Chapter 201: Blessing (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 201: Blessing (1)
A magic circle blossomed on the ground of the sewer. As I stood there, taking in the light it was radiating, the musty scent of filth vanished into thin air.
"You're here."
It was the Dragon Temple I had visited last time. I could see Mr. Dragon in front of me with six members of the dragon tribe standing behind him. Those must have been the elders he mentioned earlier. They had reptilian eyes that split vertically, but it wasn't hard to tell that their gazes weren't all that friendly.
That called for a battle cry. "Behelaaah!"
I didn't use Wild Outburst since I didn't come to start a fight, but that was enough to attract aggro. The elders frowned as they watched me, seemingly wondering what the heck I was doing.
"Oh, sorry. I just wanted to do that."
When I scratched the back of my head and apologized, Mr. Dragon, the only one here with previous experience dealing with me, began our meeting with a strange look in his eyes. "You... haven't changed."
Was that a compliment? Now that my self-introductory shout was over, I got straight to the point. "So, what do I need to do now?"
Could the Dragon's Blessing be bestowed upon me, a barbarian? Mr. Dragon said that the elders would be deciding that after meeting with me, but that wouldn't be because they were curious about what I looked like. What kind of verification did they want from me?
"It's nothing," said Mr. Dragon. "Before coming to a final unanimous decision, the elders will take turns asking you questions or making requests."
"I understand the question part, but what do you mean by requests?"
"Well, I don't know yet either. But you should know you can refuse if you want to."
Yeah right. Then they'll just vote no. Is this because it's a Dragon's Blessing? They're being ridiculously strict.
"How about it? Will you do it?"
I grumbled inwardly but nodded, although I was starting to think they were asking a lot from someone who was returning the Dragon Slayer Sword... but a Dragon's Blessing was worth it.
"Okay, that's decided, then. There's no point in wasting time, so shall we start straight away?"
"Fine."
Upon receiving my consent, Mr. Dragon glanced at the elders behind him to start the verification process. The first to step forward was one of the only two female dragons present.
"I will start." Due to the nature of the dragon tribe, it was pointless to guess her age based on her appearance, but I got the sense she was the youngest of them from the look in her eyes and tone of voice. "Bjorn, son of Yandel. What is your greatest wish?"
As soon as I heard that question, I got a sense of the purpose of this hearing. It was truly an evaluation, in the strictest sense of the word, to learn what kind of person I was before passing on the secret art of the Dragon's Blessing to someone of another race.
Contemplating this for a moment, I gave my honest answer. Was it to return to Earth? No, despite it all, that was only a secondary goal. "To survive." My utmost priority had always been survival, though that had changed a bit. Survival remained a top priority of mine, but there was something else, too. "If possible, with my teammates."
Even as I answered, I felt a strange emotion well up inside of me. Since landing in this strange world, this might have been my biggest transformation. So, how was my response received?
"...I see." The dragonian woman gave me a meaningful look and asked one more question. "If your sacrifice could save a teammate, what would you choose to do?"
"I thought you were each asking one question."
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," the dragonian woman said in a tone that implied she didn't care.
I just answered honestly again. "I don't know yet." If you asked me if I would make the same choice Team Half-Wit's wizard, Riol Warb Dwalkie, had made, this was the only answer I could give. Anything I said or any resolutions I came to before I faced that situation were meaningless. Death always puts humans to the test. "But when that time comes, I will choose what I have to choose."
The dragonian woman gave me a curious look. "...Then you could have just answered that you'd save your teammate."
"I didn't want to answer the question like that," I said dismissively.
That wouldn't be fair to him, either.
The dragonian woman, who had no idea what I'd gone through, stared at me for a moment before stepping back. "My questions end here." It was hard to discern whether or not she'd liked my answer just from her expression.
Before I could even catch my breath, the next round began. "I'm Geornavehanuteres." A middle-aged man with a body almost as bulky as mine made a request instead of asking a question. "Fight me."
The proposal was accompanied by an underlying burst of Dragon Fear. I answered without a moment's hesitation. "Fine."
As a barbarian warrior, it would be ridiculous for me to turn down that offer. Besides, this was also a good opportunity. An elder of the dragon tribe would at least be equivalent to a seventh-floor adventurer. If I could fight him without running the risk of dying, there was no reason not to do so. That was my verdict.
"Everyone, stop," Mr. Dragon interrupted. "We agreed not to make such requests."
"What is more reliable than hand-to-hand combat? Don't you agree, barbarian warrior?"
Uh, I was going to use a mace...
I personally thought equipment should also count as a skill, but I decided to just back him up. "Of course."
"Hahaha! I like you!" I guess my answer must have satisfied him, as the macho dragonian man burst into laughter. "I didn't think he would agree to a request like that without hesitation, though."
The other elders seemed to find my response interesting too. "So, what will you do?"
"I will ask a question before moving on, then," the macho dragonian man conceded, obvious disappointment in his tone. "Barbarian, what are you most afraid of?"
The first thing that came to mind was death. However, giving the same answer as I did for the first question wasn't good interview etiquette for many reasons. So I answered this with a bit more specificity. "Fighting someone stronger than me."
"...What?" The macho dragonian man tilted his head as if he'd misheard me. A moment later, he realized something. "You think I'm weaker than you?" he growled.
I shook my head. "No, I don't."
"But you just—"
"You didn't intend to kill me, did you?"
"No, but—"
I cut him off curtly. "I must fight because I am afraid. More and more so every day."
I knew that this might sound un-barbarian-like to some, but, so what? This was the real essence of a barbarian.
Thankfully, it seemed I'd managed to properly convey what I meant. "Preparing for that moment rather than running away because you are afraid... that's a sound answer indeed." The macho dragonian man smirked. "Interesting. Are all barbarians like you?"
"...I see." The dragonian woman gave me a meaningful look and asked one more question. "If your sacrifice could save a teammate, what would you choose to do?"
"I thought you were each asking one question."
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," the dragonian woman said in a tone that implied she didn't care.
I just answered honestly again. "I don't know yet." If you asked me if I would make the same choice Team Half-Wit's wizard, Riol Warb Dwalkie, had made, this was the only answer I could give. Anything I said or any resolutions I came to before I faced that situation were meaningless. Death always puts humans to the test. "But when that time comes, I will choose what I have to choose."
The dragonian woman gave me a curious look. "...Then you could have just answered that you'd save your teammate."
"I didn't want to answer the question like that," I said dismissively.
That wouldn't be fair to him, either.
The dragonian woman, who had no idea what I'd gone through, stared at me for a moment before stepping back. "My questions end here." It was hard to discern whether or not she'd liked my answer just from her expression.
Before I could even catch my breath, the next round began. "I'm Geornavehanuteres." A middle-aged man with a body almost as bulky as mine made a request instead of asking a question. "Fight me."
The proposal was accompanied by an underlying burst of Dragon Fear. I answered without a moment's hesitation. "Fine."
As a barbarian warrior, it would be ridiculous for me to turn down that offer. Besides, this was also a good opportunity. An elder of the dragon tribe would at least be equivalent to a seventh-floor adventurer. If I could fight him without running the risk of dying, there was no reason not to do so. That was my verdict.
"Everyone, stop," Mr. Dragon interrupted. "We agreed not to make such requests."
"What is more reliable than hand-to-hand combat? Don't you agree, barbarian warrior?"
Uh, I was going to use a mace...
I personally thought equipment should also count as a skill, but I decided to just back him up. "Of course."
"Hahaha! I like you!" I guess my answer must have satisfied him, as the macho dragonian man burst into laughter. "I didn't think he would agree to a request like that without hesitation, though."
The other elders seemed to find my response interesting too. "So, what will you do?"
"I will ask a question before moving on, then," the macho dragonian man conceded, obvious disappointment in his tone. "Barbarian, what are you most afraid of?"
The first thing that came to mind was death. However, giving the same answer as I did for the first question wasn't good interview etiquette for many reasons. So I answered this with a bit more specificity. "Fighting someone stronger than me."
"...What?" The macho dragonian man tilted his head as if he'd misheard me. A moment later, he realized something. "You think I'm weaker than you?" he growled.
I shook my head. "No, I don't."
"But you just—"
"You didn't intend to kill me, did you?"
"No, but—"
I cut him off curtly. "I must fight because I am afraid. More and more so every day."
I knew that this might sound un-barbarian-like to some, but, so what? This was the real essence of a barbarian.
Thankfully, it seemed I'd managed to properly convey what I meant. "Preparing for that moment rather than running away because you are afraid... that's a sound answer indeed." The macho dragonian man smirked. "Interesting. Are all barbarians like you?"
"Somewhat."
It was in fact Ainar who'd taught me how warriors lived their lives, and the advice she gave me back then showed me the path forward whenever I was driven to a dead end.
"I see. My questioning ends here." Soon, the macho dragonian man returned to his position with a satisfied smile on his face. One thing was for certain: I definitely had one vote.
The third round was also a question, not a request, and a pretty strange question at that. "You, are you in love with anyone?"
"...No."
"Your answer was a little late. I guess there is someone you have in mind." The drowsy-looking dragonian woman went back to her position without any further questions.
The fourth turn started like this. "I will test your insight." A grey-haired dragon grandpa handed me an item. I could tell what it was for as soon as I saw it. It was a ring puzzle. "Now, take it all apart."
Huh, I never thought this would be one of the tasks.
"To give you a little help, there's a specific order and method you have to use to separate them." When I took the ring puzzle from him, the dragon grandpa grinned and even gave me a hint. He probably thought I'd never be able to solve it. Geez, did he think I was a real barbarian or something? I used to play with a lot of ring puzzles back in the hospital as a kid. "I will give you as much time as you want. Sometimes it is possible to arrive at the truth through persistence."
I grabbed the ring puzzle and checked the setup first by looking it up, down, left, and right. Given enough time, there was no way I couldn't solve this.
Well, that should've been the case.
"Haha, it has been five minutes."
Goddamn it. What the hell is this thing?
"It has been ten minutes. Any closer yet?"
I admitted to myself that receiving more time was not likely going to lead to an answer. And so, there was only one method left: Giantization. My body expanded in an instant. I grabbed the rings with my enlarged hands and pulled them to the side.
Crunch.
I finally succeeded in separating the seven rings.
"W-What are you doing!"
"I separated it."
"...Th-th-that is nonsense!"
"You never told me not to break it," I answered confidently. That was because I had already realized the trick to this puzzle. This old man told me that he was testing my insight, not my intellect. He also hinted that the solution was something you could only arrive at through persistence. That meant that this ring puzzle was impossible to solve, to begin with!
He probably gave me this to see how I solve problems that don't have solutions.
"L-Like this! You can solve it like this...!" The dragon grandpa dropped to the ground numbly and fiddled with the puzzle that now had a few extra pieces. His eyes looked very sad for some reason.
"Ahem."
"Th-this can't be obtained anywhere else..."
"Who's next?" I did my best to ignore the dragon grandpa and turned to the elders, who resumed the interrogation.
The fifth question was about my past. "How many people have you killed so far?"
I recalled each person in my mind and gave them the exact number. Then the elder asked why I had killed them. The answer wasn't complicated. The methods I'd used to kill them varied, but my reason for doing so was just one. "Because they tried to kill me."
"I see." The elder who asked the question nodded and stepped back, which ended the fifth turn. Before long, the confirmation hearing reached its final stage. I couldn't tell if it had gone well.
Well, the old man who gave me the puzzle is probably opposed... The macho dragonian man will likely vote yes. The rest? Well, I'm not sure.
"Then it is my turn now." Soon, a handsome man who looked like he was in his mid-to-late twenties stepped forward and asked just one question. "Have you only told the truth?"
The way he asked made it sound like he could discern the truth. That had me feeling cagey, but I'd answered every question with the truth up to this point. Plus, I figured that if I got a failing grade here, it wasn't too late to start the negotiations KB-style, short for Korean-Barbarian. "I did."
"Then we're finished."
That was the end of the hearing. Mr. Dragon exchanged looks with the last man and opened his mouth. "Looks like we'll have to discuss amongst ourselves some more, so you can rest a bit."
"Do I have to wait long?"
"Well, it looks like we'll be done in an hour."
Well, in that case, guided by the dragonian woman who had asked the first question, I headed inside the temple and arrived at a room. Since they mentioned getting some rest, I was sure I was being guided to a guest room.
"Are you the barbarian who was supposed to come today?" However, the room had a previous occupant, a dragon kid with the appearance of an early teen. She looked at me and laughed. "Wow, you're super ugly!"
What the hell? Who was this rude kid? My mind went blank at the sudden blow, but I calmly laughed it off like the adult I was. "Haha, looks like you don't have a mother."
"...Huh?"
"If you were raised right, you wouldn't be telling such strange lies!" Bjorn Yandel was manly-looking, but by no means ugly.
"Somewhat."
It was in fact Ainar who'd taught me how warriors lived their lives, and the advice she gave me back then showed me the path forward whenever I was driven to a dead end.
"I see. My questioning ends here." Soon, the macho dragonian man returned to his position with a satisfied smile on his face. One thing was for certain: I definitely had one vote.
The third round was also a question, not a request, and a pretty strange question at that. "You, are you in love with anyone?"
"...No."
"Your answer was a little late. I guess there is someone you have in mind." The drowsy-looking dragonian woman went back to her position without any further questions.
The fourth turn started like this. "I will test your insight." A grey-haired dragon grandpa handed me an item. I could tell what it was for as soon as I saw it. It was a ring puzzle. "Now, take it all apart."
Huh, I never thought this would be one of the tasks.
"To give you a little help, there's a specific order and method you have to use to separate them." When I took the ring puzzle from him, the dragon grandpa grinned and even gave me a hint. He probably thought I'd never be able to solve it. Geez, did he think I was a real barbarian or something? I used to play with a lot of ring puzzles back in the hospital as a kid. "I will give you as much time as you want. Sometimes it is possible to arrive at the truth through persistence."
I grabbed the ring puzzle and checked the setup first by looking it up, down, left, and right. Given enough time, there was no way I couldn't solve this.
Well, that should've been the case.
"Haha, it has been five minutes."
Goddamn it. What the hell is this thing?
"It has been ten minutes. Any closer yet?"
I admitted to myself that receiving more time was not likely going to lead to an answer. And so, there was only one method left: Giantization. My body expanded in an instant. I grabbed the rings with my enlarged hands and pulled them to the side.
Crunch.
I finally succeeded in separating the seven rings.
"W-What are you doing!"
"I separated it."
"...Th-th-that is nonsense!"
"You never told me not to break it," I answered confidently. That was because I had already realized the trick to this puzzle. This old man told me that he was testing my insight, not my intellect. He also hinted that the solution was something you could only arrive at through persistence. That meant that this ring puzzle was impossible to solve, to begin with!
He probably gave me this to see how I solve problems that don't have solutions.
"L-Like this! You can solve it like this...!" The dragon grandpa dropped to the ground numbly and fiddled with the puzzle that now had a few extra pieces. His eyes looked very sad for some reason.
"Ahem."
"Th-this can't be obtained anywhere else..."
"Who's next?" I did my best to ignore the dragon grandpa and turned to the elders, who resumed the interrogation.
The fifth question was about my past. "How many people have you killed so far?"
I recalled each person in my mind and gave them the exact number. Then the elder asked why I had killed them. The answer wasn't complicated. The methods I'd used to kill them varied, but my reason for doing so was just one. "Because they tried to kill me."
"I see." The elder who asked the question nodded and stepped back, which ended the fifth turn. Before long, the confirmation hearing reached its final stage. I couldn't tell if it had gone well.
Well, the old man who gave me the puzzle is probably opposed... The macho dragonian man will likely vote yes. The rest? Well, I'm not sure.
"Then it is my turn now." Soon, a handsome man who looked like he was in his mid-to-late twenties stepped forward and asked just one question. "Have you only told the truth?"
The way he asked made it sound like he could discern the truth. That had me feeling cagey, but I'd answered every question with the truth up to this point. Plus, I figured that if I got a failing grade here, it wasn't too late to start the negotiations KB-style, short for Korean-Barbarian. "I did."
"Then we're finished."
That was the end of the hearing. Mr. Dragon exchanged looks with the last man and opened his mouth. "Looks like we'll have to discuss amongst ourselves some more, so you can rest a bit."
"Do I have to wait long?"
"Well, it looks like we'll be done in an hour."
Well, in that case, guided by the dragonian woman who had asked the first question, I headed inside the temple and arrived at a room. Since they mentioned getting some rest, I was sure I was being guided to a guest room.
"Are you the barbarian who was supposed to come today?" However, the room had a previous occupant, a dragon kid with the appearance of an early teen. She looked at me and laughed. "Wow, you're super ugly!"
What the hell? Who was this rude kid? My mind went blank at the sudden blow, but I calmly laughed it off like the adult I was. "Haha, looks like you don't have a mother."
"...Huh?"
"If you were raised right, you wouldn't be telling such strange lies!" Bjorn Yandel was manly-looking, but by no means ugly.