Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel - Chapter 635
Chapter 635: Reconstruction (4)
Once I stood and declared my objection as if I had been waiting for that very moment, I received the attention of the leaders of each house present in the meeting.
“You…object…” Even Viscount Mariblack, the one who arranged the meeting location and was hosting the meeting itself, trailed off in shock.
I could understand where they were coming from. After proving to the other members that I was alive and earning myself a lot of attention and scrutiny, I didn’t pay much attention to the meeting and, instead, went to sleep in the corner. Everyone would be wondering what I was up to with this motion.
“What’s with the response?” I said in mock defense. “I only spoke up because you asked if we had any objections. Is there a problem?”
“No…that’s not the case. We, Melbeth, respect the voice of all houses.”
“Then that’s good!” Since I got permission from the host, I declared my intentions without hesitation. “Count Goldbeard isn’t the best person to manage the construction this time!”
“Pardon…?” Now the other houses joined the viscount in astonishment at my apparent blockheadedness.
I mean, their reactions were to be expected. Count Goldbeard was the only count among the thirty-two houses here and also the de facto deputy leader of Melbeth. That alone was enough to have him represent Melbeth, and since he had many construction-related businesses to his name, I had to agree that he was the best suited for this position as well.
“Uh…” Viscount Mariblack began. “Then are you perhaps of the opinion that we shouldn’t include ourselves in this construction order?”
“No! We must join it!” I argued. “This is an opportunity to get a lot of money, so we can’t just sit by and do nothing!”
“Then the reason you objected to the motion…”
“It’s simple! Although House Goldbeard isn’t a bad choice, there is a much better option available to us!”
“A much better option… And who would that be?” the viscount asked with genuine confusion.
I declared loud and proud while pointing to myself with my thumb, “It’s my Yandel Barony!”
What the—why was no one saying anything? Shouldn’t they be asking why I was so confident right about now?
In the end, I couldn’t help but do my own PR move. However, with how I was going about it, it started to feel more like I was a student campaigning to become class president.
“If House Yandel joins the construction effort, all the barbarian warriors join in too. Although you may not know, we barbarians are greater workers than the dwarves—”
Even though I was trying my best to sell my side, the flow of conversation was broken by someone’s snort. I looked around to see who it was, only to find a dwarf sitting on his chair twirling his beard.
It was my opponent for the slot, Count Goldbeard.
“…Why are you laughing?”
“Ah, my apologies. I am not trying to insult the barbarians… It’s just a little funny.”
“What about it is funny?” I asked pointedly with a cold voice.
Count Goldbeard seemed flustered for a split second before he hid it with a smirk. He then stared me down with a confident expression. “Whether it’s the field of construction or anything else—there is no way the barbarians can be better than the dwarves, no?”
Ha! Look at this damned racist.
I saw red for a second. However, knowing that the first to get angry would be the loser, I barely kept my cool as I said, “Huh? Can’t be better? Can’t you tell just by our heights? No dwarf can ever come close to a barbarian.”
Dwarves were sensitive about their short height. They always rationalized it away by directing attention toward their purported other talents, but the very attempt to rationalize it away already meant that they themselves considered it a weakness.
He went silent for a moment before trying to laugh it off. “If height were everything, why are you the only barbarian to have ever become a noble?”
Although he was smiling calmly, I could tell that his pride had taken quite a hit.
So it was time to damage it a little more.
“Oh, interesting. So if you’ve been living and eating well for a long time now, then why are you still so short?”
“…Haha.”
“Oh, do you sometimes do this too, Lord Count? I still get confused between dwarves and goblins. They both have the same height… Right, I guess you might not know because you’ve never been in the labyrinth? Do you know just how similar you and the goblins are?”
“Uh…Baron Yandel?” a voice interjected. “P-please calm down a—”
“Calm down? I think the person who needs to calm down is that count over there. Look how his beard is trembling. Which reminds me. Why do the dwarves always grow out their beards? It’s not like you’ll get taller the longer your beards get—”
The count slammed the table with his fist and got up from his seat, finally erupting from his silent, shivering anger. “I will not overlook this rudeness any longer!”
Of course, even when standing, he didn’t get that much taller.
This is why we need to confiscate chairs from all the dwarves, I thought with a click of my tongue.
I asked the table-flipping dwarf as nonchalantly as possible, “So what if you won’t overlook it? What are you going to do? Challenge me to a duel?”
It may be obvious, but there was only one answer the dwarf could give to my powerful taunt.
“…How barbaric.”
He could only avoid it by insulting me.
But that only amused me more.
“Why? Isn’t that why you guys brought me on? So that I can fight the other nobles whenever they ignore us?”
“Even then…I rejected you.”
“Huh? I’m pretty sure the vote back then was unanimous?”
“That’s because we’ve already talked it out beforehand—”
“Oh, then are you the type who can’t even speak your mind if your opinion differs from the group’s? I mean, with how small you are, you must have no guts either—”
“Baron Yandel!” someone shouted with the heat of a raging bull as I went to insult the count one more time. It was someone even I couldn’t afford to openly ignore.
It was the grandpa who was in the position of leader of Melbeth, Takuo Welbeit. He was a Black Bear and held the title of viscount. Although I hadn’t had many conversations with him, I had a pretty decent impression of him, my mind’s eye picturing his ever-present smile and his always-polite way of addressing me. From what I heard from the Rabbit Baroness, he was well-regarded among all the Melbeth members too.
I heard that he had never let his anger show before.
It’s no joke, seeing him get angry after he sat there in the corner, smiling away the entire time.
Even Count Goldbeard flinched as the leader let out his enraged roar. The viscount then continued to shout while looking at all of us.
“Never! Forget! Why we gather here! We can only survive if we stick together!”
Wow, he had a powerful voice. I mean, I figured it was because he was a Black Bear. His size was comparable to mine, after all.
“A difference in opinion? That’s fine! However, I will not sit by and watch as you squabble amongst ourselves. Understood?”
Count Goldbeard was slow to respond. “I seem to have gotten overexcited. My apologies, Your Lordship.”
“Why aren’t you answering, Baron Yandel?!”
“…I will be careful.”
When I also conceded ground, the leader’s anger dissipated, snuffed out as if it had never been before a peaceful smile returned to his face.
“Then could I continue with what I was saying?” I asked innocently.
“And by continue…”
“I was cut off because someone interrupted before. I was explaining why we needed to choose my Yandel Barony.”
“Ah, yes…so you were. Please, continue.”
I then continued my explanation like someone who had prepared a slideshow presentation.
I explained how they were the best workers. I talked about their efficiency and cost, and I also mentioned the 8,712 residents of Bifron I could employ.
“Hmm…so you’re saying the barbarian warriors can build houses that well?”
“The houses aren’t as detailed or sturdy as the ones the dwarves can make. But they’re quick with it.”
As I gave a bit of humbled praise to the dwarves, I glanced at Count Goldbeard to see him clear his throat with flushed cheeks. It certainly didn’t look like it minded the praise.
“Ahem, our operating speed is not slow either.”
However, since he felt the need to throw that bit in, I could tell that he was the type who just hated losing.
“Even so, I think that for this reconstruction effort, the palace is looking for a speedy recovery over a larger area.”
“That makes sense.”
“That’s why I suggested that I should be the representative for the contract.”
“There is definitely…some logic to that…”
After the briefing ended, the members were split in their reactions. A few people seemed persuaded by my presentation, but they still doubted whether I was telling the truth.
“But all you’ve brought us is your words, Baron Yandel. We haven’t seen their proficiency in construction yet.”
“Then how about we do a contest? Bring the dwarves and barbarians together, and make them build. You’ll then give them marks based on the results, and if I lose, I will concede this position without protest.”
The host looked a little surprised when I suggested the contest be held in a pub or other public spot, then he turned to look at Count Goldbeard. They were waiting for an answer from him. However, as seen before—and as seen with his height—this guy wasn’t mature enough even as the adult he was.
“Alright! Let’s compete!”
Thus, the contest was set.
***
After the contest was agreed upon by both parties, the members of the meeting all naturally glanced at one person: It was the leader of the meeting, still sitting in the corner.
How would the leader react to our suggested contest after we had a shouting match not long ago? Although everyone was worried, his reaction was more refreshing than expected.
“Hahaha! Sure, this is much better! I will secure a place to hold this contest and contact you later. But do promise that the loser of the contest will recognize the winner when all is said and done.”
“I will swear on my warrior’s honor.”
“And I will also swear on my hammer.”
Alright, then that problem was dealt with.
Now that one of the early topics had taken up so much time, the host, Viscount Mariblack, quickly resumed the meeting.
“Then we’ll end the discussion for the reconstruction with that and proceed with the next topic.”
The reconstruction contract wasn’t an important point for these guys. I mean, it was just for earning money, right? Only a new house like mine needed to care that much about finances. These nobles had been around for a few hundred years—a few thousand for a few of them. They all had enough money.
“Our next topic will be an open discussion about the Noarkan invasion and the state of Bifron.”
When the new topic was announced, the expression of all the house heads hardened as they sat up in their seats. They looked much more serious compared to when we were discussing choosing a representative for the construction contract.
“We hope to share information freely with each other, discuss circumstances that others may not be aware of, and come to a few conclusions that are helpful for all through this discussion.”
A few house heads who had remained silent since the beginning of the meeting spoke up with passionate voices and shared their opinions.
“There is a snippet going around that the palace knew about the invasion. I obtained this from a trustworthy informant…”
“I’ll just say that this information hasn’t been confirmed yet, but there’s talk that the Noarkans have messed with the protective magic circle in Bifron.”
“Hoh… How could those bastards touch the legacy of the Great Sage?”
As this part of the meeting didn’t have a set endpoint, the discussion continued for a while, and naturally, I received a lot of questions.
“Do you…happen to know anything more, Baron Yandel?”
“That’s right! Weren’t you the closest among us when the incident occurred?”
“You are the only person who went to District Seven and Bifron.”
They looked at me expectantly, but unfortunately, I didn’t know much either. I knew that the movement of the Noarkans and the palace was suspicious, but I couldn’t really say that here without any evidence to back it up.
“I don’t know either.”
The house heads looked disappointed at my honest answer. However, they seemed to accept it somewhat either way.
“Hmm, I see…”
“Well… There was no way for even you to know something, Lord Baron.”
“The Palatial Meeting this time will definitely discuss this. We can only wait for information from that side.”
“But we’ll only be able to hear the small things in the end. The most important pieces of information will never reach us.”
“In the end, they’ll again monopolize the benefits that could be gathered from this incident.”
For some reason, the mood suddenly turned for the worse. Everyone had a dark expression on their face.
At that, I couldn’t help but tilt my head a little. “Uh… If it’s about that, I could tell you about it in a few days?”
The house heads met my confusion with their own. “Hmm? What do you mean, Baron Yandel?” one asked.
“Just as I said.”
“Haha, just as you said? Well, you speak as if you received an invitation to the meeting.”
“Uh, I did?”
Since it wasn’t something I needed to hide, I confidently said it aloud. However, it seemed the members here couldn’t ignore those words.
A moment of silence passed before the place erupted with shouts.
“What?!”
“Lord Baron! I-is that true?”
“My goodness! Someone from Melbeth was invited to the Palatial Meeting!”
It suddenly turned into a raucous.
“Is this…the first time in six hundred years?” someone breathed.
How had these guys not been able to do anything for the last few hundred years? I was honestly baffled.
“Your Lordship! Lord Baron! Tell us! Just how did you receive the invitation?”
“The underground floor! Is it because of your expedition into Basement Floor 1?”
“No, perhaps it was due to his accomplishment of saving the adventurers of District 7.”
My naturally competitive nature as a warrior was telling me this.
“Lord Baron! Say something—”
“Thirsty.”
“…Huh?”
“I’m suddenly thirsty. Is there anything here to drink?”
It was now my turn.
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