Chapter 88 - Baron Martoin (4)

The baron's request was simple. Apparently, some count was throwing a grand banquet two months from now. All I had to do was accompany him.

"That's all...?"

"Hmm, I'd also like you to show off a few tricks for the guests. Bending steel with your bare hands, that sort of thing."

In short, he wanted to use me as a trophy to make himself look good at the banquet...

"Can you do that?"

Come on, what did he take a barbarian for?

"That much is no problem."

"Then it's settled."

For the record, the reward was a million Stones for my trouble, plus lifting Dwalki's ban from the Labyrinth.

Whew. Was this what nobles were like? Wasting that much money just to show off to other people.

'Well, I just have to pick up the crumbs.'

Even without Dwalki's problem, it was good money for the effort. A million Stones just to spend a day at his side, keeping him happy? That stinking sewer job had paid 150,000 Stones.

"Hmm, good. Then I'll have your friend's problem taken care of immediately. Consider it a gesture of goodwill toward you."

The baron even showed the generosity to resolve Dwalki's problem in advance. I did wonder what he would do if I failed to keep my end of the bargain later...

'I suppose nobles are people who don't even need to worry about that.'

Once again, I felt just how far I still had to go. I'd built up some fighting strength. I'd earned a paltry bit of fame. But...

'It's about time I started making plans on that front, too.'

I needed political power. Just as in the game, and just as it had been since I opened my eyes in this world, threats to my life didn't arise only in the Labyrinth.

* * *

The next morning, we gathered at the agreed meeting place again to check whether Dwalki's permission to enter the Labyrinth had been restored.

"How'd it go? Did that baron keep his promise, nyah?"

"I checked today, and they said there were no issues."

"Then why do you look so awful, nyah?"

"Heh, you're imagining things..."

Imagining things, my ass. Had it really been that much of a shock to learn that Baron Martoin, his second-eldest half brother, didn't even properly remember him, let alone consider him a threat? Dwalki had been a complete wreck since yesterday. Sure, he was trying hard not to show it, but...

"Haa..."

Several times a day, he would sink into thought and then heave a sigh deep enough to bring the ground down. I hoped he'd pull himself together before the Labyrinth opened.

"Ah, more importantly, take this, everyone. It's the payment I promised."

"Payment?"

"You came along to negotiate with the baron, didn't you?"

Hikurod took out the 300,000 Stones he'd offered as compensation. I decided not to accept it.

"Forget it. We're friends. Why would we need to pay each other for that, nyah?"

"I didn't go expecting payment. Besides, negotiating with him was for the good of the whole team."

With the other two waving away the money, even I would have felt awkward being the only one to accept. Besides...

'It's not like going without 300,000 Stones right now will cause me any problems.'

Better to leave this one as a favor owed. As we kept exploring the Labyrinth, there were bound to be times when we'd have to give and take, or make concessions.

"In any case, thank you. Swallowing your pride as a warrior can't have been easy."

Well, I wasn't so sure about that... Honestly, hearing that only made me feel sheepish. A million Stones was far too much money to worry about pride.

"I'll never forget this. I'll repay you."

"No, why would you repay him? Bjorn, I'll repay this debt tenfold. I swear it."

"I don't care who does it. Work it out yourselves."

"Hee-hee! Bjorn's embarrassed, nyah!"

What was she talking about? I meant it.

* * *

Eight days remained until the Labyrinth opened. What I did during that time was simple. Leaving out my usual routine of helping Misha train and visiting the library to read its hidden books, the major events were...

"This paper was made a hundred and fifty years ago."

I found out when [Complete Analysis of Ruptures II] had been made. Apparently, it was ordinary paper that had been supplied in standard sizes back then.

'Whew. What the hell happened a hundred and fifty years ago?'

The time when the game began. The death of the first king. And now, the creation of this book. So many mysteries kept converging on exactly a hundred and fifty years ago—not a year more or less.

'It can't be a coincidence.'

All I'd learned so far was that those events were somehow connected. Still, that was enough to give me the drive to keep going.

'I'll need to focus on the history of a hundred and fifty years ago.'

Who had dragged the Players here? For what purpose, and just what the hell did Auriel Gabis do? If I kept collecting clues, perhaps I would reach the truth someday.

Anyway, on to the second thing.

"Y-you... want to do that...? No! It's not that I don't want to, but it's a little sudden, nyah..."

We opened accounts at Alminus Bank and designated each other as the beneficiary of our assets upon death. The plan was to deposit a portion of what we both earned into these accounts and use it as shared funds.

"On that note, let's put the entire two million Stones we earned this time in here."

"Huh?! All of it, nyah?"

"We don't have anything to spend it on right now."

"Ugh... You're not planning to spend it on something weird behind my back, are you, nyah?"

"What exactly do you take me for?"

We deposited two million Stones each and decided to hold on to the remaining roughly 900,000 Stones in cash. There was nothing to spend it on right away, anyway. We'd moved past the days when a day's earnings barely kept us fed for a month. It was time to start saving.

Oh, and there was this, too.

"You're... Bjorn, son of Jandel?!"

While walking down the street, I happened to run into a barbarian from my cohort. His name was Karaq, third son of Vanon. We didn't do much, just caught up before parting ways. Apparently, he'd become a rank-8 explorer and was serving as a tank for a team of humans on the second floor.

"What are the others doing? Most are dead. Aside from you, Aynar, and me, there probably aren't many left. As you know, it's no easy place to survive."

Anyway, perhaps because he was on a team with humans, his personality had changed a great deal. I remembered him being much more simpleminded.

"If they'd told us more about that place instead of clinging to old traditions, so many wouldn't have died..."

Hearing him even express bitterness toward our people's ways, I almost wondered if he really was a barbarian warrior. Honestly, I felt sorry for him. He'd been a warrior to his very bones. So much must have happened to change him like that.

'So barbarians don't all stay the same.'

Thanks to him, I learned something new. Barbarians grew mentally, too. They might still struggle with things like letters and numbers, but surviving in a changed environment gave them wisdom.

'... Maybe some of the veterans with a few years under their belts have personalities almost like humans—'

"Bjorn, what are you thinking so hard about, nyah?"

"Nothing."

Misha's voice brought me out of my thoughts. Fair enough. She'd worked hard to cook and bring me food, only to find me lost in thought. That must have bothered her.

"By the way, Bjorn... I think you've gotten a little taller, nyah."

"What?"

"Maybe I'm imagining it, but stand here a second, nyah!"

... What a hassle. Still, I stopped eating and stood up to check my height. Misha made a knife-hand motion from the top of her head to my chest, then nodded.

"You did grow a little! About this much, nyah?"

"Aren't you mistaken?"

Honestly, it was hard to believe. Never mind whether I could grow any taller—how could she tell at a glance when it didn't even look like a centimeter?

"Hmm, I've always had a good eye for that sort of thing. You can trust me, nyah."

"... If you say so."

Instead of arguing, I just nodded. Well, maybe I'd grown. I had been eating a lot of meat lately.

'... If I really have gotten taller, should I eat even more meat from now on?'

If it was true, it would be worth it. A naturally far-above-average height was the deciding factor in my choosing a barbarian tank rather than a dwarf. The mechanics of [Gigantification] multiplied your base height, after all.

'It was exactly 1.771 times, or something like that.'

Now I had another reason to eat meat.

"... Don't just pick out the meat. Eat a bit of everything, nyah!"

"..."

"Ah-ah!"

After finishing my meal, I checked my backpack one last time to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything. It was almost time to enter the Labyrinth.

"Let's go. Everyone will be waiting, nyah."

When we reached our meeting place, I spotted our companions dressed differently from usual. The dwarf had put on heavy armor instead of a shirt. Dwalki stood holding a long, two-handed staff.

"Huh, Rotmiller! Why don't you have a weapon, nyah?"

"Don't worry. I've put them in my [Treasure Room]. Once you get used to it, taking them out as needed is more convenient than carrying them."

"Oh, I see, nyah."

[Treasure Room], the Mimic's special ability. I'd always thought of it as nothing more than a substitute for subspace storage, but perhaps it was a useful Essence in all sorts of ways for Rotmiller, who used a variety of equipment, including a crossbow, shield, and sword.

"Then could everyone gather around me? I'd like to cast [Unity] first."

Dwalki murmured an incantation, and green light spread out before seeping into each of our bodies. You could call it a sort of party formation. Only with this magic could a group enter the Labyrinth and start in the same location.

'Aynar used to wait outside the Guild from dawn...'

It made me realize why explorers were always going on about mages. Having a mage on the team not only meant we didn't have to line up at the Guild first thing in the morning, but also offered considerable financial benefits. For five explorers averaging rank 6.5, the fee for [Unity] would have been at least 100,000 Stones.

"Let's get moving."

As we walked together toward the Dimensional Plaza, more and more explorers filled the streets. It was a sight you could only see on the last night of each month. When they came back, they all looked like beggars.

"Halt! I think we're lost."

"Impossible! We must reach the Labyrinth within the allotted time!"

As it happened, we ran into barbarians again. Young warriors, bare-bodied and brimming with nothing but excitement and anticipation, headed for the Labyrinth fresh from their coming-of-age ceremony.

"... Follow us."

After asking my companions' understanding, I offered to help them. I didn't feel any sense of duty toward my race... but somehow, it felt like the right thing to do.

"Really? Thank you. If you tell us your name... What?! Bjorn, son of Jandel?!! You're Little Valcan?!! I admire you!!"

Overblown reactions aside, I gave the young warriors all sorts of advice on the way to the Dimensional Plaza.

Barbarian hearts fetched a high price, so they should be wary of fellow explorers—humans in particular. They should find overnight companions of other races whenever possible. Watch out for traps, stick to paths with light, and so on. I freely shared everything I wished I'd known when I first entered the Labyrinth.

"If I do that, can I become a famous warrior like you?"

Well, I didn't know the answer to that myself. But...

"Yes."

"Oh! Really?! Understood! I swear I'll do exactly as you said!"

This was probably better for them. They were the sort who only understood when you told them in no uncertain terms.

As I watched the young warriors head toward the portal, taking my advice to heart, the dwarf spoke to me quietly.

"You're... awfully kind to your own people, aren't you?"

"I just did what I could. Isn't it cruel to make them learn everything through experience alone?"

"Hmm, that's true. Hahaha!"

With that final bit of chatter, we too headed for the center, where the portal stood open.

WHOOOOSH!

My vision receded into the distance, covered by a dazzling wash of multicolored light. Suddenly, past events unfolded before me like a panorama.

'The fourth time already...?'

On my first trip, I'd fought through countless fuckers to reach the second floor.

The second? Driven by the single-minded need to grow stronger, I'd entered a rupture. Except it had turned out to be a variant rupture.

The next trip had been even more ridiculous. I'd found a team, only to get stranded along the way. Then, at the end, a Floor lord had started rampaging, and I'd barely made it back after truly setting foot on death's doorstep.

Which was why...

A flash of light!

I hoped nothing would happen. Surely nothing would go wrong? I threw those thoughts away before they could even form.

'Whew. What kind of fucker is going to show up this time?'

Something was bound to happen this time, too. So I'd better steel myself.

* * *

「You have entered the first floor, Crystal Cave.」

「TIP: Your character has reached the limit for Essences held. Try hunting new monsters and leveling up!」