Chapter 42 - The Mage and the Barbarian (2)

CLICK

After the call ended, silence hung over her laboratory for a while.

Well, she couldn't possibly have expected this. She'd only meant to squeeze a little money out of me. How could she have known she'd suddenly find herself owing five million Stones in compensation?

'People here really lack imagination.'

It wasn't as though she had no way to win the argument. Had she grabbed any rank-9 explorer living hand to mouth and asked the same question, they would have said they were grateful. Her argument wouldn't have been demolished like this.

But the explorer she'd called was clearly no amateur.

'By her teacher, she must mean the school master. An explorer who knows someone like that personally can't be ordinary.'

That had been her decisive mistake.

Now it was time to reap the rewards—

"Hohoho! A barbarian who can outargue a mage! You're an even more remarkable fellow than I'd heard!"

The man who threw open the door and entered without knocking was an old man with white hair and wrinkled skin. Notably—or perhaps not—his back wasn't bent at all, and he looked remarkably hale for his age.

His sudden intrusion startled me, but I quickly worked out who he was.

"Ah, I haven't introduced myself. I'm the teacher of the young lady you just reduced to tears."

"I-I wasn't crying!"

Raven's teacher. In other words, the master of Altemion, a major school that occupied no fewer than five entire floors of the Magic Tower.

A figure as important as the district manager I'd met earlier—no, in some respects, even more important.

"At any rate, I heard your entire conversation."

"What? You heard us? But the soundproofing spell should have been—"

"Ah, that could use some reinforcement. So many gaps in the spell formula. Tsk."

He sounded like any neighborhood old man, but given his position, I couldn't help feeling intimidated. There was also what I'd done to the apprentice he clearly cherished.

"Hah... You completely destroyed my magic circle. Even for you, Master, breaking it without my noticing must have been difficult... Why go to all that trouble to eavesdrop?"

The old man chuckled.

"My youngest apprentice brought a man here for the first time. And a barbarian who was actually alive, at that! How could I not be curious?"

Something about that sounded odd.

"Alive?"

At my involuntary mutter, the old man let out another hearty laugh.

"Hoho! Most arrive dead, you see! Or all we get delivered is the heart!"

"...?"

"Don't look so grim. It was a joke, a joke!"

Oh, I see. So this was mage humor?

As a barbarian who knew a thing or two about reading the room, I responded with a hearty laugh rather than taking offense.

"Hahaha! I'd like to smash your fucking head in!"

Otherwise known as barbarian humor.

"... Wh-what?"

Why wasn't he laughing?

Oh, I'd forgotten that part.

"Hahaha! It was a joke!"

You can spout whatever bullshit you like as long as you call it a joke afterward, right?

"So wipe that look off your face and laugh, old man!"

"O-old man...?"

"Oh, that was a joke too! Hahaha!"

"..."

The master of the Altemion School—old man, for short—frowned at my joke as if it had offended him. I glanced aside to find Raven gaping, apparently unable to believe what was happening.

"... Mr. Jandel, are you a crazy bastard, by any chance?"

Was that polite phrasing, or just outright profanity? The respectful language mixed in made it hard to tell, but...

'That was a mistake on my part.'

Judging by her reaction, I really might have gone a little too far. Then again, wasn't that obvious? A small-fry barbarian like me had just spewed that insane joke at the head of a Magic Tower school.

"Hah... I should have realized when I saw what you did at the guild..."

Still, I felt a little wronged. It might sound like an excuse, but who joked about dead barbarians in front of a barbarian who'd barely escaped death that very morning?

"I was on edge, and I seem to have gotten defensive without realizing it. I apologize if I offended you."

It had been ages since I'd offered such a lengthy explanation, but Raven shouted as if she couldn't believe her ears.

"What part of that was defensive?!"

"The best defense is a good offense."

A principle I'd held all my life, ever since I was very young.

'So how do I clean this up?'

A glance revealed the old man still standing rooted to the spot with a blank look in his eyes. As the silence dragged on, I began to genuinely worry about my safety.

"Bwahahaha! Well, well! You're quite the character!"

The old man suddenly burst out laughing. I had no idea why, but I followed his lead.

"Hahahaha!"

"Bwahahaha! A very amusing fellow indeed!"

It certainly looked as though he was forcing himself to laugh and appear magnanimous... But with a little luck, I might be able to get past this.

"Think nothing of it! I'm not like those other petty fools who take offense at every little word."

For all that, his lips were still trembling as though he hadn't quite swallowed his anger... But there was no need to point that out.

'I think I have a pretty good idea what sort of character he is.'

And how to handle him.

"Haha! Do you have barbarian blood in you? I take back calling you an old man! To take our jokes so well! I've never met such a broad-minded mage in my life!"

Not that I'd met more than a handful of mages to begin with. Who cared?

"Hoho, I do have that side to me, I suppose. I have a feeling you and I will get along!"

"Agreed!"

The murderous tension had been short-lived. Watching us laugh together now, Raven looked utterly incredulous.

"Hah... What on earth is happening?"

Well, I didn't really know either. And I was certain the old man had no idea what he was doing right now, either.

"I am Bjorn, son of Jandel! Great mage! I would know your name!"

"Bjorn Jandel! After spending all my time with petty mage bastards, meeting you is a breath of fresh air! A pleasure to meet you. My name is Deian T'Vehillion!"

For some reason, the old man introduced himself in a booming voice too. The veins bulging in his neck were enough to make anyone worry about his health, but...

Let's pretend I hadn't noticed.

"Magnificent! A voice that carries a man's grand ambitions!"

I, Jandel Bjorn, was a barbarian with at least that much social finesse.

* * *

"And what I said to those petty fools then was—"

"Magnificent!"

"Hm? I haven't said anything yet—"

"It will be magnificent!"

After several more minutes of similarly ingratiating conversation, the old man apparently came to his senses amid his boasting and slyly steered us back to the matter at hand.

"So, what do you intend to do about Allu?"

"Allu?"

"Ah, a pet name for my youngest apprentice."

Had he just taken the Allu out of Allua Raven? That sort of custom seemed to exist everywhere.

"Anyway, about those five million Stones. If I were to—"

"We cannot pretend it never happened."

So much for social niceties. When I cut him off, my expression hardening, the old man clicked his tongue.

"Oh, tsk. Who said anything about not paying? If you don't mind, I'd like to offer something else instead..."

Now that was a different story.

"What is it?"

"This."

The old man reached into his robe and pulled out a palm-sized box. My attention, however, was drawn more to the robe than the box.

'Does the robe itself have a pocket dimension attached to it?'

Hmm. He probably wouldn't give me that even if I asked, would he?

"What are you waiting for? Open it."

Inwardly licking my lips, I opened the box and found a ring inside.

"It's called the Frost Spirit Ring."

"Frost Spirit Ring?"

At my murmur, the old man launched into an explanation of the ring, but I had no particular need to listen. I was already quite familiar with it.

"Its number may be in the nine thousands, but as an explorer, you must know just how precious Numbered items are."

Numbered items. Obtainable only from rupture Guardians, each had a unique special ability. In effect, aside from crafting and finding equipment, Numbered items were the only way to acquire gear in [Dungeon and Stone]. Naturally, most were expensive regardless of their number.

But...

"You're very fortunate. Had I not taken a liking to you, I would never have given you this—"

"Even so, isn't it something nobody uses?"

No. 9425, Frost Spirit Ring.

Dropped only in ruptures below the third floor, the Frost Spirit Ring had exactly one unusual ability. It wasn't useful in combat, mind you: it sealed one of the wearer's absorbed Essences. The stats still applied, of course, and only the skills were sealed, but...

'At that point, having the Essence removed at a temple is cheaper.'

Think about it. Leveling up grew astronomically harder as you progressed. Yet putting on this ring disabled every skill of an Essence you'd worked so hard to obtain. It was effectively throwing away an entire skill slot.

Any explorer thinking about the future would choose to remove the Essence at a temple and acquire a new one rather than wear this ring.

"But you must admit it would be extremely useful to you, wouldn't it?"

Hmm, that much was certainly true. Early on, stats mattered more than skill combinations. And while its skills were lousy, the Corpse Golem's Essence offered fairly high stats.

'Considering I can use the skills again whenever I take the ring off, it's not a bad item. Even on its own merits.'

I finished my calculations. In truth, I'd never intended to refuse it. The abilities I'd just reviewed were only a tiny fraction of this ring's true value.

'I've probed a few times, and he hasn't mentioned it at all... Does he really not know about that event?'

Mages were the greatest intellectuals in this world. But when I'd seen that Raven didn't know how to obtain the Goddess' Tears hidden beneath the statue in the Blood-Tinted Castle, I'd become certain of one thing.

To me, they were all noobs.

And in any game, nobody was easier to fleece than a noob.

"What's there to deliberate over? To be honest, this ring isn't worth five million Stones. But it isn't something you can simply buy whenever you want, either."

"I see."

I nodded in agreement.

Even in the game, its auction-house price had only been around 1.5 million Stones. But with so few listings, I'd managed to obtain it in fewer than one out of ten runs.

'And now I get something this rare just like that?'

I hadn't expected to get the full five million Stones in the first place. In fact, the old man had probably pulled it out intending to hand me some useless junk and send me on my way. He was probably laughing at the stupid barbarian in his head.

"Thanks to you, I've gained something good. I'll put it to use."

Well, I was doing the same, so did that make us even?

"Hoho, consider it a gift from me."

Watching the old man's genial smile, I thought there might be plenty more chances to fleece him if I played my cards right.

I'd better stay on good terms with him.

* * *

"Mr. Jandel, today probably isn't the best time, is it? You must be tired after everything you've been through. Shall we meet again in two days to discuss the rest?"

"Just what I wanted."

After briefly arranging the time and place, Bjorn left the laboratory. Raven then cautiously gauged her teacher's mood.

"I'm sorry, Master. Because of me, you had to..."

"Never mind. It wasn't selling anyway. That barbarian will be rather sore when he finds out how little that ring is worth."

"... Will he?"

Fortunately, he didn't seem particularly angry about Bjorn, whom she had brought here. Feeling more at ease, Raven finally asked what had been puzzling her.

"But why did you act like that earlier?"

Her teacher's behavior today had been utterly unlike him. He disliked rude people. Nor had he ever disparaged his fellow mages as petty fools.

"Ah, that. There was something I wanted to check."

"Check what?"

"You needn't concern yourself with that."

She closed her mouth, looking disgruntled. It was now clear he had some ulterior motive for matching Bjorn's energy... But with her teacher taking that stance, she had no way of finding out what it was.

"An unusual fellow, at any rate. So unusual that I can't help getting my hopes up. I do hope I'm right..."

"Are you going to keep doing that? If you're going to tell me, just tell me!"

"I'll tell you when the time comes. Ah, when you have time, write up a detailed account of your experiences with that barbarian and submit it to me."

"And you won't tell me why, will you?"

"I'll tell you once I'm certain."

With his usual dignified smile, her teacher left the laboratory. Staring at the spot where he'd been, she felt strangely uneasy.

'What on earth is Master thinking?'

She began to wonder whether bringing Bjorn here had been a mistake. It had occurred to her that everyone her teacher had taken such an interest in had come to a bad end.

'Wait, doesn't the same go for Mr. Jandel?'

Remembering how he'd laid waste to the guild despite being a mere rank-9 explorer, she felt a strange apprehension.

'Oh, come on. Surely not. It's the Magic Tower, not some corner shop.'

The guild and the Magic Tower were entirely different. It wasn't an organization that could be pushed around by a single barbarian.

Certainly. Without a doubt.