Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 120

I stood there for a moment, staring ahead. In the room where I thought no one would be after Misha left, there were two people. Misha and Erwen. ‘They couldn’t possibly know each other, so did Erwen come looking for me and then meet her by chance?’ The moment I entered the room, I habitually analyzed the situation based on the given circumstances. But that was all. Thump-thump-! Unlike the damp outdoor air from the pouring rain, a strangely cool air filled my small studio apartment. This room was full of questions. ‘What’s with her? Why is she so pissed off?’ After spending almost every day together for months, I could tell just by looking at her expression. Misha was very, very angry right now. It was nothing compared to when she ate all the meat and got caught secretly throwing away the carrots. Her tail fur was slightly puffed up, so it seemed like she was also feeling wary… What was strange was that Erwen was the same. ‘……Is she crying?’ Tears were welling up in her eyes. She wasn’t sobbing, but it felt like she was trying hard to hold back? It was more like she was trembling with anger rather than crying from sadness. ‘Did they fight or something?’ Based on the information I had, I came to a conclusion. It seemed like Erwen and Misha had fought. As for the reason, well, I didn’t know either. It didn’t seem like either of them would get into such an emotional confrontation with someone they had just met. Click. As I closed the door, Misha and Erwen’s gazes turned to me at the same time. Maybe it was because of the rain and thunder, but it seemed like they only noticed my presence after I closed the door… Misha was the first to speak. “Oh, Bjorn, you’re here? This is your guest.” Misha smiled and greeted me as usual. For some reason, her eyes weren’t smiling at all. And at that moment. “Waaaaah! Mister…!!” Erwen burst into tears and jumped towards me, running. I reflexively dodged her. But was that not the picture she had in mind? Erwen, who landed gracefully, befitting her agility, bit her lip and asked me. “Is it… because of that woman?” What’s with her? She seemed very different from the last time I saw her… Well, how much time had passed since then? “Because of that woman?” “Ah, it’s nothing!” I asked again, wondering if they had really had a big fight, and Erwen flinched and shook her head. Then, she glanced at one place as if she was reading the room, and at the end of her gaze was Misha. “Bjorn, why are you so late?” Misha, who had made eye contact with me, came towards me with small steps. “You went out in a hurry earlier, did anything happen?” Her nasal voice was something I couldn’t get used to. I felt a chill down my spine, but I answered her question. “Nothing happened. Caron was accused of being a looter, but I went and said a few words, and it all ended well.” “Heh, is that so? You’ve worked hard.” Misha said words of praise and stroked my head. Usually, she would have tapped my arm or back. At this point, I had no choice but to ask. “What… what are you doing?” “What am I doing? I’m praising you for doing a good job. Barbarians can’t be seen as strangers, can they?” I tilted my head without realizing it. That wasn’t what I was asking in the first place, and… Her answer itself was full of contradictions. “Why? Barbarians and beastkins get along well, don’t they?” …Is that so? Well, they’re better than the elves, who are enemies. “Here, a towel!” Just as I was about to say something more, Misha jumped and placed a towel on my head. “Dry your hair first. You’ll catch a cold.” “Ah, okay… I will.” Something was suspicious, but I shook the water off my head and turned my gaze to Erwen. She was a guest, so I couldn’t just leave her alone. “Erwen, did you come to see me first?” “Yes? Ah, yes…” When I spoke to her, Erwen shrank her shoulders and avoided my gaze. She was running at me just a moment ago. Ah, did she feel distant because I dodged her? “Anyway, it’s good. I was thinking of going to see you anyway—” “Yes? You were going to look for me?” “…Yes?” “Really? I’m so happy. I thought you might have forgotten about me…” With just a few words, the atmosphere changed, and I chuckled and replied. “You’re a companion I met on my first dungeon exploration, there’s no way I’d forget you.” “R-right? That event was only meaningful to me, so there’s no way that could be true, right?” Huh? I felt a strange sense of discomfort, but I was overwhelmed by Erwen’s earnest gaze and nodded. “…I guess so?” “Yes! That’s how it was, after all!” I didn’t know what had happened, but Erwen’s face brightened at my one answer. I had done enough for social life, so I decided to ask what I was curious about. “Anyway, it’s been a while. So, how have you been?” “Me? Are you curious about how I’ve been?” “Yes…” “Then I’ll tell you!” Soon, Erwen began to chatter like a bird, recounting everything that had happened while we were apart. Most of it was about the dungeon. She went up the floors with her sister, defeated monsters, and absorbed new essences. Oh, and she said she usually stayed in her room and trained day and night? “Look at this! I can now handle all four elemental spirits! And I’ve even awakened three of them!” “What? Three?” “Yes! I worked really, really hard!” Honestly, I was a bit surprised. Even if she had grown like a boosted character thanks to her sister, it was hard to see it as an achievement made in just a few months. ‘Is this talent?’ In many ways, she was different from me. If I had become stronger with high-grade essences and equipment, she was closer to having bloomed her abilities through training. ‘A bow elf who has succeeded in awakening three attributes in less than a year…’ This was definitely rare. If she could awaken all four attributes, ‘that’ would be possible in the later stages. ‘Tch, if it weren’t for her sister, I could have brought her into my team.’ I felt a bit disappointed, as if I had missed out on a talent. However, I decided not to say anything unnecessary. It wasn’t like I was going to form a team right now, and there was no way she would abandon her family. “Anyway, it’s good that you were busy training. I thought you hadn’t come because I had moved my accommodation. Well, it was time for you to focus on growth rather than me.” “Ah, it’s not exactly like that…” “Yeah, Bjorn is right. If you haven’t even been here for a year, you should find your own way to survive, right?” Misha, who had been listening to the conversation silently, stood up and wrapped her arm around Erwen’s shoulder. Then, Erwen stiffened— “Yes…” She nodded weakly. Was it just my imagination that she seemed to be reading Misha’s mood? The atmosphere when I first entered the room came to mind, and I belatedly asked. “Ah, so what happened between you two while I was gone?” That was what I had been curious about from the beginning. However, Misha tilted her head innocently at my question. As if she had heard a strange question. “Huh? Nothing happened?” “Nothing happened? I thought you two had fought or something—” “Nyahat! Fight? There’s no way. We’ve become so close. Right, Erwen?” “Yes, Ms. Karlstein…” “Ms. Karlstein? Just call me big sis, big sis.” “Yes, big sis…” It looked like a delinquent older sister taking an innocent girl into an alley. There was definitely something going on… But as long as they kept their mouths shut, it would be difficult to get the answer I wanted by asking. ‘I’ll figure out what happened later…’ I walked past them and opened the window wide. The dark clouds had already receded from the sky. The wet streets were sparkling in the sunlight. So, I decided to kick them out. “The rain has stopped, so you two should go now. I need to take a shower and rest.” For some reason, I was feeling tired. *** After leaving the mister’s room. Erwen was in a difficult situation. “Huh? Are you going this way too?” “Yes, why?” “Then go first. I’ll go a little later.” The beastkin woman was going in the same direction. Well, thankfully, it seemed like this woman didn’t want to go with me either… “Then you go first. I’ll go later.” “No, I don’t want to. You go first.” This was the biggest problem. She said she would leave later? How could I believe that? It seemed like she would turn around and go back to the mister’s room as soon as she disappeared. From the looks of it, this woman was clearly suspicious of the same thing. “Haa…” Erwen and Misha sighed at the same time. “Shall we go together then?” “Yeah, that would be better.” During the walk back, there was only awkward silence. No one spoke first, and they just focused on walking. That was only natural. They had told the mister that nothing had happened, but that wasn’t really the case. [Well? You already know what I mean, don’t you?] When she heard those words, Erwen felt like a screw had come loose in her head. Her heart was pounding with anxiety, and she couldn’t hold back any longer. So, without realizing it, the words came out. [You nasty cat… !] The first curse she had ever uttered to someone. Not only that, but when she came to her senses, her hand was on the dagger at her waist. That’s when Erwen knew. [Hey, do you have a problem with your head?] If it hadn’t been for that one sentence, she would have definitely come to her senses after swinging her dagger. The beastkin woman was strong. It wasn’t just a feeling, it was real. Elves, who were naturally sensitive to spiritual energy, could feel the spiritual power of others. ‘Twice as much as me… no, maybe even three times as much.’ There was a big difference in spiritual power. That meant she had absorbed more high-grade essences. Also, she could feel it through the aura and posture she emitted. The moment she realized this, she felt dizzy. Misha Karlstein. This woman was an enemy. But she couldn’t win if she fought. That meant she would be taken away. Like that time, something precious again. Yes, she would be taken away. Emotions separated from reason swirled. A memory from a certain moment engraved in her brain paralyzed Erwen’s thoughts. Consumed by emotion, her mouth moved on its own. [Please don’t take it away… please…] A miserable plea. Words she would never have said if she had been in her right mind. Such words poured out. [What…?] The beastkin woman, who had been glaring at her with cold eyes, opened her mouth as if she was dumbfounded. Erwen also knew in her head how pathetic and grotesque she must look right now. But… She had a self that thought she could do even worse things if she could protect something precious. No, she might have really knelt down and begged while sobbing. Click. If the mister hadn’t arrived at that moment. [Waaaaah! Mister…!!] Erwen shook her head as if to shake off her thoughts. It was a shameful memory she didn’t even want to think about. For some reason, when the mister was involved, it became difficult to think rationally. ‘……Did I just look like a strange woman?’ Erwen, blushing with the shame that was washing over her, glanced at Misha. She was now standing at a crossroads. “I’m going that way now, where are you going?” “Luckily… it’s the opposite way.” “Hmm, I see…” The time to escape the awkward silence had come, but both of them stood still, looking at each other without moving. Misha was the first to speak. “Are you… are you going to come tomorrow too?” “Yes, I am.” “Haa… how did I end up like this…” Misha held her forehead as if she couldn’t believe she was in this situation. Erwen also couldn’t believe it. Until she ran here, she had only been thinking about meeting the mister and laughing happily. “Anyway, I’m going now. You should go home properly too. Okay?” “Um…” Erwen grabbed Misha, who was about to head to the other crossroads. There was something she had to say. She really didn’t want to, but. “…Thank you.” “Thank you for what…?” “For not telling the mister about what happened earlier.” “You mean when you tried to pull out your sword and attack me?” “Yes…” As Erwen lowered her head, Misha sighed deeply. “Forget it, let’s make a promise.” “A promise?” “You’re going to come even if I tell you not to, right? So, let’s keep what happened between us a secret from Bjorn. That… you’re probably similar to me… you wouldn’t want to make him worry about this kind of thing, right?” “…Okay.” “Then I’ll go now. You should go home properly too, okay?” “Yes.” Soon, Erwen parted ways with Misha and headed to her accommodation. It was quite a long distance, but maybe because her mind was so complicated, it didn’t feel that long. When she opened the door and entered, her sister greeted her. With a worried expression. “Erwen.” “Sister…” Erwen collapsed into her sister’s arms. “Did you… did you go see that person?” “Yes. He was really alive.” “Oh, really…? That’s good.” She snuggled in her sister’s arms for a long time, as if being comforted. And she regained her composure. “Sister, I’m going to become stronger.” “Stronger…?” “Yes. Is something wrong?” “No, I thought you weren’t going to train anymore…” Erwen tilted her head at her sister’s meaningful words. Why would she stop training? Well, when she had just found out that the mister was alive, the years she had spent training in her room had felt meaningless… “There’s someone I have to beat.” Erwen felt a desire burning even more fiercely than before. “So, please keep helping me, sister.” If she didn’t want to be the one who was taken away. She would just become the one who takes.