Chapter 79 - Commission (3)

"Bjorn, are you going to the sanctuary again today, nyah?"

"There's something I couldn't finish yesterday. I'll be back this evening, so don't slack off. Keep training."

As soon as dawn broke, I headed to the sanctuary for the third-stage engravings I hadn't received yesterday. The cost was two million Stones, just like in the game. The fact that you could add a trait at every third stage of a Spirit Seal was the same, too.

"Heh heh heh. I've never seen a barbarian as rich as you. Three paths lie before you."

As I put the money into the jar, the Shaman posed a question.

"There is the Spirit of Flames, the Spirit of Hardsteel, and the Spirit of Wilderness. Warrior, which will you choose?"

I listened to the Shaman's explanation just in case, but nothing seemed to have changed in the transition to reality. So...

"I'll choose the Spirit of Wilderness."

I chose Wilderness without hesitation. Every one of its traits was essential to my shield barb build, after all.

「Stage 3 of the Immortal's engravings has been activated.」

「Physical Resistance and Fire Resistance increase significantly.」

「Physical stats increase by +56.」

「Ability increases by +80.」

「The Spirit of Wilderness dwells within your body.」

「The character's base Threat stat increases significantly.」

「[Wild Outburst] is now available.」

The Threat stat. In other words, I was now more likely to draw monster aggro just by breathing. [Wild Outburst] also let me temporarily triple my Threat stat and gain a bonus to my Physical stats proportional to that value.

'I used to use it occasionally, but only when building a greatsword barb.'

Back in my early days, I often used the Immortal's engravings to compensate for barbarians' poor survivability. But [Wild Outburst] had been a double-edged sword. The stronger my character became, the more enemies swarmed me.

For a shield barb, of course, it was a different story.

'No risk, high reward.'

Drawing monster aggro? That was something a tank welcomed. And it increased my Physical stats at the same time? Not only did that make me even harder to kill... combining it with [Gigantification], which greatly increased my Threat stat, would give me one hell of a power trip, even if only temporarily.

'I never thought I'd get [Gigantification] and finish the third-stage engravings in just three months.'

I was pleased with my growth, but at the same time, it left a bitter taste. All I'd done was struggle to stay alive... and somehow, here I was.

"I'm tired. Off you go."

It was five in the afternoon when I left after receiving the Spirit Seal. Misha had promised to grill beef for me, so I quickly stopped by the library just to confirm the time of our meeting, then returned to the inn.

And... after some experimentation, I figured out how to activate [Wild Outburst].

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!"

So that was how you used it.

* * *

「Bjorn Jandel」

Level: 3

Physical: 386.1 (New +56) / Mental: 198.3 / Ability: 292.4 (New +80)

Item Level: 967

Overall Combat Index: 1118.55 (New +136)

Obtained Essences: Corpse Golem - Rank 7, Vampire (Guardian) - Rank 5, Orc Hero - Rank 5

* * *

At noon the next day, I headed to the meeting place alone. The name, Promise of Flowing Waters, had left me wondering what kind of establishment it was, but it turned out to be an ordinary dessert shop.

Fuck.

"... A barbarian?"

"What's going on? Does the owner owe him money?"

Eyes converged on me as I opened the door and walked in. Somehow, it was even worse than at the library. It wasn't as if I wasn't allowed here.

"You're Mr. Bjorn, right? Over here!"

There was no point wasting time changing venues, so I went over and sat down.

"Are you the client?"

"Yes. I'm Shahvin Emur, a grade-seven administrative officer with the Lavigion Administrative Agency. Please, just call me Shahvin."

"All right."

Shahvin Emur. Human. Since she was the librarian's friend, I'd expected someone young, but she looked to be in her early thirties. She seemed quite kind at first glance, though a little conversation would soon tell me what she was really like.

"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I haven't ordered yet. What would you like?"

"Beer and grilled meat."

"... Pardon?"

"If they don't have that, never mind. I don't like sweets."

"Oh, all right..."

That was enough of a silent protest over why she'd invited me to a place like this. I hurried on to the matter at hand.

"So, what's the commission?"

"Didn't Lagna tell you?"

"Lagna? Oh, you mean the librarian?"

Shahvin flinched at my question, then nodded as though she understood.

"You didn't know her name. Well... I suppose that's just like her. It's Lagna Litaniel Pefroch. She's not a bad girl, so please don't be too offended."

There was nothing to be offended about. I'd never asked in the first place.

I murmured the name back to myself.

"Lagna Litaniel Pefroch..."

"It's Litaniel, not Litanell."

Right, that. Anyway, why was her name so hard to pronounce?

"... Don't tell me she's a noble?"

"No, it's not that..."

The question slipped out, and her reaction was a little odd.

"I can't go into detail. She'd definitely be angry if she found out."

Right. So there was a story there.

"Just get on with explaining the commission."

"It's a simple patrol job. Criminals and tax delinquents sometimes hide in the sewers, so we need to patrol them regularly. But..."

Shahvin trailed off in an odd tone. She seemed to be waiting for something.

"... But?"

I tried prompting her, just in case, and she continued with a look that said that was exactly what she'd wanted.

"Wouldn't you know it, the explorers we normally hired for the patrol didn't return from the Labyrinth this time. As you know..."

"... As I know?"

"There was that major incident on the third floor, wasn't there? It seems they got caught up in it! Oh, isn't that just tragic?"

I didn't know about tragic, but I could tell there was something wrong with this woman.

"So you decided to offer me the job instead."

"Yes. It's an official administrative agency commission, so we can't entrust it to just anyone. While I was looking for someone suitable, Lagna told me about you!"

"I see."

I understood the general situation. Still...

"Why me, specifically? Surely there were more suitable people?"

From the sound of it, this commission was little more than odd-job work. The administrative agency had probably been outsourcing it to explorers, and the pay clearly wouldn't be much. Even so, the city would be full of people willing to do it.

'The evil spirit hunters didn't send her, did they...?'

I'd even considered that worst-case scenario, but the answer was almost disappointingly simple.

"You're the talk of the town these days, aren't you?"

"What?"

"Honestly, I was a little curious. I wanted to meet you in person..."

In short, she'd used an administrative agency commission as a pretext to satisfy her personal curiosity.

"Oh, I'm going to get some cookies to take away later. May I brag to my coworkers that you gave them to me?"

"... Do whatever you like."

Judging by that radiant expression, she didn't seem to be acting.

"So, what do you think? The pay is only two hundred thousand Stones, but it wouldn't be a bad deal for you, either. It feels a little awkward saying this myself, but..."

Ugh, again? Couldn't she please just say it all straight through? It was practically like she was toying with me.

"... But?"

When I gave her another lifeless prompt, Shahvin continued, even smiling as though she were having the time of her life.

"Some people consider getting a commission from the administrative agency a reward in itself! Our selection criteria are a little strict, so other institutions regard them as proven talent, you could say...?"

For some reason, her voice rose at the end this time. Apparently, explaining it at a barbarian's level left her struggling to find the right words.

"You mean it builds credibility."

I was a barbarian with both a modern man's mind and a savage body. When I summed it up neatly, Shahvin clapped.

"Yes! That's the simple way to put it! Hmm, well... with your reputation, I'm sure you'd be getting offers from all over regardless."

"Not really."

I smiled bitterly.

Two weeks had passed since I'd earned my reputation as Little Valcan. Even so, this was the first time anyone had approached me with a commission. I had a fair idea why, too.

'Because I'm an ignorant barbarian, I suppose.'

Being good at fighting and having a head for work were different things.

But perhaps I could use this opportunity to change people's perception of me. Not that I could afford to stand out too much, either...

"I'll take the commission."

My decision was made.

* * *

"I'll be going, then."

Once she'd finished explaining the details of the commission, the barbarian left without lingering. Watching him go, Shahvin smiled.

'I haven't met anyone that interesting in a while.'

She'd wondered what had possessed that girl to talk about someone else, but now she thought she understood. Talking to someone so genuine for the first time in ages had been soothing, perhaps? The girl must have felt something similar. Even if she'd only mentioned him in passing, it was fair to say it had been years since she'd brought up another person of her own accord.

'I was still worried, so I met him myself, but he doesn't seem like a bad person. He didn't seem to know anything about her, either...'

Shahvin gathered her thoughts as she sipped her tea. Perhaps next time she could arrange for the three of them to meet under the guise of a coincidence. Left to their own devices, those two would never become friends, not in a lifetime.

'Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself...'

But it was time that girl made a friend, too.

* * *

Two days later, with ten days remaining until the Labyrinth opened, administrative agency employees guided me to the sewer entrance. Somehow, I'd ended up bringing the entire Outcast Team along.

"... Bjorn, you never said it would stink this badly."

"I didn't know it would be this bad, either. But I said it was a sewer. Shouldn't you have expected some of this?"

"W-well, yes, but..."

This was the result of mentioning the commission when we'd all gathered yesterday.

["No need to share the fee with me. Exploring the sewers, with all those creepy stories about them? Hahaha! How could I miss that?"]

["Could I come along, too? All this reading lately has been giving me a headache. A change of pace would do me good."]

["Hmm, the sewers must have a complicated layout, right? A perfect place to test my new ability."]

["You said criminals hide down there, right? It might be dangerous alone, nyah."]

Maybe they were all bored of doing nothing but training every day, because somehow the conclusion was that everyone would come along. So I simply said they could. If I didn't even have to split the fee, why turn down free labor?

'I don't know about the others, but Rotmiller should be a big help as a Scout.'

After handing Rotmiller the map I'd received from the administrative agency employee, I fitted the video-recording orb into the groove in my helmet to record our patrol. With that, we were ready.

"Let's get going."

Taking the lead, I opened the iron-barred gate and descended the damp stairs underground. By the time I reached the final step, so little light reached us that I had to light a torch.

"It's bigger in here than I expected."

"That's why you get people hiding out down here now and then, isn't it? Hahaha!"

Filthy water trickled along a channel, with a ledge running beside it. The flickering torchlight lent the place an eerie atmosphere.

"This way."

Following Rotmiller's directions, we walked along the ledge, careful not to fall into the water. Our surroundings grew noticeably darker the farther we went from the entrance.

"Have you heard? There's a story about a terrible monster living in the sewers..."

The damned dwarf spread rumors with a grin, apparently enjoying himself immensely. Misha and Dwalki actually listened seriously.

"Dwalki, do you think there's really a monster, nyah?"

"I've heard that all the waste from the Magic Tower flows into the sewers as well. If reagents or monster corpses happened to come together and react somehow, it would be possible for such a monster to form."

"Oh, so it really could be true, nyah?"

True, my ass. Our predecessors had been coming down here for two years at a hundred and fifty thousand Stones a visit without any trouble. Realistically, how could there be anything like that?

SPLASH, SPLASH

Sighing inwardly, I placed my feet carefully. But was it because of all the creepy stories the dwarf had been spouting nonstop? Every footstep sounded unusually loud.

'With all five of us down here, it feels like we've entered a dungeon.'

Fuck, nothing was actually going to happen, right?