Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 345

Her objective specs are slightly superior to mine. And the equipment is… ‘Overwhelmingly superior.’ Moreover, she’s been participating in the war for over a year, taking down Noark bastards, so her combat experience is now likely greater than mine. But there’s no need to be intimidated. Erwen made one mistake. Swoosh. It’s the distance. Regardless of being a Spirit King’s contractor, as an archer whose life depends on distance control, I have the advantage at this range. The fact that it’s a sealed room is also a positive point. Furthermore, the opponent’s mental state isn’t stable either. “A-attack? How could I ever do that to you, sir….” Well, she was calling me an evil spirit earlier. I didn’t intend to give her much time. Once we start unleashing our full power, it’ll be hard to end things quietly. Clench- I balled my watermelon-sized hand into a fist, then kicked off the floor in one go, dashing forward. But… Whoosh-! My punch, which was supposed to be a surprise attack, cuts through the air so futilely. Is this what it’s like to fight a min-maxed character? [A character optimized for maximum stats in a specific area] “…D-don’t do that.” Well, I expected this much. Thud. The moment I stopped my body as if slamming my foot on the floor. 「The character has activated [Eye of the Storm].」 A vortex formed around my body, pulling in everything nearby. It wasn’t linked with [Transcendence], so the radius was only 5m. However, it was enough to cover the room we were in. Whirr-! Bed, blanket, pillow, bookshelf, table, carpet, etc. Everything that didn’t weigh over 500kg was caught in the fierce wind and fluttered about. Of course, Erwen was among them. “…This is!” Erwen, who had fought alongside Stormgush on Parune Island, looked bewildered. She must be wondering why this skill suddenly appeared. When I was proving my identity, I deliberately didn’t show it since I didn’t think it was my original essence anyway. Whoosh-! However, Erwen had been through a lot, and she immediately improvised. She summoned a wind spirit and began to resist the pulling force. “S-stop it…!” Stop what? “Didn’t I tell you? There’s something wrong with your head.” I walked forward while maintaining [Eye of the Storm]. And… Whoosh-! I extended my fist forward. Of course, even then, I didn’t think this fist would reach Erwen. I was sure she would step back to avoid it, and then I planned to instantly increase my arm length with [Giantification]. Well, that’s what should have happened… Thud, thud. The duration of [Eye of the Storm] ended, and the various furniture and fixtures that had been fluttering fell to the floor all at once. And… “……” Erwen was standing there. In front of my extended fist, with her eyes closed. “Why……” At this point, I had to ask. If she hadn’t barely stopped herself midway, this fist would have definitely hit Erwen. But why? “You didn’t avoid it?” Erwen slowly opened her eyes, then said with an expression as if she was about to burst into tears. “Because… you would have gotten hurt, sir……” Huh? My mind went blank at the sudden change in the situation. “You’re right, sir……. Actually, I know too… that there’s something wrong with me……. But, still. Yes, still……” Erwen continued pitifully. “How could I ever hurt you, sir?” Oh… Is that so? Plop. I couldn’t speak as I watched the teardrops that had flowed down her cheek and even fallen to the floor. “……” I feel like the bad guy here. *** After that, I had a sincere conversation with Erwen. Sometimes it was too long-winded, and sometimes we suddenly went off on tangents, talking about unrelated things for a long time, but to summarize it briefly, it was like this. She hadn’t been in her right mind since I died. She endured long periods of pain with the single-minded determination to get revenge and was able to obtain the pure blood of her clan. As soon as she gained power, the war broke out, and she thought it was an opportunity for revenge, so she didn’t spare her life and sought out dangerous battlefields. She also made a contract with the Spirit King during that time. And… “I admit it was excessive, but I never tried to restrain you, sir.” Boarding up the windows and only allowing walks at night was because she was too worried about me. Rumors had spread in the city that I was an evil spirit. It was a kind of obsession. The thought of losing me again was unbearable. “Then what about Amelia?” “…She’s the same. I can’t trust her. I’m confident that I would never betray you under any circumstances… but I don’t know about her, so I’m too anxious……” “……” “But, I won’t do that anymore. I won’t stop you even if you decide to make her a companion. Honestly, I’m still anxious, but……” “Anxious, but…?” “…Because you don’t want me to.” Hmm, is she sincere? She doesn’t seem to be lying or anything… I was worried that she might suddenly go crazy again, but for now, she seemed to be completely sincere. Especially since she’s saying things like this. “The essences. If you tell me to erase them, I can go to the temple tomorrow and erase them all. If that happens… I won’t be able to protect you anymore, though……” Most of Erwen’s essences were obtained through her war achievements. But she’s saying she doesn’t mind erasing them all. “…Why would you go that far?” “Because… I don’t want to be hated.” It was still an incomprehensible reason. Were we that close? Honestly, that’s all I could think. However, saying that in this situation felt a bit off, so I didn’t voice it. “…It seems better not to erase the essences.” “…I’ll do as you say.” “Instead, if this happens again, consider erasing a few.” “Yes, if that’s what you wish, sir—” “I’m not saying this for my sake, but for yours.” That was 100% sincere. Because Erwen isn’t in a stable state right now. If I were to whisper sweet words every day and cunningly exploit her desire not to be hated, it wouldn’t be difficult to manipulate her to my liking. But, that’s not right. The relationship between companions isn’t like that. I learned that from a mage in Larcaz’s Maze. Therefore… “For… me?” I said firmly. “Yes, for you… no, to be precise, for our relationship.” “O-our relationship……” “…Do you understand?” I grabbed Erwen’s shoulder, who seemed somewhat dazed, and asked again as if to confirm, and then Erwen answered. “Y-yes, hehe……” …Did she understand properly? *** After that day’s conversation, my life didn’t change drastically. I still continued my secluded life, getting some air in the yard at night, and I didn’t remove the boards nailed to the windows. The only thing that changed was Erwen’s attitude. “Sir, here are the equipment you used to wear.” Erwen, who had been giving off the vibe that it was fine to just hide in this house, started helping me much more actively. First, it started with equipment. “This is……” No. 2988, the Guardian Corps Insignia. It doesn’t have any special stats or usage effects, but it’s one of the core items for shield-barbarians, giving a 50% shock absorption option to the shield when worn. “…You had this?” “Yes, there’s no way I could sell it.” I heard that Raven was in charge of distributing the inheritance, and after receiving this earring by mail, she had kept it without selling it. “But, why are you giving it to me now? I asked about equipment before.” “I’m sorry… I hid it because I didn’t want you to go into the labyrinth.” Right, it wasn’t just my imagination, she really did that. ‘If I hadn’t resolved things properly last time, I might have really been raised in this house…….’ It’s a bit creepy, but surely that wouldn’t have really happened. I shook off the unease and checked other parts. I thought they would have all been sold off and released into the market, but now I’ve changed my mind. There’s a possibility that the others kept them too, right? “…I think I need to look into that in detail. But what’s certain is that Abman Urikphrit would have sold everything.” “Abman?” “Yes. He said he took the things that were relatively meaningless, not the equipment you wore. Like the subspace ring and such.” Oh, I see. Since the things I was wearing were a bit difficult to liquidate, he took the things he could sell without any guilt? It’s a bit disappointing, but it’s not important. ‘In the first place, as long as this earring and that are intact, I can just get the rest again.’ The shield and armor can be remade. The other Numbers items aren’t that expensive either. “Do you know who took my necklace?” “Ah, the one that turned strange things when you put magic stones in it?” “Yeah.” The official name is No.7777, Garphas’s Necklace. This necklace had the function of transforming into random materials when magic stones were inserted. It was like a gacha version of alchemy that turned magic stones into bread, water, metal, etc. So, it wasn’t a very valuable item. Until you had the resources to unlock the hidden special event. “Actually… I wanted that too, so I sent a letter to that mage before. No, to Arua Raven, so I know.” “So? Who took it?” “Misha Kalstein.” “Ah……” The sound of wind escaped my lips as soon as I heard the name. Because she’s the only one among our companions whose whereabouts are unknown. Well, I did hear that she was with Baekho at the Round Table this time… Actually, that makes it even more confusing. It’s all like a mystery, you could say? “……” Still, I decided to look at the positive side as much as possible. Misha was someone I had a close relationship with. There’s a high possibility that she kept it without selling it. ‘Hmm… or maybe not?’ It’s been 2 years and 6 months, so I’m not sure. So, I decided to think about this issue later. ‘Anyway, it seems like Ainar would have taken the armor and weapons… so the rest would have gone to Raven?’ As I was pondering the whereabouts of my scattered old equipment, an item soon came to mind. ‘Ah, the Orb of Fire… What happened to that?’ The only bound item I had. If my disappearance in this timeline was recognized as death, it would have been possible to sell it, and if not, there’s a high chance that they still have it. ‘If it’s the latter, then Raven is probably the most likely to have it…….’ “Hoo……” The more I thought about it, the more I sighed. It’s not that I didn’t gain anything from the past, but there were too many tasks to clean up in return. “Sir, aren’t you going to eat?” “Ah… I was just thinking about something else for a moment.” I ended my thoughts and put the food that Erwen had packed from the restaurant into my mouth. And after finishing my meal, I had a brief discussion with Erwen. “What are you planning to do from now on?” “…I need to clear my name as an evil spirit first.” “Should I… use my power to arrange a place for you to prove yourself…?” Erwen suggested proving myself in front of all the royal family members, but I decided to refuse. The reason was that it was a bit too early. Eventually, I would have to use that method, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something political was involved in my case. “I think we need to approach this part more carefully. If something goes wrong, it could backfire on the entire fairy race, including you.” “…Y-you’re so kind, as always.” “Ahem. Anyway, so, about that. Now that we’ve talked about Raven and Abman, could you focus on gathering information about them?” “Yes! I will.” After the discussion ended, Erwen left, saying she had to visit the holy site, and I laid down on the sofa in the living room on the first floor to take a nap. At that moment. Knock knock. Someone knocked on the front door. There’s no reason for Erwen to knock.