Chapter 94: Barbarian Trophy (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 94: Barbarian Trophy (1)
Light slowly returned to my darkened vision.
This is my room.
Bjorn Yandel's room at the inn, not Hansu Lee's. When I checked my watch, exactly twelve seconds had passed since I had been taken to that place.
Is one hour there equal to one second here?
The time difference itself was not surprising, because the labyrinth was like that too. No matter how many days I spent there, when I returned to the city, it was always noon the next day.
I don't know what the mechanism behind it is, but it's definitely a convenient phenomenon.
Still, I should be careful. Put another way, this meant that I would be defenseless for up to twelve seconds every month. Of course, in case of an emergency, I could just log out and leave, so there was no problem... but what if there wasn't an emergency? What if something happened in those twelve seconds, in the blink of an eye?
It will be hard to react appropriately.
Well, I had no intention of not using the community just for that reason. I was just filing the danger away in my unconscious mind. That way, when something really did happen, I could react as quickly as possible.
"Whew..."
I stretched and let out a long sigh. There was a slight fatigue lingering around me, not physical but mental exhaustion.
True, I've technically been awake for twelve hours.
I closed my eyes, thinking that if someone had a habit of sleeping in only on this particular day, it would be reasonable to suspect them of being a player. I didn't want to go to sleep right away, though; I needed time to organize my thoughts.
It's good that I joined early.
The Ghost Busters was a place made and operated with more professionalism than I expected. There was no doubt that it acted as the source of information I wanted, either. Thanks to it, I had been able to obtain information about the alleged dimensional collapse.
A rumor, huh?
That was a good thing. That much was clear. However, for some reason, my feelings of dismay and anxiety grew simultaneously. When I first heard about the dimensional collapse, I thought that this was the reason I was feeling the way I was. But if it wasn't, what the hell was about to happen?
...I'll have to be more careful.
With that thought in mind, I fell asleep. Time passed like that, and then it was morning the next day. The day to keep my promise to Baron Martoin had dawned.
***
"Good luck! Tell me everrrything when you get back!" Missha saw me off as I walked out into the street. And after changing wagons many times at the platform, I arrived at Baron Martoin's home.
"Come here. There is no time."
As soon as I entered the spacious mansion, I was dragged into a splendid room where I changed my clothes. Apparently, my appearance was not savage enough for me to attend the count's banquet today.
Goddamn it.
Being a barbarian, you experienced these kinds of things. Normally, I would have been more dressed up for the opposite reason.
"Oh my gosh, look at those muscles..."
With the help of the maid, I took off the breastplate and shirt I was wearing and put shoulder guards on my bare body, with thorns on one side and a design in the shape of a beast's skull on the other.
"C-Could you please lower yourself a little?"
"Sure."
The maid stood on a stool and whimpered as she wrapped something around my stomach, a championship belt that was thicker than the length of even my hand. Fuck, why did I have to wear something like this? One breastplate could protect my entire torso.
"Please raise your arm."
Even after that, various decorative pieces of equipment focused on intimidation rather than defense were added to my body against my will. The weight distribution was likewise arbitrary, to the point that each movement was uncomfortable, and the maids untied my hair, so it kept flopping down and obstructing my sight.
But I can see what it is they're going for.
When I looked in the mirror, there stood a barbarian warrior who probably drank dragon blood and ate ogre meat as a snack. I suddenly had a thought: so what if it lacked protection or practicality? Damn, if I walked around like this, everyone would be busy peeing themselves and running away. In that sense, the intimidation factor was great. I named it (True) Barbarian Mode, but I guess it still wasn't enough to them.
"Tsk." A goatee-bearded twig looked at me with disapproval. This bastard's name was... He actually hadn't told me yet.
"What's your name?"
At my question, the steward frowned and answered tersely, like he didn't want to converse with me. "I'm assisting the—"
"Okay, Steward."
"...Tsk, ignorant barbarian."
The steward was a guy I didn't like for many reasons. They say those who grow up with less turn out to be worse. From beginning to end, he spoke to me in a tone that suggested he was speaking to someone lower than him. Even the baron didn't treat me like that.
Who does he think he is? In the end, he's still a commoner.
Even as I inwardly grumbled, I followed the steward's instructions and put insoles in my shoes, plate boots weighing fifteen pounds due to excessive ornamentation. The uncomfortable things were truly agonizing.
"Now you're worth looking at. You were too short before," said the short son of a bitch.
Ha... it's just one day.
No wonder he had agreed to pay me a million stones for one day. It was genuinely the cost of the real labor I was doing. In any case, by the time the unscrupulous steward explained the details about the order of events and where I was to stand while the baron spoke to others, it was already time to leave.
"Time is up. Let's go."
I left the palace-like room and headed for the main gates. A luxurious carriage was already waiting. Perhaps the baron, whom I hadn't seen all day today, was riding in it.
"Why are you standing there? Your place is over there."
I stood at the head of the carriage procession. Were they planning on following my lead?
"This is an important mission, so make sure to keep your eyes forward and keep your posture..." The steward jerk kept nagging me right up until we left, clearly not trusting me.
"Depart!" Before long, a knight on horseback right behind me shouted, raising a flag, and I led the procession at a moderate pace.
Trudge, trudge.
As we left the main gate, I could see the wide, paved streets at a single glance. These were the streets of Karnon, the royal capital of District One, which I would not have otherwise been able to enter with my status. Even the shops were grand, and the attire of the people around me was equally aristocratic. The Imperial Palace, which I couldn't even see from where I lived, was peeking out in the distance.
"C-Could you please lower yourself a little?"
"Sure."
The maid stood on a stool and whimpered as she wrapped something around my stomach, a championship belt that was thicker than the length of even my hand. Fuck, why did I have to wear something like this? One breastplate could protect my entire torso.
"Please raise your arm."
Even after that, various decorative pieces of equipment focused on intimidation rather than defense were added to my body against my will. The weight distribution was likewise arbitrary, to the point that each movement was uncomfortable, and the maids untied my hair, so it kept flopping down and obstructing my sight.
But I can see what it is they're going for.
When I looked in the mirror, there stood a barbarian warrior who probably drank dragon blood and ate ogre meat as a snack. I suddenly had a thought: so what if it lacked protection or practicality? Damn, if I walked around like this, everyone would be busy peeing themselves and running away. In that sense, the intimidation factor was great. I named it (True) Barbarian Mode, but I guess it still wasn't enough to them.
"Tsk." A goatee-bearded twig looked at me with disapproval. This bastard's name was... He actually hadn't told me yet.
"What's your name?"
At my question, the steward frowned and answered tersely, like he didn't want to converse with me. "I'm assisting the—"
"Okay, Steward."
"...Tsk, ignorant barbarian."
The steward was a guy I didn't like for many reasons. They say those who grow up with less turn out to be worse. From beginning to end, he spoke to me in a tone that suggested he was speaking to someone lower than him. Even the baron didn't treat me like that.
Who does he think he is? In the end, he's still a commoner.
Even as I inwardly grumbled, I followed the steward's instructions and put insoles in my shoes, plate boots weighing fifteen pounds due to excessive ornamentation. The uncomfortable things were truly agonizing.
"Now you're worth looking at. You were too short before," said the short son of a bitch.
Ha... it's just one day.
No wonder he had agreed to pay me a million stones for one day. It was genuinely the cost of the real labor I was doing. In any case, by the time the unscrupulous steward explained the details about the order of events and where I was to stand while the baron spoke to others, it was already time to leave.
"Time is up. Let's go."
I left the palace-like room and headed for the main gates. A luxurious carriage was already waiting. Perhaps the baron, whom I hadn't seen all day today, was riding in it.
"Why are you standing there? Your place is over there."
I stood at the head of the carriage procession. Were they planning on following my lead?
"This is an important mission, so make sure to keep your eyes forward and keep your posture..." The steward jerk kept nagging me right up until we left, clearly not trusting me.
"Depart!" Before long, a knight on horseback right behind me shouted, raising a flag, and I led the procession at a moderate pace.
Trudge, trudge.
As we left the main gate, I could see the wide, paved streets at a single glance. These were the streets of Karnon, the royal capital of District One, which I would not have otherwise been able to enter with my status. Even the shops were grand, and the attire of the people around me was equally aristocratic. The Imperial Palace, which I couldn't even see from where I lived, was peeking out in the distance.
I have to find a way into this place quickly in order to use the Sky Auction House...
The steward told me to only look in front of me, but I didn't waste this opportunity to look around. Perhaps that was why...
"Halt!" As I took a wrong turn, the procession stopped at once. The steward bastard ran up to me, red in the face, and shouted something, but I confidently picked at my ears. Whose idea was it to leave this to a barbarian?
***
The distance from the baron's mansion to the count's, where the banquet was being held today, was about four miles. Although I had experience crawling a greater distance than that on three limbs, I had overlooked the fact that I was wearing a full set of equipment that was the very definition of irrational.
Goddamn it.
Sweat poured down my back. If it hadn't been for the insoles that had been shoved in at the end, this wouldn't have been this hard.
"Baron Martoin has arrived!"
As I was cursing out the steward, we arrived at our destination. As soon as the front gates to the count's estate opened, curious eyes flew toward us from all over the place. They must have been nobles who wouldn't have been satisfied with any entertainment, but it seemed that this was their first time seeing a barbarian leading a carriage procession.
"Putting the barbarian up front, you must have been inspired by that story!"
"That created a great, intimidating atmosphere. It felt as if a giant was walking in."
"Wow, Father, can we make an entrance like that next time?"
The nobility gathered in the outdoor hall where the banquet was being held and kicked things off by blurting out their impressions one by one. I guess the reactions were to his liking because when the baron stepped off his wagon, he burst out into a laugh I'd never heard him make before.
"This is the first time I've ever received so much attention just by standing here. When I return, I will give you generous compensation." The baron was so pleased that he even promised me a bonus. "I'm going to greet the count, so you guys can enjoy the banquet in the meantime."
Soon after, the baron entered the mansion accompanied only by a few retainers. Then, naturally, the knights scattered and mixed into the banquet. Only then did I notice that I had been left alone in this large banquet hall.
"Oh, look at the horns on that helmet. How scary!"
"It looks like it was modeled after the ancient devil Parseira!"
Suits, tuxedos, dresses with exposed backs, a knight's armor boasting a white luster and precious metals that glimmered like the surface of the waves... and then there was me: the only one with the appearance of a savage. Was this some kind of zoo?
"Oh, it's walking. I wonder where it's going!"
Just by taking a single step, I heard the people around me burst into curious exclamations. I felt like the PTSD I thought I had overcome was about to come roaring back.
Just then, a man walked up to me. "Nice work." It was a knight who had acted as a flag bearer in the row just behind me. "You really are a monster, wearing that and walking this far without rest." The knight, who must have watched my hardships closer than anyone else, chuckled and patted my shoulder. "How about taking a seat with me over there until the baron returns?"
What was this? Was this man a god? "All right." Soon after, I sat down in an empty seat with the knight. All kinds of delicacies surrounded me, but they didn't pique my appetite. It must have been the same for the knight because he just sat there quenching his thirst with alcohol. I suddenly got curious and asked, "Is it okay that you're not with them?"
I have to find a way into this place quickly in order to use the Sky Auction House...
The steward told me to only look in front of me, but I didn't waste this opportunity to look around. Perhaps that was why...
"Halt!" As I took a wrong turn, the procession stopped at once. The steward bastard ran up to me, red in the face, and shouted something, but I confidently picked at my ears. Whose idea was it to leave this to a barbarian?
***
The distance from the baron's mansion to the count's, where the banquet was being held today, was about four miles. Although I had experience crawling a greater distance than that on three limbs, I had overlooked the fact that I was wearing a full set of equipment that was the very definition of irrational.
Goddamn it.
Sweat poured down my back. If it hadn't been for the insoles that had been shoved in at the end, this wouldn't have been this hard.
"Baron Martoin has arrived!"
As I was cursing out the steward, we arrived at our destination. As soon as the front gates to the count's estate opened, curious eyes flew toward us from all over the place. They must have been nobles who wouldn't have been satisfied with any entertainment, but it seemed that this was their first time seeing a barbarian leading a carriage procession.
"Putting the barbarian up front, you must have been inspired by that story!"
"That created a great, intimidating atmosphere. It felt as if a giant was walking in."
"Wow, Father, can we make an entrance like that next time?"
The nobility gathered in the outdoor hall where the banquet was being held and kicked things off by blurting out their impressions one by one. I guess the reactions were to his liking because when the baron stepped off his wagon, he burst out into a laugh I'd never heard him make before.
"This is the first time I've ever received so much attention just by standing here. When I return, I will give you generous compensation." The baron was so pleased that he even promised me a bonus. "I'm going to greet the count, so you guys can enjoy the banquet in the meantime."
Soon after, the baron entered the mansion accompanied only by a few retainers. Then, naturally, the knights scattered and mixed into the banquet. Only then did I notice that I had been left alone in this large banquet hall.
"Oh, look at the horns on that helmet. How scary!"
"It looks like it was modeled after the ancient devil Parseira!"
Suits, tuxedos, dresses with exposed backs, a knight's armor boasting a white luster and precious metals that glimmered like the surface of the waves... and then there was me: the only one with the appearance of a savage. Was this some kind of zoo?
"Oh, it's walking. I wonder where it's going!"
Just by taking a single step, I heard the people around me burst into curious exclamations. I felt like the PTSD I thought I had overcome was about to come roaring back.
Just then, a man walked up to me. "Nice work." It was a knight who had acted as a flag bearer in the row just behind me. "You really are a monster, wearing that and walking this far without rest." The knight, who must have watched my hardships closer than anyone else, chuckled and patted my shoulder. "How about taking a seat with me over there until the baron returns?"
What was this? Was this man a god? "All right." Soon after, I sat down in an empty seat with the knight. All kinds of delicacies surrounded me, but they didn't pique my appetite. It must have been the same for the knight because he just sat there quenching his thirst with alcohol. I suddenly got curious and asked, "Is it okay that you're not with them?"
"Even if I go over there, I won't be welcome. I used to be an adventurer like you."
No wonder he looked so forlorn. "I'm Bjorn, son of Yandel. What is your name?"
"I'm Carls Erimor."
After exchanging brief introductions, we continued to converse. I had been able to tell from the beginning, but Carls was a pretty good guy. He was an adventurer, so we understood each other well, and even though he was a knight, he didn't show their characteristic arrogance. That steward bastard should learn from this guy.
"What are you doing? Who told you to sit down?" The steward, who had entered the mansion with the baron, found me and came running toward me at once. He seemed displeased that I was resting.
"Look. No need for that. I told this fellow to take a break."
When Carls stepped forward, the steward flinched and lowered his voice. "...Is that so? If you're done resting, get up. What will people think if they see a barbarian sitting and resting?"
"...That he's resting?"
"No, people will think you are weak. So get up. Regardless of your true nature, you must be an iron-blooded warrior today."
At the steward's prodding, I got up from my short break.
Yeah... just one day.
Didn't I promise to become the baron's trophy and main attraction? I was determined to thoroughly play my part. Of course, this was far from resignation. An iron-blooded warrior, a savage in this world whose fists came before the law, a barbarian. Yeah, if that was me...
"Behelaaah!"
As soon as I was done refocusing my mind, the shout erupted from my lips on its own.
"W-What are you doing?! Do you know how much it costs to customize the gear you are wearing today, or how pathetic you looked when you got lost earlier?" The steward, who was making these insulting remarks, frowned.
The sight made me wonder why I had been putting up with this. Was I not a barbarian? "I just felt like doing it!" In that spirit, I picked up a piece of meat next to me in a barbarian manner. Was it a tomahawk? The meat was attached to a bone that almost looked like a handle. "Yes, this is what I wanted."
As I tore through the meat with bare hands like a savage, the steward nodded. However, the expression on his face hardened when he saw me chewing on the bone too.
To that, I responded respectfully while maintaining my dignity as a barbarian warrior. "Steward, I want to crush your skull."
"...What?"
He would never have heard these kinds of words before in his entire life. Staring at the steward as he clearly doubted his hearing, I kindly offered an explanation. "I just feel like doing it for some reason!"
Crunch, crunch.
As I spoke, the bones of an unknown animal were being crushed in my mouth.
"Y-Your jokes go too far."
"Joke?" When I cocked my head as if to ask what he meant by that, the steward's complexion turned white. It seemed he had only just realized that I was a barbarian after all. "Did that sound like a joke to you?"
Barbarians were simple and ignorant, transparent about their feelings. Of course, the steward may have had no knowledge of barbarian physiology.
But if you've looked into my background, you'll know what happened at the guild.
Of course, I had an explanation for what I'd done. At that time, I had no other choice. Except for looting, failure to pay taxes, and a few laws related to nobility, most things in this world could be sorted out with a fine. As long as you could prove that you were not a plunderer, you could handle the rest somehow. But that was something only I knew. To others, I must have just looked like a crazy bastard.
"...I have something I need to do, s-so I'll be going. Y-You take a break." The steward hurriedly fled with an uncomfortable look on his face, implying he really had looked into me.
Carls, who had been watching all of this unfold, laughed out loud. "Hahaha! I never knew that man could make that expression!" For some reason, my actions seemed to please him. "But are your teeth all right?"
"It's okay. They're quite tough." Rather than an innate ability, this was a side effect of the increase in my Bone Strength stat. Anyway, for some reason, chewing on bones had given me an appetite, and I began to eat for real.
"Look at that!"
"Oh my, how barbaric!"
The noble ladies were looking at me like they were seeing a new species, but it didn't matter anymore. Who cared if I looked barbaric? If I could ignore the humiliation, there would be no position more comfortable for me than this.
"Behelaaah!"
"Why are you screaming all of a sudden again?"
"Delicious!" The time of being hesitant in the face of all this elegance was over. I now began to enjoy the banquet in earnest.
"Even if I go over there, I won't be welcome. I used to be an adventurer like you."
No wonder he looked so forlorn. "I'm Bjorn, son of Yandel. What is your name?"
"I'm Carls Erimor."
After exchanging brief introductions, we continued to converse. I had been able to tell from the beginning, but Carls was a pretty good guy. He was an adventurer, so we understood each other well, and even though he was a knight, he didn't show their characteristic arrogance. That steward bastard should learn from this guy.
"What are you doing? Who told you to sit down?" The steward, who had entered the mansion with the baron, found me and came running toward me at once. He seemed displeased that I was resting.
"Look. No need for that. I told this fellow to take a break."
When Carls stepped forward, the steward flinched and lowered his voice. "...Is that so? If you're done resting, get up. What will people think if they see a barbarian sitting and resting?"
"...That he's resting?"
"No, people will think you are weak. So get up. Regardless of your true nature, you must be an iron-blooded warrior today."
At the steward's prodding, I got up from my short break.
Yeah... just one day.
Didn't I promise to become the baron's trophy and main attraction? I was determined to thoroughly play my part. Of course, this was far from resignation. An iron-blooded warrior, a savage in this world whose fists came before the law, a barbarian. Yeah, if that was me...
"Behelaaah!"
As soon as I was done refocusing my mind, the shout erupted from my lips on its own.
"W-What are you doing?! Do you know how much it costs to customize the gear you are wearing today, or how pathetic you looked when you got lost earlier?" The steward, who was making these insulting remarks, frowned.
The sight made me wonder why I had been putting up with this. Was I not a barbarian? "I just felt like doing it!" In that spirit, I picked up a piece of meat next to me in a barbarian manner. Was it a tomahawk? The meat was attached to a bone that almost looked like a handle. "Yes, this is what I wanted."
As I tore through the meat with bare hands like a savage, the steward nodded. However, the expression on his face hardened when he saw me chewing on the bone too.
To that, I responded respectfully while maintaining my dignity as a barbarian warrior. "Steward, I want to crush your skull."
"...What?"
He would never have heard these kinds of words before in his entire life. Staring at the steward as he clearly doubted his hearing, I kindly offered an explanation. "I just feel like doing it for some reason!"
Crunch, crunch.
As I spoke, the bones of an unknown animal were being crushed in my mouth.
"Y-Your jokes go too far."
"Joke?" When I cocked my head as if to ask what he meant by that, the steward's complexion turned white. It seemed he had only just realized that I was a barbarian after all. "Did that sound like a joke to you?"
Barbarians were simple and ignorant, transparent about their feelings. Of course, the steward may have had no knowledge of barbarian physiology.
But if you've looked into my background, you'll know what happened at the guild.
Of course, I had an explanation for what I'd done. At that time, I had no other choice. Except for looting, failure to pay taxes, and a few laws related to nobility, most things in this world could be sorted out with a fine. As long as you could prove that you were not a plunderer, you could handle the rest somehow. But that was something only I knew. To others, I must have just looked like a crazy bastard.
"...I have something I need to do, s-so I'll be going. Y-You take a break." The steward hurriedly fled with an uncomfortable look on his face, implying he really had looked into me.
Carls, who had been watching all of this unfold, laughed out loud. "Hahaha! I never knew that man could make that expression!" For some reason, my actions seemed to please him. "But are your teeth all right?"
"It's okay. They're quite tough." Rather than an innate ability, this was a side effect of the increase in my Bone Strength stat. Anyway, for some reason, chewing on bones had given me an appetite, and I began to eat for real.
"Look at that!"
"Oh my, how barbaric!"
The noble ladies were looking at me like they were seeing a new species, but it didn't matter anymore. Who cared if I looked barbaric? If I could ignore the humiliation, there would be no position more comfortable for me than this.
"Behelaaah!"
"Why are you screaming all of a sudden again?"
"Delicious!" The time of being hesitant in the face of all this elegance was over. I now began to enjoy the banquet in earnest.