Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 84

When I got out of the sewer, I was greeted by the darkening sky and two familiar faces.

“Bjorn! You’re safe!”

“Shabin? Why are you here?”

“Why am I here? After several hours, you didn’t report back, so I was worried and came to find you!”

Oh, I see. I’m grateful that they came looking for me. But…

“The two of you?” If something really happened to us, wouldn’t it be more reasonable to send another explorer after dawn, instead of forming a party with an administrative clerk and a librarian?

“What’s with that look? Ragna is a very skilled mage!”

Only then did I check the librarian who came with her. Certainly, her appearance was different from what I had seen in the library.

“Hmm.”

A glossy robe, scrolls and potions hanging from her belt, and a magic wand that looked quite expensive in her hand. I don’t know how skilled she is, but it’s clear that she couldn’t afford that equipment with a normal librarian’s salary. Is she actually rich?

“Bjorn, who are these people?”

“Shabin Emure. She’s the administrative clerk who gave me this request. And this is… Ragna Ritaniel Peprock.”

“It’s Ritaniel, not Ritaniel!”

“Anyway, she’s the librarian at the library I used to go to.”

“Heh, I see.”

After briefly introducing the others, starting with Misha, I said some formal words. “I’m sorry for making you come all the way here at this late hour.”

“There’s no need to apologize.”

“Then I’ll say thank you. I never thought you’d come all the way here.”

“……Give your thanks to Shabin. I was just dragged into this against my will.”

The librarian said that and turned her head away. Why does she seem colder today? Just when I thought it was my imagination, Shabin smiled and clung to her.

“Ragna, dragged against your will? You were so worried too.”

“Wo, worried? When did I ever say that!”

“You said that we might have gotten lost because the sewer paths are complicated, right?”

“Shabin, stop making things up. I was just talking about a possibility. And I meant that it wouldn’t be a big deal.”

“Hmm, was that so?”

Shabin smiles at the troubled librarian. That alone tells me what kind of relationship these two have. Well, that’s not what’s important right now.

“Let’s stop the small talk and get to the report.” If I want to go back to the inn and rest before the day ends, I need to move quickly.

***

The sewer patrol results were simple: one vagrant found and killed, no other abnormalities. Because the video recorder was broken, there’s no proof that I completed the request properly… It helped that I kept the identification tag.

“Hans Marcom. I remember him. He’s a wanted criminal who was on the run after being charged with robbery and murder. The request fee plus the additional allowance comes to 180,000 stones. If you visit the administrative office tomorrow, we’ll pay you right away.”

“Don’t I have to pay for breaking the video recorder?”

“That… I’ll try to talk to my superiors and resolve it. They’ll probably say it’s okay. You went through a very special situation this time, right?”

“A special situation…” It’s not exactly wrong, but I didn’t expect them to be so considerate. However, it’s more likely that Shabin was being kind to me, rather than the administrative office being a flexible organization unlike the guild.

“May the star that rises at dusk guide us…” After waiting for a while, a person came from the temple that Shabin had contacted. Not a regular priest… A holy knight with a huge greatsword on his back. He carefully checked the corpse we showed him and nodded.

“It’s the defector Elisa Behenk. Our order will never forget this merit.”

His voice is kind without any arrogance, and I even feel respect for us. But never forget? Isn’t that a bit vague?

“If it’s a merit, are you talking about a reward?” Like a barbarian who doesn’t know pretense, I spoke bluntly. The holy knight just smiled kindly.

“You misunderstand. The bounty is from the explorer’s guild.”

“Does that mean we won’t get the money if we hand it over to you?”

“Haha, I’ll send an official letter to the guild as soon as it’s dawn tomorrow, so don’t worry about that.”

“……I see.” Geez, making me feel awkward. You should have said that from the start.

“Hey, holy knight? I lost my memory while fighting that woman… Can you check if there’s anything else wrong with us?”

“Of course.” After that, the holy knight used [Greater Purification] on each of us and left. He said he had to take the corpse to the temple quickly?

“We’ll be going now too. I think I’ll have a lot of reports to write tomorrow, so I should at least go to bed early.” Shabin and the librarian were the same. As it was late, they turned around and disappeared as soon as their business was done. Well, is everything I need to do done for now?

“Let’s talk about the reward again tomorrow.”

“Ugh, are we finally going back!”

“I think I smell worse than when I came back from the labyrinth! Hahaha!” We also disbanded and headed to our respective inns. The time when I arrived was 11:30 PM. I wanted to rest right away, but I went into the bathroom and scrubbed my body for a long time to wash off the dirt. Only then did I realize it when I lay down on the bed. ‘It was a tough day.’ I don’t know why I have to feel like this after going on a 150,000 stone request… I came back alive this time too.

***

The next morning, everyone gathered and visited the guild to receive the reward. Fortunately, the holy knight had processed the matter quickly, and we were able to receive it simply by presenting our identification tags. By the way, the amount was a whopping…

“Ten million stones, I can’t believe it. Hahaha!” Even if divided by five, it’s a huge sum of 2 million stones. When we met in the morning, everyone was still complaining that the sewer smell hadn’t gone away, but now their faces were full of smiles.

“Now that I see it, Bjorn, you’re a lucky charm? It feels like money has been falling from the sky since I met you!” Yeah, you’d feel that way. It was me who had my head blown off by a psychopath. Even Rotmiller added a word.

“……I don’t believe in superstitions, but at this point, I have no choice but to believe it. Bjorn, the goddess of luck is definitely with you on your journey.” I know it’s a compliment, but I don’t feel good hearing it. Why does what I struggled and worked so hard to achieve become thanks to a goddess I’ve never even seen?

“Then I’ll be going now.”

“Huh? Where are you going? Shouldn’t we have a drink?”

“I have to go to the administrative office too.”

“Ah, they told you to come to get the request fee. We’ll drink among ourselves, so have a good trip.” Well, they’re not even saying they’ll go with me, even as a formality.

“Bjorn! Should I go with you?”

“No, you worked hard yesterday, so you should rest.”

“Umm, okay.” After distributing the reward money, I headed straight to the administrative office. A five-story building reminiscent of the old Seoul City Hall. I went up the stairs and headed to the facility management department on the third floor, where I was able to easily meet Shabin.

“Bjorn! You’re here!” Shabin was wearing her usual uniform-style outfit. However, everyone was wearing the same clothes, so she didn’t stand out. No, maybe I’m the one who stands out?

“Heh, is that the small Vulcan?”

“I heard he gets huge when he uses that ability…”

“What are you all talking about! Oh my, how scandalous…” Was it a female-dominated workplace? As soon as I entered the facility management department, a flurry of fussing whispers erupted from everywhere. I felt like a monkey in a cage. I decided to finish my business and leave quickly.

“Okay, just sign this payment confirmation form. If you don’t have a registered signature, you can just write your name.”

“I will.” I received the money and signed the documents. But as I turned to leave, Shabin grabbed me and said something.

“Ah! That’s right! If you have time, please visit the library.”

“The library?”

“Ragna, that child, has prepared something for you, Bjorn, isn’t that great?” She did that? Looking at her playful eyes, I should take it with a grain of salt…

“Okay. I’ll stop by when I have time.”

“Yes! You have to!” It seems like she has something to say, so I should stop by.

***

After leaving the administrative office, I returned to the bar where the group was. It was a mess, as expected. It was still daytime, so I thought they would be a little more restrained.

“No way, is that true? Hahahahaha!”

“Don’t lie, you dwarf old man! How can someone’s name be Dick Johnson… Nyah! Nyahahahahaha!” The dwarf and Misha were drunk and laughing while talking, and Dwarki was banging his head on the table and giggling to himself.

“Hehe, I am, the great wizard Riol Worb Dwarki…” As I sighed at the sight, Rotmiller greeted me politely.

“Ah, you’re here too? How was it, was there anything wrong?”

“That’s the question I should be asking. Why are you already like this?”

“Didn’t we make a lot of money easily this time? Everyone seems to be in a good mood.”

“……I see.” I answered that and approached Misha. Then, I took the beer glass she was holding, grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, and lifted her up.

“Aah! Wh, who…! Bjorn? When did you get here?”

“I just got here. And stop drinking.”

“…Eek! Are you my dad?” Misha looks at me with a disgusted look and resists. I was about to say something before she got more out of hand, but Misha suddenly burst out laughing.

“Ah! That’s right! My dad doesn’t care about this kind of thing, right? Nyahahahaha!” ……She’s really not in good shape today. Sigh, I was going to rest today too.

“Okay, if you’re bored, drink this.”

“Okay.” I couldn’t let her get more drunk, so I ordered a tomato juice, put it in Misha’s mouth, and sat down next to her. The dwarf is none of my business, but if she gets so drunk that she can’t control herself, I have to take her home. I’m the only one who’s going in the same direction.

“Hahaha! You two are really weird!! There’s something going on! There’s something going on!!”

“Stop talking nonsense and drink some water if you’re drunk.”

“Kehaha, you’re still young. Do you see this as beer? It’s just water to me! Water!”

“……Do whatever you want.” I decided to ignore the dwarf and ordered some food to fill my hunger. As I was doing that, Misha, who seemed to have sobered up a bit, fidgeted next to me and stared at me.

“What… do you have something to say?”

“I do!” The answer came back as if she had been waiting for it. I felt uneasy, but I nodded anyway.

“……Go ahead.” Misha slapped her cheeks, which were flushed with drunkenness, a couple of times, took a breath, and opened her mouth.

“My father wants to bring you once–”

“Oh! Who do we have here! Isn’t it Bjorn, the son of Yandel!”

“Huh? Who is that?” A man called out to me in a loud voice, interrupting Misha. He was someone I remembered.

“You are…”

“Did you forget my name already? It’s Hans! Hans Hodge!”

“……That’s right.” His name came to mind right away, but the order was confusing. This guy, with his skinny, anchovy-like body and freckles, has the Hans code B. By the way, I met him by chance at a bar when Ainar left the party. He also advised me to go to the guild if I wanted to find a companion. ‘But, what does this bastard want from me?’ Is it because I’ve encountered so many Hans since then? As soon as this guy started talking to me, I started to feel uneasy. Somehow, it felt like something shitty was about to happen.

“Can I sit down?”

“No, I have nothing to say to you.”

“Hmm, it’s a coincidence that we met like this–”

“I’m going to get up soon. So go away.”

“O, okay. I was just happy to see you…” As I was putting up an iron wall to avoid getting involved, Hans B looked dejected and turned away. I had no basis for it, but I felt like I had overcome a crisis. It was at that moment.

Bang-! The first-floor door opened, and a group of knights with the same family crest on their chests entered the bar.

“It’s Mozlan!” Mozlan. One of the city’s top military organizations that only ‘knights’ from noble families can join. “Why are they in this back alley bar…?” As befits the notoriety that being caught by Mozlan only leads to blood and death, everyone’s attention is drawn to them as soon as they enter. The bar was suddenly filled with silence.

“That way.” Following the commander’s instructions, the knights moved in unison to one place. Unfortunately, it was the direction I was in. ‘Damn it.’ What is it this time? I was going through my recent actions one by one to see if I had made any mistakes. [Always be wary of those with many grudges, no matter when or where.] The words the tribe’s shaman said while telling my fortune suddenly came to mind. Also, I saw Hans B, who was pressed against the wall in the hallway, giving way as I was returning to my seat. ‘Wait a minute, if it’s someone with many grudges…’ Could it be that he was talking about Hans? It’s true that things have never gone well when I’ve been involved with them… That’s as far as my thoughts went.

Clank. The group of knights stopped in front of our table. And in a deep and imposing voice, they looked at us and said. I froze, still holding my fork.

“Riol Worb Dwarki, you are under arrest for insulting a noble.”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t me this time.