Chapter 293 - Newbie (1)

It was evening when I returned to my lodgings.

"You're late."

Jeez, she startled me.

I was sure I'd locked the door when I left. How had she picked it?

'She could at least have turned on a light...'

When I lit the lamp, I saw Amelia sitting on my bed.

Hmm, what was I supposed to say at a time like this? She looked to be in a bad mood...

'Since when did I care about that?'

I was in just as foul a mood myself.

So I simply stared at her, my eyes telling her to get on with whatever she had to say. Amelia slowly rose and brushed past me.

"We need to be there by midnight. Get ready and come out."

Right, it was about time to leave.

I'd better get my equipment on.

BANG.

After Amelia left the room, I began putting on the equipment I'd stored in a corner, piece by piece.

I slipped on boots made from wyvern leather, a tier-two material.

CLICK.

A one-piece belt fitted with expanded pockets for storing potions, scrolls, and the like.

'Feels a little bare.'

I hadn't bought greaves or a breastplate. Looting five plunderers wasn't enough to pay for a full set, so I'd decided to put everything into my shield and weapon instead.

The result was a mace made of pure idium, a tier-three metal.

'Nice grip.'

And a large battle shield made of adamantium, a tier-five metal.

'Yeah, this is how big a shield should be.'

Both were so heavy that buying those two alone had exhausted the budget Amelia gave me.

That was why the helmet was just ordinary steel. Granted, at this point, steel offered practically nothing in the way of protection...

'But I didn't buy it to use as armor anyway.'

When I'd commissioned this equipment three weeks ago, I'd had a lot of worries about the future.

So I'd had a fully enclosed iron helmet made, similar to the one I'd worn early on, with only a T-shaped slit to see through.

Of course, there were differences. Since I'd used a different smithy, even the design was different...

'Is it because the slit's narrower than my old one? This is really uncomfortable.'

Far less of my face was exposed.

I'd reasoned that I would meet countless people in the Labyrinth, and showing my face might cause problems.

'Though honestly, I'm not sure any of this matters anymore...'

I sighed, shaking off the stray thoughts along with it. Then I took one look in the mirror and went outside.

Amelia was sitting on a chair at the end of the hall, apparently finished getting ready.

"Finally."

What did she mean, finally? It hadn't even taken ten minutes.

"... You."

Amelia turned to look at me and stiffened. Then she asked in a tone that sounded like an interrogation, "Where did you get that helmet?"

"I had it custom-made. Is there a problem?"

"... Custom-made?"

After hearing my answer, Amelia stood motionless and silent for a long time. Her expression had frozen over, and her eyes were sharp.

Just like when she'd first seen Nivels Enche's identity tag on Parune Island.

Of course, the circumstances were different in a number of ways.

"Why are you just standing there when you're the one who asked?"

"... Forget it. It's nothing."

Then as now, this selfish woman wouldn't explain why.

But...

"We're short on time. Let's get moving."

I thought I could guess the reason now.

* * *

The broker, shrouded in a black robe, had arrived ahead of us and was waiting at the sewer entrance where we'd agreed to meet.

It was a very strange feeling.

Like I was being smuggled across a border, maybe?

"..."

"..."

The broker offered no greeting, and neither did Amelia. He extended a hand from his robe, and she placed a money pouch in it. That was all.

"I'll tell you one last time: once you go down, getting back to the surface won't be easy."

Once payment was settled, the broker delivered his perfunctory warning.

Seriously? If he was going to say that, he should have said it before taking the money. One look at him told me he wouldn't give refunds, either.

"That's our concern."

"Heh heh. If you say so."

At Amelia's cold reply, the broker gave an unpleasant chuckle, took out a key, and unlocked the sewer grate. Then he led us inside.

"Stay close. Don't fall behind."

The journey to Noark was longer than I'd expected.

Only after we had spent hours walking through the maze of interconnected sewers did the entrance appear.

"Well, this is as far as I go. Head inside and follow this map until you see a gate. Show these tags to the guard, and he'll let you in."

The broker handed over what would serve as our identity tags, then held something resembling a magic device against the entrance to open it.

GRRRRIND.

A stone door disguised as an ordinary wall slid aside, revealing stairs leading underground.

But just as we were about to descend, the broker, who had spoken only when necessary throughout the journey, asked a question.

"May I ask you something?"

"You don't often see a barbarian heading down to Noark. What's your story? I doubt you're eloping—"

"Enough."

Amelia cut him off firmly.

"If your job is done, leave."

Her tone practically exuded professionalism. It seemed she'd even mixed in some bloodlust without missing a beat...

"... How unlike me. Forgive my indiscretion. Go on ahead. I must make sure the door closes."

When the broker backed down, Amelia strode down the stairs, and I followed slowly behind.

GRRRRIND, THUD!

Before long, I heard the door closing.

Whew. This really made it feel like we were heading into hell.

"Wait a moment. We should look at the map first."

Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, I tried to unfold the map, but Amelia stopped me.

"No need. I already know the way to the fortress."

Oh, right. She was from here.

Anyway, for once I relinquished my role as navigator and simply followed her until we reached our destination.

A cavern so vast it was hard to believe we were underground.

Even from far away, I could see a stone gate much larger than the gates of Raphdonia's royal palace.

"Hahahaha! Don't just stand there! Come on over!"

Only one man stood before the gate, a human with a build as sturdy as a barbarian's.

Amelia spoke to me quietly.

"Don't give him any reason to find fault with you. He may sound flippant, but he's one of the strongest people in this city."

"Do you know him?"

"Anyone who's lived in Noark knows him."

Hmm, really? He didn't look that strong...

Anyway, I handed the man at the gate the tags we'd received earlier.

"Oho! Those fellows have brought us some proper recruits for a change! A pleasure to meet you. I'm the gatekeeper, Rek Aures!"

"..."

"Ah, a little uncomfortable giving your real names? Don't worry. Nobody uses their real names in here anyway. Have you decided on your new names?"

Rek Aures, who had introduced himself as the gatekeeper, asked for our names, and we gave him the ones we'd chosen beforehand.

Amelia was "Emily."

And I was...

"Bjorn, son of Thor."

I'd simply dusted off an alias I'd used before.

Nivels Enche was an alias too, but I'd decided it would be better to come up with another one, just in case.

Not that it mattered much. We were only providing names to engrave on the tags, and apparently people rarely asked for names within the city.

"Heh heh. I believe it's been nearly five years since I last engraved a barbarian name on a tag."

When the gatekeeper returned our tags, the aliases we'd given him were engraved on them.

"Is there anything else we need to do?"

"No, that concludes the entry procedures. Go that way."

"... Aren't you opening that gate?"

"Hahahaha! Wouldn't opening and closing that huge gate for just two people be a waste?"

The gatekeeper opened a smaller door to the side.

GRRRRIND.

Watching the stone door slide aside somehow reminded me of my first day in this world.

Yeah, it had been just like this back then, too.

THUD.

The door opened fully, revealing an unfamiliar city.

"Emily, and Thor Bjorn."

"Thor is the family name. Bjorn is my given name."

"Hahaha! Oh, right! Anyway! Welcome to Noark!"

So I'd finally made it all the way here.

* * *

People generally thought of Noark as a den of criminals.

Naturally.

This was where people ended up when their crimes made it impossible for them to live on the surface. It was even the hiding place of Orculus.

But...

"It's surprisingly normal."

There were no bloodstains on the walls, the streets were clean, and the faces of the passersby weren't all that gloomy.

"I don't know what you expected, but people live here, too."

Come on, couldn't a newbie be curious?

"Follow me."

For now, I followed the local, Amelia, taking in the city and asking about whatever caught my interest.

"What's that stone embedded in the ceiling?"

"A magic device. It uses magic crystals to produce light."

"What about that moving doll-like thing?"

"A golem called a patroller. They all belong to the lord."

"Oh, is there a market here, too?"

"There is, but it isn't large. This city has only one alchemist. Most food is rationed out from a standardized selection of a few items."

Hmm, I see.

"Then what if there's something specific you want to eat?"

"You can request it at the alchemy workshop and pay with magic crystals. But it takes about two days and costs far more than on the surface. Are you done asking questions?"

"... For now."

"Good. It seems you've already drawn attention to us."

"Huh?"

"We're being followed. Let's pick up the pace."

Amelia sped up without asking my opinion, and I hurried after her.

"Followed? We've been here less than ten minutes."

"Barbarians are especially rare in this city. They must have realized the moment they saw you that we came down from the surface today."

I thought I understood what she meant.

This was Noark, after all. Up on the surface, there were even rumors that demons lived here.

I could imagine how tempting a newcomer's pockets would be. They were sure to contain everything that person had owned on the surface.

Still...

"Didn't you say people live here, too?"

Amelia tilted her head at my question.

"What's strange about that? If people live here, isn't it only natural that there would be scum like them?"

Uh, was it?

"You have a point."

Unable to come up with any logical rebuttal, I accepted it without a fuss.

Raphdonia wasn't much different, after all.

Even in Raphdonia, people who wandered the outer districts at night fell into one of three categories.

Criminals.

Explorers strong enough to defend themselves.

Or, failing that, people committed to owning nothing.

"Then what are we going to do now?"

"Head into a back alley, out of the patrollers' sight."

"Huh? A back alley?"

For a moment, I thought I'd misheard, but Amelia gave me a perfectly rational explanation for why we had to do that.

Apparently, laying a hand on a "civilian" born in Noark was taboo, and the lord would track down and punish the culprit by any means necessary—but everyone else was fair game?

"They specialize in targeting newcomers. They'll have plenty of stuff on them."

Well, she should've said that first.

Locals really did have a different mindset.

Right. No matter the situation, farming loot came first.

Our footsteps carried us into the alleys. After wandering around for a while as if we were lost, we came to a natural stop at a dead end.

And when we turned around...

"Where are you rushing off to? Not like you could get far."

As though they'd been waiting for that moment, a band of fifteen or so plunderers appeared.

"Thought you could escape by ducking into the alleys?"

"Never imagined you'd walk right in here yourselves. Newbies, I tell you."

"We all went through this when we were new, too. Don't hold it against us."

The city's veterans were already giddy at the prospect of fleecing some newcomers.

It was like watching a dead game right before its servers shut down.

Tsk. You're supposed to welcome newbies with open arms.

"Huh?"

As I scanned the group, I spotted one human man and stiffened.

But I wasn't certain yet. I needed to check.

"You there."

"Me?"

When I singled him out, he stepped forward, apparently curious. He was big enough to pass for a barbarian and wore a gleaming breastplate.

A breastplate made of a material I couldn't possibly fail to recognize.

"... That's laitanium."

"Hah. So what?"

What did he mean, so what?

Hadn't he ever heard of slipping gifts into someone's pockets?

It was common knowledge that veterans should pass items along to newbies, wasn't it?

I'd been feeling embarrassed about going shirtless anyway. Perfect timing.

"Take it off."

"...?"

"Before it gets blood on it."

Time to evolve into a civilized man.