The Bell That Should Never Have Rung
The bell that had been ringing from the center of the cathedral fell silent not long after. Creak…
One really ought to have been amazed that the lump of iron had moved at all. Creak. Strange, unidentifiable groans were already leaking from it. If left alone, it seemed like the thing might shatter on its own any moment.
Crash! Bang!
“Wh-what the hell!”
“What’s going on?!”
Of course, the others had no way of knowing that. They were already gathering around the cathedral. Most of the priests had already burst out from inside.
“Who would dare play such a prank!”
“To touch the sacred bell of the cathedral…”
The priests who had rushed outside were wide-eyed with shock. They had expected today to be just another ordinary day. If only the bell they had treated as mere decoration hadn’t suddenly rung.
The priests of the cathedral had dropped everything and come running out. “Which bastard…” Their faces were a chaotic mix of bewilderment, rage, and disbelief. From the way they spoke, it was clear they assumed some malicious prankster was behind it.
Whoooosh…
“Huh?”
“Wh-what?”
Yet when the people looked up at the top of the cathedral, there was no one there. It was as if the bell had rung all by itself, without anyone’s help.
The crowd buzzed with confusion.
“Wow! Mom, that bell actually rings?”
“I guess so. Mommy’s never seen it either.”
“A bell ringing out of nowhere…”
No one was hanging from it playing a nasty joke. The wind hadn’t been strong enough to rip the cathedral from its foundations and make the bell swing on its own.
“So the bell… just rang by itself?”
“That can’t be. That bell is definitely…”
It had simply rung on its own. Without anyone’s assistance. Alone.
Tap tap tap.
“……”
Of course, the culprit (presumably) — Juhan — was already far away from the cathedral.
‘I’m screwed.’
To be honest, he was a little terrified. He had never imagined the bell would suddenly start ringing.
‘Anyone would’ve thought it was just scrap metal. The kind you’d toss into a furnace.’
He even felt a bit wronged. Just who had made that bell that it could still function perfectly after existing since Carius’s time?
But a new question soon occurred to him, and Juhan reconsidered.
‘No, actually… it probably never rang once until now…’
When you thought about it, even though it was an old bell, Juhan had never once left his isolated space. So in a way, it was still a brand-new, unopened item with zero uses.
‘But was there even a bell like that? The novel never mentioned it at all.’
Naturally, he couldn’t know the exact details. It was possible the bell had been made after he had hidden himself away in his space.
‘…This is a little unfair.’
He had only looked up at it. Yet the bell had suddenly rattled and rung all by itself. Even though he hadn’t revealed his aura or his true form.
In the end, there was only one conclusion Juhan could reach.
‘I should stay far away from the cathedral for the time being.’
In other words, he would not go anywhere near the cathedral — especially not near the Bistro Order. If the priests started making a fuss trying to find the cause, it would become incredibly annoying.
“Should we go up and check the bell?”
“It stopped again, though…”
“We should report this to the higher-ups, right?”
In reality, the people from the cathedral had already gathered at the entrance and were holding some kind of meeting.
“Now that I think about it… right after a certain young man stared at the bell, it started ringing.”
“A young man?”
“What are you talking about?”
From the conversation drifting over from behind, it even sounded like they were looking for Juhan. Of course, having expected as much, he had already put a good distance between himself and the cathedral.
Step. Step.
Juhan hurried away as if fleeing. He had already decided on his next destination, so there was no hesitation in his steps.
It was the perfect place for his biggest goal: gathering information.
Of course, it hurt that all the information he once knew had been rendered completely useless…
‘Still, I have to live. What else can I do?’
People who needed to survive had to survive. That was no reason to sit still in despair and sorrow.
The next place Juhan headed to was—
“Wahahaha!”
“You actually caught that thing?”
“Beat it to a pulp. Couldn’t even recognize what it used to be.”
—the Adventurer’s Guild. A place where countless armed people came and went.
Swords, spears, bows, crossbows, and more.
People carrying all kinds of weapons moved in and out of the building. There was no better place to learn what was dangerous, what was safe, and what to watch out for.
‘If I had gone straight to the Adventurer’s Guild the moment I entered the village, things would’ve gone seriously wrong.’
No matter how hard Juhan tried to act natural, others would have seen through him. He was certain that marching directly into the guild would have caused some kind of unmanageable incident.
Creeeak.
Juhan quietly and naturally stepped inside the Adventurer’s Guild.
“Ugh…”
“I told you to drink in moderation! We’re leaving today!”
“You son of a bitch…”
What he saw was a chaotic mess of people arguing and shoving each other. In one corner, two men were already throwing punches. At another table, a red-faced man kept chugging alcohol. The inside was even more of a disaster than the outside. The people around them didn’t seem to care at all, as if it were just another ordinary day.
‘Phew.’
The first emotion that washed over him at the sight was relief. ‘So the Adventurer’s Guild hasn’t changed much from the novel’s description.’ Perhaps people who lived like there was no tomorrow wouldn’t change much even after a thousand years. Among these reckless bastards, even if Juhan acted a little strangely, it was likely they would just brush it off.
‘I can also check how many strong ones there are.’
That was the most important part. He needed to know who was the strongest and most dangerous in this era, and how many beings could actually threaten him.
Juhan still didn’t know the level of power in this age. A thousand years had passed. It was entirely possible that monsters he knew nothing about had appeared.
‘Alright.’
He slowly made his way toward the desk inside the building. For now, he planned to register as an adventurer. Even if the status wasn’t particularly meaningful, it was still far better than having nothing.
Swoosh!
“Welcome!”
The receptionist, who had apparently been watching him for a while, stood up slightly and greeted him.
“What brings you here today? A request? Or registration?”
“I’m here to register.”
She was a bright and cheerful young woman. At most, she looked to be in her early twenties.
“Registration… Please wait just a moment!”
When Juhan said he had come to register, the receptionist rummaged around and soon handed him a sheet of paper.
“Oh! By the way, can you read and write?”
“Ah, yes. That’s no problem.”
It was true. He had no trouble reading the writing on the signs and documents he had seen while coming here.
When Juhan nodded to show there was no issue, the receptionist continued.
“Then if you have an adventurer’s license from another village, please submit it~”
If he had one, he should hand it over.
‘Did they implement some kind of linked system while I was gone?’
Of course Juhan had nothing of the sort, so he could only shake his head and say he didn’t.
Shake shake.
“This is my first time registering as an adventurer.”
“Ah… Then there will be quite a few things to fill out. You’ll also be starting at the lowest rank — wood plate. Is that okay?”
The receptionist asked if he was fine with having to write a lot and starting at the bottom. Juhan, who didn’t particularly care, simply nodded again.
“Yes, that’s fine.”
Slide.
A new sheet of paper was placed in front of him. Filling it out was no problem.
‘What should I put for my place of origin… Oh, right. I’ll use the name of the village the gate guard mentioned.’
Age, gender, origin, specialties, and so on.
He could lie about things that could be faked and fill in the ambiguous parts using the information he had gathered so far.
Once Juhan had finished entering all the information on the document—
“Mm, mm. Yes! Confirmed. The registration fee is five silver coins. You brought them, right?”
The receptionist glanced over the paperwork and told him to submit five silver coins, as if of course he would have come prepared.
“Yes, of course. Just a moment…”
Rummage, rummage.
Of course, this was the first Juhan was hearing of it. But he moved as naturally as possible, slipping his hand into his pocket as if searching for coins.
“Here you are.”
Juhan handed over five freshly created silver coins, acting as if they had been in his pocket the whole time.
“Yes, confirmed…”
But then he noticed the receptionist’s expression turning strange.
“Um…”
She had accepted the coins without issue, yet she was now silently staring at them intently.
‘Is there a problem?’
Juhan grew tense at her attitude. However, her next words made him realize he had been overthinking things.
“Wow! I’ve never seen silver coins this clean before!”
“…Pardon?”
“They look like they were just minted. How interesting!”
She was simply marveling at the pristine condition of the coins with pure admiration.
‘Now that I think about it…’
The coins he had made before had been copied from ones people had touched, so they had carried the same signs of use. But the ones he had hastily created this time looked exactly like brand-new coins.
Because he had simply thought ‘I need to make silver coins’ and created them, they were gleaming as if freshly struck. Of course, as she had said, there was no sign of dislike. It was simply wonder.
“Haha…”
As Juhan gave an awkward little laugh and scratched the back of his head—
Thud.
“Ugh.”
“……”
“Mister Hannibal?”
A man suddenly approached and slammed a bottle of liquor onto the table where Juhan stood.
‘Ugh, the smell of alcohol.’
Even though there was some distance between them, the thick stench of booze rolled off the man. The sun hadn’t even set yet, and he was already drinking this much?
While Juhan mentally downgraded his opinion of the man, the stranger laughed as if something was funny and spoke.
“Ugh, so you’re here to register as an adventurer for the first time?”
“That’s right?”
“Heh heh heh…”
Juhan had no idea what was so amusing. To him, the man simply looked insane. But the unexpected reaction didn’t come from Juhan — it came from elsewhere.
“Mister Hannibal! Don’t do that!”
The receptionist’s warning. Juhan had no idea what she meant by “don’t do that.”
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
But it didn’t take long for Juhan to understand exactly what she had been warning against. Of course, it was a kind of behavior he had never expected.
Grab!
“Wait, what are you—”
“Hey! Everyone, look over here!”
The man grabbed Juhan by the shoulder, pulled him in front of himself, and shouted to the entire room.
“This young man here emptied his pockets to come register as an adventurer today!”
“……”
It was as if he were mocking Juhan.
“Isn’t that amazing? Now that’s what I call a real man, right? Kyaahaha!”
The man’s grand speech had begun.
“Puhahaha!”
“What the hell? He looks like some delicate little girl. Can someone like that even swing a sword? Hahaha!”
Thanks to the man’s loud voice, every eye in the building had turned to Juhan. The emotion Juhan felt was obvious…
‘What the hell is this guy doing?’
Half bewilderment, half fury.
“Anyone wanna go pick herbs with this friend of mine today?”
Of course, the man didn’t seem to care about Juhan’s feelings at all. He was simply enjoying himself, teasing him with practiced ease. It was clear he had done this many times before.
“Or should we give our little adventurer here a wooden sword? Kyaahaha!”
“……”
He just kept mocking Juhan thoughtlessly.
Sssss…
Completely unaware that the expression of the Juhan he was holding had grown colder and colder.