Chapter 3
“Wow, finally!”
Jeong Yushin, who looked like a beggar, shouted at the village entrance.
Thinking about the hardships of the past three days blurred his vision with tears.
The survival guide his father had taught him had been no help at all.
[Dad. Teach me how to start a fire.]
[Ah, you start a fire like this. Watch closely.]
His father held one hand upright and lightly scraped the surface of a dry piece of wood.
A streak of light skimmed over the wood, and smoke curled upward. His father tossed in some straw, folded his arms, and stood there for a moment. As though it had been waiting, the fire flared up.
[Easy, right?]
“Not easy.”
The tough-guy survival guide had included several other things, but none of them had helped.
At night, he climbed trees and slept, and in the morning, he kept walking. Fortunately, there had been no monster attacks. Perhaps it was because there were many soldiers patrolling the road. He had no idea.
Jeong Yushin smoothed back his matted hair and approached the village guard.
“Did you come from Arentzville?”
The shaggy-haired guard asked.
“Yes.”
“Five copper coins.”
“Here you go.”
Just as Yushin handed over the coins and tried to enter the village, the guard raised a hand to stop him.
“Did anything happen on the way here? I hear slave hunters have been appearing around the roads lately.”
The memory of when he had first arrived in this other world flashed through his mind. Even if he said he had been transferred from another world, there was no guarantee the guard would believe him. Besides, he would have to fabricate his personal history and rattle it off, but he knew nothing about this world, so his lie would easily be exposed.
Maybe he should simply deny that he had met them.
“No. Nothing happened.”
“Is that so? You seem to be carrying quite a good sword. Let me see it.”
Jeong Yushin handed over his weapon.
The guard drew the sword and held it up to the sunlight.
“Most slave hunters come from the Western Empire. Do you know how they hunt?”
“I don’t.”
A creeping sense that something had gone terribly wrong rose within him. Should he have just told the truth?
The guard continued examining the sword.
“They don’t travel in groups to their hunting grounds. Ah! You know where those hunting grounds are, right? This is the territory of the Eastern Confederacy. They sneak in one by one like rats, pretending to be good people, pretending to know nothing, pretending to be pilgrims. They deceive people while preparing to hunt.”
Jeong Yushin remained silent.
“When they enter one by one, it’s hard to tell who the hunters are, isn’t it? So they carve a mark into one corner of their swords. A mark that looks exactly like this.”
The surface of the sword reflected the sunlight, dazzling him. He briefly closed his eyes and opened them again.
Tap.
A chill touched his neck.
“Today, I’m in luck. Come with me, you filthy bastard.”
The guard seized him and took him into a building at the corner of the village square.
“Captain. I caught one.”
There were two people inside.
A middle-aged man was looking over some documents, while another person was wrapped from head to toe in a gray robe.
At the guard’s words, the middle-aged man raised his head.
“Black hair, huh? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a barbaroi. Judging by how frail he looks, he must be a half-blood. I’ve already heard most of what I need to know from that person, so there’s no need for anything else. Take him to a nearby forest, interrogate him properly, and dispose of him.”
“No, wait. This is a misunderstanding. It’s a misunderstanding!”
“Which part did I misunderstand? The part where you’re a half-blood?”
“No, the part where I’m a slave hunter.”
The middle-aged man stroked his chin for a moment.
“Gut him and kill him. Make it as painful as possible.”
“Wait, wait! I was captured by slave hunters too. That red-haired wolf beastfolk named Karin rescued me!”
The middle-aged man and the guard went rigid.
“You...”
Had he finally understood? Had Yushin’s heartfelt cry reached him?
“A barbaroi crying. This is... truly a rare sight.”
The middle-aged man stared at Jeong Yushin with astonishment.
Fuck.
“I wasn’t crying. My eyes just got a little wet because this is so unfair.”
“That’s crying. Send him off cleanly. Tsk.”
“Captain. He seems to be the human that person rescued. Shouldn’t we verify it?”
Jeong Yushin seized the opportunity and exclaimed.
“Exactly! Let me meet Karin. She’ll confirm it right away.”
The middle-aged man sighed.
“Lady Karin is the daughter of the representative of the Beastfolk Alliance. Someone like you can’t meet her just because you say you want to. Besides, she left this place quite some time ago. Let’s just make this painless.”
“Is it really all right to kill an innocent person like this?”
“To take you into custody, we need at least four soldiers. They’re all out patrolling the road, so there’s no one left in the village. And does money grow out of the ground? No, it doesn’t. Then does the paperwork for this assignment fill itself out? No, it doesn’t. How many people have to suffer because of one person? Barbaroi, let’s make this painless.”
The middle-aged man’s eyes had turned red, perhaps because he had become worked up while speaking.
The guard scratched his head and looked at Jeong Yushin.
“I think the captain is right.”
“I’ll take him.”
The person in the gray robe spoke.
“Really?”
The middle-aged man brightened.
“Yes. I need to see Lady Karin myself at some point anyway. I’ll go, and help with the squad leader’s work while I’m at it.”
“Seamus...”
The middle-aged squad leader seemed so moved that he could not continue speaking.
When the person called Seamus pushed back the robe, his appearance was revealed. He was a middle-aged human with a few white strands in his hair.
When Seamus met Jeong Yushin’s eyes, he smiled.
“Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve traveled with a barbaroi.”
“Thank you. I don’t know how I can ever repay this kindness.”
The squad leader sprang to his feet and bowed deeply.
“As a servant of the Spirit Church, it’s only natural.”
Seamus waved his hand to decline and continued.
“Let’s leave right away.”
* * *
“Barbaroi. Don’t try anything foolish.”
While Seamus went to gather his belongings, the squad leader grabbed Jeong Yushin.
“I wasn’t thinking anything. But where are we going?”
“Lady Karin went to the Great Labyrinth, so you’ll be going there too. It’ll take about a week on foot.”
“Is it really all right to tell me all this information so readily?”
At Yushin’s question, the squad leader bristled.
“I never told you all that readily. And refrain from insolent words and behavior in front of Seamus. He holds a high position in the Spirit Church.”
“How high-ranking is he?”
“Find out for yourself. Why should I spell it all out for you?”
“...”
Seamus entered after packing all his belongings.
“Let’s depart.”
“Are we leaving just like this?”
When Jeong Yushin asked, Seamus shrugged.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“Aren’t you going to tie my hands or anything? I might escape.”
A burst of laughter filled the room. Both the squad leader and the guard guffawed.
Seamus also wore a faint smile.
“Barbaroi, if you want to, give it a try. It’s nice to see someone so full of confidence.”
* * *
Seamus and Jeong Yushin left the village at once.
They let him keep the belongings in his bag, but his sword was confiscated. They had not tied his hands or feet, but they did not seem willing to let him carry a weapon.
Jeong Yushin walked along the road. Seamus walked beside him, muttering as though he were meditating. From time to time, he took a strangely shaped necklace from inside his robe and kissed it.
Except when necessary, Seamus did not speak to Jeong Yushin. That made his earlier claim that it had been a long time since he had traveled with a barbaroi seem rather hollow.
Jeong Yushin had nothing to say either. And so the two of them walked in silence.
In the morning, they idly looked at nameless wildflowers blooming beside the road.
At noon, they sat and rested in the shade of a huge old tree rooted beside the road.
In the evening, they stared blankly at the horizon of the sprawling grassland and the setting sun beyond it.
Something unusual happened on the fourth day after they left the village, disrupting the strange journey accompanied by silence.
It happened one evening on a plateau, while they were chewing jerky beside a campfire in a corner of some abandoned ruins.
Seamus raised his head.
“It’s a monster.”
“Huh! What do I do?”
“Don’t worry. It’s only a few goblins.”
Seamus rose from his seat.
"Kikik."
"Kreee."
Roughly thirty goblins approached until they reached the edge of the campfire’s light.
Seamus smiled and stood up.
“There are two of us, so the goblins have let their guard down. Normally, they only fire arrows from the darkness. You stay put.”
"Kieeeek!!"
Dozens of goblins charged all at once, shrieking.
When Seamus threw off his gray robe, black priestly robes appeared underneath. As Seamus clenched his fists and assumed a stance, an ominous aura wrapped around his entire body.
Baaaang!!
A drum-splitting sound came from the belly of the goblin that had leaped from above, and a gaping hole appeared in it.
Jeong Yushin’s eyes widened.
The fist had moved so quickly that he had missed it entirely.
And the force needed to punch a huge hole in a goblin’s belly was incredible.
Crack!!
The priest’s low kick struck the goblin’s shoulder like a whip, smashing it into the ground.
The ten goblins charging from the front faltered. They seemed to realize something, but it was already too late.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
The light jabs thrown by the priest made the goblins’ heads burst one after another with wet pops. The goblins screamed and ran back toward the darkness.
“Stop.”
Seamus spoke in a calm voice. The goblins could no longer move and stood rooted to the spot.
Jeong Yushin realized that the ominous aura he had felt from Seamus moments ago was binding the goblins.
Seamus raised his index finger and drew it in a straight line.
The heads of the frozen goblins were cleanly severed and dropped to the ground with soft thuds.
Jeong Yushin’s jaw dropped at the sight.
“Crazy.”
He realized it immediately.
The reason Seamus had not tied his hands and feet.
Seamus’s words telling him to try escaping if he could.
When Seamus could sever a monster’s neck as casually as pulling a coin from his pocket, handcuffs and the like were meaningless.
There was only one reason he was still alive.
Seamus simply had no intention of taking his life.
“Ugh!”
The carnage before his eyes and the smell of blood made his stomach churn. He quickly raised his waterskin to his mouth.
Gulp, gulp.
“Phew.”
“Barbaroi.”
At Seamus’s voice, Jeong Yushin came to his senses.
“Y-yes, sir.”
Seamus chuckled.
“I need to wash my hands, so pour me some water.”
“Y-yes.”
Jeong Yushin tilted his canteen and poured water over Seamus’s hands.
“Barbaroi. Are you trembling?”
It was true. His hands were trembling, making the canteen tremble, which in turn made the stream of water tremble.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
“Yes. I’m sorry. I won’t apologize.”
“Hah. A barbaroi trembling. I never thought I’d live to see it. Get some sleep.”
Seamus shook the water from his hands and returned to the campfire.
Jeong Yushin trembled.
What on earth was a barbaroi?
He staggered over to the campfire and sank down beside it. The fishy scent of blood lingered all around him.
He thought of the day Karin had left. The night he had spent alone in the wagon with the smell of blood.
Shhhhh.
A strange wind brushed past Jeong Yushin, and the smell of blood faded.
“It’s a wind spirit. I sent the smell of blood upward, so get some sleep. We need to leave early tomorrow.”
“Aren’t you thinking of moving the campsite somewhere else?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Well, if he was told to do something, he had to do it. He pulled the blanket over himself and closed his eyes.
His heart pounded at the gruesome sight from moments ago.
‘Will I be able to sleep?’