novelraw Chapter 86 : Only the Words of the Strong are Heard.
Chapter 86 : Only the Words of the Strong are Heard.
Only the Words of the Strong are Heard.
Miriam realized two things as she looked at the barbarian standing before her and the people who had suddenly appeared.
As expected, other nobles were also moving to hire the 'Dungeon God' adventurer party, just like Balthazar.
And then—
"If you move like that, you won't be able to kill your opponent even if you try forever!"
The barbarian from the 'Dungeon God' party.
He was an even stranger guy than she had imagined.
"Huff... Huff...!"
Miriam let out a hoarse, metallic breath. She could almost taste the tang of blood in her mouth.
Right now, she was doing pushups under the command of the barbarian who had introduced himself as 'Barkal.'
The reason?
She didn't know.
She only knew that this crazy barbarian forced anyone who entered the training hall to train, insisting that if you come in, you must train.
'I- I'm... a woman!'
Every time her brown hair swung and blocked her eyes, miriam had the urge to complain, all the way up to her throat.
But deep down, she knew.
If she said anything unnecessary, the crazed barbarian would only push her harder!
"G-graaaah!"
"One more time! Show me your fighting spirit!"
"Grrrrrk...!"
"I-I'm getting out of here!"
One of the three who were training at the same time couldn't bear the grueling session any longer and, gasping for breath, tried to flee towards the entrance.
"Khahahahahaha!"
But the barbarian only laughed, as if to say it was useless, and leapt off the ground into the air.
It was just a single jump.
But with that jump, the barbarian crossed the wide training hall and blocked the entrance.
"H-hiiiiiik!"
"Where do you think you're going! If you come to the training hall, you must train!"
"A-aaaah!"
"I will make you a warrior! You weak little maggot!"
Dragging.
The barbarian called Barkal easily grabbed an adult man who looked to be over 180cm by the head with one hand and began to drag him back.
No doubt, someone her size would be treated like a baby. Thinking that made a shadow fall over Miriam's face.
"W-we came here to talk! Glorious Barbarian, Barkal of the Dungeon God party!"
And in situations like this, miriam knew it was best to try to solve things with talk.
"Aren't we talking now?"
"W-what!?"
"A physical conversation, I mean!"
What in the world was that supposed to mean?
Miriam was flustered by Barkal's response but tried to collect her thoughts to remain calm.
"T-that's not it! Really, I just came to have a simple conversation!"
"Conversation?"
"Y-yes!"
Hmm.
A short sigh escaped from behind the skull helmet.
The same crazed eyes suddenly started to show a trace of humanity, and everyone, including Miriam, began to speak up.
"I-I am Miriam Dorne, envoy of Lord Balthazar de Rancher, the noble who rules over Odheim!"
"I-I am Roan, subordinate of Lord Heinrich. Our master values your power! If you wish, we can offer you silver or gold coins..."
"I am Evel, sent by Lady Elenora! Our Lady Elenora believes you are the seed to establish a new order in Odheim..."
As self-introductions continued, the nobles' envoys, including Miriam, began to glance at each other.
So, you all came for the same reason!
That feeling grew, and Miriam stepped forward to speak again.
"L-Lord Balthazar has offered to recommend you for knighthood in the Kerval Kingdom, if you desire!"
You know what that means, right?
Thinking so, a smile appeared on Miriam's face.
A kingdom's knight.
That meant gaining a rank equivalent to a 'quasi-noble.'
Ordinary adventurers could never obtain such power unless they caught the eye of a noble.
"Kuh!"
"K-knighthood?"
At Miriam's words, embarrassment flashed across the faces of the two other envoys.
They hadn't prepared anything to match this offer. Miriam's smile only grew deeper.
"Difficult!"
But—
In front of them stood a barbarian who could communicate in 'conversation,' but not in 'thought.'
Barkal Wolfroad.
Apostle of Thrag, God of the Red Wolf Tribe.
A battle-mad barbarian.
"I do not listen to the words of the weak. If I must listen, I listen to the words of the strongest!"
The three were taken aback by Barkal's incomprehensible words. Meanwhile, Barkal walked over to the corner of the training hall and threw a whole weapon rack at them.
Clatter, crash.
All kinds of weapons spilled from the rack.
"So, prove yourselves to each other!"
What?
"I will listen to the one who wins!"
* * *
I approached the book Liberas, Goddess of Love and Virtue, indicated, and began to read it.
The title on the book read 'The Chronicle of No Logout.'
No Logout?
What did that mean?
Looking more closely, I realized that 'No Logout' was the name of an adventurer party that had been active in Silver Wood 300 years ago.
It was certain. This was the adventurer party the 'Player' I was looking for had belonged to.
Just from the name, I could tell. It was just like naming my party 'Dungeon God'—they had wanted to broadcast that they were Players with this kind of name.
I snorted.
That's a great name.
It matched perfectly with our situation. Right now, we couldn't log out of 《Dungeon God》. It was like being 'stuck in a no logout' situation.
Anyway.
"300 years ago..."
This confirmed a hypothesis I had.
Not all players who are possessed by 《Dungeon God》 arrive at the same time.
In other words, someone could become another's 'Player from 300 years ago.'
At any rate, I began to read through the chronicle of adventures by the party called 'No Logout.'
"So they were a Gold-ranked adventurer party, huh."
The 'No Logout' party was of the 'Gold' rank—an even higher rank than our 'Dungeon God' party.
You'd need to be on that level to have a 'chronicle' written about your exploits.
It also recorded their battle with the 'White Knight' in Silver Wood.
However, there was no information about the 'Rune of the Abyss', which was the reason I had come here, nor anything directly related to the 《Dungeon God》 game.
"Hmm?"
Continuing through the chronicle, I saw a familiar name.
Elia Lightbringer.
Serena's surname—Lightbringer. Wasn't it the family rumored to produce saints?
Ah, yes.
The name 'Elia' rang a bell. The very first person to become a Saint.
It seemed like a pretty large party if the first Saint was among their members.
The issue was that there wasn't much other information written.
The only thing worth noting was the story about a 'fragment' they obtained after closing a dungeon that had been undergoing 'Abyssification'.
"Fragment?"
The more I read, the more interested I became.
The incident with the White Knight appearing in Silver Wood—the only ones able to harm the White Knight were the 'No Logout' party.
This chronicle speculated that the reason this was possible was thanks to the 'fragment' they brought from the Abyss dungeon.
"Where is it now?"
I read further, curious, but the answer was ridiculous.
'No Logout' retired due to injuries after their final battle with the 'Vampire Lord.' They donated the 'fragment' to the guild, but before it could be studied, it was stolen by an unknown group.
The author wrote that it was likely stolen by a criminal organization called 'The Disguisers,' and criticized their actions.
Hmm.
If they'd managed it properly in the first place, it wouldn't have been stolen, would it?
Do the people at the Adventurer's Guild actually do their jobs properly?
* 〈Thrag clicks his tongue.〉
Looks like you finally agree with me. These people can't do anything right.
Haaa.
I let out a breath and closed the book.
All I learned from this book is that there is a 'fragment' from a dungeon undergoing 'Abyssification' somewhere in this world.
But since it was stolen by this 'Disguiser' organization, I had no way of knowing what it actually was.
Anyway, 'Disguisers'—
These guys are a headache here, too, it seems.
* * *
Staring with a pale face at the weapons scattered across the floor, miriam had no intention of picking one up, even at the barbarian's command.
Of course.
She had never even thrown a punch in her entire life, let alone dueled.
Even if Barkal told her to pick up a weapon, there was no chance she'd muster the courage.
"U-uh..."
Miriam trailed off, shifting her gaze to Barkal.
"I didn't come here to fight, member of the Dungeon God party."
Even with her pitiful plea, Barkal showed no sign of changing his mind.
He just crossed his arms, staring coldly at the scattered weapons, his eyes telling her to pick one up immediately.
So thoughts began to swirl through Miriam's mind.
Even though she had been sent by her noble, she had no intention of risking her life.
Surely the other servants who had gathered here felt the same. That's why Miriam decided to back down.
It was then—
Slick.
The man who had introduced himself as 'Evel' suddenly picked up a sword.
He supposedly was a servant of Elenora, a noble from Odheim.
"If I defeat these two, you'll listen to what I have to say, right?"
Evel asked, and Barkal nodded.
"Very well."
With a sinister smile, he glanced between Miriam and the remaining one, roan.
"Uh, uhh..."
Roan began to stutter in fear.
He's not really going to try killing us just because he's following the noble's orders, is he? Just as Miriam wondered, evel stomped forward to swing his sword.
"W-wait! I—I have no intention of fighting!"
Even at Roan's desperate shout, evel showed no intention of stopping.
Meanwhile, one thought kept swirling in Miriam's head.
Evel.
Servant of Elenora.
As she handled administrative duties, miriam was familiar with the other nobles' servants.
But to her, both the name and face 'Evel' were completely unfamiliar.
"Aaaargh!"
A scream rang out. But no blood stained the dirt floor.
Before Evel's sword could reach, Barkal had grabbed the back of his neck.
"As I thought, you smell like a rat."
"G-guh...!"
Evel's face paled under Barkal's grotesque grip, and in desperation, he swung his sword at Barkal.
But before the sword could make contact, Barkal flung Evel's body to the ground.
"Gahk...!"
With a grotesque cry, evel collapsed. He wasn't unconscious yet, but his eyes looked clearly dazed from the blow.
At the same time, the clothes he wore fell open, blatantly revealing his ribs and a tattoo of a 'cracked mask' between them.
"What?!"
Knowing what that tattoo meant, miriam gasped despite herself.
"Disguiser...?"
The criminal group 'Disguiser.'
A group always hiding behind someone else's identity and doing the dirty work in the shadows.
"Disguiser?"
Barkal didn't seem to understand. But before anyone could explain, evel, regaining his senses, began to struggle in Barkal's grasp.
"Barkal, capture that man."
At that moment, another voice rang through the training hall.
It was a voice Miriam had never heard, but its power startled her.
No wonder.
The barbarian in the skull helmet nodded obediently, as if acknowledging the command.
***
**New Names, locations, skills, techniques**