Surviving game as a barbarian Episode 567

Destination(6)

“… Baron Jandel…?”

As soon as I stepped out of the basement, some of the knights froze upon seeing me.

Jerome had forced my unconscious body into a death trap, so from their perspective, I must have looked like a ghost come back from the dead.

“Are… are you alright…?”

Sensing something was off, one knight kept his distance and called out cautiously. And for some reason, he couldn’t meet my eyes.

What, feeling guilty or something?

“Call Count Saint-Red. I have something to tell him.”

“Huh? Ah—yes! I’ll deliver the message right away!”

One of the knights guarding the tree scurried off, and before long, Jerome Saint-Red appeared, leading a large group of knights.

He stared at me wordlessly for a long time, as if trying to verify my identity, then spoke.

“I’ll take care of things here. Everyone, stand down for now.”

Okay. Looks like I’m safe—for now.

Even as I thought that, I made sure to keep a blank expression.

After all, this was the crux of the plan.

To make Jerome believe that the village chief had taken over my body.

“……”

“……”

Though it was quiet enough for us to talk, we both fell silent for a moment. Eventually I broke the silence first.

“Don’t worry. The ritual was a success.”

I spoke in a voice that Bjorn, son of Jandel, would never use.

Only then did Jerome seem to relax a little.

“I’m glad to hear it. Then, as promised, hand it over.”

“……”

“Are you having second thoughts now? If so, I suggest that you let it go. If you don’t give it up, you won’t be able to live properly in this body even if you leave this place.”

“I don’t have any thoughts. It’s just… there’s something I couldn’t tell you back then.”

“I don’t have any thoughts. There’s just something I couldn’t tell you back then.”

“That object is currently in a state where it can’t be moved.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I said. When I woke up in this body, the Portal Stone was beside me. And… that thing had fused with it. I tried countless times, but I couldn’t separate it.”

Surprisingly, half of this story was true.

If I recall correctly from what the chief said, the heart only came free when he opened a portal to escape this place—and that was when he discovered that a monster’s body can’t pass through a portal.

However, Jerome, who didn’t know that, exploded in anger.

“Damn it. Why are you only telling me this now?”

“Everything has an order, right?”

“Are you seriously—!”

“What’s the issue? You were going to retrieve that object for the king anyway. Bring it here, use it, and be done. Besides, I couldn’t find a way to detach it, but you might have better luck.”

As I stood my ground against his anger, he clenched his jaw.

He didn’t appear to be holding back his anger; instead, he seemed to be calmly analyzing the situation.

“…Personally.”

Jerome finally opened his mouth.

“I’ll verify it personally.”

“Hmm. Then I’ll have the warriors evacuate the village. Once we’re gone, take your time—”

“No. You’re not going anywhere until I’ve confirmed everything.”

…Yeah, I figured you’d say that.

“Suit yourself.”

Now, the rest is up to the village chief.
***

The village of monsters, hidden beneath the trees.

When the expedition force arrived at their location, the order they received was neither to charge nor to annihilate.

“Stand by until further instructions!”

An indefinite wait.

But despite how simple the order was, the knights, priests, and mages in the expedition swallowed nervously

For a very simple reason.

It wasn’t just standing by—they had to remain on alert, facing off against hundreds of village warriors.

“Evost, if those monsters make a move or act suspiciously, kill them immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Understood.”

“And while I’m gone, make sure to ‘look after’ Baron Jandel.”

Judging from his tone when he said “look after,” he must’ve given his deputy commander some explanation.

Knowing his personality, it wouldn’t have been detailed—just enough to tell him to keep an eye on me and prevent me from doing anything.

“But are you sure you’ll be alright on your own?”

“I’ll be fine. As long as you do your part here, there will be no danger.”

Honestly, Jerome’s actions weren’t reckless.

That’s because he believed the village chief was residing within my body.

And with the village warriors pinned down like this, he likely assumed there was no real threat left in the village.

“Ahem…”

As Jerome walked into the village alone, the vice-commander awkwardly cleared his throat and stepped closer to me.

Regardless, I continued my train of thought.

‘Well, how will this play out…?’

The village chief had said:

If Jerome Saint-Reid came alone to the cave, he’d handle the rest.

He’d been so confident that I’d just gone along with it.

Even if the chief failed, I had little to lose.

Whether the chief subdued Jerome and took his body—

Or Jerome counterattacked and killed the chief—

Either outcome worked in my favor.

Of course, if Jerome returned alive, my alliance with the chief would be exposed….

‘But I was planning to betray him anyway.’

Call it even, I guess?

There would be some hard feelings, but since we’d both be in the wrong, maybe we could talk it out and move on.

If the chief won, even better.

So I’d left the climax of the plan entirely to the chief.

He’d wanted it that way from the start.

My only real concern was that the two of them could conspire behind my back and betray me again.

“This is nerve-wracking. How is it that neither the chief nor Jerome is trustworthy at all?”

The more I thought about it, the more negative I became, so I cut off my thoughts there.

It wasn’t like I didn’t have a contingency plan.

For now, observing the situation was the best course of action.

“Eborst, could I speak with my companions for a moment?”

Just in case, I made the request, but the vice-commander refused without hesitation.

“My apologies. Once the commander returns, I’ll strongly urge him to allow you to speak with your companions. Please wait until then.”

“…Fine.”

I was worried about my bound allies, but I quickly let it go. Given his stubborn attitude, no amount of persuasion would work.

‘…I also need to ask Misha about the Resurrection Stone.’

Not that I was going to ask her directly—I just wanted confirmation.

I am almost 100% sure that Lee Baek-ho gave the stone to her. I also had a rough guess why he’d given it to Misha.

“Ugh… That bastard always pulls this crap when I start to trust him.”

Honestly, I wasn’t even feeling betrayed anymore.

I was just sick of his fixation.

“Sigh…”

Anyway, as I sat under the watchful eyes of the knights, lost in thought, time quickly passed.

And—

“The Count has returned…!”

Jerome Saintred, who had entered the village alone, returned and stood in front of me.

For some reason, I felt tense.

‘Is it the chief or the real Jerome?’

The answer came soon enough.

The commander of the expedition force reached out his hand to me.

“Baron Jandel, thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to eliminate him.”

So, it worked.
***

I don’t know exactly what happened between the two of them.

But there’s one thing I know for sure.

The chief succeeded.

He had successfully subdued Jerome Saint-Red and taken over his body.

In other words, the entire expedition—composed of the royal family’s elite—had fallen into the hands of some strange guy.

And we are now in command of this expedition.

“Eborst, release all of Baron J3andel’s companions.”

“…Huh? But—”

“Don’t worry. Everything I did to the baron was to deceive the ‘chief.’”

“…Pardon?”

Our vice-commander seemed baffled by his commander’s sudden shift, so I stepped in.

“The village chief had a method of secretly observing everything happening on the island. To trick him, we had to deceive even you.”

“So… it was all an act?”

“From the start. To kill the village chief.”

I didn’t elaborate further.

There wasn’t enough time for details, and even the slightest mistake could cost us everything.

“Baron Jandel, you’ve worked hard. That couldn’t have been easy.”

Though the vice-commander wasn’t entirely convinced, seeing the two of us laughing and chatting left him at a loss for words.

If we said it was so, what could he do?

Besides, people naturally want to believe in situations that work out in their favor.

 

“Ah… I did think something was off. I just trusted there was a greater purpose and followed orders. But… I did wonder why the commander was treating Baron Jandel like a disposable pawn.”

If Jerome and I had coordinated this entire situation, then no conflict remained.

And so—

Even though the expedition members felt a twinge of suspicion, they didn’t question our words.

‘Well, at least we got over the first hurdle.’

In truth, convincing the expeditionary force with this excuse was extremely important.

That way, the village chief—now living as Jerome Saintred—wouldn’t suffer any disadvantages, and our future plans could proceed naturally.

‘The problem is making sure we don’t get exposed before then…’

But I wasn’t too worried about that, either.

Just how thorough this bastard was became clear from what happened next.

“Commander…! The monsters are going berserk!”

“So they’ve finally realized their leader is dead.”

The monsters we had been confronting suddenly began screaming in Ancient Tongue and letting out savage howls, but the village chief gave his orders without the slightest hesitation.

“Full assault! Exterminate the monsters!”

A command targeting the very subordinates he’d once wielded like limbs.

“Nia Rafdonía…!”

The expedition charged, slaughtering the monsters with brutal efficiency. They couldn’t even mount a proper resistance.

Not because they’d lost their leader.

“…What the hell did you do to make them this helpless?”

“Nothing special.”

“……?”

“I just told them to put up a fight and die. They’ve outlived their usefulness.”

…What kind of monster is this?

A chill ran down my spine, but logically, it made sense.

…They’re intelligent, capable of communication in the ancient tongue. This was the cleanest way.

The dead tell no tales.

The problem? I was now the only one left alive who knew the chief’s secret.

Still, I decided to stay cautious without letting my thoughts spiral too negatively.

“It’s finally over…”

 

After the village had been cleared, the chief, who now possessed Jerome’s body, spoke to me.

“Baron Jandel, your contribution in this battle was tremendous. And so, I plan to reward you accordingly…”

“……”

“All the essence I’ve gathered? Magic stones? Equipment? Just tell me what you want.”

I now had a legal way to siphon off the royal family’s resources.

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