Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 524

Traces of a person, made about five hours ago. There’s no need to wonder who the owner of these traces is. There’s no way another explorer would have entered this island. It must be some of the survivors.

“Two people in total. Judging by the large footprints, they both seem to be men. Also, it seems they are moving very stealthily.”

“Stealthily? Does that mean they’re hard to track?”

“No, it’s not like that. They’re not trying to erase their tracks. It’s just that there are signs that they are moving carefully, lowering their posture and watching their surroundings. They were probably wary of the monsters.”

Mikhail Lectus. A middle-aged explorer who used to be a member of the Royal Investigation Department. It seems that this guy has a similar position to Amelia within the Armin exploration team…

“It would be better to leave the tracking to him. If he’s from the Royal Investigation Department, his tracking skills will be better than mine.”

Seeing Amelia speak so weakly, it seems that his background as an investigation department member is more impressive than I thought.

“Lectus, was it?”

“Yes, Baron.”

“I’ll leave the tracking to you.”

“Yes. I will complete it without fail.”

After that, I took the lead, and this guy guided me by telling me the direction. And how much time had passed? Following the traces, we stopped tracking and paused. It was because we encountered something unexpected. No, in this case, should I say we discovered it?

“That is…”

A corpse lying in the middle of the forest. For reference, it was the corpse of a giant, not a human.

“It’s that giant we saw in the sea…”

It had been dead for a long time, with no intact parts and a foul stench. What killed the giant?

“Looking at the wounds… it seems it was attacked by another monster, not a human.”

Is it another monster that poured down during the rainy season? Even as I thought that, I couldn’t help but sigh.

“Yandel, you don’t look good. Is there a problem?”

“Well… there’s a corpse left.”

The fact that the corpse hasn’t disappeared means that we can’t get a core from it.

“Ah…”

What would its passive be, what would its stats be? I was so excited and hyped up, but in the end, it was all for nothing. As soon as I saw the corpse, all my energy drained away, but unlike me, there were those who cheered.

“…A giant! It’s a giant’s corpse!”

“It’s not just any giant! Didn’t the Baron say so? This giant’s name is Hipramajant!”

“What are you all doing? We need to take what we can before it rots any further!”

The mages of the exploration team were ecstatic, as if they had found the most precious treasure in the world, and began dissecting the giant’s corpse.

“Wait! Carefully! Even if you take what you need, make sure to properly record what the original body structure looked like!”

“The stomach! What’s inside the stomach? No, does it even have a stomach in the first place?”

It’s like they’d be happy with just one book even in hell.

“You have some very passionate mages as colleagues?”

Muttering as if he was dumbfounded, Müll, the leader of the exploration team, wore an awkward smile on his face.

“Aren’t they the mages who joined our exploration team, which only chases dangerous things that don’t make money? Haha…”

Well, I guess that’s true. I was also interested in this, though not as much as the mages, so I watched from the side as the mages tore apart, tasted, and examined the giant’s corpse.

“How’s the skin?”

“…It’s very soft. When we tested the basic reactions, it didn’t show any anti-magic properties either.”

“Does that mean it’s not suitable for making equipment?”

“Yes… As a material… it seems a lot of research is needed.”

In other words, the skin is not worth much as a material.

“Then, what about the bones?”

To my next question, the mage answered with a brighter face.

“Ah! The bones are very hard yet light. Also, the bones themselves are so huge that a skilled blacksmith could weave them together to make armor…”

“Oh, really? How many tiers would it be as a material?”

“Uh… well… it’s light, so it seems to be more valuable as a material than ordinary steel…”

What is that? Even the bones, which I had secretly hoped for, were nothing special. If it’s just a little better than steel, it’s more reasonable to use steel, which is cheaper and easier to produce.

“B-but, there are advantages to making equipment with bones. First of all, it doesn’t rust, and…”

The mage appealed to me like a researcher who wanted more time and budget, but it wasn’t something I needed to pay much attention to.

“Okay. Let me know if you find anything unusual.”

“Yes… !”

After that, I lost interest in the corpse and spent my time guarding the surroundings, and it was when I had taken down about ten monsters that rushed at me using [Giantification].

Tap. The moment I swung my hammer instinctively at the sound from beyond the bushes.

“Ugh, ugh!”

I quickly stopped my hammer at the scream I heard.

“…Kuh, kuheo… Huk, huk…”

It was a person. And it was a familiar face.

***

The hammer stopped right above his head. And the man, as if his strength had given out, fell backward and made a sound as if he was choking. The first one to recognize the man’s face was Bersil.

“Mr. Mirtane?”

Ah, that’s right, that was his name. The five-person team that couldn’t bring the warrior down to the first basement floor. Later, they went to the human island, had a conflict, and relied on the Hectz Clan.

“…Kuheo, huk…”

“Calm down. No one will hurt you.”

“G-Goulen, Lord… !”

Soon, the man came to his senses as Bersil patted his back and then lay flat on the ground. And the first thing he said was this.

“P-please help us. Berion was badly injured while fighting monsters…”

Now that I looked, a small man was tied up in a bundle on his back. We quickly untied the bundle and laid the man on the floor. And just as we were about to bring a priest.

“…It’s already too late.”

The man collapsed at Amelia’s words after checking his breathing by putting her ear to his mouth.

“N-no way…! B-but he was just talking a moment ago… !”

The man pushed Amelia away and hugged his companion’s body. And he tried to deny the fact by checking his breathing again with his own hands.

“…”

It was rude, but Amelia didn’t say anything to the man, and neither did I. Because it’s something that all explorers experience at least once. The experience of losing a companion in the labyrinth. Sooner or later, it takes time to accept it.

“…Are you feeling a little better?”

“Yes… First of all, let me say this. I couldn’t say it earlier because I was flustered… Thank you. For saving my life…”

“I’m sorry about your companion. Can you handle the aftermath?”

“Yes. It’s my job… Could you please use a distortion magic?”

“Of course.”

After that, the man collected all the belongings, including the equipment, from his companion’s corpse, and then put the corpse into his subspace bag after casting distortion magic on it. It was a bit inappropriate to say in this situation, but this guy was a little better off. Because we were in a situation where the mage had died back then. We had no choice but to leave the corpse in the labyrinth. Well, that’s that, and this is this.

“…Then, I’d like to talk a bit now.”

We had done our duty by waiting until the aftermath was over.

“Are the others alive?”

“…The survivors are hiding in a hideout.”

According to him, the hideout wasn’t far from here.

“How’s the hideout? Is it safe?”

“…At least it has been so far.”

“Really? But why were you two outside?”

“There was an opinion that we needed to know about the island to escape from it. So… Berion and I, who are the fastest, were selected.”

I see, they were a kind of reconnaissance team. Tsk, if they had just stayed hidden inside, this wouldn’t have happened. ‘…It’s better not to say this.’ I decided to save my words and just listen to the rest of the story at the hideout. Whether it was true that the hideout was nearby, after being guided and moving, a rock hidden in the bushes appeared.

“It’s disguised as a wall using magic.”

“I’ll send a signal now.”

The man knocked on the rock and sent a signal inside, and after waiting for a while, the wall disappeared and a person came out from inside.

“Mirtane! Why are you so late… Oh, Baron Yandel?”

The leader of the Hectz Clan, who was scolding his worried companion, widened his eyes when he saw me.

“It’s been a while. White Hectz.”

“Oh my god… !”

“Can we go in?”

“Y-yes, of course! Please come in!”

The cave we entered with the whole group was much wider inside than it looked from the outside.

“I… I was really surprised. I never thought I’d see Baron Yandel here…”

“Really? Is that unexpected?”

“Unexpected… you say?”

“I thought you’d ask about the explorers who came with me first.”

“Ah… ! Y-you’re right! There were only 60 of us who came down at that time…”

He said that as if he had realized it belatedly, but it didn’t sound like he was being sincere. Then is he the evil spirit who requested the rescue? Well, it’s not something I have to find out, so I didn’t pick at his words and ask him.

“H-how did this happen?”

At White’s question, I explained the situation roughly. Starting from the fact that time was flowing in the city even while we were here, to the fact that the labyrinth had opened once more recently. And even that additional explorers had entered the first basement floor.

“One of you requested a rescue at the gathering of evil spirits, and it seems that it spread in the city as well. Thanks to that, we were able to find out the location of this island and come here.”

“T-that’s…”

“Do you have anyone in mind who might be an evil spirit?”

“I don’t know. B-but… maybe it’s one of those who have already died.”

“Like the one who died today?”

“…”

White Hectz kept his mouth shut, perhaps to protect his companions, and I stopped probing him. Thinking about it, this was also a bad habit. I keep saying things that probe without needing to.

“Okay, tell me about it. What happened after we parted ways?”

I ended the story about the evil spirit and brought up another topic. However, their exploration was not as eventful as I thought. They explored the library we left, but when they found nothing, they changed their plans and went back to the sea?

“It was when we were aimlessly sailing in search of a new area. Suddenly, monsters poured down from the sky like rain.”

Unlike us, who spent the rainy season in a safe village, they encountered the rainy season at sea. And they arrived at this island just before their ship broke down. After that, they ran away frantically, found this cave, and hid. ‘No wonder the numbers are less than half, they must have all died during the rainy season.’ It was fortunate that they found a place to hide in a few hours, if they had been outside for longer, they would have been annihilated.

“You’ve been through a lot. You’ve worked hard.”

“L-Lord, how was it for you? If time is flowing outside as well, then we must find a way to escape from here… Have you found it?”

“Not yet. I’m still looking.”

At my honest answer, White pressed his lips together and then asked carefully.

“…There is one, right?”

“Yes. There will definitely be one. I will definitely find it.”

Those words that would be more comforting than anything to those who were looking for a place to rely on.

“…We will also help you, Lord. Even if it’s not a big help.”

At this, White spoke with a determined voice, as if I was the only one he could trust, and I counted the number of explorers he was leading and answered.

“I’m grateful that you said that. Let’s work together.”

I got 12 unpaid slaves.

***

There was still time left until the usual camping time, but we decided to end the exploration for today.

“Everyone, rest on your own. Even if we don’t know what will happen tomorrow, we’ll stay here for today.”

With the addition of personnel, it was determined that we needed to do some maintenance before moving on. Besides, there were also preliminary investigations to do.

“White. Have you found anything about this island?”

They had mostly been hiding in the cave, but White’s story was helpful since he was an explorer who had visited this island much earlier than us. Currently, we had no information other than the fact that the monsters were using [Giantification].

“When the rainy season you mentioned, Lord… ended, Berion, who went out to investigate, saw a giant monster from afar.”

A giant monster. However, judging by the characteristics, it wasn’t referring to Hipramajant.

“When he first saw it, it was at least 40m tall…”

Hipramajant is less than half that size.

“He said it was tearing apart a Valksus [a type of monster] with both hands.”

It’s impossible to have the power to tear apart a 2nd-grade monster like that.

“To be honest, we wondered if we had encountered a monster that uses illusion-type abilities… But I thought you should know, so I’m telling you.”

“I see. Good job. I’ll keep it in mind.”

Since it was something that a dead person had witnessed, I couldn’t ask for more details, so I put this issue on hold and listened to the rest of the story. Like the surrounding map drawn by the reconnaissance team. Or new types of monsters that we haven’t encountered yet. There was a lot of information that would be quite helpful in the exploration that would resume tomorrow. Well, the highlight was something else.

“And lastly… there’s one thing I’d like to show you, Lord.”

“Show me?”

“Would you… follow me for a moment?”

After that, in a small hollow inside the cave that I followed White into, there was an artificial structure. I gaped as soon as I saw it.

“This is…”

It was a portal stele [a stone pillar used as a portal].