Bjorn Yandel the Barbarian
Chapter 604

Episode 604: Corps Commander (1)

That’s not how Aurors are written.

The village chief’s sword, branded with such arrogant words, directly proved that there was no exaggeration in his words.

It is not the power of essence.

He cut with just highly trained skills and a single sword.

The target you want to cut down.

More accurately than anyone else.

“Tsk, I couldn’t kill him.”

When the brilliance emitted by the pure white auror subsided, surprisingly, the archbishop was still alive.

Although the body was cut in half following the sword’s path, tentacles writhing on the cut surface were moving toward each other.

As if trying to stick together again.

“What should we do?”

It was quite an unpleasant scene, but the village chief did not even blink and asked me in a business-like manner.

Well, does this mean I’ve done all I had to do?

“If we wait any longer, we won’t be able to get out through the portal.”

A decision had to be made quickly.

If the village chief had completely failed, he would have taken the portal without looking back, but it is difficult to regard the current situation as a failure.

plod trudge.

I passed the village chief and approached the archbishop.

Then, he forced the already half-jointed body apart again and tore off the scroll with the high-ranking fire magic spell written on it and burned it.

“There is no hesitation whatsoever.”

“….”

“Now that I think about it, you had a run-in with the archbishop once, right?”

It seems like the village chief had some strange misunderstanding.

The reason I didn’t even try to save him was not because I hated the archbishop.

I just thought it was useless to look at it.

‘Probably no matter what I do, it will be difficult to come back.’

No matter how many times I thought about it, the conclusion was the same.

He was a talented person who could have prevented the Archbishop from becoming Karui’s priest.

Once you become a priest of Karui, you cannot return to being an ordinary priest.

But such a big event is forcibly fixed the moment it enters the crack?

‘No way.’

The [Dungeons & Stones] I know were not like that.

It’s a game that seems really irrational when you don’t know anything, but the more you play, the more you realize it.

The fact that I felt unreasonable was simply because I was ignorant.

Grumbling!

As I watched the archbishop’s body begin to burn, I looked back on what had happened for the last time.

‘I made a mistake.’

It could have been disguised as ignorance, but that was a clear mistake.

Even though I felt suspicious when I saw that the village chief and the archbishop were fine when I became mentally contaminated, I did not dig deep.

In fact, I had already lost my mind since then.

‘…That flower was like that too.’

In this field, there was a flower that lowered mental pollution levels.

But since when did it start?

The archbishop, who took it well at first, now even made concessions to us, saying he could endure it.

Looking back now, that was a sign.

‘What would have happened if the flowers had been brought to the archbishop and he had taken as much care as possible?’

Well, now it’s a meaningless delusion.

Unless you come back into this crack later, you’ll never replace out.

‘Well, my knowledge has increased.’

If it were me back when I was playing the game, I would add this information about the crack in the first basement level.

Upon entering the priesthood, you can change to a priest of Karui.

Instead of offering a companion character, most of the skills are stamped from the beginning.

I’ll have to think about how to use it later.

“So, are you finished checking?”

“…yet.”

I glanced at the portal, which was shrinking in real time, and then looked down at the archbishop again.

Even as it was engulfed in red-hot fire, the tentacles’ movements that had been writhing so passionately had come to a halt.

“Are you thinking that something might happen if the Archbishop dies?”

“okay.”

The village chief burst into laughter at my honest answer.

“I feel bad for saying this, but you are really out of your mind.”

“Is it okay to take it as a compliment?”

“Well, the interpretation is up to you…”

The village chief, who had been slyly accepting the words, suddenly closed his mouth.

There was no need to ask why.

“The priest who gave in to temptation has been killed.”

Finally, the burning archbishop stopped moving.

And….

「Special condition – the third record is met.」

The archbishop’s body became illuminated and spread into a halo of light.

「No.???? A wreath of agony is created.”

An object of unknown purpose fell.

“It really is as you said.”

It was a garland worn on the head.

The colors of the flowers are black and white.

Instead of being split in half, it looked like they were put together one by one…

“Do you happen to know what this is?”

“I do not know either.”

At first, I thought it was a number item, but I can assure you that there is no such type of flower crown among number items.

So what is this?

‘…investigation later.’

First, I picked up the wreath and then checked the portal.

Fortunately, there was still time left.

A red portal that has not shrunk in the slightest and a blue portal that is now less than a third full.

“If I could give you some advice, choose the blue portal. From now on, I am as good as a non-existent person.”

“No one?”

“I don’t have time, so I’ll explain briefly. The Auror’s mana management method I wrote about a moment ago is very different from that of the original owner of this body. And because of that gap, my body is now completely broken.”

…It wasn’t unconditional power.

It’s somewhat reassuring, but also creepy.

Doesn’t that mean that if you take the time to tune it, you can show off that kind of power at any time?

‘Anyway, this is not a problem to think about right now…’

To summarize the village chief’s words, it is simple.

It is possible to go through the red portal, but then I have to go through all the trials alone.

‘Is that really possible?’

I made a cool decision.

The priest, who had infinite divine power, became corrupted and had to be killed, and the wizard was sent away first because he was incapable of fighting.

The knight who was stronger than anyone else lost his power.

Huuuuung-!

I somehow opened the portal, but that was only because I was lucky.

Just looking at Armman, it was far from a standard strategy.

Now I had to admit it.

Actually, it’s nothing new as it’s my first crack at it, but…

“I’m going to get out of here.”

I failed to attack the crack on the first basement floor.

***

It was enough to close and open my eyes for just a moment.

When I opened my eyes, I was already back.

Not in the middle of the great demon world, which is in ruins and with a soggy air, but to a place full of guardian statues.

“Yandel!”

“Bjorn!”

“…Captain!”

As soon as I get out of the portal, everyone approaches me, calling their names.

“Thank you for your consideration, but we’ll talk later.”

I knew they were happy, but there was something to check first.

“mister! “How dare you throw it away like that!”

First of all, Erwen was fine.

The reduced height has also returned to its original state.

“What about Gahyun?”

“The priests are receiving treatment.”

Fortunately, Gahyun seems to be safe too.

I don’t know how bad the injury was, but it was just a physical injury. It won’t be so bad that it can’t be saved due to multiple fuse sticking together

. Baron!”

Then someone asked me.

“What about you, Commander? “Where is the Commander?”

Gyllan Evost.

A knight who is Baron Evost’s younger brother and serves as the second-in-command of our exploration force.

“Why haven’t you come out yet?”

I interrupted the second-in-command and told him the reason why the village chief had not yet come out.

“The Count of St. Red is dead.”

For reference, it was my own will.

In your opinion, there would be no opportunity for a more natural exit than this?

[It worked out better. Actually, I was thinking about going to the city, but there has to be a good reason.]

When I first heard that, I was dumbfounded, but if you think about it, it was an important issue from the village chief’s point of view.

You can’t suddenly commit suicide.

Being killed by a monster is quite difficult.

Not only is it difficult for everyone to understand, but even if they do, it will remain as a disgrace.

The village chief had no intention of abandoning the life he had built under his status as ‘Jerome St. Red’.

That means.

“The opponent was a Karui priest armed with power powerful enough to easily defeat the Hierarchal Lord. “They gave us time to escape, but they ended up getting killed.”

From the village chief’s point of view, it was best to die honorably while fighting a powerful enemy that everyone could understand.

“A priest of Karui. “Do you think it has something to do with Archbishop Hesteia not appearing?”

“I’ll talk about it in detail later. “I have more questions than that…”

I said, looking at not only the second-in-command but also all the members gathered around me.

“How much time has passed?”

“Today is exactly 30 days.”

“It’s been a month…”

For some reason, it felt like a day or two had passed and I had completely set up a new home here.

‘Still, it’s not that bad.’

A month is a long enough time.

Considering that time continues to pass on the first basement floor, unlike the ground floors, it feels even longer.

But still, the worst was avoided.

‘Excluding me and Erwen, they said they stayed there for over half a year.’

If you think about it differently, you could say that you saved five months of time.

Oh, of course, it was a complete loss from my perspective.

The time I stayed within the rift was at most a week or so.

“Then tell me now. “What on earth happened inside?”

Why is this guy in such a hurry?

“Before that, let’s check first.”

Soon I pointed to a place with my index finger.

Although they were ranked in order of importance, I was actually curious about them from the moment I opened my eyes.

“Was that stone gate always closed?”

“Yes. “A month ago, as soon as five people entered, the portal disappeared and the stone door closed along with it.”

The place where I woke up was in the middle of this stone room.

The portal that opened like a side door let me out and immediately disappeared.

‘…I’m sure it’s a decision made after killing the guardian, but why doesn’t the exit open?’

For me, who firmly believed that breaking through the crack would open a way to escape this stone chamber, the situation was like a thunderbolt.

‘What? Because you didn’t choose the red portal? Then, do we really have to start from the Guardian Statue and try again from the beginning?’

It was a time when numerous hypotheses came to mind, as if representing a complex review, and cluttered my mind.

Drurrrrribly as if it was laughing at my impatience, the tightly closed stone door slowly began to open.

***

Beyond the open stone door was a secret room.

Three stone statues the size of large figures were placed on the floor, and a portal was floating brightly in the center of them.

‘The portal seems to be an exit to the outside…’

In fact, the eyes of the wizard who followed me and the entire crew snooping behind me were filled with anticipation and desire.

Well, I guess I’ve already been staying here for over a month, so is it any wonder I’m sick of it?

“Raven! I will give you permission to lead the wizards to investigate this place. “What is the nature of that portal, what is this statue, and is there something else hidden there?”

“…yes?”

“Oh and the second-in-command! You must gather all the leaders. “I’ll tell you what happened there.”

It was an act of exceeding authority that occurred very naturally, but no one complained about my actions.

Only a few politically astute people look a little concerned.

Of course, Raven was among them.

‘Are you okay?’

‘Don’t worry, just mind your own business.’

After a brief, silent conversation with our eyes, I left the stone room. And while the deputy commander was preparing for the leadership meeting, he shared stories with his colleagues.

Oh, by the way, there was no mention of cracks in the process.

“Why are you hiding it…?”

“It’s not that I’m hiding it, it’s just that it’s annoying to say it twice. “I plan to have you all come along to the meeting and listen together.”

“Can you… do whatever you want with that?”

Amelia was pointing out the fact that I was currently only the temporary leader of Team 4.

But…

“You’ll know that when you see it. So what was it like here? “Did anything happen?”

As I spent the remaining time listening to this story, it wasn’t long before preparations were completed and I moved to the conference room.

A large military barracks with a capacity of 30 people.

“Ah, Baron, are you here? But they…”

The second-in-command, who was sitting where he always sat, looked at my colleagues and trailed off.

“I brought you here to listen together. “Is there a problem?”

“…no. it’s okay. The purpose of this meeting is to hear what happened there. Please understand that we cannot give you one seat.”

Does this mean that a nobleman is a nobleman even without a title?

That’s how they say they’ll kick them out once the real meeting starts.

“That’s okay. Why is it difficult to stand and listen? “Are you okay too?”

“….”

“It’s okay.”

As we entered the tent with those words in mind, the empty seats became even more noticeable.

There were two vacant positions.

Trudging.

One is the commander’s seat, which is the senior position.

And the other is my reserved seat, located across from the second-in-command.

Truly –

it’s such an obvious thing to say.

The place where I will sit today has been decided.

“…!”

“…!”

Tuk.

As soon as I touch my butt, the officers’ gaze changes.

This was no different for the deputy commander.

“Could you please explain what this…means? Baron?”

He asked me, trying hard to keep his composition.

“What does it mean?”

I smiled and answered the question.

“You already know, Deputy Commander.”

“…?”

“What does this mean?”

“…!”

(Jin) It’s time to bring out the Barbarian Corps Commander mode.