Always think before acting: That was the advice I gave Ainar my first day here. They weren't empty words then either. In fact, this motto had saved my life in the face of countless adversities.
Damn sea.
In that sense... after a brief grumble, I focused on the current situation.
«And to think I'd see a familiar face around here».
First of all, one thing could be learned from this line: She didn't come here looking for me.
«This is a problem».
Second, she was as perplexed by the situation as I was. However, the nuance was different from the previous information, almost as if there was another reason to hide his identity.
I thought Noark was sealed... So she's a spy or something? And they took it out before they sealed it?
Well, it was hard to be sure yet. There could be a secret circumstance. Right now, only one thing was certain.
«Well, I just have to hit you and erase your memory like last time.»
«Well, I just have to hit you and erase your memory like last time.»
Even in the midst of this, she had no intention of killing me. In other words, you might be relieved about that part.
As long as he didn't accidentally step on a mine.
I just had to be careful that she didn't find out that the memory elimination pill wasn't working on me. That way, the situation wouldn't get worse. Thus, my basic position was decided. Although I had no intention of voluntarily taking the pill and becoming incapacitated, with that insurance there was nothing to lose.
What did I say in the sewer again?
It was a few months ago, but I remembered it easily. When we accidentally met again in the sewer, this was the first thing I asked. «...Why do you want to kill me now? I kept my promise, didn't I?» That was the question I had to ask if my last memory of her was from the Land of the Dead.
«You say the same thing as then».
«...Before?»
When I looked at her with eyes of incomprehension, the woman shook her head and continued: «But your face seems much more relaxed».
I ended up chuckling.
More relaxed, huh?
Was it that obvious? I said bluntly: «The oath is still valid. Why don't you pretend you haven't seen me?».
«Then take this». The woman took a pill out of her pocket, completely dark and somewhat damp, and threw it at me. «That pill erases memory. If you take it, nothing happened today».
Por un segundo pensé que tomar esa píldora podría ser la forma más limpia de resolver la situación actual. Pero tenía que ser el último recurso. «¿Cómo puedo confiar en ti?» Tomar esto me dejaría inconsciente. ¿Y si esta mujer quería mi equipo? ¿Y si lo abría y encontraba la espada Caza dragones en mi anillo subespacial? Eso era una mina terrestre de todos modos.
«¿Tienes otra opción?»
«¿Por qué crees que no?»
Comparado con cuando nos conocimos en la Tierra de los Muertos, yo era varios cientos de veces más fuerte. Incluso comparado con los días de las cloacas, era al menos diez veces más fuerte de lo que solía ser. Sobre todo, esto no era un sótano oscuro sin nadie que me ayudara. Era una ciudad por encima del suelo donde la ley y la sociedad funcionaban.
«With a single scream my companions will wake up. You can't handle all of them alone». There was no reason for him to lose to this woman.
«...I see it was arrogance, not leisure.»
«You can check it for yourself.»
Despite my bold words, the woman remained silent. He may have called me arrogant, but he knew things were different from the past. A heavy and inopportune silence fell in the empty hallway at dawn.
The first to speak was the other. «Barbarian». The woman stepped forward and called me.
Instead of answering, I turned around. Then, sure enough, I saw his clone: the Doppelganger ability, Self-Replication.
¡Dash!
[Amelia Rainwales has launched Asura Kick.]
The doppelganger that appeared from behind without making a sound jumped into the air and swung a foot loaded with its weight. It was what hit my head last time. I immediately raised my arms to protect my face.
¡Bang!
A tingle was transmitted through my wrist, but that was it.
With my current physical resistance?
Well, it looked like I had broken my bone, but actually, I didn't know that either. I couldn't even feel pain as trivial as that because of my Pain Resistance.
«Behell-ahhhhhhhhh!» Invoking the name of my ancestral god, I unleashed a watermelon-sized punch into the clone's face.
¡Pum!
As soon as the clone allowed the hit, it disappeared in smoke. I hurriedly turned in the direction of her original body preparing for a joint attack, but the woman stood there. «How did you know?»
Oh, she never thought I would stop this. I answered honestly: «Sound».
At some point, all sound disappeared. Although it was night, it was a markedly heterogeneous phenomenon. As Ainar's snoring was easily transmitted through the wooden doors, as soon as the sound disappeared I knew she was planning a surprise attack. Seeing her take a step forward, I realized the deception. Self-replication was something I suffered once last time.
The radius in which the clone can be summoned is five meters.
It was clear that the distance was too great to summon one right behind me. Since we had already fought twice, it was possible to counter it.
«My proposal is still valid. Pretend you haven't seen me and disappear». I repeated what I said before.
Then, as expected, a different response came. «...How can I trust you?»
I smiled and returned the same words. «What other option do you have?»
He didn't know what skill he used, but it seemed like he had a short retention period. A few seconds ago I had started to hear Ainar's snoring again. Now he really screamed...
Crujido.
The door then opened. «Bjorn? Who are you talking to...?» Missha appeared through a crack in the door, rubbing her eyes.
«I'll explain it to you later. Enter».
«¡Ah!»
I reached out and closed the door before it opened completely.
«Hey! Crazy bastard!» Missha became angry after banging her head against the door, but it couldn't be helped. That wasn't important now. «Hey! Open it! I said open! She's a girl, right? Erwen? Has he come back again?!»
I rested my weight on the door and looked silently at the woman. The message in my eyes was very simple: Now, what are you going to do?
The answer came after a pause. «If I tell you I'm leaving, will you believe me?». Simply put, wouldn't he retaliate?
I responded without hesitation: «I believe you». After all, it was the same woman who let me go alone, and I didn't report her either. I even stopped Missha from leaving her room. «Now you should know. I don't care what you do. I just don't want to get tangled up with you».
«...I'm sure», the woman murmured in a slightly melancholic voice, but it wasn't the answer I wanted.
«So, your answer?»
"Me iré".
«And you promise not to look for me again?».
«I haven't come looking for you. But... if you want, I promise you that too».
At those words, I let my guard down a little. Although a mere promise had no great meaning in this world, not everyone was like that.
«I don't want to kill a barbarian with my bare hands if I can help it... That was the promise in the first place».
Even in the Land of the Dead, she saved me by a promise. The weight of a promise was different for her.
I called her a psychopath then, but it turned out she wasn't quite like that either...
«Then go, human woman».
Hearing my words, he nodded silently. Then he turned around and went down the stairs.
Click, clack.
The further the sound of footsteps moved, the more my relief grew. I was very happy that it ended without a fight. He was not yet fully prepared to withstand the aura. City and teammates or not, if I really wanted to see the end, I would have had to see blood too.
«Phew...» I was only going to get to sleep if I saw her come out by myself, so I headed to the stairs.
Clic.
The woman was on the last step, about to go down to the first floor. But did you feel my presence? «...I am not a human woman». He turned around and looked me in the eyes. «Amelia Rainwales». Leaving those words behind, he disappeared like smoke.
My head went numb for a moment. «What the hell...?» It seemed like we would meet again.
Toc, toc.
I knocked on Ainar's door first, but only the sound of snoring came and the door did not open. Unlike Missha's door, which opened immediately.
«Hey! Who was that woman out there?»
«A street vendor.»
"¿What?"
«Let's go to sleep. I'm tired.»
«Hey? Oh? Uh...uh? Sleep? Here? Because?»
I threw a pillow on the bare floor and lay down. I really didn't want to do this, but...
«D-Okay. W-because you're tired. D-sleep here. Not on the ground...»
«That's a bit... I'll sleep here.»
«Hm? So why are you here?»
Because I was a little scared to sleep alone tonight.
***
Days passed and it was time to enter the labyrinth. There was an hour and a half left until the portal opened. Strictly at the promised time, Raven arrived. With that, everyone was together.
«Fortunately, no one is late this time».
First we cast bonding magic and then we set off. The meeting point was Mr. Bear's tavern. We decided that taking him with us from the beginning would put us at ease more than waiting an hour there.
«...There are definitely fewer people than usual».
The path that led to the Plaza de la Dimension was crazy quiet. It wasn't that I couldn't understand it. Being the time it was, everyone probably wanted to take a break and assess the situation.
But what is this?
When I arrived at the Plaza de la Dimension, I froze. The situation here was completely different from that in the quiet alleys.
«Everyone in line, please!» The number of officials was several times higher than usual.
I could also see soldiers. Hundreds of groups consisting of a knight and four soldiers were scattered here and there.
Are they trying to control the entrance to the maze?
The thought came to my mind, but fortunately it wasn't. «Here you go.» Standing at the end of the long line, a government official hurriedly approached and handed over two items. One was a video recorder, the other... honestly, I had no idea.
"¿What is this collar?"
«It's an identification tag that shows you're on our side».
«Identification?»
«Yeah.» The official explained some precautions to us and warned us that we could not lose the label. It was long, typical of administration, but the meaning was simple.
It means that if we lose her, we're screwed.
Without the ID tag, we would become targets of assassination. On the contrary, killing someone without the label carries no punishment.
No wonder they have been so quiet. It's because they were up to this.
Seeing that they were telling us just before the maze opened, it seemed that the government maintained close security. As a resident of Rafdonia, it was not bad.
«B-Bjorn... Will we be okay?»
«Why weren't we going to be? It means that the army will protect us in the labyrinth».
«Ah, ¿si?»
«Still, one thing is certain. The rumor of a portal in the underground city is true».
We chatted and waited, and the portal opened after about five minutes. The soldiers entered first, then it was the turn of the scouts waiting in line.
«...We may not enter».
«Come on, Mr. Urikfried. That won't happen», Raven said, but as time went on, her expression hardened.
The portal shrank and the tail became shorter. The truth is that I was more than happy with this situation.
Hmm, if this is the case, I won't have to explain anything.
Originally, I intended to confess to the incident from my past and use the experience point copy bug. After watching him for a month, I knew that Mr. Bear was someone who highly valued trust, and Raven was trustworthy in a different sense. The incident with the special appraiser had had a lot to do with it.
«If we tell them, they will probably earn several times more for it. I can't let that happen».
She never did anything that benefited anyone else, so she planned to reveal this method and accumulate free experience points starting this month.
«What are you doing!? Come in, quickly!»
«If you're not going in, get out of the way!»
With the current setup, I thought it was possible to induce that bug. Even I thought the current situation was risky. It helped that seeing the soldiers here scared some scouts, making them hesitate to enter.
«Enough! Everyone please back!»
«What!? W-What do you mean?! I've waited more than an hour».
Entry stopped when there were about ten people left in line.
«Shall we go home like this?»
«Huh, I didn't think they'd really cut us off.»
«It's because you screwed up, Mr. Urikfried.»
«...Are you blaming me for this?»
Raven sighed. «Does not matter. Let's go back».
Everyone seemed resigned to reality.
Now, everyone is making this barbarian sad. Are they going to give up now?
«Bjorn, what are you doing? Is there something later?»
«Now.»
Finally, the light from the portal began to fade. Normally, this was the moment when someone would have shouted: «The portal will close soon!»
«Everyone, get on my back.»
«¿Eh?»
There was no time to explain, so I activated gigantization first. My body grew in an instant.
«W-What are you doing!? It is illegal to manifest a supernatural ability outside of specified locations!»
Paying a fine was no problem. It wasn't even that much. Unless someone was injured, there were about 300,000 stones.
I'll get him out of the back of the team.
I immediately took the four of them in my arms and began to run blindly forward.
«Hey! What are you doing?»
«¡High!»
I ignored all the shouts of the officials. Anyway, this would end with a small fine. As I thought, there was no reason not to enter. Just think about how much we would earn hunting on the fifth floor for just one day!
«¡Kyaa!»
«No way-are you going in?»
«¡Behell-ahhhhh!»
Was my scream an appropriate response? Ainar started laughing from my left arm. «Hahaha! Yes, Bjorn! Great warrior!» Now that was a barbarian.
¡Bum! ¡Boom!
I quickly squeezed across the empty square with a satisfied smile on my face.
¡Shaaaaa!
The light from the portal shrank to the size of a person and trembled restlessly. Soon, the light flickered and hugged us.
[You have entered the Crystal Cave on the first floor].
Safe.
[Your reputation has increased +1.]
[Your reputation has increased +1.]
[Your reputation has increased +1.]
[Your reputation has increased +1.]
[Your reputation has increased +1.]