The Barbarian Emerges from the Dungeon (1)
Barca had emerged from the dungeon.
“Hah, haha.”
I survived!
That was a dog of a situation, but I made it out alive!
Waaaaaaa———!!!!
Ke, kerak——!!!
Whoa, there were still goblins around.
They panicked and fled when they heard my joyful shout.
Among them was the one who had stabbed me in the back, and I was lucky.
If I had had a bit more strength, I would have killed it, but right now, I could barely move a finger.
That made sense. There were four wolf chieftains, dozens of goblins, and embedded poison needles.
In that state, I had desperately moved to kill the chieftain.
If I had started as a normal character, I would have died, but with three traits, it was possible.
“Barca-nim!”
Whoa, Netia was there too.
If she hadn't come back and cast Cure, I would have died.
“Barca-nim! Are you okay, Barca-nim!”
“Uwaaa. I'm alive, I'm alive.”
Netia, who had been shaking my body vigorously, let out a sigh of relief at my words. Then, sniffling with tears, she tried to hug me tightly.
“Eh, Barca-nim!? Hurry and pull out this spear!”
Hmph, I was expecting a hug.
Unfortunately, the spear stuck in my side ruined the hug opportunity.
Too bad, but while aiming for the next one, I pulled out the spear, and blood spurted out.
“Kyaah! Cure! Heal! Heal!”
Long live the goddess! The holes from Netia's repeated Heals closed instantly, and the poison needles embedded in my body were pushed out by the regenerating skin.
“Thanks to you, I survived. Thank you, Netia.”
“No…! It's me who should be sorry. I shouldn't have left you like that…”
Hmm.
If Netia had been there then, it might have been even harder.
I could have thrown my body around alone, but if Netia had been there, they might have used her as a hostage.
Keeping these thoughts hidden, I smiled.
“Who am I? I'm Barca, Barca.”
“Huhu, yes. Because you saved me. Still, it was really a relief. If Barca-nim had passed away, I wouldn't have been able to face the goddess.”
“What are you talking about. Since everything turned out well, it's fine.”
But what happened to the party members?
Was it okay to leave Netia alone like that? I asked.
“They passed away. They didn't listen even when I said to come back together and fight with you.”
“Hah, those trash. Well, whatever. When I get back, I'll smash their heads.”
“That word is too harsh…”
Hah, our priest. As expected, she's kind.
But she didn't say anything about agreeing to smash heads.
“Then since Netia is here, can you help for a bit?”
“Yes! What can I help with?”
Of course, it was decided.
“Loot collection.”
We wandered around the village and picked up what the goblins hadn't taken.
“The harvest wasn't much…”
“Hah, what can you do. But Netia, is the main dish still there?”
“Huh?”
Main dish?
Netia muttered that, and I pointed to where the chieftain was.
“…Eh!? What is this!?”
Netia lifted a round stone and shouted.
I had never seen it in real life, but I didn't think I'd see it on the lower floors.
“It's a pumpkin.”
“T-this!? I heard this is quite expensive…”
“Calm down, Netia. Goblin pumpkins aren't that expensive.”
“B-but! If you're unlucky, you might not get one in your lifetime!”
It wasn't to the extent Netia said, but pumpkins were valuable.
One of the few ways to get traits.
In the game, goblin pumpkins were like this.
“Hee… Amazing.”
“Do you want to eat it, Netia?”
“I don't need Night Vision or Crude Dexterity. Besides, the skill doesn't seem that great.”
Yeah, it wouldn't be useful for a priest.
Strong-Weak is bad because if you're weaker, you get extra stats, but if stronger, you lose them.
So, the goblin pumpkin can be sold later.
“Then shall we look at the real main dish?”
“Huh? Not the pumpkin?”
“That's not bad either, but the real one is this.”
I pointed to the bone tower.
A tower that makes people feel unpleasant.
Netia frowned as if it was unpleasant to see again.
“…No matter how many times I see it, it's a horrific sculpture. Are you going to dismantle this sculpture and deliver it to the bereaved?”
“No. I'm going to break this without knowing whose bones they are.”
“Human bones…?”
After briefly praying for their souls, I swung the axe I had recovered while gathering loot.
Then the bone tower collapsed easily, revealing what was inside.
“This is…”
“This is the main dish, the goblin chieftain's house.”
Inside, there were many treasures.
Silver and copper coins, of course, and weapons of hunters who had been captured.
The chieftain here must have been a goblin that evolved into a treasure goblin.
“Then let's take it and go!”
“Yes, Barca-nim!”
…Haaah.
Mary, sighing again. What's the matter this time?
Anes…
Indeed, who is making our Mary so gloomy? I'll punish them! Eek! Eek!
“…Huhu. Thank you, Anes. But it's not that.”
“What's not that~? Really, Mary's making such a gloomy face. The reason is… I get it! It's that barbarian!”
It hit the mark.
Mary's usually expressionless face was shaken for a moment.
“Really, Mary. If you react to such a person, you'll only suffer.”
“It's not like that. Really.”
“Then what? Why are you so concerned?”
“Well…”
“What is it?”
Why is Mary so concerned about that barbarian?
Could it be, an ex-boyfriend?
“Thinking about it, I don't know much about Mary.”
Mary hadn't talked much about her personal life.
Anes only knew about Mary's family relations.
“Mary, maybe…”
“Wahaha! I never thought I'd be drinking at the exploration office again!”
“Really! I thought I would die without moving back then!”
Anes, who was about to ask Mary something, shook her head at the noisy exploration office.
Since there was plenty of time anyway.
Anes wanted to focus on her own work.
“By the way, that barbarian was really helpful.”
“Barbarian?”
Anes looked at the table where the noise was loud.
There were three people there.
Human man and woman, and one dog beastman.
The three were chugging alcohol and chatting about what was so good.
“Really! I didn't know you'd throw your body to protect us!”
“If the wolf chieftain hadn't chased us, maybe that barbarian killed them all, meong?”
“No way!”
Barbarian.
They were talking about barbarians.
At that, Anes tried to tell Mary.
“Excuse me, I have a question.”
“Mary!?”
She had such good action!
Mary, who had already moved to the table, the three showed surprised faces.
“What? Why the receptionist?”
“Excuse me. I am Mary, the receptionist of the exploration office. I wanted to check if your conversation was about the new explorer I'm in charge of.”
In charge, new explorer.
The three's faces hardened upon hearing that.
“We don't know anything.”
“Yes. But you seem to be talking about barbarians. There are no barbarian explorers exploring the lower floors except the one I'm in charge of…”
“I don't know. We did receive help from a barbarian, but it was hard to see that barbarian as a lower floor person.”
“Right, meong. That barbarian broke a wooden cage with raw strength.”
“Yes yes! That barbarian broke it with his hand, which even Emongs' claws couldn't do, so it can't be your charge? It seemed like a middle floor explorer came just because he was bored.”
“…I see. Excuse me.”
Oh, it wasn't that barbarian.
Anes patted Mary's back as she returned with a disappointed face.
“Mary, that barbarian will be back soon. So cheer up?”
“…Yes.”
Of course, Anes and Mary knew the probability of him returning was extremely low.
70% of new explorers' deaths are from goblins.
Barca, following the new explorer's advice, would be the same.
Anes comforted Mary, saying it's a common occurrence.
Kyaa!?
A huge luggage bag on the reception desk.
Seeing the luggage bag that looked like it was about to burst from being so full, all receptionists were surprised and looked at it.
“Exchange, please.”
“Barca-nim!”
Mary's awaited Barca's return.
A new explorer, who had only had an explorer certificate for a week, was in the dungeon for so long.
Anes, knowing how unbelievable it was, looked at him with a surprised face.
“Eh? You bastards, drinking here?”
Instead of an emotional reunion, Barca immediately went to a table.
The place he was heading was the table where the barbarian who had saved them earlier was.
“…Sniffle.”
They looked up at Barca and sniffled.