Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 99
Rumors (1)
A magical tool that can identify evil spirits?
Just a second ago, I never expected to be in this situation.
But…
‘Whatever it is, nothing changes’
I dismiss questions that arise out of pure curiosity.
Is he saying this knowingly?
Or is it just a coincidence?
If I’m uncertain, it’s best to assume the worst and act accordingly.
The old man is suspecting me.
So, what should I do now?
“…A magical tool?”
I frown, looking at the old man.
It seems the word ‘magical tool’, rather than the evil spirit, is more concerning to me. As if the brief silence just now was all because of that.
“…It’s safe, right?”
I look at him with distrust.
After all, I am a barbarian who knows nothing about magic.
I’ve seen plenty of strange magical tools in Raven’s laboratory.
‘This must be the right reaction.’
I make a quick judgment and take action.
So now, it’s the old man’s turn.
“Hmm.”
The old man observes me with a meaningful look, then changes his expression and speaks.
“Hehe, don’t you trust me? Me, a master of the Artemion School?”
When I looked at him as if he didn’t need to say that, the old man clicked his tongue.
“Tch, what does this fellow take me for? Don’t worry. Alluva will prove that the magical tool is harmless to humans.”
“…Me?”
“It’s not too difficult, is it?”
“Well, if it’s just checking what kind of magic is in the tool…”
A master of the school and a barbarian who’s known each other for three months.
It’s clear whom Raven would prioritize, so her words are hard to trust.
But…
‘No matter what excuse I make to refuse, I’ll end up falling for the trick anyway.’
Listening to their conversation, I’m convinced.
I don’t know where I left a clue, but the old man is suspecting me.
Luckily, it doesn’t seem like he’s completely sure yet.
If he’s trying to test me with a non-existent magical tool.
‘Maybe… there’s no such magical tool.’
I clear my anxiety and thoroughly rationalize my thoughts.
A magical tool to discern evil spirits?
It hasn’t existed for thousands of years.
It wouldn’t be strange if such a thing appeared as civilization advances, but…
‘It’s absurd to think that this old man would be the first creator.’
The Artemion School is a orthodox mage’ school.
They focus more on creating new spells and research, rather than minor topics like dimensions or souls.
Would such a magician create an evil spirit detector?
If there was such a thing, he would have tricked me into sitting in front of the magic tool somehow, not just tested me like this.
Finally, I completed my final judgment.
There is no evil spirit detector.
The old man is just trying to see my reaction.
So—,
“So, what are you going to do? It’s not dangerous, and it won’t take much time.”
“…It won’t take long?”
“About 5 minutes should be enough.”
“Well, then.”
I accepted the old man’s proposal.
Though a bit uneasy, it seemed fine as long as it ended quickly.
But was my decision unexpected?
“…Are you really okay with this?”
The old man surprisingly questions me.
A response that erases even the slightest remaining anxiety.
I asked calmly.
“What do you mean by okay?”
“…Didn’t you worry earlier that it might be dangerous?”
“Didn’t she say she’d check to make sure it’s safe!”
“Well, that’s true but…”
“Let’s go. I’m tired from waking up early this morning, and I need to get back to sleep!”
Damn it, this old man is up to something.
***
“He’s gone……”
Bjorn had left the laboratory.
Raven sighed heavily at her master’s seemingly empty muttering.
She didn’t understand the situation at all.
A magical tool to discern evil spirits?
She had never heard news that her master was researching such a thing…
“What was that earlier?”
“……”
“Don’t just stand there. Are you really not going to tell me?”
She had to prove to Bjorn that this magical tool was safe under her master’s instruction.
It wasn’t difficult.
The so-called evil spirit detector that her master brought out didn’t even have any spells in it.
It was just a strangely shaped chair.
[Don’t say anything and just go along with it.]
She had remained silent following her master’s instructions about this fact.
So now it was time to hear the truth.
Of course, she had some suspicions.
She wasn’t that naive.
“…Did you really think Mr. Jandel was an evil spirit? Is that why you were probing about what happened in the labyrinth?”
The master neither confirmed nor denied.
But sometimes, silence can be a more definite answer than anything else.
“Haah… So, has your suspicion been cleared?”
“…Yes, I was wrong in my thinking.”
“I can understand why you were concerned, Master. He is an unusual person. But I have a question I really want you to answer.”
Her master weakly responded to her repeated inquiry.
“…What is it?”
“Why did you do it? If you suspected him of being an evil spirit, you could have just tipped off the secret police—.”
“Then he would have been killed, wouldn’t he.”
A faint murmur.
“What do you mean—?”
“Enough, I’m tired. I’ll be leaving now, so please take care of the rest.”
The master slowly stood up with his frail frame.
Then, he left the room with a more subdued gait than usual.
Left alone in the laboratory, she pondered over her master’s words.
‘Then he would have been killed, wouldn’t he…’
In other words, he needed a living evil spirit.
‘What exactly does the master want?’
She couldn’t shake off the eerie feeling.
***
Thud!
Back at my lodging, I immediately collapsed onto the bed.
Somehow, I felt completely drained since the morning.
I wanted to catch a bit of sleep, but…
‘He really scared me when he came at me out of nowhere’
As I relaxed my tense body, I reflected on the day’s events.
It seemed like I hadn’t made any mistakes.
Looking back, I had handled the situation well.
I assumed the worst but didn’t jump to conclusions without solid clues, allowing me to deduce the best possible answer.
‘Judging by his expression at the end, the old man seemed to have completely dropped his suspicions.’
It was an unexpected incident, but it turned out well.
However, there was one thing that didn’t quite sit right with me.
When he was convinced I wasn’t an evil spirit, the old man seemed somewhat disappointed.
Why was that?
‘…Well, that’s none of my concern.’
After a moment of contemplation, I cleared my thoughts.
It was an unanswerable question, and regardless of the reason, it seemed to have no direct connection to my safety.
‘Still, it’s a bit of a relief.’
It was a shitty morning.
But paradoxically, this incident gave me a strange sense of relief. It may have balanced out the sky-high luck stack these days…
“Bjorn! Wake up! It’s already midday, how long are you going to sleep?”
Had I fallen asleep without realizing?
When I opened my eyes, Misha was shaking my body.
I hadn’t left the door open, so she must have used the spare key I gave her for emergencies.
‘I gave it to her for emergencies, but…’
“Misha, why are you here? I thought you were going to the mage tower today.”
“You came back late yesterday, nyang. I thought I’d wake you up if you were still sleeping!”
Hmm, if that’s the reason.
“Late yesterday? How did you know I came back late? You weren’t waiting for me, were you?”
“I promised to tell you about what happened there, didn’t I, nyang? Plus, I didn’t wait that long, so don’t worry about it.”
Despite her words, it was clear she had waited for me late into the night.
Was she that curious about what happened at the banquet?
“So, tell me, what happened, nyang?”
Urged by Misha, I slowly recounted yesterday’s events.
How I had dressed in the barbarian gear the butler had prepared for me, leading the carriage procession to the banquet.
The food I ate there.
And how I ended up winning the tournament.
“What, you really won? Beat all those knights?”
“Not knights, apprentice knights.”
“Still, they’re knights in training, nyang! That’s amazing!”
Amazing, really?
Except for the guy in the final, the rest would have been easy for Misha too.
She’s no joke when it comes to hand-to-hand combat.
“Enough about that, let’s write these.”
After briefly explaining the events, Misha and I started writing letters.
They were replies to the nobles.
I had written all of them in the morning, but by the time I woke up, there were more.
“…Bjorn, is it really okay to send them like this? They’re nobles, nyang. This might cause some issues.”
“It’s fine.”
“Well, if you say so, nyang…”
Despite her anxious look, Misha wrote the letters as I dictated.
There’s no need to worry.
What more can they expect from a letter written by a barbarian?
It’s already miraculous enough that they’re getting a response…
[Can’t make it, I’m too busy.]
[Find another barbarian.]
[Sender: Jandel’s son Bjorn]
Yep, this should maintain enough dignity.
***
At a noble’s mansion.
A place vast, sparkling, and wafting with delicious scents.
“I finally understand what the tribe chief meant by the world being vast!”
It felt like a completely different world.
The clothes of the people, their way of speaking, even the music that filled the air.
All we had was drumming…
“What are you doing? Come here.”
“Ah, right!”
A barbarian who had just turned into an adult a month ago.
Dukat, the son of Kapen, followed his client towards the heart of the banquet.
“Tch, what’s with that walk? Walk more confidently!”
He felt a bit unjustified.
What did it mean to walk confidently?
The gear he was wearing was unnecessarily large and uncomfortable.
Nothing beats being bare…
He wanted to complain, but Dukat remained silent, remembering the past.
[Didn’t that man wear even bigger things and move around just fine?]
A few days ago, lured by the promise of a large sum of money, he followed a noble and received various teachings, mostly about how to behave at a banquet.
At first, he was angry.
Was it because I’m a barbarian that they make such unreasonable demands?
He even thought they were mocking him.
But…
[That man! Who is this man you keep talking about and making all these demands on me?]
[Are you not aware of the Little Balkan, Jandel’s son Bjorn?]
After learning the identity of ‘that man,’ he had no choice but to endure all their demands.
Jandel’s son Bjorn.
The warrior among warriors who laid low knights at the nobles’ banquet, earning the impressive title of ‘Knight Crusher.’
‘Maybe I’m just not cut out to be like him…’
Having heard his stories, Dukat resolved to show his best at this banquet.
After all, the tribe chief had praised that warrior endlessly; his actions couldn’t be wrong.
If there was a fault, it would surely be on his part.
He decided to act ‘like a warrior’.
But it wasn’t as easy as he thought.
Surrounded by the elegant and refined nobles, who were so different from himself, he involuntarily felt intimidated.
Moreover…
“Ah, this is delicious…!”
“Be louder! He wasn’t shy like that!”
“Bethel…raaa!!!”
Frankly, it was embarrassing.
No matter how barbaric, yelling out in excitement over food in front of people didn’t seem right.
Well, maybe if he were alone, he might have shouted a few times.
“Don’t just eat the meat, chew the bones too!”
His jaw was aching.
“You need a napkin? Why would you need that?”
His hands were sticky from grabbing food.
“Why are you taking off the helmet?”
His neck was sore, and his shoulders heavy.
But soon, he had to participate in a match only for barbarian contestants.
Could he really fight properly?
He felt pathetic for even having such worries.
Unlike that man, his opponents weren’t even knights.
‘Chasing goblins and trolls, then getting their heads smashed…’
When he first entered the city after completing his coming of age ceremony, his heart was full of ambition to become a famous warrior one day.
But was this the harsh reality?
Not even a month had passed, and he already faced his own shortcomings.
“Why can’t you even do that?”
Dukat finally voiced his long-suppressed feelings.
“I am… just an ordinary warrior.”
To yell when you want to yell.
To smash what you want to smash.
To act as you please, without shame or regard for those around you.
“I can’t do that…”
That was a right reserved only for true strongmen,
For true warriors who are confident in themselves.
“Please, stop comparing me to him. Jandel’s son Bjorn, he is a great warrior beyond my comparison.”
“Huh, so he was really special…”
The noble sighed upon hearing Dukat’s confession.
His eyes filled with longing as he stared into the distance.
Perhaps it wasn’t just him.
“So it has to be him, doesn’t it…”
“Indeed, how common could such a savage barbarian be?”
“I thought all barbarians were like him.”
“They are surprisingly too ordinary.”
Listening closely, similar remarks were echoing throughout the banquet hall.
***
「Your character’s fame has increased by +10.」
「Your character’s fame has increased by +10…」
「……」
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