Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 248

The request Shabin spoke of was quite simple.

“Just deliver this letter to Baron Nertovin.”

The mission was letter delivery.

The reward was 3 million stones.

However, there was one condition.

“Ah, by the way, this letter must be delivered directly to the Baron before he leaves the Noum Tree.”

That was the reason why such a large sum of 3 million stones was attached to a simple delivery request. It was practically impossible for any explorer to enter the Noum Tree.

In fact, unless you were a laborer working on a farm, only nobles could enter the area.

“Okay, I understand the request. But I’d like to know the details.”

I could already smell a sweet deal, but I didn’t get ahead of myself and calmly checked the things I needed to confirm.

What was this letter about?

If the Baron was going to return to the city later, they could just send the letter then. Why were they making a request with such a large sum of money?

Shabin answered my questions without hiding anything.

“I can’t tell you the contents of the letter. And the reason for this request is that it’s clear the Baron wouldn’t read our letter even if we sent it to his residence.”

The administrative office had something they absolutely needed to tell the Baron.

However, the Baron was ignoring them.

So, the administrative office, having learned that the Baron was enjoying a vacation at the Noum Tree, devised a way to put the letter directly into his hands.

“The Noum Tree is like a resort for nobles. Moreover, the number of escorts allowed is only three. If you just approach him naturally and hand him the letter, it won’t be too much of a burden for Bjorn.”

Well, that’s true.

I nodded as if I understood.

It was certainly cumbersome for a noble to visit another noble’s residence in the city. They would have to have dinner together and greet the family.

It was impossible to just meet briefly and hand over a letter.

‘So, is the condition to deliver it within the Noum Tree for my sake?’

That thought suddenly occurred to me, but that couldn’t be the only reason. They wouldn’t have made a ‘condition’ just for my consideration.

“So, what will you do?”

Shabin soon passed the decision to me, and I pretended to think a little more before answering.

“I’ll accept it.”

In these times when there’s no way to make money, delivering a single letter for 3 million stones?

There was no reason not to accept it.

‘I was planning to visit the Noum Tree anyway.’

“Ah, I’ll say this in advance, I’ll just deliver the letter and be done with it, whether the Baron reads it or not.”

“Yes. As long as you follow the request, there will be no problem with the payment, so don’t worry about that.”

Okay, that took care of the last worry.

I signed the contract that Shabin brought and received the letter, the item for the request.

That concluded the official business.

After that, we chatted about personal matters for about an hour before ending our friend gathering and returning home.

And…

“Misha, pack your bags.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go on a trip.”

I started preparing for the trip.

***

The trip was set for 2 nights and 3 days.

It wasn’t a distance that couldn’t be done in a day trip, but we also needed time to look for the Baron there.

Moreover…

‘There’s a place I need to check out there too.’

Actually, I wanted to schedule a leisurely 5 nights and 6 days if I could.

However, the labyrinth was about to open soon.

Well, I had already agreed with my companions to skip it this time…

‘It would be better to see for myself how much manpower the royal family has invested this time.’

“N, Noum Tree!! Wow! The day has finally come when I get to go there too!!”

It was a sudden travel proposal, but Misha was excited and packed her bags when she learned that the destination was the ‘Noum Tree.’

By the way, the number of people who could accompany was three.

So, I decided to go on a family(?) trip with Ainar and Erwen.

“Is it, is it okay for me to join in a place like that?”

“What are you talking about? Don’t come if you don’t want to.”

“I do want to! I’ll go pack my bags! How long did you say we’d be gone?”

Erwen, who pretended to decline but quickly got up and went to her room to pack her bags.

It’s been a while since she looked so cheerful.

Well, there hasn’t been much to be happy about lately.

“Hey! I told you to pack properly, not to mess around!”

“I wasn’t messing around…”

“Is just packing underwear enough? What about your toothbrush? Your towel? Huh? Are you going to ask me to borrow them every time?”

Misha soon helped Ainar pack his bags, and the travel preparations proceeded without a hitch. Then, early the next morning.

“I will escort you to the front.”

We were escorted by the knights and headed towards the Noum Tree.

We arrived well past noon.

“Baronet Bjorn Yandel. Confirmed. Please come this way.”

We stood in front of the gate and went through a simple identification process before entering.

Ah, the escort knights didn’t follow.

That was because there was a rule that only three escorts were allowed in the Noum Tree.

‘I feel kind of sorry.’

In fact, the knights wanted to fill all three spots with themselves.

However, I stubbornly refused and filled those spots with Misha, Erwen, and Ainar.

It would be difficult to move freely with knights.

Besides, it was a place where I didn’t have to worry too much about assassins in the first place.

“If anything threatens your safety inside, please do not hesitate to use that whistle. The Noum Tree’s security forces will come to help.”

The Noum Tree was the second most secure area in the city after the royal palace, so the knights only expressed their regret and didn’t force us to cancel the trip.

“Wow…”

The scenery of the Noum Tree that we entered after passing through the double gate was so amazing that even I was mesmerized.

A straight road.

On both sides, there was a wide-open green landscape, and the gentle breeze carried the scent of unripe grains and fruits.

“Oh! Look over there! Fairies!”

We continued to look around as we traveled by carriage. The most common sight was fairies working on farms.

Well, they were specialists in farming.

The fairy race sent fairies who had mastered special spirit magic to the Noum Tree and received massive subsidies.

‘Man, I’m jealous…’

The massive wealth coming from the Noum Tree. That was also the reason why they could implement interest-free tax loan policies for their tribe members, unlike the barbarians.

“Erwen, how many years do you guys lend for?”

“We lend for 3 years.”

“Wow, I’m jealous. We only had up to 2 years. They don’t rush you to pay it back, but after that, you have to figure it out yourself, whether you live or die.”

By the way, all races except barbarians and humans have such tax loan policies.

Fairies weren’t the only ones making money this way.

The dwarves were recognized for their unique construction and metallurgy skills and signed a formal contract with the royal family. Probably the windmills and watermills we saw were all made and managed by them.

Ah, and the beastmen…

[Moo–!]

“M, Misha! What is that strangely shaped monster!”

“Ah, you’re seeing it for the first time? That’s an animal called a cow.”

“Cow?”

“That’s the meat you said was the most delicious. Ah, I’ve never had wild ones either…”

Beastmen were active in the livestock industry.

They were naturally good at communicating with animals, and there were some spirit beasts among the ability-type spirit beasts that increased the growth and reproduction of livestock.

‘But the ones who really make money are the dragonkin.’

If all the other races were the working class, the dragonkin were a bit different.

You could say they were nobles who owned land.

In fact, the agricultural area called the Noum Tree was built on the sacred ground of the dragonkin.

‘…Why don’t barbarians have anything?’

The more I organized my thoughts, the more I felt a sense of deprivation, but what could I do?

Fighting was the only thing that was the entirety of our race’s characteristics.

Drrr.

The carriage, which had arrived near the mountain located in the center of the Noum Tree, began to circle around and head east.

And how much time had passed?

“We have arrived.”

The coachman who had been assigned to us at the Noum Tree gate announced that we had arrived at our destination.

A residential area called ‘Kiarvis,’ a historic resort for nobles that existed even in the game 150 years ago in the game’s timeline.

“Please come this way.”

With the help of the man who served as both coachman and guide, we headed to our lodging.

It was a place that the administrative office had booked in advance…

‘Nice.’

It was much better than I had expected.

First of all, we were using an entire detached house, and there were even five servants attached to it.

I wonder how much it costs per night here?

“Please have a meal first. It’s been prepared.”

I was already hungry, so I ate first.

And…

“There’s a hot spring…?”

At the servant’s words that there was an outdoor hot spring, I immediately went there to relieve my fatigue.

‘Ah, yes, this is it.’

I should come back again later, even if I have to pay for it myself in the winter. After enjoying the hot spring for about an hour, I came out to find Ainar waiting for me alone.

“Bjorn, why does it take you so long to wash!”

“Where are Misha and Erwen?”

“The two of them are still inside. I can’t understand it at all. It just looks like warm water to me…”

Ainar didn’t seem to have felt the true taste of the hot spring.

Well, that’s how barbarians are.

“Okay, just relax and wait for them to come out, then you can play with them or whatever.”

“Huh? What about you?”

“I should go do some work. Why, are you trying to come with me?”

“Ah, no… I’ll just rest here!”

He recoiled at the mention of work, and I chuckled and left the lodging.

And first, I walked around the area.

‘It’s truly luxury itself.’

Since it was designed as a resort for nobles in the first place, there were luxurious facilities everywhere.

Hot springs, riding grounds, fishing spots, and so on.

If it were modern times, I would have asked why this was considered luxurious, but here, it felt different.

‘Not only do they eat wild meat, but they also play with it…’

99% of the people in this city eat meat and bread made from magic stones. As you can see from Ainar, he had never even seen a real cow before coming here.

But what about this place?

There was even a place where they released pheasants and deer for hunting games.

‘Hmm, well, I’ve seen enough of the sights…’

I took the letter and headed to my destination.

I didn’t need to go around asking which lodging he was staying at. There were no nobles with titles like mine staying in rented lodgings in this city.

Most of them were spending their vacations in villas they had purchased.

“He says you can come in.”

I arrived at the villa and sent word, and soon, permission to enter was granted.

Whew, thankfully, they didn’t tell me to get lost.

“I was wondering when I’d get a chance to talk to you, so this is good. Haha, nice to meet you, Baronet Yandel. But why did you suddenly come to see me?”

“Ah, I have something to deliver.”

“Deliver?”

I handed over the prepared letter, and the Baron immediately opened and read it.

Then, he made a strange expression.

“The administrative office guys are really fired up, aren’t they? To ask you for such a favor.”

“Well, I don’t know the details.”

“Hmm, and yet you accepted this request? Why would someone like you do that?”

The Baron muttered as if he couldn’t understand.

To be honest, it was because they were giving me 3 million stones for the request, but…

It seemed like it would be embarrassing to say that, so I made something up.

“I owe them a favor.”

“Haha, you can just pretend you don’t know about that later.”

Wow, is this the mindset of a noble?

I was impressed in a bad way, but I couldn’t say that to his face.

“A warrior does not forget a favor.”

“Hmm… is that so? Haha! Interesting. A noble who is as good as his word? Perhaps many nobles will want to befriend you.”

After the letter delivery was over, the Baron invited me to have a meal together, but I declined and left.

In the narrow noble society, if you became friends with just anyone, there would be repercussions.

‘Anyway, that’s the end of the request.’

It ended so easily that I wondered if I should even be receiving 3 million stones for just this.

Now, the rest of the time was free.

‘I’ll go there later when it gets darker…’

I checked the rest of my schedule and headed back to the lodging.

At that moment.

Among the knights following the noble young masters, I saw a familiar crest.

As soon as I saw it, cold sweat poured down my back.

‘The Iphreia Baron family.’

The family of ‘that’ guy, who GM had even knocked out to borrow his face and identity to meet me.

‘…It can’t be. He’s the youngest, right? It must be the older brother.’

Even if my expectations were wrong, it was the same.

It was proven by quantum mechanics.

No one knows until the box is opened.

What’s inside, whether it’s a cat or something else, is only proven after ‘observation’ is made.

Fortunately, I haven’t checked inside the box yet.

So…

‘Let’s go quickly.’

I lowered my gaze to the ground and increased my walking speed.

It was at that moment.

“W, wait a minute! Are you perhaps Baronet Yandel…”

As if he had recognized me, a familiar voice came from behind.

“P, please stop for a moment! I heard that you suffered greatly because of that evil wizard who impersonated me. I must apologize…”

It was (Real) Hans I.