Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Night Friend (3)

Strictly speaking, the word ‘we' should not be used here.

Because the Ricky and Buster pair were interested in Erwen, not me.

Tug, tug, I nudge Erwen again with my foot.

"Ugh…"

What do you mean, ugh? Wake the hell up. I know you aren't asleep. I saw you cover your face with the blanket when I glanced at you right after hearing their words.

"Hey!"

It's a waste of time to keep up this charade, so I just grab her by the shoulders and force her to get up.

"Why were you pretending to be asleep?"

"That, that's…"

Erwen mumbles her words and avoids my gaze.

Considering the fact that I have to get the relevant information as quickly as possible and make a decision, it's a pretty rude attitude.

Hwig.

When I grab her by the chin and force her to look at me, Erwen finally, reluctantly, starts to talk.

"Because you'll leave when I wake up…"

Indeed, was that the reason?

I did so swear. If there's a conflict with other adventurers while standing guard for the night, you have to fight together. But unfortunately, this happened on the last turn within the promised timeframe.

Well, I don't actually care about my honour, but…

She doesn't know that.

So she tried to hold on to me somehow.

Because the moment she opens her eyes, the promise that bound us as night friends would be over.

"Hoo."

I take a deep breath.

If a grown man like Uncle Hans had done something like this, I really would have been angry…

But since she's only twenty years old, some pity blooms at a corner of my heart.

Of course, that's that and this is this. I still have to make a decision.

"Was it those two?"

"No."

"Then why were you hiding yourself?"

"… There was a pattern engraved on their clothes. Same as the human man who tried to hurt me. They must have been in the same group."

A group… Fuck, are things getting more problematic?

I'm starting to consider whether it would actually be better to just say goodbye to this fairy girl and go our separate ways from here.

"Let’s talk while we move."

"Are you going to help me?"

"I'll listen to your story, at least."

First of all, we have to get out of here. And I have to grasp the rest of the situation on the way. We start moving, setting almost a running pace.

"Tell me everything that's happened so far."

As if reading the atmosphere, Erwen briefly recites only the important information without saying anything extra.

"The first night, my night friend who I'd just met attacked me while I was sleeping. I found out later that he was an executive from a group mainly active on the first floor."

For reference, the group is called ‘Crystal Union'.

"I managed to escape, but after that, people from that organization started attacking me whenever they saw me. I was injured in the process."

I pause for a moment.

"Wait, how did they know about you?"

"They used message stones."

What is that? There was nothing like that in the game.

"A little more detail."

"It’s a magic tool that allows you to talk remotely with other message stones that have been configured to resonate with it in advance. I heard that the reach is about 300m."

"I see."

It's a kind of a walkie-talkie. If the frequency is set in advance, you can communicate up to 300m away.

Gradually, I understand the situation we're in.

With such magic tools and sufficient manpower, disseminating information would be easy in a closed environment like this.

However, the problem is…

"Why are they chasing after you?"

Erwen did nothing wrong.

Why would they spend so much effort going after the victim?

"Is it to keep your mouth shut?"

"… I don't think it's that."

"Is there anything else?"

"That's…"

Erwen, who'd been calmly answering my questions so far, once again hesitates to speak. I really can't help her if she keeps up with this attitude.

While I was considering dumping her –

"I swung my knife at that man when I first ran away. Where I hit him, it wasn't a good place, really…"

"… By a bad place you mean?"

I feel cold for some reason.

The cool wind keeps brushing my groin.

"That, um, that, there…?"

Really.

"Ummm, anyway, I heard from the people who were chasing me afterwards, it was totally cut off and couldn’t even be re-attached with a potion… I guess that's why…"

That's why it's worth chasing after her with full power.

"I, I, I'm sorry…"

There's nothing to apologize for.

Wasn't that guy the perpetrator? You reap what you sow. The problem is that there are far too many people in every world who can't understand such simple logic.

"Uncle, I think somebody's behind us."

"Where?"

"Don’t look back."

I've been concentrating on my hearing, but I still can't hear anything.

"On the path… I think about 150m away."

It's strange that she can feel a presence at that distance, but it doesn't seem like a lie. There's no reason for her to do that.

Is this the innate perception of a fairy?

The image I had of her changed all of a sudden.

"I need to speed up, are you alright with that?"

"Yes. I can handle it."

Even though the white bandage covering her wound is stained red, Erwen doesn't spit out even a single sound of pain.

She has good guts.

Well, my thoughts got complicated again.

"How far is the tracker?"

"… Still about 150m."

Even if you increase the speed, you can't spread out the distance.

Things aren't going well.

By now, the stalker must be announcing our location to his comrades with a message stone, or something.

Have to get rid of him.

If their target had been me, I would have certainly judged so.

But I'm still running.

After you kill him, you can't step out of this quagmire anymore.

So check things out first, before you dip your feet.

"U-, uncle…?"

How much risk do I have to take, and how much reward can I get in return?

I need more detailed information.

"Erwen."

"Yes, yes?"

"What are you good at?"

"I am confident in cleaning and laundry. Oh, I'm not very good at cooking, but…"

What is she talking about now?

"In battle."

"… Bow, bow! Oh, and spirits too!"

Just a standard fairy archer.

"Which attributes?"

"… Fire."

Well, that's the most valuable one.

Thanks to that, I can slowly draw the picture in my mind.

"Have you ever killed anyone?"

"No… But, I can."

That's something you have to do, to know.

"Right."

I ask her the final question.

"Erwen, would you like to join me? The duration is until you get out of the labyrinth, and the loot distribution is 9 for me and 1 for you."

"I will, I will!"

This is enough to give me a reason.

"– I promise in the name of my clan."

"I also swear on the honour of a warrior."

We again went through a ceremony as a token of trust like before, and evolved our relationship from night friends to temporary colleagues.

Of course, running like crazy all the while.

"Distance?"

"About 100m!"

Even at the maximum speed we could reach, the distance was getting smaller.

I made up my mind.

"Change place to the outskirts."

"Yes!"

We turned around and entered the dark passage.

Less and less crystals shined on the walls and the ceilings as we progressed, and before long a deep darkness fell to greet us.

My thoughts were a bit complicated.

After all, I never expected to come back here on my own two feet.

"Erwen, summon the spirit."

A flame the size of a watermelon floated on the palm of her hand, illuminating the surroundings. Watching the floor for traps, I quickly made my way through the darkness.

And…

"Unsummon. Now."

We hid in the dark.

"When are you going to give the sign?"

"You'll hear it soon."

"Right."

I kept my composure as much as I could and focused on my hearing.

The best outcome would be for the chaser to miss us and pass us by.

Then there would be no need to kill them, and I too would be able to step away from this quagmire later.

Step, step, step –.

Before long, the tracker's footsteps reached my ears.

However, contrary to expectations, he stopped without passing us by.

Just in front of the crossroads we'd passed last.

Step.

Shit…

Apparently, he had some way to track us down. Be it smell, sound, or something magical.

Thump, thump.

He turned and walked slowly, stopping at a distance of about 30 meters from us.

The border where light died and the abyssal darkness began.

"…"

He craned his neck, peering into the dark.

We watched, holding our breaths.

"There you are."

The man who had sniffed a few times in the quiet stillness murmured to himself.

Then, he pulled something out of his pocket.

It was the first time I had seen it in my life, but I intuitively recognized the identity of the object.

Message stone.

As soon as I saw it, I signalled Erwen with a short murmur.

Erwen, who had kept her bow drawn and the arrow aimed all this while.

"Shoot."

Thunk –.

Before I could even finish my words, the arrow pierced the man's forehead.

Thump.

Even after the man fell to the floor, dead, I did not approach immediately.

"…"

Erwen, who was sitting right next to me, could not hide from me how she was trembling.

"Well done. Hesitating would have been dangerous."

It wasn't just some fake compliment, but the truth.

Hadn't I also paused before slamming the shield down on Uncle Hans? Erwen hadn't even had that little leisure.

Even if I didn't tell her out loud, she'd known it in her heart.

That you should never hesitate.

"Yes…"

"You, take a break."

My ability to comfort another ended at this point, and I left the darkness to search the corpse.

Perhaps he'd left his backpack to another colleague in order to move quickly, but the pursuer looked a bit poor.

‘To feel regret about such a thing… I've really assimilated into this world.'

Removing all the equipment from the tracker's corpse, from head to toe, I organized the acquired items one by one.

A belt, a leather top and bottom, two daggers, a fairly heavy mana stone pouch, a bottle of potion kept in another pouch tied to the belt, and even a message stone.

"Good. Come here."

After classifying the loot roughly, I called Erwen.

She removed the bandages and applied the potion to her wound.

The wound began to heal with a squelch.

"Kkkh…"

It would've been okay to make some noise, but Erwen clenched her teeth and endured the pain in silence.

She had a tough side to her, too. No, was she just mentally dissociating from the pain?

I hoped it was the former. I wasn't confident about counselling somebody else.

"Did you black out?"

"Yes. Just for a moment."

"Then change into this."

After the treatment finished in a few minutes, I held out the leather top and bottom I had just obtained.

I judged them to be much more practical than the loose-fitting cloth robes she was wearing now.

"I’ll wear them right away."

Did she believe that following my every instruction would give her a higher chance of survival? It must've been awkward, but Erwen immediately grabbed the clothes and disappeared into the darkness to change.

"That's not all. Come and let me take a look."

I trimmed the hems protruding at the arms and the legs.

"Wear this too. It should look a little better."

It was still a little baggy overall, but it looked like a comfortable fit with the belt on.

However, because of the change in outfit, her atmosphere had also completely changed.

Previously, she looked like a fairy girl who'd gone on an outing, but now she looked like a full-fledged female warrior.

Even her face exuded that feeling.

"… It feels very strange."

"You'll get used to it."

"I see, is that so…?"

"Yes, you will."

I shoved the rest of the items into my backpack and dragged the naked corpse into the dark.

Then I took the message stone in my hand.

"How do you read messages?"

"Wait. Let me do it."

Erwen looked at the message stone and clicked something.

[… Serdin, who was chasing the fairy bitch and the barbarian, lost contact. All those who hear this, gather in the Goblin Zone.]

Things were progressing just as I'd expected them to.