Barbarian in a Failed Game

Chapter 035: Draupnir (4)

The Shivering Woods was so named because one could see the entire forest shake even on days without a breeze. In a time when superstitions and rumors were fervently believed, it was originally thought to be a cursed place, perhaps even the dwelling of dark magees or demons. The Count Hefeldt’s household stepped forward to unveil the truth about the rumors, which had kept people at bay for a while. It turned out to be the habitat of mouse-head monsters, a type of demon that Khan and Ron had previously encountered in the Necar Mountain.

After a major extermination campaign, the Shivering Woods became the logging site for the city of Wagner. It was also then that a mine containing iron infused with the mana of the Western Great Mountains was discovered. Nonetheless, over time, extensive logging and mining led to the closure of the mine and the forest became barren.

“That such knights headed there would naturally arouse suspicion in boss,” remarked one.

“It’s blatantly suspicious, to be honest.”

“Why am I even involved in this…what in the world?”

Ron, Maya, and Diego reached the Shivering Woods just as Khan, disguised as an escort for Jan, had finished preparations to infiltrate the Count Hefeldt’s estate. It was upon Khan’s suggestion that there might be something there to resolve the issues with the Count’s estate, prompting the investigation. Although Khan had already saved the Count from a cursed magical sword by then, the group had no way of knowing, having already arrived at the Shivering Woods.

“Diego. You got the payment without a hitch, what’s this talk now?”

“Damn. So I’m supposed to stop more vicious than orcs from stuffing their pockets with money? That’s not a job; that’s blackmail.”

“Hehe. Brother, your face does look a bit villainous. But it’s not bad being with you. You have a deep sense of affection.”

“Affection in a barbarian… what nonsense.”

Maya sighed at the continuous bickering between the two since leaving Wagner. Couldn’t they see the danger they were walking into? It seemed impossible unless one had nerves of steel.

Yet, she couldn’t simply snap at them, adding to her frustration. On one hand, there was a swordsman dragged along against his will, and on the other, a veteran recognized even by the kingdom for his expertise.

‘How has someone with such a temperament survived as a mercenary for over twenty years? The Executioner. It’s remarkable he even keeps such an ignorant fellow around.’

Based on observations, Ron seemed the least capable member of Khan’s group. There was no question about Khan, the so-called Executioner, and the frail mage was none other than a disciple of a magus. In comparison, Ron seemed nothing more than a noisy uncle.

“Hold on. Something feels off about this place ahead.”

Suddenly, Ron halted the group’s advance with the vague justification that something felt “off”.

Experienced as he was, Diego did not take Ron’s words lightly. The intuition of a long-surviving mercenary could be a sufficient reason on its own.

“A feeling? I hear nothing unusual, nor do I see anything odd.”

Maya wasn’t convinced. Her position had been secured at a young age through exceptional talent and skill, which impressed the head of the association enough to offer her a key role. Though a district chief in the mercenary association, she had little understanding of the actual lives of mercenaries.

“Shh. I’ll take the lead.”

Ron didn’t bother to suppress Maya’s view or waste time convincing her, taking the lead and the risk upon himself to guide the group.

The group proceeded more cautiously from then on. Watching Ron’s slow advancement, Maya felt frustrated. The forest, practically a plain now due to logging, allowed clear visibility, appearing to her as if there was no need for such cautious progression.

“…There’s a body up ahead.”

After some time, Ron murmured softly, barely loud enough for the group to hear, seeming rather dismayed.

A body? Startled, Diego halted abruptly, while Maya craned her neck forward to peer ahead.

Her expression hardened.

“Damn it all.”

Maya couldn’t help but revert to her usual way of speaking as she cursed under her breath. But this was no time to worry about her language.

“A knight is dead. I’m not seeing things, right? Tell me I’m not.”

“Shut up and draw your sword.”

“What? Why a sword now?”

“Draw it if you must!”

Maya, who had not yet come to her senses, scolded Diego as she reached for the spear affixed to her back, casting her gaze downward.

A corpse, previously hidden behind a massive tree trunk, lay there.

The plate armor, soiled with blood and mud, lay still, a silent testament to its deceased state.

The armor was dented in several places, and the hand that held a sword was crushed beyond recognition.

What this signified was clear.

“We need to run. It seems too late to turn back, so we must dash forward as fast as we can.”

Ron proposed in a somewhat stiff voice. This time, Maya didn’t argue. The gruesomely murdered knight’s corpse was proof enough of Ron’s correct intuition.

Swoosh─!

“Crossbows!”

The pursuit caught up to them shortly after. Arrows whizzed past the rapidly moving group.

“It’s the count’s private army! Why are they here…!”

Diego glanced back while running and let out a scream.

It was right after they spotted a group armed with plate-covered leather armor, pikes, and crossbows, aiming to protect their vitals.

“……”

The mere sight of them chasing after the group, not uttering a single word, was eerily spine-chilling.

Despite all running at the same pace, their accuracy with the crossbows hardly faltered.

It was evidence of their skill, rumored to be powerful enough to be renowned throughout the kingdom.

“Damn it. What grudge do those bastards have against us to go this far!”

“We must be mistaken for people from Count Hefeldt’s side! No time for chit-chat, keep running!”

“Miss Maya! Even so, this baldie Ron has been a mercenary for twenty years; a bit more words wouldn’t hurt……”

“Shut up and run! Unless you want your grave in this damn forest, baldie!”

Maya’s aggressive tone conveyed the urgency of their situation.

The visible count was at least a dozen. Above all, the assassin of Count Hefeldt’s knight was nowhere to be seen.

“Push a little harder! They can’t keep up with us forever!”

Ron raised his voice to encourage the group.

His words were not in vain.

Even the most well-trained soldiers had their physical limits as ordinary humans, and the group’s lighter armament played to their advantage.

“There! Those bastards are starting to tire out!”

After what felt like dozens of minutes but was actually only a few, the chase began to distance themselves.

However, Ron did not slow down, loudly directing the way as he continued forward.

“……Just a bit further, and we’ll come across an abandoned mine. It might be a deserted facility, but it’s bound to be better than being out in the open. There might be something usable there.”

He provided a proper destination to the group, an abandoned mine deep within the Quivering Wood, possible because Ron had once been commissioned to deal with monsters that appeared in the mine.

“Huff! Huff!”

“……!”

Diego, the one running out of breath the fastest, was gasping. Maya was trying not to show it, but her breathing became heavier, and surprisingly, Ron, despite carrying a hefty hammer, was in the best condition.

“We’ll slow down a bit now. Steadily… we’ll soon reach the abandoned mine.”

Diego and Maya, reaching their limits, gratefully followed Ron’s lead. Before long, they saw a half-destroyed fence come into view.

They had undoubtedly arrived at the mine Ron mentioned.

“We should be safe for now. Let’s recover our strength here……”

“Duck!”

Clang─!

Suddenly, Maya, reacting to a sword thrust from beyond the fence, swiftly swung her spear, deflecting it.

“Ugh…!”

‘What power!’

Maya’s body staggered greatly, and a moan slipped through her teeth. Considering her unstable breathing and posture, the force behind the sword strike was tremendous despite her swift response.

“Lady! Ha─ya─!”At that moment, Ron brought down his hammer with force, and the unidentified attacker quickly retrieved their sword.

Crack!

The already compromised fence was instantly shattered. Naturally, the identity of the attacker hiding behind it was revealed as well.

“A tiny… child?”

Diego murmured in a bewildered voice upon seeing the assailant’s appearance.

Unexpectedly, the attacker was a person smaller in stature than the female, Maya, with a round physique.

No, to be precise…

“A, a dwarf…?”

“Hmph! You damned fools! Acting as if you’ve never seen one before! Just come at me!”

A race, dwarves, now a rare sight on the lands of Midland.

“What the hell. What am I looking at here? Why would a dwarf be in this godforsaken place….”

“You bloody lot! Stop yapping and come at me! I’ll drill holes in all your heads!”

“Dwarves are known for their foul mouths indeed. It’d be trouble if we ran into his kind.”

“What are you whispering about! I told you to come at me!”

Vroom! Vroom!

A sinister sound emanated from the sword wildly swung by the dwarf. It was the unmistakable might of a dwarf, a strength incomparable to humans.

“It seems there’s some misunderstanding here. My friends here and I mean you no harm! Moreover, we too were chased here, possibly by the same folks you’re wary of!”

“I’d sooner trust an elf’s humility than believe that! I know humans lie as easily as they breathe! So, either bug off or come at me, choose!”

“Damn. Looks like he’s not in the mood for a chat,” Diego said to Maya, his tone reflecting his frustration. It was clear he wanted her to try and negotiate since Ron’s attempts at calming the situation weren’t working.

Maya herself was bewildered by the appearance of a creature she had not expected to encounter.

‘A dwarf…’

Fortunately, Maya did not need to come up with a clever plan.

The dwarf, who had been glaring at Ron as if wanting to kill him, suddenly eased his aggression.

“Eh? But that face… It looks familiar. Weren’t you the dumb one standing guard in front of the priest at the mansion? Yes, it’s the same stupid look. Absolutely the same!”

“I am not stupid! It’s true I accompanied the priest as a guard!”

“Hmm. So, you’re really not an enemy? But why would someone guarding priests in another city be here?”

“I’ll explain.”

Maya, regaining her composure amidst the absurd exchange between the confused humans and the dwarf, laid out the circumstances that had led their group to the abandoned mine and produced a gold badge stamped with the mercenary guild’s seal as proof, to wrap up her explanation.

“Hmm… Doesn’t seem like a lie. But I don’t get it. If you want to solve the Count’s problem, you should be storming his mansion, not here. Did you come seeking death?”

“Rather, we’d like to ask you. It appears you work under Count Hefeldt. Why are you here now that the mansion is sealed off? And why did the manor’s knights head this way so belatedly…”

“What would a dwarf want? Came here to craft weaponry! Needed the rare metals deep within these mines. And those tin cans from the mansion were supposed to bring me back on orders. Well, one’s dead, and the other’s sprawled inside.”

The dwarf spoke with a hint of hostility in his voice.

For reasons unknown, the relationship between Count Hefeldt’s side and him didn’t seem entirely amenable.

“Anyway. I’ve nothing more to say to ones who came here to die. Might as well capture me and hand me over to that rotten nobleman.”

“Human nobleman?”

Ron asked, his eyes widening, seemingly having an idea of the nobleman the dwarf referred to.

“The nobility, of course! Who else but Count Hefeldt, with whom I’ve been at odds day in and day out?”

“Hmm… I feared as much.”

‘I wondered who would murder a knight in such a ghastly manner…’

As Ron realized the identity of the other party, he swallowed hard.

A nobleman who was among the strongest forces raised by the kingdom, an ex-Royal Guard of the previous monarchy. Before the current king of Argon was recognized as such, he had sworn allegiance and earned his noble status through distinguished service.

Count Emil.

“It seems you’ve realized you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. Maybe it’s best to flee now…”

“This is bad─! Truly dire, this is!”

“Damnation! Why the outcry now?”

The dwarf’s gaze, looking at him as if he were insane, was the least of Ron’s concerns.

“Shit. Accused of murdering a noble… And a knight of the king at that? This is a serious problem!”

At this moment, in Ron’s mind, the images of Darke and the Viscount Emil overlapped, the latter of whom had been gruesomely murdered.