Barbarian Quest-Chapter 105

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Urich, now deep in the recovery phase, spent his days in bed like a man already dead. The only thing he did was just eat the food brought by the wife or the daughter of the farmhouse.

"Phew."

Urich briefly got up and swung his sword slowly, feeling each fiber of his muscles move with the blade. He felt a sharp pain as soon as he moved his abs. He checked his body's condition by touching the painful area.

'Should be alright as long as I don't swing too big or hard.'

He figured he could swing the sword a bit as long as he controlled how much he contracted his abs.

"This hasn’t been too bad."

Although they were mostly motivated by money, the farmer’s family took good care of him. Despite the hassle, they brought fresh hot cloth every day and provided ample food. Even Kylios, who was tied outside, seemed to have been fed quite well.

‘They like money a little too much, but they’re still good people.'

Urich eavesdropped on the warm family conversations in his bed. The words they were exchanging were quite heartwarming. With nothing else to do, listening in on the family’s chatter had become his only pastime.

"Did you move the firewood?"

"I do it without being told every time."

"Last time, you left it outside in the rain and it got soaked."

Their bickering voices reached him as he lay looking at the ceiling. A smile leaked out without him even knowing.

Click-clack.

Urich heard some footsteps approaching his room. He could tell that it was the daughter right away.

"Here’s your meal. Today’s menu is..."

As Urich expected, the daughter entered.

"Pork today, huh?"

Urich said as he sniffed, recognizing the smell even before the girl opened the lid.

"Thanks to you, my brother and I are eating quite well as well."

The girl decided to express her gratitude. Urich's presence meant her family wouldn't have to worry about the winter. They had received enough money from him to live comfortably through it and more.

"Really? That's good. Eat a lot, it helps your chest grow. Men like women with big chests. You look like you should eat more so you can grow them a lot more."

Urich said to the girl while eating the pork from the plate.

"G-good to know."

The girl blushed and replied. She was annoyed but decided not to voice it. He was a guest, and one that paid handsomely.

'How rude.'

The girl thought to herself and left the room and closed the door behind her.

"Hmm, she doesn’t seem too grateful for my great, valuable advice."

Urich shrugged and chewed the pork. His appetite hadn’t returned yet, but he still forced himself to eat.

'Maybe I'll head north.'

Urich planned to explore both the south and north. He wanted to meet the gods and humans there.

'Ulgaro.'

Even the Sword Demon Ferzen had abandoned Lou to put his faith in Ulgaro.

‘Just what did Ferzen see in the north? What was it that he found so compelling that it made him abandon his own god?'

His chewing slowed down. He became deep in his thoughts as he rested his chin on his hand and watched the meat get cold. Without moving his body around, all sorts of useless thoughts roamed freely in his head.

Ferzen's ending was a huge shock to Urich. He didn’t know how to put it into words, but it resonated deeply with him. That day, Urich abandoned Lou. Was it out of admiration for Ferzen or mourning for a man who died as a warrior until the very end?

'If I manage to live to that age, I want to live like Ferzen.'

Ferzen lived as a warrior, and died as a warrior.

Chew.

Urich tossed the remaining meat into his mouth and finished it off in one bite before deciding to go outside to move his stiff body around.

"Try not to go too far during the nighttime. The area’s not that safe thanks to the poor security around here."

Ges warned Urich when he saw Urich leaving the house.

"Thanks for the advice."

Urich stepped outside and took in the night air. He checked on Kylios in the barn, then walked further.

"I’m actually alone for a change."

It was a good feeling. He had left behind Pahell and the mercenaries. It was both sad and liberating. The feeling of not being tied down was something he hadn’t felt in a while.

'I used to go hunting alone all the time before crossing the Sky Mountains.'

Whenever Urich wanted some solitude, he used to go hunting to return after a few days. Urich was a skilled hunter who was capable of surviving alone in the wild. Even the chief’s son was jealous of him.

"Can’t see the mountains from here, obviously."

Urich looked west.

In the past, on his lone hunting trips, he would stare at the mountains all night by the dying fire, wondering, 'Is the world of spirits really beyond those mountains?' He wanted to see it for himself if it really was there.

'But it turned out to be just another place with people exactly like us.'

Urich glanced back. He saw the farmhouse with its lights still on. They were people just like him.

Rustle.

Urich kneeled and touched the soil. The dirt trickled through his fingers. It was moist and rich.

'This is good land.'

The people might be the same, but the land was very different. Urich's homeland was barren with an uneven climate. The rainy seasons were short while the dry seasons were long.

'I miss it.'

He longed for that barren land. He wanted to smell its scent. It had been over a year since he left his home.

'But not yet.'

Curiosity outweighed his longing. A strong desire circled his eyes.

'Someday I'll return home. And then I...'

Urich's eyes blinked. The darkness as deep as a moonless night squirmed inside him. He saw warriors. The stench of the nonexistent blood reached the tip of his nose. The land was on fire.

“Huff, huff.”

Urich breathed heavily. The wound in his stomach stung.

“...ahhhhh!” 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝑤𝘦𝑏𝓃ℴ𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝑚

Urich’s ears twitched from the faint scream.

He quickly turned his eyes to look in the direction of the distant farmhouse. His eyes widened, and he took off as he grabbed his stomach.

* * *

"Keke, the new king is making life more fun for us."

A bandit stuffed the smoked food hanging by the fireplace into his sack. His accomplices were rummaging through the house, not missing a corner.

Six bandits had raided the farmhouse. It wasn’t hard to see a bunch of criminals teaming up to work as bandits. Their targets were usually passerby travelers, but they had boldly attacked the farmhouse that was located near the castle.

"Come on, we gotta move quicker."

"What's the hurry? The guards aren’t even coming. They haven't patrolled this area for days." freewebn(o)vel

The bandits had surveyed the area for several days. After confirming that there were no patrols in the area, they boldly attacked the farmhouse.

"Long live Varca Baneu Porcana! Hehehe."

The bandit shouted the new king's name. The civil war had worsened Porcana's security. The new king had been anointed, but it was inevitably going to take quite a bit of time for order to be restored. The bandits thought that this was going to be their last big job, so they decided to go all out.

"If you stay quiet, you’ll keep your lives."

Ges's face was swollen from being beaten after retaliating against the bandits. Powerless, he lay on the ground, looking shamefully at his family.

'Dammit.'

He had heard of the rise in robberies in the area but abandoning his home and livestock to flee to the castle was not an option for farmers.

"Woah, would you look at that? Gold coins."

One of the bandits said after finding the gold coins stored underneath a drawer.

"How much is all this? Probably over a million cils, easily. Right?"

"Hold on to that, we can split it evenly later."

"I found it, it's mine. You never heard of ‘Founders keepers?’"

"Stop your bullshit. You want to die?"

The bandits quarreled over the gold coins. Loyalty meant nothing to them; they banded together only because it was more effective than plundering alone.

Schluck!

A bandit who was quietly watching the quarrel attacked his accomplice from behind. The one who had found the gold coins fell to the floor with a thud with a blade protruding from his belly.

"We obviously should split the loot equally. Even bandits need some honor. Dumbass."

The killer spat on his dead comrade's body, and the five remaining bandits divided the gold among themselves.

"U-ugh, ugh."

The daughter covered her mouth. She wanted to scream as loudly as she could. Her legs were shaking in fear.

"This is more than enough to get us through the winter, thanks! Thanks a lot."

The bandits mocked as they stuffed their bags full with the money and supplies that the farmer’s family had reserved to get them through the winter.

‘If they take that, we’re as good as dead.'

Without winter provisions, they were certainly going to starve. The post-war winter was expected to be harsh, and no neighbors would have food to spare.

"...what do you think? The guards aren’t coming, anyway."

The bandits, having packed their loot, started discussing something among themselves. They gestured at the daughter.

"Alrighty then, let’s just take care of that here too. Hey, lady, come over here for a second. Just let us do what we do, and no one has to get hurt. And who knows? Maybe we'll change our minds and leave the food for your family."

“Keke.”

The bandits knew that taking the food meant the family wouldn't survive the winter. They would likely be found dead from starvation.

"Please, not my daughter. Anything but her."

Ges pleaded, only to be kicked in the head by a bandit, knocking him out. The bandit dragged the daughter out by her arm.

"No, sister!"

The son tried to get up from his seat as he called out to his sister, feeling the need to protect his family with his father unconscious.

The daughter suppressed the tears on the verge of flowing out.

‘I can’t let my family get hurt.’

She bit down on her lower lip and held in her tears.

"I actually prefer a woman with some experience more than a young one."

"Ugh, why would you want such an old woman?"

“It’s called the appeal of someone else’s woman, you wouldn’t know.”

The bandits dragged out both the wife and the daughter. The two women clenched their teeth as tears inevitably dripped down their eyes. At this point, anything was better than death.

“Take your skirts off and open your legs, before I slice them open with this!” One of the bandits threatened as he pulled out his dagger.

'Even in death, you won't find Lou's embrace and will become evil spirits, you bastards!'

The wife cursed internally. She couldn’t bear to look at her daughter.

“This bitch might be flat chested but she has one hell of an ass. You’ve got those child-bearing hips!”

The bandit commented on the daughter's physique as he slapped her butt.

Crunch!

Suddenly, something crashed through the window.

Woosh!

The cool night air rushed inside the house as warm liquid splashed on the daughter's back.

“K-kyahhh!”

The daughter looked back and screamed upon seeing the axe embedded in the head of the bandit who was about to violate her. His skull split and blood came pouring out.

The daughter collapsed. The urine that she had managed to hold in until now was released, and the steam with its odor floated up.

"W-what happened?”

The bandits panicked and picked up their weapons. When they looked out the window, they saw a pair of yellow eyes glaring at them.

Urich burst in, forcefully tearing off the door that was shut closed with a lock. His steamy breath leaked out of the corners of his mouth.

Urich slowly drew his imperial steel sword. Its gleam was extraordinarily fierce in the candlelight. It was a fine sword that a mere bandit could never see in their lifetime.

‘This guy is not a joke. He ripped the door open with his bare hands.’

The bandits couldn’t attack first. Intimidated by Urich’s aura, they stumbled back.

“My diligent workers, I see that you’re working hard spilling all that blood, but...”

Urich finally opened his mouth, and there was rage underlying in his voice.

"...It's time to close shop."