STGB Chapter 131

Episode 131 Team Play (1)

Ten days have passed since I visited Karlstein.

On the first day, I was worried that Misha might have told her father everything, but…

[What? crazy! This barbarian old man! How can you say something like that!!]

[Then what did you do?]

[That’s…! You don’t have to know!!]

It was useless anxiety.

I don’t know why they kept it a secret, but I could definitely feel that that kind of thing hadn’t happened.

I decided to focus on the issues that need to be dealt with right away.

Aren’t there two ticking time bombs in the team?

[Let’s talk about Dwalky.]

The day after returning from Carlstein, I had a meeting with Dwalkie right away.

And while drinking, he said in a roundabout way.

[what? is it true That Missha likes fat men?]

[Yes, she definitely said that last time.]

[That’s right. Thanks for telling me. Joe was impatient and almost made a mistake.]

By the way, after that conversation, Dwalkie ordered a lot of snacks and stuffed them in until his stomach became convex.

This was one solution.

‘I won’t confess until I gain some flesh.’

It is safe to say that he earned at least a month or two.

Because of Dwalki’s personality, he wouldn’t be able to muster up the courage unless he gained some weight.

By the time I gain weight, it will be around the time Misha and I are removed from the team.

‘This makes me look like garbage…’

But I can’t help it.

I don’t know if he’s mentally strong, but what if he confesses to Misha and gets dumped?

You won’t be able to come to your senses even in the labyrinth.

This is an act that could endanger the team.

‘Uh, but why are you so sure I’m kicked?’

I suddenly had that question, but I didn’t think deeply about it. Data accumulated in the unconscious sometimes makes more accurate predictions than anything else.

Anyway, next was Rotmiller.

[be careful. My father must have been playing tricks on that Rotmiller.]

Julian Urbans, daughter of the district chief.

As the woman said, if Rotmiller had contacted the district chief, there is a high probability that a disturbing conversation would have occurred.

Because the regional chief and I could be said to have a bad relationship.

I was a bit puzzled as to why he was playing tricks only now, months later.

‘Anyway, I can’t show suspicion.’

In the case of Rotmiller, unlike Dwalki, he approached the matter cautiously and with time.

this guy is scary

I haven’t seen him get angry yet…….

but that’s why it’s even scarier.

Originally, once this type of thing goes wrong, it just sees the end.

[Then, I’ll make the first floor the closest destination according to the starting point.]

[Haha Marriage, you’re asking a strange question. I’m not going to start a family until I can truly take care of one person.]

[You sit inside. Since the hallway side is big, you’ll keep bumping into people.] He

continued to observe Rotmiller at regular meetings as well as simple social drinking parties.

There was not much difference from before.

As usual, he was quiet and serious, and he was still considerate of others in most situations.

‘Hey, this really hurts.’

I can’t easily imagine Rottmiller stabbing me in the back despite hearing Julian’s warning.

On the contrary, if you have doubts, you will even feel guilty.

He also shared the joys and sorrows for several months.

But, being swayed by a word from an outsider and being unable to believe it?

‘Contradiction doesn’t have to be like this.’

The more I thought about it, the more ironic the situation was.

However, I decided it was right to point it out more clearly.

What kind of conversation did Rotmiller have with the local chief at the Explorers Guild that day?

‘If I had told you about it first, I would have cleared my doubts without any regrets.’

Rotmiller had no comment on this.

So today, I called him separately and set up a place to talk.

Because I really didn’t have much time.

The labyrinth will open tomorrow.

That’s why I dumped the glass at once and got straight to the point.

“Rotmiller. What was the reason you went to the Explorers Guild last time?”

At my straightforward question, Rottmiller looked slightly surprised.

But was there anything that he also had straw for?

Also, something had to happen.

“There is someone I know in the guild.”

After a short answer, I asked for an answer to the first question.

Rottmiller sighed in reply.

“…I called and went and found that the 7th district chief was in the room. He offered compensation to me and told me to betray you.”

“so?”

“I came out saying I would do something I didn’t hear. How did you get an answer?”

It seemed he was trying not to show it, but Rottmiller seemed very uncomfortable with my question.

But I took it all in and asked again.

“Then why didn’t you tell me until now?”

“I told you. I said I’d pretend I didn’t hear it. Besides, I thought it would only make the atmosphere weird if I told you.”

“Okay. Thank you for your answer.”

With this, the conversation came to an end.

If you push further, it will only be said that I will not believe you. Whatever Rotmiller’s intentions were, he judged that it was not a wise move.

‘Nothing will change anyway.’

You cannot enter the labyrinth without a searcher.

The option of finding someone new?

It’s the same thing that there’s a risk.

It would be difficult to find a skilled explorer unless you went through a guild.

In a word, it’s a perfect environment for the regional manager to insert a strange guy into the team.

In the first place, it was questionable whether the dwarf or dwalkie would agree.

‘Above all, I don’t think Rottmiller was lying when he said he turned down the offer.

Soon I made my final decision.

“Sorry to bother you at night. Take a good rest today and see you tomorrow at the meeting place.”

Nothing changes.

Rotmiller is also joining us on this expedition.

***

Next afternoon.

In other words, there were about 7 hours left until the labyrinth opened.

“Mister, I’ll come back then! You must come back healthy!”

“Yes, you work hard too.”

Erwen, who had been peeling nogari in my lodging ever since I made the binding magic with my sister in the morning, has left.

And just in time, Misha arrived.

“Why is he here?”

“They said they stopped by to say hello. They said there was nothing to do after receiving the binding magic anyway.”

“Umm…….”

“Anyway, I came on time. Hurry up and go to sleep.”

I set a timer on the alarm clock I bought a while ago and slept with Missha to adjust my condition.

and how long has it been

“Wake up Bjorn.”

We ate a simple meal and left with our luggage that we had arranged in advance. I came a little early, so no one was at the meeting place yet.

“Hmm, are the two still there?”

Rottmiller arrived on time, as always.

“Yes. Dwalky and Hikurod seem to be a little late.”

“……It’s nothing new.”

Those two were either early or late, so we waited.

That was when

“Oh Bjorn! Look over there!”

When I checked where Misha pointed, I could see a group of young warriors who had just finished their coming-of-age ceremony moving in groups.

So I approached quickly.

That’s right, if I don’t meet you now, I’ll be sad.

“Have you lost your way? If so, just follow those who look like explorers over there.”

“Who are you to say such obvious things?”

“…Yandel’s son, Bjorn.”

“What! Little Vulcan! It’s an honor to meet you!”

Once I gave my name, I asked.

“But you’re saying that for granted? What do you mean by that? Could it be that you’re not lost?”

“Of course! Why get lost when you can just follow the explorers as you learned in the Holy Land?”

“That’s what they taught in the Holy Land? Didn’t they just show me that strange map and tell them to memorize it?”

“Maps? We don’t see maps!”

The young warrior’s answer left me dazed.

What is this?

Has the teaching method changed in the meantime?

Well, nothing bad for me.

It was a much more reasonable way to go than memorizing a map.

But…

“There is still time left, so listen to me and go.”

“talk?”

“Yeah, these are helpful things.”

I recounted the same stories I had told my former riders.

But what else is this?

“Watch out for humans? That’s natural. Shouldn’t we protect our hearts?”

This group of baby barbarians was clearly different.

Every time I say something, he reacts as if he’s saying something so obvious.

“Wow… the barbarian has evolved.”

Seeing that Misha is also doing that, it seems I’m not the only one who feels weird.

Then why did this change happen?

“Who was it that told you about it in the Holy Land?”

I asked just in case, and I was just in a daze.

“It’s Charon, son of Tarson!”

while i don’t know

The winds of change were blowing from below.

“Then let’s go! It was an honor to meet Yandel’s son, Bjorn!”

I wanted to ask more, but the baby barbarians left saying they wanted to enter the labyrinth.

And the two people who had been waiting for them to disappear arrived at the meeting place.

“Oh sorry I’m late! Did you wait long?”

“Hahaha! Forgive me, Dwalkie, this guy has a stomachache!”

“Mu-mu, what are you saying!”

“That’s true of you too. What’s there to be ashamed of? It’s between us.”

“Okay, let’s go as well.”

Since the two people were 20 minutes late, we hurriedly headed to the Dimension Square.

The portal is already open.

“Come on then let’s go!”

After completing the binding magic through Dwalki, we entered the labyrinth.

***

「You have entered the Crystal Cave on the 1st floor.」

***

A crystal cave with bright light.

Last month, I skipped it using a bug, so it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, but I didn’t have time to take a leisurely look.

Yeah, I decided to try a speedrun this time.

At Rotmiller’s request.

[If only you guys allow it, I want to try it properly. It’s probably hard to get public value, but I’m curious to see how much I can do.]

Since he usually didn’t assert himself strongly in the exploration plan, everyone in the party unanimously agreed to do so.

“Then we’ll leave immediately.”

As soon as he opened his eyes, he touched the wall or the ground and grasped his current location, and immediately began to find his way.

And he started running like a canter.

‘It’s actually pretty fun to do.’

Rotmiller is at the forefront, looking for a way.

Right after that, Misha cleans up the mobs.

Not only was the formation only for movement novel, but as they started running in earnest at the same time as the start, they saw sights that had not been seen before.

“Wow, they’re running too!”

Explorers running through caves to find portals, just like us. It was hard to even look at when he was moving leisurely.

‘I can see why it’s difficult to shorten the time on the first floor.’

There were also new realizations.

The cave on the first floor has many sharp curves.

So it’s hard to run with all your might.

In other words, if a certain level is exceeded, all explorers have the same movement speed.

The searcher’s ability becomes more and more important.

Well, maybe it was the stamina of the team members.

“Whoa whoa…….”

Although we’ve got stamina that far surpasses that of ordinary people, sweat flows like rain as we walk every few hours.

Is that why?