Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 273

Defense (3)

Hans Aulok.

From now on, he will be remembered as Hans J.

“H-Hans…?!”

“Hans, you say…?”

The moment he revealed his name, Raven and Aynar flinched and fixed their gazes on him.

Both of them know.

They know what Hans means to me.

“…Is there a problem?”

Hans J, looking startled by the sudden attention, made a confused expression.

I clenched my thigh tightly.

‘Not now. Hold it in.’

I want to crush his skull and turn him into a nameless corpse right now.

Such urges are dominating my mind.

But…

Crack—

There’s no proof yet that he’s a traitor.

All I have is a strong suspicion.

No amount of explaining the ominousness of Hans’s name will convince Patzran or Ersina.

They still think of him as a comrade.

Therefore…

“No, there’s no problem.”

For now, I take no action.

Even if he is a traitor, if he has any sense, he’ll keep his mouth shut and stay still until we return to the city.

It’s best to watch and wait.

“Uh? It didn’t seem like that…”

“I said there’s no problem.”

“Hmm, if you say so…”

Hans J scratched his chin with an uneasy expression.

I felt a bit guilty, as if we were ostracizing him, but…

“Well, shall we continue our talk—”

Regardless, a handshake was overstepping the line.

“Ah, Patzran! Are you done talking?”

I shifted my attention from Hans J to change the subject.

It seemed the two had just finished their conversation as well.

“More or less. It turns out Drowess was indeed from Noark… I always thought he had some quirks.”

“I see.”

“So, what will you do with this guy?”

“We’ll bring him along for now.”

“Understood.”

Surprisingly, Patzran had no objections regarding the treatment of Nevarche.

Maybe he considered them my spoils and didn’t want to overstep.

“Everyone, gather around!”

Anyway, after the brief reunion, Raven called everyone together.

Then, along with me, she summarized the situation.

“The sea route is blocked by waves, making it impossible to escape the island. Monsters keep appearing for some reason.”

“And those monsters seem to be getting stronger. The Siren Queen appeared just a while ago.”

“Yes. Whatever phenomenon is happening on this island today, it seems to be something serious. So, Patzran, do you know anything about this?”

Patzran took a moment before speaking.

“…Since you seem to have some idea, I’ll be honest. Our visit to this island was because of this phenomenon.”

Even if the others didn’t know, he must have discussed it with their leader, Drowess.

“I don’t know the details, but I heard we only need to hold out until dawn two days from now.”

“So, this situation won’t last indefinitely.”

Then, Raven presented two options.

“One is to find a defensible spot and hold out until then.”

“The second?”

“The second is to search the island for our comrades. Our team still hasn’t found Misha, and Patzran’s team hasn’t found their archer. If they’re alone, they’ll be in more danger as time passes.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Raven’s words.

Why even present two options then?

“So, what will you choose?”

“Of course, we’ll search for our comrades.”

I answered without hesitation, and Patzran felt the same.

“I escaped safely, so Helga must have too. We need to go save her.”

First, let’s search the island for our comrades.

Just as we decided on our course of action, Hans J spoke up.

“How about we vote on it?”

It was hard to believe.

No matter how much his name is Hans, to say this in the current mood?

“Hmmmmmm, maybe there are some who don’t want to, but can’t say so.”

“Alright then, let’s vote. Raise your hand if you think we should search for our comrades.”

Without wasting any time, we conducted the vote. Everyone raised their hand, and Hans J, sensing the atmosphere, hesitantly raised his last.

“That’s settled then.”

“Ahem, there might be someone who doesn’t want to speak up.”

***

Step, step.

I’m walking at a brisk pace, clearing a path.

Behind me are eight individuals.

Our entire clan, minus Misha.

Our temporary allies, Patzran, Ersina, and Hans J.

Plus the strategic prisoner, Nebarce  Greenhop.

‘At least we have eight people.’

If we find Misha and Patzran’s archer, we might be able to clear this.

The priestess’s presence was crucial.

Without her, it would have been daunting.

“Misha! If you can hear me, answer! Misha!”

“Helga!”

After leaving the coast, we focused on finding our comrades somewhere on the island.

It wasn’t easy.

The island isn’t that large, but…

Crash, crash—!

Roaaarrr—!

Monsters kept appearing in dozens wherever we went, slowing us down.

We were almost at a standstill, constantly fighting.

「You defeated a Sea Giant. EXP +5.」

「You defeated a Naga Archer. EXP +5.」

「You have defeated a Serpent of Palpus…」

「…….」

A change that occurred about 30 minutes ago.

The monsters appearing are of much higher level than before.

Even with a party of eight, it’s difficult to advance.

“……”

“……”

“……”

“……”

The atmosphere had darkened significantly compared to before.

Though no one spoke it out loud…

The reason for this gloom was clear without asking.

“With so many monsters around…”

There’s no way the separated comrades are fine. Even if Misha and the archer had the luck to join forces, the two of them couldn’t withstand these waves of monsters alone.

But what can we do about it?

“Bethel—raaaah!”

I pressed on, swinging my mace countless times just to move a few steps forward.

Standing still wasn’t an option.

I hadn’t confirmed anything yet.

So…

Crash, crash, crash-!

I kept pushing ahead.

Boom-!

Blood splattered.

“……”

The labored breathing of my weary comrades.

Slash-! Thud.

The sickening sounds of monsters’ flesh being sliced and their guts being pierced. Amidst these noises, someone muttered.

“…It’s about time we stop, isn’t it?”

It was Hans J’s voice.

“Why is no one saying anything?I don’t want to be the bad guy? But everyone knows!

Without realizing, I stopped walking.

Monsters were still drooling and charging at me from the front, but…

“Knows what?”

I turned around to face him.

“Speak clearly before I misunderstand.”

“Think logically! Don’t you realize it’s already too late?”

So, you think you’re a smart mage?

This is just perfect.

Since the moment we met, I wanted to snap your neck. You’ve given me a reason now.

Therefore…

“Urk!”

I grabbed his throat.

“Jandel, what are you doing?!”

Raven screamed beside me.

Patzran, who had been fighting monsters with me at the front, also rushed over.

“What are you doing?!”

Patzran dropped formalities, probably because I attacked a comrade.

And seeing this…

“You, stop, or you’ll die.”

Aynar took a combat stance and blocked Patzran.

Erwin did the same.

Shk.

Without a word, she continued shooting arrows at the monsters. But she positioned herself behind the priestess.

She’d kill the priestess first if a fight broke out.

“Everyone, stop!”

Raven was in a complete panic.

“Jandel, get a grip.”

Mr. Bear tried to calm me while pushing away the monsters with his large crossbow. All this happened within three seconds of me grabbing the mage’s throat.

‘Damn it.’

What am I doing?

This isn’t like me.

Thud.

I released Hans J and let him fall to the ground. The frontline had already collapsed due to my outburst, and monsters were swarming in.

“Sorry. I got a bit excited.”

“…We’ll talk about this later.”

Patzran stood beside me to fight the monsters again.

“Whew…”

The near-internal conflict dissipated quickly.

However, things were different now, and they could never be the same as before.

“……”

“……”

We fought together, but with growing distrust.

Our progress slowed even more.

At least Hans kept his mouth shut.

‘Misha…’

For me, who needed to find Misha as soon as possible, this wasn’t good news.

It wasn’t good news for me, who needed to find Misha quickly.

‘Damn it.’

We were searching the island at a snail’s pace when….

“Sir! A corpse!”

We came across the corpse of the person we were looking for.

***

My heart sank at the sight of the body.

My vision blurred, and my mind went black. But soon, that fear turned into relief.

Because it wasn’t Misha.

“Helga…!”

The woman was the archer from Patzran’s team.

Patzran, who had been clearing the path with us, ran to her fallen, mangled form.

And then…

“Damn it!”

He confirmed her breath and pounded the ground in frustration.

At that moment, a white wave spread out from the center of our formation.

[Lairyn Ersina has cast [Proclamation of Doom].」

One of the priest’s core skills, [Proclamation of Doom].

It’s a type of barrier.

It can’t stop people, but no monsters can invade while it’s maintained.

[Kiiiiek!]

In other words, we were safe for the time being.

So, I lowered my shield and approached the bodies.

It wasn’t just the archer.

There was another corpse.

“Who’s this?”

When I dragged the confused Nebarce over and asked, he said it was a companion.

I was dumbfounded.

‘What the hell happened?’

I could understand the archer dying.

But why was this other guy’s body here?

“Raven, what’s the cause of death?”

“There are too many bite marks to be certain. But… it seems a stab wound in the abdomen was likely fatal.”

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

“A stab wound… from a sword.”

Helga was an archer.

But she was killed with a sword?

That didn’t make sense.

“What about the woman? Can you tell how she died?”

“I’m not sure. She’s in worse shape…”

“But if you had to guess?”

“Well, there’s a large claw mark. But that’s also strange. We haven’t seen any monsters that could leave such a mark. It’s as if a large monster tore her apart…”

“Any monster you can think of?”

“The three-clawed mark with deep cuts at the ends… It usually happens with wyvern-like creatures.”

“I see.”

The situation was even more complicated.

“So, it wasn’t a monster.”

“Yeah… it doesn’t seem like it.”

Raven nodded in agreement.

The bodies had been stripped of all gear.

“Patzran, does she still have her subspace?”

“No, someone took it.”

That leaves two possibilities.

There were more explorers on the island we didn’t know about.

Or…

‘There was a mutiny among Nebarce’s group.’

Smack-!

I slapped the dazed Nebarce.

“Get a grip. I have questions.”

“Do you have any idea who did this?”

“Carmilla and Belverson. Those two bastards.”

“Tell me more.”

Nebarce explained that Belverson used a sword and Carmilla had a drake summon.

“Why would they kill your comrade?”

“I-I’m not sure. Maybe for treasure. Perhaps even miss Rainweilz…”

I don’t have the time to coddle you.

“Tell me about the treasure.”

I grabbed his hair, fixed his head in place, and made him explain the part he had glossed over earlier.

It wasn’t very useful.

“I only know it’s been passed down in the Norark family for ages. Ah, and they say it can change history!”

Change history?

That powerful, huh?

I should take the legend with a grain of salt.

‘Anyway, it’s clear it’s valuable enough to send someone like Amelia to retrieve it.’

The motive is clear.

Noark has left for the outer world.

A fresh start in the city with a new identity wasn’t a bad option.

“Aulok, please take care of Helga.”

“I will…”

Hans J cast preservation magic on the archer’s body. He then placed it in his subspace, completing the task.

“…Jandel, what’s next?”

Patzran quickly composed himself and asked about our plan.

But I couldn’t answer.

“Are we going to keep searching for our comrades?”

I knew we shouldn’t, but I couldn’t speak.

“We still have energy now, but it will get worse.”

Of course, I knew.

We were exhausting ourselves with the constant fighting.

On top of that, we had to be wary of Carmilla and Belverson.

It was best to find a defensible spot and conserve our strength.

But…

‘What about Misha…’

I couldn’t think rationally.

‘Maybe this is why…’

I thought, perhaps Misha had pushed me away that day for this reason.

If our relationship had deepened, I wouldn’t even be able to think rationally now. I’d be losing my mind, as I did earlier.

“Jandel…”

I took a deep breath.

And looked around slowly.

Raven, Erwin, Aynar, Mr. Bear.

My other precious comrades were watching me with worried eyes.

It was time for me to make a leader’s decision.

“Everyone, lay down your weapons. We’ll rest while the barrier is up.”

My stomach churned.