Inside a quiet office, a man sipped tea and muttered to himself, "Little Balkan, huh?"
It was the first tantalizing story in a long time. After all, how many explorers had earned a nickname in just three months? No more than three since he'd taken on this task.
"Interesting." Even the details of the essence confirmed through the guild were interesting. Normally, explorers started with a rank 9 essence and gradually worked their way up. But this guy? A corpse golem, a vampire, and this time even the essence of an Orc Hero. "This can't be explained by pure luck."
It was as if he were using a trick key. If you looked back at history, you'd be able to find quite a few people who had left similar marks. There were definitely people born with special destinies, talent, and luck in this world.
"I wonder what kind of guy this is..."
Most of these people went on to be recorded and lauded as heroes or great names in history. And what about this barbarian? Given his accomplishments so far, the possibility was definitely there. Of course, he would first have to prove his fundamental principles.
"I'll have to check it out before he gets any smarter."
This matter should be handled with more care and caution than usual.
***
As soon as I opened the door to the typical fancy tavern, Hikurod (in a seat made for dwarves) and Dwalkie greeted us warmly. "Oh, you're here! Come and sit down! Hahaha!"
"I'm so glad you're both safe."
I sat down opposite Missha, who had come with me. "And Rotmiller?"
"Not yet. It should arrive soon."
In fact, after ordering food and chatting for a while, Brown arrived at eight in the evening. Was arriving right on time some kind of occupational hazard? "Bjorn, Miss Karlstein. I'm glad you're safe."
"No! I'm glad you're okay too, Rotmiller. I heard you hurt yourself running away..."
"Ugh... I feel like I hurt you because of that. If you hadn't hurt me, we wouldn't have had to leave."
I stopped him there, knowing that if I didn't, the pity party would never end. "Why don't you sit down first? The food's here."
"....OK."
As soon as Brown sat down, the entire team was reunited in one place for the first time in a long time. It was a miracle the team was disarmed in the maze, and yet we all made it back alive.
"The gods must be watching over us." The real conversation began with Brown's immodest words. The main topic of discussion was, of course, the new updates.
"So, Hikurod, what happened to you?"
«Oh yeah?» To my question, the dwarf explained what happened in the maze step by step in chronological order. Brown looked surprised as soon as they separated from us. However, with a decisive counterattack, he managed to escape, killing the explorer on the other side. The beginning wasn't much different from the story I heard in the cabin, but since Hikurod was the narrator, I was able to hear the details.
«So I used Emergency Restoration to once again wear the Guardian bracelet and buy time».
So that was the combination he used.
«Wow, I didn't know you could link numbered objects with abilities like that».
«Hahaha, I wouldn't have known either. All this is wisdom transmitted by my ancestors».
Emergency Restoration was not a repair, but a judgment skill that returned the equipment to the state it was in five minutes ago. The numbered object was no exception, although it had the drawback that it consumed more MP than usual.
The wisdom of the ancestors...
It seemed that, just as numbered objects were important to dwarves, information related to them was also passed down from parents to children. Anyway, to summarize the rest of the story, it was like that.
«First we ran away, then we treated Brown. Then we tried to find you too, but...»
Due to the distance separating us, Brown's scanning ability was not able to detect us. Still, they did not give up and continued wandering through the Witch Forest. But on the third day, they met Elisa.
«That? Did you meet that crazy woman again?!»
«That's right. I don't know what kind of tricks he used, but he chased us insistently through the forest».
«AND? And what did you do?»
«Hahaha, what could we do? We escape!»
They escaped Elisa's pursuit and had no choice but to climb the portal and climb to the fourth floor, and that was the end. The Tower of Heaven on the fourth floor was a stage-type structure. After finishing the first stage they somehow chose to stay there until the maze closed, judging that if a rank 6 monster appeared next, they could be annihilated.
«It was quite difficult to kill time for more than ten days, but... Still, I was able to hold on thanks to Rotmiller and Dwalkie».
Hard, shit. That was what had to be said.
Ha... And even after that they said they were tired and went to bed?
For some reason my stomach hurt again. Rest while we worked hard...good. But...
«By the way, I didn't mention this. Miraculously, an essence came out in the first game».
«An essence... came out, huh?»
Was this a fucking game? The essence that didn't come out despite the countless monster battles in the Witch's Forest and our desires appeared there? And the essence of a rank 7 monster, Mimic, furthermore, a rare monster famous for releasing at least one mid-rank essence.
«Once Rotmiller absorbed it, he opened the Treasure Vault.».
The Treasure Vault was Mimic's active ability. It was not a combat type, but could open a personal subspace warehouse when used.
«AND? What came out?»
The key here was that when the Treasure Vault was first used, various objects were placed inside at random. If you were unlucky, you could end up with a few high-ranking potions. He really wanted that to be his case.
«It contained about two million mana stones, three advanced potions, and two numbered items».
«Holy shit.»
«... Why do you suddenly swear?»
«Sorry, I'm just surprised». I kept feeling the vomit coming out, but I pushed it down and asked: «And what are the numbered objects?».
«Unfortunately, one is at 8,000 and the other at 9,000».
That meant they still earned over ten million stones. Of course, since the two of us weren't there, they split it into three. Why was this dwarf bastard so lucky?
«It turned out we didn't really need them, so we decided to sell them. Rotmiller, who absorbed the essence, decided to subtract that amount from the standard essence price announced to the guild.»
«I see... Congratulations...» Brown had a new essence, and Hikurod and Dwalkie won the lottery. Was that because? I was able to smile and congratulate them with words, but...
¡Crack!
The spoon he was holding folded in half.
«B-Bjorn? Why do you suddenly destroy a spoon?!»
«I couldn't control my strength due to the Orc Hero's essence».
«Hey? That has never happened until now!»
That's because nothing like this had happened until now. These damn profiteers...
Having heard about the dwarf's side, now it was our turn. «Actually, we're more curious about what happened on your side. Yesterday I heard some rumors about it, but... What exactly happened to you?» hikurod asked.
If I left the explanation to Missha, she might end up saying what she shouldn't have, so I gave her a brief summary. Life after being abandoned. Missha's «accidental» awakening.
«Miss Karlstein, congratulations. That must have weighed on his heart for so long...»
«No. I didn't do anything, it's all thanks to Bjorrrn.»
«… ¿A Bjorn?»
«Oh no! I mean, without Bjorn, I wouldn't have come back alive!»
There were also times when history lost its thread. Like with the three religious geeks we met in the cabin, and like when we left the cabin, for some reason the Lord of the Ground was wandering around. As the dynamic story continued (which contrasted with that of those who had killed time on the fourth floor), the three listened attentively.
«Ha, you were very smart to think about going to the orc colony».
«If it had been me, I wouldn't have even had time to think about the Dzarwi clan».
«AND? What happened next?»
Sincere reactions prompted me to tell the rest. However, instead of exaggerating and inflating it, I continued the story from an objective point of view, with exceptions.
«Hey, you mean they asked for a protection fee in that situation?».
«They both paid two million stones... what a shame. Hey, Rotmiller, Dwalkie, why don't we raise some money for them?»
«Good idea. We cannot say that we are not responsible».
I guess we sounded a little pitiful after that. Mentioning the protection fee, some equipment destroyed and 500,000 stones spent on repairs, the three collected one million stones in total. To be honest, I didn't know how to react. «... Are you really giving us this?»
«Of course. We made all that money, don't you think we can give you that much?».
What was this? Could it be that he was not a dwarf but a god? «Hikurod, you are really a great boss...»
«Hahaha, thanks for the compliment. But tell us the rest».
«Okay.» Reflecting on myself for degrading such a wonderful dwarf as a freeloader, I decided to continue the rest of the story with more sincerity.
«Ha, do you mean that even the Lord of the Ground appeared in that situation?».
I told them that the Lord of Chaos had appeared with five hours left.
«And to think they were going to dump all those supplies... It makes sense why they charged a fee».
Then about the war of subjugation that required enormous resources; the internal revolt that broke out; the unleashing of the Evil Hiatus.
«I see. I was wondering what the rumors about the essence of an Orc Hero were referring to, but I guess they were referring to that.»
Then the essence that I negotiated with the Dzarwi, which lacked a tank, and the escape. For reference, I even brought up the topic of having a vampire essence, but the dwarf reacted quite generously.
«At first, I was also reluctant to talk about my numbered object. We're fine, so there's no need to bow your head».
Bow your head? I was looking at the food I accidentally spilled on the floor. But I didn't feel the need to correct it.
«Anyway, congratulations. You already have two rank 5 essences. The foundation to become a top-notch explorer has been laid for you».
«...Thank you for saying that».
After that, the story ended by calmly recounting the escape from the Evil Hiatus and being chased by the ground lord while carrying Missha. The three listened attentively and each expressed their admiration at the end.
«Hahaha, I quickly knew that this boy would one day do something big».
«Indeed! It has been the greatest and most sublime story I have heard in recent years. It's a shame I couldn't be part of that story».
«Truly... With an achievement of this magnitude, no one will dare disagree with calling you Little Balkan».
There was only one thing that caught my attention, something Rotmiller said. «Wait, Little Balkan?»
When I tilted my head, the dwarf kindly explained to me: «Haven't you heard yet? It's your nickname».
Little Balkan. After the Free Barbarian, it was a new title.
Apodo ...
However, he couldn't be sure if this would have a positive effect in the future or just the opposite.
***
[Your level has increased +1.]
[Your reputation has increased +1.]
***
The day after the meeting, I met with Hikurod early in the morning and visited the guild to report on Elisa Behenk.
« ... ¿One of the priest of Karui?»
As it was not a common incident, the staff who received our request could not hide their bewilderment. However, his countenance changed when I presented as proof my 5-star ID card and the video recorder that Hikurod wore on his head throughout the expedition.
«This... I don't think is something that can be resolved on my part. Could you wait a moment?»
They immediately called us to the branch director's office, and there we explained what happened. As a result, the news spread to the temple. Elisa was excommunicated from Reatlas, and immediately became one of the main wanted.
«Checkpoint records indicate that the villainess has returned to town, so we'll be able to catch her soon.».
The guild and temple representatives spoke with confidence, but for some reason, it didn't seem like the fox was going to be caught so easily. I had no proof, but I had a feeling.
I don't know if it's a good idea to leave it like this.
Therefore, I decided to continue checking Elisa's news later, and closed this case. Right now, there was nothing else we could do. We even received an unexpected reward.
«Hahaha! Anyway, this was an unexpected entry».
«Rewards always follow justice».
The temple gave us about three million stones in exchange for our key proof. It would have to be divided by five, but it wasn't bad. This amount of luck was good to take literally. More than this it would start to scare me.
«Ugh, there was a lot to testify so it took longer than I thought. Let's go now. Everyone will be waiting».
After finishing the report on Elisa, we headed to the meeting point. The final distribution was completed after consultation.
«Let's divide what we have together until we divide ourselves into five equal parts. What comes next can be negotiated by both parties».
We divided the equipment and consumables of Elisa's faithful servants, Hans, and the mana stones until the fourth day by the number of people. In anticipation of this, I paid the protection fee only with the equipment of religious fanatics, so the calculation should not be too complicated.
Ah, the shoes.
I remembered Hans' boots that were later blown up by a landmine, but I decided to stay quiet. Not only was it cumbersome to recalculate, but he had spent all his holy water and potions anyway.
«¿Dwalkie?»
«I'm calculating. Ah! We receive a share of 1.22 million stones per person!»
A total of 2.44 million stones from Missha and me, plus 1.2 million stones as a reward from the temple and the 1 million stones the other three gave us for support. The selling price of the expandable backpack from the three religious zealots and the remaining equipment after the protection fee was 3.11 million. The mana stones for 15 days were 800,000 stones. In short… a total of 8.55 million stones. And if I had split this with Missha, 4.27 million stones would have been my profit from this exploration. If it hadn't been for that promise.
"Ugh..."
As you could tell just by looking into Missha's regretful eyes, all this profit was mine. That was the promise. Well, at the time I agreed to the deal mainly to ease her discomfort, but…
It's best if I maintain and manage it myself.
Missha was now my main comrade. All the essences, the equipment to carry, and the training methods in general would now pass through my hands. Of course, a lot of money would also pass through them.
In that sense, if I were to subtract 300,000 stones for the cost of repairing my and Missha's equipment, and the cost of the treatment…
The net profit from this expedition could be 7.65 million stones. Even taking into account the damaged boots in the Labyrinth, the lost mace, etc., it was an absurd profit. Considering all the pros and cons, it was still an amount that far exceeded what could be earned simply by hunting.
It's not much considering the amount of money I'll be spending in the future.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Missha asked.
"It doesn't matter. Finish your meal."
Things had changed. After the vampire essence, I ate the essence of an Orc Hero, which I thought could only be obtained in the final part. Furthermore, I found a comrade who could grow with me.
I'll have to start on that when I get back.
Therefore, it was necessary to re-examine the plan.