On the third floor of the tavern where Team Apple Narak always met, Raven let out an inopportune sigh. That sigh was the result of a certain person's absence due to unforeseen circumstances. «Well, we've all met as promised, but we won't be able to make settlements like this».
It had been three days since they returned to the city. On behalf of the absent leader, Raven visited Kommelby and sold all her loot on her own. The value amounted to a whopping 152,400,000 stones.
«One hundred million?! I had never heard of that unit!»
«Woah, is that the figure even subtracting the equipment we took?».
«Well, it was the same as selling equipment collected from seven intermediate explorers. The item numbered Fox Flame Knot was only registered on the exchange and has not even been sold yet.»
«...I expected a high number, but this is really incredible».
As soon as they heard the amount, everyone gasped. It was just the reaction she expected, but why did it seem like something was missing? Raven inadvertently looked at the empty seat at the table.
I didn't know when he was here, but it's a little boring without him.
Bjorn, son of Yandel, leader of Team Apple Narak and Barbarian Warrior who served as the team's guardian. If he were here, they would already be engaged in a war of nerves over the distribution relationship. The conversation would move forward something like:
«Should you receive 40% of the Manticore essence because it is a special loot? What a strange calculation. Maybe we did win the dice roll that day, but we got this from the dwarf, so it's only fair to distribute it equally.»
«So what about the 20 million stones received as payment for the work?»
«You will definitely recover the cost of the test tube. But 40% of the fees? I remember that the special loot distribution agreement did not include any clause on labor fees».
As always, she laughed and offered a new engagement. At the time, he thought it was only for his benefit, but maybe that wasn't necessarily the case.
«Aruru, what are you thinking?»
«Nothing». Raven dismissed her thoughts and ended the meeting. «If no one needs money urgently, I will keep this until Mr. Yandel returns».
«Okay. Clear. Ainar can borrow money from me».
«Again? Do I have to borrow money again?»
«You have a lot to give back, anyway. Taking it in advance will only make the calculation more complicated for Aruru. So wait until then. Okay?»
«Okay!»
«Hmm, it was twenty days, right? Now there are just over two weeks left».
For some reason, Raven felt a strange emotion. She was the one who suggested it, but was it normal to accept that a person would keep assets worth more than a hundred million stones so easily? Normally not. Like a wizard, Raven didn't hold back her question. «Aren't you all worried? I said I would keep it».
« ¿Hmm? »
«Worried? Why would we do something like that?».
The reactions were as if she was asking a strange question. That made her feel even stranger. It wasn't a bad feeling at all, but also difficult to define in words.
Is that why that person used magic to wake up?
The first time he heard that story from Bjorn, he thought they were too naive. That was because a magic tower wizard would never do such a thing. But now, she could understand his decision. Not much, but maybe 1%.
«Anyway, then today's agenda is over.»
Once the objective of the meeting was finished, they ate together and talked about various things. Naturally, most of the talk was about their absent leader.
«Arurung, what kind of place is Bifrrron?»
«...A sinister place. Even virtuous people become vile there».
«That's what poverty and hunger do to someone.»
«Sr. Urikfried, what an experimentado eso?»
«...After three years, there was an incident where I lost all my equipment. I barely managed to save money by living only on stone bread. I also paid my taxes by the skin of my teeth».
The atmosphere became a little heavier. Missha spoke cautiously. «It should be fine, right? Bjorn?»
«What are you worried about, Miss Karlstein? He is strong and has money. What difficulties will you have? He's probably on vacation now».
«Mmm... I hope so...»
Raven giggled and shook her head. What could you say to a woman in love to console her in this situation? Missha seemed extremely charming to him at that moment.
He's a year older than me...
For some reason, I even felt envious.
Will I ever make that face for someone?
It wasn't easy to imagine it now. Missha turned her head, embarrassed to be stared at, and pinched Ainar's innocent side. «Ainarrr, stop eating meat and say something. Aren't you worried about Bjorn?»
«...Hey? Bjorn? Why would I care about Bjorn? Bjorn is a great warrior! Without the law, you will live a better life!» It was a truly barbaric response.
Normally this was the time for everyone to shake their heads in disapproval, but everyone kept their mouths shut as if it were a sign. The reason was simple. It really seemed like he would. This was the person who skillfully evaded the law and did what he wanted, after all.
***
I screamed louder than ever: «Behell-aaaaaaaaaah!»
Currently, I was on the fourth floor terrace of the old District 14 administrative office building. For reference, a total of 514 subordinates were standing in a row at ground level, and there was only one action these guys had to take now. Since I made the first scream, his task was to scream again.
«¡Behell-ah!»
This was the product of my achievements three days after arriving at this place. I became the head of the Western Alliance occupying the western sector of Bifron. It was not a difficult task. Force became power in a lawless place like the natural order. That just meant I crashed their camp and destroyed everything.
«Too quiet!»
«¡Behell-ahhhh!»
«Higher!»
«¡B-Behell-ahhhhhhh!»
Now that I had subordinates, I showed them the barbaric war cry, which had not yet been fully achieved. I assumed it was because there wasn't a single barbarian among all these people. It would take some time to be satisfied. If anyone asked me why I was teaching them this, I only had one answer: I was a K-Barbarian heir to a humanitarian spirit. Of course, good things must be shared.
«¡Behell-ahhhhh!»
It still didn't meet my expectations, so I held my mace tightly, to which the scream grew louder.
Okay, that's enough.
«That's all for today! Go have fun! Oh, but don't do anything that harms others!»
«Yes sir!»
Ending the morning meeting that first began today, I dismissed my subordinates. Quite a few of them were on crutches due to their broken legs, but they were able to leave the premises without problems with the help of their teammates. Now, it was also time to start my tomorrow.
«El té está listo».
Upon entering the room, a man with a jellyfish haircut missing the top of his head leaned over and served me lunch. This guy was the head of the Western Alliance until yesterday. She suffered from severe circular hair loss, so she normally wore a wig, but I told her to stop wearing it from now on. A subordinate shouldn't hide anything from his boss, right?
«Tea and bread, huh?» Seeing the breakfast served on the table, I couldn't help but sigh. «Are you kidding? Bring me wine and meat».
«Excuse me? Oh yeah! Sorry. I didn't know what you'd want so...»
«It's because you have something like this for breakfast that your hair is already falling out.»
«This is because of the witch's poison!»
Yes of course. If that were really the case, everyone here would be bald.
«Don't make embarrassing excuses.»
After waiting a bit, the table was set with crispy grilled meat. As usual, I ate it with my own hands. Having a thick skin on my hands and also high resistance to flames, this was no problem.
«You, what was your name? I do not remember.»
«Because you didn't ask...» Was this treason? Just as that thought was about to enter my head, he realized his mistake and quickly rectified his words. «Jingkasar Feljain».
«That's unusual. Where does it come from?»
«Comes from the south-central region».
Oh, so their ancestors were desert people. No wonder his skin was so dark. «Hmm». I watched him for a moment and contemplated this. Jingkasar Feljain? It was too much work to pronounce. It would have to be reduced for practicality. Okay, since it was Mr. Jing... «Jingjing. Yes, Jingjing sounds good.»
«...Sorry?»
«From now on, I will call you Jingjing.»
The answer came a few moments later. «...Okay.»
«Okay, boss.»
«Okay, boss...» Jingjing didn't seem to like his new name at all, but what was he going to do about it?
If you don't like it, you should have won, or handled your subordinates better so they wouldn't start a fight with me.
«Agua.»
«Excuse me?»
«Agua.»
«¡Ah, si!»
After the meal, I swallowed the antidote the gentleman had given me with water. I was uneasy not knowing what it was made of, but since Raven guaranteed me her safety, I was sure she was fine.
Not taking it worries me more.
Bifron was a district where the protective magic circle was damaged. The witch poison that brought the world to an end was leaking even at this moment and all the residents here were exposed to it. It was easy to think that witch poison was radioactive, but it had a peculiar trait that fit into this fantasy world.
It doesn't affect you until you're fifteen. Afterwards, the probability of its manifestation increases depending on the exposure time.
To explain it in the sense of a game, Bifron was a place covered with probabilistic soils capable of causing instant death. For adults, life expectancy after deportation was eight or nine years, and that was only because the protective magic circle was half-functioning. If they left the castle walls, they died within the day.
However, no one had ever gone outside.
The world outside the city was also unknown to me. Even in the game, it was completely locked by the system.
«I'm full. Let's go for a walk».
«...I'll help you.»
I took Jingjing for a walk and, walking aimlessly in one direction, asked him the questions I had been curious about. Since I had been the head of an organization, I was more knowledgeable than the guy who guided me on the first day, and even answered the strange questions honestly. He dedicated even his soul to my act as boss.
«Ask me what you want to know. This Jingkasar Feljain will answer them all».
His ulterior motive was too obvious. He probably thought I just had to endure this for twenty days, after which I would be gone. Any attempt to stab me in the back was sure to kill him.
Should I thank that boy?
Of course I wasn't planning on exiling myself to Bifron to swallow the Western Alliance, but I wasn't short of any plans either. Whether I liked it or not, I would stay here twenty days. I judged there would be fewer problems if I set up a station here. There was also something I now wanted to check. Well, I can't say I wasn't bored either.
«But boss, how far are we going? We are already in the Eastern territory.»
«Just follow me».
Once the morning walk lasted for more than two hours, Jingjing began to wonder. «But further away and it's just the castle wall...»
«Ese es el destino.»
An empty castle wall? Because? The question crossed his mind, but Jingjing did not ask. Within a day, he had learned to talk to me.
Step.
That's how we arrived at a street near the castle wall. I reached a roof that seemed higher than the rest and looked at the wall.
The same thing happens here too.
As in the other Districts, there were soldiers standing guard on the wall. I had always wondered this: Why were the soldiers watching this side and not the outside?
I asked Jingjing, but this was the answer I received. «I'm not sure. I guess it's in case someone tries to get out».
To be honest, I once thought the same thing. That was what everyone else believed too.
But is it necessary in Bifron?
From his perspective, it was better for those people to disappear anyway. Furthermore, if these people died from the witch's poison while trying to jump over the wall, it would only help prove the monarch's legitimacy.
How weird.
I realized this contradiction as soon as I got here. Bifron's protective magic circle was broken, so even the sentinels on the castle walls had to receive an antidote. However, were they wasting their resources to place sentinels here?
Here's something.
That was my intuition, the same one that allowed me to discover countless hidden pieces. But no matter how much I stared at the castle walls and organized my thoughts, the answer did not come. He had a plausible hypothesis, but there was still not enough evidence to support it.
«Let's go back. I'm hungry».
«Yes, boss».
Soon, I took my eyes off the wall and turned around. Just then, a group of dozens gathered on the street below caught my attention.
«Bastards of the east. Looks like they found out you were here. What are they going to do?» Although he posed it as a question, Jingjing's eyes showed his expectation that I would crush them like I did with his group. Too easy to read.
«Alright. Guide me back to our territory. It's best not to run into them...» Just as I was about to walk away, I stiffened like a rock. There was a familiar face among the eastern bastards.
Amelia Rainwales?
What was she doing here?