Chapter 146: The Great Inheritance (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 146: The Great Inheritance (3)
Pzzzzz.
I picked up the sword I had momentarily set down and returned to where my comrades were. Then, I put the sword into my bag. It was clearly not an ordinary arc sword, but I'd look into that later.
"I'm sorry. I... just like earlier..." Hikurod trailed off and lowered his head, ashamed.
I just patted his shoulder. What could I say to him? I wasn't the reason we had all survived either.
"Bjorn." Missha approached with a sad gait and set her hand on my chest. "I'm glad... that you're alive. Trrruly..."
It felt like something was climbing up my throat. I knew who I owed my continued safety and survival to. He must have wanted to share in this happy moment with us.
"Rotmiller." I covered Missha's small hand with mine and carefully pushed it away to keep walking. Then I approached Rotmiller, who had regained consciousness, and relayed the last few words of the will Dwalkie had left behind.
"I see. He..." After hearing everything I had to say, Rotmiller knelt down in front of Dwalkie's corpse and made the sign of the cross. The goodbyes he couldn't properly convey weighed down the air in front of him. "I remember when you first entered the labyrinth. You said you could finally understand why adventurers call it a big, wide world."
That had been back on the Pilgrim's Path on the third floor. In an effort to show us that adventuring wasn't all hard and dreadful work, Rotmiller led us up a high hill. There, we watched together as the vast landscape was dyed in silver light, and Dwalkie had been so excited and happy that he couldn't sleep that night.
"It would have been nice to have shown you an even wider world."
Rotmiller finished his speech, but the others still had things to say. Missha and Hikurod knelt down and the words came tumbling out from deep inside of them. I took a step back and watched. It wasn't that I didn't have anything to say—it was just that it wasn't all that different from these two.
"Waaaa! I-It's my fault, I-I—! If I had just picked a differrrent door!"
"No. It's my fault. I told him to trust me and that I would protect him no matter what, but that promise... I couldn't keep it."
No matter what I said, it would end up as self-reproach, and Dwalkie obviously wouldn't want that. The world we had to survive was not kind enough to let us kneel here forever.
"Meehhhg!"
As I spotted the Vaikundus that appeared at the other end of the hallway, I spoke. "Everyone, stop. An enemy."
While we remembered Dwalkie, we had to rise above the sadness. That was about all that those who had been left behind could do.
"Behelahhh!"
There was no choice but to move on.
The battle with the Vaikundus was unexpectedly arduous. The reason for that was simple. There were now only four people left in this wide maze, their stats had drastically decreased, and their injuries had not yet healed. It was thanks to Dwalkie that we had been able to take down rank-six monsters so easily in the first place.
"Let's pack only what we need and go."
After the battle, we started cleaning up. Equipment had been scattered all over the floor during our desperate fight. After collecting the remnants, I even dug around the priest's robe. The only thing I found was a necklace of unknown origin. I couldn't tell if it was some kind of artifact or just decorative. After all, Dwalkie was the only one among us who had been able to sense the mana from objects.
"Looks like there's nothing here, either."
We even looted the middle-aged adventurer who had gotten caught up in battle and died early on, but there was nothing. Well, most of the stuff would be in that bastard's subspace, anyway. Finally, I retrieved Dwalkie's body.
"...I will deliver these according to your wishes." He was carrying a wand and an expandable backpack. Taking off the boots and robes would make us money, but I left them untouched. "I will carry Dwalkie."
Afterward, we used the trap room to get to the portal and returned to the Tower of Heavens. We each spread out and rested. Some sat in front of Dwalkie and wiped the blood from his body, while others leaned against the wall and sobbed. This deceptive peace that fell over us forced them to accept that this was reality, not a dream.
"Bjorn, is there any way to get Dwalkie to the city?" asked Hikurod.
"...No."
"I see..."
And reality was cruel. Although he had sacrificed his precious life for us, we couldn't even take him to the city for a funeral, because the one who had died was our wizard. The corpses generated in the labyrinth were classified as objects, and were impossible to take outside without distortion magic. That was why barbarian hearts were special. They could be brought back to the city without magic. Wizards must have noticed that and started researching them as magical ingredients.
"Missha, get some rest."
"I want to stay here a little longerrr. Once we leave... he'll be lonely."
"...Okay."
Leaving the suffocating air behind me, I sat down in a corner and checked the time. It was 10:31 p.m., more than a day until the labyrinth closed. That left a bitter taste in my mouth.
It's been less than an hour.
I felt truly insignificant, despite the fact that I had had numerous brushes with death in the past. It felt like I'd been fighting Vagos for days and nights. However, less than an hour had passed since we left, even taking clean-up into account.
Just focus on what you need to do.
I took out the letter left by the priest. The stains and wrinkles that could be found here and there told me that he had carried it with him for a long time. In the letter, in neat handwriting, was a description of how the old man had ended up in this situation. As I was reading it, I focused on one section in particular.
The underground city of Noark.
That was the name of the place where the old man and his young grandson had been taken to by the Dragon Slayer.
"It's medicine made by an alchemist in Noark. If you take it, it will erase your memory of the last hour."
It was also the name of that city that the deranged bitch had mentioned in the past, and it was something I couldn't find information on no matter how much I searched through the library. So something like that existed under the sewer?
Could that woman have been a member of Orcules too?
With that in mind, I read through the letter. It contained one other surprising piece of information besides the fact that the underground city of Noark and Orcules apparently had a cooperative relationship.
...To think there's a portal there too.
The thing that kept the city of Rafdonia running, the portal connecting to the labyrinth, also existed underground. That was how underground adventurers pulled off the miraculous feat of hiding their identities and mining enough mana stones to build a city with them.
"Looks like there's nothing here, either."
We even looted the middle-aged adventurer who had gotten caught up in battle and died early on, but there was nothing. Well, most of the stuff would be in that bastard's subspace, anyway. Finally, I retrieved Dwalkie's body.
"...I will deliver these according to your wishes." He was carrying a wand and an expandable backpack. Taking off the boots and robes would make us money, but I left them untouched. "I will carry Dwalkie."
Afterward, we used the trap room to get to the portal and returned to the Tower of Heavens. We each spread out and rested. Some sat in front of Dwalkie and wiped the blood from his body, while others leaned against the wall and sobbed. This deceptive peace that fell over us forced them to accept that this was reality, not a dream.
"Bjorn, is there any way to get Dwalkie to the city?" asked Hikurod.
"...No."
"I see..."
And reality was cruel. Although he had sacrificed his precious life for us, we couldn't even take him to the city for a funeral, because the one who had died was our wizard. The corpses generated in the labyrinth were classified as objects, and were impossible to take outside without distortion magic. That was why barbarian hearts were special. They could be brought back to the city without magic. Wizards must have noticed that and started researching them as magical ingredients.
"Missha, get some rest."
"I want to stay here a little longerrr. Once we leave... he'll be lonely."
"...Okay."
Leaving the suffocating air behind me, I sat down in a corner and checked the time. It was 10:31 p.m., more than a day until the labyrinth closed. That left a bitter taste in my mouth.
It's been less than an hour.
I felt truly insignificant, despite the fact that I had had numerous brushes with death in the past. It felt like I'd been fighting Vagos for days and nights. However, less than an hour had passed since we left, even taking clean-up into account.
Just focus on what you need to do.
I took out the letter left by the priest. The stains and wrinkles that could be found here and there told me that he had carried it with him for a long time. In the letter, in neat handwriting, was a description of how the old man had ended up in this situation. As I was reading it, I focused on one section in particular.
The underground city of Noark.
That was the name of the place where the old man and his young grandson had been taken to by the Dragon Slayer.
"It's medicine made by an alchemist in Noark. If you take it, it will erase your memory of the last hour."
It was also the name of that city that the deranged bitch had mentioned in the past, and it was something I couldn't find information on no matter how much I searched through the library. So something like that existed under the sewer?
Could that woman have been a member of Orcules too?
With that in mind, I read through the letter. It contained one other surprising piece of information besides the fact that the underground city of Noark and Orcules apparently had a cooperative relationship.
...To think there's a portal there too.
The thing that kept the city of Rafdonia running, the portal connecting to the labyrinth, also existed underground. That was how underground adventurers pulled off the miraculous feat of hiding their identities and mining enough mana stones to build a city with them.
Noark. I etched that name into my mind. I had a powerful hunch that I would end up entangled with that place in the future.
I should investigate it more when we get out.
With that thought in mind, I put the letter back into my pocket. After taking a look at the contents, it seemed no harm would come to me if I delivered it. Like they said, the enemy of your enemy was a friend. So anyway, that solved that particular issue.
I breathed out a long breath and closed my eyes. I was desperate for a break, but all sorts of distracting thoughts bothered me, repeatedly popping in and out of existence. What should I do now? As long as I had such an absurdly strong enemy out there, even being in the city wouldn't guarantee my safety. He could try to harm me in the labyrinth with my teammates.
Damn it all.
Despite my determination to survive no matter what, realistic problems lingered in my mind without proper solutions. It was a pity that Vagos had gotten out of there alive. If only the priest had just healed me, I could have ended him myself.
What am I thinking?
I shook my head and brushed off my lingering regrets. The world didn't work the way you wanted it to. The priest probably didn't have a choice, either. The evil god had been like that in the game too. He may grant a wish for a price, but he never gave you the best-case scenario. Like a monkey's paw that brought on misery even as it granted your wishes, he was a being that always dished out a helping of despair alongside hope.
This bastard also strangely keeps popping up in my life.
Adding the Evil God Karui to my research list, I cleared my mind. It was time for me to rest. This was not only a safer place than the city, but we had a lot to do once we got out of here.
After wiping my body off with a wet towel, I unfolded the sleeping bag and lay inside. It was strange, though. I had been fighting desperately for almost two nights straight, but I still couldn't fall asleep for a long time.
***
[The labyrinth is now closed. You have been transported to Rafdonia.]
Sunlight poked my eyelids. Without a moment to linger in the afterglow, I went through the checkpoint and exchanged my mana stones. Then, I headed to our meeting place, the branch of the Adventurers' Guild located closest to Dimension Square. When I arrived in front of it, there was a crowd of people who looked similar to me.
The silence was stark considering the dozens of people gathered. Everyone waited for the other members of their team to arrive with grim expressions on their faces. That was to be expected. There was only one reason you'd return to the city and come here before even washing up: the death of a teammate.
"If we're all here, let's go in."
Soon after the entire team arrived, we entered the guild. We turned in all of the pieces of Dwalkie's equipment we had collected, including his backpack, and we reported his death.
"...He left behind great teammates." The staff looked at us with a strange look in their eyes.
True, what we had done wasn't all that common. While we had no claim over the assets left in the city, this stuff, at least, could've been taken by the rest of the team. Most would just have reported the death and been done with it.
"Riol Warb Dwalkie, royal family certified rank-eight wizard. Your report of his death has been received."
It didn't feel like a waste, though. After all, we knew the contents of the will he wrote before he first entered the labyrinth.
"Haha, a will? I truly feel like an adventurer now."
"It doesn't matter what you write, but make sure you clearly state who will inherit your property. Otherwise, everything will go to the Adventurers' Guild."
"Don't worry about that part. That's already been decided."
He wanted to donate his fortune to an orphanage under a certain temple. I only found out the details yesterday. According to Hikurod, Dwalkie had happy memories of staying there as a child for a while. His assets should be spent where he wanted. We'd already received something much more significant from him.
"It's really over... Now, let's go."
At any rate, our first order of business after returning to the city was to report Dwalkie's death. It was amazingly simple: one minute to fill out the paperwork, two minutes for it to be reviewed by staff. It took just three minutes to put an end to twenty-five years of life.
That's how common death is in this world.
I left my bitterness behind in the guild. Then I headed to the Great Temple of Reatlas. That was the only way for me to repay the favor to the dead and gone. "You guys can go home and rest."
"How can we? He saved our lives."
"I... want to come with you too. I got enough rrrest inside."
Actually, Missha cried all day and didn't get any rest at all, but I didn't mention it. It was clear that even if she went back to the inn, she wouldn't be able to sleep.
We all headed to our destination together. Before long, we came to a pure white building that seemed untouched by the filth of the world, and we entered it. When the apprentice priest asked if we were here for treatment, I debated what to say before answering that we were here at the request of High Priest Ludwig.
"H-High Priest Ludwig...?"
They never imagined someone would lie in the home of a god. The youthful priest's eyes widened and he ran straight inside to deliver the news.
"Long time no see." As we were waiting there, a familiar face came out to greet us: the captain of the Third Paladins, Paal Krovitz. "I heard that you came at the request of High Priest Ludwig, who disappeared a few years ago. Do you have any items as evidence?" he asked politely. He also said this was a very sensitive matter for the church, and he hoped for our understanding. Apparently, there had been some big issues as a result of the reward placed all over the city.
"A reward?"
"Yes. Because the amount is so large, there have been people who have harbored wicked intent."
I didn't come here hoping for a reward. However, since I had a record of killing that Elisa bitch and receiving a large amount of money as a result, I blurted out, "How big is the reward?"
At the self-centered question, Missha jabbed me in the side. Hikurod did the same. Rotmiller, an adventurer and also a member of the Reatlas Church, didn't seem too happy about it, either. "Bjorn, that's not appropriate, even from you."
However, Krovitz opened his mouth without a hint of contempt. "The amount varies depending on the information provided and the presence or absence of holy relics, but..."
"But?"
All of his answers remained steady. "I remember that the Treasury Office was offering up to seventy million stones."
Noark. I etched that name into my mind. I had a powerful hunch that I would end up entangled with that place in the future.
I should investigate it more when we get out.
With that thought in mind, I put the letter back into my pocket. After taking a look at the contents, it seemed no harm would come to me if I delivered it. Like they said, the enemy of your enemy was a friend. So anyway, that solved that particular issue.
I breathed out a long breath and closed my eyes. I was desperate for a break, but all sorts of distracting thoughts bothered me, repeatedly popping in and out of existence. What should I do now? As long as I had such an absurdly strong enemy out there, even being in the city wouldn't guarantee my safety. He could try to harm me in the labyrinth with my teammates.
Damn it all.
Despite my determination to survive no matter what, realistic problems lingered in my mind without proper solutions. It was a pity that Vagos had gotten out of there alive. If only the priest had just healed me, I could have ended him myself.
What am I thinking?
I shook my head and brushed off my lingering regrets. The world didn't work the way you wanted it to. The priest probably didn't have a choice, either. The evil god had been like that in the game too. He may grant a wish for a price, but he never gave you the best-case scenario. Like a monkey's paw that brought on misery even as it granted your wishes, he was a being that always dished out a helping of despair alongside hope.
This bastard also strangely keeps popping up in my life.
Adding the Evil God Karui to my research list, I cleared my mind. It was time for me to rest. This was not only a safer place than the city, but we had a lot to do once we got out of here.
After wiping my body off with a wet towel, I unfolded the sleeping bag and lay inside. It was strange, though. I had been fighting desperately for almost two nights straight, but I still couldn't fall asleep for a long time.
***
[The labyrinth is now closed. You have been transported to Rafdonia.]
Sunlight poked my eyelids. Without a moment to linger in the afterglow, I went through the checkpoint and exchanged my mana stones. Then, I headed to our meeting place, the branch of the Adventurers' Guild located closest to Dimension Square. When I arrived in front of it, there was a crowd of people who looked similar to me.
The silence was stark considering the dozens of people gathered. Everyone waited for the other members of their team to arrive with grim expressions on their faces. That was to be expected. There was only one reason you'd return to the city and come here before even washing up: the death of a teammate.
"If we're all here, let's go in."
Soon after the entire team arrived, we entered the guild. We turned in all of the pieces of Dwalkie's equipment we had collected, including his backpack, and we reported his death.
"...He left behind great teammates." The staff looked at us with a strange look in their eyes.
True, what we had done wasn't all that common. While we had no claim over the assets left in the city, this stuff, at least, could've been taken by the rest of the team. Most would just have reported the death and been done with it.
"Riol Warb Dwalkie, royal family certified rank-eight wizard. Your report of his death has been received."
It didn't feel like a waste, though. After all, we knew the contents of the will he wrote before he first entered the labyrinth.
"Haha, a will? I truly feel like an adventurer now."
"It doesn't matter what you write, but make sure you clearly state who will inherit your property. Otherwise, everything will go to the Adventurers' Guild."
"Don't worry about that part. That's already been decided."
He wanted to donate his fortune to an orphanage under a certain temple. I only found out the details yesterday. According to Hikurod, Dwalkie had happy memories of staying there as a child for a while. His assets should be spent where he wanted. We'd already received something much more significant from him.
"It's really over... Now, let's go."
At any rate, our first order of business after returning to the city was to report Dwalkie's death. It was amazingly simple: one minute to fill out the paperwork, two minutes for it to be reviewed by staff. It took just three minutes to put an end to twenty-five years of life.
That's how common death is in this world.
I left my bitterness behind in the guild. Then I headed to the Great Temple of Reatlas. That was the only way for me to repay the favor to the dead and gone. "You guys can go home and rest."
"How can we? He saved our lives."
"I... want to come with you too. I got enough rrrest inside."
Actually, Missha cried all day and didn't get any rest at all, but I didn't mention it. It was clear that even if she went back to the inn, she wouldn't be able to sleep.
We all headed to our destination together. Before long, we came to a pure white building that seemed untouched by the filth of the world, and we entered it. When the apprentice priest asked if we were here for treatment, I debated what to say before answering that we were here at the request of High Priest Ludwig.
"H-High Priest Ludwig...?"
They never imagined someone would lie in the home of a god. The youthful priest's eyes widened and he ran straight inside to deliver the news.
"Long time no see." As we were waiting there, a familiar face came out to greet us: the captain of the Third Paladins, Paal Krovitz. "I heard that you came at the request of High Priest Ludwig, who disappeared a few years ago. Do you have any items as evidence?" he asked politely. He also said this was a very sensitive matter for the church, and he hoped for our understanding. Apparently, there had been some big issues as a result of the reward placed all over the city.
"A reward?"
"Yes. Because the amount is so large, there have been people who have harbored wicked intent."
I didn't come here hoping for a reward. However, since I had a record of killing that Elisa bitch and receiving a large amount of money as a result, I blurted out, "How big is the reward?"
At the self-centered question, Missha jabbed me in the side. Hikurod did the same. Rotmiller, an adventurer and also a member of the Reatlas Church, didn't seem too happy about it, either. "Bjorn, that's not appropriate, even from you."
However, Krovitz opened his mouth without a hint of contempt. "The amount varies depending on the information provided and the presence or absence of holy relics, but..."
"But?"
All of his answers remained steady. "I remember that the Treasury Office was offering up to seventy million stones."