Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 85

Mozlan’s work was truly swift and decisive.

“Hehe, I am a great magician… Huh? Who are you people…?”

“This is the one, take him away quickly.”

The knights grabbed Dwarki, who was lying face down, by the hair to confirm his identity, then swiftly restrained his arms.

“W-wait, what’s going on…?”

The drunken dwarf finally came to his senses and tried to grasp the situation, but to no avail.

“You don’t need to know.”

“B-but…”

“Do you have a problem with our methods?”

It seemed like they would drag him along if he nodded.

I stopped the dwarf from speaking and answered instead.

“No, we don’t.”

“…Are you the little Balkan? You’re quite wise for a barbarian.”

His tone and gaze were hardly complimentary.

Soon, the men left the tavern with the drunk Dwarki, and the dwarf started making a fuss.

“Bjorn! They must have made a mistake. There’s no way, no way that friend of ours would do such a thing!”

He wasn’t entirely wrong.

Insulting a noble?

Unless it was impersonation, the charge of insult was hard for even me to accept.

However…

“We have to help him!”

What should we do to save a comrade who was taken away by the authorities?

I closed my eyes.

“Hicurod, c-calm down. Bjorn’s being like that because he has a plan!”

Sigh, I was just going to rest today…

Why does this always happen?

***

Before doing anything, I needed to understand the situation accurately.

Because I still had no information.

I didn’t know if he had really insulted a noble, if they were mistaken, or if someone had framed him.

So, I quickly left the tavern and headed to Mozlan’s headquarters.

However…

“Please wait until the official investigation is concluded.”

The Mozlans, who were closed-off and arrogant even in the game, wouldn’t give me any information.

So, I went to find Shabin.

“He was taken by the Mozlans…? I’ll look into it. I can’t guarantee I’ll find anything, though…”

“That’s enough. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

Shabin was still a public official, so I figured she’d have better access to information than a random explorer.

“…He’s still alive, right?”

“Hicurod! I know you’re worried, but please stop with the jinxing and just stay quiet!”

“Ah, okay.”

So, while waiting for Shabin’s reply, I spent the whole day waiting in front of Mozlan’s headquarters.

“H-hey? Isn’t that Dwarki?”

“Looks like it.”

Dwarki, with his shoulders slumped, came out through the main gate. Contrary to the dwarf’s worries, he didn’t look like he had been tortured, nor did he seem to have any injuries.

“Hey! Are you okay? How did the investigation go? Ah, you’re out, so that means they were mistaken, right? Yeah, I knew it!”

“Ah… well…”

For some reason, Dwarki didn’t seem happy to see us and just kept his head down.

“…Let’s move somewhere else. Then I’ll tell you everything.”

We moved to another place as Dwarki wished.

A room-type pub that we often visited for meetings related to the labyrinth. As soon as some snacks and the ordered beer came out, Dwarki opened his mouth with a miserable voice.

“It seems… I have to leave the team.”

Following Erwen and Ainar, this was the third time I’d heard such words.

The dwarf was shocked.

“No, what are you talking about! Explain yourself!”

“Well…”

Dwarki, who had been trailing off, took a long breath.

“It’s pointless to hide it now. There’s something I haven’t told you all until now.”

“Something you haven’t told us?”

“My older brother… is Marquis Martoang.”

“What?!”

“S-so, you’re really a noble?”

Everyone, including Misha, was shocked and gaped, but Dwarki closed his eyes tightly and continued to speak.

“Half of it is true. I am the child born between the former Marquis Martoang and a maid of the mansion.”

A noble’s illegitimate child.

Having seen many soap operas in modern times, this wasn’t an unfamiliar story to me.

And the subsequent developments weren’t much different.

“Because it was a disgrace to the family, I was adopted by my father’s third sister, Lady Tirba, as soon as I was born. Of course, it was just a formality, and my real mother was the one who actually raised me.”

Still, the marquis family sent money regularly, and thanks to that, he was able to learn magic and grow up comfortably.

It was a complicated family history to listen to.

The dwarf didn’t seem to have the patience to wait.

“So, what does that have to do with leaving the team?”

“My father, Marquis Martoang, passed away a year ago. And my second older brother took his place.”

“Hmm, not the firstborn?”

Rotmüller interjected with a question.

Dwarki continued in a candid voice.

“That’s right. The second son. That’s the problem.”

“I don’t understand, why is that a problem…?”

“After the former marquis passed away, many people died. Starting with my first older brother, and many other distant relatives as well…”

That was enough.

The bloody power struggle of the Martoang Marquis family was enough to understand the cause of this incident.

“The one who sent the Mozlans was that second older brother of yours.”

“That’s right. It’s probably a warning, to live quietly as I have been.”

“But why now?”

“It seems he didn’t like that I became an explorer. I’ve been learning a lot of magic lately… And there’s a famous person on the team, so he must have been worried.”

Ah, uh, um…

Are you blaming me here?

Honestly, isn’t that a bit of a stretch?

I briefly summarized Dwarki’s words.

“Anyway, you mean you can’t go into the labyrinth anymore because you’re afraid of your second older brother?”

“You… you don’t know how to sugarcoat things, do you? You’re not wrong. However… it would have been the same regardless of my will.”

“What do you mean?”

“Instead of punishing me for insulting a noble, they revoked my labyrinth entry rights.”

In short, it meant that even if he wanted to be with us, there was no way.

“Bjorn, is there anything we can do?”

Misha and the dwarf looked at me with pleading eyes.

I quietly closed my eyes.

And instead of looking for an answer to a problem that had no answer, I thought about what day it was.

‘Sigh, this is a headache.’

There were 9 days left until the next labyrinth opened.

Could I really find a new companion before then?

I really can’t seem to have anything easy.

***

“Let’s all think about this problem and meet again tomorrow to talk about it.”

“Okay, I guess you can’t come up with a solution right away. Let’s do that.”

We disbanded after making an appointment for the next day.

The dwarf and Dwarki seemed to have decided to have a drink in a quiet place, and Rotmüller returned home.

As for me, I decided to head to the library.

“Huh? You’re going to the library?”

“I have some business with that librarian.”

“…At this late hour?”

“If I hurry, I’ll get there before closing time.”

“Oh, I see… H-hey, should I come with you?”

What’s with her?

“No, you go and rest.”

“But, I don’t really have anything to do when I go back…”

“Why don’t you have anything to do? If you have time, swing your sword one more time. You didn’t do anything all day today.”

I sent Misha, who was persistently trying to follow me, away and quickly headed to the library.

I was originally going to rest today and go tomorrow, but…

The situation had changed a bit.

***

“Parcity…”

When I arrived at the library, the dozing librarian mechanically cast a spell, then flinched.

“You are…”

“Come to think of it, we haven’t formally introduced ourselves. I’m Bjorn, son of Yandel.”

“…Of course, I know that.”

Well, I guess so.

Anyway, there was a moment of silence after that conversation.

It’s kind of awkward with her.

“…It’s almost closing time, are you going in?”

“No, I didn’t come to read books today.”

“…Then?”

How should I explain my situation?

After a moment of thought, I went straight to the point, like a barbarian.

“Ragna Ritaniel Peprock.”

“You can just call me Ragna for short.”

“Ragna, what grade of magician are you?”

I asked the question straightforwardly, but the answer didn’t come for a long time.

She looked at me as if I were the most rude person in the world.

Well, Raven would have gotten angry first if she had received such a question.

“Let me ask you this first. Why are you suddenly curious about that?”

Ragna, who was a more gentle type than Raven, calmly asked for the reason first.

So, I answered without hiding anything.

“A magician on my team can’t enter the labyrinth anymore. So, I was wondering, how about you take a break from your librarian job and come with me to the labyrinth—”

“That’s a no.”

Yeah, okay, it’s a no.

At her firm tone, I cleanly let go of any lingering feelings.

“I see. If your grade is so low that you can’t enter the labyrinth, then there’s nothing I can do.”

“…When did I say that?”

“So, you’re saying you’re skilled enough.”

Ragna, who had been flustered, realized that it was a probing question and made an absurd expression.

“You… seriously, was that what you were curious about?”

“…What are you talking about? Anyway, this conversation is over. If you don’t want to, there’s nothing I can do.”

I changed the subject.

“So, what was that? Shabin Emuer, that woman said that if she came here, you would have prepared something for me.”

“…What? Prepared something for you?”

She frowned, as if she had never heard of it before, then belatedly understood and touched her forehead.

“Haa… did she say it like that again?”

“Speak so I can understand.”

“I’ll tell you in advance, don’t get any strange misunderstandings.”

Only after hearing my promise that I would never misunderstand, Ragna told me the whole story.

“Shabin said that her position in the department had improved thanks to you. So, she wanted to repay you and asked me for my opinion, and I… said that you like to read books.”

“So?”

“That was all, but suddenly she mentioned a debt she owed me and told me to repay it to you instead. So, this isn’t something I’m giving you, it’s something Shabin is giving you. Do you understand?”

“…I understand.”

In short, it meant that she had prepared something for me.

I don’t know why she was so insistent that she wasn’t the one giving it, but…

If it were me, I would have taken credit for it.

“Do you really understand correctly?”

“Yes. So, what is this repayment?”

“Books.”

“…Books?”

When I tilted my head, Ragna closed her eyes and chanted a spell.

“Bierdo Parcityev.”

A brilliant golden light descended on my body as the spell was completed.

The chanting itself seemed a bit different from usual.

“What is this?”

To my question, Ragna explained in detail, unlike usual.

She said that there were high-security books in this library that didn’t react to normal [Book Detection] magic, and this magic would allow me to find even those?

“…I didn’t know something like that was hidden.”

“It’s originally a privilege only granted to nobles or a few authorized people.”

A kind of secret library for the privileged class.

It felt like I had received an unexpected gift, but I was also bewildered.

“Is it okay for you to do that for me?”

“As long as you don’t go around telling people, there won’t be a problem. In the first place… I’ve only used this magic a few times since I became a librarian.”

Ragna continued in a slightly lonely voice.

“Who would even be interested in this place?”

Sigh, I’m starting to get curious about her story.

***

Tap, tap.

The sound of shoes echoed through the empty library.

I was reading a book inside.

It was thanks to Ragna’s consideration.

[So, why did you come so late? Sigh, okay. Then I’ll let you stay here specially just for today.]

When closing time came and all the users were kicked out, Ragna allowed me to stay until she finished organizing the books.

It was a bit of a strange feeling.

It felt like I had sneaked into a restricted area, or something?

Tap, tap.

I put down the book I was reading for a moment and glanced at Ragna.

‘I was wondering how she was organizing, but she’s doing it all with magic.’

Every time she slightly moved her staff, the books were automatically placed on the empty shelves.

I wondered if she knew where they belonged, but…

Come to think of it, the books in this library didn’t need a specific place. If you just cast a spell, it would find the book you wanted.

No, wait a minute.

“Ragna.”

“Yes?”

“When we first met, didn’t you tell me to put the books back in their original place after reading them?”

“I usually say that when I’m too lazy to explain in detail. Because it’s magic, there are many people who ask unnecessary questions.”

“…I see.”

As a barbarian, it was a very hurtful thing to say, but I didn’t show it and went back to reading the books.

Was it because they were high-security books?

The content was definitely different.

[Laphdonia Organization Chart]

The book that dealt with the public institutions in this city included the secret security department, that is, the group that included the evil spirit hunters, and…

[The World of Evil Spirits]

One book also dealt in depth with the ‘Ghost Busters’.

By the way, in this book, there was the last will of an agent who had entered their own spiritual world and returned half-dead…

‘With this system, there’s no way I’ll be in danger.’

Thanks to that, I was sure that I could take the stored pills when the time came.

I was concentrating on reading the books when it happened.

Just as I was about to pick up the next book after finishing one.

[Rift Compendium II]

My hand stiffened as soon as I read the title.

Rift Compendium?

Isn’t that the name of the book Raven mentioned before? I quickly opened the first page and checked the contents, and soon I understood her attitude.

‘…No wonder she was so obsessed with it.’

It was like a strategy guide, or something?

All the hidden piece elements that I had found out through countless blunders and experiments were written down without exception.

Due to the physical limitations of a book, only four rifts were explained, but…

‘This would be like a treasure to the people here.’

The contents were so perfectly organized that I couldn’t see any gaps that I could fill.

And was it because it was well-preserved?

Unlike what Raven said about it being a book written by an unknown person, the author’s name was written on the last page.

“Auril Gavis…?”

I froze like a statue after reading it out loud without thinking.

‘Damn it, why is this bastard’s name suddenly coming out here?’

Auril Gavis.

It was the name of the game developer of [Dungeon & Stone].