Chapter 298: Evil Spirit (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 298: Evil Spirit (2)
I felt weird. Not because I was sympathizing with her months later, nor because I regretted bringing down my mace at the time, or anything. But I felt somehow uncomfortable and suffocated.
"You don't look well. Do you know that child?"
I shook my head at Amelia's question and asked her about something that had been on my mind. "What happens to those children when they become adults?"
"They become adventurers."
"Are there no other options? Like working in the castle or something like that."
"That's impossible. Those children promised to work under the castellan in the first place."
"Promised?"
"In exchange for the castle fostering them, they do whatever they are told."
I was dumbfounded. "Leaving them all the grunt work and using them as bait while looting is fostering them?"
"Children who survive hell grow up strong."
As soon as I heard that, words the chieftain once said to me flashed through my mind.
"You should know that the only warriors who become strong are the ones who are able to survive."
The context was similar—the labyrinth was an environment structured in a way that people had no choice but to become strong in order to survive. The castellan deliberately placed these children in said environment.
"Still, aside from when they're young and serve as bait, the mortality rate improves after that. The same goes for the child's treatment in their assigned team," Amelia continued. After surviving for about three years as a decoy, they were recognized for their contributions and started to learn how to use weapons. In addition, they were apparently given unclaimed essences during hunts. "Children who undergo that lifestyle become useful fighters as soon as they become adults."
"What if they want to quit once they become adults?"
"That doesn't happen. They start receiving constant ideological education from a young age. By the time they become adults, they're servants who are more loyal to their lord than anyone."
"But what if they still come to their senses and want to quit?"
Amelia frowned at my persistence, then said, "The castle commences making corrections. To make them loyal again." I was speechless. "Don't worry too much. No child goes to work under the castellan without knowing that."
The conversation ended there, but my wheels kept turning. What kind of life did the player who entered the body of Jencia Nephrin have to lead? Well, it might not have been so bad. They didn't kill evil spirits without mercy in Noark.
They still wouldn't have let them roam free, though.
From the castellan's point of view, the evil spirit would have taken over the body of a high-achiever he had been cultivating on leftover essences for several years. Whoever the evil spirit may have been, the castellan would have made it so that the woman now known as Jencia would continue to live the same life as the original, even if that required correction that was a bit stronger than usual.
Anyway, whether her identity was exposed or not, she would have had to start looting from the start. So treating everyone as NPCs instead of people could actually have been a defense mechanism... Wait, why am I concerned about this? Stop thinking.
I cut my train of thought off there. It didn't matter to me what environment that player had had to survive in. That woman tried to kill me.
Yeah, so... I just did what I had to do. That's all there is to it.
Whew, laying it out like that made my chest feel less tight.
"What are you doing, Amelia? Let's go. We need to do our job."
"Why... are your mood swings so intense?"
"I'm a barbarian!"
Shaking off any unpleasant emotions, I continued to fish for plunderers using the secret skill Call Forth the Bad. A few more days passed like that. I was sorting through the equipment of another plunderer team as usual when...
"Oh, another sub-space ring."
Rumble...
"...Huh?" The moment I looked up in confusion, the ground under me began to shake with what felt like an earthquake. To be honest, I was shocked. I didn't consider for a moment that something like this might happen.
Booom!
A rift had appeared on the third floor.
That a rift had opened on the floor we were on was a little sudden, but not something particularly surprising. That was something that could happen during any expedition. The problem was, why now?
We did not enter the labyrinth to embark on a normal expedition. There were no essences for me in the third-floor rift, either. Plus, my essence slots were already full, so it would be impossible for me to absorb another one unless I erased the Corpse Golem's essence.
What about the Numbered Item and Rift Stone, you may ask? Those couldn't be brought with us twenty years into the future anyway.
Well, the money from a rift would be helpful for surviving here, but... Stop getting ahead of yourself and check it out first.
I quickly cut my inner monologue off. Having a rift open on your floor and managing to enter it in time were two separate things.
"Amelia, the location."
Talented scouts could determine the location of a rift once it was generated. So where had this rift formed? If the closest portal was several hours away running, we wouldn't be able to get in anyway, so there was no need to even bother.
"Five minutes north."
What the—? It's right under our noses. You should've said that earlier.
Last time a rift had formed on the fifth floor, it had been located in a completely different district, so my team and I had to admit defeat.
"What are you doing?! Let's go!" I shouted with enthusiasm and intent to start running right away.
"You want to go in?" Amelia asked bluntly.
Um, obviously. If you can enter a rift, it's always best to do so. Essences, items, and whatnot are always a win, and there are experience points you can only acquire in particular rifts... No, wait.
"Amelia, have you been inside the third-floor rift?"
"Once before."
So she'd already gobbled up the experience points here. No wonder she had no enthusiasm.
"Not me! So let's go!"
Silence.
"We've pretty much succeeded in getting the castellan's favor! That won't change just because we don't bring back a little more loot!"
"But if something goes wrong in the rift..."
"It won't! And we're comrades! Help me out this once! I'll just collect the achievements and come out!"
Whew, laying it out like that made my chest feel less tight.
"What are you doing, Amelia? Let's go. We need to do our job."
"Why... are your mood swings so intense?"
"I'm a barbarian!"
Shaking off any unpleasant emotions, I continued to fish for plunderers using the secret skill Call Forth the Bad. A few more days passed like that. I was sorting through the equipment of another plunderer team as usual when...
"Oh, another sub-space ring."
Rumble...
"...Huh?" The moment I looked up in confusion, the ground under me began to shake with what felt like an earthquake. To be honest, I was shocked. I didn't consider for a moment that something like this might happen.
Booom!
A rift had appeared on the third floor.
That a rift had opened on the floor we were on was a little sudden, but not something particularly surprising. That was something that could happen during any expedition. The problem was, why now?
We did not enter the labyrinth to embark on a normal expedition. There were no essences for me in the third-floor rift, either. Plus, my essence slots were already full, so it would be impossible for me to absorb another one unless I erased the Corpse Golem's essence.
What about the Numbered Item and Rift Stone, you may ask? Those couldn't be brought with us twenty years into the future anyway.
Well, the money from a rift would be helpful for surviving here, but... Stop getting ahead of yourself and check it out first.
I quickly cut my inner monologue off. Having a rift open on your floor and managing to enter it in time were two separate things.
"Amelia, the location."
Talented scouts could determine the location of a rift once it was generated. So where had this rift formed? If the closest portal was several hours away running, we wouldn't be able to get in anyway, so there was no need to even bother.
"Five minutes north."
What the—? It's right under our noses. You should've said that earlier.
Last time a rift had formed on the fifth floor, it had been located in a completely different district, so my team and I had to admit defeat.
"What are you doing?! Let's go!" I shouted with enthusiasm and intent to start running right away.
"You want to go in?" Amelia asked bluntly.
Um, obviously. If you can enter a rift, it's always best to do so. Essences, items, and whatnot are always a win, and there are experience points you can only acquire in particular rifts... No, wait.
"Amelia, have you been inside the third-floor rift?"
"Once before."
So she'd already gobbled up the experience points here. No wonder she had no enthusiasm.
"Not me! So let's go!"
Silence.
"We've pretty much succeeded in getting the castellan's favor! That won't change just because we don't bring back a little more loot!"
"But if something goes wrong in the rift..."
"It won't! And we're comrades! Help me out this once! I'll just collect the achievements and come out!"
After a beat of silence, Amelia sighed. "...All right, follow me." She began to lead the way.
I was sure she hadn't changed her mind because of the word "comrade." She probably just judged that it was better to deal with a few days' annoyance rather than have a falling out with her collaborator. She was a woman who valued rationality above all else.
She surprisingly meshes well with barbarians.
Since she was the unemotional type, a barbarian's naive pleading worked well on Amelia. To this woman, it would make more sense to just do this for me than continue to be bugged for the next few days.
Dash.
Anyway, as we were running, the portal appeared in our line of sight
"Yandel, think this through one last—"
Think what through?
"Behel–ahhh!"
I threw myself into it without hesitation.
Flash!
When I opened my eyes, we were inside a pure white temple. The ceiling was tall enough for me to Leap to my heart's content. White marble columns and a hundred stone statues ran along the length of the wall.
Since no one's here, I guess we entered first.
Once I confirmed there were no other adventurers yet, I slowly looked around. Rather than being an attempt to figure out where I was, this was out of pure curiosity. That was because there was only one rift on the third floor. This was the Hundred-Color Temple, a temple that carried a hundred colors. It was also a place that you had to drop by at least once during a playthrough, because the supply of EXP here was enormous.
"Yandel, do you know of this place?"
"To some extent."
"Then there's no need for me to explain."
The Hundred-Color Temple had three main characteristics. First, elite monsters that didn't appear in normal areas like Corpse Golems poured out. No matter what you took down, you'd be able to get points for first kills as long as it was your first time here. Second, it was not a cooperative raid like regular rifts. Those who entered had to compete with each other, and only one team could enter the boss room. If the team that entered first failed, then another team got a chance.
Oh, but that didn't mean Amelia and I would have to compete with the other teams on our own. The third characteristic: when a rift was created, a total of five portals opened on that floor, and those who entered through the same portal became a team of five. That had always been the most challenging part of playing the game. That was a given. What happened if you found a rift while working as a five-person team, only to find two people were already inside?
Well, two characters from your team would be left behind, just like with this team of adventurers who just came in.
"...Huh?"
"Damn it, someone was already in here."
The portal in the air spat out three more adventurers and closed. It looked like their teammates had been left outside.
"Oh no! Lemud and Hans didn't get in!"
Oh, nice.
"Calm down! They may be separated from us, but Lemud and Hans should be able to hold out on the third floor without us!" Soon, the human swordsman finished soothing his panicked comrades and approached us. "Nice to meet you. Did you two come in together?"
"Yes, and?"
The man laughed good-naturedly despite Amelia's curt response. "Haha, we'll be together for the next while. Since it's fate that we met like this, let's introduce ourselves first. I'm Carlton Drek."
"Emily."
"Bjon."
When Amelia and I revealed our pseudonyms, Carlton cautiously asked me a question. "Bjon, are you a barbarian?"
It was only natural that he'd be wondering. After all, I was in full plate metal armor right now. Since I was covered in iron plating from head to toe, no one could check whether I had a barbarian's tattoos or not.
"What does that matter?" I asked stubbornly.
Carlton backed off and apologized. "Sorry. I was just curious, but I see how that could sound rude to you."
Looks like he thinks I'm just a large human. Fair. It's mostly narrow-minded people who react sensitively to trivial questions like that.
Anyway, after we revealed our names, an elf guy hanging in the back of the group called out to Carlton. "Carlton, will you come here for a second?"
I can't hear them.
They whispered something to each other. It looked like they were discussing something.
"They are calling us suspicious."
"Huh?"
"I can hear what is being said as long as it's at distances like this. That's without magic, of course."
"...I see?"
So she had good hearing. I never knew that. I should be careful not to even whisper in front of her.
"So what are they saying? They look serious."
The contents of the conversation intercepted by Amelia were as follows:
The elf pointed out our peculiarities. "They only revealed their first names. Plus, there's the fact that there are only two of them on the third floor on the thirteenth day. They could be plunderers. One even has his face covered."
"Yes, but there is no other way," Carlton replied. "We can't just stab them in the back because they're suspicious. Let's not play our hand yet and find out what kind of people they are as we go."
It seemed the discussion ended on that note.
"Ah! Sorry! My friend was worried about the teammates we left behind." Carlton laughed heartily and came up to us. Then he revealed the names of the other two and gave them a chance to introduce themselves.
"Now, this man from the elf tribe is—"
"Stop, I'll do it. I'm Eimbern Berta Garcia. As you can see, I specialize in archery." Eimbern ended his introduction by briefly revealing his name and main weapon. It seemed he didn't want to give us more information than that.
Anyway, next was the barbarian warrior. "Hahaha! Nice to meet you all!" Like the barbarian he was, the warrior had been left out of his two comrades' whispered conversation and approached us with a bright smile. Then, without bothering to keep his guard up at all, he introduced himself. "I am Yandel, third son of Jarku!"
"...What?"
My mind went blank as soon as I heard that. If I didn't hear him wrong...
"Ah, is that a little too hard for humans? Just call me Yandel Jarku!"
...that meant he was my biological father.
After a beat of silence, Amelia sighed. "...All right, follow me." She began to lead the way.
I was sure she hadn't changed her mind because of the word "comrade." She probably just judged that it was better to deal with a few days' annoyance rather than have a falling out with her collaborator. She was a woman who valued rationality above all else.
She surprisingly meshes well with barbarians.
Since she was the unemotional type, a barbarian's naive pleading worked well on Amelia. To this woman, it would make more sense to just do this for me than continue to be bugged for the next few days.
Dash.
Anyway, as we were running, the portal appeared in our line of sight
"Yandel, think this through one last—"
Think what through?
"Behel–ahhh!"
I threw myself into it without hesitation.
Flash!
When I opened my eyes, we were inside a pure white temple. The ceiling was tall enough for me to Leap to my heart's content. White marble columns and a hundred stone statues ran along the length of the wall.
Since no one's here, I guess we entered first.
Once I confirmed there were no other adventurers yet, I slowly looked around. Rather than being an attempt to figure out where I was, this was out of pure curiosity. That was because there was only one rift on the third floor. This was the Hundred-Color Temple, a temple that carried a hundred colors. It was also a place that you had to drop by at least once during a playthrough, because the supply of EXP here was enormous.
"Yandel, do you know of this place?"
"To some extent."
"Then there's no need for me to explain."
The Hundred-Color Temple had three main characteristics. First, elite monsters that didn't appear in normal areas like Corpse Golems poured out. No matter what you took down, you'd be able to get points for first kills as long as it was your first time here. Second, it was not a cooperative raid like regular rifts. Those who entered had to compete with each other, and only one team could enter the boss room. If the team that entered first failed, then another team got a chance.
Oh, but that didn't mean Amelia and I would have to compete with the other teams on our own. The third characteristic: when a rift was created, a total of five portals opened on that floor, and those who entered through the same portal became a team of five. That had always been the most challenging part of playing the game. That was a given. What happened if you found a rift while working as a five-person team, only to find two people were already inside?
Well, two characters from your team would be left behind, just like with this team of adventurers who just came in.
"...Huh?"
"Damn it, someone was already in here."
The portal in the air spat out three more adventurers and closed. It looked like their teammates had been left outside.
"Oh no! Lemud and Hans didn't get in!"
Oh, nice.
"Calm down! They may be separated from us, but Lemud and Hans should be able to hold out on the third floor without us!" Soon, the human swordsman finished soothing his panicked comrades and approached us. "Nice to meet you. Did you two come in together?"
"Yes, and?"
The man laughed good-naturedly despite Amelia's curt response. "Haha, we'll be together for the next while. Since it's fate that we met like this, let's introduce ourselves first. I'm Carlton Drek."
"Emily."
"Bjon."
When Amelia and I revealed our pseudonyms, Carlton cautiously asked me a question. "Bjon, are you a barbarian?"
It was only natural that he'd be wondering. After all, I was in full plate metal armor right now. Since I was covered in iron plating from head to toe, no one could check whether I had a barbarian's tattoos or not.
"What does that matter?" I asked stubbornly.
Carlton backed off and apologized. "Sorry. I was just curious, but I see how that could sound rude to you."
Looks like he thinks I'm just a large human. Fair. It's mostly narrow-minded people who react sensitively to trivial questions like that.
Anyway, after we revealed our names, an elf guy hanging in the back of the group called out to Carlton. "Carlton, will you come here for a second?"
I can't hear them.
They whispered something to each other. It looked like they were discussing something.
"They are calling us suspicious."
"Huh?"
"I can hear what is being said as long as it's at distances like this. That's without magic, of course."
"...I see?"
So she had good hearing. I never knew that. I should be careful not to even whisper in front of her.
"So what are they saying? They look serious."
The contents of the conversation intercepted by Amelia were as follows:
The elf pointed out our peculiarities. "They only revealed their first names. Plus, there's the fact that there are only two of them on the third floor on the thirteenth day. They could be plunderers. One even has his face covered."
"Yes, but there is no other way," Carlton replied. "We can't just stab them in the back because they're suspicious. Let's not play our hand yet and find out what kind of people they are as we go."
It seemed the discussion ended on that note.
"Ah! Sorry! My friend was worried about the teammates we left behind." Carlton laughed heartily and came up to us. Then he revealed the names of the other two and gave them a chance to introduce themselves.
"Now, this man from the elf tribe is—"
"Stop, I'll do it. I'm Eimbern Berta Garcia. As you can see, I specialize in archery." Eimbern ended his introduction by briefly revealing his name and main weapon. It seemed he didn't want to give us more information than that.
Anyway, next was the barbarian warrior. "Hahaha! Nice to meet you all!" Like the barbarian he was, the warrior had been left out of his two comrades' whispered conversation and approached us with a bright smile. Then, without bothering to keep his guard up at all, he introduced himself. "I am Yandel, third son of Jarku!"
"...What?"
My mind went blank as soon as I heard that. If I didn't hear him wrong...
"Ah, is that a little too hard for humans? Just call me Yandel Jarku!"
...that meant he was my biological father.