Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Barbarian Couple Crosses the Border (1)
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The next morning.
The time to depart had arrived.
The Eisen Baron, who had spent the night in the yurt, emerged looking like a round snowman once more, bundled up in three layers of fur clothing.
All preparations were complete.
The tribe members had all come out to see us off.
"Sniff... My baby... Our little puppy..."
Baba the Elder clung to Kara and wouldn't let go.
Her wrinkled hands stroked Kara's back without pause.
"Don't skip meals... Don't tough it out if you're sick... Write letters, okay..."
"I got it, Elder. Don't cry. I'll be back before you know it."
Kara's eyes reddened as she patted the Elder's back.
The other tribe members clapped my shoulders and wished me luck.
"Barg! Go flatten the Empire bastards' noses!"
"Show 'em the might of the Winter Claw Tribe!"
Amid the boisterous farewells, Gorgon stepped out from the tent.
There was no trace of his usual mischief on his face—only grim resolve.
Something was clutched in both his hands.
The crowd fell silent.
Gorgon approached Kara and held out a sleek sword shimmering with a blue hue.
"Kara, take this."
"...What's this?"
"I saw the sword you used in the last war. The edge was all chipped and turned into a saw. Can't have you heading to the Empire swinging a club like that."
The scabbard Gorgon offered bore an intricate wolf emblem symbolizing the Winter Claw Tribe.
Freshly whetted and oiled, a chill emanated from the blade.
"It's the sword your mother wielded, Frostwind. I overhauled it completely after your wedding."
"...!"
Kara took the sword with trembling hands.
The spot on the cold scabbard where Gorgon had gripped it still held warmth.
It felt like it carried her mother's warmth and her father's care.
Kara clutched the sword to her chest and bowed deeply.
"Mom's sword... I'll treasure it."
Gorgon roughly patted Kara's head, then turned to me.
"And Barg. Here, your axe."
He tossed me the battered double-headed axe I always used.
Thud.
I caught it deftly, as always.
The hefty grip felt perfect.
It was like an extension of myself, molded to my hand.
But something was off.
'Huh?'
Truth be told, this axe had been gathering dust in the warehouse corner since the war with the Blood Fang Tribe.
It was so thick and brutish it never broke, but the edge had dulled, and bloodstains were caked on thick.
Plus, I'd been too wrapped up in sweet newlywed life with Kara to bother with weapon maintenance.
Yet the axe in my hand now gleamed like a mirror.
The edge was razor-sharp, and the handle was wrapped neatly in fresh leather straps untouched by sweat.
'Dad...'
He must have spent every night while we slept grinding and polishing it on the whetstone.
Couldn't stand seeing his son tote around a rusty axe, I guess.
My chest tightened with emotion just then.
Thwack—!
"Ow!"
Fire exploded on my forehead out of nowhere.
Gorgon had flicked his iron-hard finger right into my brow with a solid knuckle rap.
The crisp, vicious smack echoed, and the Eisen Baron beside me let out a "Eek!" and started trembling like a quaking aspen.
He reflexively twisted his hands behind him, clutching his back and shoulders as he shrank away.
Like a conditioned response.
'Ah... I get it.'
I rubbed my forehead and glanced at the Eisen Baron.
Twenty years ago, in his prime, Gorgon must have pounded that guy's back yelling, "Hahaha! Good to see you, friend!" I could picture it without even seeing.
Gorgon's grip could crush bears—and that was peak strength.
Even I, who turn most pain into raw power, was dying from it, yet this civil servant had to take it smiling on his back.
That trauma was pure terror of Gorgon's 'brute strength'.
"Hey, why'd you hit me?"
I grumbled, pretending not to notice the Baron's pitiful shakes.
"You punk—even if the honeymoon's sweet, that's no excuse! I drilled it into you till my mouth went dry: weapon care is a warrior's foundation, a discipline of the soul!"
Gorgon tsked and scolded me.
"A husband to one woman now, soon a father—and your axe looks like that? Tsk tsk."
I rubbed my throbbing forehead and grinned sheepishly.
Next chieftain to lead the tribe, sworn protector of one woman.
But to Gorgon, I was still just his needy, immature son.
His gruff nagging brimmed with love, so I played up the whine and bowed my head.
"I'll keep it in mind. My discipline's been lacking."
That's when I noticed crude letters newly engraved at the base of the handle.
First Snow Fang
"...?"
I squinted and read it aloud.
"...First Snow Fang? Dad, what's this? I told you naming weapons is embarrassing how many times..."
"Quiet!"
Gorgon grinned and cut me off.
"The chieftain's son—and my son-in-law—swinging a nameless axe? What would that do to my face? Gotta have a name like that to intimidate the Empire scum."
"Come on, First Snow Fang, though? Can't it be something tougher? Like Boulder Crusher or Storm of Bear Claws?"
"Shut up and use it! Means you'll stand out like the first snow, revered by the world!"
I let out a hollow laugh at Gorgon's bellow.
First Snow Fang, huh...
His naming sense was as rough as they come, but I could feel his own brand of affection in it.
I grumbled on the surface, but my grip tightened on the handle.
Not bad.
No, I actually kinda liked it.
"I'll make good use of it, Dad."
I slung the axe over my back and bowed deeply to Gorgon.
Gorgon bellowed heartily.
"That's right! Go! Don't look back!"
We followed behind the Eisen Baron's carriage, setting off.
The snowy plains receded.
Tribe members waving goodbye.
And Gorgon's massive, rock-like figure standing watch until the end shrank in our sight.
Frostwind and First Snow Fang.
And the new life in her belly.
We carried it all toward a new world.
But the ended right there.
Not long after leaving the tribe, I faced a dire survival crisis.
"......"
Inside the Eisen Baron's luxury carriage.
It looked flashy outside, a gilded four-seater, but the reality was different.
'Who says Empire carriages are spacious and comfy? This is just a wheeled torture device!'
I nearly blurted out my inner thoughts.
Of course, it had no wheels right now.
Modified for snowfields, the wheels were swapped for skis.
The interior was beyond saturated with two hulking barbarians and the massive farewell gifts from the tribe—it was on the verge of explosion.
My shoulders nearly scraped the ceiling, knees jammed and unable to stretch.
Kara was tall and sturdy for a woman, so it looked cramped for her too, but compared to my near-two-meter frame, she had it easy.
"Creak..."
The carriage groaned every time I breathed.
I had to crumple myself up and take shallow breaths.
The Eisen Baron, squished in the opposite corner, eyed the ceiling anxiously.
Every jolt bumped my knee into his.
I couldn't take it anymore and spoke up.
"Baron, do nobles usually like traveling crammed in tight like this? Unique taste you've got."
"Pardon...?"
"Not some coffin experience. I'm suffocating to death here."
The Eisen Baron looked miserable but clung to the window, forcing calm.
"Coffin? This is a top-of-the-line four-seater. It's just... the passengers are a bit oversized..."
Empire's top administrator and a northern barbarian couple.
Our cohabitation was creaking from the start.
Literally, physically creaking.
That was when it happened.
"Whoa! The luggage is spilling!"
With every bump, the precarious stacks brushing the ceiling swayed dangerously.
Some were hard dried meat chunks or heavy herb sacks.
If those dumped on Kara, it'd be bad.
'Can't let my beloved Kara and baby ride uncomfortable—I'd die first!'
But tossing the tribe's heartfelt gifts out the window? No way.
One solution.
I'd take it.
"Hup!"
I braced and hugged all the toppling bundles leaning toward Kara.
Arms spread to block the cascade, chest and shoulders bearing the weight.
Felt like Atlas from the myths, holding up the sky.
My insane strength shone here.
Though this body birthed the crisis itself.
Now Kara had plenty of comfy space around her.
"Barg, isn't it heavy? You could've just left it on the floor..."
Kara asked with worried eyes.
I poked my face out from the pile and grinned.
"Not heavy at all. Making space for you and the baby? This is nothing. Feels like feathers, like feathers."
In truth, it was like boulders without handles, but love's power held me up.
But across from me sat someone even love's power couldn't save.
"......"
The Eisen Baron.
He was in living hell right now.
This mess stemmed from his stubbornness.
'Baron, just strap it to the roof, right?'
Before departure, when I griped about loading, he'd shaken his head firmly.
'Absolutely not. Supplies must arrive intact. These are heartfelt gifts from the tribe—not boxed standards. Hang 'em on the bumpy roof, and what if precious herbs fall or meat rolls in the snow?'
'But tie 'em tight with rope...'
'Zero loss in transit. That's my pride and principle. I don't trust what I can't see. Must go inside.'
His bullheadedness caused this.
A bureaucrat to the bone, supply officer supreme.
Obsessed with zero waste like it was OCD.
The price was steep.
Not yet out of the snowfields, so bundled in three layers against the cold.
Already cramped, he ballooned into a massive fur-penguin blob.
Plus, leftover luggage I couldn't grab towered on his thighs.
'Suffocating... Heavy... Hot...'
Fog steamed his glasses.
Tight space, giant adults, mountain of gear.
And fur clothes radiating heat like heaters.
Inside temp hit sauna levels.
Legs numb, breath short, but seeing me brace the load, he couldn't complain.
Can't lose face as patron. Barbarian endures, so civilized man can't whine.
But his eyes drowned in deep regret.
'Damn... Should've hung it... Pride be damned, I'm dying...'
"Haha... You two have... such... great chemistry. Holding all that luggage... your arms must ache..."
The Eisen Baron finally eked out words from behind the pile, voice quivering.
Not from cold—muscle spasms.
Bump!
The carriage rocked hard.
Wooden crates on his lap teetered to collapse.
"Wha—whoa whoa!"
The Eisen Baron flailed desperately to balance them.
Empire's finest administrator battling luggage—a tearless tragedy.
Then the coachman's shout rang out.
"Norheim Wall! Passing the checkpoint!"
We'd reached the massive wall guarding the Empire's northern border, the Norheim Wall.
'This is Grand Duchy territory from here...'
And so, the barbarian couple set their first footprint in the Empire.