear with combat strength alone.

From the sixth floor onward, we were in for a long grind.

'... Still, once I get there, I can absorb that Essence.'

With a powerful enemy like the Dragonslayer after my head, I needed to get stronger as quickly as possible.

'Even without that, given the way things are going lately, I don't think I'll get anywhere as I am now.'

The mood in the city had been grim lately.

Among explorers, to be precise.

Everyone seemed tense and on edge.

Understandably so, after what had happened this time.

'471 people.'

That was how many had died on the fourth floor during this expedition alone.

This was incomparably more serious than the previous incident with the third-floor Floor lord.

Not monsters, but plunderers.

A large-scale terrorist attack by a massive organization, targeting veteran explorers who'd spent close to ten years going in and out of the Labyrinth.

"Bjorn!!"

Just as my thoughts reached that point, Misha returned from the guild in a tremendous hurry, a sheet of paper clutched in her hand.

"L-look at this, nyah!! The royal family has issued a notice to explorers, nyah!"

I quickly took the paper and read it.

The royal family had drawn up plans for a punitive expedition, and the notice promised rewards to any explorer of rank six or above who participated.

The target was Noark.

'... This is going to cause an uproar.'

The underground city had been an open secret.

Everyone in the know knew about it, but 99% of people hadn't even known the group existed.

Now it had been named in an official royal notice.

"Bjorn, what are you going to do, nyah?"

"Not sure."

The rewards were quite appealing.

On top of the payment allotted to each participant, there were three years of exemptions from taxes and exchange fees. They even promised to bestow Essences owned by the royal family based on merit. Plenty of people would be tempted.

'Looks like they've already recruited the biggest clans, too.'

The notice listed the clans that had agreed to participate.

They'd probably been promised much larger rewards.

A sort of publicity recruitment, I supposed.

The involvement of renowned major clans alone would send ordinary explorers' confidence soaring.

No, they might even call it a sweet deal and think anyone who sat it out was an idiot.

But...

["Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, don't participate. No matter what."]

Recalling Lee Baekho's advice, I steeled my resolve.

"We're not participating."

I had no intention of getting crushed between fighting giants.

Besides, weren't we growing perfectly well already?

I couldn't see any particular benefit in going out of our way to join the expedition.

"I see... That's a relief, nyah. I had a bad feeling about it..."

"Just in case, I'd better go talk to Raven and Avman. Oh, right. How did Aynar react?"

"She's excited about the chance to make a name for herself, nyah. But don't worry. I'll talk to her, nyah."

"I'll leave that to you, then."

After my conversation with Misha, I headed to the Magic Tower first.

What would a mage's perspective be?

The answer was remarkably simple.

"Oh, that notice... I heard about it last night too. I was going to ask you about it, actually. I'm glad you're not participating."

"You're against it too?"

"Yes. I'm curious about the underground city, but they can call it a punitive expedition all they want. It's a war, isn't it? I don't want any part in a power struggle like that."

The royal family's rewards or otherwise, Raven showed little interest.

A relief in more ways than one.

I heard much the same answer when I visited Mister Bear's tavern afterward.

"Everyone in the tavern has been talking about it all day, but something doesn't sit right with me. Though I do want those rewards..."

Mister Bear said he probably would have joined if he were going solo.

Well, he was almost forty.

Three years of tax exemption was an enormous sum.

He was practically paying his wife's taxes all by himself, too.

"Heh, and our child's due next year, isn't it? The childbirth benefits will reduce our taxes for twenty years, so there's no reason to be quite so desperate."

"I see."

"If you're not participating, I don't intend to either."

Okay, so that settled it. We'd pass on the expedition.

'... I'll look into the details once the community opens.'

There was nothing I could do right now.

I was just about to head back to our lodgings and review what I needed to do in the city this month when Mister Bear made an unexpected offer.

"Jandel, how about a drink later?"

"A drink?"

"You're a team leader now, aren't you? From the looks of it, you don't have many connections in the business."

"And?"

"There's a gathering of fifth-floor explorers tonight. I was wondering if you'd like to come along."

Hmm, socializing...

Honestly, I wasn't keen.

But meeting up with colleagues, having fun, and exchanging information was how explorers normally did things here.

Maybe trying it once wouldn't hurt?

'True, the Observer of the Round Table only deals in high-level information. It's hard to learn this sort of thing there.'

"All right. When and where?"

After getting the time and place, I went to the library to kill some time.

Lagna greeted me with her usual brusqueness.

But when had she heard the news, holed up in the library as she was?

"Do you have something to say?"

"Are you... participating in the punitive expedition?"

"No. Our team decided not to."

"I see. That's a relief..."

Her face brightened considerably.

Something about that struck me as suspicious, so I asked her outright.

"A relief? Do you know something about Noark?"

"I don't... know much about them. But I do know what sort of people the royal family are... There will certainly be tremendous casualties."

Her voice was barely a whisper.

"The royal family?"

"Please pretend you didn't hear that."

She immediately retracted her words, looking as though she'd made a mistake.

I didn't pry, either.

I knew how dangerous it was to speak ill of the royal family.

"Thanks for worrying about me."

"Worrying..."

Lagna murmured the word as though turning it over in her mind.

Her reaction was a little unexpected, though.

I'd thought she'd insist, as usual, that she hadn't been worried.

"Yes. I was worried, so this is truly a relief."

"Uh... I see."

When she acted like this, I was the one who felt awkward.

But apparently she was embarrassed by her own words too, because her neck turned faintly red.

So I simply pretended not to notice.

"... Could you cast the spell for me, then? I'd like to do some reading."

"Oh, yes. The spell. Of course."

I didn't want things getting any more awkward.

* * *

Ten at night.

Normally, I'd have washed up and be settling into bed by now.

Instead, I was at a bar I'd never visited before.

Not even in District 7, where I lived, but over a wall in District 8.

"Avman! Long time no see! How have you been?"

"Why wouldn't I be doing well? How about you?"

"Haha! Just dragging myself through another day!"

As we entered the private room, I saw fifteen or so explorers gathered inside.

The kindly-looking man here seemed to be the organizer.

"Who's your friend?"

"My team leader."

"Oho, I'd been wondering who would snap you up. So here's the lucky fellow!"

As soon as we entered, the organizer led us through a brief round of introductions.

"I'm Perpe Derbes. Call me whichever you prefer. You can just call me Pepe, too. It's a nickname my close friends use."

Pepe...

Far too cute a nickname for a bearded middle-aged man.

"... I'll go with Derbes."

"Suit yourself."

"I'm Bjorn, son of Jandel."

"May I call you Bjorn?"

"Whatever you like."

We settled how to address each other with an explorer's efficiency.

"Wait, Bjorn Jandel? That sounds familiar."

One of the explorers tilted his head.

Then, apparently recalling where he'd heard it, he said,

"Oh, Little Valcan! The barbarian who made a name for himself during the third-floor Floor lord incident! Is that you?"

"That's right."

When I readily admitted it, Derbes's gaze changed a little too.

He looked impressed, but also somewhat doubtful.

"Oho, does that mean you haven't even been at it a year?"

"Don't worry about that. He's just come back from the fifth floor with us."

Mister Bear's assist swept away all doubt, leaving only admiration.

"Reaching the fifth floor in less than a year. That's truly impressive..."

Afterward, Derbes introduced everyone in attendance, one by one.

Perhaps because of my reputation as Little Valcan, along with my explosive growth, everyone was friendly.

Except for one man.

"I'm Jack Johnsonville, from the grade-five Nevis Wolf Clan."

A tanned, blond human man introduced himself with a rather hostile look.

'Why the fuck is he looking at me like that? Does he want to die?'

My increasingly barbarian way of thinking already had me itching for action, but I held back with superhuman patience.

Wasn't I one of the few modern people in this world?

Right. I should be understanding.

"Haha, let's have a drink, then."

Perhaps sensing the chill in the air, Derbes called for a toast to lighten the mood.

And so the gathering began.

Everyone drank and chatted naturally about everyday matters or the business.

"What do you think? Not bad, right?"

Mister Bear whispered in my ear.

I chuckled and nodded.

I'd wondered whether a gathering of explorers would be nothing but trash talk, but this was pretty nice.

Well, aside from the one asshole spoiling things.

"How about we meet somewhere else next time, instead of this shabby old bar?"

Jack Johnsonville.

"There's a tavern under our clan's management. The drinks are fantastic. Of course, they're much more expensive than here. Hahaha!"

"The punitive expedition? Of course I'm joining. Oh, perhaps it's a bit frightening for those of you in small teams?"

"Still, do give it your best. Who knows? You might catch a recruiter's eye and get into a clan."

The only guy here who belonged to a clan, and he wouldn't stop bragging about it while pretending he wasn't.

The bastard even went out of his way to rain on my parade whenever attention turned to me.

"At this point, I have to ask. Jandel, what's your secret? How did you climb so quickly?"

"Isn't it obvious? He found himself a good team."

"..."

"... Haha, having good companions is a skill too."

Every time silence fell, Derbes tried his best to smooth things over and prevent an argument.

"A-anyway, Bjorn. How about you? I'd like to hear your impressions of your first gathering with us."

Should I be honest or not?

I debated it briefly, but my answer was already decided.

"I like it."

"Pfft, of course you do. You're a fledgling who's only just reached the fifth floor."

I was a K-barbarian who combined a modern person's mindset, Confucian ideals, and a barbarian's magnanimity.

When patience was called for, I would endure without fail.

I was confident I could take much worse insults with a smile.

But...

"What the fuck do you keep running your mouth about, you fucking moron?"

"Wh-what? Are you talking to me?"

"Who else here is a fucking moron?"

When there was no need to hold back, I didn't.

Because that was what a K-barbarian did.