Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Wizard and Barbarian (3)

"Oh! Bjorn son of Yandel!"

After leaving the tower, I headed towards the barbarians-only dormitory.

Had it already been two months?

More than half of the familiar faces had disappeared, and new barbarians were filling the void.

I'd heard that it was an implicit tradition to leave this place as soon as you made enough money to do so

Among those absent, therere probably a quite a few whod died this time.'

Since I was born as a barbarian, this might also be my destiny.

Unlike the fairies, who have their veterans help their newbie members up, the barbarians prefer to leave the newcomers to fend for themselves once they grow up.

"Is Ainar in there?"

"Ainar? She left for the sanctuary first thing in the morning!"

Yeah, that did sound like her.

I didn't show my face for two days after leaving the labyrinth, so I came here in a hurry, but in the end it turned out to be a waste of time.

"Oh, by the way, have you heard the rumours?"

"What rumours?"

"The Barbarian of Liberty! The whole citys shaken up because of him, didnt you hear?"

Instinctively, my body trembled.

" I haven't heard anything. Do you maybe know his name?"

"Oh? I do not know! Strangely enough, nobody knows who he actually is!"

Fortunately, the guild seemed to have preserved my anonymity.

"Anyway, to think we have such a person among our people, I feel proud! He beat down hundreds of people by himself, and proudly torn apart the guilds conspiracy against him! Amazing, huh?"

" Hundreds?"

On my oath, nothing like that ever happened.

All I did was take the daughter of the regional chief hostage and lodge a complaint.

And yet were there already such rumours spreading?

I was quite worried about the future, but

Itll all calm down soon. Those guys at the guild aren't idiots.'

"Ill be back tomorrow morning, so will you let Ainar know when she comes back?"

"Of course!"

I left and headed towards the inn.

But what was this now?

"Y-, you! W-, weren't you dead?"

The innkeeper looked like hed seen a ghost.

Or rather, from his point of view, that was what happened.

I didnt even have to dig deep, he confessed very quickly that hed cleared out my room thinking I was dead.

"What happened to my luggage?"

"I cleaned it all up"

"Id paid for the next three days in advance, right?"

My voice that had unconsciously become annoyed, enough that the innkeeper's face began to turn white.

I can't let this go '

No, wait.

When the hell did I start thinking like this?

My body trembled at the sudden feeling of discomfort that Id noticed so late.

Maybe it was from the first day.'

In fact, looking back, all of it was a little strange.

As soon as I opened my eyes, even though a man was decapitated right next to me, my mind was at peace.

It was the same with my first murder in the labyrinth.

I thought it was something I had to do, but the process was far too easy.

It wasn't even a gradual change or anything.

From the first day Id woken up from this body, Id been a radical brute like every other barbarian.

Today was the same.'

Organizing a jailbreak?

Of course, I couldve come to the same conclusion after a lot of deliberation, but it was strange how little Id hesitated.

And the same way Id started an argument with that old man in the tower.

Did I get angry just because I heard something I didn't want to hear?

Lee Han-soo, the 29-year-old office worker, would never have done that.

He hadn't been timid, but he hadn't been outrageously bold either. At his core, hed been a sceptic, who always observed everything for a long time before putting it into practice.

But what about now?'

Up until now, Id thought my new, special environment the root cause behind my changes.

But the feeling of incongruity was getting bigger and bigger.

Surely '

I was convinced.

Just like how the brutish instincts engraved on this body came out to play during a battle

My mind, had also transformed.

No, itd be more correct to call it harmonization rather than transformation.

"I, I told you, I told you Im sorry! Please stop staring at me like that!"

Having finished my contemplation, I sighed.

Id changed. There was no refuting that.

It was strange to have noticed it so late, but I was now at least certain.

But what could I do about it?

If I want to survive in this place, it's better this way.'

I decided to do the best I could with the hand I was dealt.

Well, that was the barbarian way.

" For thirty thousand stones, I can let it go."

Although the innkeeper's behaviour had been atrocious, I decided to end it with a reasonable compensation.

Considering the fact that the most expensive item in my missing luggage was the clothes Id bought for 2,500 stones

The greatest desire was to take a break while arguing.

"Thirty thousand stones! For those few pieces of junk that sold for chump change "

"Didn't you say youd thrown them away?"

""

"Fine, if you dont want to pay, thats okay. I'll just tell everyone here what you made me go through."

" How about staying here till the money covers your rent?"

"Absolutely not."

I had no intention of staying at this kind of an inn in the future.

Even if it was just stealing a dead adventurer's belongings, couldnt he at least be moral enough to wait till the promised date?

This time, I disposed of all the equipment that had landed me in prison, as well as my own equipment thatd turned into scrap metal.

The selling price was about 800,000 stones.

I didn't dispose of the item' I got just before leaving the rift, but

Lets price that at 500,000 stones.'

"Ainar, this is your share."

"I, I, can I have this much? You even got me an essence"

"Dont make a fuss, just take it. Its you fair share."

For reference, the ratio was 8:2, as promised.

Still, among the barbarians of our batch, this shouldve been the biggest when it came to earnings.

"I promised you, didnt I? If you follow me, youll make a lot of money."

"Still, 300,000 stones! Isn't that too much! How many cloud sweets can I even get with this?!"

It seemed that cotton candy had risen to be another monetary unit for Ainar.

"By the way, Im feeling a bit peckish."

Was it because of the corpse golem essence, with its appetite +9'? My hunger cycle seemed to have quickened a lot.

"Already? It hasn't even been three hours yet!"

"So youre not coming?"

"Of course Im coming! Today is my treat! Ill buy you meat!"

After quickly disposing of the equipment, we stopped at a nearby restaurant for a bite.

And as we finished up and were about to leave

"Thank you, Bjorn."

Ainar looked straight into my eyes as she said so.

Her lips were still stained with sauce, but her eyes were much more serious than usual.

But all that served to do was make me feel even more awkward.

"Its fine. Like I said "

"I'm not talking about the money."

Eh? Then whatre you talking about?

"Its just I just wanted to thank you for treating me the same as you used to."

I heard her nonsense, but I didn't understand at all.

However, Ainar's expression was much too serious for me to tell her that.

So I simply watched her, silent, as she struggled with her words.

"Its well, its my appearance, its changed a bit, you know. Others are now avoiding me because they don't think I'm a warrior."

"Thats "

"And these days, wherever I go, humans keep sticking to me and flirting! Nothing like this has ever happened to me before!"

Clearly, this was a serious concern for her as a warrior.

To be honest, I couldn't really sympathize.

It mustve been because my nature was different from that of a barbarian.

As I listened quietly, Ainar cried out in a voice that burned with anger.

"Bjorn! Be honest! Am I that ugly?"

What?

"Ive decided! Bjorn! I can't enter the labyrinth with you anymore!"

No, no, wait.

How the hell did you come to that conclusion?!

While drinking lukewarm beer

I sat alone on the first floor of the inn where I was staying.

"Whoo"

How could beer be this fucking tasteless?

I made a bad choice with the inn.

The food was pretty good, but the owner couldn't brew alcohol worth shit.

"Whew"

I took a deep breath to shake off the bitter taste.

My conversation with Ainar during the day came back to my mind.

After her bombshell of a declaration, we had a long conversation, but the result didnt change.

"Im alone, again."

Ainar left.

Due to the nature of barbarians, she wasnt shy with her words, but from what I heard, it wasn't just a matter of appearance.

[Actually yesterday, I received an offer from the elder, about becoming his heir.]

The elders of the sanctuary

One of them, a rarity with a strong reputation as a swordmaster, favoured Ainar.

And today, shed made a decision.

To learn swordsmanship in earnest under the elder.

[Cant you go into the labyrinth anyway, isn't it just one day on the outside?]

Id asked.

It was just one day every month.

So it mightve been alright to take a day off every month to visit the labyrinth.

But Ainar only looked troubled.

[I wanted to, too, but I heard that theres a special training method, so I won't be able to leave the sanctuary for six months.]

Special training, huh?

If so, it was understandable that we couldnt go to the labyrinth together for six months.

I knew what a great opportunity this was for her.

[I won't ask you to wait. I wont ask you to unconditionally accept me back when the time comes, either. Ill train hard, and Ill definitely come back as a great warrior who wont hold you back.]

So I couldn't hold onto her.

Even on this last expedition, shed been forced to swear an oath under duress, to a pillaging criminal.

Also, what about the rift?

A wizard, a dwarf, and even I, her comrade, had contributed, while shed been helpless in comparison.

Actually, that mustve been the decisive factor behind her decision.'

I couldnt say for certain, but the change in her appearance mightve only been the last straw.

"Whoo"

I gulped down another sip of lukewarm beer to quench the unfamiliar thirst brewing within me.

The bitter taste covered my throat.

In the end, I can only find a new colleague.'

Id been hoping to take a little break and prepare better, this time.

Damn, why wouldn't these daily quests end?

Editor's Notes:

[1] (sinpageuk, lit. new wave), originally came from Japanese and meant plays and theatre with Western influence. As such, they often dealt with the lives of the common people. In Korea, however, new wave cinema and dramas were created while under the Japanese colonial rule, and as such once the Koreans got their independence back, the term new wave naturally became almost taboo. In modern context, new wave (perhaps undeservedly!) is used to denote forced, melodramatic development without rhyme or reason. Find more at Namu Wiki.

[2] , in FATE franchise this stands for Noble Phantasm.