Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Jerome Saintred, Captain of the 1st Royal Knight Order.

The young knight in his mid-twenties who ascended to the position left vacant after the Blood Knight murdered the previous captain.

"If I hadn't heard about the ancient shelter beforehand, the plan would have been disrupted."

He brushed his short silver hair back and descended the dark stairs.

Thud, thud.

The reason the man was in the basement of the Lord's Castle, not in the eastern district, which had become a battlefield, was simple.

The offer to help the Lord subdue the rebels in exchange for overlooking the city was just an excuse to enter the city with his troops.

The royal family's goal was something else entirely.

The Fragment of Records.

According to information from the Lord's aide, it was highly likely that he kept it with him at all times in the form of a necklace.

Of course, Jerome didn't know much about this item.

But since he had received orders, he had to somehow obtain it and return to the royal palace—

Thud.

The man's steps stopped as he was going down the stairs.

He had found a body lying face down on the stairs.

The cause of death was a head injury, presumably from a blunt weapon. He was practically naked, stripped of all his equipment.

And the time of death was...

‘No more than 30 minutes ago.’

The man's expression hardened as he bent down and touched the wound.

Someone had infiltrated the castle before him.

Their target was most likely the Lord, who was hiding below.

Then was the intruder still down there?

Tadat.

Jerome quickly ran down the stairs.

He soon saw a wide passage and an open stone door. But all that awaited him beyond the door was the corpse of a middle-aged man with a large build.

This one was also crushed by a blunt weapon.

‘I’m a step too late.’

Jerome bit his lip in frustration, but he quickly examined the scene.

First, the most important item, the Fragment of Records, was missing.

Judging by the marks on his neck, it seemed like it had been forcefully removed…

‘I can’t believe there was competition.’

He was momentarily flustered by the unexpected situation, but he quickly turned around and retraced his steps.

It was too early to give up.

‘He couldn’t have gone far in 30 minutes.’

He had to find him.

__________________________

Auril Gabis said:

[Once a timeline has been observed, it can’t be changed.]

Indeed, it might be impossible to completely change the future.

But what if there was an error in the observation itself?

For example, if I could make Amelia believe that her sister had died? And if I could make her live in hiding for twenty years?

Wouldn’t it be possible to save her then?

A shiver ran down my spine, but I soon encountered a major obstacle.

[My sister died in my arms that day.]

Amelia had witnessed her sister’s death.

She had seen it with her own eyes, just like Dwarkey in Lalkas’s Maze.

How could I possibly deceive her?

I couldn’t even imagine it.

It wouldn’t be easy to make Amelia, who had killed countless people since she was young, mistake her sister’s life or death…

‘Well, it will work out somehow.’

It felt like I was back to square one, but I wasn’t as lost as before.

After all, the Lord had said in his will…

…that the Fragment of Records would activate when I finished what I had to do here. In other words, it meant I still had a role to fulfill.

Then what was my ‘role’?

It was obvious.

Therefore…

Kwaaang!

I slammed the door of the alchemist’s workshop open with my shoulder and entered.

Maybe the door was already open…

But so what?

Probability is just a number. I had decided to live my life to the fullest—

“Ugh, aak!”

Huh?

“What the…”

I saw an old man cowering in a corner of the workshop, startled by my sudden entrance.

It wasn’t Marpa Ipaello, the owner of this workshop.

“Who are you?”

“That’s…”

The old man started to avert his gaze as I asked.

He looked suspicious…

‘Huh?’

…and then I noticed a unique brooch on his robe.

“Are you an alchemist?”

The old man flinched at my question.

I didn’t need to hear his answer.

Thud.

I took a step closer, wary of any hidden escorts.

The old man backed away, making excuses.

“I, it’s a misunderstanding! I wasn’t trying to steal anything…”

“I see.”

No wonder he looked like he had been caught red-handed.

He was trying to steal something while everyone was distracted.

“I, I’ll give you half of my money if you keep this a secret—”

There was no need for a long conversation.

It seemed like he had even dismissed his escorts to steal something.

Thwack!

The alchemist, as expected of a non-combatant, couldn’t do anything as I dashed towards him and smashed his head with my hammer.

“Wow, you even have a subspace pocket?”

I didn’t have time, so I just looted his subspace ring and then hurriedly searched the workshop.

And I soon found what I was looking for.

The Lethe’s Blessing prototype.

A consumable item with the insane ability to erase all your memories.

‘Okay, I got the first item…’

It was time to meet Amelia.

We hadn’t set a meeting place or time since there were no phones in this world, but it wasn’t a problem.

Six hours had passed since I fell asleep, so she would probably be…

‘…running for her life.’

I had to hurry—

“Found you.”

I quickly turned around at the voice, and a silver-haired knight was standing at the entrance.

“Hand over the Fragment of Records.”

What the hell, this guy again?

__________________

The Traitor, Ricardo Liuhen Praha.

The swordsman who was once known as the ‘Sword Saint’.

Those who had seen him fight, or fought him themselves, all said the same thing.

That his swordsmanship was on another level.

Whoosh!

The Aura emanating from his sword.

It wasn’t anything special.

The Aura, minimized to conserve energy, had a sharp aura, but that was all.

It wasn’t like the ‘Knight of Light’s’ Aura, which had a mountain-like presence, or the ‘Knight of the Moon’s’ Aura, which could freely change its form.

But even so…

Slash!

…his sword was considered to be superior.

Not because of the Aura, but because of the ‘way’ he wielded it.

“Aak! Sp, spare—”

None of the hundreds of explorers who were blockading the eastern district could withstand a single blow from his sword.

“I have to run…! Aak!”

He cut down those who blocked him…

…and those who dodged found him already waiting for them.

It was a rough-looking sword.

There wasn’t a single trace of the fancy techniques that knights pursued.

But Amelia couldn’t take her eyes off it.

“Em, Emily… we, we have to run…”

She felt a wall.

Killing.

Swordsmanship honed to its peak, focused solely on taking lives.

“What are you guys doing! Come on!”

Clan Leader Pelic Barker gathered his members and prepared to escape as the one-sided massacre began.

Amelia couldn’t just stand by and watch.

She had spent the past few months with them for this moment.

“Pelic Barker.”

“Huh?”

Amelia threw a thin needle at his neck as he turned his head.

“…Uh, huh?”

His body froze, only his head turning.

Amelia lifted him onto her shoulder.

“What the hell are you doing…!”

The clan members pointed their weapons at Amelia, but it wasn’t a big deal.

“You traitor!”

She wasn’t a traitor.

She had never considered them as companions in the first place.

Slash!

Amelia beheaded the one who was closest to her.

And as expected…

“…….”

“…….”

…the enraged explorers hesitated and then ran away, leaving their captured leader behind.

“Damn it, I’m out!”

“…Let’s go!”

It was an expected reaction.

They were facing the ‘Traitor’, who was approaching them while slaughtering everyone in his path.

There was no reason for them to risk their lives for their clan leader.

Unlike these two.

“…Let go of him.”

The moment her younger self spoke…

Whoosh!

…she heard a whooshing sound from behind.

Amelia twisted her body to dodge and then used the momentum to kick his wrist.

Clang!

The sword fell to the ground, and she saw a young girl clutching her sore wrist.

It was her sister, Laura Rainwales.

“Amelia, let’s run!”

Laura grabbed her younger sister and ran away, and Amelia just watched them go.

She felt a tightness in her chest.

She knew why they had stayed behind to try and save Pelic Barker, even though the other clan members had run away.

It wasn’t loyalty.

It was because of the curse Pelic Barker had cast on Laura.

[Unfair Contract].

It was a contract filled with unfair clauses, but the main point was this: Pelic Barker would receive all of Laura’s life force the moment he was fatally injured.

That’s why they stayed behind to fight her.

But the reason they ran away as soon as they failed…

…was her.

Amelia herself.

Her sister had accepted her death and tried to save her younger sister.

Crack.

She clenched her jaw.

A three-year age difference.

When they were young, her sister seemed like a giant, but now she knew…

…that she was only seventeen.

She must have been tired, and she must have wanted to give up and run away.

Therefore…

Tadat.

Amelia carried Pelic Barker, who was stiff as a log, and ran.

Slash!

Towards the man who was mercilessly cutting down hundreds of people.

“……?”

For the first time, emotion appeared on the man’s face.

Curiosity.

He must have been intrigued by the sight of someone running towards him while everyone else was running away.

And carrying a grown man on her shoulder, at that.

Whoosh!

The Aura surrounding Amelia’s dagger turned black.

It was [Abyssal Power], a transformation ability she obtained after absorbing the essence of the 4th-grade monster, Grabanich.

When activated, all her resources, including spirit power and dragon power, were replaced with Soul Power, and their potency was doubled.

It was the same for Aura, which used mana.

This ability was a godsend for Amelia, who had a low mana pool.

But…

Swoosh.

The black Aura returned to its original color as soon as she got within a certain distance.

It was because of the [Flameless Spirit] ability possessed by Ricardo Liuhen Praha, the Traitor.

It nullified all abilities within a certain radius.

In other words…

‘This is it.’

…[Unfair Contract] was also nullified.

Thud.

Amelia threw Pelic Barker to the ground, and Liuhen Praha immediately cut him down.

Slash!

His body was severed in two with a single blow.

She had been worried, but [Unfair Contract] didn’t activate.

‘We’ve overcome one hurdle…’

Amelia felt a sense of relief since she hadn’t seen how Pelic Barker died when she escaped with her sister.

But she didn’t have time to relax.

Tadat.

She quickly retreated after achieving her goal.

And the man, who had been slaughtering dozens of people without saying a word, immediately chased after her, finally speaking.

“I don’t know the details, but I can tell you used me.”

He seemed to have understood the situation, and he sounded angry.

But a word the barbarian had taught her suddenly came to mind.

It wasn’t a pleasant word…

…but Lafdonia didn’t have a word that concisely expressed that feeling.

‘What a strange language.’

Amelia unconsciously muttered the word.

“Ki, kimochi…”

Was it a word of gratitude to someone who had helped you?

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