Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 241
Turning Point (1)
A total of twelve knights were assigned as my bodyguards.
Eight of them stood guard outside the house, three stayed inside to be prepared for any unexpected situations, and the last one followed me closely wherever I went inside the house.
“Your name is Raymond Keplo, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The knight responded with courtesy, no matter what I said.
It was unusual, but understandable.
I was about to be given a title, so they were treating me with respect in advance.
If they’re from the Royal Knights, there must be quite a few titled knights among them. Sending them all here must be a form of consideration.
It seems that Deer Horns is a sensitive person.
Well, I’ll have to find out more to be sure.
“You mentioned that these were orders from above. Who exactly gave those orders?”
Keplo replied to my question.
“That… Actually, I don’t know either.”
I watched his expression carefully as he replied.
It didn’t look like he was just making up an excuse. I probed further and realized that his immediate superior had sent him on the mission because he had been told to.
‘Yeah, if he had an idea, he would have tried to hide his identity.’
It was a bit disappointing, I could have used this to find out Deer Horn’s identity.
Wait a minute.
A possibility suddenly occurred to me.
[They’re praising him as a hero, right? It’ll be amusing if he dies right after receiving a noble title. The prestige of the royal family will be in the gutter!]
The clown’s voice was filled with such resentment that I thought it was just an emotional outburst at the time.
[You couldn’t even control your own emotions and ended up warning the enemy. Truly, you’re nothing but a baby.]
This was how Deer Horns had seen the clown’s actions.
Could it be that the clown bastard planned this all along?
Perhaps the Clown’s true goal was to gather information on Deer Horns from the beginning.
Of course, with the green light on the jewel, there is definitely an ‘assassin’…
If he was using the assassin as bait to dig up clues about Deer Horns, it wouldn’t be a loss.
That explanation made more sense.
Even though the clown was beaten at the Round Table, he is still one of the big shots of the world.
There’s a good chance that even his ‘mistakes’ are intentional.
Deer Horns must have anticipated this possibility and sent the knights as discreetly as possible.
Man, there really are no easy opponents here.
A sigh escaped me, but it also motivated me to stay alert from now on.
If I had been lazy and overslept today, for example, Deer Horns might have sensed something strange when he received the report.
“Sir Knight, come here and have some of this.”
“I can’t accept private hospitality from a civilian…”
“Come on, what hospitality? You’re working hard to protect Bjorn.”
Misha served the knights tea like a hostess.
Does she think that close protection is part of being a knight?
“Raymond Keplo, right? I don’t know how long you’ll be staying with us, but make yourself at home while you’re here.”
Misha finally managed to get Keplo to sit down and have some tea.
“I will address you as Lady Karlstein.”
“Hm? Just Misha is fine, but… if you insist, I guess I can’t stop you…”
Soon enough, Misha was using my impending baron status to naturally elicit respect from Keplo.
Of course, I don’t think it was intentional.
It just happened.
Anyway, Misha introduced Keplo to Erwin and even to Aynar, who wasn’t here today.
“May I call you Lady Teresia?”
“Er, um… that is…”
Erwin trailed off, seemingly uncomfortable with the honorific. Noticing her discomfort, Misha stepped in to help.
“Lady Tersia? Can’t you see she’s uncomfortable? Just call her Erwin.”
“Yes, yes! That would be better…”
“Then I’ll inform my subordinates to address her as such.”
After that, the title issue was quickly resolved.
Just then there was another knock at the front door.
“Sir Bjorn Jandel’s colleague is here.”
The knight announced the visitor as if he were some kind of servant.
“Who can it be?”
“A mage named Alluva Raven.”
Keplo looked at me for permission and I nodded.
That was enough.
A creak,
The door opened with Keplo’s welcoming hand.
I raised an arm elegantly from my seat on the sofa to greet her.
“Ah, you’re here.”
This was what I called my Noblesse Barbarian mode.
Raven sighed, seemingly taken aback by the overly formal greeting.
“Ah, come on.”
“How about some tea?”
“Black tea, please.”
Raven glanced at Keplo, who was standing behind me like a bodyguard, and then sat down on the sofa opposite me.
“So what’s this all about?”
“Exactly what it looks like.”
“Are you mad?”
What’s a small girl like her gonna do if she gets angry?
Still, I answered quickly.
“The royal family has assigned knights to guard me so that nothing happens before the title is bestowed.”
“Well, that makes sense. You have quite a few enemies.”
Raven readily accepted my explanation.
After all, it’s common knowledge in the city that the Corpse Collector wouldn’t leave me alone.
Even the big clans don’t look favorably on me.
Anyway…
“Raven, my enemies are your enemies.”
“What are you talking about, this early in the morning?”
Raven seemed to be in a bad mood, maybe because it was morning, not her usual active time.
“Here’s your black tea. You know where the sugar is, right?”
Misha poured the tea and Raven sipped it, her gaze drifting to a particular spot.
It was where Erwin was.
“Ah, hello, Raven…”
“Oh, yes… hello…”
They exchanged awkward greetings as they made eye contact. I couldn’t help but tilt my head in curiosity.
“Didn’t you two call each other by name? I’m sure you did.”
“Jandel, just be quiet.”
“….”
As I shut my mouth, Raven, acting like an older sister, led the conversation.
“How have you been lately?”
“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“If it makes you feel better, I won’t. But are you planning to stay here from now on?”
“Yes… luckily my sister gave her permission…”
“Hmm, is that so? Interesting.”
Their conversation continued for a few more sentences before Erwin, feeling a bit tired, excused herself and went back to her room.
“Um, Keplo, are you just going to stand there?”
“I’m used to this kind of duty. Please continue your conversation.”
“If you say so…”
Despite her words, Raven’s expression was one of discomfort.
She showed no intention of speaking first.
To avoid the awkward silence, I decided to ask something I was curious about.
“What was that just now?”
“Mr Jandel, please use a subject when you speak.”
“I mean Erwin. You weren’t shy around her before.”
I sensed it clearly in their conversation.
Raven seemed very uncomfortable around Erwin. And it wasn’t just because Erwin had recently lost her family.
“So is there something I’m missing?”
“Seriously, you notice the strangest things.”
“So what’s the answer?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Raven sighed and began to speak.
“It’s just… I feel a bit responsible.”
“What do you mean, responsible?”
“You know that magic Dwalki used? Actually, I can use it too.”
Raven’s explanation was simple.
When the Ruin Scholar appeared, Raven knew instinctively. The overwhelming difference in magical power was clear. If she didn’t use Awakening Magic, there would be no way to overcome the situation. But…
“My spells and mana were fine, but I just couldn’t recite the incantation.”
I understood.
Even if it’s a simple spell that any mage could theoretically use, not everyone can actually cast it.
“I hesitated at that moment.”
The Ruin Scholar’s magic struck, and the magic walls Raven had erected were completely shattered.
And the result was…
“Sometimes I think alone in my empty laboratory. If I had cast that spell right away, maybe her sister would still be alive…”
I smiled bitterly. I had never imagined that she would harbour such thoughts.
“Mr Jandel, and our other team members too. We were all in danger of dying. But knowing that, I still couldn’t…”
Before she could fall into a common pattern of self-loathing, I interrupted her.
“That’s enough. We may have lost Erwin, but none of us died, right?”
It might have been a bit cold, but…
“Yes, that’s true.”
Raven nodded in agreement.
After all, she hadn’t spent much time with Erwin and Daria, so they couldn’t be more important than her comrades.
“But we only survived because you did what I couldn’t, Mr Jandel.”
“Haha, well, that’s because I’m the leader, isn’t it?”
I laughed slightly, making a joke out of it. But Raven just let out another small sigh.
“Yeah, that’s exactly why…”
“Excuse me?”
“…… I was just saying it’s not like me to be so sentimental.”
I nodded without realising it.
In fact, when I first met her, she had a completely different image.
In any case, not wanting to dwell on the subject any longer, Raven brought up another topic.
“Mr Jandel, what are you going to do about Erwin? There’s no place for her in the team.”
“I’m still thinking about it.”
“And what about the labyrinth? Are you planning to go in?”
“I’ll keep an eye on things for now. If the current situation continues, it might be difficult to enter.”
“That makes sense.”
“So is that all you came here for today?”
“No, I have something else to tell you.”
Her words set off my alarm bells as I believed in the saying ‘no news is good news’.
“I have decided to take lessons from Lord Febrosk.”
“What? You’re not planning on leaving the team to go to classes, are you?”
“What? No way. Why would you think that?”
Because it’s happened a couple of times.
“But what kind of lessons? You’re already part of a mage school, aren’t you?”
“I can’t learn royal magic at the Altemion School.”
Ah, she got the qualification to learn royal magic as a reward.
“I wanted someone to lay the foundation for me, and fortunately, Master Febrosk agreed to it.”
Raven then explained that she would be staying near the royal palace for a while and told me to contact her there if I needed anything.
“That’s all I had to say. I’m going now. See you then.”
Raven left as soon as she finished her tea, apparently having come just to pass on this information.
***
18th May.
Excluding Raven, Team Apple Narak visited the palace again.
Although there were still two days to go before my title ceremony, we were asked to come and decide on our rewards beforehand.
In fact, it would look better to give out the rewards in front of everyone.
As there wasn’t going to be a banquet, there was no need to dress formally like last time.
Still, I wore casual clothes, since we weren’t allowed to wear our equipment.
“Oh, Jandel! You’re here today too?”
Familiar explorers greeted me as soon as I entered the palace. They, like me, were due to receive their rewards today.
They have been calling people one by one for the past few days.
The monetary rewards had already been distributed evenly, but those who had been given the opportunity to choose an essence or equipment had to wait their turn.
“Bjorn! We’ll go first!”
After arriving at the palace, I separated from my comrades.
Their rewards were different from mine.
“Um, it’s just the two of us now…”
Only my guard knight, the royal guide and Erwin remained in the waiting room.
“Mister… do I really deserve this?”
“If not you, then who? Have some confidence. They don’t give rewards to those who don’t deserve them.”
“But still…”
She was still hesitant, even after coming so far.
“We have to get stronger. You and I. Only then can we avoid losing anything.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
While we were making small talk, another guide arrived and took Erwin away.
She was taken to the Silver Treasury, where level 4 essences or equivalent items were kept.
If only she had access to the Gold Treasury, I would have given her a graduation essence right away…
On second thought, it was still a bit disappointing.
There were level 4 essences suitable for an Archer Fairy, but if the level was just one level higher, it would have been perfect.
She’ll get it one day, even if not this time. It’s about time we went to the 6th level anyway.
I shook off my disappointment.
This reward would increase our strength considerably. There would be no need to stay on the 5th floor for any more build-ups.
The problem was those Noark bastards.
Judging by the royal family’s actions, they must also have some kind of plan.
“Sir Bjorn Jandel, please follow me.”
While I was lost in thought, my personal guide arrived and led me to the Golden Treasury.
It was an underground facility with no windows.
However, the place was filled with bright lights, so it was far from dark.
In fact, it was so luxurious that it didn’t feel like an underground place at all.
Judging by the descent, we must be at least five stories down. The architecture of this world is surprisingly advanced.
When we reached our destination, I was greeted by a formidable knight. Next to him was a mage who gave a brief explanation.
The time limit was three hours.
I could choose one essence or item, and any attempt to steal or damage anything would be severely punished.
Pretty strict.
After the explanation, the huge iron door opened smoothly, as if in weightlessness.
And then…
“Wow…”
Thousands of essences, encased in display tubes, greeted me.
Each one of them was an essence on par with the ‘Ogre’.
Even though I could only take one, I couldn’t help but smile.
This feels like using a cheat code.
Now it’s time to get stronger.