Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 561

Jerome Saintred.

Eliminating him would likely solve all the problems.

There’s a saying that a butterfly’s wings can create a typhoon far away. Since he’s the key figure in the prophetic dream, his absence would bring about a significant change.

But…….

‘How do I get rid of him?’

That’s the problem.

The plan to secretly take him to a secluded place and have my companions deal with him is nearly impossible.

Not only would he not die so easily…….

[He wouldn’t die. He’d probably wake up in the royal palace.]

During my past travels, I saw it.

The scene of Jerome’s body, killed like a fly by Auriel Gavis, shattering into particles of light.

I had an idea about the identity of that ability.

‘Iblis.’

A 2nd-grade monster that appears as a guardian of one of the 8th-floor rifts.

And one of its active skills…….

‘[Heretical Altar].’

When the skill is used, an ‘altar’ is created at that location, which is one of the few ‘resurrection skills’ in [Dungeon & Stone].

If you die, you’ll always resurrect at the altar.

Note that the ‘altar’ can only be created once and is destroyed after being used three times.

So, to put it another way…….

‘Even if I assassinate him, I’ll just be branded a traitor and executed when I return to the city.’

The fact that the royal family entrusted Jerome Saintred with the position of commander of the expedition was largely due to the presence of this skill.

Even in the worst-case scenario, he could survive alone and return to the city with information.

‘Ha… why does he have such a skill?’

It’s a situation that makes you want to say, ‘What a crappy game.’

After that, I pondered how to eliminate Jerome Saintred, but no easy solution came to mind.

Instead, I kept picturing the scene of my attempt to eliminate him failing and the prophetic dream coming true.

‘Really… am I going to end up like that?’

Maybe if I just stay still, nothing will happen, and it’ll all pass.

Just as that thought began to surface.

Knock knock.

Two knocks came from beyond the door, followed by a voice.

“Come out, Yandel. It’s time for your shift.”

Right, let’s just go do my job for now.

***

One day, two days, three days…….

Time flowed like water, and the rainy season ended before we knew it.

As always, a rainbow briefly appeared and then disappeared, and the expedition’s recording crystal captured the scene well for storage.

And after a half-day break for the mages who had suffered terribly during the rainy season.

“We will now enter the island!”

After spending days on the ship, we landed on the ground and began our full-scale exploration.

Just as Jeju Island is called Samdado [Island of Three Abundances] for having many winds, women, and stones, Chonjang Island after the rainy season had two things in abundance.

“Monster group detected ahead!”

“They’re mutated individuals!”

Monsters.

And thousands upon thousands of mana stones scattered throughout the island.

“If this sight becomes known, there will be chaos outside.”

“With this many mana stones, shouldn’t the royal family control it? It means they can regularly obtain this much mana stone every month…….”

“Haha. That’s just from our perspective. Do you think the royal family would be satisfied with just this? How much money do you think they make at the checkpoints?”

Even Jerome, who had said he wasn’t interested in mana stones because of his overwhelming wealth, hardened his expression and gave a warning.

“If anyone secretly tries to take them, they will be severely punished, so the mages in charge of collection must be extremely careful not to make any mistakes!”

He said he didn’t come here to make money, didn’t he?

Still, the enormous amount of mana stones boosted the morale of the expedition.

Usually, when the royal family sends troops to a labyrinth, it’s customary for them to distribute the mana stone income as they see fit.

“We must be more proactive in gaining merit in this mission.”

“The unit we receive might change. I wanted to buy a magic tool anyway, so this is good.”

The members dreamed of a happy future and were cheerful.

However, Jerome focused even more on the mission, even after seeing the mana stones scattered on the ground. He diligently collected the ones along the way but followed the shortest path to the destination…….

“Baron, is this the right place?”

“It’s certain.”

And so, we arrived at the entrance of Chonjang Village.

However, no matter how much we looked under the tree where the entrance was supposed to be hidden, we only saw blocked earth.

“What’s going on? Did they notice our presence?”

“Well, I don’t know yet. It seems they usually come ashore and collect mana stones around the island after the rainy season ends and the monsters decrease.”

“Hmm, then we should wait for now.”

“Besides, even if they noticed our presence, they’ll have to come up eventually. They use mana stones as their staple food.”

Meaning, unless they want to starve to death, they can’t stay hidden under the village forever.

“Form a siege formation around this tree!”

After that, Jerome surrounded the village entrance and issued an indefinite waiting order. And on the other hand, he formed a special task force to collect the unclaimed mana stones scattered throughout the island.

Here, the special task force consisted of agile explorers with fast movement speed and mages who could quickly collect mana stones…….

“Mister… you have to stay safe until I come back……?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of Tersia.”

From our 4th squad, Amelia and Erwen were also selected.

I wanted to stop it somehow, but I couldn’t overcome the commander’s authority.

They also had the justification.

“It’s a separate matter from accommodating the Baron. As long as you are temporarily part of our expedition, we cannot give preferential treatment to any mission.”

My heart pounded every time Erwen and Amelia went out for special task force activities, but nothing happened until all the mana stones on the island were collected over about two days.

‘Then tomorrow will be the third day since the end of the rainy season…….’

Is it because the monsters are decreasing?

The time waiting for the monsters to appear while surrounding the tree continued.

The expedition members were enjoying the peace they hadn’t experienced in a long time, but to me, that time felt like the calm before a storm.

“Mr. Yandel, what are you staring at so intently?”

“Can’t you tell? I’m on guard duty.”

Raven chuckled as I answered while keeping my eyes fixed on the tree.

It’s not like he’s trying to make fun of me.

“So, why are you here? The mages’ place is over there.”

“There’s nothing to do anyway. I’ve finished researching all the materials I got from the library.”

“Finished? Did you find anything?”

“No. It’s the opposite. I finally admitted that there’s nothing more to be gained from these materials, and I’ve ended the research.”

“……I see.”

As if to confirm that he came because he was bored, Raven came next to me and started chattering about things he wanted to say.

“Maybe the best achievement I found in the library is the summoning book itself. Like the origin of the name. Or the characteristics of the monsters that no research could reveal, they were clearly written down, right?”

Yeah, I thought you’d like that the most.

“What’s with that grumpy face? This is a huge achievement! If it gets out, the academic world will go crazy!”

“……Whether the academic world is flooded or whatever, what does it have to do with me?”

When I answered in a nonchalant tone, Raven seemed to realize that I wasn’t interested and changed the subject.

“By the way… they were called monsters that are called humans, right?”

“Out of the blue?”

“It’s not out of the blue, I’ve been curious ever since I heard about it. What kind of individuals are they? Oh, and I’m also curious about the village chief who claimed to be a dragon knight. Is he really who he says he is? If so, I have a lot of questions. It’s hard to find records from that time now…….”

He seemed to have brought up a common topic, but I still didn’t find it fun to chat.

Come to think of it, it was always like this with him.

When we talk, the conversation always gets long?

“Raven……! Behind, behind you……!”

“……!”

“There’s nothing there?”

“……?”

Raven, who had turned around in surprise, belatedly realized the situation and clenched his fist with a resentful expression.

What is he going to do with that small hand?

“……Annoying. For a Baron. Are you a child?”

“For the vice-commander of the 3rd Magic Corps. Aren’t you too naive?”

“……I’m an idiot for worrying about someone like you.”

“I’m not a human, I’m a barbarian. It’s a sensitive topic for me, so I’d appreciate it if you’d be mindful—.”

“Ah! Annoying! Fine. I’m leaving.”

Soon, Raven huffed and returned to his position, and I watched him with a chuckle.

It was quite a productive conversation.

Especially in that it reduced the tension a bit and made things more pleasant.

He’s always been fun to tease—.

“C-Commander!!”

…Huh?

Turning my head in the direction of the sound, I saw Auyen running towards me, sweating profusely.

A myriad of thoughts flashed through my mind.

“Big trouble! Big trouble has happened!!”

What on earth could have happened?

Did something go wrong?

No, but the village entrance is over there?

Could there be another entrance?

As those numerous speculations swirled in my head, unexpected news came from Auyen Lockrove’s mouth.

“Tersia! Tersia is trying to kill a mage from the expedition! Please stop her!”

“……What?”

I quickly ran to the place where the incident had occurred, and there I saw it.

“Don’t stop me!! I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him……!! I’m going to kill him……!”

Erwen was shouting as if she had lost her mind.

And Amelia was holding her tightly, as if trying to stop her.

“……Eek!”

The mage was cowering behind a knight, completely terrified.

And a group of knights were drawing their swords, as if trying to protect the mage.

“…….”

I froze, dumbfounded at the sight.

I didn’t know the details, but for some reason.

“Her hair…….”

Erwen had short hair.

***

The whole story was simple.

Half of the temporary 4th squad, including Erwen, was on outer perimeter duty.

Then, a monster approached from an ambiguous location, and they fought together with the 1st squad, who shared the boundary line.

However, the problem here was…….

“M-Mistake! It was a mistake! As a result, no one was hurt……!”

A mage from the 1st squad miscalculated the trajectory of his magic, and the wind magic ended up heading towards Erwen.

An unexpected attack from an ally.

Fortunately, she quickly bent her waist and avoided it, but instead, her fluttering hair was cut off.

How terribly unfortunate.

“Not… hurt……?”

“B-Blood Spirit! Calm down! Don’t you know that this is harmful to the Baron as well!”

“Yandel! What are you doing! If you’re here, why aren’t you stopping her……!”

Amelia’s words made me quickly come to my senses.

Erwen had changed her hairstyle to a bob, but it wasn’t like an execution was going to take place here right now.

Let’s calm the situation first and then think.

I was about to approach her with that thought.

“Mister… you’re here……?”

Erwen, who was looking around, saw me and screamed, covering her face and sitting down.

“No! D-Don’t look!”

Uh… did I succeed in calming her down for now?

As I thought that and turned my head away as Erwen requested, I saw something.

Swoosh.

Something blue was moving through the dense trees.

“Huh……?”

Am I seeing things?

The village entrance is clearly over there?

My mind went blank for a moment, but my mouth was already open, and I blurted out what I had to say right now.

“It’s an ambush!!!”

They came out of the village.