Chapter 28 - Rupture (2)

Daria Wittember de Tersia.

An explorer in her fifth year, she was currently roaming the first floor's Crystal Cave with her younger sister, who was still just a child in her eyes.

"Erwin, you used your spirit again."

"Oh, Daria, it's just too hard with only a dagger..."

"I told you. You must be able to protect yourself even without a bow, even when you can't use your spirit."

"No, I understand that, but..."

"Enough. Keep moving and practicing, and you'll gradually improve."

Tersia took Erwin around the first floor, putting her through grueling live combat practice. It was all for her little sister's sake, and Erwin knew that too.

But the longer it went on, the more visibly exhausted she became.

"M-Mister said it's better to specialize in what you're best at..."

"... What?"

"Trusting your team and doing your best at your own job. H-he said that's the foundation of being an explorer... ma'am."

Tersia listened blankly, at a loss for words. It was such impeccably sound advice.

How wonderful it would be if the world actually worked that way.

"Erwin, teammates are only teammates. Don't place too much value on them."

Tersia had been part of many teams, from the sixth-floor exploration team she'd belonged to until recently, to hunting teams targeting specific profitable monsters, to running teams aiming for the distinction of opening portals.

Traveling with all sorts of people, she'd been through a great deal. Quite a few of those experiences were things she would rather not tell Erwin about.

Teammates weren't people you could trust.

Family who shared your blood might be another matter.

"All right..."

Seeing Tersia's stern expression, Erwin stopped talking back.

Time passed, and the fourth day arrived. After circling the first floor clockwise, Erwin had improved enough to defeat every monster there with a dagger alone. Naturally, she'd leveled up in the process too.

"Um, Daria? I've ranked up now, so can't we just go to the second floor? Mister must be making tons of money up there by now..."

Tersia smiled, finding her adorable. What did killing a few more monsters on the second floor really amount to?

"Erwin, a rupture will open soon."

A rupture.

A place even seasoned adventurers with several years of experience might never enter if they were unlucky.

Erwin tilted her head.

"How do you know that?"

"Because the last rupture on the first floor opened eight months ago."

With the patience of someone handling a little sister, Tersia explained it step by step: the statistical reason why, since today was day four, a rupture was bound to open within the next three days.

"I see... Mister never told me anything like that."

Of course he hadn't.

Erwin sang Mister's praises constantly, but he was still only a beginner. He was probably blindly climbing floors right now, learning through trial and error and carrying on in a way that any experienced explorer would consider the height of inefficiency.

"Erwin, don't be impatient. Trust your older sister. In just a year, there'll be an enormous gap between you and that barbarian."

Sometimes the slow road was the fastest.

"Mm... Then I can help him when that happens!"

"Yes, you can."

Tersia nodded approvingly. There was no telling whether that barbarian would even be alive by then, and even if he was, she could dissuade Erwin when the time came.

She wanted her sister, at least, to hold on to her innocence.

She was thinking this when it happened.

RUMBLE!

The Labyrinth began shaking as though an earthquake had struck. This was what happened when a rupture opened.

"Erwin!"

Tersia grabbed Erwin's hand and sprinted down the passage at full speed. Before long, she spotted a portal wavering unsteadily.

A rupture.

Thousands of portals like this had probably appeared across the first floor by now. It was a race against time, with every second counting.

WHOOOSH!

Tersia launched herself toward the portal with Erwin.

But at that very moment...

WHOOSH!

The portal vanished.

THUD.

Having sailed through empty air and landed on bare ground, Tersia clicked her tongue in disappointment.

"... A moment too late."

Rather than trying to enter together, she might have managed to get her sister inside if she'd pushed her in first.

But...

"... There'll be another chance."

There was nothing to be done. After all, what if her sister entered the rupture alone and ended up dying?

"Erwin, let's go to the second floor."

Again, sometimes the slow road was the fastest.

* * *

Equivalent exchange.

I really like that phrase. Unfortunately, the world doesn't operate by that law.

Just look at my encounter with that psycho bitch. I'd barely escaped with my life, and gained nothing.

'No, I actually got driven out of the Land of the Dead and wasted a shitload of time.'

But this time was different. This time, I'd made the choice.

So there would definitely be something in return.

Well, probably.

THUD.

I raised my guard as I watched the two remaining teammates matched with us, a human man and woman.

There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the man, who landed with a heavy thud, but the woman was different.

TAP.

She drifted down slowly, as though defying gravity, and landed gently.

Even the talkative dwarf gaped at the sight, unable to hide his surprise. I was no different.

"To think we'd meet a mage here."

A mage.

The undisputed strongest class in [Dungeon and Stone], whose status alone earned them special treatment wherever they went.

"Bjorn, are mages really that impressive? Wasn't the librarian a mage too?"

The female mage frowned in displeasure at Aynar's question. I quickly spoke up before we got on her bad side.

"The librarian is a grade 9 mage."

"Is that different?"

It was. Very different.

If those mages were upper-tier workers employed by guilds, public institutions, and workshops, this woman was what people generally called a real mage.

Her presence in the Labyrinth was proof enough. Mages were a vital resource to Raphdonia, so they weren't permitted to enter unless they'd proven their abilities.

"I see!"

"Yes, exactly. You're quite knowledgeable for a barbarian."

Once I'd explained it clearly at Aynar's level, the female mage joined the conversation in a calm voice. The satisfied smile on her lips gave me some idea of her personality.

"Hello. I'm Allua Raven, a grade 6 mage. This gentleman is a professional porter I've hired. His name was... what was it again?"

"Tarjin, Lady Raven."

So those two had come as a pair.

Anyway, this wasn't too bad. She did seem to look down on people by default, but by mage standards, she was positively decent. There'd been plenty of far bigger assholes in the game.

"May I ask you all to introduce yourselves too?"

"Hikurod Murad. It'll be a short journey, but I look forward to working with you, Miss Raven."

"How many years have you been exploring, Mr. Murad?"

"This is my third year."

A third-year explorer, huh... No wonder every piece of his equipment looked so fine.

"I am Bjorn, son of Jandel."

After that brief introduction, I got straight to the point.

"Neither of you looks like you have any reason to operate on the first floor. How did you end up entering this rupture?"

Most explorers working the first floor couldn't even afford proper equipment. That was why I'd expected clearing the rupture to be one hell of a struggle.

But a third-year dwarf and a grade 6 mage?

At this point, I couldn't simply be happy about it. Too much seemed suspicious for it to be a coincidence.

"I can't explain the exact method, but I heard a rupture would open this cycle."

"Same here."

Was this what they called pulling the ladder up behind you?

As if they'd agreed beforehand, Raven and the dwarf wouldn't say a word about their methods. Of course, that hardly mattered. I now had some idea of how they'd worked it out.

"I am Aynar, second daughter of Pheneline."

Once everyone had introduced themselves, Raven took charge of the conversation.

"We'll split the loot equally among everyone except Mr. Tarjin here. In return, would you all follow my instructions?"

"No objections here. Following a mage's instructions in the Labyrinth is common sense."

"Thank you for saying so."

With the dwarf the first to agree, Raven turned her gaze toward the two of us.

I didn't deliberate long. With a mage on the team, standing out would do me no good whatsoever. It was none other than mages who'd first recognized the existence of evil spirits and persuaded the royal family to declare them targets for extermination.

Fuck...

Clearing this place wasn't the issue anymore.

"I agree as well."

Let's just stay perfectly average.

She'd let it pass earlier with an admiring comment about how knowledgeable I was for a barbarian, but who knew when that look would turn to suspicion?

"I refuse."

Huh?

Everyone turned toward Aynar's resolute voice.

"I don't know what's so impressive about being a mage. I want Bjorn to lead us."

Seriously, I'd already agreed. Why were you doing this?

I wanted to clamp a hand over her mouth right then, but that would only make me look more suspicious.

The mage cautiously asked a question.

"By Bjorn... you mean this barbarian here, correct?"

"Yes. Bjorn is no ordinary barbarian!"

"What do you mean, no ordinary barbarian?"

"Bjorn is a warrior wiser than anyone. He reads books in the library for six hours every day."

"Hmm. You certainly are unusual."

"Not unusual. Great! I've never seen a barbarian as smart as Bjorn!"

Fuck...

Please, just stop...

* * *

Aynar's glowing praise earned me some strange looks, but it ended as nothing more than a minor incident. They seemed to chalk it up to barbarian impetuousness.

For now, at least.

"Still, the majority has voted. Nothing to be done, eh? Hahaha!"

"What's a majority vote, and why does it mean there's nothing to be done?!"

"Uh..."

Sensing the mood starting to sour again, I calmed Aynar down. But whatever had upset her so much, she was still huffing indignantly.

"But! Bjorn, aren't you more impressive than that mage?!"

Had that earlier comment, "for a barbarian," rubbed her the wrong way?

I wasn't sure, but I was glad I'd made her swear that oath in advance. Otherwise, she might have blurted out everything, from the dimensional instability to the fact that I'd opened this rupture.

"Having your wife's respect is a blessing. I envy you, barbarian! Hahaha!"

"W-wife?! I am no such thing!"

"Hahaha! No need to be embarrassed!"

"Grr! I-I'm not embarrassed!!"

Whatever he was saying, the talkative dwarf had successfully drawn Aynar's aggro elsewhere.

Relieved, I checked Raven's expression. Contrary to my fears, she wasn't showing any particular interest in me.

"Hmm, a barrier that prevents us from leaving. Fascinating. It seems to have severed the dimension, but how can we still see the other side?"

Was this a mage's thirst for knowledge?

Judging by how she was muttering to herself while taking notes, she was curious about the workings of the barrier that kept us from leaving the map...

I could only hope that curiosity wouldn't turn toward me before we parted ways.

"Why don't we stop this and get moving? There's a lot I need to investigate to obtain samples."

"Get moving? We still know nothing about one another except our names..."

The dwarf tilted his head at their newly appointed leader's words. I felt much the same.

A team needed to know what abilities each member had and what they could do. Even for a hastily assembled party, sharing your core Essences before starting was standard practice.

Raven, however, dismissed it as unnecessary.

"Is there really any need? Every monster in the Blood-Tinted Castle is grade 7 or lower."

Her voice exuded absolute confidence.

The dwarf looked slightly uncomfortable, but didn't voice it.

Not until she added one more thing.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. I'll be keeping the Guardian's loot for myself. There are some things I need to research separately."

What kind of shameless bitch was this?

Ha. And here I'd thought she was decent for a mage.

'Goddammit.'

Sure enough.

Things were about to go to shit again.