Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 627
Chapter 627: District Seven (5)
The Corpse Collector, Abed Necrapeto. A member of the criminal organization Orcules, who coveted elitism, and a member of the Round Table, which had now dissolved.
He wasn’t the only familiar face here.
“Th-the Wailing Witch…!”
The Black Wizard, Lyranne Vivian.
“An old warrior wearing dark red armor… That man must be…!”
The Blood Knight gained infamy after killing a palace knight captain and escaping long ago.
Alongside those I fought against on the Dark Continent were also criminals there whom I only knew through rumors and hearsay, confirmed by their appearances.
There were a few I had never seen before too, of course. Although I had been in researching and studying the members of Orcules, there were still a few people on whom I drew blanks.
…Are they new?
That was the sense I got for some reason, but still, they didn’t feel like fledglings to me at all. No, more than likely, they were difficult opponents to face.
Noark had invested a fair bit of its resources into nurturing the next generation after taking over the eighth floor for themselves. I had even fought against a few of their finest during the Ice Rock Expedition, so I knew their strengths well.
One point of relief was that the captain who possessed the tricky floor essence was nowhere to be seen.
However, as soon as we came face to face with them, Erwen’s eyes beamed with killing intent. To be honest, I was worried that she would do something reckless.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
Despite that, her voice was calm, perhaps to reassure me, and her killing intent lessened in intensity. It had been a while since that day, after all. Or maybe, it was the result of the many things she had experienced since then. In the end, Erwen now seemed able to maturely control her emotions.
“Even if it’s not today…I’ll kill them all one day. So it’s fine.”
Well, it certainly didn’t seem like her emotions had faded much.
Still, what a good turn of events. And honestly, it wasn’t as if I was any different from her.
The palace looked worse at a passing glance because they offended me, but from pure resentment alone, these guys took the cake.
Dragon Slayer, Regal Vagos.
That guy, too, had been a member of Orcules.
A quiet standoff continued as the air grew thick with tension. Then, I took a step forward.
I mean, look at how many people were here for us. Since a sizable force had left the walls, those palace soldiers should have realized what was going on at some point if I had given them time.
“Ah, have you already given up? That’s not fun at all… Hmm? Can you at least say something—”
I cut off his haughty words as I said, “It’s been a while.”
“Pshehe, so now you use that slick mouth of—”
“Toy Collector.”
To be honest, I wanted to just charge in without thinking as I did against the Lighthouse Keeper on the Dark Continent, but there were too many factors to consider here. Our main goal was to escape. If this guy made up his mind to flee, then chasing after him would waste all my time.
…I need to pick up a movement option soon.
With that, I shelved my idea of beating this guy up.
“T-Toy Collector!” he burst in a move to pretend the personal attack didn’t affect him at all. “Well, that’s not too far off! I will treat you like a toy after I kill you!”
Raising his voice, of course, did nothing to help him look mature.
“How about you go and look for a new essence as well? If you look around the world long enough, you should be able to get one that increases the size of your—”
“Enough. Stop making fun of this man.”
As I went to say something even more hurtful, a man stopped me. However, considering how Clown, who had a pretty big ego, didn’t say anything to the interjection, I could tell this man held quite a high position.
Who is he?
Amelia, who was standing directly behind me, noticed my puzzlement and whispered in my ear, “He’s Roland Banozant. The vice-captain of Orcules.”
I didn’t notice him immediately due to his unassuming appearance, but he was quite the famous guy.
Demon Eyes, Roland Banozant.
He was the high-ranking ability user who one-shot beheaded the previous vice-captain and took the number two spot ten years ago.
“Is it true that this guy killed the previous vice-captain?” I whispered back.
“Yes. He’s the one who eliminated the previous vice-captain as soon as they were found to be communicating with the palace.”
“Hmm, I see…”
Anyway, that lessened my worry a little. If the vice-captain was in District Seven, it probably meant that the captain was in District Thirteen, which meant I wouldn’t be meeting the captain today.
Of course, that didn’t mean that the vice-captain was an easy opponent.
“Yandel, if possible, I advise that you don’t converse with that per—”
At that moment, I sensed a wave of mana swell between me and him, cutting off the sound of whatever Amelia was trying to say.
It’s not voice control magic…
So it was a skill.
I gestured to Amelia to not worry before turning to speak with the vice-captain.
“It seems that woman introduced me, so I will spare my breath,” he noted. “Bjorn, son of Yandel. I have an offer for you.”
“An offer…”
When I hinted that I would at least hear him out, the vice-captain immediately got to the point. “A storm will soon come that will devour everything. And a hole-ridden ship won’t ever be able to endure that storm.”
“Are you saying the palace is that hole-ridden ship?”
“Of course. If not, why would we be doing something like this? Abandon that sinking ship and join us.”
I was a little disappointed at the vice-captain’s offer. Too predictable, maybe? I had been genuinely curious about what sort of offer he would make me.
“…Could I take some time to think?”
The vice-captain smirked. “So you refuse.”
“No, how did you get that from what I said? I just said I wanted to think about it.”
“You are an enemy of interest for us. That is why we investigated you quite thoroughly. For you, isn’t asking for time to think just a strategy to buy time?”
“Uh…”
What the hell was with this bastard?
Those piercing words left me speechless. However, I had to admit he wasn’t pulling them from nowhere. It was just how baseball players would research the behavior of pitchers. The guy had investigated my behavioral patterns as well.
Even so, I said, “You didn’t investigate shit. I mean, if you investigated properly, wouldn’t you already know? What my answer will be.”
The vice-captain didn’t react, not even as I mocked him. He just asked back with the same tone as before, “So, what is your answer?”
“I refuse.”
“Your reason?”
“Dunno? I just didn’t feel like it?”
I didn’t want to talk about my thought process, so I just brushed off his questions. However, it seemed that he had an idea as well.
“So it’s true that you treasure the lives of your allies as your own.”
He spoke with a calm certainty.
“Riol Warb Dwalkie. I heard the death of that man has affected you greatly.”
What was this bastard trying to say?
“However, it was Dragon Slayer who killed that man, and he did so of his own accord. And I heard that while chasing after you, he died after clashing with the Order of the Rose.”
That sounded a little insulting.
“Ah, maybe you didn’t know? It’s top secret, even within the palace…”
It sounded like he was trying to convince me of something.
“And from what I heard, you were too busy running away.”
And yet, it also sounded like a threat.
“But…aren’t you curious? Why the Order of the Rose was there?”
For him to be able to say all this, how much did he know?
Since I didn’t know if he was being truthful or not, I found it difficult to determine if his goal was to convince me or to threaten me. No, maybe…
Maybe he’s just saying all this to try and see how much I know.
I maintained my best poker face.
At that moment, the skill was canceled, and the background noise returned to me.
“Unlike other barbarians, you are intelligent. You will certainly find an answer to that at some point,” the vice-captain said loudly enough for everyone to hear. “That is why we will let you go today.”
Only then did I realize why he requested to have a discussion with me. He wanted to convince me with a very heavy-handed method, at that.
“Go now. We will not stop you.”
This guy was a completely different type of person from all the enemies I had faced before.
Hah, I should’ve just charged him as soon as I saw him.
The well had been poisoned.
The vice-captain dished out an order, and a path opened up to the wall like the parting of the Red Sea. It didn’t end with that either.
“Ah, if this situation is still too uncomfortable for you, we will take ourselves elsewhere.”
He even offered to disappear from our sights. I couldn’t understand what had just happened, but after calmly collecting my thoughts, I came to a conclusion.
“What conversation did he have with the baron…?”
“He opened a path for us after just a few words of conversation.”
“…Aren’t they just going to attack us from behind after tricking us?”
“But didn’t he also just offer to disappear completely?”
We were ruined.
Just like how a diplomat of ancient times could stop an army with a few words, the few words spoken by this man had completely driven me into a corner.
“Unlike other barbarians, you are intelligent. You will certainly find an answer to that at some point.”
It was for that very reason that he had said those last few, vague words and let everyone hear it.
If we crossed the wall at this point without anyone getting hurt, I would stand to lose the most. The palace would suspect me, and the people would grow suspicious of me. They would believe that I made some sort of deal with the Noarkans, for them to let us through for free.
Before, I was able to use my noble status as a shield to stop others from freely looking into my affairs, but this would lead to a high-level investigation into me. Not just me, but my allies as well. And if that happened?
It’s over.
I could see the inevitable ending, and it gripped my heart like a vise.
Ba-dump!
The vice-captain probably didn’t know if I knew of the Order of the Rose. That was probably why he tried to check using this method. If the investigation uncovered my knowledge of them, the palace would deal with me in his stead; if I said I didn’t know, the palace would become hostile toward me.
From his perspective, it was a win-win situation.
What do I do? Do I need to push forward and just give out the order to charge them?
While I contemplated my options, he continued to speak, grinning all the while.
“It seems you are having a hard time deciding with all these people here. We will be leaving, then.”
Wow, so he was going to be like that until the end.
“Wait.”
First, I stopped him as I quickly gathered my thoughts. There was one gap in this guy’s plan. I understood that just letting us reach the walls was beneficial for them…
But they did all this just for that…?
To be honest, I still couldn’t understand it. Why were they giving up District Seven so easily like this? Was I really worth that much from their perspective? What were they expecting from me?
Then, I realized.
“Ah.”
A possibility flashed through my mind like a bolt of lightning. What if instead of me having some incredible worth, it was the exact opposite?
For example, if it wasn’t that I was worth so much to them, but that District Seven was worth so little, then…
These guys weren’t interested in District Seven in the first place.
If I thought about it under that assumption, it made some sense. Then was their real goal District Thirteen?
Although I couldn’t be sure, my gut feeling was telling me District Thirteen should be no different from District Seven to them.
With that, there was only one other target.
“How long are you going to think—”
“Bifron.”
Yeah, that was the answer.
I grinned. I knew what I needed to do.