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Chapter 4 – The Barbarian of the White Snowfield (4)
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 4 – The Barbarian of the White Snowfield (4)
“What’s going on?”
“First, I need to confirm one thing. We are mercenaries. We have a contract with the young lady and are officially carrying out a commission. Is that correct?”
Milena nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. I’m always grateful that you accepted the commission.”
A commission to traverse the White Snowfield.
All other mercenaries had fled in terror as soon as they heard the details of the commission.
If it weren’t for them, she wouldn’t have even attempted it.
“We are risking our lives to carry out the commission. It’s only natural since we have a contract.”
The mercenary narrowed his eyes.
“But I don’t like this one bit. That barbarian.”
His eyes turned to Ketal.
“That barbarian also received the same commission, so why is he getting special treatment?”
“Ah.”
Milena finally understood the mercenaries’ grievances.
The mercenaries and Ketal had received the same commission. So, to put it simply, they were on equal footing.
However, the barbarian was resting comfortably inside the carriage while the mercenaries were braving the cold and fighting monsters in the snowfield.
It was a situation that was bound to build resentment.
Milena bowed her head apologetically.
“I’m sorry. I haven’t been paying much attention to you.”
“No, it’s not your fault, miss. Of course, I understand that the barbarian is a legendary figure and deserves special treatment, but… I need to be sure.”
“Sure…?”
“That barbarian. Has he ever been in a real battle?”
Milena’s face hardened.
“So you want to confirm it?”
“We are faithfully carrying out the commission we received. It’s because we have the skills to do so. But how can we know if the barbarian has the skills?”
Isn’t he just shivering at the bottom of the food chain, trying to survive in this White Snowfield?
Can he really defeat the monsters?
That was the implication of the question.
Ketal grinned.
“So you want to see my skills. How do you plan to confirm them?”
“I’ll do it.”
The mercenary pounded his chest.
He was a strong warrior, even among the mercenaries.
After discussing it with the others, they decided that he would step forward.
“Um…”
Milena looked at the mercenary captain.
The captain shook his head nervously.
“I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen. And he’s not really wrong either.”
Confirming his skills.
It was necessary in itself.
All that was left was one thing.
Ketal’s answer.
Ketal chuckled.
“I don’t mind, but… it’s impossible.”
“What?”
The mercenary’s face contorted.
“Are you trying to run away like a coward?”
“It’s not running away. It’s just the way things are.”
“Screw the situation.”
The mercenary was convinced.
The barbarian was weak.
He was nothing more than a weakling who barely survived at the bottom of the food chain in this White Snowfield.
Milena was also confused.
If Ketal was not really weak, there was no reason to refuse.
“You tricked us well. You weakling. Come out here.”
The mercenary grabbed Ketal’s shoulder.
He was trying to drag him out by force.
But the mercenary’s face hardened as he exerted force on the hand that was holding his shoulder.
‘…Huh?’
He couldn’t move.
It wasn’t that he was simply resisting or that it was heavy.
It felt like he was rooted to the spot, like an ancient tree that had stood in the mountains for hundreds of years.
Ketal slowly stepped out of the carriage.
The current situation evoked no emotional change in him.
No human’s emotions would change just because ants were crawling around at his feet.
The mercenaries hesitantly stepped back.
“We have an unwelcome guest.”
“W-what nonsense…”
The mercenary tried to say something.
[Mortal weaklings from outside have come.]
A massive voice echoed through the snowfield.
Their bodies froze at once.
Slowly but surely, the huge sound got closer.
It didn’t sound like a mere living creature.
It was something bigger than that.
It sounded like nature itself was moving.
[I’m going to have a treat for a change.]
A laugh was heard.
A sharp sound pierced their ears.
Their heads slowly turned.
The snowfield storm parted, and it revealed itself.
“Ah…”
“Oh…”
It was a snake.
A white snake.
With black stripes, it was looking at them with its forked tongue out.
On the outside, it looked like an ordinary snake.
There was nothing special about it at all.
But it was different in size.
Its eyes were big enough to fit all of them inside.
Its body stretched out of sight towards the far end of the snowfield.
It was more than just huge.
It was big enough to wrap around mountains, connect the ends of the ocean, and reach the sky.
“White… snake…”
The white snake that devoured icebergs in the Emperor’s records.
Their bodies froze solid.
Like mice exposed to a predator, their very bodies stiffened and they coudn’t move.
“Ah.”
The mercenary’s lower body became wet.
His limbs lost strength and he was forced to urinate.
[Bark, mortal beings.]
The snake mocked them.
[Spill your filthy fluids and beg for your lives. Squirm at my feet. Struggle as much as you can. It will all be my seasoning.]
Kuku-kukuku…
The earth trembled.
An earthquake occurred.
Nature shook simply because it moved.
They are going to die.
There is no escape.
The absolute truth fell upon them.
Just as they were all about to give up on life and let go of their minds.
“Stop.”
A slow voice echoed.
A calm voice, as if he had just gone for a walk.
“These are my guests.”
The barbarian slowly stepped forward.
“Go away. Snake.”
[…]
The white snake’s voice was shaken.
A creature that seemed no different from the incarnation of nature was shaken by the sight of the barbarian Ketal.
[How did you get here…]
“That’s none of your business.”
Step by step.
The barbarian calmly walked forward.
The huge white snake flinched and pulled its head back.
“I have a request from them.”
The content of the request was to protect their lives.
“So get lost. Snake.”
[…]
[Have you forgotten the rules of the snowfield? Once you leave your tribe’s territory…]
“That’s none of your business either.”
Ketal scowls.
The white snake licks its tongue and lowers its posture.
“Uh, uh…”
“Ah…”
That huge snake was scared of the barbarian, who was no bigger than a bug compared to it.
It was an obvious expression of emotion that even ordinary humans could notice.
[…]
[Don’t laugh!]
The snake roared.
It raised its head roughly as if it didn’t want to admit that it’s scared.
[I am a ‘snake’! Barbarian! How dare you, a mere mortal, give orders to me, who is promised immutability!]
The snake charged forward.
Shaking its body, it opened its mouth wide and rushed towards them.
The frozen earth screamed and a storm broke out.
“Aaah!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaa!”
Literally, the pressure of a mountain rushing towards them.
The pressure was like a mountain rushing towards them.
The mercenaries cowered.
They closed their eyes in anticipation of the impending collision.
And Ketal calmly clenched his fist.
“Then let’s meet.”
He stomps his foot.
He twisted his waist and swung his arm.
A tiny fist was swung towards the charging snake.
And a shockwave exploded.
The mercenaries covered their ears, unable to even scream.
It was a powerful sound that felt like their eardrums were going to burst.
The shockwave tried to blow their bodies away.
The mercenaries’ bodies were thrown to the ground.
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Gun]
“Kyaaaaaaaaa!”
“Lady!”
The carriage was not safe either.
The carriage shook violently from the shockwave.
Milena barely hung on by grabbing the wall.
“Ugh…”
As the shockwave finally subsided,
They slowly opened their eyes.
And their pupils dilated.
An endless blizzard had always raged in the White Snowfield.
It was so fierce that they could barely see even the tip of their noses.
But now, that blizzard has completely disappeared.
As if after a rainy day, everything was clear and they could see all the way to the horizon of the White Snowfield.
And one more thing.
The head of the snake was floating in the air.
It was flying around, wobbling as if it had been hit by something powerful.
Not long after, the snake fell to the ground with a crash.
Kuuuuuuuuuuuung…
A huge roar echoed.
“I guess you have to be hit to listen.”
Ketal turned his hand.
He was still there, unchanged.
“K-Ketal.”
“I’d like you to wait a moment. Please organize yourselves and come. It won’t take long.”
Ketal kicked the ground.
The earth split open.
In an instant, he became a dot and charged towards the snake.
Kuuuuuuuuuuuung!
A collision spread.
A sound that literally sounded like the world was tearing apart.
They watched the scene in silence, speechless.
* * *
After that, the mercenaries didn’t say a word.
On the contrary, whenever Ketal approached, they shook their pupils violently and kept Ketal away from themselves.
“S-sorry!”
“No, it’s natural not to trust strangers easily. I understand.”
“I deserve to die! Please spare my life!”
No matter what Ketal said, they just kept repeating their apologies.
The conversation was impossible to continue, so Ketal backed away hesitantly.
They silently defeated the monsters that appeared and moved forward.
After finishing his work, Ketal relaxed in the carriage, and the old man volunteered to go outside.
And finally.
They reached the end of the snowfield.
“Oh, oh oh…”
“Grass…”
Green vegetation could be seen beyond the white.
The mercenaries cheered.
They successfully crossed the White Snowfield.
“We’ve arrived.”
Ketal said casually.
Milena bowed carefully.
“Thank you, Ketal.”
“What will you do when you return?”
“Then we’ll just have to go through the empire.”
“Aha. Since you’ve sold your weapons, you’ll be empty-handed. It shouldn’t be too difficult to cross the border.”
“Yes…”
He had even seen through that in an instant.
Milena looked at Ketal with strange eyes.
After thinking for a while, she opened her mouth.
“Ketal, you told me I was smart and ambitious, didn’t you?”
The mercenary had blocked her off and she couldn’t hear the full meaning.
“What did you mean by that?”
“It’s exactly what I mean. You’re smart. And you’re ambitious.”
Ketal lazily chewed on a tangerine, skin and all.
“Your family was once prestigious, but now it’s teetering on the brink of collapse due to lack of capital. Naturally, your family’s retainers’ faith in the family is also wavering.”
A merchant family is a family built on capital.
If the capital disappears, the value of the family naturally disappears as well.
“On the brink of extinction. The one who just sits there and waits for extinction in that state? Or the one takes action and tries to find a way out? Who will the people below trust and follow?”
There was no need to think about it.
Ketal put the tangerine in his mouth whole.
“You said you were a concubine’s daughter. That means you have the right to lead the family. On the contrary, the people below will feel closer to you. Isn’t that right?”
Milena’s eyes wavered.
“But I don’t have any real power…”
“Real power comes from whether the people below trust and follow you. If you save your family with this trip, you’ll be the hero who saved your family.”
If they sell these weapons, they will get enough money to revive the family and still have some left over.
“The servants will support you, not your father. From there, things will go so far that your father and brothers won’t be able to say anything. Wrong?”
“…No.”
It was the perfect answer.
Milena’s hair stood on end.
It felt like he was looking into her head.
No one had ever understood her psychology as well as the barbarian.
What on earth does this barbarian see?
What is going on in this barbarian’s head?
She couldn’t even guess.
And Ketal felt a sense of satisfaction inside.
‘That’s the right answer.’
It has always been the case in any era that someone who is not in a position of succession takes on a dangerous challenge to inherit the family.
Moreover, he had read many books on history, mythology, and related subjects.
There were countless cases like Milena’s among them.
As the scene unfolded before his eyes, Ketal felt as if he had stepped directly into history.
A smile of joy spread across his face as he spoke.
“Even so, choosing a challenge that risks your life is a worthy endeavor. It is a testament to your abilities and the challenges you have overcome. You have every right to be proud.”
Milena narrowed her eyes.
Ketal was intelligent.
Extraordinarily so.
There was no comparison to the shallow, self-proclaimed intellectuals who flaunted their education.
And his strength.
The power that had allowed him to repel the white serpent without a scratch.
Milena was a merchant’s daughter.
Her eyes gleamed with greed.
“Perhaps… Do you have any plans to leave the snowfields? I’ve heard that you are quite curious about the outside world.”
“Well, yes.”
Ketal asked Milena many questions about the outside world.
His curiosity was intense and profound, far beyond mere inquisitiveness.
“Then would you like to join me?”
Milena was a merchant.
A merchant must never miss an opportunity.
“I can teach you a lot. I can give you anything you desire. I can show you all the pleasures of the outside world.”
“Those are indeed tempting words.”
They were truly tempting.
He longed to escape this place immediately.
He yearned to leave the snowfields filled with nothing but white and monsters and experience the wonders of a normal fantasy world.
Dragons and elves, swords and magic.
A world where they lived and breathed.
The magic he had always craved was right in front of him.
But Ketal shook his head.
“I’m sorry, but that’s impossible. I still have work to do here.”
“Work… is it?”
“Yes. Until that is finished, it will be difficult for me to leave.”
“I see.”
After a moment’s thought, Milena reached into her neck.
A necklace appeared in her hand.
She held it tightly and broke the chain.
“Please accept this as a gift.”
It was a wooden carving.
“If you ever… decide to leave the snowfields and seek out the Akasha family, please show them this carving.”
“I will gladly accept a gift.”
Ketal did not refuse. Milena bowed politely.
“Thank you so much, Ketal. I pray that we meet again someday.”
The carriage rode out of the snowfields.
Ketal watched in silence as it disappeared into the distance.
After some time, Milena turned to look back.
The barbarian’s figure had already vanished, swallowed up by the snow-covered expanse.
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Gun]