Bjorn Yandel the Barbarian

If you look at the subject like this.

“Anyway, my story ends here. But I guess I didn’t talk enough about the world back then because I was only talking about myself? You seemed to be more interested in that side.”

It is as the uncle said.

But as the story went on, I was immersed in the story itself, so I didn’t have time to pay attention.

“It’s fine now, so if you have any questions, ask. Anything I know, I will tell you openly.”

The question time that started even so belatedly.

The story of this man was interesting enough, but what I was most curious about was the world view of that era.

“Duke, do you know about the identity of the witch?”

“I don’t know. I know she’s a woman… but other than that, she’s a person wrapped in a veil. However, I believe that pilgrims who follow the witch will die someday and head to the Land of Dawn.”

“…Land of the Dawning?”

“A land where there is no agony, pain, or discrimination, and everyone is equal and free. A land where you can go anywhere you want.”

“….”

“The pilgrims say so. So, before hearing your story, I had high expectations that this might be the place. Before I died, I thought my prayers had been answered.”

“Is that so…”

He didn’t bother to say that the 8th floor of the labyrinth was called the ‘Land of Dawn’.

It’s just that it’s a completely different place with the same name.

“Anyway, back to the original story… The empire shouted that if the witches weren’t eliminated, the world would perish, but… I wasn’t the type to believe it.”

“Why didn’t you believe me?”

“The Empire has a similar history. You don’t know, but they say there were five gods in ancient times. However, both religions were erased from the world by the hands of the Empire for political reasons. I heard that a lot of blood was shed even then.”

Ancient history told by an ancient person from my point of view.

However, since the old man didn’t seem to know much about the five gods, he moved on to the next question.

“What kind of place is the Empire?”

“It’s hard to answer that question.”

“Anything is fine. Tell me everything that comes to mind.”

Afterwards, I heard about the influence and cultural tendencies of the ancient empire.

A huge country that owns one third of the continent and directly or indirectly affects the other third.

I guess that’s all you need to know for now…

“Do you know the Lapdonia Castle or the Territory?”

“If it’s Lapdonia… you’re referring to the city you live in, right? Unfortunately, it’s the first place I’ve heard of from you.”

yes you don’t know this

It’s a bit unfortunate, but I didn’t show it as much as possible and moved on to the next question without any regrets.

“Were there monsters in your era?”

“Of course. Goblin Yeti Ogres… Numerous monsters lived all over the continent. Well, it’s a little different from what I heard from you.”

“difference…?”

“First of all, neither the ‘essence’ nor the ‘magic stone’ you mentioned existed. And most of them were intelligent. In the case of goblin kobolds, they lived in villages in forests or mountains, and occasionally interacted with humans.”

For reference, in the case of the Orcs, they say they were treated as a single force…

“Then what about fairies and dwarves? What about the Yongin people? What status were they on this continent?”

At the question I asked out of curiosity, the man tilted his head, as if asking what he was talking about.

“…fairies and dwarves? Aren’t they existences that only exist in imaginary stories?”

“…uh?”

What else are you talking about?

My head went blank for a moment, but the uncle’s expression and voice did not have the slightest hint of playfulness.

“Duke… What race do you see me as?”

Soon after, I carefully asked, and through the answer, I was able to realize one thing.

An ancient era before the end of the world.

Even in that era, monsters existed.

But…

“…isn’t that a human?”

This race did not exist.

***

A human beast, a fairy, a dwarf dragon, a barbarian.

The six races that make up Lapdonia, the last stronghold.

But the Duke is talking now.

“At that time, there were only humans…?”

Barbarians were beings who lived fighting monsters in the rough regions of the north and south.

Dwarves built cities underground and had their own country, and the forest where fairies were nestled was safe from monsters thanks to the guardian tree.

In the case of beastmen, from that time on, they lived mixed with humans.

Yongin is hard to know because there are no records.

And such heterogeneous people headed for the Lapdonia Fortress, which was the last bastion just before the world was destroyed.

Seongju, who needed their strength, gave a lot of consideration to the different races and acknowledged their own territory.

That was the Holy Land.

‘…that doesn’t make sense.’

In the Holy Land, the remnants of the culture and tradition of those days remain and are handed down to this day.

Barbarians still adopt a culture of shared parenting, with daughters bearing the mother’s surname and sons bearing the father’s surname.

‘Spirit Imprinting’ was also said to be a secret technique that has been passed down from ancient times.

But there were no barbarians in ancient times?

‘Is the world over there actually different from ours?’

Suddenly, such a possibility pops into my mind.

isn’t that It’s like a parallel world that often appears in movies and cartoons.

Maybe that’s the case.

Nothing is certain, though.

“I was a little surprised to see how big it was. Aren’t you a human?”

“…by the classification of our world.”

In the meantime, I explained the six races, and then discussed with the duke what the hell this was all about.

Unfortunately, there was no significant income.

Therefore, I continued to ask questions and obtained as much information from the ancient times as possible.

In my heart, I wanted to talk at least all day, but as always, everything had an end.

“…I think the story of having fun after a long time should end here.”

“…?”

“Actually… the mania has started to flare up again.”

It was only then that I realized, but the man’s eyes weren’t serious.

The whites of her eyes were red and bloodshot, and her forehead and neck were covered in blood.

In that state, the duke calmly spoke to me.

“Let me finish this.”

“….”

“When I can be myself.”

“Huh…”

I took a long breath and calmed down.

My heart was heavy.

Not because we couldn’t dig up more information in conversation, but for other reasons.

‘It would have been much easier if I had lost my temper and attacked…

‘

Soon I raised the hammer.

“I’ll tell you in advance, but I don’t know how to kill beautifully.”

“That’s it, you know just by looking at it.”

The old man smiles and closes his eyes while standing still.

But what did you think of later?

“Oh, I have one last thing to tell you.”

“Try it.”

“Since you told me the story of when you met me in the labyrinth, something vaguely comes to mind. It’s not just your memories.”

His closed eyes opened again.

“I don’t know… I always lost my temper and fought there. Perhaps with the explorers you mentioned…”

His red, bloodshot eyes stared into the air, but they looked as if they were looking at something invisible.

“This is just my guess… but maybe I was called out after staying here for such a long time. Whenever I had to fight them…”

“That’s… pretty plausible.”

“How can I help you?”

I answered without the slightest hesitation.

“enough.”

What the uncle told me is information that can take you one step closer to the secret of the rift and the guardian stone statue hidden on the first basement floor.

This will help you on your journey ahead.

“Is that so…”

As if the words were over, the old man quietly repeated again, closing his eyes.

“Am I real or fake?”

A murmur that seems to be speaking to oneself.

“If this heart goes out, where am I going now?”

I didn’t answer.

I just thought to myself.

The place he will go to after death will not be the afterlife mentioned in the Samsin religion or the land of dawn mentioned by the pilgrims.

He will come back to life and will repeat the same things for eons of time, forgetting the memories of today.

But…

“It doesn’t matter where it is.”

“…”

“If only I could lighten my guilt even a little bit.”

Soon the uncle says:

In a voice that sounds so peaceful.

“Let me finish this.”

The moment he announced it was ready, I swung the hammer down.

Even if it’s rough, I do my best so that there is no pain.

Whoa-!

The hammer struck the heart that had barely been reached through [Flesh Explosion] several times in the past.

Kwajik-!

Today, a group of light scatters in the empty stone chamber with a creepy sound.

It also reminds me of the essence of rainbow colors.

It was a sight I had seen countless times as an explorer, but I had to watch it in silence.

Shaaaaaaa-!

Until the cluster of lights embroidering the air disappears.

***

When I got out of the portal, it really wasn’t a fuss outside.

That’s because I went to catch a vampire and didn’t come back no matter how long I waited.

“mister…!”

“Yandel…! what happened inside? no matter what happened You are now excluded from the raid…”

“Where was the injury? Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

Amelia even went so far as to say such a bizarre thing that she would exclude me from the attack…

But fortunately, not everyone reacted as if the dead had returned.

Was it possible to confirm survival by seeing that the portal did not open again?

“3 hours and 21 minutes….”

Of course, even in the midst of such chaos, the recording wizard was diligently recording.

“Everyone look away. It’s enough to worry about. It wasn’t even a dangerous situation in the first place.”

“Then why did you come out so late?”

Raven, who gave me a special lecture on guardians, approaches me and asks me in a high-pitched voice.

I tried to tell you even if you didn’t see it.

“The Guardian I met inside had intelligence. That’s why we talked for a while and got to know each other.”

“…the Guardians had intelligence?”

“okay. In the end, madness flared up at the end, but for now, it is.”

I didn’t say the details, but I honestly revealed the conversation with the vampire uncle in front of everyone.

Well, you can’t do an experiment if you keep it a secret.

“In that sense, I have something to ask of the people who will enter next…”

I instructed the people who will enter later to try to talk as much as possible.

But…

“The thing Yandel said didn’t happen.”

“…me too. As soon as I entered, I said that the intent to kill soared and attacked.”

“I haven’t even had a conversation…!”

Amelia Erwen Mischa.

Neither the three nor anyone who entered additionally experienced the same phenomenon as me.

So the question grows even more.

‘What was different?’

Why was the Duke of Cambormere able to maintain his rationality in front of me?

And why were the other Guardians the same?

Like the guess he made at the end.

[Perhaps I was called out after staying here for such a long time.]

If these are really the originals and the space they found on the 1st basement level serves as a repository, why doesn’t a similar phenomenon happen to other guardians?

I couldn’t tell.

The more I thought about it, the more my doubts grew.

So, I decided to collect more samples.

“Yandel Are you trying to catch him?”

“I have something to check.”

“…It’s not too late to do it at the end.”

Amelia expressed her concern when she was told that she would clear the unidentified stone statues that might be the guardians of the rift on which floor, but I did not change my decision.

“Don’t worry. If so, isn’t it a 5th grade monster? It won’t be dangerous.”

After saying that, I put my hand on the troll statue.

For some reason, I felt very strange.

‘Guardian troll…’

If it was originally, he would have been curious about whether he could see the rainbow-colored troll essence.

Now I’m curious about the other side first.

What was the story behind this guy?

What happens to this guy when he reaches the door of the abyss?

Maybe then I can find rest.

“…”

I kept thinking about it without even realizing it.