Bjorn Yandel the Barbarian

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Except for the members’ breathing, which became more intense as they passed through the tense situation, the surroundings were eerily quiet.

The surrounding area was empty, with not even a single rat to be seen, let alone the royal army that was supposedly occupying the fortress square.

To be honest, it was a bit unexpected.

Before I got on the portal, I was worried that something would go wrong as soon as I arrived, as Sven Parav, who was basically a human destiny tracker, was causing a ruckus.

“Ahh… Ugh… Ah···”

By the way, he’s still like this.

“Wake up, Sven Parav.”

I tried to approach him and talk to him, but his body trembled like an aspen tree and showed no sign of stopping.

So, I was watching how to do this.

“… Are you okay? Mr. Parab, come to your senses. Okay?”

Liris Marone, a military wizard who joined our clan through the Icerock expedition, approaches the guy and carefully takes his hand.

“I don’t know why, but it’ll be okay. Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you.”

In my opinion, it was a waste of effort.

Well, I don’t think that will bring him to his senses—

“Ah, ah… Ma, Miss Marone?”

huh?

“I, I… Ma, Ma, Miss Marone? First, let go of your hands, no, no, and···”

… Is this possible?

What’s the difference between you and me?

“Oh! I’m sorry… Mr. Parab looks cold….”

“Ah, no! T, it’s not something you should apologize for. I, I’m more sorry···!”

A strange silence arose as Marone was startled and pulled his hand away.

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“······”

What the heck are these guys?

Like Rotmiller and Shabin Emoor, are they having a fling or something?

‘Hmm… Looking at Marone, I don’t think that’s it······’

I don’t know

Relationships between men and women are really difficult, and to be honest, it doesn’t really matter what kind of relationship they have.

The important thing is that the guy has finally come to his senses.

There is only one.

“Parabh, wake up now. Don’t keep acting like a slut.”

“Huh? Ah, ah! Yes···!”

I grabbed his shoulder and forcibly pulled him up, but he still came to his senses and stood up on his own.

Okay, I think we can have a conversation at this level.

“Is that intuition still the same?”

“yes····”

Phew… Then it seems like something like an ‘incident’ will really happen soon…

“… Okay, if anything changes, let me know right away. I’ll be out of my mind, so you stay behind and follow me slowly.”

“…sorry·”

The conversation with Parab ended here and I called Amelia and Bersil.

“Do you know why there’s no one around? I thought you said the royal army was occupying it when you came out.”

“That’s right. That’s why I had a hard time trying to secretly activate the magic circle.”

“I don’t know why the royal army withdrew either. I can’t think of anything.”

Hmm, that’s right···

I even prepared in advance what excuse I would make if the royal family came back.

One thing I like about it is that I don’t have to do that anymore.

It’s a bit disappointing that I don’t know why the royal army withdrew.

“Yandel, so what are your plans from now on?”

Amelia’s question made me ponder for a moment.

This time again, there were two choices:

Just hide and wait in this underground fortress where there is no one.

Or, you can go up to the city and see what’s going on.

Of course, my decision was already made.

“… First, let’s go back to the city…”

Closing your eyes doesn’t change anything.

No matter how scared you are, you have to force yourself to open your eyes and look ahead.

Then at least you will know one thing.

What should I be afraid of?

Of course, going into the basement and closing your eyes and ears may be one way, but that decision must be made after knowing all the circumstances.

It’s not that I hid just because I was scared.

“Which district are you going to?”

“For now, I will go to District 7 and check the situation and decide flexibly.”

So we left the quiet underground city and came up to the sewers that could be called the border between Noark and Lapdonia.

It is not a formation that focuses purely on movement speed···

When you first step into a labyrinth or move through an area known to be extremely dangerous, such as a boundary formation.

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Although no one said anything, most of the members had a questioning look on their faces.

‘Why on earth do you do this?’

Actually, if you think about it, it was an obvious question.

Well, from their perspective, they just left the castle walls and are now back, right?

It must have seemed strange to me, moving as if I was certain that some dangerous situation was unfolding.

Well, I think there must be some unspeakable reason because he did a good job of making trustworthy works.

Kuuuuuuuuung-!

As I was walking through the sewers, following Amelia, who was leading the way, the floor and ceiling shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

It wasn’t a huge shake, just a slight vibration, but it was enough to make the members on guard look more tense.

“It was a vibration that came from a very far away place.”

“… Is something really happening above the city?”

At first, they seemed a little hesitant, but now their faces seem to sense that things are not going well.

It didn’t take long for it to get worse.

“···blood?”

Red blood is visible above the sewer water.

And if you follow this a little further, it is as expected.

“… Corpses”

A corpse is seen strewn about in the sewer.

At first glance, it doesn’t seem like that much time has passed since he died…

Identifying the person wasn’t that difficult.

I guess I only brought expensive equipment because I didn’t have much time, but I ended up with quite a bit of equipment left.

“These people… are the royal family.”

The royal family is dead.

Even though it is a deserted sewer, it is clearly part of Lapdonia’s territory.

“There’s no way they were simply looted by vagrants, right?”

How could that be?

The chances of a vagrant daring to attack the royal army being in the sewers are close to zero.

thus····

“Emily, keep guiding us. We need to get upstairs quickly.”

I passed the corpse of the royal family and increased my speed a little more.

And I saw several more royal corpses before I reached the exit leading outside.

However, there has never been a time since then when the sewer system shook as if there was an earthquake····

Hmm, what on earth is going on?

“···It’s surprisingly quiet?”

When we arrived at the sewer exit, we didn’t rush out but observed the outside from inside.

Although the angle was limited and the field of vision was limited, the street directly in front was very quiet.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I could feel at ease.

Even if it’s the outskirts where there’s a sewer entrance, isn’t it abnormal for there to be no one on the streets like this?

That too in broad daylight.

“···What should I do?”

“We’ll just wait here for now. With so many people moving around, we’ll be noticed right away. Emily, can you take a few people out and secretly check the situation and come back?”

“I don’t need many people. It’s easier for me to do this alone.”

“No matter what, it can be dangerous—·”

“It’s safer to be alone. If you’re in a dangerous situation because you’re being discovered, it won’t make a difference if you have a few more people.”

Um… No matter how much you say it, I’m still worried.

But since he’s an expert, that would be safer, right?

“Okay, take care. I’m not asking for too much information, so don’t overdo it.”

“… I’m going out and coming back”

With that, Amelia, after some preparation, opened the sewer door and went out into the street.

The movements were so agile and stealthy that I lost sight of his back the moment he stepped out onto the street.

I don’t like the fact that I didn’t properly respond to the advice not to overdo it, but I decided to trust and wait and do what I have to do.

Well, you have to use your time efficiently, right?

“I sent a magic transmission to the message stone coordinates in the clan house, but there was no response.”

“That’s right. I checked and there seems to be a wave that blocks magical transmission and reception all over the city. I’m also unable to contact the remote video recording device in my lab.”

“Somehow! It felt like the magic power was dissipating in the middle···”

“Ah! I heard there are such magical tools in the military too. I thought they were only used in wartime… Huh… It looks like something really happened in the city.”

“What on earth happened during the two months I was out?”

While Amelia was out, we also did our best to gather as much information as we could.

And how much more time passed like that?

Squeak·

Amelia opened the sewer bars and returned.

He looked a bit tired, but there was no sign of injury or combat in his clothing.

But just in case·

“Where are you hurt?”

“…don’t worry, there isn’t any”

Amelia answered my question with a sly smile and shared with us the information she had learned while going out.

“I couldn’t get close to the wall because the soldiers were lined up and constantly using detection magic tools and abilities. However, one thing is certain: the incident occurred on the Bifron side occupied by the Noarks.”

“Beef Fron···?”

“If you go outside later, you will see that the barrier covering Bifron has disappeared.”

“Really… it looks like a war has broken out.”

“Probably so, judging by the fact that this was in our clan house mailbox.”

Amelia soon handed me the mail she had found at the clan house we were living in.

Looking at the seal, it was a letter from the royal family, and Amelia had already opened it and checked the contents, as the wax had been torn off.

“This is····”

When I checked the contents of the mail, the introduction was long, as expected from an official letter from the royal family.

But to summarize this briefly····

“It’s a summons.”

“Yes, it looks like it’s not just us, but all the clans within the city have been called in.”

“There is a law within the city’s original laws that allows explorers and combat personnel to be forcibly incorporated into the military during wartime.”

Well, I guess that’s true.

Which country, when at war, would fight only with regular soldiers?

As I was thinking about that, Kaislan, who was from the military, exhaled with a heavy expression from next to me.

“It seems that the situation is really serious. Even when the Noarks invaded about a year ago, the summons wasn’t issued…”

“Why was it like that?”

“Because if a summons is issued, the authority of the royal family will eventually fall. The power of the royal family must be absolute, so issuing a summons like this can also be interpreted as meaning that help is needed.”

Oh, really?

“In other words, if it was something that the royal family could solve on their own, they would never have issued a ‘summons’?”

“… I think it is okay to interpret the current situation that way.”

After hearing Kaislan’s words, I have a lot to think about.

So, there was a time when I was just quietly touching my chin without saying a word.

“By the way, this situation has become a headache… Miss Raines? Was there by any chance an official document sent to the leader rather than the clan in the mail?”

“But there wasn’t any… What’s the big deal?”

“Well, isn’t our leader a nobleman? When the call-up order is given, all noblemen are transferred to the ‘Military Command’.”

“Military Command···?”

“Hmm, it’s a bit of a complicated concept, I don’t know how to explain it····”

Kaislan, who had been expressing his discomfort, slowly gathered his thoughts and gave an explanation as concisely as possible.

“As soon as we return to the city, our leader will be assigned to the ‘Military Command’ and will be on standby in the Imperial City.”

“Then what about the Anabada Clan?”

“We will carry out the mission given by our superiors. There is a high probability that we will be on the most dangerous front line. And without a commander, only among ourselves.”

To put it in perspective, this means that the vacant vice-captain position must be chosen first.

To return to the city·