Chapter 45 - The Line (2)

Back at my lodgings, I fell into thought while sorting through my backpack. The reason was the metal helmet in my hands.

'Should I sell this or not?'

The helmet's official in-game name was the Golden Mask. It was an item you could obtain by meeting several special conditions after defeating the boss of the Blood-Tinted Castle.

Its effect was simple: it let you customize the wearer's facial appearance. Though only for exactly thirty days.

'It was even a consumable with a limited number of uses.'

Was the maximum five uses? I remembered it disappearing from my inventory once I used it up. Of course, I wasn't entirely sure. After all, I'd never actually used it except on the playthrough when I first obtained it.

Every time after that, I'd sold it at the Trade market for around 500,000 Stones.

'Still, it's a tough call...'

Of course, if I were playing the game, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. A cosmetic item? What was the point of dressing up a 2D pixel character, especially for a mere thirty days? Even if it only fetched 10,000 Stones, selling it would be the better choice.

But the place I was in now was undeniably real.

After a little deliberation, I made my decision.

'I'll keep it for now, just in case. It's not like I'm short on money.'

Things were different from the game in all sorts of ways. Hadn't I just been falsely accused and thrown in prison? If I ever had to make an enemy of this city, this item would undoubtedly prove invaluable. Or I might find some other use for it.

'Money really is the best.'

With that decision settled, I felt a renewed appreciation for money. If I hadn't made a fortune this time, I would certainly have chosen to sell it.

And as that clearly demonstrated, the more money you had, the more options you had. Whether in a game, in reality, or in this faraway world.

* * *

"Hey! Did you hear? The Crystal Union's been disbanded!"

Daria Wittember de Tersia, a silver-haired elf quietly finishing her meal in a corner of the restaurant, perked up her pointed ears. She had overheard a conversation on a topic that interested her.

"What? The Crystal Union's been disbanded?"

The Crystal Union. An explorer clan that had built an extensive communications network using countless message stones, providing a variety of conveniences to first-floor explorers and growing explosively over the past decade.

"Amazing, isn't it? An entire, perfectly healthy explorer clan vanishing overnight?"

"Hah! Perfectly healthy, my ass. Were those bastards ever even explorers?"

From what she had heard, most of the Crystal Union's members were ordinary people who had dipped their toes into exploring because they couldn't bear the burden of taxes. Apparently, they had separate jobs in the city and took just one day off a month to visit the Labyrinth.

There was nothing particularly wrong with that in itself. No, she actually thought the original idea was a good one. She had heard it had indeed saved many ordinary people who were on the verge of being unable to pay their taxes.

But...

"Anyway, that's good news! I was getting sick of them strutting around everywhere, pretending they were explorers."

The Crystal Union of today had become corrupted. As its power grew, it not only began excluding outsiders, but its members frequently used that power to prey on beginners.

What had happened to her younger sister was proof enough. As though attempting something utterly heinous hadn't been enough, they had even tried to kill her to silence her.

'I hate to admit it, but if it weren't for that barbarian, something I don't even want to imagine would probably have happened.'

After hearing about the incident, she herself had been determined to teach them a lesson someday. But from the sound of things, there was no longer any need.

As it happened, thanks to a barbarian yet again.

"Come to think of it, I haven't asked yet. Why were they suddenly disbanded?"

"Oh, don't tell me you haven't heard that news either?"

"What news?"

"About the Barbarian of Freedom!"

As she secretly listened to the story that followed, her brow furrowed despite herself. The more she heard, the more intriguing it became.

Not content with breaking out of prison to clear his own name, he had taken the district manager's daughter hostage?

"The whole thing blew up so much that people are saying the proposed plunderer-identification law, the one they meant to apply only to rank-9 explorers, will end up going nowhere."

It was certainly a story worth all this attention. The man who had framed him had apparently already been sent to the gallows and hanged, while even the once-bloated Crystal Union was being held accountable and brought to heel for its past conduct.

However...

"But do you know what's even more amazing? That barbarian was only a rank-9 explorer! In other words, he hadn't finished his coming-of-age ceremony all that long ago!"

A rank-9 explorer who had just come of age. For some reason, hearing that brought one person to mind. The barbarian who had stood confidently even before her, and had distinguished himself in so many other ways as well.

'Surely there couldn't be a coincidence like that...'

She shook her head as if to dispel the idle thoughts, then left the restaurant and headed back to her lodgings. But with every step, the same thought kept returning.

'Is that barbarian really dead?'

Until now, the circumstances had left no room for doubt. But if he was the subject of the story she'd just heard...

'That would explain why he couldn't return to his lodgings for two days...'

Could she really tell her sister about this?

CLICK.

Still wrestling with that question, she opened the door to find her sister looking visibly haggard. She was sitting on the bed with her eyes closed, controlling three flames that looked ready to go out at any moment.

Back in the Labyrinth, two had been her limit...

"Oh, you're back?"

"... Don't tell me you've had your spirits summoned all this time?"

"Yes. It's the only way to expand my capacity, even a little..."

Her lips tightened at those words. The training method itself wasn't surprising. She was the one who had taught it to her, after all.

But her sister had never pushed herself to her limits like this before.

"You know, I think I heard the voice of fire."

"What...?"

"I finally understand. How to get stronger. Why I couldn't help being weak all this time. Why I always had to rely on someone else's help..."

Her sister, who had always seemed somewhat cowed and averted her gaze whenever she spoke, looked her straight in the eye as she continued.

"I just didn't want it badly enough."

There was no life in her cracked voice, but one thing came through with searing clarity: fierce determination.

At last, her sister had gained the one thing she had lacked most. It was obvious what had brought about the change.

And so Daria kept her mouth firmly shut.

'Even if that story is true... it's probably better not to tell her right now.'

Just as it had been ten years ago, this would all be for the sake of her precious younger sister.

* * *

It was past noon when I visited the Explorer Guild near the Magic Tower. Honestly, after the ordeal I'd been through, I was so sick of the place that I hadn't wanted to come anywhere near it for a while.

But I had no choice if I wanted to make progress on the new quest I'd received yesterday.

"What brings you here?"

"I'm looking for companions at my level."

"Is there a particular arrangement you have in mind?"

The guild clerk skipped the small talk and got straight to the point. I answered without hesitation.

"I want a team of at least four people operating on the third floor or higher."

Now that things had come to this, I had no intention of merely filling the gap Aynar had left. Instead, I planned to use my promotion to rank-7 explorer to join the most capable team I could and clear the tower efficiently.

'Well, assuming there's a decent team available.'

Following the procedure, I handed over my identification tag along with the personal information form I'd filled out beforehand. The sleepy-eyed clerk flinched, then checked them several times with a strange look.

"... Five stars?"

"Is there a problem?"

"N-no, sir!"

The clerk seemed oddly on edge now. I didn't know what the stars meant, but for some reason, his tone seemed to have grown friendlier too.

"H-here is a list of teams that meet your requirements, Explorer Bjorn Jandel. Would you care to take a look?"

He had everything ready in less than five minutes.

"Not many, are there?"

"I-I swear, those are all the recruitment notices submitted to the guild that meet your conditions!"

Had I accused him of anything? I was only making an observation. I didn't know why he felt the need to swear to it.

"Hmm."

The documents the guild employee had printed out contained brief descriptions of fifteen teams in total. Starting with the first...

[Third-Floor Exploration - Ellen Bornev]

Preferred Exploration Areas: Twilight Slope, Steel Stone Valley, Pitch-Black Estuary.

Average Rank: Rank 7.

Current Members: 2 human melee-strike warriors (rank 7), 1 Therianthrope melee-strike warrior (rank 7), 1 dwarf melee-strike warrior (rank 7).

Recruiting: 1 melee-strike warrior.

*Equal shares.

*No elves.

*Attendance at pre- and post-expedition team dinners mandatory.

*Drinking during expeditions permitted if desired.

What the hell was this team? I'd only read the words, yet I could already practically smell the sweat.

Appalled, I read through the other recruitment notices, but couldn't find a team I liked. Teams with good members offered lousy shares, while teams with good shares had something wrong with their lineups.

'... If it's obvious even in the recruitment notice, the reality must be an even bigger mess.'

Finding a team would probably have been easier if I'd had just a little more experience. The highest floor I'd reached was the second. If I weren't what people commonly called a first-timer, I would have had a much wider range of choices.

And there wouldn't have been teams so blatantly trying to rip me off with tiny shares.

'This is a pain.'

I would have preferred to post my own recruitment notice and put a team together myself, but... no one would come, would they? And anyone who did probably wouldn't be normal.

'It's not like I expected to find a team in a single day anyway.'

"Are there any teams that interest you?"

"I don't see any today."

As I shook my head and handed back the documents, the clerk rattled on like an NPC.

"Oh dear, is that so? I'm sorry we couldn't be of assistance after you took the trouble to visit. If you wish, we could make your information available for other teams to view, Mr. Bjorn Jandel—"

"No need. I'll come back another time."

"Ah, will you? You've been speaking with Terves, your ever-friendly guild employee."

His voice, his manner of speaking, his behavior—everything about him had certainly been friendly. He'd handled the work flawlessly, too.

"Have a safe trip, Explorer!"

But... why did this feel so strange?

* * *

Leaving that inexplicable unease behind, I left the Explorer Guild and was on my way back to my lodgings when I stopped at the corner of an alley.

Because of a barbarian.

TAP.

A bushy beard. Trousers torn here and there and stained with filth.

Barbarians as a race did tend to go around looking like beggars, but even allowing for that, the barbarian resting against the alley wall looked utterly wretched.

'What's going on?'

The moment I saw him, something struck me as wrong. Though I stayed at a different inn, I spent enough time around barbarians to notice it.

A barbarian settling down to rest wherever he pleased was nothing unusual. But...

'Why the hell... doesn't he have a weapon?'

He had no weapon. That was a glaring contradiction.

No matter how poor, hungry, or cold they were, barbarians clung to their weapons as though their very lives depended on them.

I usually ignored things that piqued my curiosity, but as if drawn by instinct, I approached and spoke to him. And then, what on earth was this?

"Hey."

"... Eek! Eeek!"

The barbarian, who had been dozing against the wall, spotted me and panicked in alarm.

Well, fearing a stranger might be a natural response for a living creature... but that was by other creatures' standards. We fearless barbarians didn't do that sort of thing.

'Fuck, don't tell me this bastard...'

The vague sense that something was wrong slowly began to take shape. My heart lurched, but I quickly got my emotions under control and sorted out what I needed to do.

Hmm. First, I needed to make him less wary.

"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."

To prove I wasn't an enemy, I took some jerky out of my backpack and forced it into his hand. The greatest kindness a barbarian could offer.

Of course, he merely accepted it without eating any in front of me. Still, I could clearly sense that the wariness in his eyes had eased at least a little.

'Well, we should be able to talk now.'

As though I'd been waiting for this, I asked,

"Why were you sitting here like this?"

"W-well, um... I-I don't have any money..."

I nodded silently. A barbarian just starting out having no money—that was possible. No, come to think of it, that was only natural.

But...

"What happened to your weapon?"

"I-I sold it, sir..."

Not only had he sold his weapon, he was using polite speech...

"Let's introduce ourselves. I am Bjorn, son of Jandel."

"I-I'm T-Tarikan, son of L-Lien!"

He raised his voice as if he'd belatedly realized his mistake, but it was already too late.