Thwack!
The mont I smashed Bek’s shiny head with the Demon Crusher with all my might…
Psssh!
…his skull and scalp exploded simultaneously, and blood spurted from every orifice.
A successful surprise attack.
But as expected of seasoned veterans, they reacted quickly even after their leader’s head was smashed.
Tadat.
The archer retreated.
“You crazy bastard!”
And the lee attackers rushed towards , blocking my left and right flanks.
They’re like cockroaches.
Whooosh!
I activated [Gigantification] and swung my hamr at the shield warrior in front of .
Surprisingly, he didn’t dodge.
He just raised his shield and shouted,
“Stab him!”
Right, he’s telling them to stab in the sides while he’s blocking my attack.
I glanced at his shield. It looked pretty good.
‘Adamantium.’
It seed like he was relying on his expensive shield…
But there are much better items in the world.
‘Don’t struggle.’
The hamr and shield collided, and an explosion occurred.
Kwaaang!
His shield was slightly dented, but it was still intact.
But…
Kwagic!
…the shield warrior was bleeding from every orifice, like a punctured can of soda.
Because I didn’t use [Swing] earlier.
I couldn’t even see the Double Numbered Item’s effect.
500% damage increase and 50% Soul Power consumption reduction when using a blunt weapon skill.
And 50% armor penetration bonus on downward strikes.
Thud.
He collapsed to the ground, his eyes bulging from the pressure.
Then it was ti for the next one.
Swoosh.
I shifted my gaze towards my third target, and he retreated.
The archer behind him did the sa.
Are they trying to run away?
That’s funny.
I had no intention of letting them go.
‘Transcendence.’
I quickly chanted the command.
‘Eye of the Storm.’
The active skill I obtained from Stormgush.
Kaboom!
I stomped on the ground, and a whirlpool started to swirl.
It was different from the one Stormgush used.
It was the effect of [Transcendence].
Whooosh!
[Eye of the Storm] no longer pulled in enemies within a 5-ter radius.
Instead…
…it targeted a single person within a 20-ter radius.
And dragged them towards .
“Aaaaaaargh!”
Just like this.
Kwagic!
Okay, three down.
But I wasn’t satisfied. I looked at the last target, the fleeing archer.
I was planning to use [Leap] to chase him if he got too far…
But…
Thud.
…Alia had already caught up and finished him off.
She’s a rational woman.
She probably judged that it was best to kill them all and silence them since the incident had already happened.
“Ah, uh, uh, sp, spare…”
Thwack!
Alia approached after knocking the archer’s companion, Zencia, unconscious.
And she said briefly,
“That was foolish.”
“Because they’re from the Lord’s faction?”
“No, because now we have to kill this kid too.”
…Is that how it works?
But she was alive back then.
“There were many opportunities to kill her. I would have killed her eventually, even if you didn’t.”
“…You would have?”
“I’m also responsible.”
Responsible…
Ah, I don’t know.
My head is a ss.
Beeeeeeeep.
The ringing in my ears continued, even though I had killed them all.
I felt even more suffocated.
“Why did you do that? You said you didn’t even know your father.”
That was true.
And I knew.
That no matter how many people I killed, it wouldn’t bring him back.
That it would be hypocrisy.
But…
“Just…”
I couldn’t explain it.
“I just… felt like it.”
“…I see.”
Alia didn’t get angry.
She just looked at .
“…….”
I averted my gaze.
I saw Yandel Jarku’s body.
His corpse, which seed to have been treated like a toy, was covered in injuries.
Clench.
I clenched my fists.
I rembered our brief conversation in the rift.
[Bjorn, have children as soon as possible. It’s sad to leave nothing behind in this world.]
[…Really?]
[Yeah, I didn’t know until I had a child.]
Jarku said.
That a child who shared his blood was like another him.
That it was a mystical experience.
That he had a new desire, even stronger than his desire to beco a great warrior.
[Huhu, he’ll definitely beco a great warrior.]
So I ran away.
[Stop!]
[Huh?]
[I, I’ll be going now…]
I realized it at his words.
That even if I lived as Bjorn Yandel, saved countless lives, and beca a hero in the city…
‘I wouldn’t be forgiven.’
Even if it wasn’t what I wanted.
Clench.
The truth doesn’t change.
I was an evil spirit.
The one who stole the only precious legacy of this barbarian warrior.
_________________________
“You seem to have cald down.”
Alia spoke as I was staring blankly at Yandel Jarku’s body.
She wasn’t wrong.
Ti heals all wounds?
The ringing in my ears had subsided, and my trembling had stopped.
It was ti to think about how to clean up this ss.
I looked at the unconscious Zencia and spoke.
“…Do we really have to kill her?”
“Is there another option? The Lord will find out what we did if she returns alive.”
Damn it.
Alia asked as I sighed in frustration,
“Is there a reason why we shouldn’t kill her?”
“She’s still… young.”
I felt conflicted even as I said that.
Why was I trying to find a way not to kill her?
I knew the future.
This child would live a hellish life and then be possessed by an evil spirit when she beca an adult.
So wouldn’t it be better for her to…
‘Damn it.’
I cursed.
What the hell am I thinking?
That it wouldn’t change anything if I killed her now since she would die eventually anyway? That I could prove Auril Gabis wrong by killing her?
I shook my head firmly.
“…We can’t kill her. Let’s find another way.”
“That’s not like you.”
“What do you know about ?”
You don’t even know I’m an evil spirit.
I snapped at her, but I also agreed inwardly.
I would have made a different choice if it were my usual self.
But…
‘At least today…’
…I didn’t want to.
It had been a tough day.
Even if this decision ant surrendering to fate, I couldn’t handle any more.
Therefore…
“You’re right. I misjudged you. I didn’t know you were this weak. If you can’t do it, I’ll—”
“Stop.”
I grabbed Alia’s wrist.
“…You should let go.”
“Didn’t you say we should find another way?”
“Another way? There’s no more certain way than this.”
Ugh, this woman…
So she’s saying we should think about it together…
‘Ah, right, that!’
I quickly spoke as I thought of a solution.
“Right, the mory Erasure Pill! The one made by Noark’s alchemist! We can erase her mories with that! You’re from the Lord’s faction, right? You might have it!”
I said it excitedly, like Archides shouting ‘Eureka!’, but Alia just scoffed.
“It’s still in its early stages of developnt. There’s no way they would have sothing that precious.”
“But we should at least look for it!”
“…Fine, if you won’t give up until you see it yourself.”
Alia then shook off my hand.
“And don’t ever grab my arm without permission again.”
Geez, she’s sensitive.
Alia then approached the corpses and started looting.
Okay, I bought so ti to think, whether the mory Erasure Pill appeared or not—
‘Ah, wait a minute.’
I belatedly realized my mistake.
It seed like Alia hadn’t noticed…
‘Damn it.’
Ha, was I that out of it?
I would never have made this mistake if I were my usual self.
‘…I’ll just try to fix it later when she ntions it.’
I squatted down and started looting, checking the backpacks.
And I continued to think about what to do if the mory Erasure Pill didn’t appear.
That’s when…
“…We’re lucky. I can’t believe they have this at this ti.”
…a pill appeared from one of the backpacks.
________________________
Things went smoothly after the pill appeared.
Alia quickly fed it to Zencia, and we waited for her to regain consciousness.
And after so ti…
“Ugh, ugh! What, what the…!”
Zencia, whose hands and feet were tied and who was blindfolded, regained consciousness, and we quietly observed her reaction from a distance.
It was an early version of the pill, so there might be side effects.
“Bek! Bek! Help !”
It seed like her mories had been erased, judging by how she was calling for the dead Bek.
Then how much had been erased?
We were able to get the information we wanted from Zencia, who was muttering to herself.
“She doesn’t rember anything from the mont she entered the Crystal Cave. It seems like it’s much more potent than the mass-produced version, maybe because it’s an early version.”
Alia then knocked Zencia unconscious again and fed her a sleeping pill to prevent her from waking up.
That settled the issue for now.
“The labyrinth will be closing soon, so we just have to stay with her for a few hours.”
We moved to another location and waited with the sleeping Zencia.
We couldn’t just leave her alone in the labyrinth.
When the labyrinth closed, she would be found by the Lord’s faction.
They would try to find out what happened, but she wouldn’t rember anything.
“…Alia, I’m sorry about earlier.”
I apologized while we were waiting, but Alia just ignored .
And after so ti…
Swaaaaaaaaaa!
…the labyrinth closed.
But unlike usual, we weren’t greeted by warm sunlight or a refreshing breeze.
Only the gloomy underground city awaited us.
“We’re back.”
The Dinsional Plaza in the western part of the Lord’s Castle.
This was where Noark differed from Lafdonia.
On the surface, you had to go through the checkpoint and exchange your magic stones when the labyrinth closed, but here, it was up to you.
“Let’s go get a drink!”
“Hey, isn’t that the kid from Bek’s gang? Why is she alone? Did the others die inside?”
“That’s good news for Iron Tooth. He had a grudge against Bek.”
The explorers who ca out to the plaza dispersed, and it soon beca deserted. Zencia, who was lying in the distance, was also found by the Lord’s faction and taken away.
“Let’s go too.”
“Ah, right…”
We also left the plaza and headed towards one place.
[lta Trading Company]
The only trading company in Noark, and the place where the looters of the underground usually sold their loot.
Unlike the magic stone exchange, which had a short line, the lta Trading Company branch was crowded. After all, magic stones were currency here, so there was no need to exchange them.
And I heard that the magic stone exchange didn’t even give you money, they just exchanged them for food or other items.
“Hmm, Iron Mask and Emily. The most famous people these days.”
We took out all the equipnt we had been storing as soon as it was our turn.
Ah, for reference, we excluded Bek’s equipnt.
It would be obvious that we killed them if we showed them that.
“…You obtained all of this during this expedition?”
The employee’s eyes widened as we emptied our backpacks.
Even though looters were rampant in Noark, it wasn’t common to see soone with this much loot.
“This will take so ti. Can you wait?”
The employee then called a few more appraisers, and they all started working.
And after about ten minutes, we received the appraisal.
21 4th-grade magic stones.
1 5th-grade magic stone.
And 7 7th-grade magic stones.
Damn it, I don’t even know how much that is.
“How much is that in Lafdonia?”
“Ah, you might not know since it’s your first ti in Noark. Based on last month’s exchange rate, it’s a total of 21,570,000 stones.”
I had heard it from Alia, but these guys are truly robbers.
Even though it was all low-grade equipnt, and we didn’t even show them the subspace pockets or expandable backpacks.
“It would be worth over 70 million stones on the surface.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
Geez, that tone.
“Whatever. Emily, let’s go.”
“You’re not selling it?”
“No, I’m not giving it away at this ridiculous price.”
“If you say so.”
We then took our equipnt and left.
The employee didn’t even try to stop us.
He probably thought we would eventually sell it to them anyway.
“Then let’s go back to the inn.”
We left the trading company and returned to our inn. We washed up and then sat down facing each other and talked.
“We showed the looted equipnt to the trading company, so the Lord will be interested in us, even without Bek’s report.”
That was the reason why we went to the trading company even though we weren’t planning to sell anything.
After all, the Lord practically owned the trading company.
He would definitely hear about the bloodstained equipnt and ID cards, all the evidence of our looting.
“Then we just have to wait.”
“Yeah, for now.”
We talked about a few more things and then changed into our casual clothes and lay down on our beds.
“I’m going to sleep first. I’m tired.”
Of course, sleep didn’t co easily.
I was tossing and turning when…
“Are you asleep?”
…Alia suddenly spoke.
“No, I’m not. Why?”
“I’m suddenly curious about sothing.”
Curious…
I had a hunch.
She was probably thinking about my ‘mistake’ from earlier.
“Go ahead.”
“How did you know about Arn’s Blessing?”
Oh, so that’s what it’s called.
I answered nonchalantly, pretending not to know.
“Ah, that? Didn’t you give it to at the inn before?”
“But I didn’t say it was made by Noark’s alchemist.”
“I grabbed another explorer from Noark and asked him before killing him!”
“Hmm, I see. Right… I see…”
Wait, what’s with that tone?
I’m starting to feel uneasy—
“Barbarian, the na of that pill is Lethe’s Blessing. Not Arn’s Blessing.”
Huh?
“As expected.”
A shadow fell over my bed.
I subtly turned my head, and Alia was standing there, looking down at .
“You didn’t lose your mories back then.”
It was a checkmate.
She had realized my mistake back then, but she pretended not to know until I let my guard down…
How cunning.
I sighed and admitted it.
“Yeah, for so reason, I was fine.”
What could I do if the pill was defective?
I had hidden it back then because I thought she might try to kill if she knew, but there was no need for that now.
Noark’s existence had already been revealed to the city.
‘What do I even have to hide now?’
It wasn’t sothing I should be worried about.
So I sat up and looked at Alia, as if telling her to speak if she had sothing to say.
But then…
“…….”
…her gaze was strange.
It felt cold.
“…Why are you looking at like that?”
Alia answered coldly,
“Only evil spirits don’t lose their mories after taking that pill, Bjorn Yandel.”
Ah, uh, hmm…
‘Damn it.’
I didn’t know that.
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