Chapter 36 - The Guild (Part 1)

 

"Hey!" Mr. Yandel!! Wake up!

As Raven shook Bjorn by the shoulder, the rest of the team woke up one by one.

"Miss Raven?" What happened...

"Björn!" Björn is dead?!

"Lady Raven!" I'm glad you...

Questions arose here and there, and only Raven could give answers to them...

Because she did not lose consciousness.

"The vampire is dead. Mr. Yandel is alive. Tarzin, I'm fine, so can you stop yelling at me?

"Amazing!" Kill the Vampire with one magic blow!

Hearing Murad's exclamation, she pursed her lips. For some reason, this made her angry.

It wasn't the [Sunspot Orb] that killed the Vampire. In terms of contributions, it wasn't without her efforts, but...

— ... It wasn't me, it was Mr. Yandel.

"What do you mean?"

"It was Mr. Yandel who killed the Vampire.

Мурад нахмурил брови.

"That guy?"

Although he had praised him as a "special" and "great warrior" in the past, he couldn't believe that Bjorn had killed a rank 5 monster.

And Raven understood his feelings.

If only I had heard about it... I would think so too.

Perhaps this is due to the long distance. Unaffected by the [Pain Sharing], she watched the entire event that no one else knew about.

Yes, literally. I just watched.

What else could a mage do when he ran out of mana?

"Everyone, thank Mr. Yandel." Without it, none of you would be able to open your eyes in this world.

"Well, yes... But can you tell us a little more about what happened?

She was wondering how best to explain it to her when Einar intervened.

"Then what happened to Bjorn?!" Shouldn't we give him a potion now?

In other words, "If you have a potion, bring it."

Raven shook her head and answered.

"A potion... senselessly. It seems that most of his body has already healed.

If she could dare to predict, then this person wouldn't need many potions in the future. Most of his wounds will heal quickly enough.

"Then why hasn't he come to his senses yet?"

"I don't know why either. However...

"What do you know?!" What is this? Magus! Tell!

Raven took a deep breath and answered.

"It's probably... depletion.

— ... Depletion? Didn't you just say that his body had recovered?

Einar placed his hand, covered in mud and coarse blood, on Raven's shoulder.

She looked like the end of the world had come.

"What, are you two really lovers?" Raven asked.

"Oh, oh, no! Why is this such a conclusion all of a sudden! Ainar replied sharply.

"Hmm, anyway, I don't know for sure either. I'm not a priestess. I know of only a few such cases.

— Cases? Miss Raven, is this common?

"It's not a frequent occurrence, but... Sometimes it happens. The body recovered, but the mind did not recover enough to wake up.

Warriors who had experienced severe stress that left traumatic memories or those who gave their all in battle sometimes fell into this state.

After explaining this, Einar raised her voice.

"I've never heard of anything like it!" Besides, it doesn't even make sense! Too mentally tired to wake up? Bjorn is not so weak!

Not so weak...

Raven completely agreed with this. A few hours ago, she would have snorted inwardly at this remark, but now she couldn't. Of course, she alone watched as he fought the Vampire to the very end.

But...

That was why she could be sure.

"To be honest, I'm pretty sure. The reason Mr. Yandel doesn't wake up is because of his mental exhaustion.

Too exhausted to wake up? It went beyond the weak and the strong.

It was a natural struggle.

This girl wouldn't have said that if she'd seen it herself.

Perhaps today she witnessed an incredibly priceless scene.

"A mage!" When will Bjorn wake up?

"I'm not sure. It can take at least a day or two, no more.

"Then he'll wake up in a few hours!" After all, Bjorn is a great warrior!

... Then why did you ask?

Raven was starting to get irritated again, but somehow she didn't feel like arguing. More precisely, she did not have the strength for this. In fact, the barbarian's words no longer sounded as pretentious as before.

"A great warrior...

Since ancient history, there have been fewer than ten barbarians who have officially received this title from the king.

These days, it seems to be used more as a compliment among barbarians.

She collected her thoughts one last time before continuing.

Corpse Golem Essence and Vampiric Essence. And the Guardian. The barbarian used both.

His coming-of-age ceremony had been completed last month, and hadn't he said that this was his second time entering the maze? Looking at the barbarian sleeping in a dead sleep, she opened her mouth.

— ... Truly, one day it may happen.

Of course, for this to happen, it will have to go through dozens of more crises like the one today.

***

Did I survive...?

When I woke up, it was late at night. For some reason, I was lying on Ainhar's lap, and as soon as our eyes met, she screamed, causing me to wake up.

"Bjorn!!

— ... Where are the others?

"Everyone's gone!" Bjorn, are you okay? I was worried because you were passed out for 3 whole days!

Have 3 days passed? So, today is the 7th day?

This sobered me up, and I immediately lifted my body. And then I analyzed the current situation. There are no externally visible injuries. In terms of health, except for hunger, I was generally fine.

"By the way, Ainar, what are these pants I'm wearing?"

"Pants" was a simplified description. The cloth, which could be used as a handkerchief, was wrapped around my lower body, covering only the important parts.

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

... and very minimalistic in size.

"Oh! The mage gave me the rest of the cloth.

— ... And you put it on me?

— Of course!

Shame crept into her soul, but it diminished a little, because Ainar didn't seem to care about it. True, it would be funny if the warriors were embarrassed by something like this.

"There's no reason to be embarrassed. Bjorn, you really are a great warrior!

Well, that doesn't mean you can sexually harass me.

— ... And what happened after that?

I changed the subject to forget about this humiliation. I was wondering what happened after I lost consciousness... Especially with prey.

"A numbered item?" Murad took it, and the Riftstone was taken by the mage.

"What?"

It was a series of surprises from the very beginning.

The fact that I was alive now meant that I had absorbed the essence of the Vampire... Did this mean that all three items dropped from the Vampire?

What was this special round?

"Oh, that's right! When distributing the Riftstone, the dice were not rolled. The mage claimed that she had to take everything to compensate for the loss, so...

Einar continued, as if justifying himself.

"Murad said he didn't mind, but I tried to challenge it!" But then the mage said something strange.

"Strange?"

"She said that you took the biggest earnings of all, so you won't be able to complain about her taking the Riftstone.

It seems that only a mage knows that I have absorbed the Vampire Essence.

I nodded silently. I did not regret this distribution. Whatever the reason, the mage fed me the essence of the Corpse Golem. Besides, considering the cost of the potion she poured into me, the mage was almost at a loss in the Chasm. Greed for the Riftstone at this stage would make me an asshole.

Ainar seemed to think a little differently.

"Well, I told her to wait until you woke up and then decide, but I couldn't stop her!" After waiting for more than half a day, you didn't wake up, and they all went through the portal and left!!

"You don't have to blame yourself. You couldn't do anything.

To be honest, I could only imagine the expressions on the faces of those who had been held captive by Ainar for half a day.

It would be better to just praise her for it.

"Thank you. I'm glad you were on my side.

— ... I did what was natural! We are comrades!

I checked my things, which seemed to have been packed by Einar.

A backpack, a mace, a few pieces of scrap metal that could have been my shield before...

However, if I sell them, they can add to the price of iron.

Putting everything I could see in my backpack, I took out my food and flask and stuffed my empty stomach.

Then I looked at the time.

[23:20]

Less than an hour before the labyrinth closes.

"Bjorn!" When you're done eating, how about you leave? There is very little time left!

"We can't," I firmly refused.

I desperately wanted to leave this sickening place right now, but... After everything I had been through, I should have at least taken everything I could with me. I also wanted to check out the boss's room.

The Necronomicon had been taken by the mage, so there was only one left.

It looks like I'll have to act quickly.

***

[You entered the Crystal Cave on the 1st floor].

[The labyrinth is closed].

[Moves to Rafdonia]

***

Feeling the sunlight on my skin for the first time in a long time, I exhaled.

I barely made it...

Time passed faster than I expected. It took less than 10 minutes to find the object hidden in the ceiling of the watchtower of the outer wall after climbing the stairs...

But getting to the boss room was a real race against time.

... And it was all in vain.

Einar said that the others had been waiting for me for half a day, but perhaps that actually meant time for the mage to do his research.

Well, it would be strange if she, with her character, just passed it by.

Walls broken here and there. Torn frames for paintings. There was even a box in a shape that I had never seen before, left open and abandoned.

I'm sure there was an extra reward, but she must have taken it for herself.

We ran at full speed into the boss's room, which already bore traces of a thorough investigation. However, instead of being angry that I had been left out, I was more interested in what the object was. And with good reason, because it was an unusual Chasm that had never been cleared before.

An element that even I, a person who has been playing this game for 9 years, didn't know about?

My curiosity as a gamer was growing.

And it doesn't look like she'd let me take it if I asked... I'll just have to ask about it when we meet later.

In any case, I searched my surroundings to see if the mage had missed anything, and soon time was running out. In fact, the labyrinth closed as soon as we came out of the Chasm, so we were shortening the time. We are almost forever trapped in a boss room without a monster boss.

"Kenik's 4th son, Serum!" Your damage has increased! I envy you!

"It's okay! Karak, the 3rd son of Phanun!

As I sorted out my thoughts, I heard the voices of the barbarians here and there.

Fortunately, they haven't found me yet. Bowing my head, I disappeared from their sight and headed towards the exchange office for rank 9 researchers. Fortunately, I arrived early, so the queue was not long. Nor were there barbarians to disturb me.

When I gave them my mana gems, the worker exchanged them for money, just like last time.

– 231,520 jewels.

230,000 stones.

It was an amount that seems infinitesimal compared to the hardships I went through.

But that's not all.

During this expedition, I absorbed two essences. In addition, when I take care of the items, the profit will be several times higher than from mana stones.

For some reason, mana stones always become an additional, and not the main income.

I didn't know whether to rejoice or be upset about it.

With a bitter smile, I was about to pick up my bag, when suddenly,

"That amount is too high for a rank 9 researcher.

The clerk took back the bag he had placed and looked at me with strange eyes.

"What's in your backpack on your back?"

What do I have in my backpack?

Not that I couldn't answer that question, but...

— ... Why do you ask?

I felt a chill down my spine.

I looked around and saw that the guards were rapidly approaching from afar. It looked like the worker had pressed something like an emergency call button that was hidden under the table.

"That man?"

— Yes.

I raised my hands to express my intention to cooperate with government agencies, but the guards exchanged a few words with the employee and forcibly grabbed my hands.

Damn, did I rise from the dead just for this?

"Barbarian, let's chat there."

Instinctively, I knew I was fucked.