Chapter 267 - Parune Island (1)

People were fighting other people.

Those words jolted me to attention. Perhaps I had grown a little complacent without realizing it.

THUMP!

There were no explorers from Noark. In fact, there were hardly any explorers here at all. But even so, anything could happen in the Labyrinth.

So first, I needed information. Fast.

"How many in total?"

"At least eight."

Erwin answered without a moment's hesitation when I lowered my voice to ask.

"Meaning at least two teams are fighting."

"From what I can tell, yes."

"Anything else I should know?"

"... No."

Hmm, her tone suggested otherwise. It wasn't good to let things like this slide. Wasn't that how it always went in movies?

"Anything else I should know?"

I repeated the question more firmly, and Erwin finally answered cautiously.

"... I have a bad feeling about this."

Right. I see.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't helpful..."

I chuckled as she trailed off.

"Nothing to apologize for."

Actually, I felt the same way. The moment I heard that explorers were PKing each other, a sense of foreboding had started creeping over me.

As I considered what to do next, the others spoke up.

"Jandel, what do we do now?"

"Are we going to save them this time too, nyah...?"

I tilted my head.

"This time too?"

"You did it on the first floor, and when the imperial capital caught fire, nyah. You like saving people, nyah..."

What was she talking about? Those situations were completely different from this one. In the imperial capital, I simply had the means to help, and I'd promised to do so whenever I could.

And on the first floor...

"I think I know what you've misunderstood, but let me make this clear now."

In the end, I had led thousands of explorers and opened a path to safety, earning wholly undeserved treatment as a hero. Honestly, it was true that something inside me had burned a little brighter.

But...

"The ones I was really trying to save back then were you."

My priorities still hadn't changed. I was a selfish man who didn't deserve to be called a hero. Just protecting myself and my people was more than enough to keep me busy.

"Then you mean..."

"We have a bad feeling about this. There's no need to get involved. We're leaving the island."

"But is that really all right? We don't even know their circumstances. They might need help."

Mister Bear spoke with an uncomfortable look on his face. I didn't remember him being this sort of person. Apparently, he was still riding the high of playing hero on the first floor.

"They're explorers too. They must have accepted that risk when they chose this work."

I cut him off with the authority of a leader, and Mister Bear accepted it without further protest. But perhaps another concern occurred to him belatedly.

"Raven, are you all right with this? You seemed to know that man we met earlier."

"Mr. Patzran? Well, if there's fighting over there, he's probably involved..."

Raven trailed off at Mister Bear's concern. Then she looked us straight in the eye and drew a firm line.

"But that doesn't change anything."

"What do you mean?"

"We aren't that close anyway. What if we went to help and something happened to us?"

A selfish answer, perfectly befitting an explorer. But her next words left all of us speechless.

"... Our team matters more to me."

Wow. She could say that without even looking away. Another year older, and she'd grown shameless. She still looked like a little kid, though.

"Then it's settled."

The moment the decision was made, we turned and ran toward the coast. Our estimated arrival time was about an hour. It wasn't a particularly large island, so we should be fine if we got out quickly.

'It's a shame to leave the hidden piece behind...'

But I could always leave first, assess the situation later, and try again.

'Right. When something feels wrong, running is the best policy.'

I let go of the last of my lingering regrets.

How much time passed after that?

"The sea!"

Upon reaching the coast, we hurriedly took out the boat and launched it onto the waves. Then we climbed aboard one after another and rowed away from the island.

I was just beginning to feel a little relieved when...

"B-Bjorn!"

Aynar, our valiant barbarian warrior, shouted with undisguised fear.

"Wh-what's happening?! Th-the sea...! The sea is rising!!"

The placid sea transformed in an instant, surging violently and rocking the boat.

「Parune Island's offering has been destroyed.」

「The Wrath of the Sea engulfs the island.」

Motherfucker.

* * *

Parune Island's hidden piece was simple. Destroying the "offering" hidden at the heart of the island triggered an event called Wrath of the Sea.

It was a kind of defense event. Sea monsters swarmed toward the island from the coast, and we had to hold them off inland.

What I wanted was the event boss's Essence. Elprot, a rank-four monster. If Misha or Erwin absorbed it, they could use it right through the late game.

Whether it would actually drop was another matter, of course. Anyway, that wasn't what I needed to think about now.

'At least eight over there. And six here...'

For all practical purposes, the event had been unlocked at maximum difficulty. Hidden piece or not, getting off this island was our top priority.

"Wh-what's happening?"

"Waves like this, out of nowhere? I never heard anything about this..."

"The oars! Start rowing!!"

We were briefly stunned by the waves crashing down as if to prevent anyone from leaving the island, but we quickly started rowing. After all, we were almost clear of it already.

'Just a little farther and we'll be out.'

Even in the game, the system didn't prevent you from escaping the island after the event began. It was just that most boats sank before getting very far.

"One, two! One, two!!"

Calling out in rhythm, we heaved at the oars and drove the boat over the waves.

But...

'I should've spent more on a better boat.'

It didn't feel like we were making any progress. Rather than merely staying in place, we seemed to be getting pushed back toward the island even as we rowed with all our strength.

And it wasn't just a feeling.

"B-Bjorn! Th-the island's getting closer, nyah!"

The boat kept getting driven backward despite our efforts to force our way through the waves. A bitter taste filled my mouth. If we'd just installed a magitech propulsion device, I felt we could have somehow broken through.

"Bjorn! The boat's taking on water...!!"

"Wh-what do we do? Did something break?"

As water began filling the boat, panic spread through the group. It was time to make a decision.

"We're giving up on leaving the island."

After a rapid flurry of deliberation, I issued my orders.

"Everyone, turn around in your seats! Ride the waves toward the island as far as we can!"

That was one advantage of a small boat with a capacity of six. It wasn't that the boat had no bow or stern, but the distinction didn't matter much. Especially when the waves were shoving us around this violently.

"Put all your heavy equipment into subspace!"

I had everyone strip off their equipment, both to lighten the boat and to prepare for capsizing.

Okay. That was all the preparation we could manage.

"Right!!"

Rather than propelling the boat, we used the oars only to keep it balanced and prevent it from overturning.

About three minutes passed. Just as the island in the distance was starting to look noticeably closer...

"O-over there...!"

The boat, which had been bouncing along constantly, was caught by a huge wave.

And then...

"Aaaaaah!!"

It flipped right over.

"Pfft!"

I was submerged in an instant. Somehow, I grabbed the overturned boat and held on.

"Is everyone all right?!"

"Yeah, for now!"

"I'm fine too!"

At my shout, replies came from all around. Except from one person.

"Where's Raven?"

What happened? Had she been swept away?

"Pfft! Here! I'm here!"

Whew. That gave me a scare.

Bobbing in the water and clinging tightly to the overturned boat, we quickly discussed our options.

"What do we do now?"

"Can't we just stay like this, nyah?"

"Well, we do seem to be going the right way..."

It wasn't a bad idea. Built from special wood known for its exceptional buoyancy, the boat wouldn't sink even upside down.

'This might actually be more stable than being aboard...'

With the waves rushing toward the island, the boat would head for shore even without us steering.

"Everyone, hold on tight!"

We gripped the boat's handles and held on for dear life so the waves wouldn't tear us away.

About a minute later...

'Uh, I didn't think of this...'

We faced a new crisis.

"Over there! R-rocks, nyah...!"

As we approached the coast, a towering reef drew closer to the boat. It was too late to change course.

"If we get separated, meet at the center of the island!!"

I shouted urgently, preparing for the worst.

At that very moment...

CRAAASH!

The boat struck the reef.

* * *

SHAAAAASH!

I opened my eyes to the sound of crashing waves. My vision was blurry, as though something was stuck in my eyes, and the strong saltiness of seawater filled my mouth.

And for some reason...

KRK, KRK, KRRRRK.

There was a gnawing sound. Right at my feet, of all places.

"...?"

Wondering what it was, I barely managed to lift my head to look down, then froze. A crayfish monster the size of a large dog was desperately trying to chew my foot off.

"What a load of bullshit."

Seriously, did it think that would work? With my Physical Resistance?

THWACK!

First, I kicked the Sterep away with my free foot. Then I quickly got up and brought the plank clutched in my hand down on the crayfish monster's head.

「You have defeated a Sterep. EXP +1」

As befitted a rank-nine monster, the crayfish turned to light and vanished after just one blow.

'But what's with this plank...?'

Only then did I realize I'd been clutching a random plank ever since opening my eyes. Where had it come from?

Without having to think very hard, I recalled what I'd briefly forgotten.

'Oh, right. The boat broke apart...'

The boat had shattered against the reef. I'd grabbed the largest plank and hugged it tightly, figuring that it would keep even a barbarian's body from sinking.

'Is that what saved me...?'

Having pieced things together, I quickly scanned my surroundings. There wasn't a soul on the empty beach.

'I hope the others are all right...'

Raven should be fine, at least. She couldn't swim, but I'd seen her cast a levitation spell and rise into the air at the last moment. Misha and Erwin could swim, so I was less worried about them.

The problem was Aynar and Mister Bear, who couldn't.

'Whew. Please let them have washed ashore safely.'

No matter how I tried to steady myself, I couldn't stop worrying. Still, my hands kept moving independently of those feelings, retrieving my equipment from subspace and putting it on. Hordes of monsters would soon descend on the island.

Fortunately, judging by the fact that only things like Stereps were roaming around, it seemed the event hadn't started long ago... But I needed to prepare.

'They said explorers were fighting each other. What the hell happened to make them trigger this event?'

There were several things I simply couldn't understand, but none I could resolve right now.

Ha. Seriously, if I'd known this would happen, I would've gone to help. At least then I'd have known what was going—

STEP.

I stopped just as I was about to leave the shore and enter the forest. I'd heard someone beyond the undergrowth.

PATTER, PATTER, PATTER.

Someone running.

'Not a monster.'

All the monsters in Parune Island's interior were flying insects capable of gliding. That meant these weren't a monster's running footsteps.

It was also unlikely to be one of my scattered companions. We'd agreed to meet deeper inside the forest. They had no reason to run in the opposite direction.

'Then is it one of those explorers who were fighting earlier?'

I slowly raised my mace and waited for the person to appear. The reason I chose to wait was simple: I'd only heard one set of footsteps. Even if a fight broke out, I was confident I could at least escape a one-on-one encounter.

So making contact and getting information came first.

'Now.'

Gauging the distance from the running footsteps, I abruptly thrust out my hand the moment the timing was right.

"Hah, hah. Aah, mmph—!"

Overpowered in an instant, my prey dangled in the air and struggled.

"Stay still. I won't hurt you."

The original plan had been to follow up with my mace and subdue them completely, but I decided to hold off. For one thing, we'd met before.

Though the other party didn't seem to remember.

"I'll let you go, so keep quiet."

"Wh-who are you...?"

"Didn't I tell you to keep quiet?"

At my fierce reprimand, the priestess in snow-white vestments trembled.

Whew. This made me feel like the bad guy.

"I'm Baronet Bjorn Jandel."

"Ah...!"

As soon as I gave my name, the priestess's face brightened. She didn't seem to doubt my identity. Apparently, she'd heard about me from Patzran.

"So calm down, Ersina. I'm not your enemy."

"H-how do you know my name...?"

How did I know? Because we'd met before. As I keep saying, it was a difficult memory to forget.

["Priestess Ersina. Could you perhaps heal this man?"]

["I refuse."]

When this woman had refused to heal me, it had truly felt like the world was falling apart.

Tsk, forget it. That wasn't what mattered.

"We'll discuss that later. Explain, quickly. What exactly happened in the forest?"

Understanding the situation came first.