Chapter 248 - Gnometree (2)

That day, the chieftain had told me:

["If you covet my seat, grow stronger, warrior. And prove yourself worthy. I will be watching you."]

If I proved myself worthy, he would pass his position on to me.

Then how was I supposed to prove myself?

I hadn't bothered asking. Knowing barbarians, there could only be one way.

"Wait. Let's move somewhere else!"

"... You truly are a wise warrior."

Thanks to my insight, the fight that had nearly broken out indoors was moved to an open clearing outside.

And then...

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!!"

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!!"

We roared in unison, and the battle began.

BOOOOM!

The chieftain mercilessly swung the axe that had beheaded Orm, son of Kadua, and I fought back, freely using every skill I'd acquired.

But to skip to the result...

"I win."

After roughly an hour of fighting, I lost.

My stats weren't high enough. That was why I lost.

The chieftain was the same type of fighter as me. If we'd had entirely different roles, there would have been all sorts of variables, but with him outmatching me in strength, there were no upsets right through to the end.

'So I'm still not ready.'

I accepted my defeat without complaint.

Of course, things might have ended differently if this hadn't been a sparring match.

I couldn't exactly spray [Acidic Bodily Fluid] into his eyeballs or resort to dirty tricks like spouting nonsense to distract him before launching a surprise attack. I hadn't even bitten his throat when he'd pinned my arms and legs on the ground.

In short, I'd fought without my finishing moves.

So, had I proved myself?

"You're still lacking," the chieftain told me. "If you covet my seat, grow stronger."

Tsk. I'd thought the cutoff would be around sixth-floor level.

Wasn't I already there?

Surely he wasn't saying he'd only hand over the position if I beat—

"Strong enough that an old geezer like me won't even be a match for you."

Ha. Just as I'd feared.

He wanted me to beat an eighth-floor explorer...

'This is going to take a little longer.'

I let go of my impatience.

This was another advantage of being a barbarian.

Even if I failed to claim the succession, I didn't really lose anything. No, if anything, there was plenty to gain.

Sure, he'd beaten me up so badly that I'd downed several potions as soon as the match ended...

'But I've closed the gap a lot.'

This wasn't like the time he'd knocked me out with a single punch. I'd lasted nearly an entire hour.

And...

'Six Essences identified for certain.'

I'd confirmed several of the chieftain's Essences. I'd also gotten somewhat familiar with his fighting habits.

He'd be much easier to deal with next time.

On top of that...

'Barbarians really do know how to fight.'

I'd need more practice to make it my own, but during the battle I'd naturally begun to pick up on the instincts of a warrior who'd once reached the eighth floor.

What's more...

"He lasted a whole hour against the chieftain!"

"Look! That cheapskate chieftain is drinking a potion!"

"He may look fine on the outside, but he must be hurt inside. Bjorn, son of Jandel, really is a great warrior...!"

The crowd of my fellow barbarians didn't seem particularly disappointed by my defeat when the match ended.

Well, I'd only been at this a year, hadn't I?

"I'd thought it would take at least another five years."

"Hmm. Perhaps we'll have a new chieftain far sooner than that."

Even the elders were nodding in satisfaction.

So I'd lost, but I'd gained a lot.

The chieftain, on the other hand, hadn't gained anything in particular.

'Right. Doesn't that mean I can say I actually won?'

Declaring myself the moral victor restored my motivation.

I rose to my feet and looked at the chieftain. He seemed curious about what I'd say after remaining silent all this time.

"You're not discouraged, are you?"

"Of course not."

I chuckled, then said,

"One more round."

It's not every day you find someone you can fight without a care, is it?

* * *

After that, I fought the chieftain three more times, and every match ended in my defeat. But each one lasted longer than the last.

That was thanks to a strength of Lee Hansoo's, not Bjorn's.

I'm pretty good at assessing my own performance. I'd experienced plenty of failures in my life, and every time, what I'd desperately wanted was to know why I'd failed.

Finding the reason was practically my specialty.

'He really has a lot of little tricks. Must be all that experience.'

Stats weren't the only difference between us.

His finesse as a warrior. His judgment, honed through experience. His uncanny, instinctive ability to spot openings in a fight where thinking before reacting meant being too late.

These were all things I needed to learn.

Now that I'd absorbed an Ogre Essence, it wasn't efficient to settle for being a meat shield.

I needed to become a better fighter.

That, too, was a way to protect my companions.

'If an ally is in danger, I just have to eliminate the enemy so they aren't in danger anymore.'

It felt like a calling.

A new calling to pursue as a tank.

"... You look as though you've realized something."

"Yeah. Thanks. I'm learning a lot."

"Haha! That's what being chieftain is all about!"

What was this guy even talking about?

He didn't look the type, but he was surprisingly susceptible to praise.

"Can I come back again?"

"Anytime."

Sunset was slowly approaching.

Now that our sparring was finally over, the barbarians who'd enjoyed the spectacle dispersed to go about their business.

"Bjorn! Going home?"

"Not right away. I thought I'd look around for a bit."

"Really? Can I come along?"

Well, there was no reason she couldn't.

After finishing my sparring, I headed off with Aynar. I didn't have any particular destination in mind.

I simply kept walking away from the city wall.

"It's been a while since I came this far in."

Once we left the camp behind, dense, untended undergrowth greeted us.

This was that same forest where the souls of countless warriors would be running free, including the elder who'd performed the spirit succession ritual for Aynar.

But I kept walking.

"There's nothing that way except the barrier. Why are we going there?"

"I suddenly got curious about that barrier."

We picked up the pace and walked for about an hour before reaching the spot I wanted.

My hand met an invisible wall, as though to say this was as far as we were allowed to go.

Beyond it, the forest simply continued.

"Ack! Bjorn! Wh-what are you doing?! If you damage the protective barrier, we'll be in serious trouble!"

When I tapped the wall with my knuckles as though knocking on a door, Aynar started in alarm and tried to stop me.

Well, according to this world's lore, everyone would die without it.

'Yeah. That's the official story, anyway.'

It was a question that had arisen after my visit to Bifron.

Was the outside world really in the state the royal family claimed it was?

As I was pondering that...

"Hehehe. It's been a while, warrior."

Sensing someone behind me, I turned and saw an elderly barbarian wearing a blindfold.

"Shaman!!"

"Yes, it's been a while for you too, Aynar, second daughter of Pheneline."

It amazed me every time I saw him.

How did he get around so well without eyes?

"What brings you here? Hardly any warriors come this deep into the forest."

"I was bored, so I came for a look. What about you? What are you doing here?"

"Hehehe. What else would a shaman be doing in the forest?"

As he spoke, he showed us his hands, caked with white powder.

Looking again, I realized it was bone dust.

Human bone, not animal.

"You were performing funeral rites."

Once a corpse left in the forest became a skeleton, the shaman crushed the bones and scattered them throughout the vast forest. That was the final stage of the funeral.

"W-was today perhaps the turn of Kiduva, third son of Tohar?"

"That one still has a long way to go before he returns to the forest."

In other words, it would take more time for the body of the elder who'd mentored Aynar to become a skeleton.

"... I see."

"I'm about to head back. Would you two like to come?"

When the shaman asked us, I told him I'd stay a little longer.

"Really? As you wish."

The shaman turned away without hesitation.

Then...

"Everything has its proper order."

"..."

"Warrior, it is not yet time for you to wonder what lies beyond."

He left us with those cryptic words.

* * *

"Hehe. Come to think of it, it's been ages since it was just the two of us, hasn't it?"

"Has it?"

"How about a match, for old times' sake? You've hardly played with me lately, saying you weren't feeling well."

Oh, she meant sparring.

Apparently, my earlier fights with the chieftain had stirred her competitive spirit too.

Honestly, these damn barbarians.

"Not today. Let's do it tomorrow."

"Fine. You know this without me telling you, but I'm quite patient."

Uh-huh. Sure, sure.

I gave a perfunctory nod and spent some more time examining the protective barrier. Perhaps it was because of what the shaman had said, but something felt odd.

Still, there was nothing I could figure out.

'Whew. Could I have discovered something if I were a mage instead of a barbarian?'

In the end, I turned back without learning anything.

It was quite a distance from the protective barrier to the city wall, but the journey back wasn't boring.

Despite appearances, Aynar was a chatterbox. She especially loved barbarian talk.

Equipment, who'd fought whom and won, which shop was making rugged, cool-looking backpacks these days.

Or...

"Oh, did you hear? Karon's going to be a father soon."

"What?"

I was genuinely shocked.

"How the hell did that happen? No, he didn't say anything about it in the Labyrinth!"

"Hehe. Apparently, he started seeing women as soon as he reached the third floor. Oh, and the woman only told him she was pregnant a few days ago, so he probably hasn't had time to tell you."

Aynar filled me in on the details.

The woman was one of the tribe's female warriors.

Well, that was only natural. Humans couldn't give birth to barbarians. It wasn't that interbreeding was impossible, but the child would end up classified as human.

Besides, barbarians preferred their own kind to begin with. What they found attractive in the opposite sex was fundamentally different from other races.

'Above all, there's no ideological issue when someone gets pregnant.'

In human society, the proper order was to marry and then have children.

Barbarian society had no such custom. Children were raised at the sanctuary, and women considered giving birth a matter of great pride.

There were practical benefits, too.

Though it was less than humans received, the royal family granted them two years of tax relief.

'Plus, the pregnancy is shorter.'

It varied from person to person, but on average they gave birth after four months and recovered incredibly quickly.

That was probably another reason barbarian women were so open to childbirth.

It felt a little inappropriate to say this about childbirth, but...

Was having a child ever a purely noble undertaking?

Pride or no pride, if the economic issues weren't addressed, a low birth rate was inevitable.

"Come to think of it, Bjorn, have you given it any thought?"

"... Huh?"

"Children. I've heard the tribe's female warriors have their sights set on you..."

Oh, so that was what they'd been after.

No wonder they kept praising my physique and squeezing me all over whenever they had the chance. I'd thought they were genuinely complimenting my muscles, so I'd been flexing as hard as I could...

"I'm not thinking about that yet."

"Oh? Why not? I know it's a little odd coming from me, but we're already late. There are female warriors from later cohorts who've already given birth!"

Was it because this was our first conversation of this kind?

For the first time since entering this body, I found myself afraid.

Of the barbarian race.

"..."

As I secretly trembled, trying not to let it show, Aynar spoke as though she'd figured it out.

"Oh! Is it because of Misha? Don't worry! Misha will understand. We're barbarians, aren't we? She can only give birth to Therianthropes anyway!"

Aynar suddenly felt like a stranger.

She'd gone on about being on Team Cat in front of Mister Bear, and yet this was what she'd been thinking?

"I'll pass. What about you?"

Uncomfortable with the subject, I turned the conversation around.

In martial arts novel terms, this was Grafting Flowers onto Trees: using an opponent's own strength to strike back.

"M-me?!"

Now that the question had been turned back on her, Aynar couldn't hide her flustered reaction.

The reason was simple.

"I-I couldn't even if I wanted to. What warrior would like a scrawny woman like me...?"

Those goddamn beauty standards.

I'd unwittingly plunged a dagger into Aynar's sore spot.

But just as I was about to apologize...

"Besides... I'm not thinking about it either."

Huh?

"I-isn't it obvious?! After spending time with you, all the other men in the tribe seem childish and unmanly!"

Aynar shouted as though she'd been wronged somehow.

Flustered myself, I suggested she look for someone among the more experienced members of the tribe, but...

"I don't like older men!!"

That wasn't the answer I'd expected.

'She doesn't like older men, but men her age don't feel manly enough...'

That was a pretty troublesome set of preferences.

Still, to be brutally honest, it worked in my favor. If she suddenly got pregnant and couldn't enter the Labyrinth for several months, that would affect me too.

'Uh, how did the conversation end up here, anyway?'

Lee Hansoo had been twenty-nine, and after another year in this world, he was now thirty.

But...

"Anyway, tell me if you're interested! I'll introduce you to a fine female warrior!"

These conversations were still uncomfortable.

* * *

Two days later.

After breakfast and a light warm-up spar with Aynar, I went out alone.

Actually, could I really call it alone?

"We've arrived at your destination. We've finished searching the shop, but please remain cautious, just in case."

The knights' meticulous protection had become familiar by now.

"Right. Thanks."

Offering a brief word of appreciation, I stepped out of the carriage and entered our meeting place.

It was a tearoom I'd visited about three times before.

"Oh, Mr. Bjorn! Over here!"

Shahvin Emur, the grade-seven administrative officer, waved at me from a corner table. Lagna the librarian sat quietly beside her.

Once I sat down, all the members of our regular gathering of friends were present.

"First of all, thank you for coming. Now that you've become a baronet, I really wasn't sure whether I should invite you out like this."

"You worry about the strangest things."

"Exactly, Shahvin. Does this man look like someone who'd change just because he became a noble?"

Lagna spoke smugly as she sipped her tea.

For once, she was right. I had no intention of throwing my noble title around.

But...

'Right. So a baronetcy isn't anything for you to feel intimidated by?'

Her casual manner revealed just how distinguished a family she came from.

Not that I knew exactly which family. But seeing how she showed no particular reaction to the knights stationed all around me...

'Now I'm even more curious. Just what family is it?'

I turned my gaze to Shahvin.

Unlike Lagna, she was discreetly glancing at the knights, trying not to show her unease.

Well, it had to be uncomfortable.

Let's just get to the point.

"So, what did you want to see me about today?"

"Oh? Do we need a reason to see each other?"

"You have a habit of wrinkling your nose when you lie."

"Huh? R-really? I had no idea!"

Of course she hadn't.

"That was a lie."

"Oh...!"

Lagna giggled at Shahvin's momentarily dumbfounded expression.

"You don't get to see her like this very often."

"Maybe you don't. For a barbarian, this is nothing."

In fact, regardless of age or gender, most people made that face once I really started acting like a barbarian.

"Anyway, out with it. What did you want?"

When I spoke again, Shahvin gathered herself and got down to business.

"On behalf of the administrative agency, I'd like to offer you a job, Baronet Bjorn Jandel."

Hmm. A side job...

It wasn't as if I was short of money right now, but in this world, no matter how much you had, it was never enough.

"Tell me what the job is."

I'd at least hear her out.