Chapter 267 Parune Island (1)

Chapter 267 Parune Island (1)

Parune Island (1)

People are fighting each other.

Those words jolted me awake.

Perhaps I had become a bit complacent without realizing it.

Thump!

There were no Noark explorers.

No, there were barely any explorers in the first place.

But even so, anything could happen in the labyrinth.

So I had to confirm the information first.

“How many are there?”

“At least eight.”

Erwen answered immediately, without a moment’s hesitation, as I asked in a low voice.

“So at least two teams are fighting.”

“Presumably.”

“Anything else I should know?”

“...No.”

Hmm, her tone didn’t sound like it.

It wasn’t good to just ignore this.

It’s like in movies, right?

“Anything else I should know?”

I asked again, more forcefully, and Erwen answered cautiously.

“...I have a bad feeling.”

Right, so that’s how it is.

“I’m sorry. For saying something unnecessary...”

I chuckled, looking at Erwen, who trailed off.

“It’s fine.”

Because I felt the same way.

An ominous premonition started to creep up on me as soon as I heard that explorers were fighting each other.

That’s when, as I was contemplating what to do...

“Yandel, what are we going to do?”

“Are we going to save them again...?”

I tilted my head.

“Save them again?”

“You did that on the 1st floor, and when the Imperial City was on fire.”

What is she talking about?

The situation was completely different from back then.

I had the means to help in the Imperial City, and I had also promised to help if I had the strength.

And on the 1st floor...

“I think I know what you’re misunderstanding, but I’ll make it clear now.”

I had ended up being treated like a hero after leading thousands of explorers and opening a path.

Honestly, I was a bit excited.

But...

“The ones I really wanted to save back then were you guys.”

My priorities hadn’t changed.

I was a selfish person who wasn’t worthy of being called a hero.

It was already hard enough to protect myself and my people.

“That means...”

“There’s no need to get involved when I even have a bad feeling. We’re leaving this island.”

“But is that okay? We don’t even know what’s going on, they might need our help.”

The bear-like man spoke with a troubled expression.

It wasn’t like his usual character.

It seemed like he was still drunk on the hero hype he experienced on the 1st floor.

“They’re also explorers. They must have accepted the risks when they chose this job.”

I said firmly, with the authority of a leader, and the bear-like man readily agreed without a word.

But could it be that he was worried about something else?

“Raven, are you okay? It seemed like you knew that guy.”

“Mr. Partslan? Hmm, if they’re fighting, then it’s highly likely that he’s involved...”

Raven trailed off at the bear-like man’s concern.

And she looked at us with a determined gaze and drew a line.

“But I don’t care.”

“You don’t care?”

“We’re not that close. What if something happens to us if we go to help them?”

It was a selfish answer, typical of an explorer.

But we were all speechless at her following words.

“...My team is more important to me.”

Geez, she’s saying that without even blinking.

She’s become shameless after getting a year older.

She still looked like a kid.

“Then it’s decided.”

We turned around and ran towards the shore as soon as the decision was made.

Our estimated arrival time was about an hour.

It wasn’t a big island, so there wouldn’t be any problems if we just left quickly.

‘It’s a shame to leave the hidden piece...’

Well, we could just leave the island and come back later depending on the situation.

‘Right, it’s best to run away when you’re uneasy.’

I discarded my last shred of regret.

After some time...

“It’s the sea!”

...we reached the shore and quickly took out our boat, launching it into the water. And we got on board one by one, rowing away from the island.

That’s when, as I was starting to feel relieved...

“Bjo, Bjorn!”

...Ainar, the valiant barbarian warrior, shouted, her voice filled with fear.

“Wh, what’s going on! The, the sea...! The sea is rising!!”

The calm sea suddenly turned violent, rocking the boat.

「The offering of Parune Island has been destroyed.」

「The wrath of the sea engulfs the island.」

Damn it.

Swaaa!

I opened my eyes to the sound of crashing waves.

My vision was blurry, as if something was stuck in my eyes, and I could taste the salt of the sea in my mouth.

And for some reason...

Crack, crack, crack.

...I heard a crunching sound.

From my feet.

“......?”

I barely managed to lift my head and check my lower body, and then I froze.

A giant lobster monster the size of a large dog was struggling to eat my feet.

“What the hell.”

No, do you think that would work?

Just how high is my Physical Resistance?

Thwack!

I first kicked the Sterleb away with my free foot. And I quickly got up and smashed its head with the plank I was holding.

「Killed Sterleb. EXP +1」

As expected of a 9th-grade monster, it disappeared into light with a single hit.

‘But what is this plank...?’

I then realized that I had been clutching a plank since I opened my eyes.

Where did it come from?

I didn’t have to think hard, the memory I had forgotten came back to me.

‘Ah, the boat was destroyed...’

The boat shattered when it hit the reef.

And I grabbed the biggest plank and hugged it tightly. I judged that even my barbarian body wouldn’t sink if I held onto this.

‘So I survived because of this...’

I quickly looked around after realizing that. There was no one on the empty sandy beach.

‘I wonder if the others are okay...’

Raven would be fine.

Although she couldn’t swim, I saw her floating in the air using Levitation magic at the last moment. And Misha and Erwen could swim, so I was less worried about them.

The problem was Ainar and the bear-like man, who couldn’t swim.

‘Phew, I hope they were safely washed ashore.’

Although I tried to reassure myself, I couldn’t help but worry.

But my hands moved busily, taking out the equipment I had stored in my subspace pocket and putting it on.

Because a horde of monsters would soon swarm the island.

Judging by how only Sterlebs were roaming around, it seemed like it hadn’t been long since the event started...

...but I had to be prepared.

‘They said explorers were fighting each other, but what kind of situation led to this event being triggered?’

Although I had several questions, they were things I couldn’t answer right now.

Ha, I should have just helped them.

Then I would have known what was going on—

Thud.

I stopped as I was about to enter the forest from the shore.

I heard a presence from beyond the bushes.

Tadat, tadat, tadat.

The sound of someone running.

‘It’s not a monster.’

All the monsters on Parune Island were flying insects.

It meant it wasn’t the sound of a monster running.

And it was also unlikely to be one of my scattered companions.

We had agreed to meet inside the forest.

There was no reason for them to be running in the opposite direction.

‘Then is it one of the explorers who were fighting?’

I slowly raised my mace and waited for the owner of the presence to appear.

The reason I waited was simple.

I only heard one set of footsteps.

I was confident that I could at least escape if it was a one-on-one battle.

So gathering information was the priority.

‘Now.’

I timed it based on the sound of their footsteps and then suddenly reached out.

“Huff, huff. Kyaa, ug—”

My prey was caught and lifted into the air, struggling.

“Stay still. I won’t hurt you.”

My original plan was to swing my mace and subdue her completely, but I decided to put it on hold.

Because she was someone I knew.

Well, it seemed like she didn’t remember me.

“I’ll let you go, so be quiet.”

“Wh, who are you...?”

“I told you to be quiet.”

The priestess in a white robe trembled as I spoke in a menacing voice.

Phew, this makes me feel like a bad guy.

“I’m Bjorn Yandel, Viscount.”

“Ah...!”

The priestess’s face brightened as soon as I revealed my name.

She didn’t seem to doubt my identity.

It seemed like Partslan had told her about me.

“So calm down, Ersina. I’m not your enemy.”

“Ho, how do you know my name...?”

How would I know?

Because I met her once before.

I repeat, it was a memory that was hard to forget.

[Priest Ersina. Can you heal him?]

[I refuse.]

I felt like the world was ending when she refused to treat me.

Tsk, whatever. That wasn’t important now.

“Let’s talk about that later. Explain what happened in the forest.”

Gathering information was the priority.