Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel - Chapter 630
Chapter 630: Abandoned City (3)
Bifron was an abandoned city. Although it had once been the fourteenth district of Ravigion and even a residential district with a Dimension Square, the protective magic circle that defended against the Witch’s poison had broken down long ago and the entire area became defunct.
And it became a prison camp.
The palace found it a waste to abandon an entire city district, so they created a new, separate District Fourteen and named it Bifron to use it for a different goal.
Dreamers who dreamed of revolution. Thinkers who held progressive ideals. Or perhaps those dissatisfied with how the city was being run, and so on. These oppositional figures were all locked up in Bifron, and in doing so, the palace gained more than a mere hanging ever could.
But given the circumstances, the palace is probably uneasy about them.
That much was proven when the Noarkans left the city walls. The Witch’s poison that should have instantly melted their flesh was nowhere to be found.
Well, ordinary citizens had a hard time accessing such information, so it was taken as an odd rumor more than anything else.
I sighed.
That was all I knew about Bifron at the moment. So then, what made Bifron, so important in this conflict? Did the city hold some political importance for the palace? Were the Noarkans trying to use that?
The more I thought about it, the more I came to dismiss my initial assumption. It didn’t make sense. If Bifron was important, the palace would have sent soldiers or other forces to protect it. It wasn’t as if the palace was made up of morons. There was no way they couldn’t think of something that I had.
…I’ll find something if I keep looking into it.
With that thought, I left the inspection office and continued to investigate Bifron. We formed a search party to look through multiple areas of the city and asked the citizens if there were any legends or stories passed around.
Shwaaa!
We even climbed up the castle walls I couldn’t check before because of the soldiers. My allies ended up coming with me.
“Whoa…”
“It’s different from the outside I imagined as a child. I thought it was just covered in darkness…”
“Yeah. It looks…peaceful for some reason…”
The outside world we could see from the towering walls could only be described as a masterpiece. Dense forests, mountains, and valleys hinted at an even grander natural view beyond the horizon in the distance.
“Mister, should we just jump down from here?”
“What…?”
“It’s just,” Erwen faltered, “I feel like nothing will matter if we go outside. The Noarkans, or the palace, or…”
It didn’t even cross my mind to admonish her. To be honest, I felt a similar impulse when I saw the world beyond the walls.
What would happen if we just left?
If I wasn’t going to return to my original world anyway, maybe this was an option I should consider. If I took it, I wouldn’t need to struggle to reach the Gate of the Abyss or always be on edge, trying my best to become stronger for fear that the palace would do something to me. Maybe all the sacrifices I would need to make to keep progressing would all disappear.
Yet even as those thoughts welled in my mind, I slowly shook my head against them. “It probably won’t work.”
“Eh?”
“The protection magic circle is still active.”
“What? But I definitely heard that Bifron’s magic circle is broken…”
“Why would you trust what the palace said?”
I told her to fire an arrow out, and Erwen looked a little nervous as she drew her bow. The fired arrow made an audible clack as it clattered against something in the air before falling to the ground.
“It’s still there,” I reiterated.
“…Yeah.”
Despite her disappointment, Erwen turned to me with a straight face and asked, “But shouldn’t we be able to crack it if I fire a bit harder?”
“You can try, but it probably won’t work. The protective magic formation is the legacy of the Last Great Sage Gabrielius.”
That, and though I hadn’t said it aloud, there was no guarantee that I’d be able to live the life I wanted just by venturing outside the walls.
I mean, think about it. Why did those Noarkans return to the city after going beyond the walls? There had to be a reason for it.
And running away just isn’t my style.
After living as a barbarian for so long, I had become like them in body and spirit. I didn’t want us to run away and live in hiding like fugitives.
No, if that’s how it’s going to be, I’d rather just go and tear it all down. Go and place myself in a position where I didn’t need to run away and hide.
If I went and destroyed everything to become king, I wouldn’t need to go off and build a home in the middle of nowhere, right?
Whether or not that was realistic was another problem entirely.
Hmm… I mean, I guess it’s not completely impossible.
If I could have those thoughts, maybe I really was just a barbarian now.
***
It was the second day since we rushed toward the city of Bifron without much of a plan. During our investigation, I stumbled across an old acquaintance.
“You’ve grown.”
“Hello, Lord Baron.”
It was the young kid around ten years old whom I’d met on the day I was exiled to Bifron, the one who courageously approached me and asked for 100 stones in exchange for him guiding me around the city. That child had become a young man, I wouldn’t have recognized him if he hadn’t approached me first to greet me.
“You were around eleven back then, right?” I asked.
“You still remember that…”
“And you also told me you needed to be fourteen to get your qualification certificate.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“So why are you still here?”
He smirked and shrugged. “I failed to prove my worth.”
“I see.”
“I’d say I lacked the time since I definitely didn’t lack the effort.”
“So are you planning to try again?”
“You really don’t know. You’re only allowed one chance to prove your worth. If you fail to leave then, you can’t ever leave.”
I found it hard to find my words because of how calm he was about the whole thing. I supposed I felt a little bad for him?
Right, I could honestly tell him that.
“That’s a shame.”
“No. Now, I think failing back then was for the best.” When I looked at him questioningly, he explained, “I’m helping other kids pass the qualification test. So that they, at least, can leave.”
“Don’t you think that’s unfair?”
He just smiled in response, then made to leave, thanking me for remembering him when he just came up to say a quick hello. He needed to teach the younger kids. I stopped him there and asked if he had heard about any rumors or mysterious places in Bifron just to be sure, but he only told me he didn’t know.
So there really isn’t anything…
As our inquiries continued, I became more impatient. I had expected something to pop up when we began to search the city in earnest.
“Versyl, what about our communications with the outside? Still hard to get through?”
“Yes, it’s not easy. From how the protective magic circle is acting, I have to say it’s closer to a dimensional severance phenomenon…”
“I see.”
“Our only option is to communicate using physical methods, but no matter how much we wave a flag from atop the walls, they’re not seeing us. And for some reason, the residences near the walls are completely empty as well. I can’t see anyone on the streets either. It’s as if they’ve all evacuated.”
“An evacuation…”
As more time passed, I grew more and more curious about the situation outside the walls than inside.
Hah, was there no way to get news of their situation? If the community hadn’t shut down, I could’ve at least waited while preparing for that.
One day, two days, three days…
Time passed without much gain, and the adventurers who had followed after me into Bifron began to get used to the place.
Since they couldn’t sleep at the square, they slept in the homes of the residents. In exchange, they helped fix the worn-down buildings, gave them items from the outer districts, had the priests heal the sick, and so on.
With these continued exchanges, the adventurers went from treating the residents like plague patients to slowly accepting them as regular people.
As someone who had ruled Bifron at one point, it was great to see.
Ba-dump.
However, I began to feel even more uneasy the longer the peace lasted.
Our inquiries continued to produce nothing. Even then, neither the palace nor the Noarkans were doing anything to hinder us, and it just left my mind reeling with more absurd possibilities as time went on.
I climbed out of bed and put on my clothes. My body felt sore, and since I couldn’t sleep even when I closed my eyes, I went outside for a walk.
Although Bifron had cleaned itself relatively well, the streets at night were a far cry from what you’d find in the other districts.
First and foremost, it was really dark, as was characteristic of Bifron nights due to the scarcity of resources in the region.
Still, it’s nice that it’s calm and quiet.
As I continued to walk through the night, I arrived at the outer wall. I didn’t plan on coming here. I thought about turning back, but curiosity gripped me. What would it look like, to see the outside looking down from the castle wall in the night?
I climbed up the wall.
The night air blew with cool, swooshing winds. However, the scenery beyond the walls was completely different from what I expected.
“I can’t see anything.”
Below me lay only darkness. Somehow, it felt like if I kept looking down at it, something would jump out from the darkness and drag me down.
…The sky is black as well.
Perhaps I’d chosen the wrong night for sightseeing. There weren’t that many stars in the sky either. I took in the winds for a bit before turning around to head back home.
Then suddenly, I sensed a presence behind me.
Even with my dull barbarian senses, there was no mistaking it.
I whipped around to see a mysterious, ghost-like figure covered in a cloak standing on the castle wall.
“A message for Baron Yandel.”
I didn’t need to ask who they were.
The wind happened to blow strongly past us.
Beyond the flapping hood, I spied a lightweight armor, a shortsword attached to their belt, and then, a womanly physique.
“What business does the Order of the Rose have with me?” I asked, testing the waters.
The woman took out a scroll from her cloak and rolled it open. “A royal decree.”
Huh, in the middle of the night?
***
The contents of the royal decree—delivered to me without ceremony by a member of the Order of the Rose in the middle of this moonless night—were quite simple.
“So the District Four inspection office will be temporarily opened, and we need to use it to escape?” I summarized.
“My mission was only to deliver the message to you.”
“So stiff.”
Although I said it as a joke, the woman didn’t react, instead opting to remain silent. She must be the type to not say anything unrelated to her work.
Not to say I was stonewalled here.
“Still,” I protested, “isn’t your mission to properly convey the word of the king? So answer me. The scroll says to go to the inspection office with myself and the resident adventurers of District Seven…”
“What do you wish to ask?”
“Do we not have to bring the residents of Bifron with us?”
“Correct.”
“Why is that?”
“You ask an odd question. They have not been granted permission to enter the living areas.”
“And what if I tell you I’m taking them with me?”
“There is no point suggesting such a thing. As stated, they are not permitted.”
So I would be stopped no matter what. The problem this time was that my opponent wasn’t someone I could muscle through.
“Or are you perhaps suggesting treason against the palace?” she probed.
“Not at all. I just asked out of curiosity.”
“That is fine. Take the adventurers of District Seven and head to the inspection office by the declared time.”
“Why is the District Four inspection office still closed?” I asked, trying to get in as many questions as I could. “You could’ve used Bifron to attack District Seven and District Thirteen.”
However, getting any real answers out of her proved difficult. “I do not know.”
“When did you learn we were in Bifron?”
“I do not know.”
“It looks like Noark is trying to use Bifron to do something. Does the palace know what that is?”
“I do not know.”
“Do you know anything?” I insulted her out of frustration, but the woman only smirked. I didn’t falter and pressed on. “Then what is your name? You should at least know your name, right?”
“I do not know.”
Wow. She was pretty dead set on this.
Sensing that she wasn’t a mere small fry, I tried to provoke her even more. “What happens if we don’t go to the inspection office by the declared time? Not to say I would go against the royal decree. Anything could happen. Something might stop us on the way.”
The woman didn’t react much to that either, instead just taking a moment to think. She then pointed to the night sky. “Do you see that star?”
“…Yeah?”
“If you look down at us from there, even we would look small. Even you, Lord Baron, the one they call a Giant.”
What was this woman trying to say?
I furrowed my brow, actively putting my confusion on display, but honestly, I had a rough sense of it. She was probably just letting me know that I was a tiny existence from the perspective of the palace.
“There is only one thing you need to know, Lord Baron. Do not go against the royal decree and arrive at the inspection office with your people by the declared time.”
Most people would have stayed quiet and accepted those words, but I tilted my head like a barbarian. “And what happens if we can’t?”
Just like how she wasn’t a good conversation target, I wasn’t such an accepting conversation partner either.
Maybe she got tired of my persistence as well, or maybe she was amused. The woman stared at me for a second before answering with a cold tone, “You must. If only for your own sake.”
It was a sentence that didn’t tell me much and saddled me with a heavy burden. However, what she said tipped me off to something, though I didn’t have any proof of it whatsoever.
“You lot… Are you planning on blowing Bifron to high heavens?”
For some reason, these predictions of mine usually came true.
English