Surviving the Game as a Barbarian - Chapter 559 - : first clear (4)

Sounds echoed.

Busy and chaotic sounds.

“…Confirmed fallen warrior Ritman Powell!”

“Confirmed fallen warrior Mildan Betimore of Squad 3!”

“Confirmed fallen warrior Garon Nilgrain of Squad 1!”

Grim voices burst out from all directions.

And then…

“Mister! Snap out of it! Hey?”

“Cleric, why isn’t he waking up?”

“Well, um… maybe if we wait a bit longer, he’ll come to soon…”

“He suffered a severe head injury. Is that why?”

“…”

Hearing the concern from my comrades right before me.

Through that, I caught Misha mumbling.

“…If things go wrong… we’ll have to use it after all…”

What could she be talking about?

Maybe because I was just regaining consciousness, my ears were ringing.

I couldn’t focus properly.

“Well then… Baron, since you seem to be recovering, I’ll go tend to the others–”

“What are you talking about! He’s not awake yet, where are you going!”

“Tersia, stop it.”

“Stop it? You don’t even care about him–”

“No need. Looks like he’s waking up now.”

“…Huh?”

Busted.

I was just about to gather my senses and open my eyes.

Well, it was about time to assess the situation.

“No, Chief!”

“B-Bjorn!! We were so worried!!”

“Hah…”

As I opened my eyes, my comrades beside me breathed sighs of relief with intense expressions.

But before saying I was fine, I had a question.

“Is anyone among us… hurt?”

Though I hedged my words unlike myself, the core question was whether there were any casualties.

Amelia understood perfectly and answered.

“Glow Ishius is dead.”

Glow Ishius.

One of the three mages in the Armin expedition team.

A thirty-something young mage who always jokingly complained about time and budget whenever he saw me.

So that means he’s dead.

“…And?”

“No other deaths. Several injured, but except for one, all had minor injuries.”

“I see…”

I closed my eyes for a moment and exhaled deeply.

My comrades said nothing, allowing a brief silence.

Countless shards of thought swirled inside me, but I deg* N o v e l i g h t *deg focused on one.

‘What must be done.’

…Let’s do what needs to be done.

“I remember my head being bitten off entirely, but what happened next? Tell me everything, without missing a single detail, since I lost consciousness.”

For some reason, Amelia seemed reluctant but started explaining.

“…As soon as you fell, Tersia shot an arrow.”

By the way, at that time [Focused Shot] wasn’t fully charged.

But…

“Kashan missed you because of the arrow, and Kalstein and I took that chance to rush and rescue you.”

That arrow created a brief gap allowing me to survive dramatically.

But all the disasters started from there.

“…After that, everyone fought together against it, and many died. That’s all. Oh, and unfortunately, no essences dropped–”

“More details.”

Fought together and many died–that’s not a story that ends in one line.

I had to know.

“Hah…”

Sensing my insistence, Amelia sighed and gave me the answer I requested.

“Yandel, with you gone, a huge gap opened on the frontline. Someone had to fill that gap. Dozens of knights rushed out.”

“Jerome Saintred? Was he just watching from afar then?”

“Surprisingly no. They said he was preparing for disasters, but the moment you collapsed, he was the first to run out. If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t have been rescued.”

“I see. Sorry to interrupt, go on.”

“The commander intervened, but the situation wasn’t good. Soon an order came: all troops in the rear were to join and attack it.”

Troops assigned to protect fragile ranged units like mages, clerics, and psychics.

Even those troops were mobilized for the full assault.

I understood the judgment well.

The strategy was nearly at the endgame. They must have thought ending it quickly would reduce casualties.

“But that order had a fatal flaw.”

The problem was there was no one in the expedition capable of managing the monster’s aggro.

“Kashan prioritized threatening targets. Most attacks targeted the commander, but the situation was highly unstable.”

Each time it lightly struck nearby knights like swatting flies, necks snapped.

When mages fired powerful shots, it ran at them crazily.

“Glow Ishius was taken down by it too.”

Thus, the three mages became two.

‘No wonder they didn’t mention the cause earlier…’

Did they think if I hadn’t fainted, he wouldn’t have died?

…Well, that’s probably true.

“After you passed out, for about three minutes we fought it, and finally the commander’s sword pierced its forehead deeply, ending everything. The gate closed then reopened, shining light. It’s been about ten minutes since then.”

“…”

“Feel satisfied now?”

“For now.”

When the conversation ended there, a familiar knight approached us.

“Baron! You’re awake! The commander is calling!”

“…I’ll be back soon.”

“The wounded are well cared for, don’t worry and go.”

Following the knight, I found Jerome sitting, receiving healing from a cleric.

He had one arm missing and a hole in his abdomen.

That bastard took quite a hit.

“Glad you’re safe, Baron.”

“You look worse than I do.”

Jerome only gave an awkward smile without answering.

“Now that you’re here… Evost, begin the report!”

At the meeting with the leadership, the deputy commander announced the battle results.

“The First Expeditionary Force achieved a historic feat today by defeating the Prophesied Wolf, Kashan. Unfortunately, no essence was found to report to the royal family…”

The report reminded me again of the dangers of first-grade monsters.

“There were 27 lightly injured who have recovered, 4 moderately injured under treatment, and a total of 28 dead.”

Twenty-eight dead.

Twenty-one died during the three minutes I was unconscious.

Only one member from our Squad 4 died among the 28 fallen.

A miraculous outcome no doubt, but actually, there was a decisive cause.

“I heard Baron Saintred ordered Squad 4 to the rear at the end.”

When I passed out and Kashan became uncontrollable, the commander sent us relatively safely to the rear.

“Why that order?”

I had no complaint, actually grateful, but couldn’t help but wonder why…

“Because if the Baron dies, one of our expedition’s objectives fails. So I ordered all Squad 4 members to protect the Baron.”

“…What?”

“Baron, we didn’t come here just to hunt monsters. I’ve only ever failed a mission once.”

It was an unfathomable mindset.

Was a mission really that important?

“No matter how many die, as long as we finish the expedition and bring back the Baron alive, the mission succeeds.”

This guy’s hard to figure out.

When we talked before, I thought we might be friends if not for the situations we were in.

“I see. That answers my question.”

“Good. Shall we continue the meeting?”

Nodding, the deputy commander stepped back, and the meeting resumed.

“The damage report is done. Let’s move on to the next topic.”

The next topic was very simple.

Since Kashan was defeated and no essence found, there was no need to discuss ownership.

So…

“As soon as Kashan was defeated, the stone gate opened. Mages confirmed that the glowing light had properties similar to a portal… In short, going inside that light likely leads to a new area.”

What lies beyond the wide-open gate?

When to start exploration?

The meeting had many opinions, but I mostly let it wash over me.

I already knew what was beyond.

‘…Who would have thought the door would open like that.’

We’d already been there via Hamsik.

Sure, it could be a totally different place, but I doubted that.

‘After killing the first-grade monster and finishing the library raid, the reward was probably inside.’

Various summon scrolls were decent rewards, and the main prize was likely a pen that guaranteed essence drops.

Hmm, or maybe the main prize was that golden book.

‘Anyway… I guess we intercepted the reward along the way.’

If we hadn’t met Hamsik first and taken the reward early, the pen would surely have gone to the royal family.

‘The library has a hidden piece that lets you skip the raid and enter the main reward room.’

From a player’s perspective, Hamsik’s role seemed about that.

Though I suspect there are still more secrets.

‘Maybe that’s why they said I wasn’t qualified? Because I didn’t clear properly and enter the reward room officially.’

Just speculation, not confirmed.

So I’d have to meet Hamsik again to gauge the reaction…

“Well then, this meeting is adjourned. There will be no missions except patrols until 7 PM, so squad leaders, tend to your members. Also, personnel reorganization is planned, so be aware.”

Afterward, free time was given.

‘Until 7 PM…’

I thought they were truly tough bastards.

After such a battle, they could have let us rest all day, yet they gave us only a few hours before resuming missions.

I sighed but went back to share the news with my comrades.

“…Five hours is a bit short.”

“Huh? Short? Isn’t sleeping enough?”

“Fnelin was right today. I guess I just have to sleep.”

“But I wonder if I can fall asleep. It still doesn’t feel real… My heart’s still pounding.”

Most were relieved to have some rest despite the misfortune.

“Do as you please. But first, there’s work to do.”

“What work…?”

“We lost comrades.”

“Ah… right…”

I then led all of Squad 4 to the place where our only fallen member, Glow Ishius, lay.

Charlotte Amblett, the only female mage among the three, was sitting dazed in front of the body.

“You okay?”

“…No. Not okay at all.”

“Is this your first time?”

Her tightly clenched fists trembled, but she didn’t answer.

After some time, her brother Brian Amblett took the body away and began a simple funeral.

As usual, it was done very quickly.

“We will take his remains and belongings back to the city for his family.”

The funeral ended by removing belongings and applying distortion magic to the remains.

As I was about to leave, Charlotte approached.

“Baron… someday. Someday… will it get better? Like people say?”

That’s the thought anyone has after a first loss.

Sigh. What should I say?

After collecting my thoughts, I spoke.

“The meaning of ‘getting better’ differs for everyone.”

“Yeah… I guess so. Sorry for saying something useless–”

“But if, when you recall, happy memories come before sad ones, and you call that ‘getting better’…”

I said firmly.

“Then someday, you will be okay. Even if you don’t want that.”

“…”

“Now rest.”

After saying that, I turned and someone approached–the only current comrade who shared my half-brained days, Misha.

“That was about Dwalke, right…?”

“…To some extent.”

After a cautious yes, Misha murmured softly.

“Those were… truly good times…”

Her voice held a distant longing.

Of course, I felt the same.

“Yeah… they were good.”

Now I’m a baron, with many followers, called a hero whose name is on the Stone of Honor.

But still, sometimes I recall those days.

Worrying about survival day by day.

Fearful of raiders, stumbling around against fifth-grade monsters, looking up at the third floor’s sky together.

[Only the earliest explorers get to see this view. Quite a sight, isn’t it?]

I was okay.

At a rough camp with only a blanket to cover me, a surprise visitor came.

“Yandel, the expedition’s chief mage is here.”

“The chief mage…?”

“He wants to talk with you. What will you do?”

“…I can’t sleep anyway, that’s good. Bring him.”

Getting up and tidying the blanket, Amelia returned with the old mage.

“Gahwyn Vesillus.”

“Baron, sorry to disturb your rest. May I talk for a moment?”

The mage glanced at Amelia, who discreetly stepped aside.

“May I use voice-command magic?”

“Go ahead.”

“…Thanks. I’m ready now.”

“So what is it?”

Skipping the usual preamble, the old mage said something surprising.

“I came to apologize to the Baron.”

“Hmm, an apology…?”

“Yes. I was wrong, and you were right. But because I couldn’t admit it, I almost made a huge mistake.”

More than the apology, I was curious about the change of heart.

“Why the sudden change?”

“Seeing what happened, it was inevitable. First-grade monsters are… truly monstrous. I had underestimated them. But the explorer Baron saw clearly, more than anyone.”

“I see.”

“To be honest… until you fainted, I didn’t realize their terror. I was arrogant thinking that if we summoned Leviathan as I said, not even a few would have died. But…”

The old mage’s voice sounded like he’d given up everything.

“None of that was thanks to me. My knowledge, my magic didn’t affect anything. Even the hundred elite royal troops felt the same absence you felt in those three minutes.”

“…”

It’s hard to respond to such blunt truth.

So I remained silent.

There’s always a chance to cut in later anyway…

“Ahem… I went on too long. Anyway, I have one thing to say.”

“Go ahead.”

“Our expedition needs your strength, knowledge, and judgment. From now on, I’ll keep these old ears open, so speak freely.”

Simply put, he was saying no more opposition and let’s get along.

That was welcome news.

“Good. Thank you, Gahwyn.”

“…Gahwyn?”

“Friends call each other by their first names.”

“Oh, I see. Then… Bjor–”

“I’m fine with Baron. Nobility, you know.”

“…Haha, that’s fair. Thanks for making time to rest. I’ll be off now.”

Afterward, I gathered with comrades for a meal, the announced rest time ended, and the expedition assembled before the stone gate, entering the portal sequentially.

[Character has entered the First Record Archive.]

Though I wondered if it would be so, the place beyond the library turned out to be the Hamsik House I’d visited before.

“An eerie place.”

“Like a typhoon passed through.”

Not the clean mini-library I saw first time, but a ruined space.

However, neither Hamsik nor the golden book was here.

‘Well, they were outside last time, so probably still hiding.’

Good that way.

If the golden book appeared here, ownership would have immediately transferred to the royal family.

“A strange place, isn’t it, Baron?”

“Indeed. What on earth happened to make it such a mess… Tsk tsk.”

“If you find anything, let me know.”