Chapter 99
Just a second ago, I never expected to find myself in this situation.
But…
‘No matter what happens, nothing changes.’
Erase questions just for curiosity.
Are you saying you know something?
Or is it really just a coincidence?
If you’re not sure, it’s best to assume the worst and act.
The old man is suspicious of me.
Then what should I do right now?
“…A magic tool?”
He frowned and looked at the old man.
It was as if the word magic tool, not evil spirits, bothered him more. As if the short silence from before was all because of that.
“…it’s safe, right?”
I look on with disbelief.
Because I am a barbarian ignorant of magic.
I’ve seen countless suspicious-looking magic tools in Raven’s lab.
‘This must be the right reaction.’
Stop making fleeting judgments and take action.
So now it’s the old man’s turn.
“Hmm.”
The old man observed me with meaningful eyes, and then opened his mouth with a different expression.
“Hehe, don’t you believe me? Me, the master of the Artemion School?”
When I looked at it as if I didn’t have to say it, the old man clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, what does this friend see me for? Don’t worry. Aru will prove that the magic tool is harmless to the human body.”
“…Yes? Me?”
“It’s not that hard, is it?”
“Yeah… As long as it’s just checking what spells were put into the magical tools…”
A barbarian with a 3-month old bond with the master of the school.
It’s hard to trust that statement because it’s clear which side Raven will prioritize.
But…
‘No matter what excuse I make to refuse, it’s just going to end up being a trick.’
As I listened to the conversation between the two, I was convinced.
I don’t know where he left the clue, but the old man is suspicious of me.
Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be the stage of certainty.
When I see you trying to float me with a magic tool that doesn’t exist.
‘Perhaps… there is no magic tool like that.’
Eliminate anxiety and thoroughly rationalize the evidence.
A magic tool to identify evil spirits?
It has not existed for thousands of years.
As much as civilization develops, it wouldn’t be strange if something like that appeared one day…
‘Still, it’s ridiculous that the first creator was this old man.’
The Artemion school is an orthodox school of wizards.
Rather than minor subjects such as dimensions and souls, he mainly conducts research such as creating new spells.
But such a wizard makes a demon reader?
‘If there really was such a thing in the first place, I would have somehow tricked it into sitting in front of the magic tool. It’s not like this.’
Soon I made my final judgment.
There is no demon reader.
The old man just wants to see my reaction.
Therefore—
“So what? It’s not dangerous and it won’t take much time.”
“…How long will it take?”
“It should take about five minutes.”
“It’s okay if that’s the case.”
I accepted the old man’s offer.
It’s a bit embarrassing, but as if there’s nothing bad about it as long as it’s over quickly.
But was my decision surprising?
“…are you really okay?”
An old man comes to me with a question.
A reaction that erases even the remaining anxiety.
I asked calmly.
“What do you mean? Are you okay?”
“…Are you worried that it might be dangerous?”
“If that’s the case, didn’t he say he would check it out!”
“That’s right…”
“Let’s go. I’m still tired from waking up early in the morning, but I’m going to go back and go to sleep!”
Where the fuck is this old man playing tricks?
***
“It’s gone…….”
The laboratory where Bjorn left.
Raven let out a big sigh at the teacher’s muttering, which sounded somewhat empty.
She didn’t understand the situation itself.
A magic tool to identify evil spirits?
Not only did I never hear that Master was researching something like that…
“What was that?”
“…….”
“Don’t just stay there. Are you really not going to tell me?”
Under her master’s direction, she had to prove to Bjorn that this magic tool was safe.
It wasn’t difficult.
It’s because he’s an evil spirit reader, and the magic tools his master brought out didn’t have any spells.
It was just an odd-looking chair.
[Don’t say anything, just guess.]
However, following her teacher’s words, she kept silent about these facts.
So now it was my turn to hear the truth.
Of course, there was something to be expected.
It’s not like she’s that ignorant.
“…Did you really think Yandel-san was an evil spirit? Is that why you were asking what happened in the labyrinth?”
The teacher neither denied nor affirmed.
But sometimes silence is the surest answer than anything else.
“Haa… so your doubts are cleared?”
“…Yes, I was wrong.”
“I’m sure Master doesn’t understand your feelings. He’s an unusual person. But I have a question for you. I want you to answer this.”
In response to the repeated question, the master asked weakly.
“…what is it?”
“Why did you do that? If you suspected it was an evil spirit, it would have taken care of itself if you had just spoken to the Secret Police Department—”
“If you do, you won’t die.”
little murmur.
“Yes? What does that mean—.”
“It’s okay, you’re tired. I’ll go see you, so please clean up after yourself.”
Soon, the master raised a small nogu.
And unlike usual, he left with a shriveled gait.
A laboratory that was left alone at some point.
She pondered over the words of her master.
‘If you do that, you won’t die……’
In other words, wouldn’t it mean that you need an evil spirit in a living state?
‘What does Master want?’
She couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.
***
Plop!
Returning home, I immediately collapsed on the bed.
For some reason, I must say that I lost all of my energy in the morning.
I want to close my eyes for a moment, but…
‘I was really surprised that it suddenly came in without blinking.’
I had time to relax and reflect on what happened today.
There seemed to be nothing wrong.
Looking back, it wasn’t a bad move.
Assuming the worst, through the given clues, we prevented the endless leap forward, and as a result, we were able to infer the best answer.
‘Looking at the expression on his face at the end, it seems that even the old man has completely dispelled his doubts.’
It was an unexpected incident, but it worked out well.
However, there was one thing that was a little unclear.
When I was convinced that I was not a demon, the old man looked somewhat disappointed.
Why?
‘…well, that’s not something I care about.’
After thinking about it for a while, I cleared my thoughts.
It was a question that could not be answered, and whatever the reason, it was judged that it had no direct relation to my safety.
‘Still, I feel a little relieved.’
I’ve been through some shit since this morning.
But paradoxically, this incident gave me a strange sense of relief. With this, the stack of luck that has been piling up lately must have been offset a bit—.
“Bjorn! Wake up! It’s already broad daylight, how long are you going to sleep!”
Did you fall asleep at some point?
When I open my eyes, Misha is shaking my body.
He didn’t sleep with the door open, but he entered using the spare key he gave me a while ago.
‘I gave it to you to use when something happened…’
“Misha, why did you come here? I thought you said you were going to the Mage’s Tower today.”
“You didn’t come home late yesterday. If you were sleeping, you asked me to wake you up!”
Well, if that’s the reason.
Taking the spare key away should be reconsidered later.
“Ah, but how did you know that you came in late yesterday? Could it be that you waited?”
“I didn’t plan to come back and tell you what happened there. Besides, I didn’t wait long, so don’t mind.”
It’s hard to say, but it must have been waiting for me until late at night.
Are you so curious about what happened at the banquet?
“Now then, tell me. What happened?”
At Mischa’s urging, I slowly told her what had happened yesterday.
Wearing the barbarian’s equipment prepared by the butler, he led the wagon procession toward the banquet.
the food we ate there.
And even winning a tournament by chance.
“Eek, did you really win? Beating so many knights?”
“It’s not a knight, it’s an apprentice knight.”
“But first of all, it’s not like a knight! It’s amazing!”
what’s awesome
Except for the guy I met in the finals, the rest would have easily won if Misha was there.
If you look at him, one chess is really no joke.
“Okay, write this.”
Anyway, after briefly explaining what had happened, I started writing a letter with Misha.
It was a reply to the nobles.
I wrote it all down in the morning, but when I woke up, it had increased again.
“…Is it really okay to send Bjorn like this? They’re not nobles. There might be something wrong with this.”
“Okay.”
“Well, if you say so…”
Mischa wrote the letter as I called, though with a worried look in her eyes.
‘Cause there’s nothing to worry about
What more could you ask for in a letter from a barbarian?
Being able to get a reply in the first place is like a miracle…….
[I can’t go because I’m busy.]
[So, find another barbarian.]
[Sender: Bjorn, son of Yandel]
Cancer side
***
I came to the nobleman’s mansion.
It’s spacious, shiny, and delicious smells waft from here and there.
“I think I finally understand what the tribal chief said about how big the world is!”
It’s like you’ve come to another world.
People’s clothes, the way they talk, the sound of the music you hear.
All we did was beat the drums…
“What are we doing? Come here.”
“Oh I see!”
A barbarian who became an adult a month ago.
Carpen’s son, DeCart, followed the client to the center of the banquet.
“What is that tsk gait? Walk more confidently!”
It was a bit unfair.
I don’t even know what it means to walk confidently.
The equipment I wore was also unnecessarily large and inconvenient.
As expected, I’m just comfortable with my bare body…
I wanted to express my dissatisfaction, but Ducat kept his mouth shut.
It is because of the memory of the past.
[Didn’t he do well even wearing a bigger one?]
A few days ago, after hearing that he would pay a lot of money, he followed a nobleman and received various educations. It was mostly about how to behave at a banquet.
I was angry at first.
Am I making these unreasonable demands because I am a savage?
I wanted to ignore it.
But……
[He grew up! Who the hell is he that he keeps making demands of me after hearing strange things!]
[I’m referring to Bjorn, the son of the little Balkan Yandel?]
After knowing the identity of him, I had no choice but to endure all the demands.
Bjorn, son of Yandel.
A warrior among warriors who defeated all the knights at the banquet of nobles and even acquired the wonderful title of knight crusher.
‘Am I not good enough to be like him…’
After hearing about his anecdote, Ducat vowed to show a great side at this banquet.
There couldn’t be anything wrong with the action of the warrior whom the tribal chief praised.
If anything is wrong, it must be on my side.
I decided to act like a ‘warrior’.
However, it was not as easy as I thought.
Being among elegant and noble aristocrats who looked so different from myself… I felt intimidated without knowing it.
Also…
“It’s delicious…!”
“Make it louder! He wasn’t so shy!”
“Be Behel—Raah…!!!”
It was embarrassing to be honest.
Does it make sense to scream in admiration for food in front of people, no matter how barbarian you are?
Well, if I was alone, I think I would have shouted several times.
“Don’t just eat the meat, chew the bones too!”
Anyway, it hurt too.
“Ask for toilet paper? Why do you need that?”
The hand holding the food was sticky.
“Ugh, why are you taking off your helmet again?”
My neck is sore and my shoulders are heavy.
However, sooner or later, they will have to go to a match made up of only Barbarian participants.
Will I be able to fight properly?
I felt sorry for myself for worrying about this.
Unlike him, the opponent is not even a knight.
‘I heard that his head was broken while chasing a goblin troll…’
Even when he finished the coming-of-age ceremony and entered the city, his heart was pounding with the aspiration of becoming a famous warrior someday.
But is this a wall of reality?
In less than a month, he was confronted with his deficiencies.
“Why can’t you do that too?”
Ducat finally spoke the words he had been holding back.
“I am… an ordinary warrior.”
When you want to scream, scream.
If there’s something you want to break, smash it.
No matter who is next to you, act as you please without knowing shame.
“I can’t do that…”
That
must be a right granted only to true warriors who are confident in themselves.
“Please. Don’t compare him to me any more. Yandel’s son, Bjorn, is a great warrior who cannot be compared to the likes of me.”
“Was he special after all…”
The nobleman sighed at Ducat’s confession.
And he looked into the void with eyes full of desire.
Or maybe it wasn’t just that one person.
“That’s right. Is it possible if it’s not him…”
“Well, how can such a savage barbarian be common?”
“I thought all barbarians were like him.”
“They are more normal than I thought.”
If you look closely, words of similar content were bursting out all over the banquet hall.
***
「The character’s reputation has increased by +10.」
「The character’s fame has increased by +10……」
「…….」