Honkkkkk!
After pretending to be asleep while listening to the barbarian baby's snores as background music, I heard a crackling sound coming from the direction of the campfire. It sounded as if the other three were having some kind of written conversation among themselves. I could roughly predict the content of the conversation.
What are you going to do?
What else? Kill them now.
Starting with whom?
They were probably planning who to kill first. A real son of a bitch wouldn't miss this opportunity. After all, it was a double event, a chance to get two Barbarian Hearts worth 1.8 million stones.
Women last. Let's deal with the barbarians first.
I guessed what conclusion they would have reached. They would probably try to kill me or Kharon first. Therefore, I focused more on my hearing.
Passed.
The sound of small footsteps slowly approaching: two moving this way, and one moving towards Kharon.
They plan to eliminate both of them at the same time.
It wasn't a bad judgment on their part. They would have to split up, but a simultaneous attack would reduce the number of variables. Even so, the outcome would be the same.
Passed.
The moment the two figures stopped beside me, my upper body jerked up. "Am I hungry? What are you doing there?"
The lancer and the leader wielding the mace were so startled they choked on their saliva. When I glanced to the side, I saw the archer aiming at the sleeping barbarian baby.
I pretended not to see and calmly asked, "Oh, did you wake up hungry too?"
When I rubbed my stomach, they judged that I hadn't seen the goalkeeper. The boys exchanged glances for a moment and then laughed awkwardly. "That's right. I mean, I'm hungry. Why don't we go over there and eat together?"
"Is it meat?"
"…Of course. There's dried meat in my backpack from there."
"Dried meat!"
"Silence. The others are sleeping."
"Okay..." I nodded. Just as I was about to take the initiative, a jolt exploded in the back of my head.
Whack!
It looked like the leader had hit me with his hammer. "Huh?" But it was impossible that my head, which was fine after being hit by an orc warrior, would explode from that. "What was that?"
When I looked back calmly, I saw the two men's stunned expressions. It wasn't that I didn't understand. Even though he hit me on the head with a hammer, I didn't stagger, much less groan in pain.
"Uh, umm..." The bastard leader didn't even think about striking again and remained still. I was sure his head was already confused enough. Firstly, it would be reasonable to conclude that he'd been hiding my identity, but that would be too devastating a truth to believe.
I said with a smile, "Oh, did your hand slip?"
"Hey?"
«You shouldn't make mistakes like that no matter how hungry you are».
Those words didn't make sense to me either, but surprisingly the leader just smiled awkwardly and nodded. «A-ah! I'm sorry.»
Sorry, shit. Do I really look like a barbaric idiot?
«Looks like I made a mistake...»
¡Whack!
«-up...»
Desplome.
Since I didn't have a mace, I punched him right in the face. The results were not significantly different. The leader collapsed to the ground with his facial bones sunken.
«Eh...?» The bastard with the spear next to him kept looking at me with an expression of not understanding the situation.
«Oh, I was hungry too, that's why my hand slipped». I said this as if I really felt it, but it seemed like he wasn't willing to accept my apology.
«Royce! What are you doing? Shoot!» The spearman gave the order in place of its unconscious leader.
¡Latigo!
Soon, the archer shot an arrow. Was there a communication error? I should have been ordering him to shoot me, but the arrow flew towards the baby barbarian instead.
Stab!
Fortunately Kharon, who woke up upon hearing the archer's scream, twisted his body and avoided being hit at a vital point. «Ugh, Royce! What are you doing?!» Kharon, with an arrow stuck in his shoulder, quickly stood up and grabbed the archer by the neck.
¡In those, those!
«Talk! I asked you why you shot me!»
«¡Suéltame...!»
«Aren't you going to tell me?!»
Looks like I won't have to worry about that side anymore.
When I moved my gaze towards the spearman, I saw him slowly retreat into the darkness. It was almost commendable that it occurred to him to abandon his partner in this situation, but did he really think that was going to work?
«...They really were looters». The situation ended when Missha, who had been watching from start to finish, hit him on the back of the head with the back of a knife.
«How did this happen?!» kharon asked, unable to hide his confusion. However, the archer, drowned and unconscious, had no way of responding.
«These guys are looters». I kindly explained everything from a barbarian's heart being sold at a high price to hiding my identity because these guys were suspicious.
«That? It can not be! These are my teammates...!» Our innocent barbarian baby didn't believe it so easily. No, to be exact, I didn't want to believe it.
«Kharon, Tarson's son, matures.»
«... Are you trying to insult me?! I'm already a warrior!»
«And why are you trying to deny reality?»
Kharon pursed her lips at my question. He himself must have known that everything I said was true.
The barbarian race was not particularly unintelligent. Only they were taught nothing but combat techniques and, having spent their entire lives in the holy land, they were too naive.
«That nasty archer shot you an arrow. If you hadn't dodged it in time, it would have stuck in your neck, not your shoulder». As he said that, I tore out the arrow stuck in his arm. Although the pain must have been considerable, Kharon didn't even make a sound, so I continued talking. «These guys are looters. They are the scum of the labyrinth that tried to kill you and take your heart».
«...I want to hear what they have to say.»
Maybe he expected there to be some kind of misunderstanding. Kharon asked to speak to the trio, and I had no reason to refuse. I just grabbed his weapons and woke up one of the men in the pile.
«E-eek!» He was the goalkeeper I chose. I judged that he would have suffered less damage than the others, since he was just strangled. «Have mercy!» As soon as he saw me, the archer knelt down and I took a step back. I wasn't the one who wanted to talk.
«Royce, are you really a looter?»
«Kharon...? It's a misunderstanding. I'll explain everything to you, so wake up this m-» first
«Answer me. What have I misunderstood?»
«That's right...» The archer couldn't respond to Kharon's words. That was obvious, because it wasn't a misunderstanding. To save time, I threw Kharon's notebook that I found while stealing his weapons.
«What is this?»
«Read it yourself».
«I... don't know how to read».
Ah. Yes of course. «Then why don't you ask him to read it for you?»
«That's true... true».
Soon, Kharon handed the notebook he had received to the archer. It contained the written conversations these three shared while we pretended to be asleep. As soon as he saw it, the archer, who was drenched in cold sweat, lowered his head. It seemed that he had reached the stage of resignation.
Not on my guard. «If you don't read it, I will kill you».
«…»
«Very painfully.»
«I will read it...» Soon, the archer began to read the text slowly with trembling lips:
Briol, why did you accept it? Are you going to kill him too?
He is begging to be killed. No need to send them alive, right?
I think that guy is suspicious. The fact that he looks for a night companion on the second floor... not even a barbarian is so stupid.
Suspicious? I agree with Briol. He has killed so many barbarians and still doesn't know it? They do nothing but walk...
The archer, who had been reading with difficulty, closed his mouth at one point, so I broke his finger. «Did my words sound like a joke to you?».
«Ahhh!!!»
«Go on.»
«'They are walking monsters! S-their intelligence is similar to that of monsters and especially in that the one who catches them is their owner'». After finishing the sentence, the archer observed Kharon's reaction.
Kharon was shaking. «....Who said that?»
«Victor...»
«Yeah, that guy... Okay, continue».
After confirming that it was the spearman's phrase, Royce continued the story. «Besides, isn't it rewarding enough, even if it's not the barbarian? She seems to be as stupid as the barbarian, b-but her face is... on the pretty side...'»
«Go on.»
«'Okay. But I don't know how a bitch fooling around with a barbarian would be with...'»
«Enough!» Missha intervened and tore the notebook from his hands. Then, after quickly reading it, he asked the goalkeeper: «This, and this here. Who wrote this?» His voice was cold as ice. I had never seen her like this.
When the archer pointed at the leader with trembling hands, Missha looked at me and said directly: «Bjorn, I'm going to kill this one».
«Do what you want».
In any case, there was no need to anger Missha anymore, so I made her skip the obscene talk. After that, discussions continued about who to kill first and how.
«I'll take care of Kharon. It pissed me off that he looked down on me for being a goalkeeper. He doesn't even know he'll be dead when the hunt is over...»
The conversation ended with the goalkeeper's phrase. After a moment of silence, Kharon opened her mouth. «I... don't understand anything». His first word was a question. «...Have I done something wrong?».
First he blamed himself. Of course he didn't do anything wrong. It was just that this world was too wild for someone so innocent.
«Bjon, son of Thor...»
«It's Bjorn, son of Yandel.»
«I see. So you are the famous one... Well. Tell me, Bjorn, son of Yandel, are people like that common in the labyrinth?»
"Lo sound."
This side of the labyrinth was unknown in the holy land. The young warrior who was facing this for the first time asked: «So... what do I do?», as if sincerely waiting for the answer. As if, if I told him how, I would definitely follow him.
So I answered him. «Doubt everyone, whether human or another race. Just as I deceived them, hide your ax in your innocence. Even if it is annoying and a little difficult, always think before acting».
«...Can I really do that?»
«It's not about if you can, but what you have to do», I said firmly. «If you can't distinguish between these two things, you will have no choice but to live in childhood forever. Remember. If you kill one, many more young warriors will be saved».
At my words, Kharon pursed her lips. «I see. That's why you...» seemed to understand my actions.
«Now what are you going to do? I will abide by your decision». I asked for the last time.
Aprieta.
Kharon, the young warrior and son of Tarson, only held his ax tightly.
King!
He had finally become a warrior. Unsheathing a rough cross, the archer's neck flew out.
Missha, who had been waiting, woke up the leader by stepping on his groin and slit his throat. I broke the remaining one's neck. He woke up in the middle and begged for his life.
«Please forgive me! I will live an honest life from now on...»
«Do you mean you'll be an honest looter?»
«Honest looter? Oh yes yes. I will be...»
Nothing changed. There was only one way to be an honest looter.
«Here, it's a potion.»
«Thank you.»
Once the cleaning was almost finished, I handed Kharon a potion and he poured it on his shoulder wound.
«Why don't you lie down more?»
"That's how it will heal completely. Scars are proof of immaturity. I don't want to forget that."
"If you say so." I knew that barbarians had a habit of considering scars as medals, so I didn't add anything else.
"Thank you, Bjorn, son of Yandel. Now I know what I must do next." His eyes were already different than before. Seeing this, he convinced me. "I won't be able to do it like you, but I will crush the skulls of those I encounter… no, even if I have to go and find them myself. Furthermore, if I see a young warrior, I will tell him what I went through today and advise him, as you did today, for the sake of my people."
As it stood now, it seemed capable of making it clear to most of the raiders: from now on, if you touch a barbarian baby, you're screwed.