Chapter 36

“Hey! Mr. Yandel! Wake up!”

Raven shook Bjorn by his shoulders.

The rest of the colleagues who’d fainted, were waking up up one by one.

“Miss Raven? What the hell is this…”

“Bjorn! Is Bjorn dead?!”

“Miss! I’m so glad that you’re safe… “

Questions were popping up all over the place.

Questions only Raven could answer.

Indeed, because she didn’t faint.

“The vampire is dead. Yandel is alive. Tarzine, I’m fine, so could you please stop yelling so loud?”

“Great! To think your magic could kill the vampire in one shot!”

Hearing Murad’s exclamation, she pursed her lips. She was somehow feeling upset.

It was not the ‘sunspot sphere’ that had killed the vampire.

In terms of contribution, although she did contribute…

“… It wasn’t me, it was Mr. Yandel.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mr. Yandel was the one to kill the vampire.”

Murad furrowed his eyebrows.

“No, you mean this little friend?”

He’d been praising the barbarian as ‘special’ and a ‘great warrior’ some time ago, but he didn’t seem to believe that he could’ve killed a level five monster.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand how he felt.

‘If I’d only heard the story… maybe I would’ve felt the same, too.’

Was it because of the distance?

Unaffected by ‘pain sharing’, she’d watched the whole story unfold, that no one else knew about.

Yes, literally.

She’d just watched.

What could a sorceress who’d run out of magic even do?

“Everyone, be thankful to Mr. Yandel. Perhaps, without him, none of you would’ve been able to open your eyes ever again.”

“B-, but that’s… could you explain a little bit more about what happened, please?”

She was wondering how to explain, but just then, Ainar cut in on the conversation.

“Then what happened to Bjorn! Aren’t we supposed to feed him potions right now?”

In other words, asking if she still had any potions left.

Raven shook her head and answered.

“Potions… wouldn’t help. His body has already mostly recovered.”

If she dared to predict the future, she might say that this man wouldn’t have many occasions to drink potions in the future.

Because any injuries he took would heal back up far too quickly.

“Then why hasn’t he woken up yet?”

“I don’t know either. But…”

“Looks like you know something! What is it? Wizard! Come on, tell me!”

Raven took a deep breath and answered.

“Maybe… he’s exhausted.”

“… Exhausted? Didn’t you say his body was all healed up, earlier?”

Ainar placed a hand on Bjorn’s shoulder, which was still filthy with grime and coated in crusted blood.

She looked as if the sky had collapsed.

“Wait, don’t tell me you two are really lovers?”

“Ah, ah, no! What’s with that, all of a sudden!”

“Hmm? Anyway, I can’t tell for sure. I’m no priest, and I only know of a few cases like this.”

“Cases? Miss Raven, is this common?”

“It’s not that common, but… occasionally, there are cases like this. The body is healthy, but the mind can’t recover.”

Warriors under extreme traumatic stress, or who really put their all into battle, can sometimes fall into this state.

Hearing Raven explain this, Ainar raised her voice.

“I’ve never heard of anything like that! Besides, it doesn’t even make sense! Too tired to even wake up? Bjorn isn’t that weak!”

He wasn’t that weak…

That was something she completely agreed with.

A few hours ago, she would’ve snorted inside her own thoughts, but at least now, she believed it.

Because she alone had watched him fight the vampire till the final moment.

However…

No, that’s what made things even more difficult.

“To be honest, I’m almost certain. The reason Mr. Yandel isn’t waking up is because he’s mentally exhausted.”

Too tired to even wake?

That went beyond the realm of being weak or strong.

It was the natural response of a living sapient organism.

‘Perhaps this woman wouldn’t have said this to me if she’d seen him fight in person.’

Perhaps today, she herself had witnessed an incredibly valuable scene.

“Wizard! So when will Bjorn wake up?”

“Well. It could take a day or two at the earliest.”

“No, I think he should be up in a few hours! Bjorn is a great warrior!”

‘… Then why did you have to ask me?’

Raven’s heart became uncomfortable once again, but for some reason, she couldn’t find any desire to retort.

It was almost like she didn’t have the energy to do so.

In fact, those words didn’t sound as pretentious as they used to.

“A great warrior, is it…”

In the eternal flow of history, there were fewer than ten barbarians who had officially received such a title from the king.

‘Well, it seems to be used as a compliment among the barbarians these days.’

She put her thoughts together one last time before continuing.

The essence of a corpse golem, and the essence of a vampire.

A barbarian who’d eaten them both, and the latter was even from a rift guardian.

He’d completed his coming-of-age ceremony only last month, so was this his second time inside the labyrinth?

She opened her mouth as she looked at the barbarian lying asleep, as if without a care for the outside world.

“… Maybe, he really might.”

Of course, in order for that to happen, he’d have to survive dozens more crises as dangerous as today.

‘Am I alive? …’

It was midnight when I woke up.

Ainar was giving me a lap pillow for some reason, and as soon as our eyes met, she screamed ‘Bjorn!!!’ loud enough to chase all my drowsiness away.

“… Where are the others?”

“Everyone left! Bjorn, are you okay? I was worried because you’d passed out for three full days!”

It’s been three days?

So, in terms of time, now was the seventh day?

Thoughts flashed through my mind, and I stood up as fast as I could. And then I gave myself a once-over.

There were no visible signs of injury or trauma.

In terms of health, except for the pangs of hunger being sent out from my stomach, I generally seemed to be in good shape.

“By the way, Ainar, what are these trousers I’m wearing?”

In fact, the word trousers was a bit of a misnomer.

A cloth folded like handkerchief was wrapped around my lower body, covering only the important bits.

To be precise, it was closer to a skirt than trousers.

It was quite, ah, minimalistic.

“Ah! That, well, the wizard gave you her surplus cloth.”

“… Well, were you the one to dress me, then?”

“Of course!”

A hint of shame crept in, but it wasn’t too bad because Ainar herself didn’t seem to much care.

Seriously, it was a little funny to see two warriors face each other in this situation.

“You don’t have anything to be ashamed of. After all, Bjorn is a great warrior!”

… Wait, was this sexual harassment?

“… So what happened afterwards?”

I changed the topic to forget my feeling of shame.

I was wondering what’d happened after I’d fainted. Especially when it came to loot.

“There was a numbered item or something? Murad took it, and the wizard took the rift stone.”

“What?”

It was a series of surprises from the start.

Being alive right now meant I’d absorbed his essence… did that mean the vampire had dropped all three possible loot items?

What kind of good fortune was this?

“Oh, right! There were no dice rolls when distributing the rift stone. Because the wizard forcefully took it away to make up for the damage she’d suffered…”

Ainar continued speaking as if making excuses.

“Murad said he didn’t mind, but I said no! But then the wizard said something strange.”

“Something strange?”

“She said you won’t mind, since you got the biggest reward.”

‘Only that woman seems to know that I ate the vampire’s essence.’

I quietly shook my head.

I had no regrets at all regarding the distribution of loot.

Whatever the reason, the wizard had fed me the essence of the corpse golem from her share. In addition, considering the cost of all the potions she’d poured on me, the wizard had actually gained almost nothing.

If I got greedy for even the rift stone after all that, I’d just be a thief.

Ainar seemed to think a little differently, though.

“Well, I told them to wait until you woke up and then decide, but it couldn’t be helped! After waiting for more than half a day, you still wouldn’t wake up, so they all left through the portal!!”

“You don’t need to blame yourself. This was unavoidable.”

To be honest, I could only imagine the expressions on their faces as they were held captive for half a day at Ainar’s coercion…

It would be better to just give her a compliment.

“Thank you. I was lucky to have you with me.”

“… Of, of course! Aren’t we friends!”

I checked my belongings that Ainar had gathered.

A backpack, a mace, a few pieces of scrap metal that might’ve been a shield in the past…

‘Still, if I take it outside to sell, I’d at least recoup the price of the iron.’

Sorting out everything and putting them into my backpack, I took out some food and a canteen to fill my hungry stomach.

And I checked the time.

11:20 p.m.

‘There’s less than an hour before the stairs close.’

“Bjorn! When you’re done eating, how about heading out? There isn’t much time now!”

“I can’t.”

I stubbornly refused.

I desperately wanted to leave this disgusting place right now, but…

Since I’d suffered so much, shouldn’t I grab everything I could afford to grab?

I wanted to check out the boss room, too.

‘The wizard took away the Necronomicon, so there’s only one left.’

Looked like I’d have to move quickly.

「You have moved to the entrance to the first floor.」

「The labyrinth has been closed.」

「The character is moved to Rafdonia.」

I breathed out, feeling the kiss of the sun on my skin.

‘Just barely safe…’

The schedule had been tighter than expected.

It’d taken less than ten minutes to find the item hidden in the ceiling of the watchtower of the outer walls, climbing up the ladder…

But going to the boss room and coming back had been tough.

‘… In the end, it was all in vain.’

When Ainar said they’d waited for half a day, was it really so that the wizard could investigate?

‘Well, with that personality of hers, it’d be weird if she just passed by.’

Broken walls everywhere.

Window and door frames torn out.

Even the treasure chest had been left open and empty.

‘There must’ve been some additional rewards, but she swallowed it all up by herself… ‘

In the boss room, where I’d arrived in such a hurry, I’d only found the aftermath of a thorough investigation.

However, rather than anger at being one-upped, I was feeling curiosity.

Wasn’t this a variant rift that had never been cleared?

Something that even I, who’d been playing the game for nine years, wasn’t familiar with?

My curiosity as a gamer was burning.

‘There’s no way she’d give me anything if I ask… I’ll just have to ask in a roundabout manner when we meet later.’

Anyway, after searching all around to see if there was anything the wizard had missed, the schedule had become very tight.

In fact, the stairs closed as soon as we came out of the rift, so it wasn’t at a level that could even be called ‘cutting it close’.

Any later, and I would’ve been caught by the boss mob and trapped there forever.

“Serum, fourth son of Kennick! Got some new scars, I see! I’m envious!”

“It was nothing much! Karak, third son of Farun!”

As I was sorting out my thoughts, the voices of the barbarians could be heard here and there.

Fortunately, they hadn’t found me yet.

I bowed my head to duck out of sight and headed to the money changer for level nine adventurers.

Fortunately, we managed to arrive early so the line wasn’t long.

There were no barbarians to bother me, either.

When I handed the mana stones, the official exchanged it for money just like last time.

“231,520 stones.”

Around 230,000 stones.

It was an amount that felt infinitely small compared to the hardships I’d been through……

‘Because that’s not all.’

In this expedition, I’d absorbed two essences.

Besides, after disposing of the items I’d gotten in kind, the profit would be several times the mana stones.

‘Somehow, the mana stones have just become extra income.’

I didn’t know if I should feel happy or sad about this.

I could only give a bitter smile and picked my pouch back up.

“That’s too much for a tier nine adventurer.”

As I took back the pouch the official had put down, he stared at me with a meaningful gaze.

“What’s in that backpack on your back?”

What?

It wasn’t something I couldn’t answer, but…

“… Why are you asking?”

Somehow, a chill was running across my back.

I looked around and saw that the guards were rapidly approaching this way from afar.

It looked like he’d pressed something like an emergency call button hidden under the desk.

“Is it this guy?”

“Yes.”

I raised my arms to express my intention to cooperate with the public authorities, but the guards who had a quick conversation with the official forcefully grabbed my arms.

Fuck, I just came back alive after so much trouble, so what the hell was this now?

“Barbarian, let’s go over there for a moment and have a chat.”

Instinctively, I felt that something was off.

Editor’s Notes:

None for this chapter.