Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Chapter 446: Party (3)

The banquet, which began a little after noon, ended before sunset.

It was only natural.

All the attendees were heads of their respective families. Unlike the nobles who were busy enjoying themselves, they had a lot of work to do.

‘Indeed, after about two hours, people started leaving in droves.’

Most of those who were forced to attend by tradition stayed only long enough to avoid criticism and then left the palace without hesitation.

Of course, since it was a gathering where it was rare to see the heads of families all in one place, there were many heads of families who actively engaged in social activities, using this banquet as an opportunity. But even they all left, saying they were tired, as the sun began to set.

‘Is this what they mean when they say old people become like children?’

It’s like they have a curfew in this country.

Clatter, clatter.

From the trivial thought that it would be convenient to have a house in the Imperial City to my future plans.

‘In the end, I couldn’t have a proper conversation with the Marquis.’

Unfortunately, one of the quests for this banquet, ‘Probe the Marquis,’ ended in failure.

I did go and greet him, and I even sat at his table, but there were too many people around him. And he didn’t seem to want to dismiss them.

In the end, I had to return after exchanging pleasantries.

It was disappointing.

‘Well, it doesn’t really matter what he’s thinking now…’

The important thing now was balance.

No matter what the Marquis’s intentions were, he wouldn’t be able to act recklessly once I gained more influence.

So I had to walk a fine line.

I had to be strong enough to deter him, but not so strong that he felt threatened.

‘Well, it’s good that I’m joining Melbeth…’

The official joining ceremony would be held later, but for now, things were going smoothly.

But I wasn’t sure about Ragna, who had contacted me through that note.

If things went well, she could be a valuable asset in my conflict with the Marquis…

“Haa…”

I felt a pang of sadness.

If she had just remained a librarian, I would have been able to greet her without any worries.

‘Why does she have to be the Marquis’s daughter…?’

And Hyunbyul was also involved.

The more I thought about it, the more complicated it became.

‘…I’ll find out when I meet her.’

I took a nap in the carriage, and before I knew it, we arrived at the military transfer station. I was teleported back to Ravigion and then took another carriage home. ŘαΝ𝙤𝐁Ěŝ

“You’re back early.”

“It ended sooner than expected. Where’s Erwen?”

“She came back a while ago and is taking a bath.”

Oh, so I can finally talk to her today.

I went upstairs, took a bath, changed my clothes, and then went downstairs to the living room. Amelia and Erwen were sitting on the sofa, chatting.

They seemed surprisingly close.

Hmm, it must be because they went through hell together in Ice Rock—

“Mister!!”

Erwen jumped up and ran towards me.

I stopped her with a gesture.

“Erwen, I’m not your ‘Mister’ anymore.”

“…Huh?”

She looked deflated.

“I’m Baron Bjorn Yandel!”

“Ah…”

Damn it, she’s not even excited.

Ainar would have cheered and celebrated with me.

“Bjorn, stop being silly and sit down.”

“…Alright.”

I sat down on the sofa, and the family meeting began. We had a lot to discuss, but the first topic was Erwen.

“…It’s all settled. I returned the Divine Tree Bow, and the money I borrowed to buy this house… I’ll return it within a month.”

She sounded guilty.

I asked her why, and she said she felt bad about not being able to keep the house, which held so many precious memories…

“It’s fine. Why are you apologizing?”

I was actually more surprised that the fairy tribe had let her go so easily.

The ‘Pureblood’ was a once-in-a-generation power.

I thought they might even demand her life.

‘This is the best possible outcome…’

I was suspicious, so I asked her how she managed to pull it off.

“My uncle helped me when I was arguing with the elders. I think that made a big difference.”

Her uncle…

He was a hero of the fairy tribe, if I remember correctly.

I wanted to meet him someday.

“A month is a tight deadline.”

Amelia brought up a realistic issue after Erwen finished her report.

“We can sell this house to cover the debt, but we still need to find a new place to live.”

“…What if we buy it back? We can afford it if we sell the loot.”

“Hmm. What do you think, Bjorn?”

“Hmm…”

I thought for a moment and then said,

“Let’s stay at an inn for a while. Or maybe rent a house. It’ll be smaller than this one, but…”

“…I-I see…”

Erwen seemed reluctant to sell the house, but she didn’t object to my decision.

Geez, she can be honest with me.

“Don’t worry. This house… it’s just a temporary shelter.”

I told her about Melbeth’s offer to help us buy land and build a mansion.

Her face brightened instantly.

“S-so the Yandel family will become a real noble family…!”

“Yes, so tell me what you want when we’re designing the mansion.”

“…?”

“It’ll be your house too.”

“!!!!”

It seemed like she had forgotten all about her attachment to this house.

“And yours too, Amelia.”

I mentioned Amelia just in case she felt left out, and she sighed.

But she still made a request.

“…I want the navigator’s room to be bigger. With a window.”

It seemed like she was worried about the navigator’s mental health.

Maybe some fresh air would help?

______________________

“That settles the housing issue… What about the labyrinth expedition?”

Amelia brought up the next topic.

Our party was incomplete.

Ainar, Erwen, Amelia, me, and our navigator.

We were one member short of a full party.

The problem was that we didn’t have anyone suitable to fill the vacancy.

I was planning to recruit all the expedition members into my clan eventually, but I didn’t want to rush things.

‘Raviyen or Bersil Gowland would be the safest options…’

But Bersil had said it would take at least a month for her to settle her issues with the church, and Raviyen had said she was taking a break from exploring.

‘…Damn it, we’re still one member short.’

It was a shame to waste a month of exploration time.

I made my decision.

“I think it’s best if we explore as a five-man party this time.”

“Five?”

“It’s not unusual. Five-man parties were common a few years ago.”

“That’s… true.”

“We’ll be staying on the 6th floor, so it won’t be that dangerous.”

“The 6th floor… Alright. I’ll let Lokrob know.”

That settled the expedition issue.

We had dinner and chatted for a while before going to bed.

And the next morning…

We went to the guild branch and registered as clan members.

“H-hehe… Thank you, Mister.”

I wish she would thank Amelia instead…

She even requested an extra copy of the document and carefully stored it away.

‘Now I have to find a Vice-Captain…’

I had suggested to Amelia that she would be a good candidate, but she had refused immediately.

She didn’t want to attract attention.

Well, she was using a fake name, ‘Emily Raines’.

‘Who should I choose…’

It was an important position.

The Vice-Captain could handle most administrative tasks that required the leader’s authority.

‘…Raven would have been perfect. She’s meticulous and efficient.’

After registering our clan, we had lunch at a nearby restaurant.

“Bjorn, are you going to Commelby now?”

“No, I’m going to the temple first.”

“…The temple?”

Amelia tilted her head in confusion, and then she realized.

“You’re going to remove the Gachabon essence.”

“I don’t need to hide my appearance anymore.”@@novelbin@@

That was one of the reasons, but I had also been considering keeping it.

It was a decent essence.

Maybe I should keep it until I found a better one.

But…

“There’s another reason, isn’t there?”

“I got my old equipment back from Ainar and Abman. I can use it now that I’m back to my original size. And I might find a better essence while exploring the 6th floor. And I should visit the tribe someday. It wouldn’t be appropriate to go there in this form.”

“Hmm…?”

Amelia hummed thoughtfully, while Erwen looked disappointed.

“Uh… so you’re going to be big again…?”

“Yes.”

“I liked you like this…”

She has strange taste.

What does she even like about this scrawny body?

“I’ll be back soon.”

I went to the temple alone and had the essence removed.

「The [Gachabon Essence] that had been absorbed into the character's soul has been removed.」

「Sixth Sense decreased by -40.」

「Physical Resistance decreased by -15.」

「Darkness Resistance decreased by -30.」

「Accuracy decreased by -45…」

My stats decreased.

「Bone Density decreased by -110.」

And my height increased.

「Control increased by +30.」

At least my mind feels clearer.

「Luck increased by +50.」

And my luck must have improved too.

Swoosh.

I got dressed and looked at my reflection in the mirror.

‘Whew, I’m finally back to my original form.’

I’m really big.

I wanted to roar, but I suppressed the urge.

This was a temple.

_______________________

「Bjorn Yandel」

Level: 7

Physical: 1,390.55 (New -54.5) / Mental: 521.3 / Ability: 2,197.65

Item Level: 6,285 (New -2,020)

Total Combat Power: 5,680.75 (New -575.58)

Absorbed Essences: Orc Hero - Rank 5 / Ogre - Rank 3 / Bion - Rank 3 / Stormgush - Rank 3 / Vol-Herchan - Rank 3 / Deep Sea Giant - Rank 3

_______________________

Erwen and Amelia’s reactions were completely different.

“Hehe, Mister! You look cool! Just like when we first met!”

Erwen, who had been disappointed, was now praising me.

“…You look better this way.”

Amelia, on the other hand, was still blunt.

But she added,

“But… maybe this is better.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You’re better off being ugly.”

“I’m not ugly, I’m manly!”

“Pfft…”

“…Are you laughing at me?”

I wanted to scold her, but I held back.

She was a precious comrade.

And she really didn’t have any manners.

‘…I would have lost it if my Control stat hadn’t increased.’

Anyway, we headed towards Commelby, as planned.

Not all the expedition members lived in the 7th District.

We decided to meet in Commelby, the city center.

“This is it.”

We entered a building that Bersil had rented for the day, and I saw familiar faces.

“Haha, you’re finally here. Viscount Yandel… or should I call you Baron now?”

Meland Kaislan.

“…Oh my, you’ve changed.”

Liris Marone, James Kala, Sven Parab…

The survivors of Ice Rock were gathered here, marveling at my transformation.

“Bersil, where are Akuraba and Raviyen?”

“They couldn’t make it.”

“So everyone else is here.”

“Of course. They were all curious.”

Well, I was curious too, so they must have been even more so.

“How’s the security?”

“Don’t worry about surveillance. This place doesn’t even have windows, and the voice control magic is active. I even set up a mana detection field, just in case.”

…She’s good at this.

I should ask her if she’s interested in being the Vice-Captain.

“Baron Yandel!”

“Just call me Leader.”

We chatted for a while, catching up on each other’s lives.

And then…

“Um… when are we going to do it?”

The opening ceremony for the subspace pockets we had looted from the Rose Knights.

“I thought they were empty because there was nothing in them except for our backpacks.”

I had thought the same.

But then I found out it wasn’t true.

There was something hidden inside, and we needed to adjust the Bonding magic to access it.

Bersil, the mage, had discovered it…

“One at a time, please. I’ve prepared enough reagents.”

I was a bit nervous.

I had never done this before.

“I wonder… what’s inside…?”

“I was disappointed at first, but now I’m even more excited.”

“Phew… you all opened them already? I didn’t even think about it, I was too worried about being watched.”

What could they have been hiding so carefully?

I didn’t know.

That’s why I had removed the Gachabon essence today.

“So… is everything ready…?”

“Let’s open them!”

I hoped luck would be on my side today.