Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 201

Blessing (1)

A magical circle bloomed from the bottom of the sewer.

As I stood still in the light that emanated from it, the stinking smell of sewage disappeared.

[You’ve arrived]

It was the same Dragon Temple I had visited before.

In front of me I could see Mr Dragon with six members of the Dragon tribe standing behind him.

They must be the elders he mentioned earlier.

Although their reptilian eyes were vertically slit, it was easy to sense that their gaze was not friendly.

So, it was time for a battle cry.

“Behel—raaaaaaaaa!!!”

I wasn’t here to pick a fight, so I didn’t use [Wild Burst]. But was that enough to attract their aggro?

The elders stare at me with frowns.

Their expressions seemed to say, “What is this?”

“Ah, sorry. I just felt like it.”

As I scratched the back of my head and apologized, Mr. Dragon, familiar with me, opened his mouth with a strange expression

“You are… as ever.”

That must be a compliment, right?

Having finished my introductory shout, I got to the point.

“So, what am I supposed to do now?”

Whether or not I, a barbarian, could receive the Dragon’s Blessing.

On this matter, Mr Dragon said that the elders would have to see me in person to decide.

But I don’t think they only wanted to see my face.

What kind of ‘verification’ were they planning to do?

“It’s nothing big.” Mr. Dragon said.

“Before we reach a final consensus and make a decision, the elders will each ask you a question or make a request.

“I get the question, but what do you mean by request?”

“Well, I’m not sure about that, but just so you know, you can say Refuse if you want.”

Refuse, my foot.

That would obviously lead them to vote against me.

‘Dragon’s Blessing, huh? They’re being annoyingly picky.’

“How about it? Will you do it?”

Despite my internal grumbling I nodded.

It felt like they had a lot of demands, even after returning the Dragon Slayer Sword…

But surely, the Dragon’s Blessing was worth it.

“Good, then it’s decided. No need to waste time; let’s begin.”

“Sure.”

At my reply, Mr. Dragon glanced at one of the elders behind him.

It was a signal to start the ‘verification’.

The first to step forward was one of the two female dragon-tribe members.

“I’ll go first.”

As a dragon, it was pointless to guess her age from her appearance, but from the tone of her voice and the look in her eyes, she was the youngest of the group.

“Bjorn, son of Jandel. What is your greatest wish?”

Hearing that question, I had a rough idea of what this ‘verification’ aimed to achieve.

It was a literal verification.

Before passing on the dragon-tribe’s secret technique of the ‘Dragon’s Blessing’ to another race, they wanted to check what kind of person I was.

After a moment of consideration, I answered honestly.

‘Perhaps returning to Earth?’

But in the grand scheme of things, it’s merely a secondary goal.

“Surviving”

My top priority has always been survival.

However, things have changed a bit now.

Survival is still paramount, but there’s something else I’d add.

“If possible, along with my companions.”

Even as I responded, something about it felt peculiar.

Having fallen into this strange world, perhaps this was the most significant change?.

What would they think of this answer?

“……I see.”

The dragon tribe woman, who had been watching me with a meaningful look, asked another question.

“What would you do if your sacrifice allowed your companion to survive?”

“……Didn’t you say only one question or request each?”

“You can refuse to answer if you want.”

She spoke in a tone that suggested she really wouldn’t mind either way, and once again, I answered honestly.

“I’m not sure yet.”

Leor Wuerv Dwalki, the mage of Team Halfling.

Before the situation arises, any promise or word is meaningless.

Death always tests us.

“However, when the time comes, I will make the choice I need to.”

“……You could have just said that.”

The female dragon-tribe member looked at me as if she didn’t understand, and I quickly dismissed her.

“I didn’t want to answer that question.”

Such a thing would be disrespectful to him, too.

Not knowing my past, the dragon tribe woman stared at me for a moment before stepping back.

“That’s all for my question.”

Her expression said nothing about whether she approved of my answers or not.

Without a moment to catch my breath, the next turn began.

“It’s Geornabehanutertus.”

A middle-aged man, strong enough to rival me, made a request instead of a question.

“Fight me.”

He even subtly emitted Dragon Fury as he made the offer.

I answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“Fine.”

Rejecting such a challenge would be ludicrous for a barbarian warrior.

Moreover, it was a good opportunity.

An elder of the dragon-tribe must be around rank seven.

If I could fight without worrying about dying, there was no reason not to.

That was my reasoning, but…

“Let’s stop this.”

Mr. Dragon intervened midway.

“We agreed not to make such demands.”

“What’s more certain than crossing fists? Isn’t that right, barbarian warrior?”

Uh, I was going to use a mace…

I think of equipment as a part of skill, but I agreed with him for now.

“Of course.”

“Ha ha ha! I like this guy!”

Pleased with my response, the macho dragon-tribe laughed heartily.

“……I didn’t expect you to agree to fight without a second thought.” Another elder seemed amused by the situation.

“So what are you going to do?” I asked the macho dragon

“I’ll just ask a question instead.”

The macho dragon-tribe member sounded somewhat disappointed as he asked me.

“Barbarian, what are you most afraid of?”

The first thing that came to mind was death.

But giving the same answer as my first question wouldn’t look good for the ‘verification’.

I decided to be more specific with my response.

“Fighting someone stronger than myself.”

“…What?”

The macho dragon-tribe member cocked his head as if he’d misheard.

Did the realization come late?

“You think I’m weaker than you?”

He sounded a bit angry as he asked, and I shook my head.

“Not at all.”

“But you just said…”

“You didn’t come here planning to kill me.”

“That’s true, but…”

I cut him off, summarizing briefly.

“One must fight because it is frightening. All the more so.”

I know that might sound un-Barbarian to some.

But what of it?

This is the essence of being a barbarian.

Fortunately, my point seemed to get across.

“Fearing and yet not running away, but preparing for that moment… truly a rational answer.”

The macho dragon-tribe chuckled.

“Interesting. Are all barbarians like you?”

“Somewhat.”

The person who truly taught me ‘the life of a warrior’ was Aynar, and her advice showed me the path when I was cornered.

“That’s all for my question.”

With a satisfied smile, the macho dragon-tribe returned to his place.

At least I knew one thing for sure.

I had definitely secured one vote.

The third one was also a question, not a request.

“Do you have someone you love?”

“…No.”

“Your answer was a bit delayed. Seems like you thought of someone.”

The dragon-tribe woman, her eyes sleepy, returned to her seat without asking further.

Thus began the fourth round.

“I would like to test your insight.”

An elderly dragon-tribe with a full head of white hair handed me an object. I immediately recognized its purpose.

A ring puzzle.

“Try to separate all these.”

I hadn’t expected such a mission.

“To give you a bit of help, only the correct sequence and method will allow you to separate them.”

After handing over the ring puzzle, the elderly dragon-tribe member smirked, giving me a hint as well.

He probably never expected me to solve it.

Heh, does he really think I’m just some random barbarian?

I used to play with ring puzzles a lot in hospitals when I was a child.

“You can take as much time as you need. Sometimes, perseverance is the way to reach the truth.”

I took the ring puzzle and began inspecting it from all angles, understanding its structure.

With enough time, it should be solvable.

Or so it should have been…

“Heh, five minutes have passed.”

Shit.

What is this even?

“Ten minutes now. Still far off, are we?”

I had to admit honestly.

More time wouldn’t likely bring me any closer to a solution.

So, there was only one approach left.

‘Gigantification.’

My body swelled in an instant.

With my enlarged hands, I grabbed the rings and pulled them apart.

And then…

Crack.

I had successfully separated all seven rings.

“What, what are you doing!!!”

“I separated them.”

“…That, that’s not possible!”

“Nobody said I couldn’t break them.”

I answered confidently.

After all, I had realized the puzzle’s trap.

Initially, the old man had said he was testing insight, not intellect, and even gave a hint about reaching the truth through perseverance.

This meant the ring puzzle was inherently unsolvable from the start!

‘Probably he gave this to me to see how I would tackle an impossible problem—’

“This, this way! It was supposed to be solved like this…!”

The elderly dragon-tribe member murmured helplessly, fumbling with the now more numerous pieces of the puzzle, a look of profound sadness in his eyes.

“Cough.”

“It’s something that can’t be replaced…”

“Who’s next?”

Ignoring the elderly dragon-tribe member, I looked towards the other elders, and thus the verification resumed.

The fifth was a question about my past deeds.

“How many have you killed up to now?”

I recalled each person in my head and provided the exact number, and the elder asked why I had killed them.

The answer was not difficult.

The methods varied, but the reason was fundamentally the same.

“They tried to kill me.”

“I see.”

The questioning elder nodded and stepped back, concluding the fifth round.

Now only the final session remained.

It was unclear how well it was going.

‘The old man who gave me the puzzle is likely against me…’

The macho dragon-tribe would vote in favor.

The rest? Hard to say.

“Now it’s my turn.”

A handsome man in his late twenties stepped forward.

He asked one question.

“Have you spoken only the truth?”

His tone suggested he had the ability to discern truth from falsehood.

Though it felt unsettling, I had answered all questions truthfully so far.

If I failed, there would still be time to start negotiations KB-style.

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s it then.”

With that, the hearing concluded.

Mr. Dragon, who had been exchanging glances with the last man, spoke.

“We need to discuss more among ourselves, so you take a break.”

“How long will I wait?”

“Well, it shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

Hmm, that’s reasonable.

Following that, I was led into the temple by the dragon-tribe woman who had asked the first question.

We reached a room.

I assumed it was a reception room for guests, but…

“Is that the barbarian who was supposed to come today?”

There was already someone in the room.

A dragon-tribe child with the appearance of an early teen.

The child burst into laughter upon seeing me.

“Wow, you’re really ugly!”

What in the world? This cheeky kid?

Taken aback by the unexpected jab, I responded with adult composure.

“Ha ha, looks like you don’t have a mom then?”

“…Eh?”

“If you had received proper home training, you wouldn’t make such bizarre lies!”

Bjorn Jandel was certainly a manly man, not at all ugly.