Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 622

When you spend a long time rolling around in a labyrinth with your comrades, you reach a point where you can communicate just by exchanging glances.

Just like now.

‘I don’t know what it is, but let’s grab it first.’

My comrades, having received my signal, nodded and drew their weapons.

And at that moment.

“So, you’re not planning to answer willingly.”

Coincidentally, the enemy leader made the same judgment as me and charged at us.

“Subdue them first!”

The enemy’s numbers were fourteen, including their leader.

The fact that it wasn’t a multiple of six, which would allow for better coordination, made me feel unnecessarily uncomfortable, but…

Well, this isn’t a labyrinth; it’s the middle of the city.

「The character has activated [Giantification].」

「The character’s physique has increased, and threat level and physical stats increase in proportion to size.」

Not knowing the enemy’s level, I increased my body size first. However, after growing larger, something seemed to dawn on them.

The guys who were suddenly charging stopped in confusion.

“B, Bjorn Yandel…?”

“…It’s a giant!”

“Why is the guy who was said to be missing here…?”

Well, I appreciate them recognizing me, but…

“R, run away!”

“We need to request support—!”

Where do you think you’re going now?

***

It didn’t take long to subdue all the Noark forces we encountered in the ruined dimensional plaza.

Well, the number of people did decrease from fourteen to twelve in the process.

Ah, it goes without saying, but it’s not because we missed them.

They just died while trying to escape.

‘They were more skilled than I thought.’

The way they scattered like cockroaches was like they had often practiced running away together.

Two of them, who were quick on their feet, were almost impossible to capture alive.

“Good job, Erwen. It could have become troublesome if we had missed them.”

“…You’re welcome.”

Anyway, now that the subjugation was over, I approached the kneeling guys.

‘Twelve people.’

Definitely a much more manageable number than before.

“Emily, strip the equipment off the dead guys, including the ones who died.”

Not knowing how much time we have, I decided to loot and interrogate at the same time.

This guy would be the best to talk to, right?

“…Ugh!”

I grabbed the head of the leader, who had been keeping his mouth shut and head down since being subdued, and lifted it up.

“Hey, Eyeball.”

When I called him that, Ainar tilted his head.

“Huh? Bjorn, do you know this guy?”

“I don’t?”

“Huh? But how do you know his name?”

“…What are you talking about? I just called him Eyeball because I didn’t like his eyes.”

How else would a person’s name be Eyeball?

Looking at Ainar, he really doesn’t have any prejudices.

“Haha… I thought so…”

Ainar scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed expression, and I habitually tuned him out.

“Anyway… Hey, Eyeball.”

I called him again, but Eyeball didn’t answer, and regardless, I asked him.

“We’ve returned to the city after a long time, so why the hell are you guys here?”

As expected, there was no answer, and I immediately struck with my hammer.

Not the leader, but…

Crack-!

At the hand of a subordinate next to him.

“Aaaargh!!!”

Subordinate A screamed in pain, greatly surprised by the sudden attack.

Starting with him, I smashed one hand of each of them in order with my hammer.

And then I asked the leader again.

“We’ve returned to the city after a long time, so why the hell are you guys here?”

The same question as before.

Of course, there was no answer, and I started with Subordinate A and struck with my hammer.

Not anywhere else, but at the already broken hand.

Crack-! Crack-! Crack-!

I repeated the same question to the leader once more, and again, there was no answer.

However…

“… !”

Seeing the subordinates clench their eyes shut, it seemed they understood the rules of this interrogation.

“Grab them well this time, Auyen.”

“Yes… !”

As I mechanically struck them one by one again, one of the subordinates shouted urgently.

“I, I can!”

“…Huh?”

“I can answer that question!”

“Oh, really?”

It was a result I had somewhat induced, so I wasn’t surprised, but perhaps it was different for the leader, who was watching Subordinate G’s betrayal.

“You trashy bastard… !”

Eyeball, who had been silent all along, glared at Subordinate G.

However, true to his Noark macho society roots, Subordinate G was not easily intimidated.

“Damn it, what do you want me to do? You can just keep your mouth shut, but we’re getting wrecked.”

“…Do you think that guy will spare you if you do that!”

“Probably not. But isn’t it better to die with less pain? What’s the point of being loyal when you’re going to die anyway?”

“If your betrayal is known, your family in the village will never—”

“Ugh! Spit! You moron. Didn’t you even know that your subordinate is an orphan with no family?”

“…”

In my opinion, Subordinate G was the clear winner.

Eyeball couldn’t refute his logical and selfish words.

Of course, he seemed like he was about to curse him belatedly, but…

“You son of a—”

“Quiet.”

“Cough-!”

There was no reason to waste time watching a petty fight.

“Okay, that’s enough, tell me. Why the hell are you guys here?”

After silencing Eyeball, I asked, and Subordinate G explained what had happened in the city while we were gone.

To summarize, it was simple.

First, about two months ago.

The remnants of Noark who had gone outside the city walls secretly entered the underground city, their old residential area.

It was to invade Lapdonia.

“An invasion…?”

“…They’re out of their minds.”

My comrades, who were listening to the story, were surprised, and Amelia shook her head as if she couldn’t believe it, but I wasn’t that surprised.

I had heard about it from the clown at the Round Table before.

‘I didn’t expect them to put it into action so quickly, though.’

Perhaps because Bersil was next to me when the clown told this story, he seemed much calmer than the other comrades.

“So? What’s the war situation? Did you guys win? Is that why District 7 is in this state?”

“No… we didn’t win. It’s just a temporary lull.”

“…Tell me in detail.”

“Two days ago, we went up to the city through the sewers and launched a surprise attack on several districts of Lavigion, and we succeeded in occupying them in one day.”

“Two days ago…?”

After hearing more, I realized that today was exactly one day after the labyrinth was closed.

“They deliberately targeted the time when the explorers were in the labyrinth. It’s also after a significant portion of the royal family’s forces entered the labyrinth.”

“Yes, that’s right…”

After hearing this, the first thought that came to my mind was, why am I so unlucky?

Everything had been quiet, and I finally returned, but it happened to be the time when the city was being invaded.

Is it true that an unlucky guy will break his nose no matter where he falls?

“I’m listening, so keep talking without stopping.”

“Ah, yes…”

After that, Subordinate G told us about the war situation so far.

They targeted the gap between the 1st day when the labyrinth opened and the 2nd day when the explorers returned.

Thanks to that, they easily drove out the district’s security forces and succeeded in occupying the city.

And…

“Yesterday, we surrounded the explorers who returned to the city at the dimensional plaza, subdued them all at once, and are now holding them hostage, facing off against the royal family’s forces.”

Finally, the current situation.

“The royal family also values their lives more than the lives of ordinary citizens, so they can’t easily push in.”

“But why were you guys here?”

“We were on patrol. Just in case the royal family might send intruders, and we also had to find hidden remnants. Then, our patrol’s mage said he felt something near the plaza…”

“Are there more patrols?”

“Not in this area, but…”

The way he trailed off seemed like he had more to say but was hesitating.

It was time to use my trump card.

“It’s okay, tell me. If it helps, I’m willing to spare you. No, I swear on my honor as a warrior that I will definitely let you live.”

The warrior’s oath, which I had used effectively since the beginning.

Subordinate G, who heard this, seemed to hesitate for a moment before revealing his inner thoughts.

“It’s almost time for the regular report. If we don’t report on time, other patrols will come here—”

“You bastard…!!”

Perhaps it was the last bastion he had believed in.

Eyeball couldn’t stand it and went berserk as Subordinate G started spilling everything.

Ugh, so annoying.

“Can you do this regular report?”

“Yes. I can. I’ve done it a few times. He often passed it on to me because it was annoying.”

“Is that so?”

“You bastard! How much have I—!”

Then he’s useless now.

Crack-!

Subordinate G only flinched for a moment but quickly regained his composure, even though his superior’s head was smashed in front of him.

“There should be a message stone among the luggage you took earlier. If you give it to me, I’ll take care of everything.”

“I guess this is it.”

At Subordinate G’s words, Amelia, who had been watching from the side, immediately found the message stone and handed it over.

“Okay, then do it. Don’t even think about doing anything useless.”

“Yes…”

After that, Subordinate G received the message stone and sent a report to the higher-ups saying that everything was fine, and it was completed without any problems, probably because he had a history of doing it.

Therefore, it was time to continue the conversation again.

“Anyway, you said several districts, but exactly which ones?”

“District 13 and District 7.”

“Ha…”

“Why, why are you doing that…? Did I make a mistake…?”

I’m really cursed with bad luck.

Out of all the districts, they invaded two, and why did it have to be our District 7?

A sigh came out endlessly, but I pulled myself together and continued the conversation.

“Okay, tell me. What happened to the sacred grounds?”

District 13 has the sacred ground of the beastmen, and District 7 has the sacred ground of our barbarians.

As the chieftain of the barbarians, I couldn’t help but worry about the sacred grounds first.

“The sacred grounds are currently cut off from the city.”

“Cut off?”

“I, I’m just a low-ranking soldier, so I don’t know well, but… they say they used a magic circle created by the royal family a long time ago. There’s also a rumor that it was created to control other races at any time… but this is just something we say among ourselves, so it’s not certain.”

Subordinate G, who said that, added this, perhaps realizing belatedly that I was the chieftain of the barbarians.

“B, but thanks to the fact that there was a way to cut it off completely, there will be relatively less damage to the sacred grounds.”

Relatively.

From that word, I could tell that there was damage to the sacred grounds, but…

Well, what can I do?

I just have to be grateful that it’s relatively less.

“District 13… what happened to the beastmen?”

Misha, worried about her hometown, also chimed in, but it was difficult to get a detailed answer.

“That’s a different district, so I don’t know well… but it’s probably not much different there.”

“Okay… I see…”

Misha, who was worried about her hated family even in this situation, bit her lip tightly.

“Yandel, it seems like we’ve gotten most of the necessary information. How about we move from this place first?”

“Move?”

“There’s always a chance. If we get surrounded in this place, it will be difficult even for us.”

Following Amelia’s advice, we decided to leave the place for now. Even if the regular report went well, someone might find us.

“Then, get rid of the rest except for him. Make sure there are no traces.”

“What about him?”

Amelia glanced at Subordinate G after hearing my instructions.

And…

“We’ll take him alive.”

Subordinate G stood up abruptly at my answer.

“I, I believed in you. Baron! That you would keep your oath!”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Amelia let out a hollow laugh as she watched.

Well, she knows that I’m a con artist barbarian who doesn’t place any value on oaths.

‘But I can’t break it too easily with Ainar here.’

Of course, the biggest reason was that I still had more to hear from him.

Chiiiiik-!

After erasing the traces of the corpses with Bersil’s magic and Amelia’s exploration tools, we moved while hiding our presence as much as possible.

Since the entire District 7 was occupied by the Noark guys, we had to find a hideout to hide in for the time being…

“How about the house we used to live in? It shouldn’t be too far from here…”

Following Erwen’s suggestion, we headed to the mansion where we had taken out a mortgage in the past.

It had high walls and a basement, making it a suitable place in many ways.

However, in a city that had become a battlefield, there was no way that house would be intact.

“Oh, no… my house of memories… I was going to save up money and buy it again later…!”

The mansion, which we arrived at while avoiding the eyes of other patrols, had its second floor collapsed as if it had been hit by fire magic, and there were burn marks everywhere.

“It’s not bad though. Only the outside is like this; the first floor is fine. The appearance will also help us hide. The wall is a bit broken, but it’s not enough to see inside from the angle.”

Amelia gave it a suitable rating, and we carefully entered the building.

And…

“Auyen. From now on, we’re going to have a conversation among ourselves, so lock that guy in the basement.”

“Yes.”