Extra in a Romance Fantasy - Chapter 127
127 – Intention (7)
Following me, Johanna and Pana stepped through the door into the space.
And they, too, widened their eyes slightly upon discovering a figure standing a little distance away.
“Oh my, there are others in your party as well.”
The man, Baran, smiled again at their appearance and politely greeted them as well.
“I am Baran Velort.”
With a greeting that held not a hint of impropriety, even exuding elegance, my party, including myself, gazed at him in silence.
Considering the structure of this grave, and reflecting on my encounters with Pana and Johanna, it wouldn’t be strange to meet someone else.
However, it is indeed a bit surprising if that someone is a celebrity like Baran.
“…I am Andel.”
I returned his greeting for the time being.
It wouldn’t be polite to just stand there blankly.
Yet, in the midst of this, I noticed one thing.
“…Are you alone? No other companions?”
I realized that I could see no one else besides Baran.
“Oh, I’ve been alone all along. You are the first people I’ve encountered since entering here.”
Baran replied smoothly, without even a pause.
‘…….’
In fact, it wouldn’t be strange if Baran hadn’t met anyone else.
To be precise, since I don’t fully understand the structure or workings of this grave, I can’t say what is normal.
It’s possible that my and Pana’s situation is the abnormal one.
Though it’s a different case with Baran, there’s also Johanna to consider.
…By the way.
—
‘What should I do?’
I hadn’t heard Baran’s opinion yet, but when I saw the delight shining on his face, it was clear he wanted to join us.
The important thing was whether to accept that or not.
Simply put, in a place where anything could happen, increasing our numbers could be seen as a safety measure.
That is, if one were to think simply.
This is, in a sense, a place where external eyes are completely blocked.
In other words, it’s a location where nothing that happens will be revealed.
And in such places, one must always be cautious of people.
In Baran’s case, he had a good reputation and was well-regarded, so the risk was relatively lower. However, we didn’t really need more muscle in our group.
With just Pana and Johanna, we could handle most situations, and if something arose that required more than two people, I could step in.
Therefore, considering that a capable person like Baran joining our group wasn’t necessarily a welcome development.
The problem was that expressing a refusal might not be a pleasant experience for Baran.
Because of that, I hesitated to respond immediately.
However, it was difficult to come up with an answer.
So, I turned to my companions to seek their opinions.
What I saw were Pana’s indifferent face and Johanna’s usual expression.
“Do as you wish.”
“I’ll leave it to you.”
…They really seemed indifferent to which choice I made.
In the end, the decision was entirely mine.
Letting out a small sigh inwardly, I turned my gaze straight ahead.
I looked into Baran’s innocent eyes, still gazing at this place with a gentle smile, and I opened my mouth.
*
“It’s nice to have a companion like this.”
“…I’m glad to hear that.”
I replied casually to Baran’s words, which genuinely seemed cheerful, and I took a step forward.
In the end, I chose to accompany Baran.
It wasn’t because I was afraid of upsetting him, of course.
It was simply out of concern.
Because of the corpse we had seen before entering the door.
It was a situation where one could not predict when or at what time the monster that created that devastation would appear.
Baran was undoubtedly at a level that didn’t require further mention of his skills, but the level of that monster was currently beyond estimation, making it a bit concerning to leave things as they were.
I may not be a paragon of virtue, but I am not the kind of person who can comfortably leave someone whose life might be in danger to their own devices.
In any case, our party had gained one more member, and we set off toward the tomb once again.
It felt like we had crossed a threshold and changed stages, but the overall atmosphere of the forest had only slightly shifted; there were no significant differences otherwise.
The only changes were that the slime monsters were a bit stronger and appeared more frequently.
And that level of change was not a major issue for our party.
“Ah, I’ll take care of this one.”
It had never been a problem to begin with, but the newly added member Baran was clearly more powerful than Johanna, so the slime monster posed no threat at all.
In fact, we were able to advance through the tomb at an even faster pace than before.
…Of course, that didn’t mean there were no issues.
There was just one problem.
“Isn’t it fascinating that such a space exists? Truly, the great mage Verhabill.”
“This is my first time seeing such a monster as well… but looking at this one reminds me of my time in Erihum in the southern continent. I encountered a monster in the thicket of Erihum back then…”
“Oh, so Lord Andel’s backpack is organized that way. Ah, my equipment is arranged like this, but in truth, these are all items I’ve been using from the start. Among them, this tent, for instance…”
“The sky here is so intricate that it’s indistinguishable from what I saw outside. The twinkling stars up there seem just like those I used to glance at carelessly from outside. …By the way, gazing quietly at the night sky like this reminds me of when I went to the northern continent, to the snowfields. I happened to stop by a village where rumors of werewolves were circulating…”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
The one and only problem.
It was that this Baran Belorut was far too talkative.
To the extent that, with a bit of exaggeration, I felt I had never seen him not talking.
Where on earth did he find so many words? From the moment Baran opened his eyes in the morning until just before he closed them at night, he never allowed his mouth a moment’s rest.
I was astonished by his incredible verbosity, yet I also harbored doubts.
Because I had never heard any rumors about him being this talkative.
At first, I thought he was just excited to see someone after a long time.
However, that thought quickly vanished.
The level of activity Baran displayed could not possibly stem from a temporary joy.
If that were the case, it would mean this was Baran’s true nature, which in itself was strange since there were no rumors about it.
However, before long, I was able to come up with several plausible possibilities.
The possibility that those who knew him concealed the truth out of concern for his image.
Or perhaps his family or country took measures to maintain him as a flawless hero.
Alternatively, it could be that testimonies emerged a few times but failed to attract much attention and faded away.
While it’s impossible to know which is the truth, I could somewhat understand the reasoning behind the absence of rumors.
In any case, most of the chatter surrounding Baran was my burden to bear.
Pana distanced herself from him immediately after realizing his true nature, and Johanna also rarely sought to get close to Baran.
Ultimately, I found myself in a position where I had to listen to Baran’s words all day long, and as time passed, I grew increasingly weary.
“This is quite delightful; my conversation with Sir Andel is truly enjoyable. It’s been a long time since I’ve met someone who communicates so well.”
…Surely, I was merely responding absentmindedly or nodding along, yet for some reason, Baran seemed to take a liking to me.
While it was undoubtedly a good thing to earn the favor of a promising knight like Baran, I couldn’t bring myself to feel joy.
It was because Baran’s chatter had only increased in fervor.
In any case, aside from my rapidly waning energy, the group had been proceeding without issue until Baran joined, but now they had come to a halt for the first time.
It was due to yet another corpse being discovered.
“This is… horrific.”
Baran said with a stiffened expression.
It was the first time I had seen such a heavy look on his face since meeting him.
“Is this your first time seeing a corpse, Sir Baran?”
“Yes. Since entering this place, I hadn’t even seen a shadow of a person before meeting you all.”
“I see.”
I nodded quietly.
“From the way you speak, it seems that Sir Andel and the others have seen one before.”
Baran asked with serious eyes.
I affirmed with a slight nod of my head.
“Yes. Since entering this place, I’ve seen a corpse in a similar state just once.”
“And if that’s the case…?”
“…If we’re only looking at the traces, it seems likely that it’s the work of the same perpetrator.”
The state of the corpse was so gruesome that no proper traces were left behind, but conversely, that itself was a trace.
Such hands were rare even among monsters.
“By the way… it’s utterly horrific.”
Baran examined the corpse with eyes filled with various emotions.
—
After that, I too slowly examined the corpse.
Alone, the head remained intact, while the body was in a state that was hard to describe as anything but horrific.
As I looked at the corpse, I felt a sense of déjà vu.
It wasn’t merely a recollection of a corpse I had seen before.
The source of my déjà vu was from much earlier than that.
Leaving Darville, during the journey to this grave, I had encountered a peculiar and bizarre monster.
The traces left on this series of corpses had a certain resemblance to that shadowy creature.