Barbarian Quest

lcana.”

Fahel, who had been vomiting his stomach out, raised his head.
He formed a tight fist and clenched his teeth before looking at the mercenaries.

“I am the direct heir to this kingdom.
But the kingdom’s regent—my uncle—Duke Harmati has set his eyes on the crown.
My father has been unconscious for the past year and has still not woken up.
Therefore, the throne will transfer over to me when I turn sixteen.
Duke Harmati desires to kill me before I come of age.
Because if I am gone, the throne would naturally transfer to him, the current regent and king’s brother.”

The context of the request was not too different from the original.
The scale has just gotten bigger—from an ordinary noble’s conflict to one involving the royal family.

“I will finish my coming-of-age ceremony in the Empire and return to the kingdom with the assistance of the imperial army.
If I do so, Duke Harmati won’t be able to lay a hand on me.
Because no matter what anyone else says, I am the sole, direct heir of Forlcana! If I succeed the throne…”

Fahel glanced at Phillion then back at the mercenaries.

“I will give compensation and treatment befitting of the status as Forlcana’s king.
I vow this on Sun God Ru’s name.”

Fahel pulled out his Sol pendant and kissed it.
If one goes against the vow made to their god, they would face eternal agony in the afterlife.
Phillion broke his vows, and as such, his soul had been tainted.

‘Benevolent and generous Ru.
Please acknowledge Sir Phillion’s loyalty and forgive him of his sins.’

Fahel suddenly realized something, as if he were struck by a bolt of lightning.
He finally realized the sacrifice that Phillion made for him.
Losing body parts was nothing.
The real sacrifice was the eternal suffering that he would have to face in the afterlife.
If Phillion was unable to receive Ru’s forgiveness, he would become a wandering evil spirit that would eternally roam the world without salvation.

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“Did you hear that? The next king is promising us a reward on Ru’s name.”

Urich was cackling.
The suggestions to kill their employer and rob them were slowly dying away.

‘It’s an opportunity to change my life.’

Those opportunities didn’t come easily.
It’s human life to roll around in the mud until you die.

“Since it’s a royal promising it, I want to continue the request.”

“Me too.”

“Do you think he’ll give us farmland as a reward? Since he’ll be king, he should be able to do that much then, right?”

The mercenaries raised their hands one by one.
Fahel promised all of the rewards.
For those who wanted money, he promised money.
For those who wanted land, he promised land.

Phillion and the guard knights breathed sighs of relief.
They were alive.

“That’s exactly it.
An excellent job, Your Royal Highness.”

Phillion patted Fahel’s head with his left hand.
If the prince had kept looking down on the mercenaries and hadn’t promised a reward, the enraged mercenaries would have surely killed them.

“Sir Phillion, I will make sure to award you for your loyalty.
Once I become king, I will request the Pope for your indulgence even if it takes billions of gold.
I won’t leave your soul to wander this world.
I swear on Ru’s name—”

Phillion blocked Fahel’s mouth and shook his head.

“An oath before Ru’s name is only for those who do not trust in one another.
For me, your word is enough.”

Fahel gathered his two hands together on his chest.
He burst into tears as he opened his mouth.

“Then I… will vow on my name.
Not Ru’s.”

 

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator – goguma

Proofreader – yukitokata

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* * *

 

Phillion was being treated by the guard knights, wiping the dried blood off his back and applying salves.

“For the amount of blood that was shed, the wounds are rather light,” said one of the guard knights.
Phillion bent and straightened his back.

‘Only the skin was cut.
My muscles are fine.’

They only looked like severe wounds because they were long cuts.
In actuality, it wasn’t a big injury.

‘Urich… He’s a clever man.’

Phillion reevaluated the mercenary leader.
He was someone who was more clever than the knight thought.

‘But I still don’t understand.
Urich realized that I was lying but wanted to continue the request.
If he wanted to continue, he could have just turned a blind eye to my lies.’

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Urich’s actions were contradictory.

Step.

The man in question finished his meal and came up to Phillion.
As the middle-aged man waved his hand, the guard knights left the two to their own.

“You must have spilled a lot of blood.
Go eat some meat.”

Urich spoke nonchalantly, as if he weren’t involved with it.

“It’s a funny thing to say to the person who tortured me, but thank you, Urich.”

Phillion slightly bowed his head to show respect.

“I understand why you had to lie, though.
If you revealed to us from the start that he was royalty, we wouldn’t have taken on this request.
We’ve only come this far because you lied.
In the end, your decision was right.”

Urich snickered.
Even Donovan, who was gung ho about it at the start, quickly tried to take his hands off the request after realizing Fahel was royalty.
Affairs concerning the royal family were just that dangerous and complicated.

‘They were only able to be convinced because they were already involved with it.’

Urich glanced at Phillion’s right hand.
A warrior who lost four fingers on his right hand had his life as a warrior ended.

“Don’t resent me too much.
Being insincere is being insincere.
It isn’t strange for mercenaries to change their minds and kill their employers when they find out that the request was different from what was agreed upon.
It was a situation where you wouldn’t have been able to say anything even if we split your young master’s head in half.”

Urich rubbed his nose as he talked.
There was dried blood in his nose.
He picked it and flicked the bloody booger into the fire.

“I don’t resent you at all.
In fact, this much is a cheap price to pay.
But… can I ask you one thing?”

“If I say no, are you going to not ask it?”

Phillion laughed with his injured body at Urich’s boldness.

“Why did you reveal my lie when you wanted to continue the request? Again, I am not resenting you for that.
I am simply curious.”

“That’s right.
I wanted to continue the request because I wanted to go all the way to the imperial capital.
Especially since we’re going with a noble, I should be able to see a lot more of the capital known as the center of the world.
And now, since Fahel is a royal, I should be able to see the ruler of the world—the Emperor—as well… right?”

Urich spoke quickly, eyes shining like a young boy’s.

“If you want, we can allow you to see the Emperor from afar while we have his audience.”

“The homes and castles of the nobles that I met were amazing.
But if it’s the Emperor, it must be even more amazing.
Fuck.
I bet it’s going to be filled with amazing things there.”

Urich hit his own knee as he laughed.
The imperial steel sword, which had become his treasure, was also a weapon that only came out of the imperial family’s smithy.

‘This man…’

Phillion felt his ambitions.
It was an innocent desire, akin to a child’s.

“I really want to go to the imperial capital.
Even more so if I’m able to go there with a noble.
But you know, I would never betray or lie to my brothers for a personal desire.
It’s just that.
I realized that you were insincere and had a responsibility to tell my brothers.”

There were no complicated reasons.
Urich was honest.

He didn’t lie about his desire to see the imperial capital and didn’t betray his duty to his brothers.

‘It’s simple and clean.’

Phillion’s head felt clear.

‘If it’s him, I can trust him.
He might be a barbarian, but he is someone who keeps his vows and fulfills his duties.
He must be loved by Ru more than someone like me who calmly lies while vowing on a god’s name.’

It was a funny thing.
He had a favorable impression of someone who cut his fingers off.