Chapter 129 - Karlstein (3)

The head of the Karlstein family had invited me to his mansion. From what I’d heard, he’d been asking for something like three months now.

But why?

This was the first possibility that came to mind.

‘Curiosity.’

He simply wanted to meet his daughter’s companion. That would have been perfectly plausible if Misha had been accepted as a member of the family.

I’d even considered the possibility that, if he found me unreliable, he might ask me to let his daughter go. Most of the family’s children seemed to have comfortable lives as explorers in large clans they’d joined through connections.

But...

["I-I just have to put up with it a little longer, nyah."]

It turned out Misha’s situation hadn’t changed at all. That man who called himself her father had kept her awakening a secret and hadn’t even tried to improve her standing in the family.

The moment I realized that, I sensed a sinister malice emanating from this mansion. Malice directed not just at Misha, but at me as well.

‘He knew things were this bad and still went out of his way to invite me here...’

The family head’s objective, and the means he had chosen to achieve it, became painfully clear.

‘He’s an even crazier bastard than I’d heard.’

The family head wanted something from me. But instead of politely opening negotiations, he had arranged this little spectacle.

His thinking had probably gone something like this.

Little Valcan, Bjorn son of Jandel. The warrior who hadn’t abandoned his companion even in the face of a Floor lord. A barbarian who might even be romantically involved with that companion.

Given that public reputation, he must have thought I’d be easy to control once I saw this mess. After all, he was the only one who could change Misha’s circumstances.

But that led me to a conclusion of my own.

‘A freeloading bastard who won’t hesitate to use even his own daughter. If he thinks I’m a pushover, there’ll be no end to it.’

Plan A wasn’t enough. If I stopped here, I’d remain just an ordinary barbarian.

And so...

I took another heavy step forward, staring at her bastard of a brother. He showed no fear whatsoever. He merely smiled as though I were being ridiculous.

"You really don’t know when to be satisfied."

Apparently, he thought I was throwing a tantrum because I wanted something else. Well, strictly speaking, he wasn’t entirely wrong.

"B-Bjorn...! You can’t do that, nyah!!"

Misha hurriedly grabbed my wrist, and I stopped. I hadn’t actually intended to beat him up, after all.

He wasn’t a servant of the mansion, but a direct member of the bloodline. Mindlessly beating him would only give them leverage over me.

So instead...

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!"

I let out a battle cry loud enough to be heard anywhere in the mansion.

Her brother frowned.

"What do you think you’re doing?"

"I just felt like it!"

"... Lunatic."

Whatever he had to say, my shout served as a catalyst, drawing the mansion’s inhabitants together. Servants had even set aside their work to watch from the far ends of the corridors leading into the ground floor.

A furtive glance up at the second floor revealed young men and women dressed in fine casual clothes.

‘Misha’s siblings?’

I couldn’t be sure, but they were looking down with interest.

‘Anyway, that should do for an audience and witnesses.’

With the stage set, I began winding down Mindless Bar bar ian Mode and addressed her brother.

"Talon Karlstein."

"It’s Teylon, not Talon."

"Fussing over little details like that isn’t very manly."

"... Never mind. What do you want to say?"

Apparently unwilling to debate manliness with me, he asked me to get to the point. I went straight to my question.

"Why is Misha treated like this in your family?"

"As I said earlier, that’s a family matter—"

"Is it because Misha’s a half-wit? Because she’s part of the direct bloodline but couldn’t even contract with a Spirit beast?"

His surprise at my words lasted only a moment. Then he smirked and looked at Misha, his contemptuous gaze asking whether she’d spilled even that to me.

"If you already know, there’s no point hiding it. Yes, you’re right. Now stop concerning yourself with our family’s affairs."

His demand that I mind my own business was reasonable enough. Everyone except us barbarians had a culture that placed great importance on blood ties.

It was only natural for them to treat Misha as an outsider. If she’d inherited the family head’s blood, she wouldn’t have gone this long without contracting with a Spirit beast.

She really didn’t share a drop of their blood. And apparently her mother, his fourth wife, hadn’t had any other children.

But...

"What if you were all mistaken?"

The truth didn’t matter. What mattered now was that Misha had already awakened, and I could use that fact as a valuable card.

"If Misha contracts with a Spirit beast, will you apologize for everything you’ve done and accept her as one of the family?"

"She’s already twenty-five. There’s no way that could—"

"Answer me. Answer that one question, and I won’t cause any more trouble."

Her brother sighed, pressed a hand to his forehead, and replied irritably.

"Fine. I’ll give her all the apologies she wants."

"And accept her into the family?"

"That too."

He answered without a moment’s hesitation, apparently convinced it would never happen.

I grinned and nodded.

"Then that settles it."

"Settles what...?"

Unease crept into his voice as he questioned my reaction.

Instead of answering, I turned to Misha. My part was over now, after all.

"Misha, show them."

"H-huh...?"

Suddenly the center of attention, she looked around nervously. When our eyes met, she lowered her head and murmured,

"But Father..."

I’d wondered why she still hadn’t told everyone. Just as I’d expected, the family head seemed to have ordered her to keep quiet.

But that was precisely why she needed to find her courage. Revealing the truth in front of everyone would take one of his cards out of play.

"Don’t worry. Nothing will happen."

"... H-he won’t forgive me, nyah."

"So what? Just say you were wrong. That’s what families do."

"Bjorn, you could get hurt too, nyah."

"Let him try. I’m not particularly scared."

He might have been an all-powerful father to her, but to me, he was just a Therianthrope chief. And their leadership was split five ways, at that.

"What are you so afraid of? Family isn’t everything in life. I’ve managed perfectly well without one."

As I spoke, picking at my ear, Misha gave an incredulous laugh.

"That’s because you’re—! No, forget it, nyah. What’s the point of this, nyah?"

"Exactly. Just ignore the little details. It’s better for your mental health."

"Ugh, I don’t even know anymore, nyah. What’s right, I mean, nyah."

Okay, I seemed to have more or less convinced her.

"Misha Karlstein, try doing what you want for once. This time, you’ve got a companion here to help you, haven’t you?"

With that, I said no more.

I gave her some time. Eventually, Misha raised her head and slowly looked around. Did they find this situation that interesting? All those people were simply watching from a distance.

Misha swallowed hard.

Then, just as she opened her mouth as though reaffirming her resolve—

"I—"

A cold voice filled the sprawling mansion. Misha froze like stone, and by the time I registered what was happening, a middle-aged man stood before her.

"Everyone, leave."

At that single command, everyone left without a word.

Somehow, the air had grown oppressively heavy. The man turned his gaze toward me. No introduction was necessary for me to know who he was.

‘So this is the crazy bastard.’

Albreniv Karlstein. Head of the Karlstein family, which had held the position of chieftain of the Red Cat Tribe for generations.

"Thank you for accepting my invitation, Bjorn son of Jandel."

"And thank you for inviting me, Karlstein."

We exchanged formal greetings in the center of the now-deserted ground-floor lobby.

"Haha, you’re better mannered than I expected."

He approached with an affable smile. Then, instead of offering a handshake, he patted my shoulder as though I were some underling.

But what was this?

「The character is afflicted with [Fear] by [Lord of Nightmares].」

My body stiffened as though I’d encountered a natural predator. A tingling sensation blossomed in my brain—the same one I’d felt whenever I teetered on the boundary between life and death. For the first time, I thought I understood why Misha feared her father so much.

Then he spoke.

"But why did you do that? How ill-mannered."

Every trace of his smile vanished as he whispered.

It felt fucking awful. I knew intellectually that this was a skill at work, but my body wouldn’t obey me. It was almost as though my senses had broken down.

Of course, it didn’t last long.

「The character’s Mana resistance is above a certain threshold.」

「The character’s Fighting Spirit is above a certain threshold.」

「The character’s Mental is above a certain threshold.」

「The [Fear] status is removed.」

Whew. Fucking finally.

"Now, you—"

As he prattled on in that arrogant voice, I immediately pulled his arm off my shoulder.

"...?"

His brow furrowed in incomprehension. Well, if he’d expected this, he wouldn’t have said something so fucking stupid a moment ago.

"Why are you touching me?"

I flung his arm aside as I spoke.

"How ill-mannered."

If you want kind words, you have to offer them first.

* * *

"Interesting."

The family head spoke after a brief silence. Hearing him say that without a smile on his lips or in his eyes sent a chill through me...

But I couldn’t lose this battle of wills.

"You have strange tastes. I’m not finding this interesting at all."

Forcing myself to sound nonchalant, I took Misha’s hand. She was still frozen like a statue. The family head’s gaze shifted to her as well.

"F-Father..."

"I never imagined you would defy me."

"Th-that’s not..."

"Enough. You don’t matter anyway."

He cut off her attempt to explain and stared at me.

"Originally, I intended to have a discussion after we shared a fine lunch."

Discussion, my ass. He’d planned to show me how Misha was treated over that meal.

When I merely stared at him without replying, the family head continued speaking.

"I refuse."

"What?"

His expression twisted at my answer, delivered without a second’s hesitation.

I simply charged ahead.

"Why should I wait?"

Giving him time would be foolish. Misha had forced him to show himself, but this situation couldn’t have been part of his plan. He probably intended to gather his thoughts before calling for me again.

"If you have something to say, say it here."

"... Even for a barbarian, this is rather rude."

"You’re the one who invited that barbarian, Therianthrope."

Had he not expected me to call him a Therianthrope rather than use his name or his position as chieftain or family head?

His expression turned rigid, and Bloodlust poured out of him. Not figuratively. Literally.

‘... You can do this in the real world too?’

I was a little surprised, but it was still far weaker than Fox’s. Then again, that had been in the spiritual world. The output itself would be different.

I picked at my ear to tell him to stop wasting his time, and he asked with apparent genuine curiosity,

"Are you truly not afraid of death?"

To me, it was an utterly pointless question. Was I afraid of death? Was there anyone in this world who wasn’t?

"Well, I don’t know about that. But I don’t think I’m particularly afraid of you."

I meant it.

So the family head had once been an eighth-floor explorer? So he’d utterly destroy me if we actually fought?

So what?

My chieftain wouldn’t sit back and do nothing if he killed me.

"Can you even kill me?"

Once again, I simply asked him outright. That was how absurd the idea was.

Kill me? Me, the most promising talent the barbarians had produced in recent years? Right in the middle of the Therianthropes’ sanctuary, where I’d come at his invitation?

The war with the elves ten years ago would repeat itself on the spot.

That was the kind of race barbarians were.

"What? Hahahahaha!!"

The family head laughed, trying his best to play it cool, but I could see the profound fury beneath it.

He must have been frustrated. He didn’t want to admit it and lose face, but what I’d said was true. So he was just laughing it off.

"No wonder things went awry. Who would have thought you were such a cunning bastard?"

"Thanks for the compliment, but I’m starting to get hungry, so answer me. What do you want to say to me?"

The family head merely looked at me for a moment, as though gathering his thoughts, before finally speaking.

"I know you used that item."

Only then did everything fall into place.

The Frost Spirit Ring.

So that really was why he’d pulled all this shit.