Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 8

“…Why are you giving me this?”

“Does helping someone need a reason?”

Trying to say something I don’t mean makes me feel like I’m growing thorns in my mouth, but it can’t be helped. This approach will work better with this type of person.

I want to become this elf’s night buddy.

It sounds terrible when I say it like that, but it wouldn’t be a bad thing for her either.

Injured, sleep-deprived, and with a pretty face.

No matter how I look at it, her situation is far worse than mine.

She probably knows that, which is why she acted like that just now.

Honestly, I was surprised by her desperation for life just now.

“Like I said before, get treated first. We’ll talk after that.”

“But…”

“I’ll keep watch.”

I turn my back dismissively, and soon I hear a mumbling sound.

It seems she’s chewing herbs to apply to her wounds.

“…It’s done.”

Already? She’s surprisingly good with her hands.

I turn around and see a bandage neatly tied through the torn clothes. It seems like the wariness in her eyes has lessened a bit.

Let’s start by introducing ourselves and slowly close the distance.

“I am Bjorn, son of Yandel.”

“…Erwen.”

“I don’t know what you’re mistaken about. But what you’re thinking won’t happen.”

“Huh? Ah, yes…”

She pretends not to be, but the fear in her eyes is still there.

I thought that would clear up the misunderstanding, but what went wrong?

In the end, I asked directly.

“Why are you so afraid of me?”

“…Barbarians are hostile to elves, aren’t they?”

“Hostile?”

“S-sorry. That’s not what I meant… I don’t want to fight with you.”

She seemed to snap out of it after my question and started acting timid again.

I was just curious, though…

Elves and barbarians are hostile? That’s news to me. They were quite friendly in the game.

What’s going on?

I just stared with a bit of force, and the information I wanted came out smoothly.

“…T-that war ended ten years ago, right? I-I don’t have any hard feelings about it! Really.”

Ten years ago…

I don’t know what happened, but just hearing it makes it sound more like a feud than hostility.

Hmm, so she grew up hearing bad things and is so scared?

The situation has become quite troublesome.

What should I do? Should I look for someone else now?

But the herbs and bandages I already gave her are a bit of a waste…

Okay, let’s just try it.

“I don’t have any hard feelings either.”

“R-really!”

“That’s right. So, Erwen, how about becoming my night buddy?”

“…Night buddy?”

“I’m tired right now. You must be too, and whether we have hard feelings or not, how about we cooperate just for today?”

“Hmm…”

Her eyes suddenly became bright.

Honestly, she’s like a different person from before.

Without rushing, I gave her time, and Erwen, who was deeply contemplating, even frowning, made a condition instead of agreeing.

“I heard that barbarians value their honor as warriors. Can you swear on that? That you won’t harm me first?”

“Swear.”

“O-of course, I’ll promise in the name of my clan too. That I will never harm you first.”

[In Korean culture, it’s like putting your thumb on your tongue and your pinky on your forehead, a gesture of promise].

Of course, I can do that all day long.

However, there’s one issue to address before that.

“I am Bjorn, son of Yandel. Not ‘mister’.”

I don’t care, but our Bjorn is only 20 years old.

***

The contract was established.

We didn’t put our fingerprints, but we did something similar in this culture.

Thanks to that, I learned the elf girl’s real name in the process.

Erwen Fornachi di Tersia.

She was 20 years old, the same age as me.

Whew, I’m glad I’m not the real Bjorn. I’m sure the real Bjorn would think so too. I’m okay, but she’s…

I won’t say it.

“Then, how should we decide the order?”

“I’ll sleep first. That way, you’ll feel more at ease.”

“It’s not really that, but if you insist, I can’t help it…”

In short, it was a welcome offer.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Yes.”

Phew, it worked. If I had to decide with rock-paper-scissors, I would have been in trouble.

My eyes keep closing. Please, I just want to sleep. Is it so hard to get a good night’s sleep?

“Oh! How do we know the time?”

Tsk tsk, that’s why beginners are troublesome.

I took out the watch from my bag and handed it to Erwen.

“It’s an expensive item, so don’t break it.”

“Yes…”

She’s treating it like a sacred object, which is quite reassuring.

“I’ll handle it carefully. Sleep well.”

I put my bag down as a pillow, covered myself with the blanket, and curled up.

And…

Zzzzzzz!

I fell asleep like I was knocked out.

“Mister!”

…It’s Bjorn.

“Mister, wake up. Your time is up.”

I forced my eyes open and got up. I can’t believe it.

Has it already been two hours?

“Here, take the watch.”

Looking at the time, it really has been 2 hours.

Come to think of it, I didn’t even get to do my fake snoring properly. I was going to do it for 10 minutes just in case…

Wow, is this the synergy of the bag and blanket?

It’s scary.

If the mister had lent me this, I wouldn’t have been able to avoid the ambush.

Because I would have been sleeping so comfortably, not knowing anything.

Is it karma in a way?

…In that sense, let’s lend it to her too.

“Cover yourself and sleep. You can use this as a pillow too if you want.”

“Huh? But…”

She says no, but I can see the corners of her mouth turning up.

I decided to pretend I didn’t notice.

“Well, then, I’ll use it gratefully…”

Even though I didn’t offer again, Erwen crawled into the blanket and curled up like a cat. And soon, she started breathing regularly.

She’s sleeping so well in front of a strange man?

Well, she must be exhausted. She must have had a hard day, just like I did.

“Haa…”

I leaned against the wall and opened the watch as a habit.

[22:50]

It feels like it’s been about 5 days, but there’s still more than an hour left before the second day ends.

I want to go back to the city soon. Actually, it’s funny to even say ‘go back’…. If I go back, I’ll just sleep for days.

‘…I guess I’m really getting better if I’m thinking like this.’

I put the watch away and started to ponder. Maybe it’s because I’m having a peaceful time for the first time in a while, but all sorts of thoughts keep popping up.

What happened to me in reality?

Was I reported missing? Probably not yet. Someone would have had to find me first. The company wouldn’t take it seriously for a few days either.

“Heh.”

It’s not for nothing that I haven’t thought about this issue even once until now.

Because it just makes me sad.

If I think that there’s nothing good about going back, my will would be broken.

It’s better not to think about it in many ways.

Even if it’s just self-deception, I’m pretty good at self-hypnosis.

“…”

I intentionally twist the flow of my thoughts.

Yeah, let’s just review what happened in the past two days. Finishing the coming-of-age ceremony, entering the labyrinth, fighting goblins, fighting the mister…

I can praise myself for doing well so far, right?

It was really hard enough to die. There’s no one to praise me, so can’t I do it myself?

Click-

I decided to think about self-praise after returning to the city and opened the watch, and the time was already up.

“Erwen, wake up.”

“Just five more minutes…”

What do you mean five more minutes, wake up already.

“Ugh…”

Erwen rubbed her eyes and got up as I shook her shoulder with a barbarian’s rough hand.

This looks dangerous.

I understand why the mister didn’t trust me back then.

“Just because nothing happened so far doesn’t mean you can fall asleep.”

“Yes…”

I was a little uneasy, but I went back to bed.

Maybe because I borrowed the blanket and bag, there was still warmth left even after I lay down again.

It was kind of ironic.

How long has it been since I felt the warmth of someone other than myself? It’s very unfamiliar.

Maybe even more than everything I’ve experienced in the past two days.

Zzzzzzz!

This time, I had some energy, so I started fake snoring. Honestly, it was more to check if she was doing well without falling asleep than to test her.

…She doesn’t seem to be dozing off.

I glanced at Erwen with my eyes slightly open and let go of my worries and closed my eyes again.

And, how much time has passed?

Thump.

I quickly raised my upper body, feeling a presence.

“Kyaa!”

For some reason, I was holding Erwen’s white wrist.

Judging from the situation, it seemed like she was reaching out to me…

“What are you doing?”

“I-I think you were having a nightmare, and you kept sweating…”

Looking at the handkerchief in her hand, it doesn’t seem like an excuse.

Well, if it was a weapon, I would have hit her with my shield without asking for a reason.

“S-sorry.”

After understanding the situation, I released my grip.

Then, Erwen stroked the part that was grabbed with a painful expression.

It was already red.

I didn’t bother to say sorry. It would be an empty word anyway.

“How much time has passed?”

“…About 10 minutes left until the shift change.”

“I see. Then let’s change now.”

“But…”

“You’ll just get more tired if you sleep now.”

At my words, Erwen lay down with an apologetic expression. And after a little tossing and turning.

“Mister.”

“Is there a problem?”

“No. I was just curious about something.”

“Ask away.”

Erwen hesitated for a moment and then opened her mouth.

“…Who are you, mister?”

What? Is this a wordplay?

“You kept saying sorry in your dreams… Ah, sorry. I was being presumptuous, right? You don’t have to answer. I’m going to sleep now.”

Before I could even answer, Erwen finished talking to herself and covered her head with the blanket.

It seems that this young lady is starting to get curious as she realizes that I’m not that scary.

“Ughhh.”

I stretched lightly and thought about it.

I really don’t remember anything, but judging from what she said, I must have had a real nightmare…

Suddenly, I’m a little curious.

Who was the mister that I was apologizing to?

There are two candidates that come to mind.

The nameless mister who was beheaded at the coming-of-age ceremony, and Hans, the mister who taught me how to be human.

…But when I think about it, both are strange. I’ve never done anything to apologize to either of them.

Soon, I came to a conclusion.

Whatever dream I had, it was just a meaningless dream.

***

[04:30]

The third day has begun. And there are about 10 minutes left until I wake up Erwen.

I looked at Erwen, who was sleeping in a fetal position with the blanket between her legs, and pondered.

The after-application.

In other words, whether to offer her a partnership or not.

Of course, there’s a disadvantage to having a partner, which is that you have to share the loot.

Even though goblins start appearing in groups of three or four from the third day, Erwen’s joining will definitely reduce my income.

It’s not a matter of her strength. Well, since she’s an elf, she’ll be able to do her part…

Is it too much power already?

Even without Erwen, I can easily take down three or four goblins alone.

It’s not arrogance, but I, who have experienced several real battles with this body, really judged it that way.

And I’m in a position where I need to collect as many magic stones as possible to prepare for living expenses in the city and future taxes.

“Haa…”

Safe sleep or more magic stones.

I was constantly pondering to make the most rational choice.

Thump.

I heard the sound of an explorer from the left passage.

It was something that happened several times during my watch, so I wasn’t particularly nervous. Most of them just glance once and pass by.

However…

Thump-

This duo of a chubby guy and a skinny guy stopped walking after looking this way once.

And they whispered to each other.

“Isn’t that the elf?”

“I think so. The shape of the bow matches.”

After whispering and coming to a conclusion, the chubby guy asked me as a representative.

“Barbarian, what’s your relationship with that elf?”

“As you can see, we’re night buddies.”

“A barbarian and an elf as night buddies, I’m seeing a rare case. So, how much time is left?”

“I have no business answering you.”

The chubby guy didn’t ask further at my answer.

He just smiled and left with the skinny guy next to him.

“I see. Let’s go.”

“Huh? O-okay…”

Soon, the presence of the duo disappeared from the surroundings.

But I couldn’t relax.

What the hell are these guys? It’s as ominous as when the chief shouted in front of me.

I slowly moved to the side and tapped Erwen’s shoulder, who was sleeping.

“Ugh…”

Hey, are you sleeping in this situation?

Wake up quickly.

I have a feeling we’re screwed.