Bjorn Yandel the Barbarian

Episode 613: Mystery (6)

Pointy ears.

Great legs.

Animal ears and scaly skin…

Those who surrounded us had an appearance that reminded us of the different races of Lapdonia.

But…

“What on earth are these people?”

“well. “It’s a monster… right?”

They were completely different from other races.

Should we say that it is closer to the so-called uncanny valley?

Although they resemble other races, they also have unpleasantly heterogeneous differences.

“These… are the most terrifying monsters I’ve ever seen.”

An individual with pointed ears has horns growing on its forehead.

It looks like he has nice legs but his upper body is of normal proportions.

An individual that has animal ears but also has the characteristics of a dragon race, such as having scales all over its body.

Some had extra arms and legs in strange places, while others were fine, but their heads were extremely large.

Also, the facial asymmetry is so severe that you can tell the moment you see it that it is not normal…

“When God created life from clay, I wonder if he would put it in a container with monsters and shake it a lot to see if it would look like that.”

Those words that someone muttered are perfect.

It feels like everything was created by rolling a random dice at birth.

And here are a few more features:

[Kyaaaaaagh-!]

It has enough intelligence to lure enemies, but it doesn’t seem to have a language system.

Also…

“Battle begins!”

“Everyone stay in your seats! First, we have to get information about the enemy… Huh?”

Contrary to what I expected, it is extremely weak.

Phew! Kwasik-!

Those guys whose heads explode and fall like fallen leaves from a hammer wielded for the purpose of keeping them in check.

‘…what?’

I thought they would be quite difficult enemies as they surrounded and avoided Amelia as well as the search party’s spirit.

“…These guys are not as good as you think!”

“Kill me…!”

As each member realized that their opponent had nothing to do, they began to fight more actively.

In the meantime, I was trying to be self-respecting by telling people not to let down their guard, but…

Kwajik-! Suddenly! Kwaaaaaa!

No abnormalities occurred until everything around was cleared.

‘Why are you so weak…?’

Their physical abilities were more advanced than those of ordinary humans, but in the end, that was all.

They did not use spirits like the fairies, nor did they use number items like the dwarves, nor did they use the power of the contracted soul beast.

Also, the power of essence was not addressed.

However, there was one unusual part.

“Raven, did you cast a distortion spell?”

“no. “I didn’t bet.”

“But there are still corpses left…”

Dozens of monsters collapsed in the vacant lot with their heads, arms, or legs crushed.

“…is he alive?”

“First of all… he’s not breathing. “My heart stopped beating.”

I carefully approached and took a look, but the body wasn’t gone, and it didn’t seem to be alive or anything.

“Check.”

After putting the remaining troops on alert, he had the wizards investigate the body.

Well, in order to do proper research, you’d have to put a preservation spell on the body and go back to where you saw it, but…

‘It doesn’t look anything like our barbarian.’

There was one fact that was easy to find out with just a quick survey.

Besides looking like they’d been crushed by an 8-ton truck, these guys had one more thing in common.

“The heart.”

heart.

“It’s very similar to the heart of a barbarian.”

These guys had the hearts of warriors.

***

I have a lot to think about.

That’s because I learned a secret through a conversation with the vampire man.

[Duke… What race do you think I am?]

[…Of course I’m not human?]

In the time when the Duke lived, ‘different races’ did not exist.

It is clearly written in the history of Lapdonia that ‘different races’ were living on this land even before the witch’s curse covered the world.

How did this happen?

Of the many possibilities I thought of at the time, this was the most plausible.

‘Similar but different world.’

Just as there is a theory of parallel worlds on Earth, I thought this might be the case.

It’s a world where you can go through a portal into a labyrinth and explore mysteries there.

I thought it didn’t make any sense at all.

But now things are a little different.

[The study of alchemy. In fact, it is said that in the old days, it was a study that began to create ‘humans.’]

Alchemy.

[Oh, you didn’t know? Ancient records can be sold at a high price if sold to the royal family.]

Even though records were actively collected, a surprisingly large portion of ancient history has been lost.

[Humans can handle any force. Auror divine power magic, even elementalism.]

A human trait that has the potential of all races.

And…

[It was different from magic or essence. It was as if his voice had power. I felt like it had been imprinted on my blood and soul since birth. He is my king and my master.]

Even the king’s special abilities are shrouded in mystery.

[Oh, come to think of it, the old man at the Magic Tower only realized his identity after we knelt and knelt after us.]

A lot of information accumulated during the journey is combined to point to one possibility.

perhaps.

Just maybe, really.

The five different races, excluding humans, may have been created.

by someone’s needs.

No, not exactly….

‘It’s probably the royal family. ‘It doesn’t make sense unless you’re from the royal family.’

I feel like I’ve suddenly become a conspiracy theorist, but if you think about it in reverse order, it makes a lot of sense.

In a way, this race is slaves to humans.

A slave who enters the labyrinth and diligently mines magic stones based on his superior physical ability.

‘Even for people of different races, taxes are high.’

Of course, there must be a historical background to the increase in taxes for different races.

However, even that history is now in doubt.

It’s not that I doubt that history doesn’t exist, but…

‘Was there really no background to that history?’

Secretly pushing the backs of people of different races and causing it to happen behind their backs.

Just looking at Amman, it wouldn’t have been that difficult for a royal family with numerous agents.

“…What are you thinking so suddenly?”

“I was wondering what flavor of jerky to eat later.”

I roughly answered Raven’s question.

I must be sure, but it’s still just a possibility…

If this is real, I shouldn’t say more about it.

It was too heavy a secret to say that.

“Hmm, anyway, cast a preservation spell on all the remaining corpses and store them well. “Afterwards, I’ll have to go back and study it properly.”

“Are you planning to go back right away?”

“No way. Exploration is carried out as an exploration unit. I haven’t really figured out anything yet. “About this place.”

After the battle was over and the investigation was roughly concluded, I led the crew and resumed exploring the surrounding area.

One day, two days, three days.

We searched extensively to create a map and encountered numerous monsters.

In addition to the numerous mechanical monsters that appeared in the Pantelion ruins, I also encountered mechanical giants several more times.

Among them was ‘Doppel’.

For reference, ‘Doppel’ is the name Raven gave to monsters that resemble a different race…

The etymology is ancient, and the meaning is simple.

‘Another being.’

Although it shows Raven’s unique and pretentious naming sense, if you look at the meaning, it was quite a fitting name.

“Yandel.”

Wow, surprise.

“If you’re here, pretend to be popular. “Have you come back from the search?”

Amelia nodded in response to my question and got straight to the point.

“During the search, we discovered an unusual man-made structure leading somewhere. “I think it would be a good idea to go together and check as soon as the sun rises.”

“Artificial structure?”

I asked Amelia for more details, and after hearing everything, I had this gut feeling that I had finally achieved something.

However, since everyone was exhausted, we decided to follow Amelia’s advice and get enough rest to check in the morning.

“It’s here.”

The next day, the place we arrived with Amelia was an ordinary jungle. No matter how much I looked around, it was no different from any other area I had explored so far.

But…

“…I guess I’ll have to look at the floor more carefully from now on.”

“I was lucky enough to find this too.”

As I clear away the knee-high bushes, something hidden underneath is revealed.

A hatch that looks like a manhole cover installed on the bare ground.

There is even a handle on the top that allows you to open it by turning it.

“It could have been a trap or something, so I just found it and didn’t touch it.”

“You judged well.”

I soon asked the wizards to investigate, and soon a report came back that there didn’t seem to be anything very dangerous.

Then, is it really just a matter of opening it and that’s it?

Grumble. Giggle, tap, tap!

When I turned the handle, I heard the sound of the lock being released at some point and the hatch opened.

As expected, it was a cylindrical structure, and there was a ladder attached to one of the walls to go down.

‘The depth is…’

The depth confirmed with light sphere magic is about 20m.

However, it is impossible to check what is underneath from above due to the angle.

“Then I…”

“That’s nonsense. “I’m going down.”

As he was about to say something, Amelia interrupted him and stepped forward.

It looks like he won’t go away no matter what I say.

It was a time when we made eye contact and had a fight rather than a fight.

“What strange things are you worrying about?”

Raven chuckled and stepped between the two of us.

“I will check.”

“what?”

“Oh, of course, with magic.”

“Ah…”

As Amelia and I stepped back with embarrassed faces, Raven immediately floated a recording crystal ball in the air and sent it down. A much safer method than trying to get down there yourself.

However, these tools had limitations in exploration.

“If you go down, there is another straight passage, and there is an iron gate at the end of it.”

As soon as we went down, it was blocked by an iron gate, so there was nothing more we could find out in this way.

Therefore…

“…don’t even think about going in first. “I am the leader of this exploration group.”

In the end, it was decided that Amelia would enter first.

‘When will you get angry because I gave it a strange name?’

Anyway, Amelia climbed down the ladder first, followed by a wizard.

And after safety was secured to some extent, I went downstairs…

“….”

Even though [Giantization] was released, the inside was narrow, so the process of going down the ladder was quite uncomfortable.

Should I say that it feels tight even if I hunker down a lot?

‘Barbarian, sad.’

Racially discriminatory building structures exist like this in every era.

“This way, Yandel.”

As soon as I finally got downstairs, Amelia, who was in the passage, called me.

“Unlike above, there is no locking device visible. And I don’t know what it was made of, but even when I used an auror to touch it, there wasn’t a single scratch on it.”

Hmm, if there is no scratch on the aura, it means that you are practically immune to physical damage…

“What about magic?”

When I asked, the second wizard to enter answered carefully.

Was this man the right-hand man of the head of the investigation?

“In addition to the dimensional disruption phenomenon, a special magic flow structure is observed. However, since the density is very low, the possibility of it being an offensive trap also seems low. “If the flow is this weak… it will most likely end with opening and closing the door.”

“and?”

“Unusually, the dimensional disruption phenomenon is not on top of the door, but beyond it.”

“Hmm, so does that mean the aurors don’t work because of the disconnect phenomenon?”

“First of all, that’s the way I see it.”

“It’s a metal that won’t scratch the aura….”

Tuktuk.

I knocked on the door as if knocking.

I didn’t know what was hidden inside, but this iron door alone felt worth it.

“Chief of the investigation department.”

“…Are you talking about me?”

“okay. Is it possible that I can’t take this whole thing off? “I think it would be good to melt it down and make armor out of it.”

“Uh… I think it’s worth a try. “Let alone making it into armor, it is clear that it is a very precious mineral.”

Okay, that’s right.

I don’t know why they put aside making it into armor, but I think I agree with the opinion that we should take away the wizard as well.

“uh?”

At that time, a faint vibration suddenly rang out from the door.

“Yandel, step down!”

Because Amelia shouted, I was startled and took a step back without realizing it.

What happened after that was surprisingly nothing special.

Grumble, rumble.

I just heard something turning inside the door. Soon, the round door opened gently with a popping sound.

“Eligibility to view the first record has been confirmed.”

“Entry is permitted.”

What is this?

“Do you know why it suddenly opened?”

“I do not know. “Obviously, there was no response when we contacted them.”

“That’s right….”

I’m a little dumbfounded, but if this happens, there are two possibilities. Someone heard my knock and opened the door.

Otherwise…

‘A specific condition that I don’t know about has been met.’

Personally, the latter seems more likely, but it is not important.

While the wizard used the message stone to convey the situation to the upper level, I slowly entered through the iron gate.

And….

‘Huh?’

A problem occurred here.

Suddenly, I look back and see Amelia standing right in front of the door.

It looks like they are playing a mime with their palms pressed in the air.

The mouth was twitching, but no sound came through.

“What? Are you sure you can’t come in?”

“How on earth did you get in?”

Sensing something was wrong, I quickly came out and asked, and after conducting several experiments, I was able to confirm one fact.

“The door has been opened, but the dimensional disconnect phenomenon continues as usual. I can’t understand at all…”

I don’t know the cause, but only I can go through this door.

Therefore….

“Then wait and see. “I will come see you right away.”

“What?Wait a moment—.”

I hurried back in the door before Amelia started nagging.

Grumble-!

The place was dark, but it got a little better when I activated the Barbarian Candle mode.

‘It looks like it was in a submarine…’

Everything you see is covered with iron plates, and pipes and lines whose identity and purpose are unknown can be seen here and there.

Rattling rattling.

There was no fork in the road, so you just had to go straight, and after walking about 100 meters, there appeared another hole where you could go down the ladder.

However, rather than just going down, I decided to open the iron door next to it and check.

Rattling.

Fortunately, the door opens easily without getting caught.

Eventually, I took a quick look inside and slowly closed my eyes.

“Whoa….”

A passage so long that the end could not be seen.

Test tubes filled with green liquid are lined up in a row.

To be honest, it didn’t really feel like it.

I don’t know why the game’s genre suddenly changed to science fiction, but…

‘Doppel.’

Monsters resembling the different species that Raven had named were crouching in the test tube, glaring at me.