Chapter 45: Line (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 45: Line (2)
Back at the inn, I was organizing my pack when I fell deep in thought about the metal helmet in my hand.
Do I sell this or not?
The official name of this helmet in the game was the Golden Mask, an item obtained by defeating the boss monster of the Bloody Citadel and satisfying various special conditions. The effect was simple: it allowed the wearer to customize the appearance of their face for thirty days.
It's even a consumable item with a limited number of uses.
Was it a max of five times? After that, it naturally disappeared. Of course, my memory wasn't perfect, even more so because aside from the first time I acquired it, I'd never used this item. After that first use, I always sold it in the auction for about five hundred thousand stones.
Still... I don't know what to do with this.
Of course, if this were the game, I wouldn't even be worrying about this. It was obvious. An accessory? What was the point of accessorizing a 2D pixel character, and for a short time period of just thirty days? Even if the market price were ten thousand stones, it would be more useful to sell it. But right now, this was undeniably a reality. After contemplating it for a short while, I came to a decision.
You never know. I'll just hold onto it for now. It's not like I'm short on cash.
The situation I was in was different from a game in many ways. I had even been framed and sent to jail recently. If there came a time when this city turned against me, this item would surely play a big role in my survival. Perhaps it could even have a different use.
After all, having money is the best.
I once again realized the importance of money. If I hadn't made so much recently, I would have chosen to sell it. As you can see, the more money you had, the more options you had to choose from, whether in a game, in reality, or even in a distant world.
***
"Hey! Did you hear? The Crystal Union has been disbanded!"
A silver-haired elf was quietly eating in the corner of the restaurant. Her name was Daria Whitember di Tersia, and her ears pricked upward because this was a topic of interest to her.
"What? The Crystal Union disbanded?"
The Crystal Union was a clan of adventurers that had experienced explosive growth in the past ten years by providing various conveniences to first-floor adventurers, forming an extensive communication network through countless message stones.
"Isn't it surprising? An entire clan of run-of-the-mill adventurers evaporated overnight."
"Ha! Run-of-the-mill? When have those adventurers ever done adventurer work?"
From what Daria had heard, the members of the Crystal Union had mostly been ordinary civilians who, under the pressure of having to pay taxes, stepped into the adventurer role. She remembered hearing that they had regular jobs in the city and just made time one day every month to enter the labyrinth. Of course, there was nothing really wrong with that. In fact, it was rather good at fulfilling its purpose. She'd heard that the union had kept many civilians from getting arrested for being unable to pay their taxes.
"Anyway, this is good news! I was starting to get sick of them calling themselves adventurers and acting all criminal."
However, as of late, the Crystal Union had become corrupt. As their power had grown, they began rejecting outsiders and even manipulating members to commit crimes against new adventurers. Her sister had been one of them. And it wasn't enough for them to perpetrate an unforgivable act of cruelty, they had even tried to silence her.
I hate to admit it, but if it wasn't for that barbarian, something unthinkable would have happened.
When Daria heard Erwen's story, she was determined to teach them a lesson one day. But now, it seemed that wasn't necessary. Coincidentally, it was also thanks to a barbarian.
"By the way, I forgot to ask. Why did they suddenly disband?"
"Ah, didn't you hear the other news?"
"Other news?"
"The free barbarian!"
Secretly overhearing the story that followed, Daria's lips twitched into an involuntary frown. It was a story that got more and more interesting as it went on. It wasn't enough that the man had escaped from jail and cleared his name; he had even taken the district chief's daughter hostage.
"Now that the situation has gotten so out of control, they say that the looting law that was only going to apply to rank nine explorers may even fall apart."
It was truly an incident worthy of the buzz around it. The person who had allegedly framed the barbarian had already been hanged, and even the Crystal Union, which boasted an inflated sphere of influence, seemed like it was being held accountable for its past behavior and had taken a heavy blow.
"But you know what's even more surprising? That barbarian is apparently only a rank nine adventurer! In other words, it hasn't even been that long since his coming-of-age ceremony!"
For some reason, the story brought one barbarian in particular to Daria's mind, one who had acted imposing even in front of her, and had also proven to be unique in many other ways.
That would be too much of a coincidence...
She shook her head in an attempt to shake off her thoughts, then left the restaurant and went home. But with each step, she began to wonder.
Is that barbarian really dead?
So far, there had been no reason to doubt that that was the case. But if he really was the one the rumors were referring to, then that would explain why he hadn't returned to the inn for two days. Could she really tell her younger sister about all this, though?
Click.
When she opened the door with those concerns still swirling through her head, she saw her sister, who had lost a noticeable amount of weight. Sitting on the bed with her eyes closed, she was manipulating three small flames that looked like they were on the verge of going out. Two had been her limit in the labyrinth.
"Oh, you're here?"
"...You haven't been summoning elementals this whole time, have you?"
"Mhm. That way I can increase my affinity with them..."
Daria's lips thinned at those words. The training method itself wasn't out of the ordinary. She had been the one to teach it to her sister in the first place. However, she had never pushed herself to the limit like this before.
"You know, I think I heard the voice of the fire."
"What?"
"I get it now. How to get stronger. Why was I weak this whole time? Why I always needed help from others." Her sister, who always averted her eyes and looked self-conscious when she spoke, looked straight into Daria's eyes as she continued. "I wasn't desperate enough."
There was no life in her cracking voice, but the cynicism in it, at least, was clear. It was a spiteful anger. Finally, her younger sister had developed the one thing that she had lacked the most. It was clear what had caused this change, which was why Daria kept her mouth shut.
I hate to admit it, but if it wasn't for that barbarian, something unthinkable would have happened.
When Daria heard Erwen's story, she was determined to teach them a lesson one day. But now, it seemed that wasn't necessary. Coincidentally, it was also thanks to a barbarian.
"By the way, I forgot to ask. Why did they suddenly disband?"
"Ah, didn't you hear the other news?"
"Other news?"
"The free barbarian!"
Secretly overhearing the story that followed, Daria's lips twitched into an involuntary frown. It was a story that got more and more interesting as it went on. It wasn't enough that the man had escaped from jail and cleared his name; he had even taken the district chief's daughter hostage.
"Now that the situation has gotten so out of control, they say that the looting law that was only going to apply to rank nine explorers may even fall apart."
It was truly an incident worthy of the buzz around it. The person who had allegedly framed the barbarian had already been hanged, and even the Crystal Union, which boasted an inflated sphere of influence, seemed like it was being held accountable for its past behavior and had taken a heavy blow.
"But you know what's even more surprising? That barbarian is apparently only a rank nine adventurer! In other words, it hasn't even been that long since his coming-of-age ceremony!"
For some reason, the story brought one barbarian in particular to Daria's mind, one who had acted imposing even in front of her, and had also proven to be unique in many other ways.
That would be too much of a coincidence...
She shook her head in an attempt to shake off her thoughts, then left the restaurant and went home. But with each step, she began to wonder.
Is that barbarian really dead?
So far, there had been no reason to doubt that that was the case. But if he really was the one the rumors were referring to, then that would explain why he hadn't returned to the inn for two days. Could she really tell her younger sister about all this, though?
Click.
When she opened the door with those concerns still swirling through her head, she saw her sister, who had lost a noticeable amount of weight. Sitting on the bed with her eyes closed, she was manipulating three small flames that looked like they were on the verge of going out. Two had been her limit in the labyrinth.
"Oh, you're here?"
"...You haven't been summoning elementals this whole time, have you?"
"Mhm. That way I can increase my affinity with them..."
Daria's lips thinned at those words. The training method itself wasn't out of the ordinary. She had been the one to teach it to her sister in the first place. However, she had never pushed herself to the limit like this before.
"You know, I think I heard the voice of the fire."
"What?"
"I get it now. How to get stronger. Why was I weak this whole time? Why I always needed help from others." Her sister, who always averted her eyes and looked self-conscious when she spoke, looked straight into Daria's eyes as she continued. "I wasn't desperate enough."
There was no life in her cracking voice, but the cynicism in it, at least, was clear. It was a spiteful anger. Finally, her younger sister had developed the one thing that she had lacked the most. It was clear what had caused this change, which was why Daria kept her mouth shut.
Even if what I'm thinking is true...now isn't the best time to tell her.
Just like ten years ago, this was all for the sake of her precious little sister.
***
It was past noon when I visited the Adventurers' Guild near the magic tower. To be honest, after the horrors I underwent here, I didn't think I'd be back for at least a long while. But in order to proceed with the quest I had been given yesterday, I had no choice.
The guild admin worker got straight to the point without any unnecessary niceties. "What can I help you with?"
"I am looking for a teammate at my level."
"Are you looking for a particular role?"
I answered without hesitation. "I want to join a team active on the third floor and made up of a minimum of four people."
As long as I was here to find a teammate, I had no intention of simply filling Ainar's vacancy. Rather, I planned to use my promotion to rank seven to join a team with the best skills and effectively fight our way to the top.
Well, that's assuming that there is a good team.
As soon as I handed over my identity card along with the personal information questionnaire I had filled out in advance, as was the procedure, the tired administrator flinched. Then they glanced at it several times with a strange look in their eyes. "...Five stars?"
"Is there a problem?"
"N-No!" The administrator was strangely on alert. I didn't know what the stars meant, but for some reason, their voice was now much friendlier. "T-This is a list of teams that meet your criteria. Would you like to look at it?"
I was finished going through the list within five minutes. "It's quite short?"
"I-I swear that among the recruitment requests that have been posted, these are the only ones that fit your criteria!"
Did I say otherwise? I had just been stating facts. I didn't know why they were even swearing over something like this. "Hmm." The document they printed gave a brief description of each of the fifteen teams. The first one read:
[Third Floor Exploration - Ellen Bornev
Preferred Exploration Areas: Twilight Slope, Ironrock Hill, Jet Black Estuary
Average Rank: 7
Current Number: 2 melee human warriors (Rank 7), 1 melee beastman warrior (Rank 7), 1 melee dwarf warrior (Rank 7)
Recruiting: 1 melee warrior
*Equal distribution of loot
*No elves
*Participation in the after-battle dinner is required
*Drinking is allowed during the expedition if desired]
What the hell was this team? I had only read the description, but I could already smell the sweat dripping off them. Shocked, I read through the other recruitment requests, but there were none that I was particularly interested in. If the team members were good, the loot distribution ratio was bad. If the distribution ratio was good, there was a problem with the team's composition.
If I can tell just from reading the posting, it would be even worse in reality.
Perhaps finding a team would have been easier if my adventuring career had been a little longer. The furthest I'd gone was the second floor. If it wasn't for being a so-called newbie, the range of options would have been much wider and there wouldn't be any teams so openly trying to screw me over with the distribution ratio.
How unfortunate.
If I could, I would rather put up my own listing to find teammates, but no one would sign up in that case. And if they did, they wouldn't be normal people.
I didn't think I'd find one all that quickly, anyway.
"Is there a team you'd like?"
"Not today." I returned the documents with a shake of my head, and the admin employee replied like an NPC.
"Oh, is that so? I'm sorry we couldn't be more of a help after you've come all this way. If you wish, we can make your information available to other teams—"
"No thanks. I'll come back another time."
"Ah, is that so? I've been Terbes, your ever-friendly guild employee." Their tone, words, and actions were all very friendly. Their performance was flawless too. "Goodbye, then!"
But... why did I feel so weird?
***
Leaving behind the Adventurers' Guild with mounting discomfort, I was on my way back to the inn when I ended up stopping at the corner of an alleyway because of a barbarian.
Tap.
A bushy beard, pants that were frayed and stained with dirt... most barbarians tended to act like beggars, but even taking that into consideration, this one was resting against the wall of the alleyway miserably.
What's this?
As soon as I saw him, I was hit by a sense of wrongness. Although I stayed at a different inn, I often hung out with the other barbarians, and I knew it wasn't necessarily strange for a barbarian to be sleeping on the street.
But... how come he has no weapon?
This was a very serious anomaly. No matter how poor, hungry, and cold they were, barbarians carried their weapons like they were their life. I normally shoved my curiosity down, but I found myself instinctively drawn to this person. What was happening?
"Hey."
"Eeeek!" The barbarian, who had fallen asleep leaning against the wall, spotted me and was incredibly bewildered. Well, having a fear of strangers was a natural reaction for most living beings, but that was for other races. We intrepid barbarians didn't bother with stuff like that.
Shit, is this bastard...?
That vague feeling of incongruity gradually began to take form. My heart dropped, but I quickly pulled myself together and made a list of what I had to do in my head. First, I should put him at ease.
"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you." To prove that I was friend and not foe, I pulled out a stick of jerky from my backpack and forced it into the barbarian's hand, the greatest kindness you could show as a barbarian. Of course, he just took the jerky and didn't eat it in front of me. However, I could see that the caution etched into his eyes had eroded at least a bit.
Well, that should be enough to have a conversation.
"What are you doing here?" I asked as soon as I got the chance.
"I-I... d-don't have money, sir..."
I nodded silently. Barbarians had no money in the beginning, so that made sense. No, actually, it was a matter of course.
"What about your weapon?"
"I sold it, sir..."
He sold his weapon and he was using polite speech? "Let's introduce ourselves. I am Bjorn, son of Yandel."
"T-Tarikan, son of R-Riyen!" Apparently realizing his mistake, he spoke louder this time, but it was already too late. I was sure now.
"Nice to meet you, Tarikan, son of Riyen!"
This guy was an evil spirit, and it hadn't been long since he had arrived.
Even if what I'm thinking is true...now isn't the best time to tell her.
Just like ten years ago, this was all for the sake of her precious little sister.
***
It was past noon when I visited the Adventurers' Guild near the magic tower. To be honest, after the horrors I underwent here, I didn't think I'd be back for at least a long while. But in order to proceed with the quest I had been given yesterday, I had no choice.
The guild admin worker got straight to the point without any unnecessary niceties. "What can I help you with?"
"I am looking for a teammate at my level."
"Are you looking for a particular role?"
I answered without hesitation. "I want to join a team active on the third floor and made up of a minimum of four people."
As long as I was here to find a teammate, I had no intention of simply filling Ainar's vacancy. Rather, I planned to use my promotion to rank seven to join a team with the best skills and effectively fight our way to the top.
Well, that's assuming that there is a good team.
As soon as I handed over my identity card along with the personal information questionnaire I had filled out in advance, as was the procedure, the tired administrator flinched. Then they glanced at it several times with a strange look in their eyes. "...Five stars?"
"Is there a problem?"
"N-No!" The administrator was strangely on alert. I didn't know what the stars meant, but for some reason, their voice was now much friendlier. "T-This is a list of teams that meet your criteria. Would you like to look at it?"
I was finished going through the list within five minutes. "It's quite short?"
"I-I swear that among the recruitment requests that have been posted, these are the only ones that fit your criteria!"
Did I say otherwise? I had just been stating facts. I didn't know why they were even swearing over something like this. "Hmm." The document they printed gave a brief description of each of the fifteen teams. The first one read:
[Third Floor Exploration - Ellen Bornev
Preferred Exploration Areas: Twilight Slope, Ironrock Hill, Jet Black Estuary
Average Rank: 7
Current Number: 2 melee human warriors (Rank 7), 1 melee beastman warrior (Rank 7), 1 melee dwarf warrior (Rank 7)
Recruiting: 1 melee warrior
*Equal distribution of loot
*No elves
*Participation in the after-battle dinner is required
*Drinking is allowed during the expedition if desired]
What the hell was this team? I had only read the description, but I could already smell the sweat dripping off them. Shocked, I read through the other recruitment requests, but there were none that I was particularly interested in. If the team members were good, the loot distribution ratio was bad. If the distribution ratio was good, there was a problem with the team's composition.
If I can tell just from reading the posting, it would be even worse in reality.
Perhaps finding a team would have been easier if my adventuring career had been a little longer. The furthest I'd gone was the second floor. If it wasn't for being a so-called newbie, the range of options would have been much wider and there wouldn't be any teams so openly trying to screw me over with the distribution ratio.
How unfortunate.
If I could, I would rather put up my own listing to find teammates, but no one would sign up in that case. And if they did, they wouldn't be normal people.
I didn't think I'd find one all that quickly, anyway.
"Is there a team you'd like?"
"Not today." I returned the documents with a shake of my head, and the admin employee replied like an NPC.
"Oh, is that so? I'm sorry we couldn't be more of a help after you've come all this way. If you wish, we can make your information available to other teams—"
"No thanks. I'll come back another time."
"Ah, is that so? I've been Terbes, your ever-friendly guild employee." Their tone, words, and actions were all very friendly. Their performance was flawless too. "Goodbye, then!"
But... why did I feel so weird?
***
Leaving behind the Adventurers' Guild with mounting discomfort, I was on my way back to the inn when I ended up stopping at the corner of an alleyway because of a barbarian.
Tap.
A bushy beard, pants that were frayed and stained with dirt... most barbarians tended to act like beggars, but even taking that into consideration, this one was resting against the wall of the alleyway miserably.
What's this?
As soon as I saw him, I was hit by a sense of wrongness. Although I stayed at a different inn, I often hung out with the other barbarians, and I knew it wasn't necessarily strange for a barbarian to be sleeping on the street.
But... how come he has no weapon?
This was a very serious anomaly. No matter how poor, hungry, and cold they were, barbarians carried their weapons like they were their life. I normally shoved my curiosity down, but I found myself instinctively drawn to this person. What was happening?
"Hey."
"Eeeek!" The barbarian, who had fallen asleep leaning against the wall, spotted me and was incredibly bewildered. Well, having a fear of strangers was a natural reaction for most living beings, but that was for other races. We intrepid barbarians didn't bother with stuff like that.
Shit, is this bastard...?
That vague feeling of incongruity gradually began to take form. My heart dropped, but I quickly pulled myself together and made a list of what I had to do in my head. First, I should put him at ease.
"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you." To prove that I was friend and not foe, I pulled out a stick of jerky from my backpack and forced it into the barbarian's hand, the greatest kindness you could show as a barbarian. Of course, he just took the jerky and didn't eat it in front of me. However, I could see that the caution etched into his eyes had eroded at least a bit.
Well, that should be enough to have a conversation.
"What are you doing here?" I asked as soon as I got the chance.
"I-I... d-don't have money, sir..."
I nodded silently. Barbarians had no money in the beginning, so that made sense. No, actually, it was a matter of course.
"What about your weapon?"
"I sold it, sir..."
He sold his weapon and he was using polite speech? "Let's introduce ourselves. I am Bjorn, son of Yandel."
"T-Tarikan, son of R-Riyen!" Apparently realizing his mistake, he spoke louder this time, but it was already too late. I was sure now.
"Nice to meet you, Tarikan, son of Riyen!"
This guy was an evil spirit, and it hadn't been long since he had arrived.