Chapter 208: Leader (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 208: Leader (1)
I advanced slowly while being vigilant of my surroundings. This was a change that had occurred a few minutes ago. Once we stopped running toward the second floor, we inevitably became more careful about our safety because a sight-obscuring fog began to fill the entire cave.
"...I've heard of this. It's black magic. Something dark wizards used in past conquests."
My heart began to pound, low and steady.
Thump!
Even as Raven removed the fog around us with wind attribute magic, visibility was limited to a five-yard radius. It was difficult to fend off danger in such an environment. Because I was not currently inside a game made up of HP and MP, a single mistake could lead to death. There was no Try Again button here.
Thump!
I had to be alert to get back alive without losing anyone.
"Mr. Yandel..."
In the past, we had been too weak to defend ourselves, and we had to lose a teammate. There hadn't been any other way out of that crisis. But what about this time?
Yes, I'm much stronger than I was back then.
To ensure my body didn't grow stiff from tension, I stayed focused on the positives.
"Mr. Yandel!"
"Don't shout."
"Then answer the first time."
"What did you want to say?"
Raven, still on Ainar's back, asked a cautious question. "Is going to the second floor the right choice?"
"What do you mean?"
"There are a lot of knights from the palace down here. Plus, there are a lot of large clans. Wouldn't it be safer to join them instead?"
It was a fair suggestion. If we were near the starting point, I would've chosen that option too. But in the current situation, well, it didn't seem like a particularly good choice. There was one thing I should clear up, too.
"Raven, more than half of the large clans did not enter the labyrinth this month."
This was something I'd heard from Fox at the Round Table. Large clans that were dissatisfied with the palace had launched a massive boycott. The few that had realized that the palace was keeping track and adding those clans to a hit list had backed out, but that wouldn't have been many of them.
"...Why now?"
This was probably the best time to do this.
"Abman, what direction?"
"That way."
I confirmed the location of the portal with Mr. Bear and continued guiding the way. This was also a change that had occurred since the fog took over the cave: the compass had stopped working.
"...Will we be fine as long as we find the portal?"
"The second floor won't be all that safe, either. But we just have to get to the fourth floor."
The Tower of Heavens was an independent floor. If we could get there, it would be possible for us to return to the city safely, even in the midst of this war. That was our best option.
"No. What I meant was that they may have set up defenses near the portal."
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. If I were a tactician on Noark's side, the first thing I would do is look for a way to eliminate the way up to the second floor."
That was... true. But, so what? We had to at least try. Thanks to us taking advantage of the dimensional instability phenomenon, we were already in the outermost region anyway.
"If going up to the second floor is impossible... What are you going to do then?" Unlike usual, Raven kept asking me more questions. I got the sense that she was anxious, too. Well, I was sure she needed someone to depend on since she wouldn't have much experience with situations like this.
"Then we'll join the people from the city, like you suggested. There aren't any other options anyway." I tried my best to speak calmly. I had no way of knowing if this was the best plan, but one of us should be calm, at least. "If that's enough explanation, let's keep going."
"Okay..."
While moving as fast as we could toward the second floor, we encountered other adventurers.
"Finally, a person. Do you guys know what's going on?"
The team was composed of three humans and two beastpeople. Their equipment level was similar to ours or above it. Well, a group that had already made it this far into the first floor couldn't be made up of lower-floor adventurers. If they joined us, our combat power would rise significantly. However, I needed to check something before that.
"First, identification tags."
Were these bastards really trustworthy?
"It's real."
"Did you think it was fake?"
As soon as we met, we each confirmed that we were from the city with the identification tags on our wrists and then began to exchange conversation. If things were normal, we would've been on our separate ways after confirming each other's identities, but this was an emergency.
"Do you know anything?"
"Not much. Except that Noark has done something."
"Noark, huh? Of course." The leader on their side nodded at my words.
I narrowed my eyes. "Are there no wizards on your team?" The fact that there were few normal wizards on Noark's side was common knowledge.
The leader just confidently shrugged his shoulders. "As you can see, we are a team aiming for achievement points. We do not need a wizard."
Fuck, that made sense too. Wizards rarely participated in speed runs. Not only were they dead weight because they were slow, but wizards couldn't obtain any experience points from a speedrun anyway.
Thus, I attempted introductions, figuring that the other side might have heard of me with my nickname of Little Balkan and all. "Bjorn, son of Yandel."
"Hansen Calders."
"Hansen?"
"Oh, do you know me? We might have mutual friends—"
"I don't think so." I shook my head, feeling an ominous shiver go down my spine. This was the first time I'd heard that particular name. So what should I do?
Just as I was worrying about this, Hansen and his teammate exchanged whispers. "Little Balkan? Oh! The barbarian from that time with the Lord of the Floor!"
It seemed someone on his side knew my name. Hansen's gaze became a little more appreciative as it flicked back over to me. "I see now that you're a celebrity. Why don't we travel together? I don't think this is a time for either of us to be exploring." Hansen offered to join forces first.
"Can you give me some time?"
"A few minutes. I'm too anxious to be in one place for too long."
After asking for Hansen's patience, I took time to talk it over with my colleagues. After all, collective intelligence was a thing—there could be something I missed that stood out to someone else.
That was... true. But, so what? We had to at least try. Thanks to us taking advantage of the dimensional instability phenomenon, we were already in the outermost region anyway.
"If going up to the second floor is impossible... What are you going to do then?" Unlike usual, Raven kept asking me more questions. I got the sense that she was anxious, too. Well, I was sure she needed someone to depend on since she wouldn't have much experience with situations like this.
"Then we'll join the people from the city, like you suggested. There aren't any other options anyway." I tried my best to speak calmly. I had no way of knowing if this was the best plan, but one of us should be calm, at least. "If that's enough explanation, let's keep going."
"Okay..."
While moving as fast as we could toward the second floor, we encountered other adventurers.
"Finally, a person. Do you guys know what's going on?"
The team was composed of three humans and two beastpeople. Their equipment level was similar to ours or above it. Well, a group that had already made it this far into the first floor couldn't be made up of lower-floor adventurers. If they joined us, our combat power would rise significantly. However, I needed to check something before that.
"First, identification tags."
Were these bastards really trustworthy?
"It's real."
"Did you think it was fake?"
As soon as we met, we each confirmed that we were from the city with the identification tags on our wrists and then began to exchange conversation. If things were normal, we would've been on our separate ways after confirming each other's identities, but this was an emergency.
"Do you know anything?"
"Not much. Except that Noark has done something."
"Noark, huh? Of course." The leader on their side nodded at my words.
I narrowed my eyes. "Are there no wizards on your team?" The fact that there were few normal wizards on Noark's side was common knowledge.
The leader just confidently shrugged his shoulders. "As you can see, we are a team aiming for achievement points. We do not need a wizard."
Fuck, that made sense too. Wizards rarely participated in speed runs. Not only were they dead weight because they were slow, but wizards couldn't obtain any experience points from a speedrun anyway.
Thus, I attempted introductions, figuring that the other side might have heard of me with my nickname of Little Balkan and all. "Bjorn, son of Yandel."
"Hansen Calders."
"Hansen?"
"Oh, do you know me? We might have mutual friends—"
"I don't think so." I shook my head, feeling an ominous shiver go down my spine. This was the first time I'd heard that particular name. So what should I do?
Just as I was worrying about this, Hansen and his teammate exchanged whispers. "Little Balkan? Oh! The barbarian from that time with the Lord of the Floor!"
It seemed someone on his side knew my name. Hansen's gaze became a little more appreciative as it flicked back over to me. "I see now that you're a celebrity. Why don't we travel together? I don't think this is a time for either of us to be exploring." Hansen offered to join forces first.
"Can you give me some time?"
"A few minutes. I'm too anxious to be in one place for too long."
After asking for Hansen's patience, I took time to talk it over with my colleagues. After all, collective intelligence was a thing—there could be something I missed that stood out to someone else.
"I don't know about this. It does seem safer with more people, but... Still, Bjorn, I think it's betterrr to trust your judgment."
"I agree with Missha!"
First, the melee sisters expressed their intent to fully go along with whatever decision I made. Mr. Bear was on the opposing side.
"Something is off. At their level, they should be pretty well known, but I've never heard their names before. They may not be from the underground city, but there's a chance they are plunderers."
This concerned me a bit, since among us, Mr. Bear had the most connections.
"Raven, what do you think?"
"I-I don't think there's anything off. Wouldn't it be better to just join them? Their identification tags were fine too."
Hmm, I see.
I'd been inwardly relying on Raven the most, but I think I had to rethink that. Maybe it was because this was the first time something like this had happened to her, but her gears weren't turning as usual.
"Don't think about the identification tags and think strictly about the people."
"Pardon? What do you—ah!" Raven realized what I was getting at. Now that things had devolved like this, it was foolish to put our trust in identification tags. There was a possibility that they'd made fakes.
Actually, there were two possibilities: either they didn't manage to replicate the tags and just bit the bullet and came back to the labyrinth anyway, or they did successfully replicate them and were using that as a cover to cause trouble. I didn't know which it was yet, which was why I had to trust solely in my intuition to decide. It was just like in Dungeon and Stone, where one mistake meant game over.
"I-I don't know. Just decide for us, Mr. Yandel." Feeling disoriented, Raven left everything to me. Why was she so out of it?
"Raven, snap out of it. You were fine even when there was an assassin hiding next to us in the Tower of Heavens."
"Th-that was different from now. Right now, if I make a mistake, others will suffer for it."
Oh, so that's what it was. I was learning something new about Raven. I never thought she would be the indecisive type when it came to having more responsibility. I got it, though. Someone could die from the choices I made. Overcoming that pressure to make a decision was never an easy task, because this was not a game. The choices you made didn't just end with the death of your character.
God damn it.
Ultimately, the decision was in my hands. That was nothing new, though.
What a headache.
I sighed and studied Hansen's group at a distance. If there were a wizard among them, or if they were well-known adventurers or part of a famous clan, then I could've trusted them a little easier.
But they aren't.
Unfortunately, I wasn't given much time.
"Have you made your decision?"
"Yes." Soon, I made up my mind. "Sorry to keep you waiting, but I decline your offer." My final decision was that there was no need to gamble.
"Is that so? That's too bad." Surprisingly, Hansen nodded without seeming too displeased. It seemed he already understood why I'd decided what I did. "It's the careful man who lives the longest. I hope to meet again someday."
"What are you guys going to do?"
"We'll first go to the second floor, although I'm not sure that place is safe either. Has to be better than here, though."
"I don't know about this. It does seem safer with more people, but... Still, Bjorn, I think it's betterrr to trust your judgment."
"I agree with Missha!"
First, the melee sisters expressed their intent to fully go along with whatever decision I made. Mr. Bear was on the opposing side.
"Something is off. At their level, they should be pretty well known, but I've never heard their names before. They may not be from the underground city, but there's a chance they are plunderers."
This concerned me a bit, since among us, Mr. Bear had the most connections.
"Raven, what do you think?"
"I-I don't think there's anything off. Wouldn't it be better to just join them? Their identification tags were fine too."
Hmm, I see.
I'd been inwardly relying on Raven the most, but I think I had to rethink that. Maybe it was because this was the first time something like this had happened to her, but her gears weren't turning as usual.
"Don't think about the identification tags and think strictly about the people."
"Pardon? What do you—ah!" Raven realized what I was getting at. Now that things had devolved like this, it was foolish to put our trust in identification tags. There was a possibility that they'd made fakes.
Actually, there were two possibilities: either they didn't manage to replicate the tags and just bit the bullet and came back to the labyrinth anyway, or they did successfully replicate them and were using that as a cover to cause trouble. I didn't know which it was yet, which was why I had to trust solely in my intuition to decide. It was just like in Dungeon and Stone, where one mistake meant game over.
"I-I don't know. Just decide for us, Mr. Yandel." Feeling disoriented, Raven left everything to me. Why was she so out of it?
"Raven, snap out of it. You were fine even when there was an assassin hiding next to us in the Tower of Heavens."
"Th-that was different from now. Right now, if I make a mistake, others will suffer for it."
Oh, so that's what it was. I was learning something new about Raven. I never thought she would be the indecisive type when it came to having more responsibility. I got it, though. Someone could die from the choices I made. Overcoming that pressure to make a decision was never an easy task, because this was not a game. The choices you made didn't just end with the death of your character.
God damn it.
Ultimately, the decision was in my hands. That was nothing new, though.
What a headache.
I sighed and studied Hansen's group at a distance. If there were a wizard among them, or if they were well-known adventurers or part of a famous clan, then I could've trusted them a little easier.
But they aren't.
Unfortunately, I wasn't given much time.
"Have you made your decision?"
"Yes." Soon, I made up my mind. "Sorry to keep you waiting, but I decline your offer." My final decision was that there was no need to gamble.
"Is that so? That's too bad." Surprisingly, Hansen nodded without seeming too displeased. It seemed he already understood why I'd decided what I did. "It's the careful man who lives the longest. I hope to meet again someday."
"What are you guys going to do?"
"We'll first go to the second floor, although I'm not sure that place is safe either. Has to be better than here, though."
"I see. If there's any luck, I'll see you in the city."
"What are you doing? Let's move." After our brief exchange came to an end, Hansen's group headed off first and disappeared into the fog.
Did I make the right choice just now?
Smirk.
I forced a smile in an attempt to erase my doubts and anxieties. When had I ever made a choice while knowing the outcome?
"Let's get going."
I just had to trust it and move on.
About five minutes after parting with Hansen's group, we discovered five dead bodies. They were not the bodies of Hansen's team, who had headed off first. Their equipment was completely stripped, but it wasn't difficult to figure out who they were.
"It's a knight."
"...A knight?"
"Yes. The tattoo on the back of his neck here. It's the symbol of Viscount Terten."
"That's a family crest? It's almost like a brand."
To be more precise, it was like he was more an object than a person. The realization left a bitter taste in my mouth. The fact that even knights were treated as consumables in this world had suddenly sunk in.
"...Not all nobles are like this."
Leaving behind Raven, who seemed to be trying to defend them, I sorted through my thoughts. The corpses of one knight and four soldiers, and the fact that the surrounding area showed no signs of struggle, could mean only one thing.
"There's some kind of monster here. And not a literal one."
"Yes. Looking at the wounds, this was all done in one blow. Seeing as all the injuries are the same, it doesn't seem like it was multiple people, either."
Knights, who could use auras, were the strongest when it came to human versus human warfare. In a world like this where magic and special abilities existed, they were the blades that protected the vested interests of the rich. To think one had died without fighting back... I realized we were in the eye of a storm all over again. A knight who had spent his entire life holding and wielding a sword and would have enjoyed immense power had died like an extra. No, more were continuing to die off even now, just like during the conquest of Noark that occurred underground several months ago.
"Time of death?"
"It's been about twenty minutes."
So whoever or whatever killed them wouldn't be too close. That was a good sign for us, but it was too early to be relieved. Anything could happen from now on.
"Those guys... are they really planning on starting a war?" Mr. Bear muttered, frowning. Now that he was staring at the knight's dead body, it seemed to finally hit him exactly what kind of situation we were currently in.
To be fair, it wasn't like we'd fought anyone ourselves yet. I decided to be blunt. "They're not planning it, Abman. We are already at war."
We were fortunate enough to have been on the outskirts when it started, so we hadn't experienced the consequences yet. But it was just a matter of time now.
"What will you do?"
I sighed at Raven's question. I didn't know how many times she had already asked it since we came back down to the first floor. We were at a crossroads once again.
"...The only thing in this direction is the portal."
"You don't have to explain. That means that whoever killed this knight headed that way."
The second-floor portal was the only way out I could think of, and now a monster was lurking there. However, even if we turned around, the situation remained bleak. The battle that had already started in the center would soon cover the entire first floor.
Fuck, Den of Beasts or not, we shouldn't have come down to the first floor.
I couldn't help regretting it. To think that a trivial decision would land me in this rotten situation. It was as if this heartless world was testing me: Choose whatever you want, but the responsibility for that choice is all yours.
My eyes shifted to my teammates. Missha, Ainar, Raven, and Mr. Bear were all looking at me, too, like the decision was entirely mine.
"...Let's head back." I soon made a call. I didn't know who was in front of me. It could be a member of Orcules since someone strong enough to kill a knight like this would be rare in Noark too. I was about to turn around when—
"Ha, are you really just going back?" A voice rang out from beyond the fog.
Step.
Footsteps followed.
Shaaaaaa!
Immediately, Raven sent forth a gust of wind to push back the fog, revealing a man wearing no equipment—just simple black clothing and a skull mask on his face.
"What kind of barbarian is this timid? Huh?"
My body stiffened at that voice. I had never heard it before, that was for certain.
"Hehehe."
But it was somehow familiar.
"I see. If there's any luck, I'll see you in the city."
"What are you doing? Let's move." After our brief exchange came to an end, Hansen's group headed off first and disappeared into the fog.
Did I make the right choice just now?
Smirk.
I forced a smile in an attempt to erase my doubts and anxieties. When had I ever made a choice while knowing the outcome?
"Let's get going."
I just had to trust it and move on.
About five minutes after parting with Hansen's group, we discovered five dead bodies. They were not the bodies of Hansen's team, who had headed off first. Their equipment was completely stripped, but it wasn't difficult to figure out who they were.
"It's a knight."
"...A knight?"
"Yes. The tattoo on the back of his neck here. It's the symbol of Viscount Terten."
"That's a family crest? It's almost like a brand."
To be more precise, it was like he was more an object than a person. The realization left a bitter taste in my mouth. The fact that even knights were treated as consumables in this world had suddenly sunk in.
"...Not all nobles are like this."
Leaving behind Raven, who seemed to be trying to defend them, I sorted through my thoughts. The corpses of one knight and four soldiers, and the fact that the surrounding area showed no signs of struggle, could mean only one thing.
"There's some kind of monster here. And not a literal one."
"Yes. Looking at the wounds, this was all done in one blow. Seeing as all the injuries are the same, it doesn't seem like it was multiple people, either."
Knights, who could use auras, were the strongest when it came to human versus human warfare. In a world like this where magic and special abilities existed, they were the blades that protected the vested interests of the rich. To think one had died without fighting back... I realized we were in the eye of a storm all over again. A knight who had spent his entire life holding and wielding a sword and would have enjoyed immense power had died like an extra. No, more were continuing to die off even now, just like during the conquest of Noark that occurred underground several months ago.
"Time of death?"
"It's been about twenty minutes."
So whoever or whatever killed them wouldn't be too close. That was a good sign for us, but it was too early to be relieved. Anything could happen from now on.
"Those guys... are they really planning on starting a war?" Mr. Bear muttered, frowning. Now that he was staring at the knight's dead body, it seemed to finally hit him exactly what kind of situation we were currently in.
To be fair, it wasn't like we'd fought anyone ourselves yet. I decided to be blunt. "They're not planning it, Abman. We are already at war."
We were fortunate enough to have been on the outskirts when it started, so we hadn't experienced the consequences yet. But it was just a matter of time now.
"What will you do?"
I sighed at Raven's question. I didn't know how many times she had already asked it since we came back down to the first floor. We were at a crossroads once again.
"...The only thing in this direction is the portal."
"You don't have to explain. That means that whoever killed this knight headed that way."
The second-floor portal was the only way out I could think of, and now a monster was lurking there. However, even if we turned around, the situation remained bleak. The battle that had already started in the center would soon cover the entire first floor.
Fuck, Den of Beasts or not, we shouldn't have come down to the first floor.
I couldn't help regretting it. To think that a trivial decision would land me in this rotten situation. It was as if this heartless world was testing me: Choose whatever you want, but the responsibility for that choice is all yours.
My eyes shifted to my teammates. Missha, Ainar, Raven, and Mr. Bear were all looking at me, too, like the decision was entirely mine.
"...Let's head back." I soon made a call. I didn't know who was in front of me. It could be a member of Orcules since someone strong enough to kill a knight like this would be rare in Noark too. I was about to turn around when—
"Ha, are you really just going back?" A voice rang out from beyond the fog.
Step.
Footsteps followed.
Shaaaaaa!
Immediately, Raven sent forth a gust of wind to push back the fog, revealing a man wearing no equipment—just simple black clothing and a skull mask on his face.
"What kind of barbarian is this timid? Huh?"
My body stiffened at that voice. I had never heard it before, that was for certain.
"Hehehe."
But it was somehow familiar.