Barbarian Quest

Basha watched as the northern barbarians charged toward her. Howling frivolously yet ferociously, they pushed through the soldiers and knights.

‘Barbarians, barbarians,’ Basha thought. ‘They are unworthy of Lou’s grace and love.’

Claaaang!

Metals fiercely clashed as the knights tried to stop the northerners from getting any closer.

“Hooooh!”

Bilker leaped high into the air and over the knights, then used his agility to avoid being caught.

Upon finally spotting the flag bearer, he smiled with satisfaction.

‘There you are.’

He didn't know who the flagbearer was, but he knew that decapitating them would surely dampen the imperial army’s morale.

With the flagbearer pinned to the floor, Bilker drew the axe strapped to his waist and held it high. He only needed one strike to split the knight’s head open.

However, he hesitated.

“A woman?”

No, the knight was no woman; she was just a young girl. Children her age had no business being on the battlefield.

Bilker was not above killing women. He simply did not expect to encounter such an incongruous individual.

Fear slowly crept up into Basha’s eyes like a foul stench. Unable to break free, she screamed as if she was having a seizure.

“Aaaaaah!”

Basha then forcibly sat up, accidentally slamming the top of her head against Bilker’s jaw.

Thunk!

‘Damn.’

Bilker tumbled down the wall. His spine tingled.

‘What is this girl doing here in full armor?’

Although there were women who knew how to fight and were as tough and strong as men, war was inherently a man's domain. It made no sense for a slender girl to be standing on the battlefield.

“Aaaaaah!”

Basha let out another ear-splitting scream—making Bilker frown—as she jumped down toward him from the wall. She aimed the bottom of the flagpole she was holding squarely at his face.

“Basha!”

Imperial knights and soldiers also jumped down, following Basha. Several soldiers landed awkwardly and twisted their ankles.

Crunch!

Bilker rolled to the side to dodge Basha’s attack.

“Bilker! Fall back! We're being overwhelmed! The wall has already been breached!” a northern warrior shouted as the rest of their troops surrounded Bilker.

Things were not looking great for the Northern Army. The fortress was gradually being breached.

“Those damned Caselmaroni bastards.”

The Caselmaroni troops had withdrawn, claiming they needed to defend their own territory.

‘The empire probably pulled a diplomatic trick on them.’

Acknowledging the unfavorable tide of the battle, Bilker led their remaining troops out through the back gate.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

Considering this fortress offered them the most defensible position, it pained them to abandon it.

“We’ll have another opportunity soon, Bilker. The Imperial Army can't afford to focus solely on the north,” said one of the northern Sun Warriors guarding Bilker.

As the northern warriors retreated, the imperial army jeered at them from on top of the wall.

“Piss off, you idiots! Lou does not love you!”

The imperial soldiers bared their buttocks and shook them toward the northern warriors while shouting.

After recapturing the fortress, the Imperial Army immediately began repairing and reinforcing the fortress. Basha was constantly mentioned among the soldiers who were carrying the materials.

“Did you see that girl fight? Lou truly seems to have blessed her.”

“She charged right into the middle of the enemy camp, yet she didn’t die. On the contrary, she made the barbarians run for their lives.”

The soldiers gathered, trying to catch a glimpse of Basha’s face.

Basha entered an unoccupied room panting, still unable to shake off the excitement of the battlefield and the ecstasy coursing through her. Nevertheless, she knelt and prayed.

“Oh Lou, thank you for giving me the strength to defeat the barbarians. You have proven to me that my coming here was not a mistake.”

Afterward, she sat quietly until her heart calmed. The steel knights, personally assigned by Emperor Yanchinus, guarded her door.

The emperor had taken note of Basha’s contribution. After all, despite having feeble combat skills and no leadership ability, the girl had managed to leave a significant impact on the battlefield.

Yanchinus entered the captured fortress with a grin.

“No grown man would run off when a young girl like her is leading the charge.”

Although any capable commander could boost the army’s morale, Basha’s presence raised a different kind of morale. It drew out not their sense of duty or inspiration but a far deeper internal madness.

Even the imperial army, renowned for its high discipline, couldn’t help but feel excited and giddy. Winning with a girl leading their charge also made them feel a strange sense of guilty pleasure.

“Give Basha better armor and treat her nicely.”

Yanchinus was generous to those he deemed valuable. Now, Basha was one of those people.

‘With this fortress as our central base, we’ll be able to hold off the Northern Army. Although we’ll still have trouble advancing further north, it’ll be just as tough for them to get past this location and invade us.’

In the evening, Yanchinus threw a banquet for the soldiers. However, he himself spent the night in a strategy meeting with his staff.

“Basha is a dangerous woman. While she did bring us good results this time, her reckless actions could ruin our strategies in the future.”

“She has a significant impact on the soldiers' morale, though. Today, the men fought like barbarians. It was as if they had turned into young boys trying to show off to a girl.”

“That is precisely what makes her so dangerous.”

Due to others’ refusal to just blindly accept Basha’s actions, the commanders’ discussion went on.

“Unity and discipline are the greatest strengths of our army, Your Majesty.”

Everyone turned to Yanchinus, who had been listening to the knights and commanders in silence. They awaited his response.

“Discipline is indeed important. No one would deny that it is the greatest virtue and value of the imperial army,” Yanchinus leisurely said. “However, results are far more important. Today, it was Basha, not discipline, who led us to victory. That makes her a valuable asset.”

Some of the commanders frowned and clicked their tongues. If nobles in the royal court had reacted like this, their necks would have been in danger.

Yanchinus was close to a tyrant politically, but on the battlefield, he listened to diverse opinions. After all, armies required the utmost rationality in every decision. They also had to be innovative and ever-changing. That was why those wrapped in authority and prejudice were often weak and short-lived

On the battlefield, a strategy that had worked yesterday could become a weakness the next day. For that reason, Yanchinus allowed his military commanders to voice their opinions without worrying about his.

“If we are going to use Basha on the battlefield, it would be best to turn her into a symbol, Your Majesty. Perhaps we could send a letter to the Pope to recognize Basha as a saintess?”

“While I’m sure the Pope will gladly grant my request, we cannot hand Basha over to the priests. She’s an ignorant peasant girl who doesn't know right from wrong. Make sure that the priests under the influence of the Pope do not approach her.”

Yanchinus had heard rumors about the Pope and Solarism instigating the northern rebellion. The Pope had once reigned above kings before the empire was established. Hence, although he only ruled over an average independent domain now, he had immense political influence. Moreover, he would undoubtedly want to reclaim his past glory.

Yanchinus continued, “There are still fortresses to capture. If Basha is truly useful, she will prove herself in those battles as well. If she survives and leads us to victory again, the soldiers will regard her as Lou’s apostle and follow her regardless of the Pope’s authority.”

“She’s a reckless girl who has no understanding of the battlefield. She will surely die soon,” a commander commented.

“Even if she does, her death will become a heroic tale. The sacrifice of a country girl who received Lou’s revelation to save the empire sounds like a pretty good story to me,” Yanchinus countered.

While the imperial army’s high command dismissed Basha as just another crazy girl, some knights watched the meeting with uneasy expressions.

‘What if Basha truly is a saintess who has received Lou’s revelation?’

They had heard of stories about ancient kingdoms being destroyed by the wrath of Lou because they had dismissed a saint that she had blessed. The stories dated back to the barbaric age—an age without records. In that era, even Lou wasn’t always merciful.

The world hadn’t always been this civilized. Just like everything else, it also started from barbarism.

* * *

Basha fell asleep in her armor.

‘If you can't quiet down your breathing, at least bite your hand to silence yourself.’

She dreamed of the past—of the sun god Lou, who had appeared in the guise of a barbarian, saving her from death.

Afterward, Basha dreamed of what had happened in the barn. As fragmented sunlight shone on the stake, she delivered divine punishment to a corrupted priest on behalf of Lou.

‘Lou, since the corrupted ones have fallen to the barbarians, I now see it as my mission to save the empire from them.’

Basha opened her eyes. Her chainmail, which had been weighing down on her, clanked as she stretched her arms.

Despite having slept soundly, she felt weary and heavy and ached all over. With the adrenaline rush now gone, every step she took felt as if it would shatter her.

Basha awkwardly stepped outside. She then looked at the fortress that she had captured.

‘I took this fortress from the barbarians.’

A sense of accomplishment pounded in her chest, seemingly making the pain vanish.

‘I am special. I am under Lou’s protection and grace.’

Basha walked confidently. The soldiers, who were holding torches, knelt and prayed as soon as they saw her.

Creak.

A serene echo spread as she entered one of the halls of the fortress.

Perhaps it was because it was a prayer room, but it seemed to have been left untouched.

Looking at the center of the hall, Basha tilted her head. “Why are there sun relics here?”

Despite having been previously owned by barbarians, the hall was decorated like a Sun Temple. It even had signs of prayers everywhere.

‘I thought the barbarians worshipped the god of war?’

Even an ignorant person like Basha had heard that the barbarian god was evil and violent. He moved under the cover of night and darkness and embraced storms and thunder as his symbols.

Basha’s pupils shook. Frozen, she clutched her throbbing forehead.

“Basha, Basha,” someone whispered from behind a pillar.

She turned toward the call, finding the military chaplain who had been following the imperial army.

“Brother?”

Basha bowed her head politely in greeting. The chaplain glanced around before approaching her.

“I heard you fought bearing Lou’s revelation,” he said.

“Lou has tasked me to save the empire from the barbarians,” she replied.

“Then you’re targeting the wrong people. The northerners believe in Lou. They even aim to build the kingdom of the Sun.”

Frowning, Basha glared at the chaplain. Sadness was evident in her eyes.

Taking her silence as an opportunity, he continued, “Haven’t you heard the rumors? Even Bilker, a descendant of Mijorn and the self-proclaimed king of the north, is said to be the son of the sun god. The empire is waging a futile war driven by worldly desires.”

“… I refuse to believe such a blatant lie. The barbarians are likely just trying to deceive us while still worshiping their barbarian god,” Basha argued, her voice rising and her gaze growing colder. “If they believed in Him, Lou would not have commanded me to kill them. I have also gazed into their evil eyes myself. Lou does not dwell in them. That Bilker must harbor the barbarian god in his heart!”

“Come with me to His Holiness the Pope, then! If you have truly received Lou’s revelation, His Holiness will recognize it.”

The chaplain grabbed Basha’s wrist. She recoiled in fear and pushed him away.

“I-I heard the voice of Lou. He saved me and bestowed grace upon me! All barbarians must die!”

“The barbarians are tools Lou has sent to punish the corrupted. Although they are disguised as heretics, they will eventually return to Him just as the northerners have. After all, all humans are sons and daughters of Lou.”

“Are you saying… that we are no different from the barbarians?”

Basha trembled.

‘This priest has been corrupted.’

Her ears buzzed. She reached toward her waist and clumsily drew her sword.

“W-what are you doing?!”

As the chaplain stepped back in alarm, Basha ineptly cut into his chest deeply.

“Kaaagh!”

She then viciously drove the blade in deeper. Blood gushed onto the floor.

“Pay for your sin of invoking His name while tainted by heretical gods,” Basha murmured as she ended the chaplain’s life.

Still enraged, she repeatedly kicked and stomped the dead chaplain’s lower body.

Hearing the commotion, a knight on patrol entered the hall. He flinched as soon as he saw the dead chaplain and the blood-soaked Basha.

“Basha! What’s the meaning of this?!”

“This man tried to defile me, but Lou protected me. Let us pray to Him.”

Basha quietly knelt before the sun relic and began to pray with an incredibly serene expression.

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