Barbarian Quest

There was no one who could stop the charging Urich. He went straight for the young man holding the meteorite dagger.

‘Why?’

Despite his eyes trembling, the young man’s well-trained body moved before he could even think, reflexively raising his meteorite dagger to face Urich.

Crash!

As Urich and the young man clashed, the table laden with food toppled over.

“Ooooooh!”

Even amidst the chaos, Urich reached out and managed to grab the young man by the neck.

Crack!

Then he squeezed as if he would snap it.

The young man, with veins bulging on his face, held the dagger upside down and stabbed Urich's forearm.

Schluck!

Urich flinched as his arm was stabbed. Taking advantage of the moment, the young man kicked Urich's jaw.

Thump!

The kick landed so forcefully that Urich’s head snapped back. The young man smiled in satisfaction.

‘I have no idea why he's attacking me, but…’

The young man was sure Urich would fall after seeing his upper body sway until it almost touched the ground.

But the smile on the young man’s face quickly vanished, and he was soon faced with a chill that made him feel as if he were facing a beast.

Kiiiing.

The young man saw a flash of bright yellow light in Urich’s eyes. Just before falling, Urich straightened his upper body and reached out.

“Kugh!”

Using the momentum to his advantage, Urich swung his fist.

Urich’s punch struck the young man’s chest. The young man felt as if his heart and lungs had stopped from the impact.

‘It feels like I’m fighting a beast.’

The fallen young man watched Urich striding over. With his arms wide open and strides long, Urich was terrifying.

‘I need a bigger weapon. He’s not someone I can take down with a dagger.’

But there was no time to find another weapon. The hulking Urich was already looming over the fallen young man, exuding dominance as only his menacing eyes shone with the light behind his back.

Thwip!

Urich flinched and turned around. Soldiers had entered the banquet hall and shot at Urich with crossbows, lodging arrows into his thighs.

Thwip!

As three soldiers fired their crossbows in succession, another arrow deeply pierced Urich’s side.

“Stop! Stop!”

Gottval rushed at the soldiers to restrain them, but the soldiers were just doing their job, which was to stop anyone who was causing chaos in the banquet hall.

“That hurts….”

Urich limped, clutching his bleeding side where the arrow was embedded, still not taking his eyes off the young man with the meteorite dagger.

A flustered Louyan ran between the young man and Urich.

“What do you think you’re doing?! No, we need to get you some treatment first!”

“Treatment? What treatment? This thing’s going to heal on its own with some pressure and spit. Move aside. I need to kill that guy first,” Urich said, looking over Louyan’s shoulder.

“That man is an envoy from the Alliance!”

“I know. He’s also the guy who is going to try to kill you.”

Urich looked at the fallen young man and noticed that he bore a striking resemblance to Samikan.

“Why would an envoy from the Alliance want to kill me?”

Urich couldn’t answer. To explain why Samikan’s son was targeting Louyan, he would have to reveal his lineage.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding, but it doesn’t matter. If you want to keep fighting, I’ll oblige.”

The young man stood up, still holding the meteorite dagger. He glared fiercely at Urich; his fighting spirit undeterred by Urich’s intimidation. It was clear he had been trained as a warrior.

The banquet hall turned into a mess in the blink of an eye. While the attendees murmured, trying to grasp what had just happened, Varca tried to contain the situation before it got any worse.

“Stop! What is the meaning of this commotion in the banquet hall? I will be the one to judge who is right and wrong. Sir Aktur, arrest those causing the disturbance!” Varca quickly called the soldiers and shouted.

‘Don’t cause any more trouble, for now, Urich.’

As if he read Varca’s intention, Urich complied with the arrest without resistance.

“We need to get him some treatment first. If we don’t…”

Gottval looked at the arrow lodged deep in Urich’s side. It was clear it had penetrated deeply enough to reach his organs.

“…Gottval, I don’t know if you know this, but that guy is the son of Samikan, whom I killed. We need to stay alert,” Urich muttered as he tried to stagger out of the banquet hall.

Thud.

As soon as Urich walked out the door, he collapsed forward.

“Uri…!”

Gottval started to shout but covered his mouth. He called the soldiers to carry Urich to the infirmary.

* * *

Urich, feeling like he was submerged under water with his consciousness hazy, had a dream.

‘The snow-covered Sky Mountains.’

From the place closest to the sky, Urich looked alternately to the east and the west. To the west were his brothers, and to the east was an unknown land. In that spot, Urich had to make a decision.

Urich prioritized the curiosity of the unknown over the comfort of his brothers and tribe waiting for him back home.

“His whole body is burning up!”

“We must save him! Don’t die like this, you idiot!”

As Urich opened his eyes and then closed them again, he heard some familiar voices.

‘Is there such a thing as a choice without regrets?’

He had made countless choices, but he still couldn’t be sure which ones were right and which were wrong.

‘What if I hadn’t crossed the Sky Mountains? What if I had returned to my brothers?’

Emperor Yanchinus was already carrying out his Barbarian Inclusion Policy. Perhaps the westerners might have settled in the civilized world without engaging in war with civilization.

‘What if I hadn’t escorted Pahell…?’

‘Should I have raised Louyan myself?’

‘If I had solidified the Alliance from the position of Great Chief, things would be very different now.’

Then, he opened his eyes. The bed he lay on was soaked with blood and sweat, requiring the sheets to be changed several times.

“Urich, are you awake?” Gottval asked, looking at Urich.

“Where is Louyan?”

Louyan’s safety was the first thing that came to Urich’s mind.

“He’s perfectly fine.”

“What about the other guy?”

“Do you mean the young man you attacked?”

“He’s dangerous. He was targeting Louyan.”

“…That young man is an envoy of the Alliance, and I’ve seen him several times already. If his goal was to harm Louyan, he would have done something about it a long time ago.”

Urich's eyes widened as he realized he might have made a mistake. As he laughed hollowly, he coughed up blood that backflowed into his throat.

“Ugh, my blood is black,” he said.

“You still have a severe fever. It’s not an injury to be ignored, and if you don’t get ample rest…” Gottval trailed off. He had been nursing Urich for two days. He thought to himself, ‘The wound is festering. It’s not a good sign. Lou might take Urich away.’

In the past, Urich was someone who recovered quickly regardless of the severity of his injury or wound. Even when it seemed fatal, he shook off the shadow of death and got back up as if it were nothing.

‘Is the blessing gone? Or is it that Lou is taking Urich because his work in this world is finished?’

Gottval sensed the aura of death lingering around Urich’s body.

Bang!

Someone entered the room where Urich was resting. It was the young man Urich had attacked.

“Are you really… that Urich?” The young man asked, pointing with his index finger.

“Which Urich?”

Urich grabbed his side and raised his upper body, involuntarily furrowing his brows from the pain.

“The former Great Chief Urich.”

“Then I guess I am that Urich.”

Urich chuckled, but his eyes glared sharply at the young man.

“I am Karcha, the son of Samikan and Belrua.”

Karcha took a step forward. His well-trained body was still growing, and unlike Louyan, he was a thoroughly trained warrior.

“Revenge for your father is both a warrior's duty and right. Pick a time and place, Karcha. Even tonight would be fine by me,” Urich muttered with a serious look on his face.

However, Karcha held his stomach and laughed. “What kind of old-fashioned talk is that? Why should I avenge a father I’ve never even seen? Besides, I heard it was an honorable duel.”

Karcha shrugged and sat nonchalantly in front of Urich.

“If you don’t seek revenge, others might look down on you.”

“That would be if people knew you were still alive. Do you think I’m so idle that I would waste my life seeking revenge on an old man living in seclusion?”

“O-old man?”

“What, are you saying you’re not an old man? If someone who was in their prime when I was a baby isn’t an old man, then what is he?”

Karcha laughed, revealing sharp teeth. He skillfully spun the dagger in his hand and then handed the hilt to Urich. The blade of the meteor iron dagger still gleamed.

“I’ve heard your stories from my mother several times. My mother, Belrua, always said you wouldn’t die.”

They exchanged a few more probing words, and Urich learned why Karcha had come to Porcana.

“Is the successor of the Alliance playing the diplomat?”

“I’m traveling to the kingdoms precisely because I intend to inherit the Alliance. I won’t be able to travel around like this once I become the Great Chief, so I need to experience and see the kingdoms of the outside world while I can—just like you did, Urich.”

Urich looked at Karcha. As one would expect from Samikan’s son, his intelligence shone through his words, and he had a charm that made people want to follow him. He was a young man suitable to be the leader of any group.

"I’m saying this out of caution, but the reality is that I did kill your father."

"So if I ask you to die for my revenge, will you comply?"

"Hmm, no, not really."

Urich scratched his cheek.

"I’m not willing to risk my life for some meaningless revenge. I will become the Great Chief one day, and then I will gain more fame than my father and you!" Karcha declared boldly.

"Kekeke, you truly are Samikan’s son, no doubt about that!"

Urich laughed, clutching his stomach.

"Urich! Your wound is reopening! "

Gottval tried to stop him, but Urich couldn’t stop himself. His wound indeed reopened, staining the bandage around his side red.

"…But why did you attack me?"

"I thought you were going to attack Louyan."

"Porcana is a loyal ally of the Alliance. Why would I attack their heir?"

Karcha still couldn’t understand why Urich had attacked him.

"…It was just a feeling. My instincts are usually pretty accurate."

Karcha looked at Urich with a dumbfounded expression.

"You attacked me with the intent to kill for such an absurd reason?"

"Yeah, that was my bad. I apologize."

"Forget it. If you’re going to go senile, do it gracefully. Don’t drag innocent people into it."

Karcha was ambitious and rude, but Urich didn’t dislike him for it.

Urich drank some water to moisten his dry lips.

"As someone who has been the Great Chief before, I have a piece of advice for you. As your influence grows, keep someone who can oppose you close to you—someone who can tell you when you’re wrong."

Karcha scoffed and crossed his arms.

"I don’t need such outdated advice. If I ever need one, I’ll learn it from my own failures."

"Then I gave the wrong advice. Before anything else, you need to watch how you use that tongue of yours and keep it safe."

Karcha just grinned in response, showing his teeth.

"Do you have any message for my mother? She’ll be happy to hear you’re alive."

Belrua was also another reason for Karcha’s lack of obsession with revenge. She had a fondness for Urich, and Karcha had grown up under her care.

‘No matter how famous he was in the past, he’s just an old relic now.’

For Karcha, revenge was a duty and justification that didn’t move his heart. He would seek revenge if it was necessary for honor and prestige, but in his eyes, Urich was just a ghost of the past, as good as dead.

"Is Belrua doing well?"

"Until the year before last, she beat me at arm wrestling."

"Then that’s good enough."

"Take care of yourself."

Karcha left without hesitation. Even Urich, a legend among his people, was just a figure of the past to him.

‘You’re going to become someone greater, Karcha. You have no reason to look up to that man,’ Karcha thought to himself and did not look back.

But Urich watched Karcha’s back. The shadows of Samikan and Yanchinus seemed to loom over the young man’s shoulders. His determination to pursue his ambition reminded Urich of the men he once knew.

‘If Karcha and I had lived in the same era, we would have undoubtedly been rivals and clashed.’

But the two men were from different generations, walking on the same land but living in different worlds.

Gottval skillfully changed Urich’s bandages with his one hand.

"Gottval."

Urich looked at Gottval’s face. The once-young priest had become a saint revered by all.

"…I suppose I’ve aged."

"You’re not that old, but you’re not young either. Well, if you were the Urich of your prime, Karcha wouldn’t have walked out of this room on two legs."

Gottval laughed as he tied the bandage.

"My instincts failed me twice in a row. For a warrior, losing your sharpness and dulling instincts is fatal. A warrior has to always gamble with their life in uncertain situations. Your instincts and body are all you can rely on with swords and arrows flying at you on the battlefield."

"If I may add, you should believe in god as well."

"I’m serious."

"I too am serious."

Gottval stared at Urich.

"Even if I suddenly want to believe in Lou, it doesn’t mean faith will suddenly spring forth."

"Urich, your wound from the arrow is badly infected. The pus has built up deep inside, and you’ll suffer from fever every night. To put it bluntly, you could die."

"From just an arrow wound? Don’t worry, it’ll heal soon."

But even as Urich said this, he broke out in cold sweat.

"Sooner or later, we all die," Gottval continued.

"Here comes the sermon again," Urich responded indifferently.

"Urich, why don’t you believe in Lou? It’s not like you already have a god you believe in, do you?"

"There’s nothing to lose by believing in Lou, but… I only believe in what I’ve seen with my own eyes. That’s my way."

"Then you won’t be able to believe in Lou until the day you die."

Gottval laughed bitterly.

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