Month 13 (8)

Heavy, warm breaths filled the air.

Eyes burning with unwavering fighting spirit.

Hands and shoulders trembling with excitement.

The barbarians’ greed for real estate was as strong as ever

Well, it had stayed just as strong ever since I sparked that obsession in our sanctuary by introducing real estate.

Home ownership = a great warrior.

At some point, that idea had taken firm root in every warrior’s mind, and now it had only grown stronger.

Thinking about it, this outcome was inevitable. Most barbarians living outside the sanctuary typically made their homes in District 7, the district closest to the sanctuary. However, Districts 7 and 8 had been wiped out entirely, and Commellby, the closest alternative, was too expensive for warriors.

District 9, the closest neighboring district, had escaped the war and was in much better shape than the insanely priced Commellby, but…

“If… if I have a house, I don’t have to sleep on the streets!”

“The rent in District 9 has gone up five times more than usual…!”

“Yeah! And it’s far from the sanctuary, so I don’t even have any friends there…!”

In reality, most of the barbarians had returned to the sanctuary, where they were forced to live in communal housing barely better than homelessness.

It couldn’t be helped. The war had created countless refugees, and the entire city was struggling with a housing crisis.

With lodging prices skyrocketing and the labyrinth closed, cutting off their source of income, there was no way the warriors could afford rent.

‘At least they learned how to do construction work, so they’re able to get by now…’

At present, most warriors were going out to the city to do manual labour, earning just enough to get by from day to day.

And in the middle of all that, a “house” was being offered as a prize?

“I—I’ll go first…!!”

“No, me! I’ll go first!!”

The warriors erupted in excitement, and the news spread rapidly until every barbarian in the sanctuary had heard about it.

‘If I back out now, their trust in me will take a hit.’

Well, to be honest, I didn’t really care about popularity.

But I didn’t want to see my warriors walking around during the festival with slumped shoulders and gloomy faces.

So…

“Ainar.”

“N-no! This is something we have to do! A-and besides, Bjorn! You can spare one day for us, can’t you? You’re the chieftain!”

“Calm down. I’m not saying I won’t do it.”

“…Huh? R-really?”

“Yeah. Let’s just move locations. It’s too cramped here.”

“Oh! Then we should go to the Field of Proof!”

Thus, we headed to the Ground of Proof with all the warriors.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve been here…’

The Field of Proof was a place where a massive pit had been dug in the middle of the forest, used for honorable duels between warriors.

In my case, I had come here when I inherited the position of Tribe Chief.

“Come at me…!!”

The moment I threw away my weapon and clenched my fists, the look in the warriors’ eyes changed.

Sure, they were fighting for a house, but are you really going to look down on us this much?

That was the feeling.

“Even if you’re the chief, fighting barehanded won’t be easy!”

“Enough talk. Come!”

“Raaaaaaah!!”

And with that, the competition began. Even without a weapon, none of the warriors dared to hold back against me.

“Th-the challenger this time is Belikta, son of Ryuman!!”

“Dragon Hunter Belikta!!”

“WAAAAAAH!!”

From the very start, well-known warriors stepped up to challenge me, and I fought them one after another.

And, as expected…

‘Why is it so hard to make me bleed…?’

The matches lasted longer than expected. My opponents were strong, but no matter who I faced, not one of them could draw even a single drop of my blood.

The shield barbarian’s core strength lay in his high physical resistance, so it was nearly impossible for most barbarians, who relied on physical attacks, to even scratch me.

“…I lost. The Tribe Chief is indeed a great warrior…”

“It was a good fight.”

“Ugh… no one can beat the Tribe Chief…!!”

With no visible chance of victory, their spirit broke just as quickly.

‘What do I do? I haven’t even used [Gigantification] yet…’

“He’s a monster! A monster!!”

As the named warriors failed one by one, the enthusiasm of the watching warriors began to cool rapidly.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed the mood dropping. When I glanced at Aynar, she was clearly struggling with the same issue.

She looked completely lost, unable to do anything.

For some reason, it reminded me of her during the coming-of-age ceremony, when she became the “leader” of our graduating class and got lost on the way to the city. She wore the same expression now as she had back then.

Hmm, looks like I’ll have to step in and help her again this time.

“Break time!”

I stopped the duel temporarily and went over to Aynar.

Then I gave her an idea that could turn the mood around, and she brightened up immediately and announced to everyone:

“The duel ends here!! From now on, everyone drinks together!!”

“…Drinking?”

“The rules are simple! We all drink, and whoever lasts the longest wins!!”

“Does the prize stay the same?!”

“Of course!! If you outlast Bjorn, you’ll each get a house!!”

…What? One house per person?

I never agreed to that.

“WOOOOOOO!!”

“BETHELAAAAAA!!”

For a moment, I felt dizzy at Aynar’s reckless reward announcement, but now that it had been said, it was too late to take it back.

“This shall be called the drinking duel… a sacred drinking duel!!”

“Drinking duel! Drinking duel!!”

“WOOOOOOO!!”

The warriors loved the name Aynar had casually come up with and roared in excitement.

‘Hah… I don’t know anymore…’

I didn’t have the nerve to dampen their excitement, so I kept quiet. After a short pause to get ready, the drinking contest—no, the sacred drinking contest that could become a new barbarian tradition—began.

“Now, the first glass…”

At Aynar’s shout, the thousands of warriors sitting in the Field of Proof raised their cups in unison.

“Pour it in…”

Then every glass was downed in a single gulp.

We kept repeating this over and over.

Two cups, three, four, five…

The more we drank, the more warriors began to drop out.

“Ugh… ngh… bleeegh…!”

“Karubo, son of Bulrak, has vomited! Eliminated!”

“Daaamn it!!”

The pace of the drinking was extremely fast, and most of the warriors were already quite drunk from enjoying the festival.

That thought gave me a burst of energy.

Because if, by some chance, over a thousand warriors survived, the barbarian tribe would go bankrupt that very day.

As the Tribe Chief, I had to prevent that future at all costs…

“Pour…!!”

Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen…

As more liquid filled my stomach, I slowly began to feel intoxicated.

‘…When was the last time I felt this drunk?’

Truthfully, I didn’t even know my own limit.

I had never drunk until blacking out in this body.

On top of that, after boosting my Natural Regeneration and Poison Resistance, I sobered up quickly even when I got drunk, which made it even harder for me to pass out.

“Now, it’s the seventy-third drink…!!”

More and more warriors were knocked out of the contest as they vomited, passed out, or left to relieve themselves, and our drinking pace picked up accordingly. After all, with fewer people, it took less time to prepare drinks for everyone.

“Fill it! One hundred cups!!”

“WOOOOOO!!”

…Huh? When did it reach a hundred?

I glanced around and saw that far fewer warriors were still holding up their drinks.

‘…How many are left?’

I didn’t know the exact count, but one thing was clear, I was getting bloated. My stomach was starting to protest as if there was no room left, and I could feel everything inside it slowly rising back up.

‘If there are a hundred people, that’s a hundred houses… which means in money…’

That thought snapped me back to reality, and I activated my ability. It only made sense—if the problem was that my stomach was too full of alcohol…

Then I’d just expand it.

『Character has cast [Gigantification].』

My swollen stomach felt immediately relieved, and the pressure on my nearly bursting bladder eased as well.

Well, the second “crisis” came sooner than expected, but…

“One hundred fifty!!”

…I’m gonna die.

‘…Thirty people?’

What the hell are they?

Do they have subspace inside their stomachs or something?

Or are they drinking something else?

I initially suspected them, but thankfully the challengers weren’t exactly in their right minds either.

“Uhehehehehe… hehehehehe…!”

“I-it’s alcohol… heehee… hihi…!”

“My house…! My house…! Ugh…!”

Even in their irrational state, these warriors were holding on out of pure material greed for a house.

Watching them, barely resembling humans and more like zombies, I steeled my resolve.

‘Just a little more…!

Hold on.

This isn’t anything new.

Back in Ice Rock, I went through worse.’

Right, so…

“One hundred and fifty One!!”

I drank.

Through my spinning vision, I saw several warriors collapse at once.

My battle-honed instincts told me this was the turning point.

“One hundred and fifty three!!”

Just a few more glasses.

These remaining few would decide the winner.

My intuition proved true, and many more warriors collapsed.

It was a moment that reaffirmed a simple truth of the world.

“One hundred and fifty-five!”

As much as I’m suffering, so are my opponents. In this cold world of competition, victory and defeat are decided by whether you can endure that final moment.

“One hundred and fifty-five!!”

And I had to win, because the one who lost would have to give something up—

“One hundred and fifty-seven—”

Ah, this is getting dangerous now…

…How many are left?

“an—th—fifty eight!!”

The sounds around me faded, and my vision narrowed as if I had entered a tunnel.

“One hundred and sixty—th—!!”

The moment I realized I’d hit my limit, my constricted vision locked onto a single warrior.

I’d planned to drop out when there were about three people left, but I was so drunk that I only just realized there was only one remaining.

‘…Huh?’

I noticed something very strange about the last warrior standing.

‘That guy…’

How is he even drinking that much with a human body?’

And then I realized—

‘He’s… peeing his pants while drinking…?’

No, how could such a person exist in this world?

Even barbarians had limits to what they would do.

An act that defied civilization, human dignity, and even basic decency—

I was left speechless.

Not out of shock.

But out of awe.

“Ah…”

Shock

That determination to win, ignoring all existing order.

And hidden within it—

Pssshhh…

Not blocking what comes in, but letting it flow through.

“Ah, ahhh…”

Yes, this was the fundamental duality of human nature.

“Uh, uhh…”

Nature feels no shame. Nature follows no rules.

Nature simply exists.

Like a mountain.

‘From the start… this was an unwinnable battle…’

As a mere human, how could I possibly defeat someone who had already become one with nature?

In the end, I humbly accepted defeat.

“…I lost…”

That was my last memory.

***

When I opened my eyes, it was night.

My body was stiff, yet I didn’t feel as hungover as I had expected; in fact, both my body and mind felt fine.

‘Bathroom first…’

Recalling that transcendent final scene before I passed out, I hurried to the bathroom.

Maybe she heard the movement—

“So you’re awake.”

“Emily?”

“Drink. It’s honey water.”

“…Thanks, but don’t tell me you were waiting here?”

“Of course not. I was just passing by and figured you might be waking up around now.”

I quickly finished the honey water, then asked her, “How long was I out?”

“A day.”

“Then today must be the last day of the festival.”

“Are you disappointed? After sleeping through the entire last day?”

“Of course not. The sooner the festival ends, the sooner something new can begin. I’m actually glad.”

At my words, Amelia had a somewhat displeased expression, so I quickly changed the subject.

There was something I was curious about.

“By the way, what’s the name of the guy who beat me?”

That scene of endless flow was still vividly etched into my mind, but unfortunately, I hadn’t gotten a good look at his face.

“Vecta. I hear he’s the third son of Kiltau.”

Why does that name sound familiar?

Who was it…?

Oh!

I remember!

He was there when I first became chief of the tribe and presided over the coming-of-age ceremony.

With his stiff expression and darting eyes, it was obvious at a glance that he was completely new.

“…Wait a second…”

For a moment, I froze. Just like when I had been struck by a basilisk’s poison.

My muscles stiffened and I broke out in a cold sweat.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”

Amelia had picked up on the change in my posture immediately.

Yes, that’s certainly how it should have been, but…

I couldn’t turn away from the harsh truth I’d come to face.
Vecta, Kiltau’s third son—the barbarian who had embodied the sublime truth, the ultimate duality of man, by becoming one with nature. The unrivaled master who had left his mark on the very history of beauty.

“No way, it can’t be. Pffft… hahaha…”

Maybe I had grossly misunderstood.

‘There’s no way someone like that could be a modern person.’

That simply wouldn’t make any sense, would it?

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