Surviving The Game As A Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 727

The art museum in District 4, a place I had visited alone a few times.

There, abandoned without a caretaker due to the Noark invasion, a woman was putting paintings hanging on the walls into her subspace [a personal storage dimension].

“Um… Ms. Emily?”

“I’m not stealing them.”

“…Pardon?”

“If they’re left like this, people who don’t know their value might carelessly damage them…”

“Ah, ah… yes… I see.”

“I’m absolutely not taking them to hang in my house later. I’m planning to return them immediately if asked. Understand?”

“…Yes, I understand perfectly. But what I was trying to say was about something else…”

Amelia, looking embarrassed at Auyen’s words, cleared her throat.

“…Speak.”

“It’s… nothing much… Ah! And of course, I’m not rushing you! It’s just… I was wondering what the plan is going forward…”

At that question, Amelia rested her chin, looking thoughtful for a moment.

And then…

“I’m thinking.”

“…Pardon?”

“For now, we can hold out. There’s no need to move hastily. Even if it’s frustrating, just bear with it a little longer.”

“No, no! I’m not frustrated or anything like that at all!”

“That’s a relief then.”

After that, Amelia wandered around the darkened art museum, putting artworks into her subspace, and Auyen assisted her, helping with the task.

And then…

“Aren’t you going to take those?”

“Those works are trash. I heard the artist did terrible things to young girls while he was alive.”

“…Let’s burn them.”

Using the remaining works as kindling, Amelia leaned back to rest, and Auyen didn’t bother her with more questions.

“……”

Silence continued like that.

After a long time, when it was getting dark outside the window.

Auyen opened her mouth with a subdued voice.

“…I’m sorry, Ms. Emily.”

A question without a subject.

But Amelia, who immediately understood its meaning, chuckled.

“Are you talking about when we got separated?”

“Yes… If I hadn’t been left behind then… we wouldn’t have had to hide away like this.”

The day the main force abandoned them and retreated.

Auyen, who was at the front line, couldn’t avoid an arrow during the chaotic battle and was left behind.

As soon as Amelia saw this, she immediately turned back to save her, and although she managed to rescue her, they were separated from the clan members.

Then, somehow, they moved to avoid encountering enemies as much as possible, and the place they arrived at was this District 4 art museum.

“…I’m sorry. I held you back…”

“It’s not ‘I’m sorry’.”

“…Pardon?”

“In that case, you should say ‘thank you’.”

Even as she said that, Amelia found it a little funny and laughed.

‘Not ‘I’m sorry’ but ‘thank you’…’

A line she would never have said in the past when she was full of venom.

Thinking that, a strange loneliness suddenly bloomed.

Not just longing for people, but an emotion that started with a specific someone.

‘…I wonder if he’s caused any more trouble in the meantime.’

Even with that worry, Amelia realized.

This was the feeling of ‘missing someone,’ and that ‘missing someone’ was a little different from what she felt for her older sister.

Swoosh.

Instinctively, Amelia, who had been crouching behind the wall where the light was least present, got up and headed to the window.

The window seat where the bright moonlight shone best.

Originally, she didn’t prefer such places.

Old habits die hard, the dark was psychologically comfortable, and she felt an unknown discomfort in bright places.

But…

‘Not bad.’

Amelia quietly murmured, receiving the warm moonlight.

“Emily Raines.”

A new name created because she didn’t want to cause trouble.

At first, she was so satisfied just by being able to live in the light with that name.

Was I such a greedy person?

“Amelia Rainwales.”

She spoke her real name for the first time in a long time and thought.

‘Maybe.’

Maybe it was time to end the life of hiding in the shadows—.

“……?”

When her thoughts reached that point, she noticed an anomaly in her body and quickly activated her ability.

‘Self-replication.’

The ability she had used like her own body for a long time did not activate.

And…

“…Is this the punishment for being greedy?”

She knew the reason all too well.

***

「The character has entered the range of [Unspoken Decree].」

「All essence skills are sealed.」

***

Betrayer.

At that word, my body stiffened involuntarily, and my ears perked up. It was an unavoidable human instinct to form a ‘society’.

‘……It’s a little too late to chase after him anyway.’

I decided to coolly give up on chasing the corpse collector. However, I warned her in case she was up to something.

“If it’s nonsense, it’ll end quite painfully.”

It wasn’t an empty warning, and thankfully, that sincerity seemed to reach her.

“…O-of course. It’s okay! Because it’s not a lie!”

“Then, go ahead.”

Without any long preamble, I immediately got to the point, and Vivian, knowing my personality, swallowed once and immediately started with the core.

“Arua Raven! That mage who was your former comrade is the betrayer!”

Heh, Raven was the betrayer, huh…

As soon as I heard that, the hand holding the hammer tightened.

It goes without saying, but it wasn’t because I felt betrayed or anything like that.

“You wasted my time.”

Did she think I gave up the chase to listen to this kind of bullshit?

Right, I should quickly finish this and follow him—.

“I! I saw it myself!”

Saw what?

I thought it was a waste of time to listen to her nonsense, but surprisingly, the woman’s mouth moved faster than my hammer.

“When the Imperial Capital Karnon was burning! You clearly saw her and said, ‘I didn’t expect to be betrayed like this…’!”

“…Are you on some kind of drug?”

“Ah, no! I know it sounds strange! But… Ack! Wait a minute! Put down the hammer! I can explain.”

“10 seconds.”

“…Pardon?”

“9 seconds, 8 seconds…”

Ignoring her completely, I started counting down, and Vivian, understanding the meaning, urgently began her final statement.

“O-Oppa might not know, but I used the first-class black magic [Future Sight]. Ah! O-Of course, I couldn’t do it alone, there were many other black mages and we received enormous support, so we barely succeeded…”

“You need to get to the point.”

“It was magic used to predict the success or failure of this event, and that magic ended in failure! I saw Karnon burning, but I didn’t see the most important scene of the king’s assassination, and I saw the wrong scene!”

“…So, that scene was Raven betraying me?”

“Yes! That’s right! That’s why I said I saw it myself!”

Hmm…

At this point, it seemed like it might be worth listening to a little more.

“30 seconds added.”

“…No, I’m telling you the truth?”

“So, I’m giving you time to convince me whether it’s true or not.”

“…You want me to prove that what I’m saying is true in 30 seconds? How… how am I supposed to do that…?”

Well, I don’t know?

“That’s for you to figure out.”

As for me, if there’s no answer even after time passes, I’ll just prove gender equality with my hammer. With that mindset, I slowly counted down, and silence followed for a while. It seemed like she was at a loss for how to convince me in 30 seconds…

“15 seconds have passed.”

It was when the time limit was halfway through that Vivian opened her mouth.

“No matter how much I think about it, I can’t prove it.”

“Ten.”

“Unless you give me more time.”

“Nine.”

“I absolutely can’t do it in 30 seconds.”

“Eight.”

“So, in that time.”

“Seven.”

“I’m going to try to talk.”

“Six.”

“I’ll just tell you why you shouldn’t kill me.”

“Oh?”

Wow, as expected of a mage, her judgment is amazing.

“Impressive judgment. 15 seconds added.”

Counting down every second was annoying, so I only counted down in my head from then on, and in the meantime, Vivian’s gamble quickly continued.

“You’re going to the Barbarian Sanctuary now, right? I can take you there without any noise.”

“I’m confident I can go alone.”

Of course, it might be a little noisy in the process.

There was no reason to receive help from a former enemy, even creating variables.

As I maintained that attitude, Vivian, as if she had expected it, immediately presented her next proposal.

“Communication.”

“……?”

“If I’m there, I can eavesdrop on the communications of the higher-ups.”

“Hmm…”

“Just knowing the overall movements would be helpful, right? I’m not just talking about the strategic part, but also if something happens to your comrades, you’ll be able to know right away.”

“……”

“That’s all. If you don’t need this either, I have nothing more to offer.”

Okay, so that’s what it is.

“So… what are you going to do?”

She was speaking quite boldly, but at this moment, I could feel that she was terrified.

Well, who would be indifferent to death?

There’s no one like that anywhere in this world.

Knowing that, I was so influenced by that guy’s choice back then.

“It’s on hold for now.”

I couldn’t stay here forever, so I picked up Vivian like a piece of luggage and headed towards the ramparts.

First, I was going to go back and discuss it with Raven.

However, before that, I had to make this clear.

“That story about the betrayer.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t tell that story to anyone. Understand?”

“Yes, yes! Of course! How tight-lipped do you think I am!”

Tight-lipped, my ass.

As soon as she was in a life-threatening situation, she spilled secrets she wasn’t even asked about. Soon, as we returned, Raven and Astarotta were waiting for me in front of the slightly open gate.

“Yandel!”

“It seems like things have been roughly cleaned up here?”

“It couldn’t be helped. As soon as you chased after them, most of the corpses lost their power.”

Hmm, were they too busy running away to control them?

I didn’t know, but as soon as we finished our brief greetings, Raven’s gaze moved to my shoulder.

“But that woman… that’s her, right?”

“Ah, you know her?”

“I would have known even if I didn’t know her.”

“Ahaha… Hello? It’s been a while, sister…”

“…Sister?”

“Oh? Isn’t that right? I thought you were older than Yandel oppa [older brother]?…”

Raven was speechless for a moment at the bold question.

“…Call me by my name. I have never allowed you to call me by such a title.”

“Ahaha… Okay. Ms. Raven.”

It wasn’t a place to talk in the open, so we went into a nearby building to talk in detail.

There wasn’t much to explain.

I chased after the corpse collector and caught her.

She persuaded me that she could be helpful.

If you take out the story about the betrayer, it can be summarized in these two lines.

“So, you’re worried? Whether to use this woman or just get rid of her cleanly.”

“Yeah. I wanted to hear your opinion, so I brought her back alive for now.”

“Hmm… Then, let’s check the conditions she offered first?”

Raven approached Vivian.

“You said you could access the Noark’s upper communication network? Let’s see. Maybe you’ve already lost access.”

“…Hehe, that won’t happen.”

“So, show me. I need to know how important the information is.”

“Okay.”

At Raven’s request, Vivian took out a black crystal ball and connected to the communication network without saying anything, and the network worked normally.

However…

[Jibne, Terua, Didibar.]

“What are they saying now?”

“It’s a military code. Even the intelligence department hasn’t been able to properly decipher it yet.”

“I see… It was too easy to access the network. Did they think they couldn’t kill me even if they showed it right away?”

“I’m not that stupid?”

“Enough, just translate it. What are they saying?”

“Point 5-3, royal family troops, signs of gathering, observed… it says?”

At Vivian’s words, Raven and I quietly made eye contact.

Because we knew where 5-3 was as soon as we heard it.

I was the one who asked them to move the troops tomorrow morning to draw attention.

‘Eavesdropping… it might be useful?’