Barbarian Quest

Chapter 133

Looking up, the ring of snow midway up the mountainside was visible. Despite it being summer, a cold wave struck the mountains, rendering the season practically null.

Sigh.

The breath lingered long in the air, and a chill ran over the skin.

The expedition members all took out another coat and prepared themselves without a word. They spent two more days in the mountains. The cliff area ended, and a gentle ridge appeared, but no one said that it was over. They knew this was just the beginning.

Do you see down there? Regal said as he pointed to the gorge spread out beneath the ridge.

I do see it, Urich, stroking his frost-coated beard, nodded.

We'll continue building Yailrud all the way down there. Right now, there's nowhere to step, so no one can pass, but if we keep building bridges along the cliff, it will become a path. After passing through there, a trail going all the way down appears if we climb the gorge.

Oh, so if we go down that path, we finally get to the west? Urich asked, his eyes wide. Regal shook his head.

In theory, yes, but in reality, it's a rocky and downhill path, so there's a high risk of hurting your ankle. Many in the expedition have broken their ankles when we tried to pass there. I plan to clear the rocks and make a new path. For now, we'll focus on finishing the cliff bridge.

Regal had not crossed the mountains once simply by chance. After witnessing the existence of the western lands and the barbarians, he thought nightly about how to bring the army there. The pioneer road was already complete in his mind.

'Regal is a remarkable man.'

Following Regal's finger and explanation, even the unconstructed road seemed clear.

Urich thought of the imperial army crossing the mountains. Once Yailrud was complete, the army would have no problem crossing the mountain range. It wasn't impossible at all.

'The emperor will cross the mountains at any cost. He has that much power.'

Urich shivered from the chill creeping down his spine as a slight smile appeared on his face.

'Let's give it a try.'

The mountain nights were long, and the stars shone brighter. The higher they climbed, the closer to the sky they felt.

As the day faded, the expedition pitched tents behind a large rock, sheltering from the wind. Soon, they warmed themselves with a campfire made from the wood they brought.

Crackle, crackle.

Urich stretched his hands near the fire. The warmth felt nice.

"If we hadn't gone through the gorge, we'd have had to pass through there. You see that high peak? My brother, Fordgal Arten, tried to conquer that path, but we've lost contact. He's probably dead. It's a common occurrence in expeditions."

At the mention of Fordgal Arten, Urich's eyes narrowed.

'Fordgal Arten.'

It was an unforgettable memory.

'So that was the path I took down.'

Urich gazed at the peak's base and pondered. When he first descended the Sky Mountains, he didnt have the luxury to memorize the path.

'I've memorized it all this time.'

If Urich told Regal he already memorized the entire path, he wouldn't believe him.

Barbarians like Urich generally had a good memory. In the barbarian world, where there are no set paths or markers, those with poor memory can't even find their way alone. There's no one to patiently teach them step by step. If you don't remember, you just perish.

'The civilized world accommodates even the weak so that they can survive.'

A world where even the weakest, who would naturally fall behind in the wild, can survive. That was the virtue of civilization. The reason barbarians are more resilient and robust than civilized people isn't due to different genetics or luck. In the more natural barbarian world, the weak are weeded out, leaving only the smart and strong to carry on.

The idea that barbarians are just strong and dumb is nothing but a civilized delusion. Barbarians were as smart as they were strong.

"The west I briefly saw looked desolate. There are forests and mountains, but also a lot of wastelands. The scenery was extreme, unlike anything Ive seen elsewhere. There were waterways, but irrigation canals would be needed for farming."

Regal spoke of his observations of the west. Urich, chewing on dried bread, nodded.

'He knows what hes talking about.'

Regal's description matched Urich's memories.

"The emperor will try to conquer beyond the mountains at any cost, but in my opinion, looking at the land alone, it's not a profitable venture. The empire will most likely start another slave market to cover the expedition costs, just like when we first conquered the south and north. The costs for that venture were also covered by selling slaves. There's a good precedent, so it'll likely be followed."

"They say all that about the Barbarian Inclusion Policy while they do that. It's something to have barbarians as slaves roaming around," Urich commented sarcastically.

"This is unrelated to the policy. There are many civilized slaves too. Whether barbarian or civilized, the unlucky can become a slave. Anyway, its going to cost a tremendous amount of money just for the army to cross the mountains. The slave business is the only thing that could possibly make up for that loss in such a short time.

Regal smiled faintly beside the fire.

The Arten Family finally has its chance to grow into high nobility.

Although the Arten family had produced many knights, it wasn't a prestigious house. It was so fragile that a sudden downfall wouldn't have been surprising to anyone. Their active involvement in the perilous western exploration was all for their descendants.

'The Artens will be remembered as the family that pioneered the western conquest. We can take the lead in the slave trade.'

The slave business was profitable. Once a family accumulated wealth, it was not easily lost.

Regal's eyes glinted with ambition. Without desire, one cannot achieve greatness. Whether ugly or noble, it is the longing and ambition that drive humans.

"It's a shame that the captives we took last time were all men. I was curious about the taste of the barbarian women from this side of the mountains," said an expedition member, twitching his nether region.

"Ha, that reminds me, youve stuck yourself into women from both the south and the north. Which hole was the best?"

Regal laughed and indulged in the crude talk.

"The women from the south are deliciously supple. Tight. The north has a robust and hefty flavor, but ultimately, the southern women are the best. Let's capture a few women this time."

"Our mission is reconnaissance. We're not yet ready to attack their villages. We don't even have an estimate of their size."

"Even if we leave the conquest of the land to His Majesty, shouldn't we be the first to conquer the western women?"

"That also makes sense!" Regal exclaimed, slapping his knee.

'I feel disgusted.'

Urich sighed, listening to their conversation. He too had often spoken like that, but hearing it from their mouths made him seethe with anger.

"If we bring back one of their women, they'll sell for a very high price. Nobles will pay a fortune to taste the clam of the west. Our pockets will swell! Aren't you interested as well, Sir Urich? You've been quiet the past while."

Regal turned to Urich, trying to include him in the conversation.

"I tasted a princess."

Urich said out of nowhere. His already large figure seemed even larger due to the thick fur he wore.

"A princess?"

"Princess Damia was delicious."

"You mean the Damia who came to Porcana! A royal and the emperors concubine... That's a poor joke."

"Its not a joke, I spent the night with the princess in the Palace of White Night. At first, she pretended like she wasnt feeling anything, but her true colors showed later. In the end, a princess, a royal, once stripped, a bitch is just a bitch. Theyre all the same naked."

"Sir Urich, I respect you, but it's hard to overlook a barbarian touching royalty. Such a joke could cost you your head in front of His Majesty."

Regal spoke with a warning tone. There were limits to lewd jokes, and in Regal's view, Urich had crossed the line.

"Are you saying I'm lying?" Urich laughed.

"If you were offended by our talk about barbarian women, I apologize. Let's stop this. Hey, apologize to Sir Urich!"

Regal finally realized, perhaps a bit too late, that Urich's reaction was serious. The expedition member who had made the crude remarks humbly apologized to him.

"I really did sleep with Princess Damia."

Urich continued, stirring the campfire, even after the apology.

"Sir Urich, please stop. We have already apologized."

Urich was deep in thought.

'How far does the range of my kin extend?'

In the past, his sense of kinship extended only to his tribe. Other tribes were both trading partners and enemies. Before encountering the civilized world, Urich had never felt a kinship with the broader concept of the west.

'Do others think like me? How would my former enemies react to the arrival of civilized people? Would we feel a sense of kinship as fellow people in the face of this civilization?'

Urich wasn't sure.

'Will the people of the west develop a sense of being the same nation, of being kin?'

Urich's heavy silence brought tension.

"Sir Urich."

Regal carefully observed Urich's expression.

"A long time ago, there were men who gang-raped a woman from my tribe. They were warriors from another tribe. I immediately rushed to their territory and killed everyone I laid eyes on. I ambushed them over three days and killed thirty men. Looking back, it was a remarkable feat. I became famous even among the neighboring tribes with that event."

The expedition member's faces hardened.

"Are you threatening us?"

"No, I'm pondering. I'm wondering how far to extend the range of my tribe. What I'm about to do is going to change people's mindset."

"What do you mean by that..."

"You civilized people would be furious if a civilized woman was raped and killed by a barbarian. Even if you've never seen that civilized woman, you'd hate that barbarian. If you heard barbarians casually talking about a civilized woman, you'd find it unpleasant. If a knight heard it, he'd draw his sword and behead those barbarians. Hearing such a story, you'd praise the knight and feel satisfied, because you're all the same civilized people, of course."

Urich closed his eyes. He thought about where his weapon was hung behind his closed eyes.

"We have neither insulted nor raped your tribal women nor excessively insulted the women of the north. And even that, we apologized for."

Regal was slowly getting annoyed, angered by Urich's nitpicking.

"I never thought of others as my kin before. They were just strangers, sometimes friendly, sometimes not. Now, I must change that mindset, myself and others too. So I'll start with myself."

Schriiing.

Urich drew his sword.

"You are crazy, Urich!"

Regal shouted. The other expedition members also drew their weapons.

"I'm not crazy. Urich of the Stone Axe tribe came from the west. Now, I will become Urich of the west."

Death to those who insulted his brothers. And death to those who insulted his western kin.

His decision was made. This was right. Urich thought so. Just as Sven of Gorigan was Sven of the north in the civilized world, Urich was of the west in front of the civilized people.

The white snow was soaked with blood. Swords and axes clashed. Blood touched the campfire and hissed as it evaporated. Urich screamed, crushing the skulls and splitting the spines of the civilized men.

The wind blew across the mountains. Urich, holding a corpse in each hand, threw them off the cliff.

After disposing of the bodies, Urich looked alternately west and east. His eyes looking east were distant. No anger, no hatred. A longing for civilization still burned in a corner of his heart.

Urich walked, with his back turned on civilization, heading toward his homeland.

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