Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 450

The moment I climbed out of the pit after finishing my duel with the tribal chief, the warriors who had been shouting excitedly suddenly fell silent and stared at me. They looked like they were waiting for me to say something.

“Behel—raaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

When I let out a battle cry, the warriors seemed satisfied and shouted along with me. Ugh, my ears hurt.

Swish.

As I was being cheered by so many warriors, I looked down into the pit and saw the elders leading the defeated tribal chief away. The end of a loser looked so desolate. No warrior paid any attention to the retreating figure of the loser. It might seem heartless, but it was perfectly natural in this culture. The division between victor and loser was simply the law of nature. Nothing more, nothing less.

Thump-! Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!

Nothing was prepared, but the festival started right away. Warriors who could play instruments beat drums, and warriors who had no talent just pounded their chests with their fists. Everyone danced haphazardly and raised their cups high. They cut down trees on the spot and made a big fire, and they grilled meat that I didn’t know where it came from and shared it with the warriors. And that time continued until the sun began to set.

“Great warrior!! Where are you going!!”

“Shh.”

I slipped out of the center of the noisy festival and headed towards the residential area. The warriors I encountered along the way said something to me, but they were all more interested in having fun than congratulating me, so they didn’t pay much attention.

Thud, thud.

The further I got from the center of the festival, the darker and quieter the surroundings became.

Thump-! Thump-!

A forest path where the sound of drums echoed faintly in the distance. Ainar, who had been missing since the middle of the festival, was walking towards me from the other side.

“Bjorn? What are you doing here?”

Ainar seemed puzzled that I, the protagonist of the festival, had come to such a remote place instead of enjoying the festivities.

“I was just going to see the tribal chief. Where is he?”

“In the tent he was using.”

“Is he awake?”

“Well, he was sleeping until a little while ago.”

“So you were coming from that way?”

“I guess… I was a little worried.”

“Is that so?”

I didn’t bother to ask what he was so worried about. Wasn’t Ainar the one who had been sticking close to the tribal chief and learning things after I was reported dead? He must have felt strange. He must have had a lot to say.

“Anyway, congratulations, Bjorn! I found out later that you’re the first! There has never been a warrior who became a tribal chief at such a young age like you!”

“In short, I’m the youngest?”

“Y-yes! That’s it! The youngest! Isn’t that amazing?”

Well, it’s information I didn’t know, but it doesn’t really feel real.

“Anyway, if you’re going to see the tribal chief, why don’t we go together?”

“But weren’t you coming from there?”

“Haha! What does that matter? I was on my way to you anyway!”

“If you say so.”

I walked towards the tribal chief’s tent with Ainar, exchanging a few words. Most of it was about the duel, and then about the tribal chief’s current condition. His injuries were almost completely healed?

“The elders are all stingy! They said it was an injury that would heal without potions, so they just stood there, and I ended up pouring potions on him! Does that make any sense?!”

“……”

“It’s the same with the coming-of-age ceremony! I said that at least they should send them off with proper shoes! The stubborn elders keep talking about tradition. Even though I’m so reasonable!”

“Ainar.”

“Huh?”

“In that case, you should say it’s irrational.”

“Ah… is that so?”

When I corrected his word, Ainar scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed expression.

And……

Thud, thud.

We walked quietly along the forest path for a while without talking. It was when the tribal chief’s tent was slowly coming into view that Ainar spoke again.

“Bjorn.”

Ainar slowed his pace, stood behind me, and then tapped my shoulder as if pushing me forward.

“After all, no matter how I think about it, you’re better than me. You’re smart, strong, and the warriors follow you without you having to do anything.”

So, you weren’t okay either.

“Aina—”

I turned around to say something, but Ainar cut me off.

“So, please take care of us.”

“……?”

“Because you can do a hundred and fifty times better than me! All the other warriors will think so too!”

I didn’t know where the calculation of 150 times came from, but I just nodded.

“Okay.”

“Really? Then that’s good. Go on. You’ve arrived at your destination. I’m going to go back and join the warriors and have some fun and rest.”

“Okay. See you later.”

With that, Ainar turned his back and went back down the forest path, and I entered the tribal chief’s tent.

“You’ve come.”

Surprisingly, the tribal chief was awake. And he looked quite fine. Was it thanks to the potion Ainar used? There was still some swelling all over his body, but that was about it.

Creak.

Without the homeowner’s permission, I took out a chair that looked like it belonged to a barbarian and sat down.

“Are you okay?”

“Not enough for you to worry about.”

“Is that so?”

Well, I was just asking out of courtesy. The introduction was enough, so I immediately got to the point.

“When are you going to give me the position of tribal chief?”

“Tomorrow, as soon as the morning breaks.”

This was an answer I hadn’t expected.

“I thought it would take a while since you had to contact the other warriors.”

“By now, your story must have spread throughout the city. Anyone who’s coming will come on their own.”

Well… he’s not wrong. As the festival continued, the number of warriors who heard the news and came to find us began to increase exponentially.

“But… you seem very relieved considering how hard you fought?”

My second question was out of personal curiosity.

“I’ve always thought it was a position that didn’t suit me. Of course, I’m still upset that I lost.”

“I see.”

“So, why did you come to see me?”

The tribal chief asked as if he was sure I had other business, and I chuckled and brought up my real business.

“I want to hear about the king.”

“…The king?”

“Yes, what kind of person is the king?”

I was going to become the tribal chief tomorrow. It was time to find out the dark secrets of the kingdom surrounded by walls.

***

“The king……”

The tribal chief leaned against the wall and smiled bitterly.

“Just once.”

“Huh?”

“It was just once. That I met him.”

That was a bit unexpected. I thought he knew a lot about the king because he had spoken so fearfully about him last time.

“It was when the Holy Relic War was coming to an end… it must have been about 13 years ago. It was when I had just become the tribal chief. I saw him for the first time at the tribal council that I attended with the ambition to revive our declining tribe.”

The tribal chief’s breathing was rough as he fixed his gaze on the empty air, as if the memories of that day were coming back to him.

“What… what happened there?”

“At first, it was no different from the usual council. The dwarf and the beastman were just talking about something I didn’t understand, and I was busy bickering with the elf and the old mage from the Magic Tower who attended the council as the human representative.”

“The Magic Tower? Shouldn’t the human representative be the king?”

“It should be, but that’s always been the case since I became the tribal chief. Always, another human attended the council as a representative instead of the king.”

“I see……”

That was new information to me. As a mere warrior, it was difficult to get information about the tribal council where representatives of each tribe gathered.

“Anyway, that’s why that day was special.”

The king’s visit, which was hard to see even once in a lifetime. However, the tribal chief said that he still didn’t know why the king had appeared during the council.

“I was in the middle of a fight with the old mage from the Magic Tower when I came to my senses and he was there. None of us knew who he was. One of us even tried to kick him out, asking who he was. But……”

“…But?”

“It was just one word.”

‘Kneel, my servants.’

The moment that one word came out of the king’s mouth, the tribal chiefs forgot the words they were about to say and their questions, and they blankly got up and knelt before him. And……

“I didn’t even know who he was yet, but the words came out of our mouths on their own.”

“What did you say?”

“We greet Your Majesty, the King.”

The tribal chief added that it was a truly eerie experience even when he thought about it again. He felt an absolute powerlessness that eliminated even the will to resist in that short moment?

Of course, what I was interested in was a different part.

‘Mind control ability… is he a mage?’

Indeed, what is the source of the king’s power? First of all, there is no essence that controls the target without any touch in the labyrinth [a magical dungeon]. So, if there is a possibility, it’s magic. However, when I brought up that guess, the tribal chief shook his head firmly.

“It was different from magic or essence. It was like there was power in his voice. It felt like it was imprinted in my blood and soul from birth. That he was my king, my master.”

The more I heard his story, the more confused I became, but I listened to the rest of the story.

“So, what happened next?”

“Nothing much. He just looked around at us as if he was looking for someone and said, ‘He’s not here,’ and left. And then we were finally able to take the breath we had been holding back.”

That was the whole story of our tribal chief’s encounter with the king. Before I started to deduce, I checked a few things.

“How strong were the tribal chiefs at the time? Well… most of them were probably similar to me.”

The king’s ‘mind control ability’ was not enough to be called absolute. Because he controlled five upper-level explorers above the 8th floor with just one word. Moreover, the range of control seemed to be unlimited.

“You think it was an easy command so we couldn’t resist? That’s ridiculous. I’d rather die than kneel before a human I’ve never seen before.”

The tribal chief was sure. If the king had ordered him to die, he would have died on the spot.

‘If it’s not essence or magic… what kind of magic did the king use?’

I don’t know. But fortunately, there is still room to turn the hope circuit [a metaphor for maintaining optimism].

“Ah, come to think of it, the old mage from the Magic Tower also realized who he was after we knelt and then knelt after us.”

Maybe it doesn’t work on humans. That’s a guess, but it’s not certain. It’s also possible that the king only used his power on the tribal chiefs.

‘……Anyway, it’s certain that the king has such an ability.’

Still, I thought this was a good gain, and I asked one last thing.

“What did the king look like? Did he look sick?”

“……I don’t remember. What age he was, whether he was a woman or a man, even the voice that pierced my ears……”

Hmm… is it possible that the king can also manipulate memories? No, maybe he used some kind of magic or item. Unlike mind control, there are many things that can produce similar effects.

“Well, are your questions about the king answered now?”

“To some extent.”

“Is that so? I’m glad to hear that.”

The tribal chief waved his hand as if to tell me to leave now that my business was over. And……

‘Something’s a bit strange.’

That attitude held my feet.

“Tribal chief, can I ask you one last thing?”

“Hurry up.”

“Why do you seem so indifferent? It’s not like you don’t know what I’m going to do as the tribal chief.”

In the past, the tribal chief told me, ‘If we hate humans, there is no place for us to live. So, even if it’s irrational, we have to endure it.’ From an outsider’s point of view, it was a bit frustrating, but it was a valid point from the tribal chief’s point of view. But……

“Why should I care about that? I’m not the tribal chief anymore.”

The tribal chief chuckled as if he had heard something strange.

“From tomorrow, I’m just one barbarian.”

Not the tribal chief, but one warrior.

“And……”

The tribal chief spoke to me as a warrior.

“Since ancient times, we have always been on the side that clashes. How about that, is that an answer?”

“……Enough.”

“Good. Then I’m hungry, so get out of here.”

At the tribal chief’s eviction order, I left the tent and went into any tent and fell asleep. And the next morning.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!!!”

In front of more than ten thousand warriors.

“Warriors, I, Bjorn, son of Yandel, swear in the name of a warrior!”

There would be no one who would understand if I said difficult words. Short and concise.

“We will become stronger, we will regain everything we have lost, and we will go further!”

I declared, looking at the walls beyond the forest. And……

「The character’s position in the tribe has been changed from ‘General Warrior’ to ‘Tribal Chief’.」

「A special stat ‘Support’ has been created.」

That’s how I became a Barbarian Lord.

***

「The character’s support has increased by +1.」

「The character’s support has increased by +1.」

「The character’s support has increased by +1.」

「The character’s support has increased by +1.」

「The character’s support has increased by +1……」

「……」

「……」