First, we gathered the trio's equipment in one place. Then I gave Charon the right of first choice.

"If you need something, take it."

"I'm not so shameless.

"Don't refuse. You killed one of them.

"If you say so...

It seems that he needed some kind of item, because Charon took some of the collected loot for himself: a good quality leather bag and several bottles of potion.

"Is that a two-handed hammer?" And that's all?

"The rest is still too small for my body.

It was true. Soon Charon was smiling brightly, holding an axe and a hammer in both hands.

"With this I can kill everything that is difficult to kill with an axe!"

Although his speech was not refined, the content was quite reasonable. Blunt weapons were more effective against monsters like the Stone Golem.

Yes. Two-handed weapons are a must for barbarians.

Seeing that Charon now looked more like a barbarian, I was overjoyed, so I handed him a few more pieces of equipment.

"Even if you don't need them, keep them and sell them."

"But...!"

No "buts". Seriously, why were all barbarians so well-mannered? If he were a human, then his eyes would burn with greed.

"Don't forget that the stronger you become, the easier it will be for the young warriors.

— ... Ok. I will definitely sell this item and turn it into equipment that will help me.

The reason for the forced transfer of equipment with a sense of mission was simple.

If I took it for myself, I would only get an additional 200,000 stones, and it would benefit me in the long run.

"Become stronger, Charon, son of Tarson.

"I will!" By all means, for the sake of my people.

Of the 6 races, the barbarians had the least influence.

Each individual had sufficient potential, but most of them die at the very beginning. Of course, one guy can't make a difference, but what if their numbers gradually increased starting with that one? And what if this leads to a virtuous cycle where more and more young warriors survive and gradually become better researchers?

Then the influence of the barbarians will gradually grow.

Like it or not, I was a barbarian. The greater the influence of my kin, the more I could enjoy the "trickle-down effect."

The "trickle down effect" is the principle of spreading and changing fashion trends.

Just look at the magicians. Without the huge community of the Magic Tower, could they be so arrogant?

"Then let's go." If someone sees us, we may be in trouble.

In this spirit, I escorted Charon to the 1st floor and gave him some advice. For example, when looking for a team, choose one in which at least one member belongs to a different race. Be more wary of friendly people, but at the same time, don't make it obvious and don't show weakness.

"Now I think I know what it means to hide an axe under innocence!"

Maybe this is from the excellent example that I showed at the trinity? Charon understood exactly the meaning of my words.

"I think it would be a good idea to find a human night companion on purpose and pretend to be asleep. If he has an ulterior motive, it will definitely reveal him!

Ah, uh... uh... That's not what I told him to do...

— ... This is also a good method.

Could it be that he had been treated like a monster and betrayed by his teammates today shocked him very much?

He absorbed it like a sponge.

***

[23:49]

Around the beginning of the 5th day, after Charon and I went down to the 1st floor, the two of us returned to the Land of the Dead. Then we sped up a bit and focused on the search, as we deviated from our plans and lost almost a whole day. On the 10th day, the 2nd floor was supposed to close. If we weren't going to finish the exploration on the 2nd floor, we needed to move a little faster, especially since we had work to do before we went up to the 3rd floor.

"Hm? Are we going to hunt the Death Knight? Is this possible? I've heard that it's hard to even find it...

The rank 6 monster Death Knight was an asshole that could be found in the Lands of the Dead with a very low probability. I had to update my character a few times before I figured out the conditions for this guy to appear.

"Don't worry. Meeting him won't be a big problem.

She seemed to be getting used to such conversations. Misha did not ask where I got this information, and only expressed another concern.

"Hmph, but even so, I don't know if the two of us can handle him.

It wasn't an incomprehensible concern. We would encounter rank 6 monsters on the 4th floor from time to time, but now there were only two of us, not a whole team.

Since she only hunted rank 8 monsters, she couldn't understand how much stronger she had become.

Before meeting me, Misha was active on the 4th floor with two essences. Although she lacked indicators, she made up for the lack with her martial arts skills acquired through hard work. But now, she had made a contract with the Spirit Creature and had even earned two essences. One of them even belonged to the Guardian.

And if you add to this the synergy of combinations... In general, it is safe to say that now it is several times stronger than it was before.

I rated it coldly, from a gamer's point of view. With the strength of the two of us, the hunt can be successful. However, there was no need to explain this in detail, since the barbarians had just a suitable way of communicating it.

"Misha, trust me.

"If you say so... I can't even refuse.

"Well, that's all.

With Misha's consent, we continued to search the neighborhood.

We've expanded the search radius by destroying all the Rank 8 monsters we've encountered: Death Fiends, Chimera Wolves, Ghoul Lords, and so on

"Let's finish for today and set up camp.

The 5th day ended in vain. The next day, the 6th, was the same.

[22:40]

When there was a little more than an hour left before the beginning of the 7th day, I let out a long sigh.

I didn't think we wouldn't be able to find him for more than two days.

When the labyrinth was first opened, a tombstone was created in a random place in the Land of the Dead. At the beginning of the 7th day, it summoned a Death Knight. In other words, if you found a tombstone, you could easily meet a Death Knight while waiting in front of him.

Of course, it was the same with me.

Although we hunted half-heartedly and searched all the surroundings for two days, we could not find even a piece of the tombstone.

It was an unexpected situation.

No matter how wide the 2nd floor was, we only needed to search the territory of the rank 8 monsters. I thought that two days should be enough.

Damn, should we give up on the Death Knight?

When I was biting my lips, regretting the two days spent, Misha ran up to me.

"Don't be so upset. How can only the right things be said in books? A large tombstone in the Land of the Dead? I've never heard of this until now.

Hmph, should that comfort me?

"So stop locking yourself in the library every day and come hang out with me once in a while."

— ... Where does this conclusion come from?

"This!" Hikurod also said so. It is more useful to exchange a few words with researchers in a bar than to read a few books!

Now I see that the dwarf taught Mike only bad things...

But I could not reproach her. In fact, most researchers were the same. They preferred to socialize and get information in a bar rather than read books. There were also those who said that drinking and playing games are a continuation of work, which speaks for itself.

— ...... Why are you silent?

"I just don't have anything to say.

"Why don't you have anything to say?"

"Stop talking about it, and let's move on for now.

I didn't want to waste time arguing meaninglessly, so I resumed my search.

How much time has passed since then?

[23:59]

I looked at my watch and tried to brush off the surge of regret. There was one minute left until midnight. Day 7 is about to begin. And as soon as the Death Knight is summoned, he will start wandering around, so, in fact, this quest can already be considered a failure.

In any case, this is the experience I was hunting for...

Leaving regrets behind, I pulled out a compass.

"Oh, are we finally going to the 3rd floor?"

— Yes.

Instead of wandering aimlessly in search of the tombstone, we turned north.

But at this moment...

"Huh?" Bjorn?

"Did you feel it too?"

— Yes, goosebumps ran down my spine.

The atmosphere around us has changed. It was hard to describe, but the moment it happened, my body reacted to it first. It was such a clear change.

Is this really it?

At one opportunity that came to my mind, I borrowed a knife from Misha and cut the back of my hand.

*Cap*

When I pressed down on the blade and scraped it off, acidic blood flowed from the open cut.

"Oh!" What are you doing?! You'll damage the blade!

Ignoring Misha's complaints, I watched the wound and counted the time.

One, two, three, four, five, six...

As the number increased, a smile spread across my lips. The wound, which should have healed within a few seconds, was still not healing.

[You have been affected by [Grievance]. Healing and regeneration effects have been greatly reduced]

This meant that the long-awaited Death Knight was next to us, and very close.

***

I was looking for him everywhere, but he was nowhere to be found, so he must be somewhere nearby.

No wonder we couldn't find it anywhere.

Despite the fact that I felt somewhat discouraged, I kept my spirits cheerful thanks to one piece of information that I soon realized.

[Resentment] is already in effect...

The Curse Aura [Resentment] was an active skill that turned on or off depending on the will of the monster itself or the character who received the essence of that monster. Simply put, there was no point in using it in normal times unless you were in combat.

[00:00]

The circumstances were very clear. Less than a minute after being summoned, the Death Knight rushed into battle as soon as he opened his eyes. It is possible that the researchers passing by just at the right time could catch his eye, but...

This is unlikely.

It is much more reasonable to assume that some unknown person was waiting in front of the tombstone than by mere coincidence.

Maybe it's a player?

That was my first thought. However, other options could not be ruled out. The large Zarvi clan knew how to summon an Orc Hero. Perhaps the information about the Death Knights was not so high.

Well, I'll know for sure when I get there.

I decided to postpone the final judgment for the time being and quickly moved along with Misha. It was dark around, but it was not difficult to determine the direction.

*Bam!*

Judging by the sounds, the fight was quite hot. However, Mike was able to draw a conclusion from this sound alone and, grabbing my wrist, asked:

"Bjorn, do you think this is the Death Knight?" And is anyone already fighting him?

— Yes.

"Wait, stop!" What are you going to do there?

What do you think? Strike and take experience points.

"What?" If you do that, you might be attacked!

Misha was amazed when I translated my plans into words from this universe. It was a reasonable concern on her part. Although not as strong as looting, the act of invading or stealing loot during battle was considered extremely immoral among researchers.

"It's all right. I have no intention of claiming the essence or mana stone, so I'll just pretend to think it's a dangerous situation.

"Mmm, it doesn't matter...

"Don't worry. If something happens, I'll take responsibility for everything...

"You're an idiot!" Does that sound like I want you to take responsibility? How did I even get involved with someone like you? It doesn't matter, we've passed! I don't understand anything else!

Hmm, I feel a little offended. It's not like I'm doing it just for myself...

In any case, I think that since we are not looting, it is quite acceptable.

Having fixed additional information in my head, I accelerated my pace.

About 10 seconds passed.

"Kyaaa

I saw four explorers behind the Death Knight, who was holding his sword with his back to us.

"Huh?"

Obviously, they also saw us. So without a moment's hesitation, I struck the Death Knight with my mace.

*Blow!*

Okay, this will give me experience points.

As if they were waiting for me, I shouted out the prepared phrases.

"Don't worry! I'll save you guys!

That's why barbarians were cheaters.

'Behella

How can anyone look at this and think that it was intentional?

***

The Death Knight was hit hard and stumbled.

"Kaaaak?!"

Obviously, the monster was also puzzled by my intrusion. But not as much as a group of four people with wide eyes.

"What are you doing!?"

The human warrior who was closest to me belatedly understood the situation and shouted.

Next was the elf archer in the last row.

"Why are you helping?" If you don't back down, I'll attack you too.

Her voice was soft, but still very harsh.

I pretended to be puzzled and shouted:

"I--I just wanted to help!"

"Who asked for help?"

"Huh?" Didn't you ask? I thought I heard...

"It doesn't matter, just step away if you don't want to be dragged into it and get hurt!"

"Good!"

Even as we spoke, I fended off the Death Knight's attacks with my shield a few times before retreating to where Misha was.

"Damn it, what is this all of a sudden!?" Complaining, the human warrior skillfully intercepted the Death Knight's aggression at him, and the battle resumed naturally.

I wiped my clumsy appearance of a barbarian and spoke so that only Misha could hear.

"How do you like it?" I don't think there is any reason to worry.

I wanted to calm down Misha, who was afraid that she would be labeled an ill-mannered researcher.

However, the response was somewhat unexpected.

"Are you really...

She seemed to be impressed by my behavior, and she couldn't finish her words.

"Phew... no matter. What can I say? Other people need to know that you're such a bastard.

"What do you mean?" I'm only showing it to you.

"Hm? Y-Only me? I mean, right?

At this point the chatter ended, and I watched the ensuing battle. How many opportunities will there be to watch the other team hunt?

It's not a full team, but the balance is good.

A human warrior could skillfully tank alone.

"I'm going to fire another shot, so stand back!"

The formation of damage dealers consisted of a mage and an elf archer using fire magic.

I think this is the first time I've seen a summoner in this world.

There was even a man in a support position who dealt damage or applied buffs using monsters summoned with his summoning ability.

"Bjorn, this man... Doesn't it look familiar?

At Misha's sudden words, I looked back at the summoner, a small figure about 160 cm tall.

A what? Where did I see him? It is impossible that I do not remember the summoner...

At that moment, something reminded me why his face was so familiar.

"Everyone get out of the way!" The attack I was talking about is coming!

The summoner stuttered and gave instructions.

Thanks to this, my blurred memories became clearer.

Soon, I checked the face of the elf next to the man once again and came to a conclusion.

Oh, that's that son of a bitch.

It must be him.