STGAAB Novel MTL - Chapter 780
Chapter 780: 13th Month (7)
The Stone of Revival. Even in Dungeon and Stone, which is full of various special items and abilities, very few items are related to resurrection. It’s obtained under extremely specific conditions on the ninth floor, and even then, the chances are incredibly low. The rarity is beyond words. It’s to the point where collecting all nine single-digit numbered items seems easier. Even in Rafdonia, a place with a history of over a thousand years of labyrinth exploration, the Stone of Revival was treated more like a myth or a legend. It’s uncertain whether it even exists. But, that’s not the important part right now……
‘For those words to come out of this guy’s mouth……’
The first feeling that arose when Erwen’s uncle, Beleg, mentioned the Stone of Revival was bewilderment. It was such an unexpected topic, at such an abrupt moment. However, if I stay calm and face this situation, a different feeling slowly arises.
Curiosity.
No, more precisely……
Suspicion.
‘Could this guy be Crescent Moon……?’
It was a fleeting suspicion that flashed through my mind without warning, but it wasn’t something I could just dismiss. Of course, this suspicion wasn’t mere conjecture, there was plausible reasoning behind it. And the reason for that was……
An Elf. A High-ranking individual. An obsession with the Stone of Revival.
There aren’t many figures who fit all three of these key descriptors. And when you consider that the average age of the old evil spirits is around their mid-thirties to early forties, this guy becomes even more suspicious. Of course, the problem is that I can’t just come out and ask, ‘Are you the Crescent Moon Mask?’
“I apologize if this discussion was too sudden. I only brought it up because I’ve heard that you, Baron, prefer straightforward discussions……”
As I was lost in thought, trying to organize my mind, Crescent Moon cautiously apologized. I hesitated briefly, pondering my next move.
‘How should I react?’
There were two options. I could feign ignorance, or I could acknowledge it and probe deeper into the conversation. After some deliberation, I chose the latter. After all, he seemed to have come here not with a guess, but with certainty.
“How did you hear about this?”
I responded, not with a definitive answer, but with a reply that leaned toward confirmation. A subtle change flickered across Beleg’s face.
A brief moment of relief. And a slight tension.
“Hah……”
Beleg quietly exhaled and then replied to me.
“I received an anonymous letter in the middle of the night.”
“A letter……?”
“As I mentioned earlier, I don’t know who sent it. However, it specifically mentioned Miss Karlstein, so I didn’t dismiss it as mere nonsense. That’s why I came to ask you, Baron.”
“Can I see it?”
Without hesitation, Beleg immediately handed over the letter he had seemingly prepared in advance. Fortunately, it wasn’t like a Ghost Busters invitation where the letters would disappear after some time; the contents were intact. I quickly scanned through it……
‘I knew it.’
It wasn’t hard to figure out who sent Beleg this letter. I had already suspected as much.
[LOL]
That one word at the end as if mocking me, made it clear that the sender wasn’t even trying to hide their identity.
‘Baekho Lee……’
On the other hand, my mind was racing. Though I had always been on guard, knowing he could be plotting something ridiculous at any moment, Baekho hadn’t shown up anywhere since that day. Yet, I never expected he would be plotting something like this behind the scenes.
‘…What on earth is he after?’
I don’t know. And because I don’t know, it feels all the more unsettling. Why on earth would Baekho provide Beleg with information about the Stone of Revival?
‘His actions are completely unpredictable.’
Noticing my gaze fixed on the last part of the letter, Beleg added something.
“I found out it’s a letter written in the language of evil spirits.”
“I see.”
“So, is it true? That you possess the Stone of Revival?”
“It’s true.”
It felt a bit ridiculous to deny it at this point, so I simply admitted it. Even though he seemed fairly certain, I guess hearing me confirm it must have stirred up his emotions? His reaction was much stronger this time.
“…S-So it’s really true!!”
Now, I was even more convinced. There’s no way there’s another elf so obsessed with the Stone of Revival. It’s highly likely that this guy is Crescent Moon. Although, there were still a few odd details.
‘Erwen’s uncle is an evil spirit?’
But if he’s a spirit, why would he care so much about Erwen’s family? From what I’ve heard, he’s looked after these three sisters as if they were his own blood relatives… no, even more than blood relatives—.
Thud.
Suddenly, the sound of the front door opening echoed through the room. I could hear multiple voices, one belonging to Erwen trying to stop someone, and the other, a very angry-sounding May.
“We’ll continue this conversation later. I’ll come visit you myself in the near future.”
With a look of disappointment in his eyes, Beleg spoke those words, and I nodded. And after a short while.
“Ma-May……! Uncle and the Baron are talking in that room—.”
Along with Erwen’s troubled voice, the door to the room we were in burst open, and May entered. She seemed agitated, breathing heavily, and even emanating an inexplicable sense of pressure. Seeing her, I quietly nodded.
‘She must have heard about what happened in the village.’
Getting hit with a punch you know is coming is always less painful than being caught off guard. Fortunately, I had time to prepare myself, so the impact was minimal.
“…I thought you were a decent person.”
May glared at me with disdain before muttering softly.
“…Trash.”
All the goodwill I had built up had vanished.
***
After practically being kicked out by May, we immediately returned to the holy land. Sometimes when we had business far away, we would stay overnight in the city, and Erwen even subtly suggested doing so this time as well, but……
“I should sleep at home.”
I had no desire to stay overnight in the crowded city during the festival. Not to mention, it would’ve been a waste of money.
‘Only two days left of the festival……’
As we rode the carriage atop the city walls, looking down at the bustling festival below, various thoughts suddenly arose. Despite the late hour, the city below was brightly lit, filled with laughter and cheers, their infectious joy could be felt even this far away.
“Erwen, is it okay for you not to go and enjoy the festival?”
“Well…… I guess I don’t really like noisy things that much……?”
“Is that so?”
“Well, it would probably be fun if I were walking around with you, Mister…… maybe next year. I’ll pass this time.”
“Why?”
“I’m fine, but I feel like you’re not ready yet.”
“…What preparation is needed to enjoy a festival?”
“Come on…… You still need to prepare! Even I did, you know?”
Seeing Erwen’s melancholic smile despite her cheerful tone, I was at a loss for words.
“So let’s go later. Later… when we’re tired of being sad and ready to laugh and have fun again.”
“…Alright. Let’s definitely do that.”
“Yeah. I heard this from my sister before, there’s such a superstition. They say if you get married during the festival, you’ll live happily ever after without worrying about money.”
“Ah… is that so?”
I didn’t care much about the superstition, but I was glad to see that she was getting better. She was smiling and bringing up stories about her sister on her own, without anyone else prompting her.
Drrrrrr-!
As we continued our small talk in the carriage, we soon arrived at the holy land. Naturally, the holy land was bustling as well. It’s not like barbarians don’t enjoy festivals. Some warriors might have gone out to the city to enjoy it, but traditionally, most warriors celebrated festivals at their home, the holy land, unless something came up.
“Well then, I’ll be heading in now. I’m tired……”
“Alright, today was fun. Get some rest.”
After parting ways with Erwen and heading towards my tent, the surroundings gradually became quieter. Well, it’s quiet compared to the forest area where the festival is in full swing, but it’s not completely silent.
“Behel—laaaaaah!!”
“Sh-shut up! This is the quiet zone! If you’re too loud, Emily Raines will come!”
The fact that this area remained relatively quiet was all thanks to Amelia. Apparently, there was a rule that people had to be quiet in this residential area because some might want to sleep. While the reasoning made perfect sense, it was really just her way of showing consideration for me—.
“…That woman is so mean!”
“Right! It’s a festival! Who cares about quiet zones? Nobody here wants to sleep anyway!!”
Amidst the loud voices of the barbarians, I heard a familiar one.
“…What did you say?”
“Heeeek-! It’s Emily Raines!!”
As soon as Amelia suddenly appeared, and the warriors who had been whispering among themselves began to scatter, one by one.
“I wasn’t making noise! Really!! I’m a good, quiet barbarian in the quiet zone!”
“The only one making noise was Kizan, Merik’s second son!”
“You, you guys……!!”
“Kizan, second son of Merrick, is a foolish warrior! If he wanted to laugh and talk loudly, he could have gone to the noisy zone, but he insisted on making noise in the quiet zone!”
I was curious about what exactly she had done to make these warriors tremble just from making eye contact with her, but it wasn’t completely incomprehensible. After all, Amelia was even able to keep Ainar in check, so there was no way ordinary warriors could handle her.
“Those who want to sleep can stay, and those who want to be loud, go to the loud zone.”
“O-okay! I’m going to the loud zone! Sorry!!”
As soon as Amelia finished speaking, the warriors scrambled to escape. It was kind of funny, actually. I mean, sure, the barbarians’ reactions were expected, but seeing Amelia herself actually say ‘quiet zone’ and ‘loud zone’ made it amusing.
“…You’re back now?”
“Oh, uh……”
“Go inside and rest.”
“Sure……”
I exchanged a brief greeting with Amelia when our eyes met, and then I headed inside. I washed up quickly and went straight to bed. But no matter how long I kept my eyes closed, sleep wouldn’t come, so I tossed and turned, trying to clear my mind.
“Bjoooorrrn!!”
“…Ainar? What is it? At this hour of the night?”
“What are you doing in the quiet zone!! Everyone’s having fun! It’s not like going to bed early will make you grow taller anymore!”
“…I’m tired from being out all day.”
“You’ve been saying that for three days!! Come out and have fun with us today!!”
I smiled wryly as I watched Ainar enter tantrum mode.
‘At least she’s not threatening to leave the Anabada Clan.’
Ah, of course, that doesn’t mean I was going to go out and enjoy the festival. If I couldn’t sleep, I was thinking of going to the cemetery as I had been doing for the past few days.
But……
“Bjorn, the warriors need you.”
That one sentence moved me.
“Hah……”
This is the first festival after going through such a major event, and as the chieftain, it doesn’t feel right not to show my face at all……
“Fine, I’ll go. Stop whining.”
“Oh! Really!! That’s great! Everyone will be so happy!!”
After sending Ainar out, I quickly put on the traditional barbarian attire. Ah, is it right to say I put it on? To be precise, I took it off. The traditional barbarian attire starts with taking off the upper garment, after all.
“Hurry up! As soon as they see you, Bjorn, they’re going to go wild!”
No, I really hope they don’t……
“Alright.”
Being dragged along by Ainar, we arrived at the heart of the festival in the forest… the ‘loud zone’ where the atmosphere immediately became overwhelming.
“Behel—laaaahhhh!!”
“Oh!! It’s the chieftain!! The chieftain has comeeee!!”
“Bjorn, son of Yandel!!! The greatest warrior in the land!”
“The most genius barbarian of all time!!”
Good thing barbarians have tough eardrums. A normal person would have gone deaf from the noise. Even though the holy land has a lot of humans, it makes sense that 99% of the people here are barbarians.
“There, look! It seems like they’re fighting over there right now!!”
The first place Ainar led me was where two warriors were fighting as if they were trying to kill each other.
“Kill him!! Kill him!!! Rip out all his teeth!!”
“Break his arm!!”
“It’s fine! That won’t kill him anyway!!”
A brutal battle was raging between the two warriors, and around them were countless others, cheering and watching. Soon, I grabbed a nearby warrior and asked.
“But why are they fighting?”
“Huh? I don’t know? I’ve never been curious about stuff like that.”
The warrior looked at me like I was strange and then went right back to watching the fight. I guess watching the fight was more important than talking to me? Even though they call me ‘great warrior’ and praise me, once they’re distracted, that’s it. It’s kind of funny but also understandable. After all, duels are the greatest form of entertainment for barbarians.
‘They say the measure of how fun a festival is depends on how many fights broke out……’
Well, it is entertaining though. Our warriors are certainly impressive in close combat, I must say…… To begin with, PK is more intense at lower levels than at higher levels anyway.
“Waaaaaaaaaah-!!”
In the end, the victor was the red-haired warrior who landed a counterattack with his elbow to his opponent’s jaw. Now that the fight was over, as I was about to head elsewhere.
“Everyone, listen up!!!!”
Out of nowhere, Ainar shouted, drawing the attention of the gathered crowd.
“As you’ve seen, the chieftain is here!!!”
I had no idea what she was going on about, but since it looked like something was happening, the warriors responded out of habit.
“Oooooooohhh!!”
“Behel-laaaaaaaa!!”
I had no idea what was going on either, so I just watched……
‘…Why do I have a bad feeling about this?’
And sure enough, my bad feeling turned out to be right.
“The chieftain has declared that he will face all the warriors tonight!!!”
No, who on earth declared that……
“Oooooh……??”
“But… the chieftain is a great warrior……!”
“Even I can’t defeat the chieftain……!”
Fortunately, the warriors’ reactions weren’t that enthusiastic. If this atmosphere continued, this ridiculous proposal would likely fizzle out……
“Don’t worry! It doesn’t matter which body part you hit, if you can draw even a single drop of blood from the chieftain’s body, it’s a win……!”
Ainar immediately implemented an emergency balance patch.
“Oh……?”
“If that’s the case… Maybe it’s possible……”
Even so, the core question still remained.
“But why should we even do this?”
“We’re people too! It hurts when we get hit…!! And even more so if it’s by the chieftain!!”
For some reason, the warriors seemed smarter than usual today. Maybe Ainar didn’t anticipate this?
“Uh, uh……? This is a chance to fight the chieftain! Any honorable warrior should… be happy about this……?”
Ainar, who had been stammering in embarrassment, closed her eyes as if she’d made a final decision and shouted.
“Houses……!!! I’ll give three houses to the winner!!”
There was no need for any further explanation.
“…If it’s houses.”
“Now that’s worth risking my life for……!”
The look in the warriors’ eyes changed instantly.
English