Chapter 201 - Blessing (1)

A magic circle bloomed on the sewer floor. As I stood in the light pouring from it, the musty stench of sewage vanished before I knew it.

"You're here."

I was in the Dragon Temple I had visited before.

Mister Dragon stood at the front, with six draconic humans behind him. Those had to be the elders he had mentioned. Though their reptilian eyes had vertical slits, it wasn't hard to tell that their gazes were far from friendly.

Which meant it was time for a battle cry.

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!!"

I hadn't come to pick a fight, so I didn't use [Wild Outburst]. But had that alone been enough to draw aggro? The elders stared at me with deep frowns, their expressions practically asking what the hell that was.

"Ah, sorry. I just felt like it."

As I scratched the back of my head and apologized, Mister Dragon—the only one here with firsthand experience of me—spoke with a peculiar look in his eyes.

"You... haven't changed."

That was a compliment, right?

Now that my introductory battle cry was out of the way, I got down to business.

"So, what do I do now?"

Should a barbarian like me be granted the Dragon's Blessing? Mister Dragon had said the elders would meet me in person before deciding. But surely they weren't simply curious about my face. Just what sort of "test" did they intend to put me through?

"Nothing much," Mister Dragon said. "Before we reach a final decision together, the elders will each take a turn asking you one question or making one request."

"I understand the questions, but what do you mean by requests?"

"Well, even I don't know that yet. Just know that you may refuse if you wish."

May refuse, my ass. Obviously they'd be delighted to use that as a reason to vote against me.

'Is it because it's the Dragon's Blessing? They're being damn picky.'

"Well? Will you do it?"

Despite my inward grumbling, I nodded. It felt like they were asking an awful lot when I was even returning the Dragonslayer Sword...

But I could say with certainty that the Dragon's Blessing was worth it.

"Good, then it's settled. No need to drag this out. Shall we begin immediately?"

"Fine."

At my answer, Mister Dragon glanced at the elders behind him, signaling that they should begin the "test."

The first to step forward was one of the only two female dragonkin.

"I'll go first."

Given the nature of draconic humans, guessing their ages by appearance was pointless, but her manner of speaking and the look in her eyes gave her the youngest air of the group.

"Bjorn, son of Jandel. What is your greatest wish?"

The moment I heard that question, I got some idea of what this hearing was meant to accomplish. It really was a test, in the literal sense: checking what kind of person I was before passing the dragonkin's secret art, the Dragon's Blessing, on to someone of another race.

After a brief moment of thought, I answered honestly. Returning to Earth? Ultimately, even that was only a secondary goal.

"Surviving."

Survival had always been my top priority. But now, something had changed a little. It was still my top priority, but I had something to add.

"With my companions, if possible."

Even as I answered, I felt strange. Perhaps this was the biggest change I had undergone since being dropped into this unfamiliar world.

So, what would she make of that answer?

"... I see."

After regarding me with a meaningful look, the dragonkin woman asked one more question.

"What would you do if sacrificing yourself would allow your companions to survive?"

"... Didn't you say one question or request each?"

"You don't have to answer if you don't wish to."

She sounded as though she genuinely wouldn't mind, and once again, I simply answered honestly.

"I don't know yet."

Leor Wuerv Dwalki, the mage of Outcast Team. If asked whether I could make the same choice he had, this was the only answer I could give. I knew that whatever I said or promised before facing that situation would mean nothing.

Death always puts people to the test.

"But when the time comes, I'll make the choice I need to make."

"... You could have simply said you would."

The dragonkin woman stared at me as though she couldn't understand, and I brushed the suggestion aside.

"It wasn't a question I wanted to answer that way."

Doing that would have been disrespectful to him, too.

With no way of knowing what I had been through, she gazed at me for a while before stepping back.

"That is all I have to ask."

Her expression gave no indication of whether she liked my answer. Before I could catch my breath, the next turn began.

"I'm Georunave Hanuterus."

The middle-aged man, whose powerful build rivaled my own, made a request rather than asking a question.

"Let's have a fight."

He even let a little Dragon Fear seep out as he made the offer. I answered without a moment's hesitation.

"Fine."

It would be ridiculous for a barbarian warrior to refuse that offer. Besides, it was a good opportunity. A draconic human elder had to be at least a seventh-floor explorer, right? If I could fight him without worrying about dying, there was no reason not to.

That was my thinking, but...

"That's enough, both of you."

Mister Dragon intervened.

"Didn't we agree not to make requests like that?"

"What's more reliable than trading blows? Wouldn't you agree, barbarian warrior?"

Uh, I was going to use my mace...

I considered equipment part of one's ability, but for now, I agreed with him.

"Of course."

"Hahaha! I like this fellow!"

Apparently pleased with my answer, the macho dragonkin threw back his head and roared with laughter.

"... I certainly didn't expect him to agree to a fight without even a moment's thought."

Another elder seemed intrigued by the situation, too.

"So, what will you do?"

"Then I'll just ask a question and move on."

The macho dragonkin sounded disappointed as he asked me,

"Barbarian, what do you fear most?"

The first thing that came to mind was death. But giving the same answer as I had to the first question wouldn't do me any favors in an interview. I made my answer a little more specific.

"Fighting someone stronger than me."

"... What?"

The macho dragonkin tilted his head as though he had misheard. Then, perhaps belatedly arriving at a thought, he asked,

"Don't tell me you thought I was weaker than you?"

He sounded a little angry, and I shook my head.

"I didn't."

"But you just..."

"You weren't planning to kill me."

"That's true, but..."

I interrupted him, speaking quietly and to the point.

"It's because I'm afraid that I have to fight. All the more."

I knew some might think those words didn't sound like a barbarian. But so what? This was the very essence of being a barbarian.

Fortunately, my meaning seemed to get across.

"Rather than running because you're afraid, you prepare for that moment... A truly rational answer."

The macho dragonkin chuckled.

"Interesting. Are all barbarians like you?"

"More or less."

In fact, it was Aynar who had taught me what a "warrior's life" meant, and the advice she had given me then had shown me the way forward when I was backed into a dead end.

"I see. That's all I have to ask."

The macho dragonkin returned to his place with a satisfied smile. At least one thing was clear.

I definitely had one vote.

* * *

The third elder also had a question rather than a request. And quite a strange question at that.

"Do you have someone you love?"

"... No."

"You were a little slow to answer. It seems someone did come to mind."

The female dragonkin with somewhat sleepy eyes returned to her place without asking anything further. And so the fourth turn began.

"I shall test your insight."

An old dragonkin with a thick head of white hair handed me an object. I knew what it was for the moment I saw it.

A ring puzzle.

"Now, separate all of these."

Huh. I hadn't expected a task like this.

"To give you a little help, you can only separate them all by using the correct method in the correct sequence."

As I took the ring puzzle, the old dragonkin grinned and even gave me a hint. Apparently he thought I would never solve it.

Come on, did he think I was a real barbarian? I'd played with ring puzzles plenty of times in the hospital as a kid.

"Take as much time as you wish. Sometimes perseverance is a path to truth."

Holding the ring puzzle, I first inspected it from every angle to work out its structure. Given enough time, there was no way I couldn't solve it.

Well, that certainly should have been the case...

"Heh heh, five minutes have passed."

Motherfucker. What the hell was this thing?

"It's been ten minutes now. Still a long way to go?"

I honestly admitted to myself that more time wasn't likely to produce an answer. Therefore, there was only one option.

'Gigantification.'

My body swelled in an instant. With my now larger hands, I gripped the rings and pulled them apart sideways.

And then...

CRUNCH.

I finally succeeded in separating the seven rings.

"W-what have you done!!!"

"Separated them."

"... Th-that, th-that's absurd!!"

"You never said I couldn't break them."

I answered confidently. After all, I had already figured out the trick to this puzzle. At the start, the old man had said he would test my insight, not my intelligence. He had also given me that hint about reaching truth through perseverance.

In other words, this ring puzzle had been impossible to solve from the start!

'He probably gave me this to see how I'd handle a problem with no solution—'

"L-like this! It comes apart if you do this...!"

The old dragonkin sank to the floor in a daze, muttering as he fiddled with the ring puzzle, which now had a few extra pieces. His eyes looked terribly sad.

"Ahem."

"I-I can never get another one..."

"Who's next?"

Doing my best to ignore the old dragonkin, I looked at the elders, and the test resumed. The fifth question concerned my past deeds.

"How many people have you killed thus far?"

I recalled each of them in my mind and gave the exact number. The elder then asked why I had killed them. That wasn't hard to answer. I had killed them in various ways, but ultimately, there was only one reason.

"Because they tried to kill me."

"I see."

The elder who had asked nodded and stepped back, bringing the fifth turn to an end. Before I knew it, only the final turn remained in the hearing.

I couldn't tell whether things were going well.

'For starters, that old man who gave me the puzzle is probably against me... '‌ The macho dragonkin would vote in favor. The rest? Well, I wasn't sure.

"Then it's my turn now."

A handsome man who looked to be in his mid-to-late twenties stepped forward and asked one question.

"Have you spoken only the truth?"

His tone suggested he had some ability to distinguish truth from lies. That did make me uneasy, but I had answered every question truthfully so far. I had decided that if I failed, it wouldn't be too late to start negotiating K-barbarian style—KB for short.

"I have."

"Well, that concludes it."

In any case, the hearing was over. After exchanging glances with the man who had gone last, Mister Dragon spoke.

"It seems we need to discuss this a little more among ourselves. Rest for a while."

"Will I have to wait long?"

"Well, judging by things, we should be finished in an hour."

Hmm. That wasn't too bad.

Afterward, the dragonkin woman who had asked the first question led me farther inside the temple, until we reached a room. Since she was taking me somewhere to rest, I naturally assumed it would be a guest lounge, but...

"Are you that barbarian who was supposed to come today?"

Someone was already in the room: a draconic human child whose name I didn't know, looking to be in their early teens. The kid saw me and burst into giggles.

"Wow, you're damn ugly!"

What the hell was with this cheeky brat?

The unexpected opening blow left me dazed, but like an adult, I calmly laughed it off.

"Haha, and you must not have a mother."

"... Huh?"

"If you'd been raised properly, you wouldn't tell such ridiculous lies!"

Bjorn Jandel looked manly. He was absolutely not ugly.