Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 79

How long had we been walking through the sewer, cautiously scanning our surroundings?

The dwarf and Misha were starting to get restless.

“There’s really nothing here,” the dwarf grumbled.

“I know, right? I was hoping something interesting would happen soon…” Misha added, sounding disappointed.

I wondered why they were so eager to come along. What exactly were they expecting?

“I told you, didn’t I? This is just a simple patrol request. We go around once and come out,” I reminded them.

This request was straightforward. With the borrowed video recording device on my head, I just needed to follow the designated route and check for any hidden individuals.

Well, there might be a fight or two in the process…

‘The predecessor said he found less than 30 people in two years.’ The chances of encountering anyone were low.

Even if we did run into someone, it wasn’t like we had to chase after them and fight.

“Huh? We don’t have to chase them?” Misha asked, surprised.

“I heard there’s extra pay if we catch them, but we don’t need to focus on that,” I explained.

“Why not?” she persisted.

Because the request I received was for a ‘sewer patrol’. I knew that the disposal or capture was handled by new personnel after the administrative office reviewed the video recording.

“Oh, I see…” Misha said, finally understanding.

As I was explaining the request to Misha, Rotmüller, who was leading the group, suddenly stopped walking.

“I have a feeling there’s something around here,” he mumbled, his voice low.

A baseless hunch, yet everyone in the group immediately looked around.

Since it was a sewer full of foul smells, the olfactory stat [sense of smell] wouldn’t be as useful as before, but… Rotmüller was the one whose sixth sense stat had increased by +50 and luck stat by +20 thanks to the Mimic’s essence.

“Ah! There, there’s a person!” Misha shouted, pointing to a spot.

Following her gaze, I saw a man with a flustered expression. ‘Huh, how did she see that?’

He was hiding, curled up like a shrimp in a narrow gap where it was hard for even one person to squeeze through.

“Hiiik!!” he squeaked as I reached in, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him out.

He was quite tall, but so skinny that he felt as light as a goblin. His actions weren’t much different from a goblin either.

“Die!!” he yelled, trying to stab me with a dagger he was holding tightly in his hand as soon as he was pulled out.

Good try. You have to do anything to survive, right?

“Kkeuek!!!!” The fight ended with me grabbing his wrist and breaking it.

“Why were you hiding here?” I asked.

At my question, the man quickly changed his attitude.

“P-please, spare me! Please! I-I didn’t hurt anyone, I just didn’t have any money!” he pleaded.

It wasn’t the answer I wanted, but if I were to interpret it, it meant he ran away because he couldn’t pay his taxes. No one would believe that, though.

“It reminds me of the old days! When I was working at the smithy, these tattooed thugs used to come often. Hahaha!” the dwarf chuckled.

But these were different from the geometric barbarian tattoos. His skin was covered with tattoos of skulls, naked women, and monster figures.

Of course, I don’t judge a person’s inner self by their appearance. But…

“Bjorn, look at the mark on his forehead. He’s clearly a criminal who escaped into the sewer,” Rotmüller pointed out.

The mark on his forehead, hidden under his hood, was proof that he had committed a heinous crime that couldn’t be covered by a ‘fine’. There was no room for sympathy.

Well, even if he was a tax evader, the result wouldn’t have been much different.

“Bjorn, what are you going to do with him now?” Misha asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

“Didn’t the administrative office give you some kind of guidelines in advance?” she pressed.

Well, they did give me some advice. The basic policy was to catch them and bring them in, but if the video was properly recorded, it was okay to kill them and throw them in the sewer.

“You can kill them? What if they’re civilians?” Misha asked, shocked.

“They said there’s no way a civilian would accidentally enter a place like this,” I explained.

“Hahaha! They’re as heartless as the administrative office!” the dwarf laughed.

Well, I thought they were being considerate of the heartless explorers, but that wasn’t what I should be thinking about right now.

“So, what are you going to do?” Misha asked again.

“I’ll take him with me for now,” I decided.

If I were alone, I wouldn’t, but thanks to the five of us being here, we had extra hands. Above all, taking him alive gave us an extra 5,000 stones.

“P-please, just let me go. You can just pretend you didn’t see me. I ended up like this because I was trying to make a living—” the man begged.

“Enough,” I interrupted. There was no need for a long conversation. Whether he was a tax evader or a criminal, whether he committed a crime for unavoidable reasons, so what?

“I received a request. So, I’m taking you. They will make the judgment,” I stated firmly.

“…Damn it! You fucking bastards! How are you any different from me!” he cursed.

We were different. If we were the same, would he have to beg me like this?

“Dwarki, gag this guy,” I instructed.

“Ah, I understand,” Dwarki replied.

Dwarki used the newly learned [Paralysis Poison] spell to silence the man. His body stiffened.

I slung the man over my shoulder like a sack of rice and continued walking.

About an hour passed since then?

“Rotmüller, how much further do we have to go?” I asked.

“We’re about halfway there,” he replied.

“Huh? We still have half to go?” Misha sighed as if she regretted coming along. Then, she opened her mouth as if she was curious about something.

“But Dwarki, why are you so fine? You were throwing up and it was a mess last time,” she asked.

“Hehe, you mean that? Actually, I learned a magic that prevents me from smelling this time. It turns out it’s a magic that’s considered essential among mages who have been explorers,” Dwarki explained proudly.

“Oh, I see. But can’t you cast it on other people?” Misha asked.

“Uh… well, I’m not used to modifying the formula yet…” Dwarki trailed off, his boasting fading.

I chuckled. It wasn’t that he wasn’t used to it, it was that he couldn’t do it. ‘Formula modification’ was the bread and butter of the Magic Tower mages. Even if they taught basic spells for money, they never revealed how to modify magic or create new forms of spells to the outside—

“L-let’s make a deal! If you let me go, I’ll give you information!” the man, whose [Paralysis Poison] duration had ended, suddenly started screaming and struggling.

“Information?” I stopped Dwarki from casting [Paralysis Poison] again and asked. The man hurriedly continued.

“If you catch that crazy bitch! She’ll be worth much more than me!!”

“Bjorn, what are you listening to? He’s clearly trying to do anything to survive,” Rotmüller said.

I thought so too, but one word particularly caught my ear. “…Crazy bitch? Tell me more about it.”

It was worth listening to.

***

Negotiation. The act of persuading and discussing to make a decision. It is rational yet absurd. If the relationship is not equal, someone will inevitably suffer losses. Just like this.

“…I need a promise before I talk!” the man insisted.

“Dwarki, just make him like before—” I started to say.

“I-I’ll talk!!” he quickly interrupted.

Not wanting to miss this opportunity, the man started to explain the situation in detail. “There are many people living in this sewer besides me. Usually, they avoid the patrol routes, so they’re not easily seen…”

“Keep it short,” I said impatiently.

“…A few days ago, a crazy bitch took my hideout,” he blurted out.

To summarize the man’s story: He was living well in the sewer, but a woman came and took his home. She wasn’t an ordinary woman. Her body was frail, but she was accompanied by skull-headed creatures, so he couldn’t even touch her and had to run away.

“Skeletons? Isn’t she just someone who ate the essence of Necramia?” Misha asked, tilting her head, citing the 7th-grade monster Necramia as an example.

But the man seemed certain. “I don’t know exactly what it is. But! It was definitely different from the skeletons in the labyrinth! I used to be an explorer, so I’m sure of it!”

“So, what’s the conclusion?” I asked.

“She’s clearly using evil black magic. If you hand her over to the temple, you’ll definitely get a reward. Much more than what you’d get for me!” he exclaimed.

I paused to think. The timing was too coincidental to ignore. A woman using evil black magic who hid in the sewer a few days ago…

“…Could it be that woman?” I wondered aloud.

“Elisa Behenk. She definitely wouldn’t have had any other choice but to come here to escape,” Rotmüller and the dwarf said, swallowing hard, as if they had the same thought.

‘Damn it, is it really her?’ I needed to investigate further. There wasn’t enough evidence to be sure yet.

“What did she look like? Tell me in detail,” I asked.

“She was wearing a robe and had her face covered with a hood, so I couldn’t see her clearly. I could tell she was a woman by her body line and voice, but that’s all,” he replied.

“I see,” I said.

“Ah! Now that I think about it, she was wearing a very unique necklace…” he added.

“What kind of shape was it?” I asked.

“It’s hard to explain in words…” he said.

I had a hunch, so I quickly took out one item from my backpack. The symbol of the Karui Order that I found while searching Hans’s backpack the other day.

“Was it this shape?” I asked, holding it up.

“That’s it! That’s exactly the shape!” he exclaimed, nodding in agreement.

Seeing the man’s confirmation, I sighed deeply. The possibility that it was really her had increased dramatically.

“What are you going to do?” Misha asked.

“I’m thinking,” I replied.

“Hahaha, what are you hesitating for! We should catch her right away and practice justice!” the dwarf exclaimed.

Justice my ass, you just want the reward. Anyway, if the dwarf was a radical, Rotmüller was a moderate.

“I think it’s better to go back to the administrative office and report it officially. We’re not even sure if it’s the right woman yet, so there’s no need for us to take the risk, right?” Rotmüller suggested.

Both opinions were certainly correct. If we caught her ourselves, we could get the reward, and if we didn’t want to take the risk, we could just report it and pass the case on to others. But…

‘Something feels uneasy.’ If the crazy bitch this man was talking about was Elisa Behenk, it was especially uneasy to go back like this. Elisa Behenk wasn’t just a ‘bastard’. That woman was a bastard who held a grudge against me. That’s why I was secretly worried that she might be plotting something in the shadows.

‘Even if the administrative office or the temple cooperates and sends people, it will take at least a few days…’ What if she escaped in the meantime? I’d have to keep feeling this way.

“I want to check it out, what do you guys think?” I asked.

At my question, Misha immediately agreed. Dwarki, who was in a neutral position, also cast a vote following his best friend, the dwarf’s decision. Rotmüller, who was worried, also readily followed the majority vote.

“Since four of you have the same idea, I’ll follow along too. But before that, how about we finish the patrol request first?” Rotmüller suggested.

“You’re right. Let’s do that,” I agreed.

Soon, we moved a little faster and finished patrolling the route designated by the administrative office.

“Where’s your hideout? Lead the way,” I instructed the man.

“I need a promise that you’ll spare me,” he insisted.

“If it’s the woman we’re looking for, or if she’s worth it, I’ll let you live,” I promised.

“Okay, follow me,” he said.

“Wait, let’s put this on first,” I said, pulling out a rope.

“Huh…?” he asked, confused.

Huh my ass. I tied the rope tightly around the waist of the man, who was making a dumbfounded expression. And I held the long end of the rope tightly in my hand like a dog leash. It would be annoying if he tried to run away, right?

“Okay, now lead the way,” I said.

“…It’s a path that’s not on the map, so follow me closely,” he warned.

The man began to find his way through this maze-like sewer. And as I did, I realized that the structure was really complex. So far, we’d only been going around the main roads where the sewage flowed, but… If you squeezed through the narrow gaps that looked like walls, a new space appeared, there were forks in the middle, and there were places where you had to climb up through holes in the ceiling.

So, here’s a question. “Why were you hiding in such a place and got caught?” I asked.

“…I was wandering around looking for a new hideout. Then, I heard your voices from afar, so I had to hide in a hurry,” he replied.

I see, he was really unlucky.

“We’re here,” the man announced.

The place where the man stopped was a hole with a diameter of 2 meters. I didn’t know what kind of terrain it was designed for, but it seemed that if you followed the path under the hole, you’d find a large space.

“From now on, everyone, lower your voices,” I instructed.

“Hehe, this is quite nerve-wracking,” the dwarf said, excited.

Unlike the dwarf who was excited and Misha who was a little scared, I wasn’t very anxious. By chance, all five of us came down to the sewer together, not alone. Also, everyone was much stronger than before. If the woman hiding down there was Elisa Behenk…

“Hey, is there any way to escape inside?” I asked the man.

“There are no other entrances besides this hole,” he replied.

This time, I would be able to show what justice is.