Chapter 26 - Plunderer (3)

“Aynar, whenever something happens, always think of the worst first.”

What had just happened was a perfect example. We had run into human explorers by chance and gotten our hopes up—and how had that turned out?

The world didn't always work the way you wanted.

“We only escaped because that woman let us go. She probably thought she could catch us whenever she wanted. So it's too early to relax.”

I was getting unusually long-winded. Time to get straight to the point.

“By now, that woman must be—”

“Watching you from somewhere nearby.”

Fucking hell...

I'd thought she was still on her way here, at worst. Apparently, rock bottom had another bottom beneath it.

Or maybe there was something wrong with my intelligence.

“Bjorn!”

As Aynar and I dropped our backpacks and took fighting stances, a woman emerged from the darkness.

She still wasn't wearing a mask.

“A pity, barbarian.”

... What kind of creepy bitch was this?

“Still, that struggle just now was impressive.”

From the sound of it, she'd been watching us for quite some time, Gnome Ability or no Gnome Ability...

But something didn't add up.

“... Why only show yourself now?”

It had taken several minutes after drinking the potion before I could move again. Why hadn't she struck then?

Just as I was waiting for an answer—

“A-aaargh!”

The blond sprang up as though he'd bounced off the ground and started sprinting with all his might.

Focused on the psychopathic bitch, Aynar and I were slow to react.

But...

THUD!

Something like a thin needle flew straight into the blond's neck.

Was it coated in poison?

Despite the small wound, he convulsed like a leaf trembling in the wind, then soon went limp.

That made me realize this was no time to stand around asking why.

“Aynar!”

There was no need for a lengthy exchange. The moment I called her name, Aynar pushed off the ground and lunged forward as though she'd been waiting for it.

I did the same.

If we couldn't run, then fighting was our only option.

WHOOSH!

The plundering bitch easily ducked under Aynar's greatsword. Then she blocked my mace with her dagger as I brought it down to catch her dodge.

CLANG!

This was fucking insane...

How many Essences had she gobbled up?

Not only was the dagger that had blocked my mace perfectly intact, but when she pushed back, my whole body was driven backward.

“Stop this pointless resistance, barbarian.”

Well, that sounded like a tall order.

Even if it was pointless...

“VEHELLLAAAAAA!”

I was a barbarian.

Granted, my mind hadn't yet shed all its modern baggage.

CLANG!

Every day frightened me. Pain showed no signs of becoming familiar, and my first thought was still of escape.

Yet there was one thing I shared with them.

CLANG!

When only one path remained, I chose to press onward.

Without hesitation.

CLANG!

The moment my mace struck her dagger, I let it go and tried to tackle her.

As expected, she didn't budge.

How could a Scout have such high physical capabilities? I couldn't help grumbling.

Still, even if I couldn't knock her down, I could at least cling to her.

“Aynar! Now!”

Even before I shouted, Aynar's greatsword was already sweeping through a bold, straight arc.

For the first time, emotion appeared on the plunderer's previously expressionless face.

“...!”

Surprise, or irritation.

Hmm. Perhaps it was anger.

SHUNK!

Pain bloomed in my back.

Had she stabbed my spine? No, how had she even gotten through my armor?

Before I could dwell on the question, all my strength drained away.

「Your character is afflicted with [Paralysis].」

I tried desperately to grab her trousers and hang on, but this body, which had rampaged like a monster even with a stab wound in its throat, wouldn't obey me at all.

SHUNK!

Then came another sound of flesh being pierced in quick succession.

Aynar's greatsword fell to the ground with a clatter.

Moving only my eyes upward, I saw a dagger buried deep in her wrist.

I thought that might be the end...

But despite her pain, Aynar kept moving.

“Aaargh!”

With her weapon gone and her right arm disabled, she swung her left fist instead.

Watching that fighting spirit, I felt I understood anew why everyone treated barbarians like monsters, even though outwardly they were no different from large humans.

Unfortunately, she'd picked the wrong opponent.

WHOOSH!

The woman dodged the fist with a supple movement, then went further, catching Aynar's wrist and twisting it...

BOOM!

And slammed her straight into the ground.

Aynar immediately planted her hands and tried to rise, but kept slipping and collapsing.

Her arms trembled, tendons standing out.

Watching her, the woman murmured coldly.

“Give up. There's nothing you can do once a basilisk's paralytic venom takes hold.”

It was like hearing a death sentence.

My mind went blank, and everything before me turned dark.

Equipment, skill, experience...

The difference was stark in every respect. No matter how hard I thought, I couldn't come up with a single way to turn this around.

Just as the word death was searing itself into my mind—

“Wouldn't it have been better to simply listen?”

The woman bent down and pried my rigid hand off her trouser leg.

Then she spoke flatly.

“Barbarian, swear you'll never tell anyone what happened today. Then I'll let you live.”

... What?

* * *

After a brief silence, the woman spoke.

“I intended to offer this from the start, if you hadn't immediately fled. I owe a debt to barbarians.”

Instinctively, I knew this was our only chance of survival...

But I didn't understand.

When I desperately raised my head to look at her, she offered a brief explanation.

“If possible, I'd rather not kill barbarians with my own hands.”

With her own hands...

Was that why she'd just watched while I was dying at the blond's hands? Because she thought she could get it done without lifting a finger?

“Bjorn... Those are a plunderer's words. Don't... trust her... She's only... toying with us.”

Even so, what choice did we have?

Whether I died after being toyed with or just plain died, it made little difference to me.

First, I spat out a great mouthful of the blood that had risen to my throat, then asked.

“What will you do... if we refuse?”

“Kill you, of course. That was the agreement from the start.”

“An agreement... with whom?”

“You don't need to know that.”

Her tone was the same as before, yet somehow her voice sounded a little sharper.

“Choose. I'll give you a little ti—”

“I swear... on my honor as a warrior.”

I didn't need time. It wasn't as though I had another choice.

“... You really are a little unusual.”

After looking down at me for a moment with an odd gaze, the psychopathic bitch sprinkled something over me.

HISSS!

That familiar pain. It was a potion, no question.

「You have consumed a Healing Potion (High).」

「Your character's Paralysis has been removed.」

My rigid muscles relaxed, and strength slowly began returning to my body.

“Female barbarian, what will you do?”

The woman turned her gaze away from me and closed her mouth.

After a brief silence, Aynar answered.

“... I refuse.”

“I see.”

The woman didn't ask again. She simply gave a small nod.

But that gesture made it all the clearer. She hadn't drawn a weapon or taken a threatening stance...

Yet now, this woman would kill Aynar.

And there was only one thing I could do to stop it.

“... Aynar, swear it.”

“Bjorn?”

“Didn't you say you'd follow me completely?”

“I did, but a warrior's oath...”

Fuck, what good would protecting that damn pride do?

“Aynar, second daughter of Pheneline!”

Aynar flinched and froze at my shout.

I lowered my voice, looked her in the eyes, and spoke calmly.

“Trust me for now. This is the right choice.”

After a moment of silence, Aynar forced herself to speak.

“... All right. I'll swear.”

“A wise decision.”

Once Aynar had sworn as well, the psychopathic bitch treated her, even using a potion.

Was this the true meaning of the carrot and the stick?

Being forced into a choice through violence felt no different now than it ever had.

It fucking sucked, so badly it made me sick.

“... Which floor?”

As soon as the treatment was finished, she turned to leave, and I hurriedly called after her.

At my abrupt, contextless question, the woman tilted her head for a moment before giving a short answer.

“The eighth.”

So she really wasn't merely a fifth-floor explorer.

No wonder she was so fucking strong for a Scout. Even ten more of me probably wouldn't have stood a chance against this bitch.

But...

As I watched the psychopathic bitch fade away before my eyes like smoke, I made a vow.

Next time would be different.

* * *

“Aynar, are you all right?”

“... I'm fine. I can stand on my own.”

Aynar pushed my hand away and got to her feet herself.

I wondered if she was disappointed in me, but perhaps the one she was disappointed in was herself.

Barbarians could be stubbornly earnest.

“...”

I decided to leave Aynar alone with the complicated look in her eyes for a while and check my own condition first.

Starting with this...

CLICK.

I took off my armor and checked the back. There was a dagger-sized hole in it.

The cut was extremely clean.

... Could it have been Aura?

Fuck.

To run into a monster like that on just the second floor, in a place as vast as the Land of the Dead—what kind of bullshit was this?

All I could think was that I needed to get stronger as quickly as possible.

Getting home aside, it was the only way to protect myself in this goddamn world.

“Bjorn, what do we do now?”

“... Go down to the first floor.”

The Land of the Dead wasn't a bad hunting ground.

But I had no intention of staying here with that crazy bitch roaming around. What if she came back saying she'd changed her mind?

“I see... All right.”

Utterly dejected, Aynar followed my instructions without a single question.

Emotional support wasn't my specialty...

Still, once we got down there, I'd have to try saying something.

She looked as though her whole world had fallen apart.

“Stay close.”

We followed the marks, avoiding most fights we could.

Had about six hours passed?

At last, we made it back to the portal leading down to the first floor.

THUD!

Once again, I landed safely while Aynar tumbled across the ground.

Badly, at that.

Yet without so much as a groan, she slowly rose as though nothing had happened.

“... Doesn't that hurt?”

“It does.”

“Then why...”

“I'm no warrior. I don't even deserve to show pain.”

... This was much worse than I'd thought.

Was swearing an oath as though begging for her life really that humiliating?

Well, I supposed they'd been like that in the game, too.

“Um, Aynar...?”

“What is it?”

“A warrior who survives is strong. One defeat isn't the end—it leaves you the chance to win later!”

“It's hard to understand when you talk for so long.”

I'd deliberately spoken with enthusiasm, but Aynar's voice remained gloomy.

“But somehow, I think I understand what you mean about a warrior who survives being strong.”

“Y-you do?”

“To overcome this humiliation and the urge to take your own life right this instant... That must mean being a strong warrior. Like you, Bjorn.”

Uh, I wasn't feeling any of that...?

Taking my own life? What was I, a samurai?

That hadn't been what I meant in the first place. But there was no reason to deny it when I'd finally stumbled onto something that worked.

“Aynar, I know you can do it.”

“I don't know if I can overcome this pain... but I'll try.”

“Yes. Someday, you'll have a chance to repay this humiliation.”

Offering her sincere encouragement, I resumed our journey with her. Once we'd decided on a suitable campsite, I had Aynar sleep first.

“I'll wake you in two hours.”

“... Just this once, I'll accept your kindness.”

Kindness...

She was half right and half wrong.

[07 : 39]

By the clock, it was the morning of our third day.

I'd already gone more than twenty hours without sleep. On top of that, everything we'd been through had left me mentally exhausted.

But even if I closed my eyes, I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep for a long time anyway.

“...”

I might not have been gripped by extreme impulses like Aynar...

But I felt just as rotten.

It was like the pain of drinking a potion. No matter how many times I experienced this sort of feeling, I could never get used to it.

GRIND.

It had been much the same when the blond man's party saved me before.

The Priestess had looked me in the eyes and refused to heal me. The swordsman had tossed the potion like a toy, as though begrudging the waste.

And even as I watched, I'd stayed down on all fours like a dog and swallowed that potion.

Of course I'd been glad to survive...

But just as powerfully, emotions I could hardly describe had welled up inside me.

“Haaa...”

I let out a long breath, as if clearing away stray thoughts.

What the hell was I doing?

It wasn't like me to let my emotions torment me. Perhaps it was about time to bring that out.

I closed my eyes and, for the first time in a while, recalled the advice someone I'd respected as a child had given me.

[“Remember, you're nothing. You'll never be anyone special.”]

The magic words that always made me a slightly better person.

Yes. I'd turn even these feelings into fuel.

As I always had.

Because that would be at least a little more efficient.