Chapter 302: Chapter 302: Evil Spirit (6)

Thwack!

The moment I smashed Bek’s shiny head with the Demon Crusher with all my might…

Psssh!

…his skull and scalp exploded simultaneously, and blood spurted from every orifice.

A successful surprise attack.

But as expected of seasoned veterans, they reacted quickly even after their leader’s head was smashed.

Tadat.

The archer retreated.

“You crazy bastard!”

And the melee attackers rushed towards me, blocking my left and right flanks.

They’re like cockroaches.

Whooosh!

I activated [Gigantification] and swung my hammer at the shield warrior in front of me.

Surprisingly, he didn’t dodge.

He just raised his shield and shouted,

“Stab him!”

Right, he’s telling them to stab me in the sides while he’s blocking my attack.

I glanced at his shield. It looked pretty good.

‘Adamantium.’

It seemed like he was relying on his expensive shield…

But there are much better items in the world.

‘Don’t struggle.’

The hammer and shield collided, and an explosion occurred.

Kwaaang!

His shield was slightly dented, but it was still intact.

But…

Kwagic!

…the shield warrior was bleeding from every orifice, like a punctured can of soda.

Because I didn’t use [Swing] earlier.

I couldn’t even see the Double Numbered Item’s effect.

500% damage increase and 50% Soul Power consumption reduction when using a blunt weapon skill.

And 50% armor penetration bonus on downward strikes.

Thud.

He collapsed to the ground, his eyes bulging from the pressure.

Then it was time for the next one.

Swoosh.

I shifted my gaze towards my third target, and he retreated.

The archer behind him did the same.

Are they trying to run away?

That’s funny.

I had no intention of letting them go.

‘Transcendence.’

I quickly chanted the command.

‘Eye of the Storm.’

The active skill I obtained from Stormgush.

Kaboom!

I stomped on the ground, and a whirlpool started to swirl.

It was different from the one Stormgush used.

It was the effect of [Transcendence].

Whooosh!

[Eye of the Storm] no longer pulled in enemies within a 5-meter radius.

Instead…

…it targeted a single person within a 20-meter radius.

And dragged them towards me.

“Aaaaaaargh!”

Just like this.

Kwagic!

Okay, three down.

But I wasn’t satisfied. I looked at the last target, the fleeing archer.

I was planning to use [Leap] to chase him if he got too far…

But…

Thud.

…Amelia had already caught up and finished him off.

She’s a rational woman.

She probably judged that it was best to kill them all and silence them since the incident had already happened.

“Ah, uh, uh, sp, spare…”

Thwack!

Amelia approached me after knocking the archer’s companion, Zencia, unconscious.

And she said briefly,

“That was foolish.”

“Because they’re from the Lord’s faction?”

“No, because now we have to kill this kid too.”

…Is that how it works?

But she was alive back then.

“There were many opportunities to kill her. I would have killed her eventually, even if you didn’t.”

“…You would have?”

“I’m also responsible.”

Responsible…

Ah, I don’t know.

My head is a mess.

Beeeeeeeep.

The ringing in my ears continued, even though I had killed them all.

I felt even more suffocated.

“Why did you do that? You said you didn’t even know your father.”

That was true.

And I knew.

That no matter how many people I killed, it wouldn’t bring him back.

That it would be hypocrisy.

But…

“Just…”

I couldn’t explain it.

“I just… felt like it.”

“…I see.”

Amelia didn’t get angry.

She just looked at me.

“…….”

I averted my gaze.

I saw Yandel Jarku’s body.

His corpse, which seemed to have been treated like a toy, was covered in injuries.

Clench.

I clenched my fists.

I remembered our brief conversation in the rift.

[Bjorn, have children as soon as possible. It’s sad to leave nothing behind in this world.]

[…Really?]

[Yeah, I didn’t know until I had a child.]

Jarku said.

That a child who shared his blood was like another him.

That it was a mystical experience.

That he had a new desire, even stronger than his desire to become a great warrior.

[Huhu, he’ll definitely become a great warrior.]

So I ran away.

[Stop!]

[Huh?]

[I, I’ll be going now…]

I realized it at his words.

That even if I lived as Bjorn Yandel, saved countless lives, and became a hero in the city…

‘I wouldn’t be forgiven.’

Even if it wasn’t what I wanted.

Clench.

The truth doesn’t change.

I was an evil spirit.

The one who stole the only precious legacy of this barbarian warrior.

_________________________

“You seem to have calmed down.”

Amelia spoke as I was staring blankly at Yandel Jarku’s body.

She wasn’t wrong.

Time heals all wounds?

The ringing in my ears had subsided, and my trembling had stopped.

It was time to think about how to clean up this mess.

I looked at the unconscious Zencia and spoke.

“…Do we really have to kill her?”

“Is there another option? The Lord will find out what we did if she returns alive.”

Damn it.

Amelia asked as I sighed in frustration,

“Is there a reason why we shouldn’t kill her?”

“She’s still… young.”

I felt conflicted even as I said that.

Why was I trying to find a way not to kill her?

I knew the future.

This child would live a hellish life and then be possessed by an evil spirit when she became an adult.

So wouldn’t it be better for her to…

‘Damn it.’

I cursed.

What the hell am I thinking?

That it wouldn’t change anything if I killed her now since she would die eventually anyway? That I could prove Auril Gabis wrong by killing her?

I shook my head firmly.

“…We can’t kill her. Let’s find another way.”

“That’s not like you.”

“What do you know about me?”

You don’t even know I’m an evil spirit.

I snapped at her, but I also agreed inwardly.

I would have made a different choice if it were my usual self.

But…

‘At least today…’

…I didn’t want to.

It had been a tough day.

Even if this decision meant surrendering to fate, I couldn’t handle any more.

Therefore…

“You’re right. I misjudged you. I didn’t know you were this weak. If you can’t do it, I’ll—”

“Stop.”

I grabbed Amelia’s wrist.

“…You should let go.”

“Didn’t you say we should find another way?”

“Another way? There’s no more certain way than this.”

Ugh, this woman…

So she’s saying we should think about it together…

‘Ah, right, that!’

I quickly spoke as I thought of a solution.

“Right, the Memory Erasure Pill! The one made by Noark’s alchemist! We can erase her memories with that! You’re from the Lord’s faction, right? You might have it!”

I said it excitedly, like Archimedes shouting ‘Eureka!’, but Amelia just scoffed.

“It’s still in its early stages of development. There’s no way they would have something that precious.”

“But we should at least look for it!”

“…Fine, if you won’t give up until you see it yourself.”

Amelia then shook off my hand.

“And don’t ever grab my arm without permission again.”

Geez, she’s sensitive.

Amelia then approached the corpses and started looting.

Okay, I bought some time to think, whether the Memory Erasure Pill appeared or not—

‘Ah, wait a minute.’

I belatedly realized my mistake.

It seemed like Amelia hadn’t noticed…

‘Damn it.’

Ha, was I that out of it?

I would never have made this mistake if I were my usual self.

‘…I’ll just try to fix it later when she mentions it.’

I squatted down and started looting, checking the backpacks.

And I continued to think about what to do if the Memory Erasure Pill didn’t appear.

That’s when…

“…We’re lucky. I can’t believe they have this at this time.”

…a pill appeared from one of the backpacks.

________________________

Things went smoothly after the pill appeared.

Amelia quickly fed it to Zencia, and we waited for her to regain consciousness.

And after some time…

“Ugh, ugh! What, what the…!”

Zencia, whose hands and feet were tied and who was blindfolded, regained consciousness, and we quietly observed her reaction from a distance.

It was an early version of the pill, so there might be side effects.

“Bek! Bek! Help me!”

It seemed like her memories had been erased, judging by how she was calling for the dead Bek.

Then how much had been erased?

We were able to get the information we wanted from Zencia, who was muttering to herself.

“She doesn’t remember anything from the moment she entered the Crystal Cave. It seems like it’s much more potent than the mass-produced version, maybe because it’s an early version.”

Amelia then knocked Zencia unconscious again and fed her a sleeping pill to prevent her from waking up.

That settled the issue for now.

“The labyrinth will be closing soon, so we just have to stay with her for a few hours.”

We moved to another location and waited with the sleeping Zencia.

We couldn’t just leave her alone in the labyrinth.

When the labyrinth closed, she would be found by the Lord’s faction.

They would try to find out what happened, but she wouldn’t remember anything.

“…Amelia, I’m sorry about earlier.”

I apologized while we were waiting, but Amelia just ignored me.

And after some time…

Swaaaaaaaaaa!

…the labyrinth closed.

But unlike usual, we weren’t greeted by warm sunlight or a refreshing breeze.

Only the gloomy underground city awaited us.

“We’re back.”

The Dimensional Plaza in the western part of the Lord’s Castle.

This was where Noark differed from Lafdonia.

On the surface, you had to go through the checkpoint and exchange your magic stones when the labyrinth closed, but here, it was up to you.

“Let’s go get a drink!”

“Hey, isn’t that the kid from Bek’s gang? Why is she alone? Did the others die inside?”

“That’s good news for Iron Tooth. He had a grudge against Bek.”

The explorers who came out to the plaza dispersed, and it soon became deserted. Zencia, who was lying in the distance, was also found by the Lord’s faction and taken away.

“Let’s go too.”

“Ah, right…”

We also left the plaza and headed towards one place.

[Melta Trading Company]

The only trading company in Noark, and the place where the looters of the underground usually sold their loot.

Unlike the magic stone exchange, which had a short line, the Melta Trading Company branch was crowded. After all, magic stones were currency here, so there was no need to exchange them.

And I heard that the magic stone exchange didn’t even give you money, they just exchanged them for food or other items.

“Hmm, Iron Mask and Emily. The most famous people these days.”

We took out all the equipment we had been storing as soon as it was our turn.

Ah, for reference, we excluded Bek’s equipment.

It would be obvious that we killed them if we showed them that.

“…You obtained all of this during this expedition?”

The employee’s eyes widened as we emptied our backpacks.

Even though looters were rampant in Noark, it wasn’t common to see someone with this much loot.

“This will take some time. Can you wait?”

The employee then called a few more appraisers, and they all started working.

And after about ten minutes, we received the appraisal.

21 4th-grade magic stones.

1 5th-grade magic stone.

And 7 7th-grade magic stones.

Damn it, I don’t even know how much that is.

“How much is that in Lafdonia?”

“Ah, you might not know since it’s your first time in Noark. Based on last month’s exchange rate, it’s a total of 21,570,000 stones.”

I had heard it from Amelia, but these guys are truly robbers.

Even though it was all low-grade equipment, and we didn’t even show them the subspace pockets or expandable backpacks.

“It would be worth over 70 million stones on the surface.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

Geez, that tone.

“Whatever. Emily, let’s go.”

“You’re not selling it?”

“No, I’m not giving it away at this ridiculous price.”

“If you say so.”

We then took our equipment and left.

The employee didn’t even try to stop us.

He probably thought we would eventually sell it to them anyway.

“Then let’s go back to the inn.”

We left the trading company and returned to our inn. We washed up and then sat down facing each other and talked.

“We showed the looted equipment to the trading company, so the Lord will be interested in us, even without Bek’s report.”

That was the reason why we went to the trading company even though we weren’t planning to sell anything.

After all, the Lord practically owned the trading company.

He would definitely hear about the bloodstained equipment and ID cards, all the evidence of our looting.

“Then we just have to wait.”

“Yeah, for now.”

We talked about a few more things and then changed into our casual clothes and lay down on our beds.

“I’m going to sleep first. I’m tired.”

Of course, sleep didn’t come easily.

I was tossing and turning when…

“Are you asleep?”

…Amelia suddenly spoke.

“No, I’m not. Why?”

“I’m suddenly curious about something.”

Curious…

I had a hunch.

She was probably thinking about my ‘mistake’ from earlier.

“Go ahead.”

“How did you know about Amern’s Blessing?”

Oh, so that’s what it’s called.

I answered nonchalantly, pretending not to know.

“Ah, that? Didn’t you give it to me at the inn before?”

“But I didn’t say it was made by Noark’s alchemist.”

“I grabbed another explorer from Noark and asked him before killing him!”

“Hmm, I see. Right… I see…”

Wait, what’s with that tone?

I’m starting to feel uneasy—

“Barbarian, the name of that pill is Lethe’s Blessing. Not Amern’s Blessing.”

Huh?

“As expected.”

A shadow fell over my bed.

I subtly turned my head, and Amelia was standing there, looking down at me.

“You didn’t lose your memories back then.”

It was a checkmate.

She had realized my mistake back then, but she pretended not to know until I let my guard down…

How cunning.

I sighed and admitted it.

“Yeah, for some reason, I was fine.”

What could I do if the pill was defective?

I had hidden it back then because I thought she might try to kill me if she knew, but there was no need for that now.

Noark’s existence had already been revealed to the city.

‘What do I even have to hide now?’

It wasn’t something I should be worried about.

So I sat up and looked at Amelia, as if telling her to speak if she had something to say.

But then…

“…….”

…her gaze was strange.

It felt cold.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

Amelia answered coldly,

“Only evil spirits don’t lose their memories after taking that pill, Bjorn Yandel.”

Ah, uh, hmm…

‘Damn it.’

I didn’t know that.