Chapter 266: Chapter 266 Bug (5)

Bug (5)

He laughed at my words.

“I can’t believe you remember me.”

It seemed like he was surprised that I recognized him.

Well, it was a brief encounter.

We didn’t even properly introduce ourselves, and we were both too out of it to have a proper conversation.

But…

“Those kinds of memories are hard to forget.”

Of course, how could I forget?

That time when I crawled through the dark cave on three legs, my mangled foot bleeding profusely.

[Partslan. Give him a potion.]

[It’s for when we can’t use divine power.]

[You have plenty anyway. I’ll pay you back later.]

[Tsk.]

This guy, who was the swordsman of the team that saved me, threw a potion at me with a disgruntled expression at his leader’s words.

It was a rare experience.

How often do you feel humiliation and gratitude at the same time?

“As expected of a barbarian, this part is good. A warrior’s code is to never forget a debt, right?”

He smiled in satisfaction, interpreting my words as he wanted.

I didn’t bother correcting him.

Well, it was true that I felt grateful.

“But it’s a bit strange. I didn’t expect you to still remember me.”

“There aren’t many people who can crawl that far with a body like that.”

He said so and then looked me up and down.

“I can’t believe you’re really Bjorn Yandel.”

It seemed like he had already deduced my identity from my appearance without even needing an introduction.

Tsk, I don’t know if I should call this an advantage or a disadvantage.

That’s when, as I was chuckling…

…Raven approached me from behind.

“It’s been a while, Mr. Partslan.”

“Who…? Ah, Miss Raven?”

I was as surprised as the swordsman.

What, they knew each other?

“Right… that’s right. I heard you joined that team.”

“It’s a clan now, not a team. By the way, wow! I didn’t know you and Mr. Yandel knew each other, is this fate?”

“Fate my ass, we don’t even know each other’s names.”

The swordsman chuckled and revealed his name as I interjected.

“I’m Malmaln Partslan.”

“That’s a strange name.”

“It’s one of the few families that still use the central region naming convention. Just call me Partslan. Everyone does.”

“Family? Are you a noble?”

“Noble, my ass. Maybe thousands of years ago.”

I immediately understood what he meant.

There were a few cases like this.

Those who were nobles or royalty before the world ended…

…but became commoners after entering this city.

Although they didn’t have titles, they still maintained their legitimacy by choosing a head of the family.

“So what were you doing in front of our boat?”

Partslan then got to the point after the introductions were over.

I answered honestly since we weren’t really doing anything.

“We were just looking around the island.”

“I see.”

Partslan, who knew Raven and was aware of my fame, didn’t doubt us and readily agreed.

And…

“Nervio Fertia.”

…he activated the magic circle engraved on the boat and unsummoned it, storing it in his subspace pocket.

Although it was a trivial action, I was quite concerned.

“But where’s the team you were with?”

“They’re exploring the island.”

“It seems like they’re looking for something.”

“Well, I don’t think we’re close enough to talk about that.”

Geez, he’s already being prickly.

Although he drew a clear line, I could roughly guess the situation.

‘They left the boat on the shore and then sent one person to retrieve it…’

They must have been looking for something.

After all, most summoning engravings had a cooldown.

They were probably planning to leave on the boat as soon as they judged that there was nothing to find.

‘The fact that he unsummoned it means they found what they were looking for.’

Then what were they looking for?

I had a hunch.

After all, I had also come to the 6th floor for that reason.

‘If that’s the case, my plan will be disrupted…’

I subtly controlled my expression to hide my frustration.

But could it be that it was the same for him?

“Yandel, how long are you guys staying on this island?”

Partslan asked me subtly, his voice nonchalant.

That bastard, he’s testing me.

“I think we’ll be staying here.”

“Staying here? There’s nothing much here.”

“It’s our first time here.”

“Hmm, but it wouldn’t be bad to at least visit the next island… well, whatever. It’s up to you.”

Partslan, who was speaking with a hint of hope, quickly corrected himself, as if realizing he had crossed a line.

Right, who are you to decide where we go?

“Anyway, if you’re staying on this island, we might see each other again. Then I’ll see you later, Yandel.”

Partslan then ended the conversation.

His intentions were obvious.

He wanted to tell his companions about us and discuss the situation.

“Wait.”

Partslan turned around as I spoke briefly.

He seemed curious as to why I suddenly called him.

I couldn’t just let him go.

Actually, this was something that had been bothering me since earlier…

“It’s not just Yandel, it’s Viscount.”

“…What?”

I repeated myself as he tilted his head as if he misheard.

“I said Bjorn, son of Yandel, Viscount.”

Don’t try to act friendly with me.

Did he still think I was that ground-dwelling barbarian?

___________________

“Then I’ll be going. Ahem! Vi, Viscount Yandel…”

Raven sighed as Partslan hurriedly ran away.

“…Mr. Yandel, did you really have to do that?”

I knew what she meant.

That I was being too harsh.

But I puffed out my chest confidently.

“You weren’t expecting me to use honorifics, were you?”

I didn’t even make him call me ‘Viscount Yandel-nim’, and I even let him use informal language.

But she’s asking if I really had to do that?

“Raven, I don’t understand you. What kind of noble is this lenient?”

“Uh, well, you’re not wrong… but this has never happened before. What the hell happened between you two…”

Although Raven seemed to think it was a personal vendetta, it wasn’t.

In the first place, I was more grateful than anything for him saving my life.

But that was one thing, and this was another.

“Raven, there’s a big difference between me telling someone to speak informally and them speaking informally without me telling them to.”

My companions and acquaintances didn’t change their way of speaking even after I became a noble.

Because I told them not to.

But what about Partslan?

Although it wasn’t something a barbarian should say…

…he spoke informally as soon as he saw me.

“Ugh, so you did that to show off your noble authority? You’ve really become a noble now.”

What is she talking about?

“I’m not a noble, I’m a clan master.”

“…Yes?”

“It means I represent you guys wherever we go. But you’re saying I should have just smiled and let it slide because he’s someone you know? Even though I barely know him?”

“That’s…”

And most importantly, we would probably encounter that team again since our goals seemed to overlap.

That’s why I activated Noble Barbarian Mode.

I judged that it wasn’t good to be underestimated from the beginning.

“…I’m sorry for being sarcastic. I was short-sighted this time.”

Raven apologized, hanging her head low.

It was one of her strengths.

To admit her mistakes and apologize sincerely.

“That’s enough. I’ve forgotten about it.”

I magnanimously let it slide, as expected of a barbarian, and then asked what I was curious about.

“But I didn’t know, Raven, do you dislike nobles?”

“No? Not at all.”

Hmm, really?

She was being quite sarcastic earlier.

Ah, could it be that they were close?

So she was angry because I was bullying him?

I asked again, thinking it was a plausible guess, but Raven shook her head again.

“Uh, that’s definitely not it. In the first place, I’ve only met Mr. Partslan a few times at banquets…”

“Hmm, then why were you so angry?”

“I wasn’t angry…”

“But you were different from usual.”

Raven couldn’t answer my question easily.

It wasn’t because she was uncomfortable talking about it…

…but rather because she didn’t seem to know the reason herself.

“I was just… a bit. I don’t want you to be like that, especially… no, what am I saying? Ah, I don’t know either.”

Raven looked confused.

I chuckled.

Because I think I understood what she wanted to say.

I would also feel strange if Ainar suddenly changed and acted arrogantly. Damn right, a barbarian’s charm lies in their innocent heart.

“Ah, both of you, stop it! What’s with that weird atmosphere?!”

Misha, as if she didn’t like the awkward air, intervened, and the topic naturally changed.

“So what are we going to do now? There’s still a lot left to see on the island.”

“Ah, I’m done sightseeing.”

We had roughly finished measuring the island’s size…

…and we had also confirmed that there were other people here.

Competitors who might have come to this island for the same reason.

“Then what are we going to do?”

I answered Raven’s question briefly.

“We’re going inside the island.”

We couldn’t just back down because there were competitors.

___________________

Parune Island.

It was a popular hunting ground, located closest to the Starting Island.

Although all the monsters were below 8th grade…

…it had a significant financial advantage because of the large number of insect-type monsters that appeared.

Well, if you only looked at the profits.

“Erwen, fire! Fire! Fire! Quickly!!”

“Ye, yes!”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk! Ugh! I think I swallowed one!!”

“Miss Ainar! A magic stone just came out of your mouth! Did you crush it with your teeth?!”

The 8th-grade insect-type monster, ‘Krungbi’, whose body was bigger than a human face.

And the swarm of bugs it summoned.

Whoosh!

Although magic stones poured out whenever Erwen, who handled fire spirits, or Raven unleashed their AoE spells, no one was happy.

It was the same for me.

‘It’s more disgusting than I thought.’

It was hard, even though I thought I had a strong stomach.

The sticky fluid that covered my entire body.

The sickening smell of burning bugs.

Phew, I didn’t want to know that this kind of smell existed in the world.

“I didn’t know there were this many monsters… it’s because there are no other people around… Kyaak!”

“Don’t talk! It went into my mo— Ugh!”

Although my companions were experiencing the worst moments of their lives in real time, they didn’t say they wanted to go back.

The reason was simple.

“It seems like Bjorn was right.”

“Yes. There’s definitely something on this island. Otherwise, those people with a good boat wouldn’t have come here.”

Of course, we weren’t going to stalk them and find out what it was.

I already knew what it was…

…and in the first place, there was no one in our clan who was so immoral that they would agree to such a plan.

Therefore, we decided to search for it ourselves.

Assuming that something was hidden on this island.

‘Thanks to that, it won’t seem strange even if we find it later…’

The problem was Partslan’s team.

The hidden piece on this island was an event that involved the entire island.

‘A total of 11 people if there’s no one else besides us.’

Although it wasn’t over the 15-person limit for the highest difficulty, 11 people was still a burdensome number.

‘That’s probably why he tried to kick us out. It would be much easier for them to progress through the event without us.’

I was a bit curious.

How did he even know about this hidden piece?

Was there a player among his team members?

Or was he a player himself?

‘I’ll get a sense of it when I meet him—’

That’s when, as I was thinking…

“Mister.”

…Erwen stopped us.

“Someone is fighting over there.”

She pointed towards the center of the forest.

She had much better hearing than us, so she couldn’t have misheard.

“It seems like Mr. Partslan’s team is hunting. Hmm, if we encounter them here, they might misunderstand and think we followed them—”

“No. They’re not hunting.”

“Yes? What do you mean they’re not hunting—”

Erwen’s eyes sharpened as she said,

“It’s the sound of people fighting each other.”

It meant that PK was taking place.