### Chapter 28: Rookie Adventurer Bern (Part 26) – Likes and Dislikes
In his youth,
Alseus admired adventurers.
He dreamed of a life where he would dive fearlessly into the unknown world in search of romance and treasures, gather around a campfire with comrades to share memories, and deftly solve the problems of those who needed help.
Alseus’ father, a retired soldier, scolded him for such aspirations.
Being an adventurer is all glitz and glamour on the surface, but it’s not a proper occupation, his father said.
It would be much more stable to be employed as a soldier somewhere, or even wiser to endure hardship to become a squire for a knight.
But brimming with youthful ardor, Alseus resisted his father’s words.
He ran away from home and became an adventurer, ascending with great success thanks to his remarkable talents.
He acquired vast riches that ordinary people could hardly dream of in their lifetimes and seized the impressive title of representative of the Guild.
However, the ability to dream ended precisely there.
It seemed as if his skills reached their peak, stagnated for a while, and then growth stopped entirely.
Despite the significant income, it was not as generous as it seemed when considering the need to save for the future during his brief prime.
Worse still, what filled Alseus with despair and rage was realizing that the prestige he believed he had attained was confined only to the narrow-minded evaluation of his own world.
No matter how much he was praised as a Grade 4 adventurer or the leader of the Guild, to the aristocrats, Alseus was merely a “useful piece of trash.”
Alseus would never forget the reaction of the nobleman when he requested a knighthood upon being presumptuously offered, “If there’s anything you want, speak up.”
The man’s eyes and expression were filled with disdain and confusion, as if Alseus dared to ask for something wildly inappropriate.
Alseus was furious but powerless to unleash his wrath on the nobleman because standing beside the noble was a knight.
Even if both he and the knight were of Grade 4 and able to wield sword auras, that didn’t mean they were equals. Knights, having undergone systematic training from a young age, eating fine food to build their bodies, and learning techniques and swordplay passed down through their families, naturally held far more resources and advantages than an adventurer.
Though their skills might have been similar, the knights were undeniably superior in terms of depth and substance.
Even if, by some miracle, he managed to defeat a knight, how could he possibly deal with the aftermath?
What about the other knights and troops under the noble’s command? What if noble families across the land came together to punish him for daring to draw his sword against the aristocracy?
Alseus was no longer a naive boy chasing dreams without a plan. As an adult, he made the “wise” choice.
His pride was crushed, but safety and stability came into his hands.
Thereafter, his “wise” decisions continued to unfold.
He ignored the plea of a lady asking him to rescue her daughter because the one who kidnapped her was the scion of a noble family.
He turned a blind eye to the requests of villagers not to abandon them, as they were incapable of offering enough reward to keep Alseus’ party in residence for longer.
When he encountered Richi during a commission he thought was simple to handle, Alseus begged for his life rather than play the hero.
As a follower or “apprentice” of Richi, when Alseus collaborated in gathering sacrificial offerings, he felt no remorse.
After all, the profession of an adventurer has always been distant from honor.
What’s the problem with forsaking honor when you have none worth keeping anyway?
“Hey, Alseus, did you hear about that female wizard, Blankah? She seems to have fallen on hard times after her staff broke, got kicked out of her party, and is now struggling to pay off her debts. Some say that she will soon be employed as a receptionist.”
One day, an unpleasant piece of news reached Alseus’ ears.
“Right? The job of a receptionist is more stable than being an adventurer. It’s better than risking life unnecessarily, isn’t it?”
Truthfully, Alseus had almost no connection with Blankah.
However, her persistent pursuit of defeating Richi, which always put her on a collision course with Alseus who worked as Richi’s subordinate, was indeed bothersome.
The fact that someone he thought might need handling separately had fallen without intervention filled Alseus with satisfaction as he raised his cup.
However.
A strange young man who appeared one day upset everything.
“Phrencia seems to have pretty bad public order. Given the frequent attacks by armed thugs, it seems that I must resort to using simple self-defense techniques, though I pray our Lord to also be cautious.”
An audacious lunatic who dared to provoke a noble lord, almost akin to a king in his territory.
A monstrous figure that toyed with the knight Gudrun, a person whose full strength Alseus couldn’t match, as if he were a child’s plaything.
Bern, the red-haired adventurer, solved the Phrencia incident before Alseus could even set in motion his obstructive plans, and went further by mobilizing the entire Adventurer’s Guild to act.
The once-thought-broken-down wizard was already fighting beside him, showcasing monstrous abilities, and people naturally compared the seasoned adventurer Alseus, with many years in the field, to the rookie who had only been a adventurer for less than a year.
While outwardly pretending to be generous, playing the part of a mentor appreciating the arrival of a promising junior adventurer, inside, Alseus was overwhelmed with displeasure and anxiety.
That strength, that radical approach. That very disposition to eagerly take part even in what seemed like a foolish young girl’s dream – all of them embodied what Alseus himself had dreamed of in his youth but could not achieve – a romantic adventurer.
Such a person should not exist.
Such a character, like the one from a story, shouldn’t exist.
If such a person truly exists, then Alseus himself would be nothing but a failure who had compromised along the way.
Pragmatically and emotionally, Alseus felt the need to kill Bern.
It had to be done.
Sooner or later.
Crash! Boom! Clang!
At the sight of the scene unfolding before him, Alseus could only stand there dumbfounded.
‘What am I seeing?’
Every time Bern swung his sword, monster after monster, supposedly resilient with durability surpassing good steel, were cleanly sliced apart like straw.
The tough tanker of Alseus’ party, capable of holding off the charge of magicked wild boars, was sent sprawling on the ground with his limbs crushed by a single kick from Bern, and the archer who shot poisoned arrows had his throat pierced as Bern skillfully turned his arrows back at him.
The curse of the skeleton mage only hit the ground where Bern had been standing, and even the viscous slime that could corrode steel was pulverized by the mere force of Bern’s sword, splashing its toxic liquid on allied forces nearby.
‘This… this is crazy…’
In this space where light was magically blocked, anyone who hasn’t been bolstered by Richi’s magic previously could not see even a hand’s breadth in front of their face.
Bern’s vision should be pitch black.
Yet the boy easily countered the attacks from the hundreds of undead swarming all around him.
If Bern had been wielding an aura or overwhelming them with sheer power output, perhaps Alseus wouldn’t have been so shocked.
But Bern merely enhanced his sword with mana, without granting physical force to the mana itself or wrapping it around his body like armor for added defense.
In other words, Bern’s level was only Grade 4.
The same level as Alseus.
An adventurer of the same level as him was fighting solo against this unfavorable battlefield with only skill and strength.
“… Don’t joke around, stop it!”
Alseus’s eyes bulged as he roughly retrieved a black pearl from inside his coat.
The ‘Symbol of the Disciple’ granted by Richie released a sinister magic that permeated Alseus’s body, and a disturbing sound began to resonate.
Crack… crunch…
All of Alseus’ muscles swelled and the veins on his skin protruded like spider webs.
Despite internal bleeding that resulted from the excessive enhancement, Alseus paid no heed, overwhelmed by rage and excitement.
Crack!
Jumping with such force that his footprints dented the stone floor, Alseus dashed forward and swung his sword with all his might towards Bern.
Clang!
For the first time since entering the space, Bern was pushed back, unable to withstand the attack.
Encouraged by this, Alseus relentlessly continued to swing his sword.
“What did I do wrong? Is there anything wrong with collaborating with Richi just to survive? Or to gain a little profit?”
Was the invasion of Richi’s magic affecting Alseus’ mind or was it something else? Without knowing why his words were spilling out, Alseus unleashed the accumulated grievances within him.
Despite Alseus’ sudden outburst, Bern remained steady, calmly blocking the attacks with his sword.
“Have you ever seen people who so desperately plead for their village to be saved from monsters suddenly refuse to pay the reward once the danger is over?”
“Have you ever helped a youth recover his parents’ heirloom, only for him to flee without a word?”
“Have you ever followed a treasure map given by a veteran adventurer expecting great riches, only to fall into a trap and nearly lose all your assets and life?”
“Have you ever dueled for a noble lady who claimed she didn’t want to marry someone else, only for her to later claim, ‘That lowly adventurer tried to force himself on me!'”
With the fervent cries of Alseus, his sword finally grazed past Bern.
The blood flowing out turned into particles of light and vanished on the ground, though none present noticed it.
“Talking about romance will only leave you wounded by the cold reality! Dreaming of adventures will only get you exploited by those high above! You think you’re any different?”
The more Alseus attacked, the more injuries Bern sustained.
In Alseus’ eyes, this filled him with excitement and a base satisfaction.
Yes, the red-haired adventurer is the same.
No matter how slightly superior or special he may appear, ultimately, he is merely someone who will bow to the harsh realities of the world.
This boy, too, is ultimately …like me.
“—Hmm, done talking yet?”
Whirl.
Alseus’ vision spun around.
Just like a jujitsu technique with a sword, Bern twisted Alseus’ attack trajectory, forcing him down to the ground, smashing his ankle with the same foot as he tried to rise desperately.
As if noticing for the first time, Alseus realized there were no other sounds in the space other than his own.
Such a notion couldn’t be. Such a thing was impossible.
As Alseus futilely denied reality, Bern spoke coldly.
“I told you before. You won’t die until the end.”
Dazedly.
Even the pain in his ankle was forgotten as Alseus looked around.
In the darkness, only Bern remained.
Everyone else, including Alseus himself, had fallen.
The injuries Bern had received earlier during Alseus’ assault were not because he lacked the power to handle it all, but rather due to dealing with the other enemies simultaneously.
Looking down at the defeated Alseus, Bern continued.
“I’ve understood quite well that your life has been full of twists and turns. I don’t know why you kept talking to me in the middle of a battle, but maybe when you get excited, things tend to spill out. And regarding your story—I don’t particularly think you’re ‘bad.'”
Such a positive statement coming from Bern’s lips was unimaginable to Alseus, who was shocked into silence.
“Dreaming and working towards something that’s tough to achieve is very hard indeed. Ultimately, it’s your life, and why should I comment on you giving up your dream?”
Besides, Bern added, he himself didn’t have the right to speak about integrity in his current state.
“So, I’m not opposing you because you’re bad or wrong.”
“…Then, why?”
“Like and dislike.”
Without a second of hesitation, Bern declared it outright.
“Between you, who’ve abandoned dreams and compromised with reality, and her, who still refuses to let go, even if mocked by the world, guess which one I prefer?”
Silence hung heavy.
Alseus struggled to speak, eventually muttering in resignation,
“I misjudged you. I thought you were a hero out of a fairy tale, but clearly, you’re just an arrogant hypocrite.”
“Thanks, I’ll take that as a compliment for my humanity. Anyway, so, are you ready?”
“Ready?”
With the tip of his sword, Bern pointed to one of the undead.
The corpse, having lost all four limbs, remained just as a trunk.
“From now on, I hope you answer my questions quickly, accurately, and politely. If not, as I’ve forewarned, I’ll conduct experiments on your body using everything this friend here has endured.”
Bern’s tone was as calm as talking about the weather, and it was precisely that calm that was unsettling.
“Then, let’s begin with the first question… Hmm, no. Let’s do it properly. The first question.”
– Where are the captured victims?
In the absolute darkness where not even an inch ahead is visible,
An unsettling sense came from Bern’s completely mundane eyes, causing Alseus to involuntarily swallow his saliva.
