Bjorn Yandel the Barbarian

A group of humans were discovered beyond the river.

Everyone sees it as a humanoid ‘monster’ with a high probability, but anyway.

“We tried to make contact, but it seems like we failed because they quickly disappeared from the other side as well.”

“I see…”

Although there was little information, it was a positive thing that something was discovered.

There has been no progress in the exploration for almost two weeks.

“Commander, can I hear your thoughts on how you plan to move next?”

“What is Gogyeon?”

I smiled and said to the second-in-command.

“I already tried to explore beyond the river, and it worked out well. Prepare for the expedition.”

“When you say it’s an expedition….”

“We’re leaving the main unit here. “If there are too many people, it can be rather cumbersome.”

I decided that it would not be too late to lead the main force across the river after checking what was beyond.

“Oh, I’m going to follow you this time, so don’t even think about stopping me.”

“Yes… Then, I will prepare appropriate personnel with the people the commander mentioned.”

Of course, all the searchers were quick-footed and had a keen sense of humor, and wizards, priests, and combat workers were added to form a separate unit of 36 members.

For reference, Einar also filled the position with a combat position.

“I think it would be better to leave Pnellin behind.”

Amelia, the search leader, found Einar untrustworthy, but I couldn’t help it.

Just being next to him is helpful.

Since you don’t know what new monsters will appear, you need to increase the essence drop rate with ‘Beginner’s Luck’.

“deputy commander.”

“yes. “I will be taking good care of this team, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Then trust me and go.”

I’m not just saying this out of courtesy, I really believe it.

If he were the second-in-command, he would be doing well without any trouble while I was away.

“Search leader, speed up.”

As soon as the expedition began, we continued moving at a fast pace, as if we were doing a speed run.

Not only has it already been confirmed that there is no danger around here…

If we don’t do this, it will take a year just to get to the river’s mouth.

“stop! We will camp here today and leave again tomorrow morning!

We adopted a method of moving around all day, then setting up camp at night and resting together.

“Thank you for your hard work today. “Baron!”

“Uh-huh! It’s not the Baron, it’s the Commander! Don’t you know that I smile brightly every time you call me that?”

“Achacha Commander! “Then I’m tired, so I’ll go rest first!”

As the journey has been long, everyone I see now has familiar faces, but it still feels a bit unfamiliar.

The only members of Clan Anavada who participated in this expedition were Misha, Amelia Ainar, and three others.

“Bjorn. “I want to ask you something… are you okay?”

As I was patrolling the campground, the secretary gave me a backpack and spoke cautiously.

“Ask.”

“That child… why did you leave it behind?”

“Are you talking about Erwen?”

“huh.”

Soon Secretary Misha nodded and continued speaking in a quiet voice.

“I don’t think there’s any reason to leave it behind, regardless of ability or anything else. So it was a little strange.”

It is not wrong to say this.

Erwen, who possesses the appropriate spirit for exploration work and also has the highest level of combat power, was very suitable for this mission.

But…

“He said he would not follow me.”

He says he is resting at the main university, so what can I do?

I thought it was uncharacteristic of Erwen, but I thought I needed a break as I had been through a lot of hardships recently.

“Ah… Is that so?”

Misha was taken aback when he heard my answer, as if he hadn’t expected it.

But surprisingly, he left without asking any more questions.

“I see… I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Okay, rest.”

After sending Misha off, I ate alone and gathered my thoughts.

Then I heard a sound nearby.

When I checked, I found Amelia saying something to the search party members in a deserted place.

I couldn’t hear the details, but…

“Yes, Captain. “I will keep this in mind!”

The words he shouted while saluting at the end clearly caught my ear.

‘When did you get discipline like that?’

I think she is a very resourceful woman in many ways.

It may seem like there are a lot of things I’m not good at, but in the end, no matter what I’m told to do, I’m sure I’ll end up doing it in vain, right?

“Is it all over? “It seemed like he was scolding me for something.”

“To get scolded. “I just warned you about the formation being disrupted during the move today.”

“Oh really?”

There was a social consensus that we would be scolded for that, but since there was no reason to argue, we just did it…

“By the way, have you decided to keep wearing the eye patch from now on?”

Amelia asked while watching him take off the blindfold with one hand and answered with a wince.

“…Only during exploration.”

“okay? “To get used to it, wouldn’t it be better to wear it all the time?”

The [One-Eyed] effect, which increases body vision, does not particularly consume resources, so there is no need to attach or detach it.

No, rather, it is more advantageous to activate it regularly to reduce sensory errors.

“….”

“Looking at it, it seems like he only wears an eye patch during battle and lives without it in normal times. “Is there a reason?”

A question truly 100% purely out of curiosity.

At this, Amelia sighed heavily and trailed off in a bitter voice.

“Isn’t it strange? “If a woman like me wears an eye patch…”

It was a completely unexpected and surprising answer.

On the other hand, it felt like Amelia.

If you look closely, you can see that he is secretly shy about many things. Even though he seemed dull, he seemed to care a lot about what people were thinking.

Soon, Amelia quickly changed the subject.

“…But why didn’t you bring that child?”

“Ah, do you mean Erwen?”

Amelia tilted her head at my words.

“No, that kid. “That… cute…”

Oh, you were talking about Ham-style.

***

After traveling for about three days, we arrived at the mouth of the river.

However, upon arriving in person, I began to wonder whether it was right to call it a river.

“It’s really as black as I heard….”

It was like seeing the Taean sea covered in spilled oil.

It’s natural to drink it as drinking water, but it looks like you have to be careful when it comes in contact with your body.

‘It’s about as wide as the Han River…’

In fact, quite a long time has passed since I discovered this river.

However, the reason why we have not yet been able to cross the river and explore deeper is simple.

This is because they first investigated the river itself and then tried to expand the search area…

‘They said the depth of the water was very deep.’

Because the depth of the water was too deep compared to its width, it took a long time to confirm that there was nothing under the river.

It looks like the dark river water was also investigated.

“They say it is not dangerous if it touches the body, but everyone should be careful not to touch it just in case.”

We launched the small boat we had carefully prepared onto the river.

Originally, the boat was said to have sunk instead of floating on the water, but thanks to the wizards taking action, it was able to float on top just fine.

And how long has it been?

‘Fortunately, nothing happened.’

No accidents occurred while crossing the river.

But the problem came after crossing the river.

Kuung-!

As soon as I crossed the river and stretched my legs to the ground, a heavy vibration spread through the bushes.

The footsteps of a ‘large monster’ that high-level explorers will recognize as soon as they hear them.

“Ready for battle.”

In case of an emergency, secure a retreat route so that you can return to the ship and prepare for battle.

Kuung-!

The distinctive footsteps became louder and louder, and finally the creature revealed itself in the bushes.

Kuung-!

Its size is slightly larger than that of an ogre.

Unlike typical crustacean monsters, it has shiny iron armor skin and a hose tube around its neck.

And….

flash!

Even the red eye glow reminiscent of infrared light.

“…It’s a mechanical giant.”

“It is a level 3 monster that appears in the Pantelion Ruins.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t a new monster.

Well, it’s such a rare monster that I caught it for the first time on Library Island.

‘It wouldn’t be too difficult with just one…’

Still, I decided to be careful just in case.

The guy who appears here might have other unusual abilities.

Maybe other enemies will appear.

“Expand your vision and be alert to your surroundings!”

Therefore, rather than pouring all their effort into the battle, they continued the battle while preparing for possible situations as much as possible.

Even though it was a ‘mechanical giant’ that was ranked high in level 3, there was nothing particularly difficult about it. Because I also came to the basement level and upgraded my specs tremendously.

“Behel—laaaaa!!”

Aegis Wall.

In addition, the anti-magic aspect, which was its biggest weakness, was complemented by consuming Belarius Essence.

“The mechanical giant casted [Magic Ray].”

“The mechanical giant casted [Request for Assistance].”

“The mechanical giant casted [Reactor]…”

No matter what he did, I didn’t care. They blocked and held, and the search team members stayed alert and protected the dealers.

Thanks to this, the dealers were able to safely demonstrate their full power, and the battle ended with them gradually inflicting damage.

“The mechanical giant has been defeated.”

The body of the mechanical giant, which was disgraced and sparking, becomes light and disappears.

And….

“It’s the essence…!”

Essence was dropped.

I heard that last time I turned on Beginner’s Luck and caught it, it didn’t come out.

Although it was a precious grade 3 essence, the emotional upheaval was not as great as expected.

After all, how many level 3 essences were obtained just on the first basement level?

Now I don’t even know what season this is.

I don’t know, but when this quantity is released, the price of grade 3 water purification will drop considerably.

The reason why grade 3 essence is so expensive is actually because of the aftermath of the previous dimensional collapse.

“Purified water is stored in test tubes.”

Soon after giving instructions, Raven, one of the members of this expedition, approached and collected the essence.

I wasn’t as excited as I was when I got the Aegis Wall, but it was still a bit surprising.

‘Even if you work hard and work hard, you can get something here that is difficult to find.’

Machine Giant Essence is a pretty good essence.

Aside from basic stats and active skills, should I say that the value of the passive skill [Mechanization] is pretty good?

With this, it becomes possible to recover MP by consuming magic stones. The recovery efficiency is shit, so money is wasted like water, but…

‘Still, one high point was huge.’

As long as you have enough money, your MP becomes virtually infinite.

“Anyway, you can’t see that group of humans?”

“I think we need to properly search the surrounding area.”

Soon after the battle, we began producing maps in earnest and expanding our territory.

However, it was not easy to find the group of humans that the investigation team had seen that day.

I’m sure it wasn’t a mistake.

‘After catching the mechanical giant, the monster was nowhere to be seen…’

Please, anything is fine, so I hope it just shows up.

“Mr. Yandel, come out here! “The search party found traces!”

“what?”

After hearing Raven’s words, I immediately headed to the outskirts of the formation where the search party was located.

“Oh, you’re here.”

Amelia is staring at me while bending over and looking at the floor.

“So what are the footprints?”

“here.”

When I checked, I saw that the footprints of an ordinary person were clearly imprinted on the ground.

“It’s not a group, it’s just one person.”

“Where are we going?”

“You will know that if you follow it. Looking at the traces, it hasn’t been that long since the marks were created.”

“Then let’s hurry and follow.”

Soon, Amelia took the lead and started following the traces, and we followed behind, being wary of our surroundings.

And…

“It’s disconnected.”

The tracks that continued for hundreds of meters ended in the middle of the vacant lot.

“Did they notice that we were being followed and erase our traces?”

Amelia didn’t answer my question.

He just looks here and there with eyes that seem to be concentrating on something, and then mutters this with cold eyes.

“…It was a decoy.”

Holy nimir.

“Are we surrounded?”

“Probably with a high probability.”

Even Amelia, who could be considered an expert in this area, wasn’t sure if she was confused.

But the answer to the question was soon solved.

“We are truly surrounded.”

“…Ready for battle!!”

Soon, as soon as they formed a formation, people in the shape of humans appeared naked from the forest.

When I saw their appearance, I let out a long breath.

‘They said he was human.’

They weren’t human.

Some of them had pointy ears, some had flat ears, and still others had animal ears on their heads.