I hate being wed in a fantasy world!

Chapter 3 – Our stay went weird

Almost a year ago.

I find myself next to a young woman. I think she's the granddaughter of Lares, one of my companions? It was ardent, but somehow I feel even worse than before.

“That was amazing, Grekk.” She play-bites my ear, but instead of arousal, I feel just emptiness. It's strange. While doing it, I was able to feel something, the primal desire, the lust, but they didn't fill me, just made me forget the vastness inside me for a moment. Now that the moment is over, her caress is more frightening than anything else.

I hear a horn, the warriors have returned from a raid. “I will meet them,” I tell her. I don't even remember her name.

The warriors are welcomed, their weapons are bloody, and there are some scratches on their bodies. “Hehe!” That's my son, Hass, who juggles several heads while walking. “We met some soldiers on the way. They wanted to make sure the farm was safe. Well, it wasn't. Oh, dad!”

Hass is one of my youngest, currently in his late-twenties. “Hello.” I can't help it, my voice is somewhat dry.

“Look, I killed these five by myself. Like you, I grabbed their heads, and ripped them from their neck. There was a sixth one, but there was no piece left large enough to bother with.”

“I see.” It's strange. I should be proud. Hass is doing well. Not as much as me in his age... that has to be it, compared to me he falls short. That's why I can't be genuinely proud. “Did you use your axe?”

“Ah, it wasn't worth it, I swear.” I gifted him this axe, one of the weapons I made Gessweis craft for me. When I retired as a warrior, I gave all I had left to my children, including Hass. “I'll use it next time, alright?”

“Son, have I ever sparred with you?”

“Ugh...” Do I sense fear? Even the crowd, loud before as they welcomed the warriors, suddenly gasped: “No, but you're old, so-”

“Meet me on the training ground.”

“Dad, you-”

“That's not a request.” My son, a coward. I didn't raise him to be one... but to be honest, I didn't raise him much at all. Time to punch some backbone into him.

Minutes later, we face each other. Hass has the axe in his hand. “Don't you want a weapon?”

“No need to break something. Or someone.”

Hass suddenly jumps forward, with a strike which seems strong enough to cleave through a building.

Cute.

I catch the shaft of the axe in one hand and make a quick punch into Hass' side, which breaks several bones despite his skin hardening enough to shatter an incoming battering ram. The sorry excuse of a son gasps as he crumbles, the axe still in his hand, but stunned by the blow.

After seeing it, I turn around and walk away. There is just one word for this. “Pathetic.”

I didn't mean the sparring match, nor Hass' performance, or the arm that hurts like crazy after just that one strike. I mean myself, as I felt a strange sense of complacence after hitting my own flesh and blood.

―○●○―

The present day.

After accompanying Mirianne back to the farm, I started to hang out in the room with the others. Rine-kun was working on her clothemaking, and Ara-kun joined later and started to read a book. I can neither sew nor read, so I am basically useless. Therefore, I just rested my bones. Not needing sleep doesn't mean that I don't need rest.

After a while, the two other girls went to sleep, Rine-kun took the third bed, and Ara-kun just fell asleep where she was sitting. One moment she was reading, then she put the book away and a second later, she was out. That's a talent in itself.

Me being the nightwatch is just natural.

Even before the sun comes up, I hear people getting ready for work. I guess I'll join them and let those kids sleep. I catch Benjam, the brother of the matriarch and medic of the farmstead, and my hunch tells me that he used to be a soldier. “Good morning, what's up?”

He turns around. “Ah... sorry, I don't know your name.”

I hesitate for a bit, as telling him my name could have... consequences. “I'm just an old man.”

“Oh well, old man. What can I do for you? Anything you need?”

“Nah, just bored. Any work I can do? Despite my age, I'm still strong.”

“There is always work, but you're our guests.”

I also know that I should rest whenever I can, as my power is limited, but doing nothing for long is just hard: “Even light work is good. I need to move a bit.”

“Hm... I guess, you could help with the animals then. Hey, Mirianne,” Benjam calls out to his niece, who was just standing around: “Could he tag along for your work?”

“...sure.” Mirianne-kun seems to be more clear-headed than yesterday. “Come with me, we're going to the stables.” As I follow her, she chatters: “To stay here for the last few days, I had to take over stable duties. That means feeding the animals, grooming them, getting them ready, and today I'm cleaning the stables as well, when the rest are on the fields and the animals are away.”

“This sounds like shitty work.”

“It is! Well, I like feeding and grooming, but shoveling their dung is the worst. We're starting with feeding the donkeys, as they need to be ready first.”

There are surely a lot of animals here. Donkeys, cows, bunnies, chicken, alpas, goats, sheep, dogs, cats, fiets, and even an axeken. After checking all of them for injury and signs of sickness, they get their food and this takes the better part of the morning, and later most of the workers will be on the fields all day.

I never realized how much work farmers put into their living each day. I'm ashamed.

Mirianne-kun explains what she is doing, why she does it, and tells a little story here and there about mishaps she had while taking care of the animals: “And then Whitey left the warren between my legs, and it took almost an hour to catch it. Can you imagine!?”

“Kehehe, you have to be quicker than them.”

“Try that, it's hard!” Overall, it was a surprisingly pleasant morning, and we're on our way back to the family house to ask if the donkeys need to be readied already. “Hm?” Mirianne-kun stops suddenly. “What's that?”

There are several people standing in front of the house, someone is speaking with Mirianne-kun's mother, and it seems like that person arrived on the horse next to him.

“BARBARIANS!” One of the bystanders shouts out.

I have a bad feeling about it.

―○●○―

It's morning, and I open my eyes. I carefully try to move my legs... and they do! Hell yeah!

I'm not usually that easily excited to move, but after being caged in a broken body and then being immobile in a healthy one, being able to move freely is enough to put a smirk on my face. Not a smile, a smirk. But hey, that's a lot for me already!

I begin to move my fingers and toes and about every other joint and muscle I can think of, feeling no pain. I look to Kyou-san, who is sleeping on another bed, and whisper “Thank you!” to not wake her up. Rine sleeps in a third bed. She has worked a lot throughout the night, but I know not to get too close to her.

Ara-san begins moving, so I use [Sneak] to silently leave the room with my backpack in hand, so that the rest can at least sleep a bit more. Of course, she follows me: “You can move again,” she says neutrally. I kinda know that she's a bit happy, too.

“Yeah. I want to take a walk.” I never thought I'll ever utter these words, but after all I went through, I need to enjoy the luxury of mobility.

“Eww... let's do it then.” Of course, the lazy-and-proud-of-it Ara-san doesn't like the idea, but still wants to stick with me.

“Alright, I'm just going to change. Where is a free room?”

“That one,” Ara-san says without hesitation.

“Then I’ll try this one.” I don't trust her recommendation. I put an ear on the room I've chosen, knock there, then slowly open it to see it empty. “Give me a minute.” I make sure to wedge a chair into the door. I start changing my entire attire. New underwear, new shirt, new trousers. No need to put the armor on, though I end up with the hood and my raincoat, in case it's cold outside. After putting the backpack on my back and the coat above it, I open the door again. “All set.”

“You should shave. Also, what about producing excrement?”

“First, don't call going to the bathroom that way, second... good point about shaving. Outside then.” She shows me the way, and I see a well. I take some water, put it into a basin I take out of the backpack and shave myself. This really was needed, as I couldn't do that the last few days, and I'm seemingly still too young for a proper beard to grow.

Sometimes it's hard to believe that I'm still sixteen.

For now, that's enough. I can wash myself later, maybe even take a bath, if possible. It's certainly chilly, especially now with my wet face, so I pull the hood over my head. It's surprisingly good at keeping the cold away, especially as it basically has a scarf-part as well.

Ara-san watched me with keen interest, as facial hair is something she still can't wrap her head around. “What is even the point of beards?”

“I don't know. Maybe some sort of natural camouflage?” Men were supposed to be the hunters of the hunters and gatherers, so maybe this helped while skulking around in bushes.

“Why only the males though?”

Instead of repeating my thought, I speak out another idea: “Or maybe it just happened and got away with it.” That's Darwin's evolutionary theory in a nutshell: Stuff happens, and if the one who has it can leave descendants, it'll be carried over. Over the course of millenia, many helpful aspects will stay, but the same goes for some neutral ones.

“Ah, the fickleness of nature.” That's something she can get behind.

“There!” A person comes around the corner, sees us, and approaches immediately. Seriously, we are having a conversation! Who is that guy anyway! “Ranger! Help us!” I don't like where this is going...

My first impulse is to use my entire [Stealth]-repertoire to just vanish in front of his eyes, but I guess I owe these people a bit. “Phew... calm down, OK?”

“You need to help us! Please!” How about starting with telling me what I should help you with? “We're doomed otherwise!”

“Jahn!” Ah, I know this one. That's the boss-woman of this farm. “Don't go ahead and-”

“We need them!”

“Don't you dare to decide things over my head!”

“You can't be so stupid to think that--”

“Did you call me stupid!?”

I glance at Ara-san, who seems to basically have the same feeling as me: What a pain to be here at this moment!

“Don't worry!” Suddenly Rine's voice is heard: “We'll help you!” She walks out of the door, with a broad smile and a lot of confidence.

OK, that's it: “Rine, stop prom-” Yet she immediately cuts me off by jumping at me, catching me in a wild embrace, that knocks me to the ground.

“KEEEEENTAAA! You can move!” She rubs her head and body against me, as if I'm a stuffed animal. “Ah, that feels good!” Stop sniffing me!

Also, I can certainly feel your- She thrusts her palm against my forehead: “Ufff!” That hurts! Not only on the front, which seems likely to bruise, but also on the back that was thrust against the ground.

“Ah, Kenta! Sorry! I'm so sorry! [Heal]! Please, forgive me!” She's about to break into tears.

“Can't you just stop instead!?” I had maybe fifteen wonderful minutes of being totally fine until you came!

After a while, some sorting, and getting Kyou-san and Jii-san, we're all sitting in a room that smells of food. I guess the fragrance is already imprinted into the wood of the table, chairs, and benches.

The boss-woman, the medic-guy, a stranger, and the one who wanted our help so badly, are all on one side of the table, while we're on the other one. “In case you didn't know or already forgot: My name is Kenza, I'm the matriarch of White Horst.” I guess that's the name of this farmstead.

“I'm Benjam, more or less helping my sister with everything.”

“I'm Jahn, I speak for the workers.”

“I'm Knudd, from Black Horst.” I guess another farmstead.

“I apologize for Jahn's behavior,” boss-woman continues: “Knudd brought some disturbing news, which made Jahn act prematurely.”

Knudd-guy speaks out: “Barbarians conquered Red Horst and are now sending their warriors to the other farmsteads. Yesterday night, survivors of Green Horst came to us and told us how the entire farmstead was burned down and most of them are now dead. These barbarians are out for blood.”

Aha, barbarians. I know that some terms have a special meaning in this world, like how 'ranger' is a survivalist trained by the alfar. So I guess barbarian may also be in the same category, as at least Rine and Jii-san tense up—two people native to this world—and Ara-san seems to be concerned, which is alarming.

The man continues: “Jell asked me and others to warn the other farmsteads.”

OK, I have to be the one, I guess: “I'm from another world, so would you tell me what a barbarian is in this one?”

Surprisingly, it's Jii-san, who answered: “Barbarians are warrior nomads that use the power of rage in battle. They wander throughout different lands and attack villages, farmsteads, and whatever they can easily get their hands on. They live and thirst for battle. So much, that they often fight among themselves and sometimes take on armies.”

“Sounds like glorified bandits.”

“Kehehe... that truth hurts.” Don't tell me... “Lad, I'm also a barbarian.”

Suddenly, the four farmers across us back away, looking at Jii-san in true fear. Well, I already knew that this oldtimer wasn't normal, but my personal guess was that he used to be a legendary mercenary or something. “So these are your people?”

“Yes and no. We share a culture, but I'm sure that these are from another tribe.” Makes sense. “Maybe Ulf's good-for-nothing son took over, and they're hellbent on proving themselves.”

“Any chance that you may join them?”

“No.”

“Good enough for me.” Jii-san lent me help when I needed it the most, so I'll just take his word for it. I turn to the farmers: “And I guess, you want us to fight these barbarians?” That's the only reason these people would ask for our help.

“No.” “Yes.” Boss-woman and worker-guy have different opinions on that matter.

“Phew...” As I still owe them, I may take a look into it and decide whether it's doable or not. I turn to the messenger: “How many?”

“Four attacked the Green Horst.”

...OK, if we consider everything, this seems odd. I mean, this tells me plenty. First, if it took four people to level a whole farm, it means they're strong... somewhat, at least. I mean, we did conquer a bandit camp with the four of us before. But four barbarians also may mean that they're either acting independent from the tribe, or are just something like an advance party.

Nonetheless, bad news. “What is your plan?” Rine asks the boss-woman.

“Barbarians come here every now and then, and usually, we just surrender and let them take some. Even if we send someone to the town, their militia can't handle barbarians anyway. We'd need to send someone to Winson for capable troops, and even if they're willing to help, it would take two weeks. That's usually the case,” boss-woman says sternly: “But if they're out to destroy and take everything...”

“Then you have to fight!” Rine concludes.

“Just flee,” Kyou-san makes a counter-proposal immediately.

“If they flee, then how will they survive the winter?”

“How will they survive the barbarians!?”

“That's where we come in!”

It's rare to see Rine and Kyou-san having an argument. To be honest, this is neither my problem, nor something I'm confident I can help with, and I would gladly just ignore it and concentrate on my own stuff. On the other hand, these people saved me, so I would feel bad if I left them alone.

Ara-san is sleeping with her eyes open, so there is no way to ask for her opinion. I look at Jii-san, who shrugs his shoulders, telling me it's my choice.

Which leaves us with Rine and Kyou-san, the latter making a new argument: “Rine-chan, we can't fight an army with the five of us!”

“That's why we'll train them to fend off the barbarians as well! Right, Kenza? If we and the farmsteads work together, everything will be fine.”

“I-”

“Kenza-san, do you plan to put all your lives on stake?”

“I-”

“Can you survive the winter without your goods? If you flee to the city, how do you plan to eat? Will the elder even survive the trip?”

“I-I-”

Shit! “Stop it! Both of you!”

“But Ken-” “Dear, you-”

“I SAID STOP!” Both of them are staring at me, Kyou-san with contempt, Rine imploringly. “Just stop for a moment.” I turn to the boss-woman, whose body is sweating and shivering, while the others around her seem to be speechless and shocked. “Take your time and discuss it among yourselves. Whatever you decide on, we'll give some assistance. We can't magically solve the problem, so make sure to think about what you want to do and what the consequences of that decision may be. Don't depend on us too much, but if it's within our power, we'll help.” That's the least I can do.

“Y-y-y-yes.”

“Good. Ara-san, wake up. We're all leaving the room.”

“Ken!” “Dear!”

“I said all of us!” I turn to the boss-woman: “Tell us, when you make your decision.”

While Kyou-san and Rine follow me outside, they do so begrudgingly. I'm leading them to a vacant spot behind the stables, then turn to them, unable to hold back my anger: “Are you two out of your mind!?”

“Hah!?” “Hm?” Kyou-san becomes aggressive, while Rine cocks her head.

“Don't you realize? These are non-heroes!”

“Still Dear, they have to fight for themselves!”

“No, they have to flee!”

I can see how these two girls were brought up completely differently. Rine comes from a country that glorifies standing up to oppressive forces, while Kyou-san grew up in peace-loving Japan.

However! “That's not what I meant! You almost exploded her head!” Both of them blink, as they really don't even know what they did! “Kyou-san, Rine, both of you have high [Persuasion], and you used it mercilessly against a commoner! I could basically see how she wanted to adopt any opinion you said she should have!”

While Rine is taken aback by it, Kyou-san decides to double down: “Isn't it for the best? I mean, telling her what to do to save everyone?”

It's not like I don't agree with her, but somehow it's also very different from what I feel. “Leave them the choice. Whatever it is, I decided to help them. What you'll do is your choice.”

“Don't make me sound like the bad guy!”

“You're not. You probably even care about these people more than I do. I'm just repaying a favor so that I don't feel as bad later.”

“Grrr...” She's seriously pissed, but decides to stay quiet for the moment.

“Dear...” She takes my arm and leans her head against my shoulder. “Tehehehe.” OK, what's up with her now? “Alright, I'll also help with whatever they decide.”

“Ken-kun, you really make poor me work myself to death,” Ara-san sighs.

“Hm... if they decide to fight, then it'll be hard, lad.” Jii-san says while scratching his beard. “Don't take barbarians lightly. These people won't be able to stop them at all, even if they trained for years.”

...so bad? I now seriously regret my decision, but I guess I'll stick to it. I can just hope that the farmers cut their losses, try to take as much as possible with them and... be probably attacked by barbarians on their way to town. Or the town itself gets attacked, if its militia can't handle barbarians either.

I begin to understand how boned these people are. If they decide to resist, they may just be overrun. After seeing Gottfried, I seriously question how viable actual armies are in case a monster like him is unleashed. Even if the barbarians are much weaker than him, the militia is as well... I think?

If the farmers decide to flee, they will either be attacked on their way to safety if they take stuff with them or be left with nothing if they hope that the barbarians raid the farm instead. If I were a bandit, I'd first attack the farmers on the road and then take their unprotected goods on the farm, so...

How much of a help can we even be? “Jii-san, how strong are barbarians on average?”

“Compared to what?”

Good question. “An average soldier, I guess?”

“From where?”

“...” I would love to express it in levels, but first, only heroes have levels, and second, even their levels don't tell you that much about their strength.

“Fufu,” Ara-san lowers her ears in pure pride: “Grekkun, it's time for the tier list!”

“...ah, right!”

“Huh?” What is she talking about?

“I had some conversations with Katarine-san and Grekkun, as you wanted a way to measure someone's power, and therefore made a tier-list.” OK, that sounds interesting. “I'll explain it in detail. This tier list is primarily meant to categorize non-heroes, as heroes tend to be more inconsistent with their strength and we can't simply apply their levels or other status traits to it. It's also a combat-only tier list, which means that while spellcasters may be categorized with it, it's in regards to their pure overall combat competence. Therefore despite their offensive potential, they'll end up in lower tiers in comparison, as they often lack the defense, mobility, or strategy.”

“OK, that means it's mostly for soldiers and such. Good enough for me. How did you decide who ended up in what tier?”

“Our guesstimate who would win most times without any beneficial circumstances or numbers. Also, what exactly they can do.”

“Alright, then the basics are explained. Go on.”

“We start with tier 0. That's all non-combatants, which includes farmers” she points at the whole area, “normal citizens up to bullies and street robbers.”

“So even people who can fight on some level? What about children or people who can't fight back at all, like crippled?”

“Ken-kun, in the greater scheme, the difference between a cripple and a common street robber is not worth mentioning.” ...shit, that has to mean something. Especially with that being tier 0, so not even making a big difference at all. “That's also Momo's tier.”

“Hey!” Of course, the girl in question takes offense with that.

“Momo, you may be able to fend yourself off, but only against these kinds of people. Trust me, that's your tier overall. Even though you have other strengths, in combat it would be too much of a stretch to put you into any other tier.” The factual manner she speaks with just makes this somewhat worse: “Let's move up to tier 1. These are people actually trained in combat, they may even use a [Skill] or two. This would be from a capable militiaman to an actual soldier.” OK, my common sense wouldn't see the street robber much below those, but I have to remember that my common sense stems from my own world, and that I know shit about actual soldiers anyway. “This would be also the ss'rak grunt you faced back then in their city, or a common mercenary as well. While I do think that I can sometimes punch up, all things considered, I'd be in that tier as well.”

OK, these ss'rak were kinda tough. Kyou-san still complains though: “I killed one of these ss'rak! I should be in that tier as well!”

“From behind while it was holding Ken-kun, which is ultimately considered beneficial circumstances,” Ara-san replies without missing a beat. “If it's any comfort for you, Akiyama Eri is also a tier 0, Kurosawa Teruko would be tier 1, same with Yamauchi Daichi and Kita Katsuo.” So all but one of Kyou-san's friends.

I mean, I don't think particularly highly of them, but even I would have thought of them as better than that. Barely.

Ara-san continues mercilessly. “Next is tier 2. These would be the elites, people that are capable, and if things go their way, they can take on a mercenary band or a bandit troupe. Here we have the rangers, the barbarians, the crusaders, and also Masahiko-kun and Ken-kun.”

...while it stings to be put in the same tier as Inoue, it makes sense overall. Which means that Ara-san thinks that even the grunt barbarian is roughly at my level, which is really concerning! “That's bad for us, right?”

“Let's come to it later. We'll move on to tier 3.” I guess that's Rine's tier then. “These are the above-elites, people capable of getting known by name due to their deeds. That's where officers in Feuerberg's army stand, people capable of taking a bandit camp or razing a town all on their own. Sadly, I have no definitive example you know for it, though I suspect that Yoshimori Rentaro aka Silent Wood falls into that tier.”

“So Rine's tier 4!?”

“Exactly. These are the people where the loss count of normal soldiers would be around a hundred, and they won't be able to beat them by overwhelming them with numbers, but by exhaustion, which is also the only reason that holds Katarine-san back from destroying cities.”

“Tehehe. That's too much of a praise.” I'm sure it wasn't one. But to be honest, seeing how Rine can take everything on I struggle with easily, it makes sense that there is a whole tier between us.

Though there is someone else: “What about the oni?” Correo's oni is somewhat able to fight with Rine on equal footing, even though my girlfriend seems to have the upper hand. “Or Hoshibashi?”

“Both have cases for either tier 3 or tier 4 so far.”

“Shouldn't Yoshimori be the same?”

“He's a spellcaster, therefore his offensive capabilities are certainly tier 4, but that's only if he has time for chants. On his own and with tools he can use on his own, he's probably just tier 3, though I may be wrong. He's a hero after all, and [Class-change] does break the tier-list in many cases.”

“Ah right.” While the tier list is better than trying to wrap my head around levels and power, it's also made within a rather narrow frame. Still, this will prove helpful. “Tier 5 is Gottfried, then? Ah, also Luuto?”

“It's Lvo'tjos, but yes. There are people that could go into legends, and no kingdom would plan a war without taking these kinds of people into consideration.”

“So while tier 4 would be something a general may shoehorn about, a tier 5 is something that tears an army apart without a proper counter?”

“That's a good way to put it. As we established before, in favorable conditions Katarine-san can win, but it'd be uphill in a fair fight.”

“Ah, father may be in that tier then,” the blonde princess adds, “that's what I think.”

“I also knew some warriors on that level,” Jii-san adds. “Capable of bringing a city down on their own, hard to face without a plan or someone stronger on your side.”

“These are people I'd also research to find out if they're heroes.” ...I get mixed messages here. So if someone below tier 5 is too weak for Ara-san to bother, but enough to conquer cities... urgh.

“Then we have tier 6, which would be Gottfried-kun in his prime. Lvo'tjos would be able to push an avalanche away, but a younger Gottfried would have annihilated it, and a day later, a blizzard would wipe away even more that the avalanche would have.”

OK, this sounds kinda like a nuke. No, maybe even worse, I can't even imagine what that means. Sure, a nuke levels a city, but how much will it affect the environment outside its blast radius? Hm... if we take the radioactive contamination... Let's just say that Gottfried may be the equivalent of a nuke, for simplicity... “Fuck.”

“Don't worry, he's old enough to have dropped to upper tier 5.” I'm tier 2, and Rine tier 4, and I should feel happy about it!? “Then there is the theoretical tier 7.”

“...SEVEN!? There is something above that geezer?”

“That would be Hagen von Stolzherz, Katarine-san's ancestor. It's said that the highest echelons of power can only be achieved by heroes. If we take the Legend of Hagen into account, we have one person single-handedly dismembering a whole empire and slaying several gods, which may be close to what a tier 6 could do, hypothetically speaking. Therefore, it's only a theoretical tier.”

“So... I'm tier 2, and barbarians are on average also tier 2. Then they could have a tier 5, so... even if we get all the farmers ready to battle, we would only lead them to a slaughter?”

“I'm glad that we're on the same page, Ken-kun.” Shit. “Though that only counts in an open battle, which is never something I would consider in this situation.”

“Me neither, but that tier list alone puts everything we did so far into perspective.” We're still at the bottom.

“Don't feel bad, Ken-kun. It's not like the tiers are equal in any way. You're stronger than 90% of the world.”

“And the remaining 10% kicks my ass.”

“Some of them will struggle to do so, though.”

“Ah, thank you!” Well, to be honest, it's the same as with the crusaders in Goldbrunn. It's just natural that a group of battle-hardened warriors would outdo a small band like ours.

Well, I agreed to help as much as I could, and it seems like I can't do much, if they want to make a stand. I mean, we could try to fortify everything, plant traps, and the like, so that the barbarians will start to think attacking the farmstead is too much of a hassle. Other than in games, people won't fight until the last man.

What a headache!

Rine takes my hand: “Don't worry, Dear.” Your words are appreciated, but you don't give me any reason to trust them.

“Do you want us to convince them to run away after all?” Kyou-san adds with a sickening sweet bite.

“Phew... We do what we can that won't kill us. No more, no less. I'm also not keen to stay here for too long, as we tend to attract the wrong people.”

Ara-san flicks her ears: “Maybe that's the reason why the barbarians are here in the first place?”

“What do you mean?”

“Drama effect.” That's one of her pet theories, that heroes attract all kinds of troubles.

“After Gottfried-” I pause for a second, as I suddenly had an idea I had to dismiss immediately. If we could lure the barbarians to Gottfried, and Gottfried would fight the barbarians, then they would all die. But neither do I know his current whereabouts, nor would I expect to escape on my own, as the last one was narrow and surely cost me half of my life.

“What is with Gottfried-kun?” Ara-san asks.

“Nevermind. Just thinking of how to handle a fight, if it comes to it.”

“Dear,” Rine snuggles closer to me, and while my first impulse is to get some distance, I do my best to not move an inch. “Stay focused on what is now, OK? Otherwise, you'll end up worrying about ten things that won't happen at all.”

She's always the one who can calm me down, when my thoughts run rampant. “Phew... You're right.” I slowly press her hand. I guess that's one of the sides that I like about her. Whenever there is stress, she's a calm anchor.

“Do you need a room?” Kyou-san looks at us as if we've decided to run a campaign to legalize exhibitionism. Come on, that's exaggerated! Rine and I are a couple, after all!

“Kehehe,” Jii-san puts his hand on our shoulders from behind: “When push comes to shove, we'll pull through.”

“Phew... we need to talk about barbarians anyway. No matter the decision, I think it's important to know our enemies.”

“Sure, where do I begin...” With this, Jii-san starts with several details. Barbarians walk around topless, men always, women in case their breasts are small enough to not become a hassle, otherwise they will bind a strap around them. That's because barbarians believe in toughening themselves up enough to withstand everything. A true barbarian will continue the fight even in death. I guess I'll see whether this is just a wish or a fact.

Barbarians harness the power of rage. “Ah, I know that from games,” there are raging classes there as well: “Basically heightening their power and endurance by loss of their mind or something? An anger that overcomes your senses and makes you into a senseless, yet mighty warrior?”

“That's a savage or a berserker, lad. A barbarian controls the rage, and it's not about being angry. It's one of the most primal feelings a person can have, it binds us with the wildness and ferocity of our inner animals. You can't use rage because you're angry, you're angry because you have rage deep inside you.” I think I get the gist of it, but let's just simplify it as 'People get stronger whenever they want' for now.

Next, a barbarian without an enemy is no barbarian. While they're not suicidal, they'll face trouble head-on and only retreat whenever the gains don't outweigh the loss. “You said that you don't invade kingdoms lightheartedly. What exactly makes you consider it?”

“Usually, we raid some border fortresses and villages, though my tribe raided through a kingdom once. Armies and barbarians fight very differently.”

“How so?”

“One soldier is no match for a barbarian. Put ten soldiers together, and they can face ten barbarians.”

“Hah?” I turn to Ara-san, who is basically my fantasy-world translator: “What does he mean?”

“I have a theory.”

“Tell me.”

“Ken-kun, what is the most distinguishing trait humans have?”

...usually, I'd have no idea, but given it's Ara-san, I just take one of her ramblings of the past as a reference: “Reproduction capabilities?”

“Exactly.” I hate being right here. “We can expect that a tier 1 person has two, maybe three skills, even if they don't know it.” I nod. “Then what if they trained to learn [Phalanx]-skills?”

[Phalanx]... one of my [Pikeman]-abilities I never was able to learn [Skills] for because [Phalanx] is a teamwork ability, which synergies with other [Phalanx]-users, especially if they have the same [Skills]. Many of them are supposed to be minor buffs, which become bigger the more people are within the formation...

“!” I get it! If many people have a defense buff, you just need to get enough to tough out the attacks of stronger foes. “That's why tier 1 begins with soldiers!” I guess, ruffians and robbers usually don't learn [Skills]. “Shit, I think I have no idea how war works in this world! Is that why Gottfried can't easily conquer as he pleases? Because as long as it's enough, even foot soldiers will be able to mount a defense?”

“I have no idea,” Ara-san answers truthfully. I can feel how uninterested she's in that, as it doesn't really involve heroes.

“Rine?” She had tutelage, so I guess she may know?

“Erm... Not only that, but yes: Fighting yourself and fighting wars is different. When fighting other countries, it's important to think about how to break open their formations, so that you can use your elites and champions correctly.”

OK, common sense from Japan once again proven useless. Before, I thought that magic would replace cannons and such, but I guess there are a lot of other things to consider. Well, it's not like I'll lead any armies in the future.

I turn to Jii-san again: “So a strong military that can answer to barbarians quickly and put up their formations beforehand is bad news for barbarians...”

“Often, though we also know how to break their formations. Some kingdoms also have people to look out for, in Feuerberg it was Gottfried for the longest time.”

“But you beat him!” Rine bursts out: “The hole is still there!”

…

… … …

““HAH!?”” Kyou-san and I stare at Jii-san in utter disbelief.

Wait, wait, wait! Jii-san has beaten Gottfried before and is therefore stronger than him!? “Why didn't you fight him in our place!?”

“Lad, that was long ago. He was just a brat, I was at my peak. He's much stronger than me now.”

“Can you explode a mountain?”

“Not as easily anymore.”

“But you still can!?” I mean, I saw him dominate the monsters but that's out of proportion! “Then fighting the barbarians should be a piece of cake! Unless... unless... they have someone as strong as you...” Then we're dead. No, we're super-dead.

“Kehehe, I don't think so. But I have only two, maybe three attacks left, remember?” Ah, he said he was so strong that his own body can't keep up anymore. “A shame for a barbarian.”

His body may be nigh indestructible against outside forces, but without attacking he can't win. If he attacks, his body will break due to his own power. Yeah, that's why he's a worse glasscannon than Rine. “Phew... at least we have options. It's all about how to use the attacks you have, before you start breaking. You can judge how much your body can handle?”

“Yes.”

“Good. We'll talk about it later.” I already have some ideas. They're ludicrous and unrealistic, but who knows what Jii-san can do?

At least, I can face this predicament with a less negative outlook now. I will try to not rely on Jii-san too much, as he joined us to fight less and save his strength. Yet he offered his help this time, so I'll use his power the moment I see it fit.

The only question left is, what boss-woman will decide. “There you are,” the same comes by: “Come with me, please.” I guess she doesn't want to discuss it in the open.

Back in the room are the same three men as before. I try to calm my nerves. How did she decide? Why did I offer my help?

“I came to a conclusion. You brought good arguments... We will fortify this farm. I don't want to abandon the old and sickly, and this year has been harsh for us even without this attack. If we lose the farm, then we're done for, and would only await for a slow death.”

Rine nods in agreement, while Kyou-san looks at boss-woman as if she had offered a serving of rotten sushi for everyone to enjoy. “Fortify?” Ara-san asks the important question. “Not resist?”

“If possible, we will try to bribe them. A decade ago, the barbarians were satisfied with a fifth of our harvest and animals, so I'm counting on it, and hope that Green Horst was just an exception. To make a point or because they angered them.”

Jii-san scratches his beard, deep in thought. I guess that not knowing which tribe attacked is making it much harder for him to decide whether that's a smart or dumb move. I'm seriously concerned that, depending on the tribe, we can either face rather rational bandits or savage murder-hobos.

Rine grabs my sleeve with force, I can hear the grinding of her teeth. She may have accepted to leave the decision to them, but isn't satisfied with the outcome. On the other hand, Kyou-san blinks and looks at the farmers as if they are playing hide-and-seek by simply covering their eyes, convinced that when they can't see the seeker, the seeker won't see them either.

I have to admit, I'm impressed. She had two choices, each would have satisfied at least one of them, but now she ended up upsetting both by looking for a third option.

“Phew... I guess the Red Farmstead is too far away for a quick scouting.”

“Around two days.” That's good and bad. Bad, because I'd love to take a look. Good, because that means that the barbarians are that far away. Or at least started there, and it's unlikely that they moved directly towards this place.

“I'm going for a quick scouting of this area then.” That's the least I can do.