How to Survive as a Mage Inside a Game-Chapter 35: Ruins Exploration (1)

Bang!

The inn door burst open.

The place was quiet enough now that the sound echoed loudly.

Everyone’s attention shifted to the door.

A blond man walked in.

Same as the other mercenaries—sword at his waist, leather armor, nothing special.

“...Huh?”

He looked a bit confused, not expecting all the stares.

“What the hell? What’s with the mood in here?”

Soon enough, everyone’s eyes drifted back to Karl and the goons.

The thugs ignored the new arrival and got back to yelling.

“What are you gonna do about this, huh?! That thing cost way more than just a few coins to fix!”

Karl was just about to shut them up for good—

But then, someone else cut in.

“Hey! You guys!”

It was the blond guy.

He’d been standing by the entrance, watching the scene, but now he strode right over to Karl’s table.

The sudden interruption threw the thugs off for a second.

“What’s with all the screeching, huh? Grabbing some poor guy and making a scene?”

The thugs quickly turned on him.

“Fuck off, who the hell are you? Mind your own damn business!”

The blond glanced at the broken dagger in the guy’s hand and gave a mocking smirk, like he already had the whole situation figured out.

“Handle’s busted, huh? You know it’s pretty hard to snap one of those, even by stomping on it. How’d that happen?”

“The hell’s your problem, asshole? Didn’t you hear me? Get lost before I—!!”

CRACK!

The guy’s face went pale.

The blond had suddenly grabbed the dagger and crushed the already cracked handle to pieces with his bare hand. The strength in his grip was unreal.

“How did this happen, again?”

“......”

Silence.

The thug swallowed hard and stammered,

“H-he tripped me... and I fell...”

“Oh yeah?”

The blond turned to Karl, giving him a questioning look.

Karl just shrugged.

“Doesn’t look like he did.”

“I’m telling you, he really did...”

“And even if that’s true, how cheap was that piece of crap for it to break just from you falling? If you’re not lying, you’ve got a real problem with the blacksmith who made it, huh?”

“......”

They said nothing.

The blond shook his head.

“Hey.”

“Y-yeah?”

“You wanna leave quietly, or should we see this through? If you’re telling the truth, I’ll pay you back tenfold. But if you’re full of shit...”

He didn’t finish the sentence—just looked down at the crushed dagger pieces.

The thugs turned ghost white and bolted out of the inn.

“Pathetic. And they call themselves mercenaries? Tsk.”

The blond clicked his tongue and plopped down at Karl’s table.

Grinning, he spoke.

“Careful, friend. Places packed with mercs like this? You’ll see all kinds. That little act just now? Pretty normal.”

Then he waved over the server and started ordering food like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Karl was a bit dumbfounded.

Sure, there weren’t many open seats, but this guy just sat himself down without even asking.

And honestly, Karl would’ve handled those extortionist clowns just fine on his own.

“Thanks for the help.”

Still, Karl didn’t bring that up—he just offered a polite thanks. The guy did step in, after all.

Karl wasn’t the kind to skip basic manners.

“Haha, don’t mention it.”

The blond laughed it off and waved.

From his behavior and tone, he seemed like a pretty easygoing guy.

“Another mess, huh?”

A woman approached the table.

She had a fierce look and a bow slung over her back.

Karl realized she’d come in with the blond earlier, just standing back watching everything unfold. Clearly, they were together.

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop getting involved in other people’s crap? You never listen.”

She snapped at him, and he just gave an awkward laugh.

“Come on, this wasn’t a big deal. It’s not like helping out cost me anything, right?”

“Shut up, idiot.”

She gave Karl a quick glance, then sat down and crossed her arms, leaning back.

Karl eyed the bow on her back with interest.

‘That’s a Steelwood Bow.’

A weapon with several times the tension of a normal bow, used only by real archers trained in aura-based techniques.

Karl looked at the two and asked,

“You two are...”

“Call me Pakion. And this bad-tempered friend here is Eril.”

“Wanna die?”

“Nice to meet you, Pakion. Eril. You both mercenaries?”

Pakion chuckled.

“Well, we do mercenary work, but we’ve got another gig, too.”

“...Another gig?”

“We’re adventurers. You know, the kind who explore ruins and dungeons all over the continent.”

Karl’s eyes widened slightly.

Adventurers.

It had been a while since he’d heard that term.

Like most fantasy games, this world had its share of dungeons and ancient ruins.

Adventurers were the people who roamed the land chasing those mysteries.

It sounded romantic, like something out of a storybook—but in reality, most of them were just greedy idiots hoping for a lucky treasure and a shot at turning their lives around.

But these two didn’t seem like that kind. They looked like the real deal.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

They were on a whole different level from the usual trash in this place.

[Lv.33]

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

[Adventurer, Mercenary]

[Lv.31]

[Adventurer, Mercenary]

Karl checked their titles and nodded slightly.

“Cool job.”

“Right?”

Eril, sitting beside him, clicked her tongue.

“Cool, my ass. ‘Adventurer’ is just a fancy name for treasure hunters.”

She wasn’t wrong, and Pakion gave an awkward laugh.

“Still, doesn’t it sound way better to be called an adventurer than some greedy treasure hunter? Hah!”

As they chatted, Pakion suddenly ordered drinks, saying it was fate they met—and Karl had no choice but to go along with it, mildly annoyed.

But Pakion’s endless stream of stories about their past adventures was actually pretty entertaining, so Karl listened quietly, raising his glass now and then.

“Alright, enough drinking. Time to go.”

Eril stood up, cutting the night short.

Pakion looked disappointed.

“Already?”

“We’ve got a run coming up. Gotta stay sharp. And where the hell are Rembol and Jack? Why are they taking so long?”

“They’ll be here soon, I’m sure. Anyway, guess that’s it for now.”

“A run? Found a dungeon nearby or something?”

Karl’s curiosity slipped out, and Pakion grinned, lowering his voice.

“Yeah, kinda. Not a dungeon—more like ruins. But we didn’t find it. Someone else did and hired us to come along. Think of us as guides, yeah? We’ve got a bit of a rep when it comes to this stuff...”

“You idiot! Shut the hell up before you say something stupid!”

Smack!

Eril landed a heavy slap on his back, and Pakion winced, waving it off.

“Alright, alright! Anyway, Karl, we’ll be staying here for a few days, so I’m sure we’ll run into each other. Let’s grab breakfast together tomorrow!”

With that, the two headed upstairs to their room.

Left alone, Karl leaned back in his chair, lost in thought.

‘...Ruins nearby, huh?’

That sparked some interest.

Since getting stuck in this world, Karl had never gone dungeon or ruin crawling. Sure, he’d done it to death back when this was just a game.

Normally, he wouldn’t care about something that had nothing to do with getting home. But now, with nothing else to do, curiosity got the better of him.

Was there any way he could join?

* * *

The next day, Karl left the inn and headed back to the Herlando branch.

He wanted to find out more about that ruins expedition.

“Welcome.”

Scarlett looked a bit puzzled to see him again so soon.

Karl gave her an awkward smile.

“This isn’t about Fluren. There’s just something I wanted to ask. Would I need to pay for that info...?”

She shook her head.

“Of course not. Unless it’s high-level information, I can tell you whatever I can.”

“Thanks. So, have you heard anything about ruins discovered nearby?”

“Yes, I have, but...”

“Could you tell me more about that?”

She began to explain.

“It was first °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° discovered by someone from the Earthmoon School. They found it deep in the mountains near the city.”

Karl suddenly remembered—the Earthmoon School was one of the continent’s Three Great Magic Schools, along with Altius.

And this city, Ormantis, was in Earthmoon’s territory.

“We don’t have an exact location, but they seem to be planning an expedition. They’ve been gathering people for it...”

In short: Earthmoon found the ruins and was assembling a team to explore them, including their own mages, some knights from the local lord Marquis Dante, and a group of adventurers.

Karl immediately knew who that adventurer group was.

‘It’s them.’

Scarlett continued with more detail.

“They’re called the Slot Adventurer Group. Quite well-known in the field. They’ve successfully cleared seven small dungeons and ruins, and even completed one mid-sized dungeon raid.”

Karl was honestly impressed.

If they’d cleared a mid-sized dungeon, they were better than he expected.

“That’s all we know so far. But... why are you interested in the ruins?”

Karl gave a sheepish smile.

“Got nothing better to do while I wait, and I thought it’d be fun to join the expedition.”

“Ah...”

Scarlett nodded, then carefully added,

“With your skills, I’m sure you’d be welcome anywhere, but... I don’t think joining this expedition will be possible.”

“Of course.”

An expedition led by the Earthmoon School wasn’t about to let in a mage from their rival, Altius—no matter how skilled he was.

“I understand. Thanks for the info.”

Leaving the guild, Karl walked the streets, thinking it over.

Was there any way he could get in on that expedition?

“...Ah.”

A thought struck him.

His eyes lit up.

Dungeons and ruins.

Not now, but back when he was just playing this as a game, Karl had been the expert at clearing those.

If he couldn’t join as a mage, he could just use another skill set.

And luckily, he had a hill he could climb from.

Karl turned on his heel and headed straight back to the inn.