Surviving The Game As A Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 566

“Hey, Baron Yandel…?”

As I stepped onto the shore, I saw the knights stiffen, startled by my appearance.

Well, from their perspective, it must seem like a ghost has returned.

After all, Jerome had forcibly thrown me into a death trap while I was unconscious.

“Are you… alright…?”

A knight, sensing something was off, didn’t approach but spoke from a distance. However, for some reason, he couldn’t make eye contact with me.

Is he feeling guilty or something?

“Bring Count Saintred here. I have something to tell him.”

“Yes? Ah… Yes! I’ll go inform him right away!”

One of the knights guarding near the trees dashed off, and soon, Jerome Saintred appeared with a large group of knights.

He stared at me for a long time, as if examining my very being, before finally speaking.

“I’ll take over here, so everyone else can rest for a while.”

Okay, so I’m safe for now?

Even while thinking that, I made sure to maintain a blank expression.

After all, this is the core of this plan.

To make Jerome think I’m the village chief.

“……”

Even though we were in a position to talk quietly, silence lingered for a while.

I was the one who broke the silence first.

“Don’t worry. The ritual was successfully completed.”

A way of speaking that Bjorn, the son of the Barbarian warrior Yandel, would never use.

Only then, as if relieved, did Jerome open his mouth.

“It’s a relief that it was successful. Now, give me ‘that’ as promised.”

“……”

“Are you having second thoughts now? If so, I hope you’ll give up on it quickly. If you don’t, you won’t be able to live properly with that body, even outside—”

“I have no regrets. However, there was something I couldn’t tell you back then…”

As I trailed off, Jerome looked at me with an expression that urged me to explain.

“That item is currently in a state where it cannot be moved.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“It’s as I said. When I opened my eyes in this body, there was a dimensional stone next to me. And… that item was combined with the dimensional stone. I tried many times, but I failed to separate the item.”

Surprisingly, half of this story is true.

It was only when I opened a portal to escape from this place that it fell off? It was also then that I realized that I couldn’t use a portal with a monster’s body.

However, Jerome, who didn’t know this fact, was greatly angered.

“Damn it. Why are you only saying this now?”

“There’s a priority in everything, isn’t there?”

“Are you calling that an excuse now—!”

“What’s the problem? You were trying to get that item for the king anyway. Just bring it here and use it. Besides, I couldn’t find a way to separate the item, but maybe you can.”

When I pushed back shamelessly, Jerome shut his mouth.

Rather than suppressing his anger, it felt like he was calmly assessing the situation…

“…Directly.”

Soon, Jerome’s tightly closed mouth opened.

“I need to check it myself.”

“Hmm, then I’ll have all the warriors leave the village. So, after we leave, you can slowly—”

“No, you can’t go anywhere until the check is complete.”

…Yeah, I knew you’d say that.

“Do as you please.”

Now, it’s up to the village chief.

***

The village of monsters hidden under the trees.

The order given to the exploration team that finally arrived there was neither to charge nor to annihilate.

“Stand by until further instructions are given!”

An indefinite standby order.

However, the knights, priests, and mages in the exploration team swallowed nervously with tense faces.

There was a very simple reason.

They weren’t just standing by, but standing by while facing hundreds of village warriors.

“Evost, if those monsters move or show any suspicious signs, charge in and kill them immediately.”

“Understood.”

“And make sure to ‘assist’ Baron Yandel well while I’m gone.”

Judging by the nuance when he said ‘assist,’ it seemed he had explained the situation to the vice-commander to some extent.

Given his personality, it wouldn’t be in detail, but he probably just told him to watch me so I wouldn’t approach my companions or do anything.

“But are you really going to be alright alone?”

“I’m fine. If you do your part here, there won’t be anything dangerous.”

In fact, Jerome’s actions were not reckless.

After all, he believes that the village chief has possessed my body.

If he keeps the village monsters tied up like this, there’s nothing particularly threatening in the village.

“Ahem…”

Soon, as Jerome entered the village alone, the vice-commander awkwardly coughed and approached me.

Regardless, I continued my thoughts.

‘Now, what’s going to happen…?’

The village chief said.

If Jerome Saintred could be made to come to that cave alone, he would take care of the rest.

He was so confident that I agreed.

In the first place, even if the village chief failed, I wouldn’t lose much.

Whether the village chief subdues Jerome and takes his body.

Or Jerome counterattacks and kills the village chief.

Either way, it wouldn’t be bad for me.

Of course, if Jerome returns alive, it would be revealed that I had colluded with the village chief…

‘But I was going to betray him anyway.’

Should I call it even?

There would be lingering bad feelings, but since both sides are at fault, we could reconcile through conversation.

‘If the village chief wins, there are advantages as well.’

Therefore, I entrusted the climax of the plan entirely to the village chief.

He wanted it that way in the first place.

The only thing I’m worried about is if the two of them collude again while I’m gone and betray me…

‘I’m so anxious. Why isn’t there a single trustworthy bastard, whether it’s the village chief or Jerome?’

The more I thought about it, the more pessimistic I became, so I stopped thinking about it.

After all, I do have a plan for that situation as well.

For now, the best thing to do is to watch the situation.

“Evost, can I talk to my companions for a moment?”

Just in case, I made that request to the vice-commander, but it was rejected without a shred of room for negotiation.

“I’m sorry. After the commander returns, I will strongly request that the Baron be allowed to speak with his companions, so please wait until then.”

“…Understood.”

I was worried about my captured companions, but I quickly gave up. Judging by his stubborn attitude, it didn’t seem like any persuasion would work.

‘…I need to ask Misha about the Stone of Rebirth too.’

Of course, I’m not really asking out of curiosity, but rather to confirm the facts.

The source of the Stone of Rebirth is 100% Baekho.

I can roughly guess what his purpose was in giving this to Misha.

‘Ha… that bastard always does this whenever I think I can trust him.’

Honestly, I don’t even feel betrayed anymore.

I’m just tired of his persistence.

“Hoo…”

Anyway, as I was being watched by the knights and thinking about various things, time passed quickly.

And…

“The Count has returned… !”

Jerome Saintred, who had entered the village alone, returned and stood before me.

I felt inexplicably nervous.

‘Is it the village chief, or is it him?’

The answer was soon revealed.

Soon, the commander of the exploration team reached out his hand to me.

“Baron Yandel, thank you. Thanks to you, we were able to get rid of that guy.”

So, he succeeded.

***

I don’t know what happened in the place where they were alone.

The only thing I know is this.

‘The village chief won.’

The village chief succeeded in subduing Jerome Saintred and taking his body.

In short, the entire exploration team, composed of the royal family’s elite personnel, had been completely taken over by some strange guy.

Now, the command of this exploration team is in our hands.

“Evost, release all of Baron Yandel’s companions.”

“…Yes? But…”

“You don’t have to worry. Everything I did to the Baron was just a tactic to deceive the ‘village chief’.”

“…Yes?”

Our vice-commander seemed confused by the change in his superior’s stance, so I stepped in and spoke.

“The village chief had a way to secretly watch everything that happened on the island. So, to deceive him, we needed to deceive everyone, including you, first.”

“Yes? Then…”

“It was all an act from the beginning. To easily catch that village chief.”

With that, I didn’t explain the details.

There wasn’t enough time to go into detail, and there was a chance that a mistake could occur…

“Baron Yandel, you’ve worked hard. That acting must not have been easy.”

“Haha! This much is nothing!”

Even though the vice-commander didn’t easily understand, he couldn’t say anything when he saw the two of us laughing and chatting.

If we say so, what can he do?

Besides, people tend to want to believe situations that are positive for them.

“Well… I did think it was a bit strange. I thought there was a reason and followed along… but it seemed like the commander was using Baron Yandel as a disposable pawn…”

In the end, if all these situations were part of a collaboration between me and Jerome, no trouble would arise.

Is that why?

The members of the exploration team felt a bit suspicious, but they didn’t doubt our words themselves.

‘The first hurdle has been cleared smoothly.’

In fact, convincing the exploration team with this excuse was very important.

That way, the village chief, who will live as Jerome Saintred, won’t suffer any losses, and the next plan can proceed naturally.

‘The problem is that we can’t get caught before that…’

Of course, I’m not particularly worried about this part either.

I could tell how thorough this guy was just by looking at what happened afterward.

“Commander… ! The monsters have started rampaging!”

“It seems those guys have finally realized their leader is dead.”

Soon, as the monsters who were facing off shouted something in an ancient language and roared, the village chief gave an order without any hesitation.

“All troops, charge! Annihilate the monsters!”

An order directed at the subordinates he had been using like limbs until recently.

“Nia Lapdonia… !”

As the exploration team charged and launched an all-out attack, the monsters were helplessly slaughtered.

They couldn’t even put up a proper resistance.

It wasn’t because they had lost their center of gravity, the village chief.

“What… what did you do to make them unable to even resist properly?”

“It’s nothing much.”

“…?”

“I just told them to fight moderately and then die. They’re useless now, aren’t they?”

…What kind of bastard is this?

Apart from the fact that I felt a chill down my spine, I could understand his actions.