Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Chapter 330: Ouroboros (5)

Chapter 330: Ouroboros (5)

A dazed sensation spread through my body from the back of my head.

Thud.

I came to my senses at the sound of something falling.

It was the Fragment of Records.

I was clearly holding it when the light erupted, why did it fall?

“…….”

I quickly picked it up.

And then I realized there was something else on the ground.

“Clothes…?”

Well, the owner was more important than the material right now.

It wasn’t just an ordinary robe, it was the one Auril Gabis was wearing.

It was lying on the ground.

In the spot where he had been standing.

As if only his body had been sucked away.

“Don’t tell me…”

I looked down at the Fragment of Records in my hand.

“This… activated on him…?”

I was starting to understand the situation.

I was momentarily stunned by the unexpected outcome…

But the Fragment of Records had reacted to Auril Gabis, not me.

‘Ugh, this is confusing.’

I tried to calm down and retrace my steps.

There were two possibilities.

First, Auril Gabis was ‘called by fate’, just like me.

And the second…

[Have you ever used the Fragment of Records?]

[I have.]

…Auril Gabis had already used the Fragment of Records.

If that was the case, it meant he had been living in this time period after being summoned.

And then he met me, finished his ‘role’, and returned to his original time.

‘So if it’s the former, it means he went to the past, and if it’s the latter, it means he went to the future?’

That’s how I organized my thoughts.

But…

‘No, it’s too early to jump to conclusions.’

I realized I didn’t know enough about the Fragment of Records.

So it was wise to keep all possibilities open.

‘Being called by fate’ might not only happen from the past.

He could also be called from the future.

Therefore…

‘I’ll think about this later…’

I put the Fragment of Records back in my subspace pocket and picked up the robe that was on the ground.

And I rummaged through it excitedly.

‘Loot…!’

It was Auril Gabis’s loot.

He must have something interesting…

‘Are you kidding me?’

There was nothing in the robe except for ordinary socks, shoes, and a pair of white silk underwear.

“Damn it!”

I threw the underwear on the ground after realizing what it was.

I was annoyed.

‘Why doesn’t this old man have anything?’

I had high expectations, seeing him exuding the aura of a final boss.

This was a complete bust…

“Ah.”

I belatedly remembered Auril Gabis taking out water from his subspace pocket and drinking it.

I thought it was just a subspace ring back then…

“It must have been a dependent subspace.”

A dependent subspace, only usable by high-ranking mages.

It didn’t have a physical form since it was directly connected to the mage’s soul through a tattoo or something.

‘Uh, wait a minute…’

Then could I use a dependent subspace to take the equipment I had gathered back to my original time?

I had a sudden thought, but it wasn’t a ‘Eureka!’ moment.

Because I wasn’t a mage.

Unlike magic tools, dependent subspaces could only be opened with the mage’s own mana.

‘Damn it, so this is also a bust…’

I sighed and dismissed my regret.

Complaining wouldn’t change anything, and I had something more important to do right now.

‘I have to find Amelia.’

I picked up Auril Gabis’s belongings, put them in my subspace pocket, and then headed back to the sewers.

Although they were just ordinary clothes, I wanted to check again, just in case I missed something.

Splash, splash.

I found a few more bodies as I retraced my steps.

‘This is where the fight happened.’

I looted them all since I wasn’t heartless enough to leave unclaimed equipment behind.

They were all heading towards the surface, so they had expandable backpacks or subspace rings, so I didn’t have any inventory problems.

‘Wow, how much is this worth?’

I continued walking, my shoulders, neck, and arms laden with bags.

But Amelia wasn’t at the place where I had left her.

Judging by the traces of battle with the Captain, this was definitely where she had been lying unconscious.

Where did she go?

I didn’t have to think for long.

‘She must be there…’

I hurried on, unable to hide my bitterness.

And after some time…

“…….”

…I saw Amelia clearing the debris of a collapsed passage.

She was working so diligently that she didn’t even notice me approaching.

“Aaaaaaaaaaargh!”

What the hell, why is she screaming?

She looked scary, clutching her head with both hands.

I quickly grabbed her wrist.

Thud.

Amelia shuddered and turned her head as soon as our skin touched.

“…………Yandel?”

Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw me, and then she tried to shake me off.

“Let go. I have to find…”

What the hell is she talking about?

“You won’t find anything.”

“What?”

I grinned.

“That’s why I told you. It would be all over when you woke up.”

Amelia looked at me blankly.

It seemed like she didn’t understand…

“Just follow me.”

…so I decided to show her.

________________________

When she regained consciousness, she was filled with despair.

She was alone in this dark sewer, and the familiar silence meant that it was all over.

‘Right, it’s over…’

Amelia got up and started walking.

She had somewhere to go.

She couldn’t do it back then.

[Forget… all the painful memories… you had here.]

[Your… normal life… is finally beginning.]

She had to leave her sister’s body behind.

When she came back later, it was already gone. The workers who were repairing the passage had removed all the bodies.

It had become her lifelong regret.

Therefore…

“I have to find her.”

She had to find her.

Even if it was just a corpse.

She had to retrieve it and give her a proper burial.

She couldn’t leave her sister’s body in this filthy sewer.

She could at least do that, having returned to the past after twenty years. No, maybe that was all she was allowed to do.

“Ugh, heugh…!”

Amelia arrived at the place where the tragedy had occurred and started removing the rocks.

She was so desperate that she looked half-crazed.

And she wasn’t wrong.

“Wh, why…”

She couldn’t find her sister’s body.

It should be here.

Was even this not allowed?

“Aaaaaaaaaaargh!”

She screamed for the first time in a long time.

She could usually endure pain, even when her flesh was cut and her bones were broken, with just a groan…

…but not this time.

It felt like her heart was being ripped apart.

Thud.

She felt warmth on her wrist.

“…………Yandel?”

It was him, the person she had seen every day for the past six months.

“Let go. I have to find…”

She tried to shake him off, but the barbarian, as always, didn’t let go. And he lifted her up, saying something she didn’t understand.

And…

“This is…”

…she arrived on the surface after a long walk.

The vast city of Lafdonia, where the royal family’s power reached every corner.

“Ugh, my eyes…”

The midday sun was blinding after the darkness of the sewers.

But the barbarian didn’t give her time to adjust and dragged her somewhere.

“Wh, where are we going?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Amelia looked around as she was being dragged by his strength.

Passersby.

Laughing children and their parents.

Merchants hawking their wares and white marble bathed in sunlight.

It was a place she had longed for.

A world filled with warm sunlight, where she could live a normal life, unlike Noark.

Of course, she knew now…

…that the surface wasn’t a paradise.

There were beasts with even greater malice than those in Noark, and tragedies occurred every day.

But even so…

“At least once…”

…she wanted to see it.

The sight of her and her sister living an ordinary life in this city.

“Huh? What did you just…?”

“Yandel, go on without me. I have something to look for down there—”

“I told you, you won’t find anything.”

The barbarian looked at her with a frustrated expression as she stopped walking.

And he said,

“Your sister is alive.”

“…What?”

Alive?

But how…?

“I’ll… explain later, just follow me.”

The barbarian continued walking, and she didn’t resist.

She was too shocked to think straight.

After some time…

“Phew, I couldn’t find out which shelter she was taken to, so it took a while.”

…Amelia arrived at a shelter on the surface.

She described her sister’s appearance to the staff and found her room.

Creak.

She opened the door and saw a young girl lying on a bed by the window.

Warm sunlight streamed in through the window.

“Si, sister…”

It was a surreal sight.

Amelia approached the bed, as if in a trance.

And she held her sister’s hand.

She could feel her sister’s heartbeat.

“How… how is this possible?”

The barbarian explained what had happened at Amelia’s question.

His deal with Auril Gabis.

How he had used the prototype of Lethe’s Blessing to erase her memories and disguised it as a carriage accident.

“She probably won’t remember anything when she wakes up. She’ll just live her life, thinking the name on her ID card is her real name.”

“Ah, ah…”

I see.

“But don’t be too sad. Everything will be fine when we return to twenty years later. You can just tell her the truth and be close to her again.”

Thump, her heart pounded.

It was finally sinking in.

“And besides, you said the Dragonslayer was trying to recover his lost memories? We can find a way together when we get back. How to restore her memories.”

He really did it.

This man.

“Huh? Say something. You’re making me anxious…”

Amelia couldn’t help but chuckle at his anxious expression, even though he had just performed a miracle.

“It’s fine.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You don’t have to worry about me anymore. I won’t try to restore her memories…”

“Huh? Why?”

Amelia smiled at his question.

It felt awkward, as she hadn’t smiled much in her life.

But…

“It’s better for her to not remember.”

…her sister would be different from now on.

The life she had longed for would begin.

And painful memories would only be a hindrance.

So…

“…Goodbye, sister.”

I’m fine.

Even if I’m not with you.

Even though it’s far from the ordinary life I wanted.

Even though I’m still awkward at smiling.

I’ll be fine.

“Let’s go, barbarian.”

“It’s Yandel, not barbarian.”

“Right, Yandel.”

Because I’m not alone anymore.