Giant Subjugation Quest #4
Giant Subjugation Quest #4
Got it!
Feeling like a hunter who had just bagged his prey, I silently cheered. Rebecca's nod was a clear sign she'd accepted my demand for mana charging.
"Ugh."
I smiled at her, and Rebecca blushed, turning away.
I found that reaction quite adorable.
After that, I sat down and waited until it was time for the subjugation squad to depart. In the center of the square, a large man was making a speech, and from what I could hear, he seemed to be the captain of this squad.
"Greetings! I am Tris, your subjugation captain. It is an honor to hunt giants alongside you all."
Subjugation Captain Tris.
He was a fairly famous human among Silver Tier adventurers, so I had heard his name a few times. A top-tier Silver Tier adventurer. Since he was on the verge of a Gold promotion, his skill was practically guaranteed. The plate armor covering his body looked like a very expensive piece of defensive gear. He was a tank who inspired trust at a single glance.
However, the adventurers gathered in the square could not focus on Tris's words at all.
"It's a barbarian."
"Look at those muscles. If you poke it, won't it explode?"
Because a barbarian, someone I had only ever heard about in rumors, had appeared in the square. True to their savage tribe, his appearance was rugged and fierce. The barbarian was devouring all of Tris's presence just by standing there. He drew aggro in a completely different sense than an incubus like me.
"Luke, what's a barbarian?"
"A berserker race obsessed with blood and slaughter. Barbarians learn how to kill people from childhood. They say they enjoy murder like a hobby."
"Ooh."
The one who appeared in the square was an elderly barbarian. An old man with his white hair tied back, holding a pair of axes in both hands. True to a savage, he wore no armor at all. Instead, he bared his upper body, and his muscles were astounding even at a glance. The excessively swollen muscles looked like worms crawling under his skin.
"He looks like a true alpha male."
I couldn't help but stare at the barbarian in admiration. He looked several times more badass than the subjugation captain who cowered behind his armor. Even when playing RPGs, I always chose the barbarian class. An elderly barbarian swinging a snow-white beard was fucking awesome in my book.
"I would've been better off being born a barbarian."
I touched the horns on my head and felt like shit.
Why the hell was I born this goddamn incubus bastard?
If I were a barbarian, I could have just smashed everything to pieces with pure strength.
And I wouldn't have to suffer these lewd misunderstandings.
"Hey, I like that you're an incubus. You've got those seriously cool horns."
Rebecca placated me as I vented my resentment.
The elderly barbarian had a rough personality, true to his savage nature. He had been glaring at the rambling Tris with murderous eyes for a while, and then raised a finger to point at him.
The elderly barbarian opened his mouth at that moment.
"Listen here, young man."
The square fell silent at the barbarian's voice, which was laced with killing intent. Tris, now singled out, looked terrified, an expression that didn't suit his large frame at all.
"A-are you talking to me? Sir?"
"Indeed. You've been repeating useless blather for a while now. When exactly do you plan on leaving for the hunt? The axes on my back thirst for blood."
"Hiek!"
The moment the barbarian gripped the handle of his axe, Tris shrieked. Was this what it meant to subdue a man with threats alone? The captain's authority plummeted to the ground in an instant.
Watching this, I felt utterly satisfied inside. Because that fucker had been spouting nothing but pointless words. I felt like I was listening to a school principal's lecture.
"O-okay! Let's quickly form the teams and depart! I will call out the pre-arranged roster immediately!"
Panting, Tris pulled out the list and started calling out the adventurers' names. The forty-two-person subjugation squad was divided into a total of four teams. Likely because they considered fixed parties, Rebecca and I were placed on the same team. Luckily, Kate was also on our team. That meant I could get healed immediately if I got hurt.
Though it was questionable whether I'd actually receive any healing.
'Kate is on our team? Can that bitch even use Heal properly? I don't think I've ever seen her use it.'
I hadn't seen Kate use any healing during the caravan escort quest. Because nothing happened that would cause major injuries to the adventurers.
If she doesn't even know how to heal, I'll have to avoid that blonde bitch forever.
I steeled myself with that resolve and boarded the carriage prepared for the subjugation squad.
*
Several carriages prepared by the Adventurer's Guild were waiting in the square. It meant we didn't have to march mindlessly like we did when escorting the caravan.
A moment later, the subjugation captain's order was given, and four carriages sped down the main road and passed through the north gate.
The destination was Corpu Beach.
It was a coastal cave where the giants' hideout was located. I heard it would take about two days to arrive. The carriage was naturally quite fast.
After a few hours, the carriage was already racing along the coastline. The blue horizon was visible out the window, and the fishy smell of the sea stung my nostrils.
.......
The open view of the sea should have lifted the mood. But the adventurers on board were simply sunk in heavy silence. It wasn't that the ride was bad—even though the seats shook, it was bearable.
There was just one big problem: a barbarian was riding in this carriage.
"I'm so scared I could shit myself."
"Why is a barbarian here?"
I could hear the adventurers whispering quietly.
The roster for Team 2, my team, didn't include the barbarian's name. The old man, who should have been on a different carriage because he was on a different team, was here instead.
"Luke, are people super scared of the barbarian?"
"Isn't he more cool than scary? Look at those magnificent muscles."
"I don't know about cool... but he is very savage. He looks as tough as the warriors back in my homeland."
In the carriage where everyone was frozen with fear, only Rebecca and I looked calm. I had thought this barbarian was hella cool from the start, and Rebecca simply didn't know any better.
Conveniently, the barbarian was sitting right across from me, so I could fully appreciate his savage physique.
"Look at those muscles, holy shit! How can he maintain a body like that at his age? Does he deliver rice on the side or something?"
"He must not have slacked off on training his entire life. I want to watch that old man fight."
I purposely raised my voice and chattered with Rebecca, hoping the elderly barbarian would start talking to us.
I wanted to bond with that barbarian over a conversation about muscles. Honestly, since I possessed the body of a Golden Sun, I wasn't bad in the muscle department myself. It was the muscle of a strong male optimized for stealing women through NTR.
.......
But no matter how much I chattered, he paid no attention.
The elderly barbarian was just staring up at the ceiling, lost in silence.
Did he mean that a tiny little Bronze-tier scrub like me wasn't even worth dealing with?
If it were anyone else, I might've been pissed, but from a barbarian? I'll respect it.
In my fantasy, barbarians were never losers who chatted like little girls.
They were real men who radiated a hard-boiled, badass aura.
'The more I looked at him, the more I liked this savage.'
Watching the elderly barbarian with his mouth shut actually increased my fondness for him.
"Wait, is that old man just sleeping?"
"What?"
"You can hear him snoring."
At those words, I stared at the elderly barbarian in disbelief. But Rebecca was right. The elderly barbarian was snoring softly. With his eyes wide open toward the ceiling.
"Holy shit, fuck...! He was sleeping with his eyes open!"
"He must be in a really deep sleep. He doesn't seem to want to wake up."
How could he sleep with his eyes open?
Was it a survival technique to guard against enemy attacks?
Contrary to my expectations, the elderly barbarian was sound asleep, but I wasn't disappointed in him at all.
In fact, I felt respect for the advanced skill of sleeping with one's eyes open.
If I learned that skill, I felt like it would come in very handy. I didn't know where I'd use it, but anyway, it would be useful.
"Hey, I'm gonna try sleeping with my eyes open too, so don't stop me. I'm doing it right now, so clap if I pull it off."
"Luke. Are you an idiot?"
"I'm sleeping, so don't wake me up. Hup!"
I looked up at the ceiling and tried to fall asleep the same way. But forget sleep, my eyes just stung like hell. Truly, a barbarian's survival technique wasn't something just anyone could imitate.
*
"We will be taking a brief rest!"
Sometime later, the carriage racing down the road next to the coastline stopped. It was to guarantee a rest period for the drivers. It was like how express bus drivers stop at a rest area for a while. Rebecca and I got off the carriage to look at the sea.
I just frowned at the sticky, fishy smell of the sea, but Rebecca looked overjoyed.
"Water! No matter how far you look, it's nothing but water!"
"Of course. Is this your first time seeing the sea?"
"Yes! I've never seen a sea or anything like it in my life. I've only ever seen crude drawings in books at home. The real sea is way cooler than the pictures."
Rebecca came from a desert kingdom.
There was no way she could have seen the sea at the edge of the continent.
If it weren't for the quest, I would have taken her down to the sandy beach. The other adventurers who got off the carriages were seriously checking their equipment.
We couldn't be the only ones acting like we were on a vacation in this situation.
The moment a short-tempered bastard catches us, we'd be publicly shamed.
"Don't shout too loud just because you're happy. The other adventurers are staring."
Rebecca immediately quieted down at my comment, though her gaze still lingered on the sea.
She was still gazing out at the sea when the screams of the adventurers rang out.
"Hermit crabs! Hermit crabs have appeared!"
I looked at what the adventurers were shouting about.
Of course, the targets of their shouts were not ordinary hermit crabs.
They were creatures entirely different from the fist-sized hermit crabs living on Earth.
In the direction the adventurers were looking, a bizarre sound of something pounding the floor echoed.
CLICK-CLACK-CLICK-CLACK-CLACK-CLACK!!
CLICK-CLACK-CLICK-CLACK-CLICK-CLACK-CLICK-CLACK!!
It was the sound of the hermit crabs' steps.
Large hermit crabs, standing as high as an adult man's waist, advanced, snapping their pincers. More than twenty of them crawled up onto the road. Their gazes were fixed squarely on the adventurers.
"It's hermit crabs! Everyone, assemble in combat formation!"
The subjugation captain's voice boomed loudly.
At his shout, the adventurers snapped to their senses and gathered their gear.
"You filthy crustacean bastards!"
"I'll turn you all into crab sticks!"
Soon, the adventurers clashed with the hermit crabs, and a chaotic melee began.
I was seriously glad I had become a mage.
Because I had no confidence in facing these hideous monster hermit crabs head-on.
A mage only has to intelligently throw out potshots from the back. I fired a mana sphere at the hermit crabs.
"Magic Missile."
Crunch! The first mana sphere I fired struck a hermit crab's pincer. Its shell burst apart as the pincer caved in.
I prepared a second mana sphere. But the moment the mana sphere cut through the air, the hermit crab retreated into its shell with agile speed. The mana sphere failed to pierce the shell.
"Th-that crustacean bastard."
"Luke! These monster bastards' shells are incredibly tough!"
Rebecca, who was locked in a desperate struggle with a hermit crab near me, shouted.
Just as she said, the hermit crabs were annoying monsters. Even when you swung a weapon, it was blocked by their shells, making it impossible to land a clean blow.
They were unexpectedly clever creatures.
Was their IQ on par with a dolphin's?
At this rate, the subjugation squad might get 'subjugated' before we even met the giants?
But there was no need to worry.
Because a bus driver was riding with this squad.
"Quite appetizing-looking creatures have crawled out."
The moment the barbarian's low voice rang out, a large axe flew from the direction of the carriage.
Boom! The shell of the hermit crab that collided with the axe exploded in a spectacular shower.