He laughed when I told him: «Long time no see».
«I didn't believe you woke up with my».
I guess he was surprised that I recognized him. True, it was a brief meeting after all. There was no opportunity to have a face-to-face conversation, let alone present oneself properly.
«Memories like this are not easily forgotten».
How could I forget the days when I had to crawl through a dark cave on all fours while my foot was screwed up and bleeding everywhere?
«Patzran, can you pass me a potion?»
«I was saving it for when I can't use divine power».
«You have a lot anyway. I'll pay you when we get out».
«Tsk.»
This guy, who was the swordsman of the group that saved me, threw a potion at his leader with a look of disgust. It was a strange experience. How many times in your life would you feel humiliated and grateful at the same time?
«I like this part about the barbarians. Your iron rule is to pay a debt, is that correct?». The guy interpreted my words as he wanted to hear them and put a satisfied smile on his lips.
I didn't bother to correct him. It was true that he was grateful. «Still, what a surprise. I didn't know you'd remember me either».
«There aren't many who can crawl that distance with a body like that». Saying that, the guy looked me up and down. «Anyway, to think that you were that Bjorn Yandel». No introduction required, this guy had deduced my identity from my looks. I didn't know if this should be considered a good or bad thing.
While I was laughing, Raven approached me from behind. «Long time no see, Mr. Patzran».
«Who... Ah, Miss Raven?»
He was as surprised as the swordsman. What, did they know each other?
«True... yes. I heard you joined this team».
«Now we are a clan, not a team. But anyway, wow! I had no idea that you and Mr. Yandel knew each other. Is it destiny?»
«What destiny? We don't even know what our names are yet». When I got into the conversation like that, the swordsman giggled and revealed his name.
«Malmern Patzran».
«What a strange pronunciation».
«My house is one that still insists on a central nomenclature style. Call me Patzran. That's what everyone calls me».
«Home? You are noble?»
«Noble? Maybe thousands of years ago».
I understood what he meant immediately. There were cases like this from time to time, people who before the end of the world were nobles or royalty of a country. But after entering this city, they were demoted to mere commoners. They had no titles, but they maintained their legitimacy by deciding among themselves the head of the house.
«So what were you doing in front of our ship?» When the presentations were over, Patzran slowly got to the point.
Since I wasn't doing anything in particular, I spoke honestly. «We were taking a look at the entire island».
«I see.» My fame was one thing, but as an acquaintance of Raven, Patzran did not doubt our words at all. «Pertia nerve». He activated the magic circle engraved on the ship and summoned it to a subspace. It was a small act but it really bothered me.
«Where is your team from then?»
«They are exploring the interior of the island».
«I guess they're looking for something?»
«Well, I don't think we're close enough to discuss that».
Geez, what a fighter.
It was an answer that drew a firm line, but I had a guess as to his overall situation.
They docked it on the shore, then sent a single person to guard it...
It had to be because they were looking for something. After all, most summoning engravings had a cooldown. If they had judged that there was nothing to look for, they would have left on the ship immediately.
But disabling the summon means they found what they were looking for.
If so, what could they have been looking for? I also came up with something for this. I also ran to the sixth floor looking for that.
If that's the case, that diverts my plan...
Even as I inadvertently licked my lips, I made sure to control my expression so my feelings wouldn't be noticeable. But I guess this was the same for the opponent.
«Yandel, how long are you going to stay on this island?». Patzran asked nonchalantly, his voice indifferent.
Hey, probing me?
«We'll probably stay here».
«Stay? There is nothing special here».
«It's the first time we come».
«Hmm, it won't be a bad idea to at least get to the next island... Well, it doesn't matter. I'm sure you'll discover it yourself». Patzran spoke in a hopeful voice before suddenly changing his tone, realizing that he had crossed the line a bit.
Yes, who are you to decide where we are going?
«Anyway, if you're going to stay on this island, we might meet again. See you later, Yandel». Soon, Patzran ended the conversation. It was obvious what he was thinking. He probably wanted to hurry up and inform his companions of our presence.
«Wait». When I murmured dryly, Patzran turned around. He seemed curious to know why she had suddenly called him. I couldn't fire him like that. To be honest, this was something that had been bothering me. «It's not just Yandel, it's Baronet».
"...¿Which?"
Seeing that he tilted his head as if he had heard it wrong, this time I spoke more clearly. «I said it's Bjorn, son of Yandel, Baronet.»
Who does he think he is, surreptitiously trying to be nice? Do you think I'm still the barbarian back then?
«Then I'll get going. Ahem! B-Baronet Yandel...»
When Patzran disappeared from our sight, Raven sighed. «...Mr. Yandel, did you have to do that?». It was obvious what he meant. He must have been saying I was too harsh.
But I stood up proudly. «Not that I asked him to speak to the highest honorifics».
I did not ask him to call me Sir Baronet Yandel. I also didn't criticize his informal way of speaking. How did I have to do it?
«Raven, I'm the one who doesn't understand you. What other nobleman is so generous?»
«Hey, I have nothing to say to that... Still, you've never done anything like that before. What the hell happened between you?» Raven seemed to consider this personal revenge, but that was not the case. I was more grateful to him than anything. But that was it, and this was this.
«Raven, there's a big difference between talking to me casually because I told you so and talking to me casually first when I never told you I could do it». Even when I became a noble, my peers and acquaintances did not change how they spoke to me. That was because I told them not to do it. But Patzran? He shouldn't say this as barbaric, but he spoke to me nonchalantly as soon as he saw me.
«Ugh, so you say you did it for the dignity of a nobleman? Now you are a nobleman».
What was this boy saying? «Not noble, clan chief».
«...Sorry?»
«It means that wherever I go now, I represent all of you. But should I have laughed and moved on to be considerate of an explorer I don't know well? Just for the reason that it's someone I know?»
«That is...»
More importantly, his team's goal seemed to match ours, so there would be more matches in the future. That's why I activated Barbarian Nobility Mode, because I judged that being belittled from the beginning was not wise in the long run.
«Sorry for being sarcastic. I didn't think that far». Raven lowered her head and apologized. This was one of his strong points, admitting a mistake and apologizing honestly.
«That's all I need. I have already forgotten». I overlooked this matter with a generous heart like a barbarian and asked something I was curious about. «But Raven. Don't you like nobles?»
«No? Not at all».
Oh really? His sarcasm was very sharp before. Are you very close friends with that man? And that's why he got angry when he saw me harassing him?
I asked again because it was a plausible assumption, but Raven shook her head again. «Uh, that's definitely not why. I have only seen Mr. Patzran a few times at banquets...»
«Hmm, so why were you so angry?»
«I wasn't angry.»
«But it's true that you were different than usual».
Raven couldn't answer my question that easily. More than uncomfortable, it seemed like she didn't know the reason either. «It just bothered me a little. While others are like that, I hoped you weren't the same, I guess... No, wait. What am I saying? Ugh, I don't know either». Raven seemed confused.
I chuckled. I thought I knew what he meant. Even I would feel strange if Ainar suddenly changed and acted like an authoritarian figure. Mhm, a barbarian's charm was his brain as pure as stone.
«Ahh, you two, stop! What is this strange environment?!» Not liking the uncomfortable air, Missha intervened and the topic changed naturally. «So what are we going to do now? There is still a lot of island to explore».
«I'm thinking about finishing the excursion around the island».
This should be enough to measure the size of the island, and we confirmed that there were other people here besides us, competitors who may have come to this island for the same purpose.
«So what are we going to do now?».
I gave a brief answer to Raven's question. «Let's go inland».
You can't be an explorer if you're going to quit simply because of a competitor.
Farune Island, the closest to the Island of Beginnings, was a popular hunting ground. The monsters were all rank 8 or lower, but the profitable advantage was significant, as insect-type monsters appeared in large numbers. Yeah, that was if you just looked at the benefits.
«Erwen, ¡fuego! ¡Fuego! ¡Fuego! ¡Deprisa!
«¡O-okay!»
«Ahhhh! I think it got into my mouth!»
«Miss Ainar! A mana stone just came out of your mouth! Did you just chew it to death?!»
Krungby was a rank 8 insect-type monster larger than the face of a person summoning a swarm of bugs.
¡Whoooooosh!
Whenever Erwen and Raven unleashed their wide area abilities with magic or a fire spirit, mana stones came out, but no one had a glowing face. I was no different.
It's more disgusting than I thought.
Although I considered myself to have a strong stomach, I was still tough. A thick body fluid covered me completely. The smell of bugs being roasted by fire was repulsive. Ugh, I wished I didn't know that smell existed in the world.
«I've never heard there were so many monsters here. But I guess since there are no people around... Kyaa!»
«Don't talk! You're getting into the m-mm!»
Even when my clanmates were experiencing the worst times of their lives, they did not ask to return. The reason was simple.
«Bjorn, it seems you were right.»
«Yeah. There has to be something on the island. Otherwise, those people wouldn't have come with such a big boat».
Of course, I wasn't of the free mindset to follow them to find out what that was. Not only did he already know what it was, but no one in our clan was so morally lacking as to agree to such a plan in the first place. So we decided to look for it on our own, assuming there was something hidden on the island.
Thanks to that, it wouldn't seem strange even if we found it later.
The problem was Patzran's equipment, because the hidden piece here was the kind of event that targeted the entire island.
If there is no one else besides us, there are a total of eleven people.
It still did not exceed fifteen people, which was the unlock condition for the highest difficulty, but eleven was difficult enough.
That's probably why he tried to kick us out too. The event would be much easier to watch without us here.
It made me a little curious. How did you know about the hidden piece? Could there be a player among your team members? Or was he a player?
I'm sure I'll get an idea of that when we meet-.
As I walked with these kinds of thoughts, Erwen stopped us. «Sir, someone is fighting over there». He pointed in the direction of the center of the forest. Since these were the words of someone with an ear several times better than ours, I was sure he hadn't heard it wrong. «It looks like Mr. Patzran's team is hunting. Hmm, if we meet him here, I think they'll misunderstand us for following him-»
«No. They are not hunting».
Erwen spoke with sharp eyes. «How? What do you mean they're not hunting-»
«I mean it's the sound of people fighting other people».
It meant that a Player Elimination was happening.