Chapter 129: Karlstein (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 129: Karlstein (3)
The head of the Karlstein family had invited me to his home. From what I'd heard, he'd been asking for about three months. If so, what could be the reason? The first thing that came to mind was curiosity; he just wanted to meet his daughter's teammate. If Missha had been treated as an actual member of the family, that theory would have been quite plausible. Then, if he decided I was unreliable after meeting me, he might have asked me to cut his daughter loose from the team. It seemed that most of the offspring of well-established families adventured in style in large clans with connections.
"I-I just need to be patient for a little longerrr."
But, as it turned out, Missha's situation was still the same. The man who called himself her father kept her awakening a secret and didn't even make an effort to try to improve her position in the family. The moment I realized this, I felt a dark malice from this mansion. The malice was directed not only toward Missha, but toward me as well.
They called me here, knowing that was the case...
What his plan was and what method he had chosen to achieve it were very clear to me.
He's an even bigger maniac than I realized.
The head of the Karlstein family wanted something from me, but instead of politely setting up a negotiation, he'd created this kind of situation. This must have been a part of his plan. I was Little Balkan, Bjorn, son of Yandel, a warrior who hadn't abandoned his comrades even against the Lord of the Floor—and a barbarian who might be in a romantic relationship with one of said comrades. He probably determined that if I, known to the public as all of the above, saw something like this, it would make me easier to manipulate. After all, the only one who could change Missha's current situation was the head of the family.
However, based on this, I came to some conclusions of my own.
He's a free-riding son of a bitch who's even willing to use his daughter to get what he wants. Show one weakness and I'll be done for.
Plan A wasn't enough. If I stopped here, I'd be reduced to just an ordinary barbarian.
Step.
I took a step forward and stared at Missha's brother. He didn't seem scared at all as he watched me. He just laughed like none of this was worth me getting pissed about. "You're hard to please." He seemed to think I was after something else and that I was only kicking up a fuss to get my hands on whatever it was. Well, he wasn't completely wrong.
"B-Bjorn! Don't do it!" Missha hurriedly grabbed my wrist, and I stopped.
Well, I had no real intention of beating this guy. He wasn't just a servant of the family but one of its direct blood relatives. Impulsively kicking his ass would screw me over.
"Behelahhh!" Therefore, I gave a loud roar that could be heard from anywhere in the mansion.
The older brother frowned at my actions. "What is the meaning of this?"
"I just felt like doing it!"
"...Lunatic."
No matter what he said, my shout served as a catalyst that brought the people of the mansion to where we were. The servants set down their work and started watching us from the end of the corridor that connected the first floor. Glancing up toward the second floor, I saw several young men and women who were wearing high-quality casual clothes.
Are they Missha's siblings?
I couldn't tell, but they were looking down at me with curiosity in their eyes.
Anyway, that's enough witnesses.
The stage was set, so I turned off naive barbarian mode and addressed the brother again. "Talon Karlstein."
"It's not Talon, it's Taylon."
"You pay attention to little things that are unbecoming of a man."
"...Shut up. What is it that you want to say?" Apparently uninterested in discussing his manliness with me, he asked me to get to the point.
"Why is Missha being treated this way by your family?" I asked bluntly.
"Like I said before, it's a family thing—"
"Is it because Missha is a half-wit? A direct blood relative of the family who couldn't even contract a Soul Beast?"
His bemusement was short-lived. Taylon scowled and glanced at Missha with a look of contempt, clearly wondering if she had confided in someone like me about all of that. "If you already know, then there's nothing to hide. Yes, what you said is true. So stop getting involved in our family's affairs."
Telling me to mind my own business was a reasonable response. Besides us barbarians, most of society valued bloodlines. It made sense for them to treat Missha like a stranger. If she had truly inherited her father's blood, she should have been able to make a contract with a Soul Beast. In reality, she likely didn't share a single drop of blood with them. It seemed that her mother, the fourth wife, also hadn't had any children other than Missha, either.
"What if that was all a misunderstanding on your part?"
The truth didn't matter, though. The important thing now was that Missha had already awakened and could use that fact to her advantage.
"If Missha made a contract with a Soul Beast, would you apologize for what you've done and accept her as a member of your family?"
"She's already twenty-five, there's no way—"
"Answer me. If you answer the question, I won't cause any more trouble."
The brother sighed and gripped his forehead before answering me with obvious annoyance in his tone. "Fine, we'd apologize."
"And accept her as family?"
"That too," he replied without hesitation, clearly under the impression that that would never happen.
I smiled and nodded my head. "That's settles it, then."
My confidence seemed to worry him. "Settles what?"
Instead of answering, I shifted my gaze to Missha. My part was over now. "Missha, show them."
"Uh, huh...?" As she suddenly found herself the center of attention, Missha glanced around in bewilderment. When our eyes met, she lowered her head and murmured, "But, my father..."
No wonder she hadn't come out yet. As expected, her father must've been forcing her to keep her mouth shut. But that was why Missha had to step forward herself. Revealing this fact in front of everyone would take away one of the aces up her father's sleeve.
"Don't worry. Nothing will happen."
"...H-He won't forgive me."
"So, what? Just tell him you messed up. That's what families do."
"Bjorn, you'll bear the brrrunt of it too."
"So be it. I'm not scared." He was an imposing parent to her, but to me, he was just the leader of the beastpeople, and there were five of those. "What are you so afraid of? Family isn't everything in life. I've been doing just fine without it," I said, picking at my ear.
Anyway, that's enough witnesses.
The stage was set, so I turned off naive barbarian mode and addressed the brother again. "Talon Karlstein."
"It's not Talon, it's Taylon."
"You pay attention to little things that are unbecoming of a man."
"...Shut up. What is it that you want to say?" Apparently uninterested in discussing his manliness with me, he asked me to get to the point.
"Why is Missha being treated this way by your family?" I asked bluntly.
"Like I said before, it's a family thing—"
"Is it because Missha is a half-wit? A direct blood relative of the family who couldn't even contract a Soul Beast?"
His bemusement was short-lived. Taylon scowled and glanced at Missha with a look of contempt, clearly wondering if she had confided in someone like me about all of that. "If you already know, then there's nothing to hide. Yes, what you said is true. So stop getting involved in our family's affairs."
Telling me to mind my own business was a reasonable response. Besides us barbarians, most of society valued bloodlines. It made sense for them to treat Missha like a stranger. If she had truly inherited her father's blood, she should have been able to make a contract with a Soul Beast. In reality, she likely didn't share a single drop of blood with them. It seemed that her mother, the fourth wife, also hadn't had any children other than Missha, either.
"What if that was all a misunderstanding on your part?"
The truth didn't matter, though. The important thing now was that Missha had already awakened and could use that fact to her advantage.
"If Missha made a contract with a Soul Beast, would you apologize for what you've done and accept her as a member of your family?"
"She's already twenty-five, there's no way—"
"Answer me. If you answer the question, I won't cause any more trouble."
The brother sighed and gripped his forehead before answering me with obvious annoyance in his tone. "Fine, we'd apologize."
"And accept her as family?"
"That too," he replied without hesitation, clearly under the impression that that would never happen.
I smiled and nodded my head. "That's settles it, then."
My confidence seemed to worry him. "Settles what?"
Instead of answering, I shifted my gaze to Missha. My part was over now. "Missha, show them."
"Uh, huh...?" As she suddenly found herself the center of attention, Missha glanced around in bewilderment. When our eyes met, she lowered her head and murmured, "But, my father..."
No wonder she hadn't come out yet. As expected, her father must've been forcing her to keep her mouth shut. But that was why Missha had to step forward herself. Revealing this fact in front of everyone would take away one of the aces up her father's sleeve.
"Don't worry. Nothing will happen."
"...H-He won't forgive me."
"So, what? Just tell him you messed up. That's what families do."
"Bjorn, you'll bear the brrrunt of it too."
"So be it. I'm not scared." He was an imposing parent to her, but to me, he was just the leader of the beastpeople, and there were five of those. "What are you so afraid of? Family isn't everything in life. I've been doing just fine without it," I said, picking at my ear.
Missha laughed like I was being silly. "That's because—! No, never mind. There's no point in arguing with you."
"Yeah, just ignore the little things. That's better for your mental health."
"Oh jeez, I feel like I don't even know what's right and wrong anymorrre."
At this point, I figured I'd won her over. "Missha Karlstein, just do what you want for once. After all, don't you have a comrade here who's willing to help you?"
I didn't say any more after that. Time passed and soon Missha raised her head and slowly looked around. I guess this situation was quite the source of entertainment, because there were a lot of people just watching us from afar.
Missha gulped and then finally opened her mouth, resolute. "I—"
"Enough." A cold voice filled the large mansion. In response, Missha went as still as stone. By the time she came to her senses, a middle-aged man was standing in front of her. "Everyone, leave."
At his words, everyone silently left. The air in the room immediately grew heavy. The man's gaze turned to me. Although he didn't spare a single word of introduction, I knew who he was.
Okay, so this is the maniac.
Albrenive Karlstein, the head of the Karlstein family, who had served as the chieftains of the Red Cat Tribe for generations.
"Thank you for accepting my invitation, Bjorn, son of Yandel."
"Thank you for inviting me, Karlstein."
In the middle of the now-vacated lobby on the first floor, we exchanged formal greetings.
"Haha, you seem to be more polite than I thought." He laughed good-naturedly and approached me. Instead of a handshake, he patted my shoulder like he was addressing someone beneath him. But what was this?
[You have been put into a Fear state by the Nightmare Lord.]
Like I had just encountered a natural predator, my body tensed. In addition, the tingling sensation that I felt every time I crossed the boundary between life and death began to buzz in my brain. I now understood why Missha was so afraid of her father.
"But why did you do something like that? So uncivil," the head of the family hissed, all traces of laughter gone from his voice.
It was a shitty feeling. I knew in my head that this was the power of a skill, but my body wouldn't accept that logic. It felt like my sensory organs were malfunctioning. Of course, the effects didn't last for long.
[Your Mana Resistance is above a certain threshold. Your Fighting Spirit is above a certain threshold. Your Willpower is above a certain threshold. Fear has been canceled.]
Whew, fuck, that's finally over.
"Look—" I immediately removed the arrogant man's arm from my shoulder. His brow furrowed in apparent confusion. Well, if he had anticipated this, he wouldn't have spouted all that bullshit just now. "Don't touch strangers." I tossed the arm I was holding onto aside. "That's uncivil."
Respect goes both ways.
After a moment of silence, the head of the family spoke. "Funny." It gave me goosebumps that he could say that without smiling with his mouth or even his eyes.
But when it came to spirit, I couldn't be beat. "You have weird tastes. I'm not having fun at all," I responded calmly, grabbing Missha's hand, which was as rigid as a rock.
As a result, the man's gaze shifted to Missha too.
"F-Father..."
"I didn't think you'd rebel against me."
"Th-that's not what—"
"Enough. You're not important here anyway." Albrenive cut her off and looked at me. "I originally planned to have a talk after having lunch together."
Talk, my ass. He had just been planning on showing me how Missha was treated around here.
When I stared at him without replying, Karlstein continued. "But it seems that's no longer necessary. Get some rest. I'll call on you later."
"I refuse," I replied without a second's hesitation.
Albrenive's expression twisted. "What?"
I decided to be blunt. "Why should I wait?" Giving him time was foolish. Although he'd had no choice but to step forward because of Missha, what had nearly just happened couldn't possibly have been in his plans. He probably intended to regroup before summoning me again. "If you have something to say, do it here and now."
"...Even for a barbarian, this is disrespectful."
"You were the one who summoned this barbarian, beastman."
Did he not expect to be called "beastman" instead of his name, "Chief," or "family head?" Albrenive's face hardened and he began to emit murderous intent—not just metaphorically, but literally.
You can do that in real life?
I was a little surprised, but it was much weaker than the fox mask's. After all, that had been in the spiritual world. It made sense that there would be a difference in output.
When I picked my ear as if to say, "Stop screwing around," Albrenive asked, almost genuinely curious, "Are you really not afraid of death?"
To me, that was a pointless question. Not afraid of death? Could someone like that even exist? "Well, I don't know about that. But I'm not very afraid of you."
That much was sincere. The fact that he used to be an adventurer on the eighth floor or that if we truly fought, I would be destroyed? So what? If he killed me, my chieftain wouldn't just twiddle his thumbs.
"You think you can kill me?" I asked outright. It was absurd. Kill me? The most promising talent among the barbarians in recent months? In the middle of a beastpeople sanctuary I had been personally invited to? There would immediately be a repeat of the war with the elves from ten years ago. That was just how barbarians were.
"What? Ahahaha!" Albrenive made an effort to play it cool, but I could see the deep anger under the surface. It was probably frustrating. He was loathe to admit it, but my accusation was right on point. He was just trying to laugh it off. "It makes sense that things have gone so wrong. I never thought you would be such a clever guy."
"Thank you for the compliment, but I'd like an answer before I get hungry. What do you want to say to me?"
Albrenive just looked at me for a moment to gather his thoughts. Then he said, "I know you used that item."
With that, all my questions were answered. The Ring of the Frost Spirit had been the cause of all this shit.
Missha laughed like I was being silly. "That's because—! No, never mind. There's no point in arguing with you."
"Yeah, just ignore the little things. That's better for your mental health."
"Oh jeez, I feel like I don't even know what's right and wrong anymorrre."
At this point, I figured I'd won her over. "Missha Karlstein, just do what you want for once. After all, don't you have a comrade here who's willing to help you?"
I didn't say any more after that. Time passed and soon Missha raised her head and slowly looked around. I guess this situation was quite the source of entertainment, because there were a lot of people just watching us from afar.
Missha gulped and then finally opened her mouth, resolute. "I—"
"Enough." A cold voice filled the large mansion. In response, Missha went as still as stone. By the time she came to her senses, a middle-aged man was standing in front of her. "Everyone, leave."
At his words, everyone silently left. The air in the room immediately grew heavy. The man's gaze turned to me. Although he didn't spare a single word of introduction, I knew who he was.
Okay, so this is the maniac.
Albrenive Karlstein, the head of the Karlstein family, who had served as the chieftains of the Red Cat Tribe for generations.
"Thank you for accepting my invitation, Bjorn, son of Yandel."
"Thank you for inviting me, Karlstein."
In the middle of the now-vacated lobby on the first floor, we exchanged formal greetings.
"Haha, you seem to be more polite than I thought." He laughed good-naturedly and approached me. Instead of a handshake, he patted my shoulder like he was addressing someone beneath him. But what was this?
[You have been put into a Fear state by the Nightmare Lord.]
Like I had just encountered a natural predator, my body tensed. In addition, the tingling sensation that I felt every time I crossed the boundary between life and death began to buzz in my brain. I now understood why Missha was so afraid of her father.
"But why did you do something like that? So uncivil," the head of the family hissed, all traces of laughter gone from his voice.
It was a shitty feeling. I knew in my head that this was the power of a skill, but my body wouldn't accept that logic. It felt like my sensory organs were malfunctioning. Of course, the effects didn't last for long.
[Your Mana Resistance is above a certain threshold. Your Fighting Spirit is above a certain threshold. Your Willpower is above a certain threshold. Fear has been canceled.]
Whew, fuck, that's finally over.
"Look—" I immediately removed the arrogant man's arm from my shoulder. His brow furrowed in apparent confusion. Well, if he had anticipated this, he wouldn't have spouted all that bullshit just now. "Don't touch strangers." I tossed the arm I was holding onto aside. "That's uncivil."
Respect goes both ways.
After a moment of silence, the head of the family spoke. "Funny." It gave me goosebumps that he could say that without smiling with his mouth or even his eyes.
But when it came to spirit, I couldn't be beat. "You have weird tastes. I'm not having fun at all," I responded calmly, grabbing Missha's hand, which was as rigid as a rock.
As a result, the man's gaze shifted to Missha too.
"F-Father..."
"I didn't think you'd rebel against me."
"Th-that's not what—"
"Enough. You're not important here anyway." Albrenive cut her off and looked at me. "I originally planned to have a talk after having lunch together."
Talk, my ass. He had just been planning on showing me how Missha was treated around here.
When I stared at him without replying, Karlstein continued. "But it seems that's no longer necessary. Get some rest. I'll call on you later."
"I refuse," I replied without a second's hesitation.
Albrenive's expression twisted. "What?"
I decided to be blunt. "Why should I wait?" Giving him time was foolish. Although he'd had no choice but to step forward because of Missha, what had nearly just happened couldn't possibly have been in his plans. He probably intended to regroup before summoning me again. "If you have something to say, do it here and now."
"...Even for a barbarian, this is disrespectful."
"You were the one who summoned this barbarian, beastman."
Did he not expect to be called "beastman" instead of his name, "Chief," or "family head?" Albrenive's face hardened and he began to emit murderous intent—not just metaphorically, but literally.
You can do that in real life?
I was a little surprised, but it was much weaker than the fox mask's. After all, that had been in the spiritual world. It made sense that there would be a difference in output.
When I picked my ear as if to say, "Stop screwing around," Albrenive asked, almost genuinely curious, "Are you really not afraid of death?"
To me, that was a pointless question. Not afraid of death? Could someone like that even exist? "Well, I don't know about that. But I'm not very afraid of you."
That much was sincere. The fact that he used to be an adventurer on the eighth floor or that if we truly fought, I would be destroyed? So what? If he killed me, my chieftain wouldn't just twiddle his thumbs.
"You think you can kill me?" I asked outright. It was absurd. Kill me? The most promising talent among the barbarians in recent months? In the middle of a beastpeople sanctuary I had been personally invited to? There would immediately be a repeat of the war with the elves from ten years ago. That was just how barbarians were.
"What? Ahahaha!" Albrenive made an effort to play it cool, but I could see the deep anger under the surface. It was probably frustrating. He was loathe to admit it, but my accusation was right on point. He was just trying to laugh it off. "It makes sense that things have gone so wrong. I never thought you would be such a clever guy."
"Thank you for the compliment, but I'd like an answer before I get hungry. What do you want to say to me?"
Albrenive just looked at me for a moment to gather his thoughts. Then he said, "I know you used that item."
With that, all my questions were answered. The Ring of the Frost Spirit had been the cause of all this shit.