STGB Episode 490

Declaration of War(2)

I asked about the third option purely out of curiosity—and out of the hostility I felt toward that bastard. In truth, my mind was already made up.

I wasn’t sure what I would receive if I chose the other door.

But whatever it was, it couldn’t possibly be more valuable than my three precious comrades.

Besides… it doesn’t seem like I could defeat this bastard on my own.

Thinking that, I quietly observed him. Every time our eyes met, I felt an indescribable discomfort.

It was as if I were staring at something fundamentally different from myself,

“It appears you’ve decided.”

“Yeah. I’m going to leave through that door.”

When I actually moved towards the door, he said nothing—just watched.

Was he respecting my decision?

Thud.

Tap.

I stopped in front of the door and turned my head to ask him something.

The reason was simple.

If I just walked away, it would continue to bother me.

“If… one of us had fallen for your trick and betrayed the others, what would’ve happened?”

This was the first time I had encountered such a hidden piece.

Even though things turned out well in the end, I couldn’t help but be curious about this part.

Fortunately, he answered.

“According to the laws of this world, my avatar would have gained power.”

“…I see.”

No wonder he worked so hard to keep us alive and tempt us into betrayal.

I was starting to understand the design of this space.

In the end, you’d have to face the boss battle alone—but if betrayal occurred, the difficulty would increase.

‘And if you lost the boss battle, it would’ve been game over, regardless of the door or anything else.’

If this were a game, maybe you’d need a certain threshold of ‘affection’ or ‘trust’ to unlock this sort of ending?

Anyway, that cleared up a lot of questions.

But since I was already on the topic, there was one more thing I wanted to ask.

“What exactly… are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I’m asking.”

It wasn’t my first time chatting with monsters inside a labyrinth.

– It’s been a long time since I’ve seen living creatures. Where do you come from?”]

The Vampire Duke Cambormier from the Blood Tinted Castle.

[You dogs of the Empire, enslaved by greed, today I will punish you].

Knight of the Apocalypse of the White Temple.

[If no one knows it’s a lie… how is it different from the truth?]

The doppelganger, and so on.

There were several similar instances, but they all felt like they were rattling off scripted lines.

Soon after, they would lose their rationality and attack with unconditional hostility.

But he felt different.

He seemed to have a clear sense of self.

‘Not to mention, he made some meaningful remarks earlier…’

When I said what would happen if there was betrayal by my party members, he said clearly: “According to the laws of this world, my avatar would have gained power”

I can’t say for sure. But based on the various pieces of information I’ve gathered so far, one thing seems vaguely clear.

Just like Dungeon & Stone had been developed based on this world’s setting…

The labyrinth was also clearly modelled on something.

I carefully voiced my speculation.

“By any chance… do all the monsters in this Labyrinth have original counterparts somewhere? Are you an original too?”

He remained silent, just staring at me intently.

It seemed he was thinking, and for some reason that made me tense up.

I felt like I was on the verge of unlocking the secrets of this Labryinth.

But…

“Maybe,” he finally said after a long silence.

“You might find out eventually.”

And that was the end of our conversation.

Thump!

The tightly closed door swung open and something pushed me from behind.

「You have overcome the great terror lurking within the labyrinth.」

「No.12 ‘Trust’ has been permanently bound to you.」

「The nameless pilgrim has vanished from the labyrinth forever.」

「Special Condition – Distorted memories have been permanently erased.」

「A hidden area has been unlocked.」

「This is an achievement for the first time.」

「Your great legacy will be engraved on the Stone of Honor and recorded forever.」

「The labyrinth has been closed.」

「Your character has been moved to Raphdonia.」

***

A Warm light filtered through my tightly closed eyelids.

Slowly, I tilted my head back and opened my eyes, only to see a dreary sky above.

I stared at it for a long while, lost in thought.

“…”

I’m alive again.

Every time I see that sky, I feel an indescribable sense of peace.

Of course, this feeling never lasted long.

“…It’s Bjorn Jandel.”

“Didn’t he say he was going to take down the Floor Lord? How did that go…?”

“There’s no way they could have done it with only five people, right…?”

The explorers who recognized me began to murmur.

I quickly gathered my thoughts and headed to the checkpoint.

There was only one person waiting for us at the checkpoint.

It was Amelia, who had left the raid site earlier to interrogate the plunderers.

“Thank God. You made it back. Do you know how worried I was when you didn’t show up until the labyrinth closed?”

Amelia, who had been anxiously scanning the area in front of the checkpoint, let out a sigh of relief the moment she saw me.

But then, maybe a new worry crossed her mind.

“Any casualties?”

She didn’t know how our raid had played out, so she wanted to confirm how many we’d lost. But all I could say was:

“None. Or… there shouldn’t be any.”

“There shouldn’t be any…? What does that mean?”

“…It’s complicated.”

I knew they should all be alive, but I wouldn’t be at ease until I saw them myself.

“Just wait a bit.”

Amelia, though curious, nodded without asking any more questions.

And after waiting at the checkpoint for a while, my comrades began to appear one by one.

First was Erwin.

“Ah, sir….”

Erwin, who had been running towards the checkpoint, seemed to lose all strength when she saw me and collapsed to the ground.

“This… isn’t a dream, is it…?”

“Don’t worry. This is definitely reality.”

“How… did this happen…?”

From her perspective, she had been drawing aggro and then died, only to wake up alive.

“Once everyone’s here, I’ll explain.”

Shortly after, Versil Gowland appeared.

“Why are you so late? You had me worried.”

“S-sorry. I just… couldn’t understand what was happening… B-but this… isn’t a dream, right…? I-I definitely died….”

Versil had a similar reaction to Erwin’s.

Amelia tilted her head in confusion.

“Died…?”

“Like I said earlier, it’s complicated. I’ll explain everything once everyone’s here.”

“…Alright.”

After calming down the trembling Versil, we continued to wait, and finally Aynar appeared as well.

“Bjorn…!!!!”

Aynar shouted from a distance, making her presence known.

Only then did I finally let out the breath I’d been holding in.

“Phew….”

Now it felt real.

The fact that everyone had really made it back alive.

“…W-what is this!? Was this all a dream—!? I definitely died—!”

Briefly lost in thought, I quickly covered Aynar’s mouth.

“…Mmph! Mmmph! Mmm!”

“Quiet. Everyone’s already staring at us because of you.”

“…….”

“Let’s move somewhere else. I’ll explain everything then.”

Once everyone had gathered, we quickly passed through the checkpoint and into the streets. As usual, the area in front of the checkpoint was crowded with friends and family of the explorers.

“Versil, we’re going to my house in Commelby. Is that OK?”

“I don’t mind. It might be safer to talk there.”

“Then it’s settled.”

We then headed to the public lift and took a noble’s carriage to Commelby.

That was the downside of living in a busy area.

When I lived in District 7, I could just walk home.

“Master! You’ve arrived!”

As soon as we reached the house, Auyen greeted us as if he had been waiting. The house was filled with the smell of appetising food.

“Thank you. But we have things to discuss, so please go upstairs for a bit.”

“…Of course. Rest well, and let me know if you need anything.”

After Auyen went upstairs, I asked Versil to activate a soundproofing spell. We sat down to eat the neatly prepared meal and began our conversation.

Ah, of course, the only ones eating were Aynar and me.

“Like I said earlier, it’s complicated. I’ll explain everything once everyone’s here.”

“Mr. Jandel… stop eating and start talking. I’ve been dying of curiosity the whole way here.”

Ah, right. I should start with that.

After chewing and swallowing the last bite in my mouth, I began to explain everything step by step.

In the end, the core of it was this:

“So… from the beginning, it was designed so that all the team members had to die for it to be cleared. But if even one person survived and defeated him, everyone would come back to life.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

After excluding the conversation I had with Dreadfear and explaining everything I experienced and discovered, Amelia looked at me with a strange expression.

“Are you… okay?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I know your personality. You must have had a tough time mentally.”

Ah, that…

I chuckled and replied.

“I’m fine.”

It’s not like I didn’t have moments where my mental state was on the verge of collapsing. No, honestly, there were many such moments.

But in the end, as long as the result was good, that’s all that mattered, right?

Anyway, my story seemed enough for now, so I decided to start asking questions.

“Amelia, what about you? How did it go?”

When I asked about the interrogation results, Amelia’s expression darkened.

“I couldn’t gather any evidence. They only admitted to receiving orders from the black market, but they didn’t know who their client was.”

“I see…”

It was disappointing, but there was no point blaming Amelia.

Well, Count Alminas will figure something out.

Having died and come back to life, it didn’t feel like such an important issue anymore.

“Ah, and also….”

“…And?”

“Never mind. I’ll tell you later.”

That made me suddenly anxious.

Since she said she’d tell me later, I didn’t push and just went on.

“So, Erwin, what happened to you?”

“Oh, me? I’m sorry. You trusted me to protect you, but no matter how hard I tried to escape from him, he always seemed to catch up to me. It felt like he was using teleportation magic.”

“Teleportation… He did seemed to have that ability, which activated when you were a certain distance away from him.”

“And the strange thing is, until the moment he killed me, he kept trying to convince me to betray you. He kept saying it wasn’t too late.”

Erwin’s story was brief but I could feel the pain and suffering she went through.

“Erwin, you’ve had a rough time.”

“It’s okay, I’m fine.”

Now, it was Versil’s turn.

“Versil Gowland.”

“…Yes?”

“I understand why you did it, but don’t ever do that again.”

“Yes…”

I briefly scolded Versil and moved on.

The real issue was next.

“But Aynar…”

I spoke carefully, and Aynar, who had been busy eating, looked up.

It was hard to start talking.

But I had to confirm something.

“You know… at the end… what do you remember?”

“What do I remember? What do you mean?”

“I mean, do you remember what I told you?”

To be precise, I was asking if she had properly heard my confession of being an evil spirit. But Aynar casually picked up some meat with her fork and replied.

“Ah, that…? It seemed like you were saying something, but… I don’t remember. I was almost unconscious, so I couldn’t hear well.”

Hmm, was that true?

I watched her expression carefully, but didn’t see anything unusual.

It seems she really didn’t hear it.

After all, if she had heard, he would have been furious long ago.

“Why, what did you say?”

“Nothing. It wasn’t important.”

I quickly wrapped up the topic, and Aynar just shrugged it off. Meanwhile, the women next to us were making a fuss.

“Huh, I can guess what he might have said.”

“Jandel can be surprisingly sentimental, you know.”

“Hey, don’t tease him so much.”

What the hell are they talking about?

I decided to ignore them and went back to my meal. Perhaps satisfied with teasing me, they dropped the subject and finally started eating too.

And as we ate, we continued chatting about various things

Then, at some point…

“By the way… Mr. Jandel. What’s that bracelet? Have you always been wearing it?”

It was only after hearing Versil’s question that I realized.

“What’s this…?”

A strange bracelet was clasped around my wrist.

At first, I was a bit taken aback by the unfamiliar piece of gear…

Erwin and Amelia also stopped eating and muttered.

“Oh… I thought you weren’t mentioning it on purpose, so I just kept quiet…”

“Who would’ve guessed you didn’t know you were wearing it?”

Why had I only noticed it now?

“Could that be the reward…? The reward for successfully completing the raid with 5 people.

Versil speculated, but the reward for a standard 5-person clear isn’t a bracelet like this.

Besides, I chose to save my comrades as my reward.

But… maybe the reward isn’t just bringing everyone back alive?’

Wait, now that I think of it, that makes sense.

It was a hidden piece so well concealed that nobody had discovered it in nearly a decade of play. If the only reward were simply everyone’s survival, that would be somewhat underwhelming. Actually, that would be the part that doesn’t make sense.

Click.

I took off the bracelet to examine it closely, and then I stiffened on the spot.

There was something that came to my mind immediately.

Since I wasn’t entirely sure, I handed it to Versil for appraisal.

Versil, who had the ‘special appraiser’ licence that even Raven couldn’t obtain, recognised the bracelet’s nature without much examination.

“This… It’s a Double Numbers…”

Yes, it really was.

Amelia’s eyes sparkled, always interested in such treasures.

“Wait, if it’s a Double Numbers bracelet…”

There’s only one.

No.12 Trust.

Could this be a fixed reward?

Given the Hidden Piece concept, there couldn’t be a more suitable item.

‘…A Double Numbers as a fixed reward for an event.’

What exactly triggers this?

If I can find out, I might be able to ‘duplicate’ the item for myself.

I was thinking about that when.

Ding, ding.

The bell at the front door rang.

A visitor at this hour?

I stopped eating and opened the door to see a group of knights, apparently from Moszlan.

“Baron Jandel, we seek an audience.”

They didn’t seem to be here for anything bad, as they greeted me politely the moment we made eye contact.

I quickly returned the greeting and asked for their business.

“Two hours ago, a new achievement was inscribed on the Stone of Honour.”

A new achievement?

What does that have to do with me?

While I was thinking this, the knight continued.

“It is Baron Jandel’s achievement.”

It seems the reward wasn’t just the bracelet.

I hurried to check the content written on the stone and froze.

[Year 157 of the New Era, the great warrior Bjorn Jandel of the Barbarian tribe and his comrades defeated the Lord of Terror, Dreadfear, and unlocked a hidden region.]

Who knew there were more unlockable areas left.