Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 623

After locking Subordinate G in the basement, we drew all the curtains and gathered in the darkened living room to freely share our opinions.

“…The situation isn’t good,” Versil began, breaking the silence.

“They’ll soon realize the patrol that found us has disappeared. Then, a full-scale search will begin. It’s only a matter of time before they find us here.”

It was certainly dangerous to stay in this house.

Even for us, being surrounded would be impossible to handle.

I felt it during the Ice Rock Expedition, but the top-tier plunderers of Noark, including Orculius, were not opponents to be taken lightly.

‘Since they’ve continued to attack the 8th floor, they must be even more elite than before.’

I nodded at Versil’s assessment and said, “Don’t worry. I have no intention of hiding here either. We need to find a way to escape as soon as possible.”

“That’s a relief.”

We had to escape the 7th District, which was occupied by the Noark forces.

Once that goal was clearly set, the subsequent conversation naturally focused on it.

“I heard they’re occupying the 13th District at the same time? It’ll be difficult for them to control the entire wide wall with just their forces.”

“You mean we should find a gap and break through.”

“Yes! Once we get over the wall, there are allies on the other side, right?” Erwen suggested a forced breakthrough.

“How about using the sewers…? The path is narrow, so even if we get caught, it might be manageable….” Misha proposed a detour.

“…Why bother with all this? Why not just hide? If we wait a few days, the royal army might come to rescue us….” Ainar suggested a survival strategy, lacking fighting spirit.

And….

“Auyen, you speak up too. Don’t just stay quiet.”

“Yes? Are you talking to me?”

“I’m not saying you have to give the right answer. Just say what you would do if you were in this situation. Don’t feel pressured.”

“If I had the power… I would go save the people.”

“People…?”

“Yes… Most of the explorers in the 7th District are being held hostage by them….” Even the opinion of the navigator Auyen, which was very unexpected.

“O-Of course, I’m not the kind of person who is a hero…! I-It was just a thought, so don’t mind it!” Auyen added, flustered, as everyone’s attention focused on him.

But….

“Not bad,” Amelia said, impressed by Auyen’s opinion, and looked at me, “Yandel, maybe now is our chance. They don’t know we exist. They’ll only be on guard against the royal army beyond the wall.”

“You mean we should take advantage of this and strike them from the inside.”

“Yes, if we succeed, it will be a huge achievement. After all, two cities of Lavigion have fallen to an external enemy. Maybe we’ll be recognized as much as the nobles who stopped the Duke of Reverse Heaven during the Iron Wall incident.”

Amelia’s words were certainly reasonable.

Even in the long history of Lapdonia, such a major event could be counted on one hand.

If we succeed, we could aim for numerous rewards, as well as a promotion.

My position in the Melves, the interspecies noble alliance I belong to, would also be elevated.

“…Let’s hear more about it. Auyen, bring that guy from the basement.”

My worries deepened.

***

Subordinate G, who had been briefly locked in the basement and then released, answered the questions sincerely, as if he had truly become our ally.

Thanks to him, we were able to learn more about the situation in the 7th District than before….

“The explorers are being held in various locations.”

The places where the explorers, who had far superior combat power than ordinary people and usually served as the city’s standing army, were imprisoned could be divided into three main areas.

The underground prison of the Explorer’s Branch, where I had been imprisoned once before.

The underground prisons of the Three Gods Temples.

And the underground prison of the 7th District Police Station.

Of course, those were just the main divisions; if you divided them further, there would be dozens of places.

There were several temples and explorer branches in the 7th District alone, and the police station was also made up of several sub-branches.

“Because there are so many explorers being held hostage, they had no choice but to imprison them in this way….”

However, it was ambiguous whether this was a good or bad thing.

‘On the one hand, the forces are dispersed, so it might be easier to carry out a rescue operation….’

On the other hand, it was clear that our presence would be exposed if we visited just a few places. No matter how fast we moved, there was a distance between each prison.

“Still, it’s a positive thing that our forces will be strengthened each time we visit a place.”

“Y-Yes…? A-Are you perhaps planning to save them…?”

“Why are you curious about that?”

“……”

Anyway, after that, we heard about the patrol areas and the scale of the forces deployed on the wall. Well, this guy was just a low-level grunt, so he couldn’t explain everything accurately….

“Ah, and the civilians will be gathered near the wall. They’re gradually releasing them as the pressure from the royal family increases, and they’re in a standoff….”

There was a big difference between knowing even a little and not knowing at all.

“Okay, then go back home.”

“……Home, you say?”

“Auyen will guide you.”

After that, we locked Subordinate G back in the basement, and we had one last meeting.

“Looking at your expression, you seem to have already made a decision.”

“……Can you tell?”

“To some extent. So, what are you going to do?”

It wasn’t a question asked because he really didn’t know, so I didn’t drag it out and answered right away.

“We’ll free the hostages and escape this city together.”

“How?”

Amelia asked briefly at my words, and I answered immediately without any hesitation.

“We’ll have to think about it from now on.”

“……”

“Together.”

I had made the decision because I thought it was worth trying, but I hadn’t yet made a detailed plan.

In the first place, it was better to put our heads together than for me to decide on these details alone.

“Okay, let’s start then.”

Thus, a meeting to make a plan continued.

Which prison to target first, which route to take.

Whether it would be better to go over the wall at the end or take the sewers.

If we chose the wall, which point would be the best.

We discussed these things for a long time, and just as the outline was gradually taking shape….

“But….”

During a quiet moment when the meeting paused, Misha carefully opened her mouth.

“Isn’t it a little… strange?”

A murmur with the subject missing. Erwen retorted with a displeased look.

“What’s strange?”

“Well… what do the Noark people want? There are some parts that I just don’t understand.”

“Their thoughts are obvious, aren’t they? They want to take our things and become the masters of the world.”

“That’s true, but… this is too reckless.”

Misha quickly continued, “In the first place, those people know it too. That holding hostages and holding out is just a waste of time. So why did they invade like this?”

Erwen didn’t disagree with that.

To be honest, the question Misha had was something we all had to some extent.

In this current situation, Noark can never win.

Even if they had dozens of times more hostages, the royal family wasn’t the kind of people who wouldn’t draw their swords for fear of bloodshed.

And….

‘There’s no way Noark wouldn’t know that.’

An invasion with a predetermined ending of defeat.

But why did the Noark guys commit such a foolish act?

Was it because they couldn’t think that far?

Well, that could never be the case.

“It’s also suspicious that they targeted two districts at the same time. It’s already precarious how long they can hold out even if they only target one….”

“Moreover, there’s Bipron between the 7th and 13th Districts, so it’s much harder to defend.”

“……That’s right. Why did they really do that? Is there some purpose in Bipron?”

“I don’t know for sure, but it’s clear that there’s a purpose behind their actions.”

Yes, at this point, it’s reasonable to assume that there’s a hidden plan.

“Then what about the hostage situation?”

“They need time to carry out their next plan.”

“Then we need to move as quickly as possible. If they’re given enough time, we can’t even imagine how the situation will change.”

As expected, two heads are better than one.

As we gathered and shared our opinions, we also realized that there was a time limit.

Well, we didn’t know how much time was left.

But at least everyone was aware that we had to move quickly.

“……Then the route is all set. Is everyone familiar with it?”

“Ah, I’m not yet—”

“It’s okay, Ainar. You just need to stay next to Versil.”

“Oh! Is that really true!”

Yeah. I didn’t expect you to memorize this anyway.

It’s best to just keep Ainar next to a smart person.

“Then, since we’re all ready, let’s go.”

We were about to leave after finishing all the preparations.

Is it in his DNA that he can’t forget an oath, even if he can’t remember anything else?

“Byorn! Down there! What are you going to do with that guy locked in the basement! You clearly swore you’d let him live!”

Ugh, why does he remember useless things like this?

I couldn’t show Ainar, who didn’t know I was a player, that I was easily breaking an oath, but of course, it didn’t turn into a big problem.

“What’s the problem? I let him live, didn’t I?”

“……Huh?”

“Then, am I supposed to take care of him, give him food, and keep him with me?”

“Uh… that’s not it….”

“Then it’s fine. Leave him alone. He’ll take care of himself. If he starves to death, that’s his fate.”

“Oh… is that so?”

“Ainar! Don’t say useless things and quickly go stand next to Versil! That’s your place!”

“Okay!!”

Okay, then I’ve persuaded Ainar too.

Creak, Thud-!

Alright, let’s go.

***

We left the ruined old house and moved as secretly as possible, avoiding the eyes of the patrols.

Looking at the movements of the patrols, it seemed that they still didn’t know about us.

“This way.”

Ah, by the way, I entrusted the role of guide to Amelia.

She’s practically an expert in fields like stealth and infiltration.

In fact, as we followed her instructions, stopping when we needed to stop and moving when we needed to move, we arrived exactly on time as we had planned.

“As I heard, there aren’t that many guards.”

The Great Temple of the Leatlass Church, which I often visited.

Also, the starting point of today’s escape plan.

We secretly observed from the second floor of the building across the street and began our plan in earnest.

Well, all I had to do was wait.

“I’ll be back.”

Amelia and Misha, who had stealth skills.

And Erwen, who was capable of long-range assassination.

The three of them formed a separate unit and left the building, and after waiting for a while, a signal came.

We came down from the building and headed to the front gate, and by then, all the guys guarding it were already down.

Fshhhhh-!

Using Amelia’s exploration tools, we cleanly erased all traces and entered the Great Temple.

And….

Thud-! Crunch-! Fwish-!

We followed Amelia and repeated the same actions.

However, if the tail is long, it will be caught.

“It seems like… we’ve been caught, right?”

At Erwen’s murmur, Amelia frowned and nodded.

“It seems so. Judging by how noisy it’s become.”

She said it was noisy, but I couldn’t hear any sound.

…But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe her.

“But how did we get caught?”

“Well, there are many ways. There are always guys with mysterious abilities everywhere. Let’s ask questions later and speed things up for now.”

“Alright.”

Well, I was hoping to finish this quietly and have some time to spare.

“The royal family! The royal family has attacked!”

In fact, the moment we arrived at the stairs leading down to the basement where the prison was located, the forces stationed in the Great Temple appeared and attacked us.

Killing them all before going down was one way, but it wasn’t a good way to save time.

“Yandel, we’ll take care of this, so go down.”

“Okay.”

I left the cleanup of the ground floor to my comrades and hurried down to the basement.

The underground prison was built much wider than the ground area.

It seemed that only one person was on guard duty at a time, as I couldn’t see anyone else except for one person.

“O-Oh, don’t come!”

The guard, who had heard the news from the ground, greeted me with his weapon drawn….

Crunch-!

When I smashed the guard’s head with a hammer, the imprisoned explorers also realized the situation.

“Rescue team…?”

“Why is there only one person…?”

“Wait a minute… he looks familiar….”

“Baron Yandel! It’s Baron Yandel!”

“The giant has come…!!!”

The shouts echoing in the underground were so loud that my ears hurt, but I decided to think positively.

Yeah, it’s good that they have the energy to shout.

It’s better to use this opportunity to gain favor.

“Wait! I, Byorn, son of Yandel, have come to save you!!”

“Waaaaaaaah!!”

After the favor engraving was complete, I searched the waist of the guard I had knocked down for the key—.

‘…There’s no key?’

It was an unexpected situation, but I wasn’t flustered.

There was no problem in this world that couldn’t be solved.

If you had enough power.

Crack-!

The iron bars bent like a spoon with a little force.

“T-Thank you! Thank you!”

“Did the royal family send the Baron?”

“I heard he was missing….”

The imprisoned explorers came out through the gaps and asked all sorts of questions.

It was good to gain favor, but I didn’t have the time to answer them kindly.

“Okay, okay, explanations later. Just hold out your hands.”

“Ah…! Yes!”

First, I broke the restraints that the explorers were wearing with my bare hands, like cracking walnuts. As they were magical tools that sealed the essence, their physical durability was low.

“If you’re free, quickly go upstairs and help. Don’t block the way.”

“I-Is there any way to get my equipment….”

“Ask about that upstairs. I don’t know either.”

“Yes!”

Without having to bother finding the keys one by one, I solved everything with force, and the liberation work was finished much earlier than expected.

But….

“Down there! There are priests and mages on the second basement floor!”

Oh, there’s a second basement floor too.

No wonder there were only ordinary explorers here.

“I, Byorn, son of Yandel, have come to save you!!”

After that, I went down to the second basement floor and continued the rescue operation, gaining favor in the same way.

When I finished all the work and went back upstairs, this side was also cleaned up.

“Uncle, you’ve worked hard.”

“You guys worked hard. Anyway, more importantly, is there a priest! Are there any priests above the rank of bishop? The more, the better!”

I picked out only the priests from among the freed explorers and gathered them in one place.

Fortunately, as it was a place like this, there were more than ten priests above the rank of bishop….

“……Are you perhaps injured somewhere?”

“It’s not that, I need your help for the next plan.”

“Ah, is that so! I will do my best to help. But… what do you want us to do?”

“Pray for us.”

“Pray… you mean…?”

At the priests’ reaction as if they had heard something out of the blue, I smiled and said.

“I want to erase the essence.”

“…….”

“Right now.”

Yes, if you want to do great things, you have to strengthen yourself first.

***

「The [Essence of the Orc Hero] that had permeated the character’s soul has been removed.」

「Strength decreases by -70.」

「Agility decreases by -35.」

「Fighting Spirit decreases by -40.」

「Physical Resistance decreases by -20…」

「······.」

「······.」

….

「The [???? Essence] permeates the character’s soul.」