Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel - Chapter 557
Chapter 557: First Clear (2)
Monsters had fame as well. For example, if a regular person were asked about Bellarios, one hundred out of one hundred people would have no clue what I was talking about. Ogres, Orcs, Trolls, Goblins, and Minotaurs, however—those guys could be imagined in perfect detail in the head of any average person.
So then, what were the differences between the two groups?
Stories.
From my perspective, stories played a big role. Just as how people from Earth learn about the stories about the little mermaid and the nutcracker when they were children, the people of this world also grew up listening to stories.
The cunning Goblin.
The ignorant Orc.
The Minotaur of the labyrinth.
The tyrant Ogre of the forest.
The monsters with stories related to them had such descriptors attached to them, and this was the same for rank-one monsters.
“…Has everyone heard? It looks like we might have to fight against Kashan or Leviathan.”
“You mean the Wolf of Prophecy or the God of the Sea?”
Wolf of Prophecy, Kashan, and God of the Sea, Leviathan. Sometimes, they were only called by their nicknames, so I had to look them up after they were introduced to figure out what people were talking about. In any case, that wasn’t the important thing here.
“…If we can defeat them in battle, this will truly become a legendary expedition.”
“I am a bit worried. Will we be enough to take down monsters like them…?”
Everyone knew that we had to fight a rank one monster, yet even within the expedition group, the public opinion was split.
“Haha, you worry too much. They’re difficult to fight when you face them in their original territory, and that’s why they have such legendary status. But aren’t they still just monsters? With the strength we have, we’ll be able to take care of them easily.”
“Hmm, it’d be nice if that was the case…”
Some were confident while others were open about their worry. Jerome seemed to check in with everyone by doing a quick ask-around before he glanced at his wizard, who put the voice amplification magic back up. “We can’t defeat any of them except Kashan… Your Lordship, could you explain this in more detail?”
“There’s nothing more to say. I’ve stated my case, so make your decision. Will you follow the word of your wizard or the word of the adventurer?”
The old wizard next to me let out a chuckle at that. Ah, of course, his mouth was laughing, but his eyes were not. “I understand that you put great importance on your experience, but we have spent decades delving into and mastering these studies.”
“So?”
“I can’t accept that we only have one choice. The most recent case of a rank one monster being defeated featured only forty combatants. And from where I stand…” The grandpa shrugged and looked around at the number of people we had in this expedition group, and only then did I realize why he was so confident.
“So you think that just because forty people were able to do it, this expedition group can do it too,” I deduced.
“That’s right. We have here nearly two hundred talented individuals, chosen specifically by the palace, so what is there that we cannot do?”
“Let’s make sure we’re on the same page first. By these forty people, are you referring to the Boating Clan, who disbanded decades ago due to Dimensional Collapse?”
My question sparked a hint of surprise in the grandpa’s expression. “…So you knew?”
Of course I did. I didn’t rely just on my knowledge of the game and had studied a lot.
“From what I know,” I continued, “each one of them was among the best adventurers of the kingdom, and they had prepared for over half a year. For just that one battle. They also spent nearly a billion stones to buy all the items they needed.”
“If you’re referring to our resources, our expedition group has enough—”
“Sir Versilus,” Jerome interrupted pointedly. “Do not interrupt His Lordship.”
The old wizard fell silent, and I was thankfully able to continue with the rest of what I had to say.
“You have enough supplies? There is no way. Even just an hour ago, we didn’t even imagine we would be facing off against a rank one monster. Or do you think that just potions and scrolls will be enough to defeat a rank one monster?”
“If we go by your logic, Lord Baron, then what difference does fighting a Kashan make?” the old wizard replied, clearly annoyed. “We would be unprepared for it as well, whatever the case.”
Yeah, I thought you would say that.
I snatched the opportunity and spoke without giving him an opening. “The monster Kashan has the lowest resistances among the rank one monsters.”
“But Kashan’s attack power is that much higher in turn.”
“That’s why it’s possible to defeat this guy.”
“…With what evidence are you suggesting this?”
“Because I am here.” I pointed at myself with my thumb. “I will be enough to suppress the wolf.”
“Hah…!”
Before the old wizard could grumble himself into speechlessness at my bold declaration, I quickly tacked on a more logical explanation.
“Also, there is no widely known hunting method for a Kashan. To put it in another way, it means the Kashan can be hunted without needing specific preparations. Although we’ll have some casualties, the Kashan is definitely beatable.”
“What do you say to those words, Sir Versilus?” Jerome inquired.
The grandpa was slow to respond. “…If you only look at things from that perspective, then you could argue all monsters are both manageable and unmanageable at the same time.”
He just denied my words without trying to convince anyone.
However, Jerome didn’t say much. “I see,” he trailed off, nodding as he fell into thought.
As he did, the old wizard muttered traitorously, “Commander Saintred, how about we ask everyone at this rate? Ask them if we should summon the Leviathan as I suggested, or summon the Kashan as the baron suggests.”
To put it simply, he wanted to put it up for a vote. I couldn’t sit by and let that happen. It was obvious what the people would choose if they were to decide between the words of a barbarian and the words of a wizard.
He’s using his brains.
I needed to stop a vote from happening. Just as I was about to say something in that vein, Jerome’s stern words rang out.
“That won’t happen.”
“Won’t happen?” the grandpa echoed incredulously. “Why is that?”
“Leaving a decision between merely two options to others simply because I couldn’t come to a decision myself? Sir Versilus, a leader like that could not earn genuine trust from his subjects.”
“…This isn’t deferring your responsibility. We’re just going to ask for their opinion—”
“It is the same,” Jerome said sharply, cutting off the old wizard’s words. “A leader is someone who makes decisions and holds responsibility for those decisions.”
With that, he concluded the situation by declaring, “Alright, I’ve decided.”
“And by decided, you mean…?”
“Kashan. We will summon that Wolf of Prophecy.” With an air about him that brooked no opposition, he forged ahead, saying, “This is a decision made solely by me, and the consequences which arise from this decision will solely be mine. And so, everyone should remember that and begin preparations.”
There was only one thing the other leaders could say to such charisma.
“Nia Rafdonia…!”
Heh, the kingdom had a lot of talented people.
***
When I was sharing the results with the members of Squad Four after the meeting, Jerome approached me. “Your Lordship, could I have a moment of your time?”
“Of course.”
The two of us didn’t need to scurry off somewhere as everyone quickly moved away to give us space. The wizards even put up voice control magic.
The commander chuckled to himself. “I wasn’t planning on disturbing you this much.”
“There’s a saying that the more secretive the leader, the better.”
“…Is there?”
“No, I just made it up.”
He didn’t respond.
“So what is it?” I prompted.
Jerome quickly got down to business. “I’m here to tell you to not worry too much because I’ll deal with Sir Versiluls.”
“You say ‘deal with him’…?”
“I know that you and the magic tower had a point of friction in the past. That’s why I could tell he was trying his hardest to argue against you.”
“…Does he have information on Kashan?”
“Nothing that any adventurer wouldn’t already know. Honestly, I wasn’t aware of that Boating Clan before you mentioned it since I myself am not an adventurer.”
“…Then how did you know that the wizard was making a point of arguing with me?”
“What I lack in adventuring experience, I am still plenty knowledgeable about when it comes to people. And Sir Versilus is the type to wear his heart on his sleeve.”
That was an unexpected side of him. I thought he was a muscle-head who left all the thinking to the deputy commander because of how he told the group to blow up the stone gate.
And you’re saying that isn’t true too?
Honestly, people like him were the most tricky to deal with. They could switch between when they needed to use their strength and when they needed to use their brains as naturally as they breathed. In some sense, I supposed I could say that he was the same type as me.
“In any case, don’t hate him too much,” Jerome implored. “Regardless of whether you like him or not, we’ll all have to be allies until we get out of this place.”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t even care about it, to begin with.”
“Haha, is that so?”
“I mean…you suffered quite a bit here too.”
“Well, I don’t think of it as suffering…”
“I guess you were born to be a soldier, then.”
He chuckled again. “How about you use this opportunity to join the army alongside me, Your Lordship? I believe you’ll be able to adjust pretty well.”
Don’t say something so scary like that with a straight face.
But still, how unexpected. I didn’t think we could come to understand each other like this.
Maybe, we could remain friendly in the future as well—
“By the way, Your Lordship.”
“…Hm?”
“Could I perhaps make a request?”
“A request?”
“The more I see you, the more you remind me of someone I used to know. And so, although there is no possibility…” Jerome laid out some ominous words before taking out an object he had been holding tucked under his arm. “Could you wear this for a second?”
It was a helmet that covered my entire face.
“…I-I’m hungry, so I’ll get going now!”
None of this friendly business. I needed to stay away from this guy as much as possible.
***
The rank one beast-type Wolf of Prophecy, Kashan.
Although we decided to summon this guy, we didn’t immediately start a raid with it. Defeating a rank one monster was no easy task. We needed to recover our health and MP to the maximum possible value.
“Attention, all soldiers! Sir Verilus will now brief everyone on the monster we will soon be fighting!”
We also needed to be informed of the strategy that would be used against it.
Unlike when going against rank two and three monsters, if we only listened to the part that concerned us, we wouldn’t be able to deal with any variables that may occur.
“Greetings, soldiers,” the grandpa said, clearing his throat. “As you all know, I am Gahuin Verilius, the lead wizard of the first expedition group. From this point on, I will explain the characteristics of the Wolf of Prophecy, Kashan, but first, its name comes from…”
Boring couldn’t even begin to describe how information-dense and structured the old wizard’s explanation was, but since everyone’s life was on the line, no one fell asleep.
Oh, except for one person.
Honk!
HOOOOONK!
A vein pulsed on the old wizard’s forehead when he saw Ainar sleeping and snoring loudly on top of that, but he seemed to be wary of me, as he didn’t say anything about her.
I sighed. I should talk to her in a barbarian way later.
In any case, after that lesson, the leadership meeting opened again. We talked about positioning, the resources we would use, the damage cycling during the raid, and so on. The discussion took place over a few hours, and unexpectedly, there were very few injections during the process.
This was because there was nothing for me to interject on.
“Saintred, do you perhaps have experience fighting this monster?” I asked curiously.
“Hmm…if I am lacking in anything, please tell me. My ears are open.”
Uh…I wasn’t trying to speak down to him.
Once I explained that I only said it because there was nothing I could find fault in, Jerome gave a joyful smile as he spoke with humility. “Haha, it seems learning labyrinth tactics during my youth has come in handy.”
“Labyrinth tactics? Do you learn something like that when you become a knight?”
“It isn’t the case normally, but my father was a bit of a peculiar person.”
“…I see.”
And so, after our first meeting ended, we brought our heads together to run some combat simulations and repeatedly went over any variables or unexpected situations that might appear.
Since we have multiple people here, it feels like I’m playing a tabletop RPG.
Maybe it was because when I was playing Dungeon and Stone, I only played and thought by myself, but conversing with a group like this was fun in its own right.
“Then we can stop there for today. We will gather everyone tomorrow to train and the fight will commence the day after, so rest up early today.”
In any case, the plan was formulated.
On the next day, we gathered everyone in front of the stone gate to inform them of their formation and spent the day rehearsing the battle.
“You over there! Your position is off! You should be here, not there!”
“Ah, sorry…!”
“You…what’s your name?”
“Celt Abys—”
“Wrong! Your name is a disgrace to humanity!”
“Huh…?”
“If sorry could solve everything, what need is there for military law?! Is there a problem with your head? Look over there! Even Ainar the barbarian can find her own spot!”
Even while wondering if this mock battle rehearsal would be useful, I treated everyone as seriously as I could.
Just in case.
Someone who could’ve died might come out alive thanks to this.
“…I didn’t realize the baron was such a scary person.”
“H-he’s making me remember my time as a young knight.”
“Don’t feel too betrayed. Do you still not know the baron? He’s saying all this for our sake!”
“Well…I guess he’s feeling terrible while doing that as well.”
Thanks to building up my favorability with them, even as I treated them like this, no one resisted.
“That is all. There won’t be anything else until midday tomorrow, so rest until then and steel yourselves!”
After the mock battle was over, we made camp earlier than usual and went to sleep.
And then, it was the midday of the next day.
“Take your positions!”
“To your positions!”
“Raise the book onto the altar!”
Rumble!
As everyone stood in formation and stared ahead, the stone gate opened and a pair of blue eyes flashed from within the darkness.
Suddenly, as the darkness spewed an eerie aura…
Boom!
A four-legged beast slowly revealed itself.
[You have encountered Ominous Prophecy. Luck stat has been set to -200.]
Alright, let’s do this.
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