Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Chapter 396: Expedition Force (1)

Chapter 396: Expedition Force (1)

I stared at the knight, who had been glaring at me, and then changed my expression.

"It seems like I was mistaken."

My softened expression made him sigh in relief, but he still looked confused.

"Ah, I'm glad there's nothing wrong with your head."

I then checked with the other three if they had any objections to me being the leader.

They had all agreed to the bet in front of the Marquis, but you never know.

Additional treatment might be necessary.

But...

"None."

"Since it's settled, please call me if you need anything."

Surprisingly, the other three, except for the knight, didn't object at all.

Were they all so cool-headed?

I thought at least one of them would be greedy, considering their own interests and the political stakes involved.

Well, I'm glad my workload has been reduced.

"It's good to hear that there are no objections. Then I'll be going."

"Yes? Going?"

As I turned to leave, the four of them looked at me with puzzled expressions.

They must have thought we would discuss something now that the leader had been decided...

"I'm hungry."

"...?"

"I'll see you later."

I left the room, ignoring their dumbfounded expressions.

It was a kind of build-up.

I wasn't going to live as Lihen Schuitz forever, and my identity would be revealed in three months anyway.

I had to show them this side of me beforehand so they could understand when the time came.

'He acted like a barbarian, so that's why he was like that.'

"You're back."

I went to the Marquis's office.

I had to report to him before leaving.

"How did it go?"

"It went smoothly. Nothing special happened."

"They all agreed?"

"They didn't have a choice."

"That's... true. If you need anything, let me know."

"I'm counting on you."

That concluded the interim report—

"Ah, and one more thing."

"...?"

"There will be a founding ceremony soon, now that the commander has been decided."

"A founding ceremony?"

"We need a place for everyone to meet and get to know each other before entering the labyrinth. The sponsors who participated in this plan will also want to see you."

"When is it?"

"I'll let you know as soon as the schedule is finalized."

It was a bit ridiculous.

There were only ten days left until the labyrinth opened, and they were planning to hold a founding ceremony and then immediately enter the labyrinth?

This was like trying to cook beans over a lightning strike.

'I wonder why they're in such a hurry.'

I briefly wondered, but the answer was obvious.

'They probably wanted to avoid the 15th, the easiest time for information to leak to Noark.'

They wanted to minimize information exposure.

I asked a few questions about the ceremony, and as expected, they said it wouldn't be a large-scale event with hundreds of people due to security concerns.

"Okay, I understand about the ceremony, but what about my teammates? Will I be able to meet them then?"

"They'll be there. If you want, I can arrange a meeting tomorrow."

"Then please send them to my house tomorrow."

"I'll do that."

The Marquis readily agreed.

Had we finished our conversation?

I was about to wrap things up when the Marquis suddenly brought up a new topic.

"There's one more thing I'd like to ask you."

"What is it?"

"About the bet you made at the dinner..."

The Marquis paused and asked,

"Were you really confident that you could win against all four of them?"

"Why are you asking?"

"I'm curious. You read the documents I prepared, so you must have known their skills. I thought you were confident you could easily defeat them."

"And?"

"But that wasn't the case. Do you know how worried I was?"

I understood what he was asking.

Why did I make such a reckless bet if I was going to barely win?

I decided to be honest.

"You're right, Marquis."

The reason for my victory was the 7th-grade Undead engraving.

The special stat, 'Recovery Power', that increased healing and regeneration efficiency.

Without it, my natural regeneration wouldn't have been enough to endure for so long.

And most importantly...

I might have run out of MP first.

Recovery Power also applied to MP regeneration.

It increased the amount of MP recovered by [Soul Dive].

That's why I thought I could win against them.

But...

"I wasn't completely sure I would win."

Still, I wasn't 100% confident.

After all, that's how battles are.

There are countless examples of people getting knocked out by a lucky punch.

"I don't understand. Why would you make such a reckless bet if you weren't sure?"

"Well, why do you think?"

I shrugged and left the room.

After all...

'If I lost, I was planning to refuse to accept it and demand a rematch.'

You always have to have a backup plan.

_______________________

The next day at lunchtime, the two new teammates arrived at my house.

"You must be Lihen Schuitz. Nice to meet you. I'm Liard Ashid, a 3rd-grade mage from the Rengman School."

A 30-something mage with a friendly face and a surprisingly tall stature for a mage.

And...

"You're young. I'm Gruold Aldidi."

A 60-something ability user who looked much younger than I expected.

"It's nice to meet you both. I'm Lihen Schuitz."

"...Are you from the military?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"You speak so informally."

Was he trying to get some respect by bringing up his age?

I briefly wondered, but didn't dwell on it.

It wasn't important.

"Aldidi, if you came here expecting a typical explorer team, you should leave now. We'll be operating under the military for a while, and that means a strict hierarchy."

It's always best to establish dominance from the start.

My firm words made Gruold Aldidi, or Didi for short, back down.

"Haha, of course not. I was just curious. I've been an explorer for this long, I'm used to working under younger people. It's no big deal."

"That's good to hear. Mage..."

"Liard Ashid. You can call me by my first name or last name, whichever is more comfortable."

"Then I'll call you Ashid. Ashid, do you agree with him?"

"Of course. In our mage society, it's natural to be treated based on your skills. And besides... this is a great opportunity for me."

"Opportunity...?"

"We've already been promised generous rewards just for joining the expedition force. And I heard from the Marquis yesterday... you're the expedition leader, Schuitz?"

Ah, the Marquis had already told them.

"It seems like we've found a good sponsor. We'll have more opportunities to earn achievements if we're on the leader's team. Don't you agree, Aldidi?"

"Hmm, I suppose so..."

Ashid smiled gently and asked, and Didi coughed and nodded.

I looked at them.

'They both seem decent.'

Mage Ashid,

I hadn't talked to him much, but he seemed competent.

Well, most mages were intelligent, but...

Social skills and intelligence are two different things.

'And the old man doesn't seem stubborn.'

Of course, Ashid played a role in that.

He subtly emphasized their subordinate status by mentioning the opportunity and the expedition leader position.

"If you're done with the introductions, would you like to meet the other two?"

Ashid cautiously asked, and I nodded.

Erwen and Amelia introduced themselves.

"I'm Erwen Fornachi di Tersia."

"Emily Raines."

They were surprised when Erwen introduced herself as the Blood Spirit Marquis, but they just tilted their heads when Amelia introduced herself.

But...

'It's good that they didn't ask any unnecessary questions.'

Hmm, it seems like I got lucky with the recruitment.

"Come on in."

I led them inside.

I had ordered a lot of food, anticipating their arrival.

"By the way, I forgot to ask. Have you eaten?"

"We haven't. We thought we might be having lunch together."

"It's better to have an empty stomach when you have important matters to discuss."

Okay, so they're both hungry.

"We don't have much, but eat as much as you want. We can talk while we eat."

We all sat down at the table and started eating and chatting.

"This food is delicious. Who made it?"

"Haha, I did. Thank you."

"No, thank you for the meal."

"Oh my, it's nothing. Ho ho."

Ashid and Erwen's friendly banter lightened the mood.

I just focused on eating.

It wasn't like I had made the food.

I had bought it all from a restaurant this morning.

Ashid's claim wasn't entirely a lie, though.

He had arranged the food on the plates and set the table.

'If Misha were here, she would have insisted on making the food herself...'

I briefly thought of Misha, and then I sighed.

It felt strange to be welcoming new teammates.

'By the way, we haven't discussed their experience yet.'

I actively participated in the conversation and started asking questions.

There wasn't much difference from what I had heard from the Marquis.

"I last entered the labyrinth seven years ago. I was part of a clan for about five years, but it disbanded, so I've been focusing on research at the Mage Tower."

"Why did you decide to come back?"

"Same reason as everyone else."

A better life.

More opportunities.

Those reasons were much more convincing than any strange ideals or beliefs.

"What can you do in the labyrinth?"

"For a mage, it's more important to know what you can't do than what you can."

Ashid smiled and shared his skills.

"I can only use 5th-grade or higher curse magic in a limited capacity. Support and auxiliary magic up to 4th-grade. I can use most other magic, except for those unique to other schools. Ah, I'm also knowledgeable about gathering and materials since I'm interested in the labyrinth."

Ashid was a jack-of-all-trades.

He might be lacking in curse and support magic, but it wasn't a major weakness.

"If you're asking what I'm best at, it would be attack magic."

"What element?"

"I don't think I have any particular preference."

Wow, he's really versatile.

"Is the Rengman School specialized in combat magic?"

"No, it's actually focused on curse magic."

What? That's interesting.

He went to a curse magic school, but his best skill was attack magic?

There must be a story behind it...

"If you don't have any more questions for me, I'd like to hear about Aldidi's skills."

Ashid smoothly passed the turn to Didi before I could ask about his story.

'...Was that intentional?'

Well, even if it was, I didn't mind.

I wasn't planning to pry into his personal life.

"I'm a healer."

Healer was a subcategory of ability users.

Those who mimicked priests' healing abilities were called healers.

Those who could replicate mages' firepower were called spellcasters.

Spellcasters who used poison were poison masters, those who used fire were flame masters.

Those who specialized in buffs were support ability users.

And those who specialized in curses were curse ability users.

It was a common classification system, and it became more detailed and complex as you climbed higher in the labyrinth.

If I were to submit a resume to the guild, I wouldn't write 'barbarian warrior', but 'guardian'.

"A healer... that's a good balance."

Ashid seemed pleased with Didi's profession.

It was understandable.

Erwen's role as an archer was well-known, and Amelia's attire, with her leather armor and daggers, made her profession obvious.

And they had heard about me from the Marquis.

"I mostly have healing abilities, but I also have two support skills."

It meant he had buff-type skills.

Didi then explained his essences and how he used them, and then it was our turn.

Of course, we didn't need to go into detail about our essences since we weren't ability users who needed to coordinate our skills.

We just had to tell them our roles and what we could do.

And Amelia's 'Aura', 'Self-Replication', and Erwen's 'Darkness Spirit' were the only special things we had to mention.

"I think we've covered most of the important information. What are your plans for the future?"

"We should start practicing together. We'll need to coordinate our movements."

"Yes, do you have a training ground you usually go to?"

"I did, but it closed down recently."

"Then I'll find a suitable place. Ah, we'll need to contact each other in writing, so can I get your addresses?"

"Here you go."

This is what it's like to have a competent secretary.

Ashid took care of all the trivial matters, so I didn't have to worry about them.

We started practicing together at the training ground from the next day onwards.

And time flew by...

"Schuitz, the Marquis contacted me."

The day of the founding ceremony had arrived.

'How do they get things done so quickly?'

It was three days before the labyrinth expedition.