SGB: Episode 42

Episode 42: The Mage and the Barbarian (2)

After the communication ended...

...A heavy silence filled her lab for a while.

Of course, she wouldn't have expected this at all.

She initially intended to extort a bit of money, but how could she have known that she would suddenly have to pay 5 million stones in compensation?

'The people in this world all lack imagination.'

Actually, it's not that she had no way to win the argument.

If she had grabbed any random 9th-grade explorer who was struggling to make ends meet and asked the same question, she would have gotten a response like "I'd be grateful."

The logic wouldn't have been refuted like this.

However, the explorer she contacted seemed quite skilled just by looking at him.

'If she's calling him 'master', he can't be an ordinary explorer, right? He must have a personal relationship with someone like that.'

This was the decisive mistake.

So now it's time to reap the fruits of her mistake—

"Kekeke! A barbarian outsmarting a mage with words, that's even more amusing than I've heard!"

The person who opened the door without knocking and entered was an old man with wrinkled skin and white hair.

However, his back wasn't hunched, and he looked quite healthy for his age.

Flustered by the sudden intrusion for a moment, I quickly figure out the old man's identity.

"Ah, I haven't introduced myself. This old man is the master of the lady you just made cry."

"I, I didn't cry!"

Raven's master.

In other words, the master of Artemion, a huge school that occupies five floors of the Magic Tower.

He's a big shot who's probably as influential as the regional manager I met earlier, or even more so in some ways.

"Anyway, I heard your conversation well."

"Yes? You heard it? The soundproofing magic should have been active—"

"Ah, we'll have to reinforce that a bit. There were so many gaps in the spell structure, tsk."

His tone makes him sound like a neighborhood grandpa, but I feel intimidated because of his position.

And there's also the fact that I did something to his disciple, whom he seems to cherish.

"Ha... you completely destroyed my magic circle. Even for you, Master, it must have been difficult to break it without me noticing... Why did you go to such lengths to eavesdrop?"

The old man chuckles.

"Wouldn't I be curious if my youngest disciple brought a man, and a live barbarian at that?"

Something about his words feels strange.

"Live?"

I mutter involuntarily, and the old man bursts into laughter again.

"Keke! Most of them come dead! Or just their hearts are delivered!"

"......?"

"Relax, it was a joke! A joke!"

Ah, I see.

Is this a mage-style joke?

I, being a barbarian who can read the room, laugh heartily instead of getting offended.

"Hahaha! I want to smash your head in!"

This is a barbarian-style joke.

"...Wh, what?"

But why isn't he laughing?

Ah, I didn't do that, did I?

"Hahaha! I was just kidding!"

"......"

The master of the Artemion school, or in short, the old man, frowns as if he's offended by my joke.

I look to the side, and Raven is gaping in disbelief.

"...Mr. Yandel, are you crazy?"

Is that a polite expression, or just a swear word?

I'm confused because she used honorifics.

'I made a mistake just now.'

Seeing her reaction, I guess I did go a bit overboard.

After all, I'm just a shitty barbarian, cracking jokes like that in front of the head of a Magic Tower school.

"Ha... I should have realized it when you were doing that at the guild..."

Still, it's a bit unfair.

It might sound like an excuse, but to joke about dead barbarians in front of a barbarian who almost died this morning?

"I was on edge and ended up being defensive. I apologize if I offended you."

It's a long-winded explanation that I haven't given in a while, but Raven shouts as if it's unbelievable.

"That's not being defensive!"

"The best defense is a good offense."

It's my philosophy that I've held since I was a child.

'So how do I clean up this mess?'

I glance over, and the old man is still standing there blankly, looking dazed.

As the silence continues, I start to genuinely worry about my well-being.

That's when…

"Keuheuheuheu! This guy is quite something!"

The old man suddenly bursts into laughter.

I don't know why, but I laugh along with him, judging by the atmosphere.

"Hahaha!"

"Keuheuheuheu! You're a funny guy!"

I can clearly see the old man forcing himself to laugh magnanimously, but…

If I play my cards right, I might be able to get away with it.

"Don't worry! This old man is different from those petty mages who get offended by every little thing."

Although the corners of his mouth are still twitching, as if he's still angry...

There's no need to point that out.

'I roughly understand his character.'

I also know how to handle him.

"Haha! What barbarian bloodline do you come from? I take back what I said about being an old man! To accept our jokes so readily, I've never seen such a magnanimous mage!"

Although I haven't seen many mages.

Who cares?

"Keke, I do have that side to me. I feel like we can get along!"

"I agree!"

The tense atmosphere disappears for a moment.

Raven looks at us, dumbfounded, as we start laughing and joking.

"Ha... what the hell is going on?"

Well, I don't know either.

And I'm sure that old man also has no idea what he's doing right now.

"I am Bjorn, son of Yandel! Great mage! I would like to know your name!"

"Bjorn Yandel! It feels so refreshing to meet you after dealing with those petty mages! It's a pleasure to meet you. This old man is Deyan Tvehirion!"

For some reason, the old man also introduces himself in a booming voice.

However, the veins bulging in his neck make me worry about his health...

Let's just ignore it.

"Amazing! Your voice is filled with a man's ambition!"

I, Bjorn Yandel.

I'm a barbarian who knows how to socialize.

"So that's what I said to those petty bastards back then—"

"Amazing!"

"Huh? I haven't said anything yet—"

"It will be amazing!"

After a few minutes of this kind of social conversation...

As if coming back to his senses while bragging about himself, the old man slyly returns to the main topic.

"So, what are you going to do about Aru?"

"Aru?"

"Ah, it's a nickname for our youngest disciple."

So it's just Aru from Arrua Raven?

This kind of culture seems to exist everywhere.

"Anyway, about that 5 million stones you mentioned… if this old man—"

"We can't just forget about it."

Social mode is over for now.

The old man clicks his tongue as I cut him off with a serious expression.

"Aish, tsk, who said we wouldn't pay? If you're okay with it, this old man would like to offer something else instead..."

If that's the case, then it's a different story.

"What is it?"

"It's this."

The old man reaches into his robe and pulls out a palm-sized box.

However, I'm more interested in the robe he's wearing than the box.

'Could it be that the robe itself has subspace storage?'

Hmm, he wouldn't give it to me even if I asked, right?

"What are you doing? Open it."

I open the box, suppressing my desire for the robe, and see a ring inside.

"It's called the Frost Spirit Ring."

"Frost Spirit Ring?"

The old man continues to explain the ring at my mumbling, but I don't need to listen closely.

It's an item I'm already familiar with.

"Although it's in the 9000s, even you, as an explorer, should know how valuable Numbered Items are."

Numbered Items.

They can only be obtained from guardians of rifts, and each one has its own unique ability.

Essentially, Numbered Items are the only way to acquire equipment in [Dungeon and Stone] besides 'crafting' and 'discovery'.

Naturally, they're mostly expensive regardless of their number.

However…

"You're quite lucky. If I didn't like you, I would never give you this—"

"It's just an item that no one uses."

No. 9425 Frost Spirit Ring.

The Frost Spirit Ring, which can only be obtained from rifts below the 3rd floor, has one unique ability.

For your information, it's not an ability that helps in combat, but it seals one of the essences the wearer has absorbed.

Of course, the stats still apply, and only the skills are sealed, but...

'In that case, it's cheaper to just remove the essence at the temple.'

Think about it.

Leveling up becomes astronomically difficult as you progress.

But if you wear this ring, the skills of the essence you worked so hard to get become useless.

It's like losing one skill slot entirely.

An explorer who thinks about the future would rather remove the essence at the temple and acquire a new one than wear this ring.

"But it's definitely a useful item for you, isn't it?"

Hmm, that's definitely true.

In the early stages, stats are more important than skill combinations. And besides, the Corpse Golem essence has high stats even if the skills are bad.

'Considering that you can use the skills again whenever you take off the ring, it's not a bad item. Just by itself.'

I finish my calculations in my head.

Actually, I never intended to refuse in the first place.

Because the abilities I just listed are only a small part of this ring's true value.

'I've tested it a few times, and they haven't mentioned it at all, so... they really don't know about that event?'

Mages are the most knowledgeable people in this world.

But seeing how Raven didn't know how to obtain the 'Tears of the Goddess' hidden under the statue in the 'Crimson Fortress', I'm convinced.

They're all just newbies in my eyes.

And in any game, there's no easier target to exploit than newbies.

"Don't worry so much. Honestly, this ring isn't worth 5 million stones. But it's not something you can get even if you want to."

"I see."

I nod as if I agree.

Even in the game, the auction house price was only around 1.5 million stones, but since there were almost no listings, obtaining this ring was rare.

'But to get this precious thing like this?'

In the first place, I didn't expect to receive the full 5 million stones.

This old man probably just took out this ring with the intention of giving me some useless item and sending me on my way.

He's probably laughing at me inwardly, thinking I'm a stupid barbarian.

"Thanks to you, I got something good. I'll use it well."

Hmm, it's the same for me, so we're even?

"Keke, think of it as a gift from this old man."

I look at the old man, who is smiling kindly, and think to myself.

If I play my cards right, there will be many more opportunities to exploit him in the future.

I should try to stay on good terms with him.

_____________________________________

“Mr. Yandel, it’s probably a bit much to do it today, right? You must be tired after going through all that, so how about we meet again in two days to continue our conversation?”

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

After briefly deciding on the time and place, Bjorn leaves the lab.

Raven then observes her master’s expression.

“Master, I’m sorry for causing trouble…”

“It’s fine, it was an item that wouldn’t have sold anyway. That barbarian will probably feel quite annoyed when he finds out how much that ring is worth.”

“…Is that so?”

Fortunately, he doesn’t seem particularly angry because of Bjorn, whom she brought here.

Raven then comfortably asks the question that’s been on her mind since earlier.

“But why did you do that earlier?”

Her master’s behavior today was very unusual.

He hates rude people.

He’s never even called his fellow mages petty.

“Ah, that’s because there was something I wanted to confirm.”

“Confirm what?”

“You don’t need to know.”

She shuts her mouth with a sullen expression.

It’s now clear that there was some intention behind him playing along with Bjorn’s mood…

But with her master acting like this, there’s no way to know what that intention was.

“Anyway, he’s a strange one. So strange that it makes me excited. I hope I’m right…”

“Are you going to keep doing that? If you’re going to tell me, just tell me!”

“I’ll tell you when the time is right. Ah, and when you have time, write down everything that happened with that barbarian in detail and send it to me.”

“You won’t tell me why, will you?”

“I’ll tell you when things become clearer.”

Her master then leaves the lab, smiling as usual.

She feels uneasy looking at the empty spot he left behind.

‘What is Master thinking?’

She even regrets bringing Bjorn here.

She remembers that the fates of those who piqued her master’s interest like this were never good.

‘Uh, but isn’t that the same for Mr. Yandel?’

She thinks of him, a 9th-grade explorer, turning the guild upside down, and feels anxious.

‘Eh, that can’t be, right? The Magic Tower isn’t some small-time shop.’

The guild and the Magic Tower are different.

They’re not the kind of organizations that would be swayed by a single barbarian.

Surely, definitely.

Prev | Home | Next