Chapter 193 - Bifron (3)

On the third floor of the tavern where Team Apple Naraq always met, Raven let out an unexpected sigh. It was all because of the one member whose unforeseen circumstances had kept him from attending.

“Well, we've gathered as agreed, but we can't properly divide the proceeds like this.”

It was already their third day back in the city. In their leader's absence, Raven had gone to Commelby alone and sold all their loot—for a staggering 152.4 million Stones.

“A-a hundred million?! I've never even heard numbers that big before!!”

“Wow, it really came to that much, even without the equipment we kept, nyah?”

“Well, we effectively sold seven mid-career explorers' entire sets of equipment. And the Numbered item, Foxfire Knot, is only listed on the Trade Market. It hasn't even sold yet.”

“... I expected something along those lines, but that's truly staggering.”

The moment they heard the amount, everyone let out breathless exclamations. Exactly the reaction she had hoped for. So why did something still feel missing? Without realizing it, Raven glanced at the empty seat.

'I never noticed when he was here, but it's a little dull without him.'

Bjorn, son of Jandel. A barbarian warrior who filled Team Apple Naraq's guardian role, as well as its leader. Had he been here, they would probably be sparring over everyone's shares by now.

[“You want forty percent of the Manticore Essence's value because it's special loot? That's a strange way to calculate it. If we'd won the dice roll that day, that would be another matter, but we got this from the dwarf. An equal split is only right.”]

[“Then what about the twenty million Stones we received as a service fee?”]

[“Of course I'll reimburse you for the test tube you used. But forty percent of the service fee? I don't recall our special-loot agreement mentioning fees of this kind.”]

Their conversation would have gone something like that, and then she would have chuckled and suggested another compromise, just as she always did. At the time, she had thought she did it for the money. But perhaps that hadn't been the only reason...

“Aruru, what's got you thinking so hard, nyah?”

“It's nothing.”

Shaking off her stray thoughts, Raven brought the meeting to a close.

“If nobody urgently needs cash, I'll hold on to the money until Mr. Jandel gets back.”

“Mhm, go ahead, nyah. I can lend Aynar money, nyah.”

“Again!! I have to borrow again?!”

“You've got plenty of money to pay back anyway, nyah. Taking an advance would just complicate the calculations and make things harder for Aruru, nyah. So hang on until then, all right, nyah?”

“All right!”

“Hmm, twenty days, was it? A little over a fortnight left, then.”

Raven felt strangely unsettled. True, she had been the one to suggest it. But was it normal for them to agree so readily to her keeping over a hundred million in funds all by herself? Surely not. Like any mage, she couldn't leave a question unasked.

“Aren't any of you worried? About me holding on to it?”

“Hmm?”

“Worried? Why would we be?”

They reacted as though she had asked something utterly bizarre. That made her feel stranger still. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, by any means. Just difficult to put a name to.

'Is that why he used awakening magic back then...?'

When she had first heard that story from Bjorn, she had thought the man terribly naive. No mage from the Magic Tower would ever do such a thing. But now, she felt she could understand his actions a little. Not much—perhaps one percent.

“Anyway, that wraps up today's agenda.”

With the business of the meeting concluded, they ate together and chatted about this and that. Naturally, most of their conversation revolved around their absent leader.

“Aruru, what's Bifron like, nyah?”

“... An unpleasant place. Even decent people can't help turning ugly there.”

“That's what poverty and hunger do to people.”

“Have you been through that yourself, Mr. Urigfried?”

“... I lost all my equipment in my third year. I spent an entire year eating nothing but stone bread and saving up before I finally got back on my feet. As I recall, I only just managed to pay my taxes, too.”

The mood grew a little somber. Misha cautiously voiced her concern.

“Bjorn's doing all right, isn't he, nyah?”

“Why are you so worried, Miss Karlstein? He has plenty of money, and he's strong. What trouble could he possibly have there? He's probably relaxing as though he's on vacation.”

“Hmm, I hope so, nyah...”

Raven chuckled and shook her head. Nothing anyone said was likely to get through to a woman in love, but she found the sight utterly endearing.

'She's a year older than me, wasn't she...?'

For some reason, she even felt a little envious. Would the day ever come when she wore that same expression? Right now, she couldn't quite imagine it.

Under her steady gaze, Misha turned away bashfully, then pinched poor, innocent Aynar's waist.

“Aynar, stop eating meat for a second and say something, nyah. Aren't you worried about Bjorn, nyah?”

“... Huh? Bjorn? Why would I worry about Bjorn? Bjorn is a great warrior! He'll do even better without laws!”

A thoroughly barbarian answer. Normally, this would have been the moment for everyone to shake their heads and chide her. Surprisingly, though, they all clamped their mouths shut as if by agreement. For one simple reason.

“...”

It sounded entirely plausible. Wasn't this the man who had always found clever ways around the law to do whatever he wanted, even when there were laws?

* * *

I shout. Louder than ever.

“VEHELLLAAAAAA!!!!!”

I'm currently on the fourth-floor terrace of the District 14 administrative agency's old official residence. Down below, a total of 514 subordinates stand in orderly ranks. And right now, there's only one thing they're supposed to do: answer my call.

“VEHELLLAAAAAA!”

This is what I've accomplished in just three days here. I've become the boss of the Western Federation, which occupied Bifron's western district. It wasn't difficult. Where there is no law, might naturally becomes law. Oh, I mean I just barged in and smashed everything.

“I can't hear you!”

“VEHELLLAAAAAA!”

“Louder!!!”

“V-VEHELLLAAAAAA!”

Since I had subordinates now, I taught them the barbarian battle cry, but their performance leaves much to be desired. Is it because there isn't a single barbarian among all these people? It'll take some time before I'm satisfied.

If someone were to ask the fundamental question of why I'm teaching them in the first place, I'd have only one answer. I'm a K-barbarian, heir to the Korean ideal of benefiting all humanity. Of course I should share a good thing.

“VEHELLLAAAAAA!!!”

Still dissatisfied, I tightened my grip on my mace, and their voices grew louder. Okay, that'll pass.

“That's all for today! Go back and have fun! Oh, and don't go causing trouble for anyone!”

“Yes, sir!!”

I dismissed my subordinates after concluding the regular morning assembly, instituted as of today. Quite a few were on crutches with broken legs, but with help from their comrades, everyone made it out of the grounds safely. Now it was time to start my own morning.

“I've prepared tea.”

When I went inside, a man with a bald crown and a jellyfish haircut bowed and served brunch. Until yesterday, he'd been the boss of the Western Federation.

Incidentally, he usually wore a wig because of his severe patchy hair loss, but I'd told him to leave it off from now on. A subordinate shouldn't dare hide anything from his boss, right?

“Tea and bread...”

I couldn't suppress a sigh at the breakfast laid out on the table.

“Are you kidding me? Bring me booze and meat.”

“Pardon? Ah, yes! I-I'm sorry. I didn't know, so I served what I normally—”

“Eating this stuff for breakfast is why you've lost all your hair at such a young age.”

“Th-this is because of Witch's Poison!”

What's he on about? If that were true, everyone here would be bald.

“Don't make pathetic excuses.”

“...”

After a short wait, the table was set with crisp-roasted meat. As usual, I tore into it with my bare hands. The skin on my hands was thick, and my Fire Tolerance was fairly high, so the heat wasn't an issue.

“What was your name again? I can't remember.”

“Well, you never asked...”

Was this rebellion? Just as that thought crossed my mind, he realized his mistake and hastily corrected himself.

“Jinkasar Peljain, sir.”

“Unusual. Where's that name from?”

“It's a south-central naming style.”

Oh, so his ancestors were desert people. That explained his dusky skin.

“Hmm.”

I looked at him and pondered for a moment. Jinkasar Peljain. Wasn't that a tedious name to pronounce? For practicality's sake, it needed shortening. Right, it started with Jin, so...

“Jin-Jin. Yes, Whiny Jin sounds good.”

“... Pardon?”

“I'll call you Whiny Jin from now on.”

His answer took a long time to arrive.

“... Yes.”

“You're forgetting 'boss.'”

“Yes, boss...”

Whiny Jin clearly didn't like his new name at all, but what was he going to do about it? If he had a problem, he could beat me. Or he should have kept his men in line so they wouldn't pick a fight with me in the first place.

“Water.”

“Pardon?”

“Water.”

“Ah, yes!”

After finishing my meal, I swallowed the antidote the knight had given me with some water. Not knowing what was in it bothered me, but Raven had guaranteed it was safe, so it should be fine.

'Besides, not taking it would bother me even more.'

Bifron was a district with a broken protective magic circle. Even now, Witch's Poison—the poison that had brought the world to its end—was seeping in, exposing all its residents. The easiest way to think of Witch's Poison was as radiation. Though, this being a fantasy world, there was one unusual difference.

'They said it doesn't manifest before fifteen, and after that, the chance increases with the length of exposure.'

To put it in gaming terms, Bifron was covered in an area effect with a chance to cause instant death. An adult's life expectancy after exile was eight to nine years. And that was only because the protective magic circle still half worked. Outside the city walls, you would die within a day.

'Well, nobody's actually been outside.'

The world beyond the city was unknown territory even to me. The game's system had barred access entirely. So, with that in mind...

“Now that I'm full, let's take a walk.”

“... I'll accompany you.”

I set out with Whiny Jin in tow. Walking aimlessly in one direction, I asked him about various things I'd been curious about. As the former head of a gang, he knew more than the kid who'd guided me on my first day, and he answered even my slightly odd questions earnestly. He was putting his heart and soul into playing along with my game of boss.

“If there's anything else you'd like to know, please ask. I, Jinkasar Peljain, will answer everything.”

Well, his reason for groveling so thoroughly was obvious. He figured I would leave in twenty days, so he only had to humor me until then. If he tried to stab me in the back and failed, he'd be fucking dead.

'Should I thank that kid?'

Of course I hadn't come into exile planning to take over the Western Federation, but this hadn't been entirely thoughtless either. Like it or not, I had to stay here for twenty days. I'd decided that establishing myself would mean fewer hassles. There was also something I wanted to look into personally. Well, I couldn't deny boredom had played a part, too.

“But boss, how far are you planning to go? We've already entered eastern territory.”

“Just follow me.”

As our morning stroll stretched past two hours, Whiny Jin voiced his doubts.

“But there's nothing past here except the city wall...”

“That's where we're going.”

Why go to a wall with nothing there? That question briefly flickered in his eyes, but Whiny Jin didn't ask any more. In a single day, he'd learned how to talk to me.

I trudged onward until we reached a street near the city wall. Then I climbed onto the roof of one of the taller-looking buildings and gazed at it.

'This is the same here, too.'

As in the other districts, soldiers stood guard atop the wall. Come to think of it, I'd always wondered about this. Why were the soldiers facing inward instead of outward?

“I'm not sure. Perhaps they're worried someone might try to get out?”

I asked Whiny Jin, but that was all he could tell me. Honestly, that was what I'd always assumed, too. It was what everyone believed. But...

'Would they really need to do that in Bifron?'

From the royal family's perspective, these people were better off gone anyway. In fact, if they climbed the wall and died of Witch's Poison, it would help legitimize the royal family's rule.

'Something really is off.'

It was a contradiction I'd noticed as soon as I arrived. Bifron's protective magic circle was broken. That meant soldiers posted atop the wall even needed antidotes. Yet they still stationed guards here, wasting resources?

'There's something here.'

That was my gut feeling. The very same instinct that had led me to discover countless hidden pieces. But no matter how I sorted through my thoughts while looking up at the wall, I couldn't find an answer. One plausible hypothesis did come to mind... but I didn't have enough evidence to support it yet.

“Let's head back. I'm hungry.”

“Yes, sir.”

I finally took my eyes off the wall and turned around. Just then, I spotted a group of several dozen people in the street below.

“They're from the east. It seems they heard we were here and came running. What would you like to do?”

Although he sounded as though he were asking for instructions, Whiny Jin's eyes betrayed his hope that I'd smash them up just as I had his gang. How transparent.

“Forget it. We're going back to our territory, so lead the way. Preferably without running into—”

Just as I was about to start walking, I froze like stone. All because of one face among the eastern gang.

'... Amelia Reinweils?'

What was she doing here?