Surviving game as a barbarian Episode 609

Mystery 2

According to the leader of the Aerial Survey team, the wind was too violent above 650 feet for flight magic to be used.

They even tried using illumination magic to atleast see something in the layered darkness, but the wind was so strong that the mana dissipated almost immediately.

However, during the brief moment when the illumination magic lit up, one of the team members saw something.

“There was definitely something looking down at me from the darkness.”

That team member couldn’t properly describe its appearance, shape, or size. But he was absolutely certain that he had seen something.

“The wind was so strong that it was impossible to see clearly. We should consider the possibility that he might have been mistaken…”

The team leader didn’t seem to trust his member’s words, but I felt differently.

Not that I fully believed it either, but…

“Then let’s verify it one more time.”

“One more… time…?”

“Yes. Go back up and use illumination magic properly this time. Then we should be able to see something clearly.”

“…The team is exhausted. Can we rest today and resume the investigation tomorrow?”

Tomorrow, huh…

If I said I wasn’t tempted to save time, that’d be a lie. But I’m a Barbarian Commander who has a generous heart.

“Of course.”

When I gave my permission, the aerial team leader, who had looked as if he were about to collapse, regained his color.

‘Don’t tell me he used magic to make himself look tired just to ask for a break?’

The thought crossed my mind, but trusting one’s subordinates is also a characteristic of a good commander.

In the end, the investigation resumed after the entire team got a full day of rest.

And then…

“I saw it too…! Something was definitely looking down at me!”

A second similar eyewitness account was reported by the second investiagtion team, and this time, the recording crystal even captured a faint silhouette of it.

However, opinions of those who checked the footage were mixed.

“It’s too dark to make out clearly.”

“Could it just be light refraction from the magic sphere…?”

“I disagree. Look here, this part looks like an eye, this could be a nose… If you focus, you can make out a silhouette…”

“Eek! You’re right! That’s no human figure!”

“…Creepy.”

By this point, it felt less like a group of experts clearing a new floor and more like a ghost-hunting club investigating a haunted house.

‘…The footage is ambiguous.’

I reviewed the recording myself, but it was too unclear to draw any conclusions.

Still…

‘But now there’s a second eyewitness.’

One account could be dismissed, but two?

That changes things statistically.

The claim that something was up there now carried more credibility.

There was something hidden on those winds.

Even if it’s not a “person,” as the guys are claiming.

“Hmm…”

Now, my next move was clear:

“How do I get up there?”

I needed a way to pierce through the winds and reach the unknown entity above.

From now on, I need to figure that out.

“Team Leader. Use your discretion to investigate that area from now on. I’ll grant you the authority to mobilize others if needed.”

I enabled “Auto Investigation Mode” for the Investigation team.

I instructed them to try every possible idea, no matter how absurd, as long as they reported the results back to me.

‘Not that I expect this old man to come up with anything particularly creative…’

Still, he’d probably uncover something.

After that, I excused myself to gather my thoughts and returned to my quarters.

[Seems like things aren’t going smoothly?]

“Ah, want to hear about it?”

I picked Hamsiki up from the bed where he had been reading a book then settled him into a seat and sat down across from him. Then, I explained my situation.

I had some hope, but unfortunately, Hamsiki could only hear about my problems. He didn’t have the capacity to give me advice.

[I see. That must be troubling.]

“That’s it?”

[What else? What do you want me to do about it?]

Maybe it was all the reading, but lately he’s been getting a lot colder to me. He used to be much softer and sweeter.

‘Is he going through puberty?’

Hamsiki looked away from me and resumed reading while I lay on the bed, trying to organize my thoughts.

How could I break through the obstacle and reach the sky?

Moving over a hundred people hundreds of feets into the air through those winds wasn’t something I could easily figure out.

But precisely because of that…

‘It’s probably not something you can just brute-force with magic. Hmm… So do we need to fulfill certain conditions to trigger an event?’

A theory born entirely from a gamer’s perspective.

But considering this was the Dungeon & Stone world, that perspective could be useful.

‘An event…’

Actually, one hypothesis came to my mind right away.

Right after the rainy season ended, the rainbow pillar shone brighter than anything else we had seen on this floor. That pillar lasted for about five minutes before vanishing.

At the time, I assumed it was just a marker.

But…

‘What if we’re here when it appears? Will some kind of event trigger?’

It was a solid hypothesis.

Especially because being there at that exact moment was an extremely difficult condition.

‘The nearest island is four weeks away.’

Stone Gate Island, with its guardian statues, had sunk beneath the sea. And the closest island now was the Library Island.

If we use the mana propulsion system our travel time will be drastically reduce, but that wouldn’t change much.

No matter what we did, the rainy season would end before we arrived.

‘In short, the only way to be here when the light pillar appears is to endure the rainy season head-on…’

 

Assuming my entire theory is correct, it’s also suspicious that how the Rainbow Island is isolated.

If not, oh well.

‘For now, we’ll continue investigating. If we find nothing, I’ll try it.’

And so, the decision was made.

If all my assumptions were accurate, then it was also strange why Rainbow Island was located so far from the others.

Well, it wouldn’t matter if I was wrong.

‘For now, let’s keep investigating. If we still can’t find a way, we’ll try this.’

That settled it for the time being.
***

One day, two days, three, four…

The time I spent on the boat in the windless zone went by quickly.

For some, it was the busiest we’d been in a long time, while others were bored out of their minds.

“…Commander, we’ve found something!”

“Really?!”

The ones with busy days were the Investigation team members.

On my orders, they spent each day conducting increasingly outlandish experiments, most of which ended in failure.

Today’s experiment: launching a drone.

The plan was to attach recording crystals to arrows, shoot them into the sky, track their location, and retrieve the footage. A fairly solid idea, but…

“Play it! Now!”

“…”

“Why do you look so stunned—”

“It’s not working. I think… the crash broke it.”

The team leader’s face hardened. They had spent three whole days planning and preparing for this.

“Can we repair it?”

“Not really. It’s not just scrambled, it’s destroyed. We won’t be able to fix it.”

“…”

Whew… I feel bad just watching.

At this point I wanted to tell them to rest, but they kept coming up with genuinely good ideas, so I decided to let it continue.

‘No wonder he was picked as team leader by Gahyun, and he was proving to be a better fit than expected.’

‘I was a little surprised when he said he’d investigate the ocean simultaneously.’

By the way, the investigation team leader was also conducting deep-sea exploration. . The most impressive part of the plan was attaching a weight to the video recording device and sinking it.

The problem? The durability of the recording crystals.

No matter how many protective spells were layered on them, the crystals always shattered when they were taken out of the water.

“…Once I return, I swear I’ll create a recording crystal that works in any environment and never breaks.”

Hmm… maybe this is how civilization advances.

After all, they say failure leads to success.

‘If something like that existed, exploration would be so much easier.’

Not that I had much to complain about.

I was surrounded by top-class talent and didn’t need to lift a finger.

I was definitely one of those people with boring days.

‘Guess I’ll do a patrol.’

As I walked across the decks of the docked ships, I noticed how empty they felt.

I knew fewer guards were needed since no sea monsters were appearing, but…

‘Even so, this is too empty. Where is everyone?’

When I asked a crew member working on deck, he gave an unexpected answer.

“Everyone’s holed up in their rooms. They don’t want to risk catching the team leader’s eye by being outside.”

“…Huh?”

“Didn’t you give him the authority to use anyone he needs?”

“Ah…”

“Ugh… I only stepped out for some fresh air, and of all times, I had to run into him…”

Since there were actual victims, this wasn’t just a rumor.

Feeling slightly guilty, I quickly moved on.

When I’d made a full circuit of all four ships and returned to ours—

“Bjorn!!”

“Call me Commander—”

“Save me! I just want to rest!”

Aynar came running, throwing her spear on the deck.

‘That thing costs a fortune…’

I nearly coughed up blood seeing the Verdant spear tumble like that, but I sidestepped her tackle and checked the deck.

“Ack!”

“Tch.”

Amelia clicked her tongue as she watched Aynar roll forward, it was clear they had been sparring for some time.

Nothing unusual.

“Training again?”

“She won’t do anything on her own, so I have to stay with her.”

Even back on Village Chief Island and during the voyage, Amelia had squeezed in time to train Aynar.

“It’s her fighting spirit. Once she’s back to normal, she’ll do fine on her own.”

“Exactly. But until then, I’ll keep her in line. Do you want me to stop?”

“No. Take good care of her.”

If anything, I was grateful to Amelia.

She was handling what should’ve been my responsibility.

‘Seems like she’s grown attached to the team members.’

It was a heartwarming sight.

Especially since she was helping Aynar of her own volition, not because I asked.

“If you want to rest, swing your spear. If you land a single hit on me, training ends for the day.”

“B-Bethel… ra…!”

Aynar regained a sliver of motivation and began swinging her spear. After watching their spar for a bit, I left.

***
About three days until the rainy season begins.

We held a meeting of the top officials for the first time in a while.

And made an announcement.

“As of today, the investigation is over.”

“Huh…?”

Upon hearing this, the team leader stared at me, dumbfounded.

Hmm, honestly, I thought he’d be happier.

“…I apologize for the disappointment. Despite the time given, we couldn’t uncover any—”

No, I wasn’t scolding him.

Realizing the misunderstanding, I quickly clarified.

“I’m not disappointed. In fact, I think you did everything you possibly could, better than anyone else would have. Honestly, if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have learned this much.”

These were unusually warm words from the usually blunt barbarian commander.

I wouldn’t normally go that far, but I genuinely recognized and respected the expedition leader’s ability and effort.

And maybe that sincerity came through in my eyes.

“…Thank you.”

The expedition leader gave a short bow in acknowledgment of my respect, then cautiously asked:

“Then… are you stopping the investigation because of the rainy season?”

“Your guess is both right and wrong.”

“Commander?”

“It’s true that I’m stopping the investigation because of the rainy season, but not because we’re relocating to avoid it. Quite the opposite. I’m stopping the investigation because we need time to prepare.”

Then, turning to address not just the team leader but the entire command staff, I declared:

“We will weather the rainy season here.”

For that, we must prepare thoroughly.

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