Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 389

It’s a bit like the psychology of people visiting a zoo. They look at the fierce beasts caged behind bars and say they’re cute, or that it’s pitiful they’re locked up. But it’s easy to show them how arrogant that is. A steel cage with a diameter of about 3cm. All that needs to happen is for that cage to disappear. The moment the dividing line between themselves and the beast is broken, humans will see the true nature of the beast. Just like the Marquis is doing now. “…….” Ah, of course, the Marquis was different from ordinary people. Even with my sincere, aggressive words, he only flinched slightly and quickly regained his composure. Well, the cage hasn’t actually disappeared, after all. I can’t kill the Marquis. And the Marquis knows that fact best. Right, so…… “How about that? Is that enough of an answer?” I ended the situation as if it were purely an answer to the question. It would be a lie to say I didn’t want to see the expression on that arrogant Marquis’s face twist in disgust. But for now, I’ll have to be satisfied with this much. “Don’t worry.” The Marquis responded, saying that. “I fully understand what you were trying to convey.” “That’s a relief then.” In fact, this was also a warning. A warning that I’m willing to reciprocate if it’s a give-and-take relationship, but if they cross the line, I’m ready to break the cage and rush out at any time. “Well then, if your curiosity is satisfied, I’d like to hear the second condition.” “Ah, that’s right. The second condition is this.” The Marquis glanced at the Dragonkin woman next to him and continued. “Help Ms. Lavien defeat the Dragonslayer, Regal Bagos.” “Dragonslayer……?” “That’s a different reaction than I expected. Ms. Lavien told me that you also have a bad history with him, didn’t you?” That’s true, but it’s such an unexpected request. ‘…Knowing about what happened between me and the Dragonslayer, it must be because of that woman, right?’ Thinking that, I suddenly became curious. What kind of relationship do the Marquis and this Dragonkin woman have? It seems that the fact that defeating the Dragonslayer became the second condition is closely related to that woman. Is it a business relationship? “Now, will you give me an answer?” I couldn’t help but feel curious, but it was time to answer for now. Ah, just one more question. “But did you really make me wait until tomorrow just to say this?” “Because Ms. Lavien wasn’t at her residence then. I thought it was right to have the conversation where she was.” Well, if that’s the case. “Alright, I was going to kill that bastard with my own hands someday anyway.” “Then the talk is over.” “We haven’t talked about a satisfactory agreement yet.” I said, holding out my wrist, which had already fully healed, and the Marquis laughed heartily. “Let’s stop here for today and meet again tomorrow morning. These days, even if I sleep a little late, the next day is too hard.” “……Alright.” As the conversation came to an end, the Marquis got up from his chair and turned around, and the Dragonkin woman skillfully put the chair into her subspace. And…… “Young Baron Yandel, don’t be too reckless.” The guard muttered something while looking at me. Well, is it revenge for what I said earlier? That was the first thought that came to mind, but it didn’t take long to realize that wasn’t the case. “Because if you die again, my sister will be sad.” “Sister? Ah, could it be that you are…….” “…….” The Dragonkin guard neither affirmed nor denied it. She just turned her back and followed the Marquis. But that alone was enough of an answer. Ha, no wonder her features seemed familiar. ‘Penitasaurus.’ The daughter of the Ancient Dragon and the Dragon Priestess, Penny. Or, the Dragon Brat for short. So she was her older sister. Someone who might have become my comrade. *** The Marquis’s only son, Eltora Terserion. When he regained consciousness, the first thing he saw was his biological father. “Are you awake?” “……I’m sorry.” Eltora didn’t ask anything and immediately apologized. But the answer he received was cold. “Do you think I stayed up all night to hear those words?” “…….” “Tell me. What happened? Don’t leave anything out.” At his father’s words, Eltora slowly recalled the events that had occurred at midnight and briefly recounted them. There wasn’t much to say anyway. Following his father’s orders, he had broken into his room in the middle of the night, and immediately had his neck grabbed, and before he could even make an excuse, he was beaten to a pulp and knocked out. That was the whole story. “You pathetic fool.” Eltora suppressed his humiliation and said nothing. This time, there was no room for excuses. It was only now that this question arose. “But, why did you choose this method? If you wanted to confirm whether he was an evil spirit or not, there would have been a more certain way…….” At first, he thought it was because he didn’t want to offend Young Baron Yandel. His father had acknowledged him as a good tool. But thinking about it, it was a bit strange. No, to be precise, it seemed like there was another reason. “Are you incapable of thinking even that much on your own?” “…Please enlighten me.” When Eltora lowered his posture, the Marquis only frowned slightly and answered the question. “The weakness of an enemy is that it must not know we hold it to truly be valuable.” “An unrevealed weakness is hidden, but a revealed weakness is worked on to be fixed.” “I’m glad you seem to be able to understand that much.” “…….” “Now, go out. I have things to think about.” “Yes…….” He was heading weakly towards the door at his father’s order to leave when he stopped. A sudden question had arisen. “Um… Father.” “If you have something to say, say it quickly.” “You said ‘the enemy’s weakness’ earlier… Does that mean you have defined Young Baron Yandel as an enemy?” Perhaps it was his father’s true feelings that he had accidentally revealed. However, Eltora could not hear the answer. “It’s not something you need to be concerned about. Go out.” “Yes…….” Eltora left his father’s office and headed to his bedroom. Even so, his mind was complex. ‘Young Baron Yandel is the Marquis’s enemy…….’ What kind of scheme is the Marquis plotting? As he was pondering this, his feet stopped in front of his destination. But…… Shudder. For some reason, the hand holding the key was trembling. This room wasn’t the one he had opened earlier, but the room he had lived in for years. Yet, the moment he opened this room, he felt like a beast was sleeping inside. He even heard a hallucination in his ears. [Eltora Terserion.] The low, deep voice that made the listener’s spine tingle. The gaze that seemed to look down on him. And…… […I hope you came prepared to die.] Even the unique feeling that he could not escape no matter what he did in front of this man. In the unpleasant sense of déjà vu, Eltora instinctively thought of one man. Well, it could never be, but. [I first entered this community 22 years ago.] Bjorn Yandel wasn’t even born at that time. “A goblin would laugh if it knew about my delusion.” He chuckled and shook his head. Then, he put the key in and opened the locked door. Click. A typical noble man’s room decorated with armor, a longsword, and a stuffed deer head. As always, it was far from his taste. *** The next morning, I attended breakfast at the Marquis’s invitation. When I arrived, there were only two people in the dining room where the food was laid out. The Marquis, who was seated, and the Dragonkin, who was standing behind him. “Where’s your son?” “He’s resting well.” Usually, wouldn’t the son also attend such a gathering? I did have that question, but I was more comfortable with fewer people at the table. Well, can I take it that he was considerate of me? “Let’s eat.” I started eating and naturally started a conversation. There were still things we needed to finish talking about today. For example, the ‘agreement’ we talked about yesterday. “If there’s anything you want as compensation for our mistake, tell me.” “Before that, there’s one thing I want to confirm.” “Go ahead.” “How long will it take for me to regain my name?” “I’m thinking about three months. This matter has to be perfect.” Three months, huh…… As soon as I heard it, I thought it was too long, but it couldn’t be helped from the Marquis’s point of view. He had to create a flawless record from beginning to end of the two years proving that Bjorn Yandel had infiltrated Noark under the King’s special order. “Until then, your role is also important. If your name spreads before the preparations are complete, there will be those who will be suspicious and investigate.” “Marquis, can’t you stop them?” “I will try to stop them if that happens, but I can’t guarantee that it won’t leak out. The royal palace is like that. It’s impossible to control it perfectly with just one person’s power.” In short, it meant that it was impossible to perfectly control the state institutions unless you were the king, the ruler of this country. It was too anticlimactic for his words, considering he was known for making the king a puppet, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t understand. In fact, the Prime Minister was the second most powerful person in the kingdom, but it wasn’t like he didn’t have any rivals. A prime example was the Kaelurnus Dukedom. One of their bloodlines was the Master of the Magic Tower, and they were a great noble family that had historically been actively involved in the labyrinth business and had a strong influence on large clans. In fact, I heard that the Dukedom had a much more diverse output and a wider range of influence than the Marquisate, which was only good at being the ‘Prime Minister’. “If you’re satisfied with the period, I’d like to hear what you were going to say.” “I want to meet the tribe’s shaman.” “Why?” Well, it’s obvious why you’d ask that. Ah, is it because he’s not a Barbarian? There’s only one reason why a warrior would want to meet a shaman. “Because I need to receive the Spirit Imprint.” The Spirit Imprint that had stopped at stage 6 for some reason. I even bought the materials to go to stage 7, but I couldn’t get the imprint because I was suddenly dragged into the past. Fortunately, Raven was keeping the ‘Soul of the Dead,’ which was the material, as my legacy, so I could get the imprint once the identity issue was resolved. That’s why…… “As I said before, it’s a problem if your name spreads before the preparations are complete—” I interrupted the Marquis. “That’s why I’m asking you to solve that problem. So I don’t have to worry about it.” “So that’s the ‘agreement’ you want.” “Yes, I don’t know what will happen in the next labyrinth, so three months is too long.” At my request, the Marquis closed his eyes for a moment as if in thought. However, perhaps he judged that it wouldn’t be bad for my combat power to increase, given that he was trying to get me to participate in the war. “Alright. I’ll do my best to make sure you can meet the shaman within this month.” “That’s good.” I didn’t bother asking how he would summon the shaman and convince them. That was the Marquis’s job. Looking at how he handles things, he’ll take care of it neatly. Thud. The meal ended when the conversation reached that point. However, we left the empty plates as they were and talked for a long time. Because there were still stories left to share. “You said you were going to form a unit centered around me, do you have a rough idea?” “I’m going to form a unit of thirty people.” “That’ll be a total of five teams. Have you decided who to fill them with?” “Not yet, but there are people I have in mind.” After that, the Marquis rattled off the names of the prospective members he had been watching, and I was quite surprised as I listened. That’s because there were quite a few names that even I, who was weak on the latest information, knew. A member of the Seven Stars. The ace of a large clan. A renowned paladin. A well-known powerhouse in the military, and so on. Is the Marquis trying to create some kind of dream team? “But will those guys join the unit?” “They will. Most of them. I’m planning to promise them huge rewards.” “…If that’s the case.” Realistically, I thought it was unlikely, but seeing him say it so confidently, it must mean that it was possible to some extent. So, we discussed the next topic. “Young Baron Yandel, you will be in charge of one of the three teams. And Ms. Lavien will be in one of those spots.” “So that means I can add four more people besides myself.” “You’re planning to take those two, right?” It was obvious who he was talking about. He must be talking about Erwen and Amelia. ‘By the way, he was aware of Amelia as well. He doesn’t know that she’s from Noark, does he?’ While worrying about that, I nodded. “That’s the plan.” “Then there are only two spots left. If you don’t have anyone in mind, tell me the names you want from the people I mentioned earlier. I’ll bring them in even if I have to offer them better conditions.” Additional personnel, huh…… The first person that came to mind was Raven. There should be at least one mage on the team, and he was reliable in terms of both skill and trustworthiness. But then what about the navigator? I can’t put him in the remaining spot. Should I just put him in the basement until the war is over? ‘I’ll have to discuss this with Amelia later. I’ll have to ask Raven for his opinion before mentioning him to the Marquis.’ I finished my short deliberation and said. “I’ll tell you after I think about it a bit more.” “Alright.” That was the end of today’s conversation. Just as I was about to finish the meeting, the Marquis opened his mouth. “Ah, there’s one more thing I need to tell you.” “……?” “Forming this unit is not something I planned alone.” “What do you mean by that?” “To put it simply, the interests of several forces are intertwined. All I can do is make sure you can lead one of the five teams.” “So? What are you trying to say?” “The commander-in-chief has not been decided yet.” In other words, the position of expedition leader was vacant. “Why is that?” At my words, the Marquis looked at me directly and said. “If the higher-ups decide, would they accept it so easily? No, even if they agree, their patrons won’t allow it.” Right, it’s for political reasons. Seeing that even the Marquis’s capabilities had limitations, there must be quite a few influential people involved in the creation of this unit. Well, it’s a good thing for me, though. I think I know what the Marquis is trying to say. “Anyway…… So, when all thirty people are gathered and the team leaders are decided, we’ve decided to have those who want to compete to choose the right person.” “…….” “If the unit created this time makes a great contribution in the war, the patron of the commander-in-chief will also share a significant portion of that contribution.” The Marquis paused for a moment, looked at my expression, and didn’t say much. “How about it, is it possible?” A short question with a very clear intention. At that, I chuckled. It was wrong to even ask if it was possible. “There’s nothing I can’t do.” To be honest. Although the guys I mentioned earlier were all great, one by one. “If the reward is guaranteed.” There wasn’t anyone who could beat me.