Chapter 192 - Bifron (2)

Raphdonia.

Once a mere fief, it had become humanity's last refuge as survivors from across the continent gathered there after the apocalypse arrived—the world's only fortress.

This fortress consisted of fourteen city districts.

First, District 1: the imperial capital, Carnon.

Home to the royal family, nobles, and the privileged elite. Its most notable feature was that commoners couldn't even enter without permission.

Districts 2 through 5: Commelby.

A commercial area commonly called the Free Market. Located on the outskirts of the imperial capital, it was where all the specialists worthy of being called master artisans and all the shops doing brisk business were concentrated.

Districts 7 through 13: Lavigion.

They occupied the largest portion of the city and housed a full seventy percent of its population. Each district shared one feature: a Dimensional Plaza where portals opened every month.

Finally, District 14: Bifron.

Its circumstances differed in many ways from those of District 6, Gnometree, which had been designated a special district when the city was first designed.

Originally part of Lavigion, it was now off-limits, and even its Dimensional Plaza had vanished.

RRRRUMBLE!

Its gates opened.

To swallow one more prisoner.

"What are you doing? Get inside."

"... That's it?"

"You've already been briefed, haven't you? As long as you don't try to escape, you can do whatever you like."

The knight who had escorted me here turned away, apparently unwilling to spend another moment in this place.

THUD!

Before long, the gates closed. Only then did I turn around and survey my surroundings.

"The prison camp..."

True to that nickname, even the atmosphere was different from an ordinary city district.

Was this what District 7, where I lived, would look like if it were left abandoned for over a hundred years?

The old buildings were utterly neglected, broken in places, their outer walls covered in filth and graffiti.

The streets weren't much better. Scrap materials and the like lay piled up haphazardly.

'Tsk. So I have to spend twenty days here.'

There was no point standing in front of the gates forever, so I started walking aimlessly.

I felt wary eyes on me from every direction.

They belonged to the residents of this district, skeletal figures in shabby clothes.

Or should I call them inmates?

For some reason, I let out a chuckle.

How would Lee Hansoo, a modern man from the twenty-first century, have reacted?

Those stares alone would have made him shrink back. They went beyond hostility toward a stranger; those eyes were full of greed. He would have been scrambling to find somewhere to hide, unable to utter a word.

But...

"The hell are you staring at?"

Now I was a barbarian of this era, over two meters of muscle clad in heavy armor.

Even if dozens of those scrawny weaklings came at me, I was confident I could turn them into watermelon pulp in minutes.

"Behel—raaaaaaa!!!"

Pouring that confidence into [Wild Outburst], I unleashed it. The residents secretly watching me lowered their eyes as though they'd seen a ghost and went on their way.

"It's fine! I won't eat you!!"

Watching them, I continued down the street, cackling with exaggerated enthusiasm.

"Wh-why is he suddenly shouting...?"

"... Anyone who crawls all the way here can't be normal."

"He's insane. Best stay away from him."

I faintly heard remarks like that from all around.

Exactly the reaction I wanted. I had no interest in attracting annoying flies.

'Huh. This makes it feel like I've entered a beginner zone.'

I'd been pretty worried because this place was called a lawless zone.

No, to be precise, Misha had been.

But now I was certain. In a lawless zone, the strongest ruled. Depending on the circumstances, it could be more convenient than a society with laws.

'I'll just think of this as a nice, long rest.'

My barbarian body, sensitive to the natural order, had already realized it.

There would be very little here to inconvenience me.

* * *

I was wandering along, taking in my surroundings, when it happened.

"Hey! Mister Newcomer!"

A kid who looked about ten boldly stepped into my path.

I asked a question to check something first.

"Have you been following me since the gates?"

"No? I only just saw you."

"Then how did you know I was new?"

"Because I've never seen you before today. Word spreads fast when someone like you arrives."

Considering all the scrawny weaklings around us, that made perfect sense.

"State your business."

Mindful of our surroundings, I lowered my voice. But the kid was evidently strong-willed, meeting my gaze and speaking clearly.

"If it's your first day, you haven't found a place to stay yet, right? I'll show you around. Believe it or not, I was born and raised here."

In short, the kid was offering to be my guide.

Not for free, of course. Nobody would work up the courage to stand in front of a hulking barbarian just to do a good deed.

"What's your fee?"

"Just a hundred Stones."

Such a paltry sum, I wondered whether a zero had been left off.

"Fine. Lead the way."

When I readily agreed, the kid took the lead, promising to take me to the best place around.

I asked various questions as I followed. I'd read a few books about Bifron at the library, but it would be arrogant to think that meant I knew everything about this place.

First, a little personal curiosity.

"Were you born here?"

"Yes."

"Your parents?"

"They're dead."

"That's not what I meant. Were your parents born here too?"

The kid seemed reluctant to answer, but had no choice but to bow before money.

"I'll give you another hundred Stones."

"... Only my mother. I heard my father came from outside."

"For what crime?"

"... Possessing and distributing seditious literature. And since you'll probably ask next, it was a book about whether the taxes paid to the royal family were justified."

"An intellectual, then."

That wasn't particularly surprising.

Bifron had earned the nickname "prison camp" because people were exiled here for spreading negative views of the royal family.

So you've got that many complaints?

Then try living somewhere beyond our protection.

That was roughly the logic behind the exile, and from the royal family's perspective, it was a very clever move. They could expel dissidents while proving their own legitimacy more decisively than anything else could.

They stood to gain far more than from a hanging.

"How old are you?"

"Eleven."

"Then you can leave in three years."

"If I manage to prove I'm qualified."

I tilted my head.

"Prove you're qualified? I heard you could leave once you turned fourteen."

"You only heard half the story. Only a tiny handful who show aptitude in some field are eligible for that relief. I say 'some field,' but most people actually aim to become explorers. It's much easier, and they take more people..."

"Are you aiming to become an explorer too?"

"No. A scholar."

A scholar...

No wonder the kid spoke so articulately. Even in these surroundings, this child hadn't given up on learning.

"You're an explorer, right, mister? How did you end up here?"

Soon the kid had a question for me too. Apparently, being the only one answering didn't seem fair.

"Agree to take a hundred Stones less, and I'll tell you."

"It's not even that much money..."

"An explorer doesn't take a loss, however small."

"Oh, so you really are an explorer!"

The trick was too cute to call it getting played.

But perhaps belatedly realizing I might lash out, the kid hurried on.

"Fine. I'll take less. So tell me why you're here."

"I committed a minor offense in the city. They told me to live here for twenty days."

"Twenty days..."

Did that seem impossibly short to someone who had spent a whole lifetime here?

The kid bit down on a lip and fell silent for a moment, then asked another question.

"What rank were you, mister?"

Personal information I wasn't particularly inclined to share.

"That wasn't the question we agreed on, was it? Forget the hundred Stones. Just answer my questions properly from now on."

Like the cowardly adult I was, I firmly shut that down and changed the subject—to prices in Bifron, its social structure, and other things that were difficult to get a feel for from books alone.

True to being a native, the kid answered every question with little difficulty. One answer in particular struck me.

The source of the food.

"The royal family distributes food every month?"

"Yes. Not that it matters. The powerful take it all and use it as leverage."

I couldn't care less about the gangs the kid mentioned. Humans inevitably established a pecking order, even at rock bottom.

Something else had caught my attention.

"The more I think about it, the more contradictory this place seems."

"What?"

"Nothing."

For some reason, I was growing a little more interested in Bifron.

One of the perfectly normal city districts from the game had ended up like this. I had a feeling there might be a more interesting story behind it.

"We're here."

After walking and talking a little longer, we reached the inn the kid had mentioned.

A tavern downstairs and lodging upstairs—the sort of establishment you could find anywhere in the city.

Hadn't the kid said gangs usually took over places like this and ran them?

'So much for the best place around.'

I chuckled and opened the door of the inn, which looked as though it would be crawling with bugs, then stepped inside.

CREEEAK.

Surprisingly, there were quite a few people inside.

Sturdily built men and women drinking in shabby clothes.

CLINK.

As the rusty bell swayed with a dull clink, everyone inside turned to look at me.

Their eyes held all sorts of emotions: wariness, bewilderment, curiosity, greed.

Ignoring them all for the moment, I approached the counter.

"Innkeeper, how much for a night?"

"Fifty Stones."

Once again, a price that seemed to be missing a zero.

"And a meal?"

"Two hundred and fifty Stones."

"Two hundred and fifty..."

Both were pocket change to me, but experiencing it firsthand really drove home the difference from the outside.

A meal cost five times as much as lodging.

Prices like that were unimaginable in Raphdonia, with its severe housing shortage.

"I'll stay the night."

"A meal?"

"Bring it out now."

"Payment up front."

I paid three hundred Stones, including the room, and took a seat.

"I'll be going now, mister."

"You haven't even been paid yet."

"Oh, right!"

I handed a thousand Stones to the kid, whose face said it had completely slipped their mind.

"Um, I don't have any change..."

"Keep it. Come sit beside me."

"What?"

"Keep me company until the food comes."

The kid gave me a peculiar look, took a moment to think, and sat down, answering my questions one by one.

Some time passed.

"Your food."

The meal I'd been waiting for arrived. Not a scrap of meat—just bread and a soup that looked like whitish broth.

"Then I'll be off..."

I stopped the kid from getting up.

"Sit down."

"What? You said only until the food came..."

Seriously, did barbarians look like fucking idiots?

I spoke again, imperiously, adding murderous intent this time.

"Sit down."

Feeling the atmosphere turn heavy, the kid clamped their mouth shut and sat back down. Despite the attempt to hide it, I could tell even from a distance that the child was trembling.

I scooped up a large spoonful of soup.

Then...

"Eat."

"What?"

"I said eat."

"Th-thank you, but I'm not hungry..."

So that's how you want to play it?

"Eat it, and I'll give you ten thousand Stones."

I made the kid an offer that couldn't possibly be refused.

What choice would this child make?

The answer was simple.

"... P-please don't kill me."

As befitted a kid born and raised in such a shitty place, this one caught on fast.

* * *

There were two reasons I'd seen through the kid's scheme.

["Have you been following me since the gates?"]

["No? I only just saw you."]

First, the kid had calmly lied in response to my checking question.

Sure, the lie had been delivered convincingly enough...

But I had a fair amount of confidence in my memory.

The kid had been hanging around nearby from the moment the gates first opened.

["Just a hundred Stones."]

Second, the fee was far too honest.

That was truly strange. Even at ordinary tourist spots, people were usually bent on ripping you off. Yet neither this kid nor even the innkeeper had tried to overcharge me.

Of course, it could have been a simple coincidence...

"... P-please don't kill me."

Instead of eating the food, the kid dropped to their knees.

I wasn't surprised; I'd half expected it. It wasn't as though the people here had only just started running unimaginative schemes.

'Come on. If you're going to stab someone in the back, at least don't make it so obvious.'

I overturned the table of food I wouldn't touch even if it were free and stood up.

I'd originally intended to ask who the accomplices were...

But that didn't seem necessary anymore.

"Freeze."

I spoke to the people edging toward the door.

A rare attempt at friendly conversation on my part.

Unfortunately, the four men and women, including the innkeeper, only sped up, scrambling to escape.

"Damn it!"

"Run!!"

Watching them flee, I clicked my tongue bitterly.

Seriously, did they think that would work?

"Aaah!"

First, I picked up the kid with one hand.

Then I rushed outside, activated [Gigantification] in one smooth sequence, and pushed off the ground, soaring high with [Leap].

KABOOOOM!

My body hurtled across dozens of meters in an instant and slammed into the ground. [Rebound] sent the fleeing men and women flying into the air.

"Behel—raaaaa!!"

With [Wild Outburst] thrown in for good measure, none of the four dared get up and run.

CRUNCH.

I broke one foot on each of them so they couldn't escape.

In broad daylight.

Right in the middle of the street, no less—but who cared? This was a lawless zone, wasn't it?

There weren't even any guards to come running because I'd used an Ability.

"Agh, aaagh!!!"

Had they finally come to their senses?

One of the four, a rat-faced man, shouted as if reciting a canned line.

"W-we're members of the Western Federation!"

The Western Federation was one of the four gangs that had carved up Bifron.

Wasn't their bastard of a boss an explorer?

What rank was it again...?

"I-if you let us go quietly, we won't retaliate for th—"

What bullshit.

CRUNCH.

He was being noisy, so I crushed his other foot too.

Perhaps that made him even more desperate.

"O-our boss used to be a rank-6 explorer!!"

Despite screaming in pain, he kept bellowing at the top of his lungs.

All I could do was tilt my head.

"Our boss? What do you mean?"

At my challenging question, he tilted his head in turn, looking as though he couldn't understand what on earth I was talking about.

I smiled kindly, bent down, and patted his head.

"From now on, I'm your boss."

I'd been wanting subordinates of my own for a while anyway.