Chapter 261 - Clan (5)

Once, I had told Misha that I thought of her as a precious companion.

With those cowardly words, I had drawn a line.

I had thought it was the right thing to do, and it really had been. Back then, my desire to return home had still burned strong...

And I had no right to cross that line.

Because I was an evil spirit.

I had thought that whispering sweet nothings in Bjorn Jandel's body would ultimately amount to deceiving the other person.

But...

"Wh-what do you mean, nyah? Y-you don't see me as just a companion...?"

Misha's eyes went round as she asked, and I answered without a moment's hesitation.

"You know what I'm saying, don't you?"

My latest visit to the community had made one thing clear.

Compared to Lee Hansoo's dark, pitch-black room, the place where I stood now felt far more like home.

"You haven't actually said it..."

Misha had been looking at the wall to avoid my eyes. Slowly, she turned to face me.

"How am I supposed to know, nyah...?"

Perhaps this was what Lee Baekho had warned me about. The moment you formed a deep bond with an NPC, the desire to stay here grew stronger.

But so what?

"Misha Karlstein, I like you."

I no longer cared about returning home.

And the concern that becoming romantically involved would make it hard to exercise rational judgment in the Labyrinth?

The same went for that.

It was already far, far too late anyway. Even now, I treasured my teammates, Misha included. I could no longer make myself my sole priority.

'Dwalki.'

That was the mark he had left on me, his legacy.

After he had shown me all that and left, what else could I do?

I simply couldn't think of them as NPCs.

"..."

So how would Misha answer?

For the first time in a long while, I felt anxious, but I kept it from showing. I didn't want to influence her answer unnecessarily.

Silence stretched between us.

"Bjorn."

At last, Misha broke her long silence. At some point, she had slipped out from under the blanket covering her and come to stand before me.

"... Let's go out."

Misha took my hand and led me out of the house.

I didn't ask where we were going.

"..."

It was early morning, and people were gradually waking and beginning their day. Without even putting on our coats, Misha and I rented a room at an inn thirty meters away.

Then we held each other tight.

"Bjorn, gently...! It hurts if you hold me too hard..."

Afraid I might hurt her, I moved my rough barbarian body with care and delicacy.

"Are you really all right with this...?"

"... Anything, if it's you."

Misha embraced me with awkward warmth.

We remained wrapped in each other's arms, sharing our warmth until evening.

'... So that's how her tail is attached.'

That was the day I finally saw for myself something I had always wondered about.

But wasn't happiness supposed to be a fleeting illusion?

"Bjorn."

"Why don't you sleep some more? Don't worry about Aynar and Erwin. They'll be fine on their—"

"That's not it. There's something I need to say."

"... Huh?"

No sooner had I tilted my head, wondering what this was about, than Misha sat up properly on the bed and looked at me.

Then she spoke with determination.

"I've been thinking... I think we'd be better off staying just companions."

I'd been dumped.

* * *

It felt like a dream.

["Misha Karlstein, I like you."]

From the moment she heard those words, her heart had begun to race madly, and the whole world had shone brilliantly.

That was why.

["... Let's go out."]

Misha had led Bjorn out of the house as though fleeing.

Because she was afraid.

It felt as though she would wake from the dream if she let her attention wander for even a moment.

["Bjorn, Bjorn, Bjorn...!"]

["I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry."]

Those dreamlike hours continued.

They shared their warmth with each other, sometimes resting when they grew tired and talking. From their first meeting right up to the present, they spoke of countless moments, pouring out their thoughts and feelings.

It was a time to reaffirm and share who they were with one another.

But...

'I must have... fallen asleep for a little while.'

A dream was a dream because, sooner or later, you had to wake from it.

Misha slowly opened her eyes. Beyond the window, the sky had grown dark. Beside her lay the man she had longed for so desperately, dozing.

The sight filled her with profound happiness, but only for a moment.

'...'

The world took on the colors of reality, bringing her sharply to her senses.

'Bjorn really is...'

An evil spirit.

Misha swallowed those unspoken words, unable to utter them even in her mind.

The mere thought felt as though it were tearing her heart apart.

"Hh..."

She couldn't breathe.

She had harbored suspicions before, wondering if it might be true, but only today had she become certain of his identity.

After hearing what the "duty" was from Karon yesterday, she had asked Aynar about a number of things.

Only barbarians could give birth to barbarians.

She had known that from the start.

But...

["You're asking if we can still have romances? Hah, what an obvious question! Of course we can. I know quite a few of our people who do!"]

Barbarians were people too, after all.

The longer they lived in the city, teaming up and spending time with other explorers rather than their people at the sanctuary, the more their values gradually changed.

["The chieftain said any warrior will start changing a little after a few years in the city. Oh, he also called it 'urbanization.'"]

Simply because someone had a kind heart. Because their personalities were compatible. Because affection had grown over the years they spent together.

There were certainly barbarians in this city who felt romantic attraction without caring what race the other person belonged to.

But even they had something in common.

["Still, I've heard it's hard to find a partner. Most people don't understand the 'duty.'"]

Even those barbarians wanted to have children.

Aynar had called it a racial mission engraved on their souls.

So Misha had tried to understand too. That was why, despite waiting until morning, too distressed to sleep, she had gone upstairs to her room without saying much.

And yet...

["Misha, nothing happened at the sanctuary last night. I don't want you to misunderstand me over this."]

He had told her not to misunderstand.

["Because I don't see you as just a companion anymore."]

He had said that too.

At the time, she had been too overwhelmed with happiness to think, but now that she had regained her senses, it was full of contradictions.

Of course she believed him when he said nothing had happened at the sanctuary.

But...

'Then why did he lie to Karon?'

Why had Bjorn told Karon he was going to fulfill his "duty"?

Now that she thought about it, the answer was simple.

'... Because he had to.'

The only barbarians who didn't fulfill their duty were first-year warriors who had yet to find their footing.

It would be strange in all sorts of ways for a warrior who had even earned the epithet "TITAN" to neglect his duty.

So Bjorn had used Karon.

What Karon had said yesterday was proof.

["Bjorn is fulfilling his duty with the female warriors at the sanctuary right now. Don't even think of interrupting him!"]

Karon had revealed the whole story without her even having to press him. That would never have happened if Bjorn had truly wanted to keep it secret.

He would certainly have made Karon swear an oath.

Given how thorough he usually was, it made more sense to see this as deliberate.

He had wanted Karon to spread the word among the barbarians that Bjorn Jandel was fulfilling his "duty."

'And yet, the reason he went to the trouble of having them swap appearances...'

Misha lowered her head.

'Is... because he likes m-me...'

Bjorn had wanted his people to see him as a barbarian who fulfilled his duty, while keeping those stories from reaching her.

Indeed, if she hadn't had an uneasy feeling and stopped by the tavern that night, she would still have thought Bjorn had simply spent the whole night drinking.

Anyone she asked would have told her the same.

'Now I...'

Her hands and feet trembled as she grasped the truth behind everything.

Bjorn Jandel was an evil spirit.

But her feelings for him hadn't cooled in the slightest.

Of course they hadn't.

The one she had fallen for wasn't "Bjorn Jandel," but the man who inhabited that body, who had saved her and shared so many journeys with her.

'Then... what do I do now?'

Ultimately, it didn't matter that he was an evil spirit.

Even if everyone in the world pointed fingers and called it wrong, she could simply follow her heart, just as he had taught her.

But a practical problem remained.

'If this keeps up, he'll get caught someday...'

Love made rational judgment difficult.

Misha knew that better than anyone.

In fact, Bjorn had made the wrong choice. Actually fulfilling his "duty," rather than pretending to, would have been far better for concealing his identity.

There was only one reason he hadn't.

Her.

'Yes, because of me...'

At last, Misha made her decision.

If this relationship continued, then even if it wasn't today, Bjorn would eventually make an even bigger mistake.

So...

'I just have to endure it...'

Yes, this was for the best.

Her heart already felt heavy just imagining it, but she knew she could endure.

That was how she had lived her whole life before meeting the man called Bjorn Jandel.

"Bjorn."

She called her sleeping beloved's name, waking him.

And then...

"Why don't you sleep some more? Don't worry about Aynar and Erwin. They'll be fine on their—"

"That's not it. There's something I need to say."

She forced herself to smile, however awkwardly, and spoke.

Even if the path ahead held nothing but pain.

"I've been thinking... I think we'd be better off staying just companions."

She would be able to do it.

If it was for this man.

* * *

["Y-you should come home a little later. I-I-I'll make up a good excuse for the others... All right?"]

Misha left before my mind could even fully process what on earth had happened to me.

And...

"..."

I froze in place like a stone.

Call it Barbarian Waiting-for-His-Love Statue Mode.

"I got... dumped?"

My head reeled.

What had I done wrong?

Had I made some mistake today?

"..."

I spent ages going back over everything, but all I came up with were wild imaginings, so I simply checked out and left.

Right, why stew over it alone?

If I had questions, I could ask. If I'd done something wrong, I could fix it.

"Oh, you're back, nyah? Come and eat."

When I returned home, Misha welcomed me as though nothing had happened.

"Welcome back, Mister."

"Bjorn, you're only getting back now after staying out all night? Take me along the next time you go drinking!"

Erwin and Aynar thought I had only just returned home at all.

For now, we all sat down to dinner. I wanted to question Misha about what she had said immediately, but I couldn't ask her here.

"W-well, I'm tired, so I'm going to rest!"

Once dinner was over, Misha fled upstairs to her room.

"Erwin, Misha is acting strange today. She's walking awkwardly too."

"I don't know. I'm not sure what's gotten into her either. Though I do have a bad feeling about it..."

As the two wondered about Misha's behavior, I suggested that she might not be feeling well and said I would check on her. Then I hurried after her.

"B-Bjorn...?!"

At last, we were alone again.

I asked her to tell me if I'd done something wrong, and asked again why she wanted us to remain companions. Her answer was the same as before.

"L-let's just pretend today never happened. I think that would be better."

A stubborn rejection, without even a proper explanation.

Deciding that now wasn't the time, I backed off for the day and waited for another opportunity.

But...

"Oh, sorry! I've got somewhere to be!"

"Aynar! Laundry! Let's go hang up the laundry!"

"... I'm tired today."

After that, Misha desperately avoided being alone with me. Even when I managed to make an opportunity and question her, she always gave the same answer.

After several days of this, I gave up too.

"... I see. Then let's pretend that day never happened."

Even I couldn't keep insisting when she was acting like this.

That would be forcing her.

To be honest, it was an unconscious defense mechanism.

'Wow, I could really use a cigarette.'

I couldn't even remember the last time I had been this mentally wrecked. Even crawling through a cave after stepping in a goblin trap or seeing a pillar of fire erupt in the plaza hadn't hit me this hard.

'Right. Let's just get on with my work.'

I couldn't remain in a daze forever, so I did my best to forget what had happened with Misha and focus on work.

Fortunately, I had plenty of other things to concern myself with.

"Mister, have you heard the rumor?"

"You mean the one about the outside being fine?"

"Yes. It's all anyone talks about these days, wherever I go."

The information about the world beyond the walls, first revealed in the community, had begun spreading like wildfire throughout the city.

Well, people still largely treated it as a mere rumor...

But it was certain to grow bigger with each passing day.

'How will the royal family respond?'

Contrary to my expectations, the royal family had yet to take any action.

I needed to keep watching.

While getting on with my own work, of course.

"By the way, you remember today's appointment, right?"

"We're meeting at District 7's main branch at three this afternoon, right?"

"Yes."

As soon as I finished lunch, I headed out ahead of the others to the Explorer Guild and began filling out the various documents in advance.

They were the documents needed to establish a clan.

Raven and Mister Bear, who had said they would give it some thought, had finally made their decision.

They would join the clan I was founding.

"Raven?"

While I was filling out the paperwork, Raven appeared well before the appointed time.

"It's important. I couldn't very well leave it all to you, Mr. Jandel."

She made it sound as though she didn't trust me, but what she really meant was that she had come early to help however she could.

"How far have you gotten? Let me see."

Raven took several sheets and began swiftly writing out the required clauses, her pen flying across the pages.

She seemed at least three times faster than me. And she seemed to make far fewer mistakes too.

"The internal regulations are vague. You need to make these things clear. The same goes for the withdrawal clauses. You can allow exceptions, but you need to specify exactly who those exceptions apply to."

"I-I see...?"

"Give me the ones you've already finished too. I have a feeling I'll need to rewrite all of them."

"Here."

Anyway, by the time we had nearly finished the paperwork with Raven's help, the others arrived.

"This is my first time founding a clan myself. It's rather novel. Raven, did you do all this?"

"Yes. You all just need to sign here. You can read through the documents first if you'd like."

"Hah, no need. I'm sure you've done a fine job."

Starting with Mister Bear, the others signed the documents. Handing them over to an employee completed our application to establish a clan.

We would probably be officially registered with the guild tomorrow.

'That's one matter settled for now...'

The framework of a clan would do more than bind us together as a group. It would take us farther.

And with that in mind...

"You've all kept your schedules open, right?"

We left the guild and moved to a tavern.

There were still only six of us, but this was our first gathering as a clan, rather than a team.

We ordered a little alcohol and some food, then took the time to discuss our plans.

Well, more accurately, perhaps I should say I informed them of the plans.

"We're entering the Labyrinth this time."

Now that we had a proper clan, it was time to get moving again.