Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 632
Chapter 632: Reconstruction (1)
“Servants…” The nameless member of the Order of the Rose let out a baffled laugh. “Do you really believe this makes sense, Lord Baron?”
Thinking back, I had heard that question a lot in my life as a barbarian, and my answer always remained the same.
“Huh? What doesn’t make sense about it?” I asked while picking out my ears with my pinkie.
The female knight furrowed her brow. “Over ten thousand people—”
“Hmm, 8,712 to be exact.”
“…What difference does that make? Even the great nobles of the city have ever taken in such a large number of servants. Not in the past, and not now.”
“Oh, really?” I smiled as if genuinely glad as I shouted, “Then I will be the first!”
Would I be able to write this on the Stone of Honor as well?
I mumbled as much to myself loud enough for everyone to hear, but that cold-faced woman completely ignored my mumbling.
“Are you thinking of building a private military, Baron Yandel?” she asked with sharp precision like a veteran swordswoman aiming for a weak point would. It was a sensitive question that I couldn’t just coolly brush over.
Private military? Why not!
If I said that, my words would immediately get twisted and be interpreted in many different ways. In the worst-case scenario, I could be framed for planning a revolt. I needed to cut this off before it could grow.
“Not at all. I’m not planning on making any private military force. I swear upon my name and my honor as a warrior.”
Of course, this woman didn’t even pretend she was listening to me. “Rather than swear, explain it to us. Why do you need such a large number of servants?”
Hey, don’t be so stiff.
I clicked my tongue before deciding to answer her question. “Well…isn’t having more servants better? I also like it when people are around and things feel lively…”
“And just because you like being in crowds, you are going to take in nine thousand servants?”
“Eight thousand seven hundred twelve servants. Not nine thousand.” Then quickly, I continued, “And it’s not just because I want people around. I really do need them all. For example, this Kaina Elmosi… Oh! She’s written as an assistant chef!”
“Lord Baron, do you truly think we would believe such a statement?”
…Well, not exactly.
I knew that these were excuses that no one would believe in. But, so what?
“Believe it or not, why should you even care? I don’t understand why you’re stopping us anyway. Didn’t you talk about only doing what the king ordered yesterday? They became my servants and obtained the right to leave. So why are you stopping us?”
As I openly pushed against her, the member of the Order of the Rose couldn’t refute anything. It was about time I applied some pressure.
“Human woman. Tell me this. If you’re capable of it, make the decision yourself.” In a lowered pitch, I said, “And if not, don’t.”
It was the advice of a barbarian, telling her to act like the tool she was. Even after hearing that, the knight’s expression didn’t change. However, she seemed to have at least taken the advice.
In the awkward silence where the knights standing in front of the inspection office looked at me with sidelong glances, the woman finally broke her silence.
“Baron…”
“Baron?”
“…You will regret today’s decision.”
Huh, I was wondering what she was going to say. Unfortunately for her, I was used to that at this point too. Everyone always talked about how I would regret my choices whenever things didn’t go their way.
“Oh, were you not a knight, but a fortune teller?” I said innocently, agitating her even to the end.
The woman glared at me with anger in her eyes before ordering the knights. “…Let everyone through!”
Hah, that was one obstacle down.
***
District Four, where the market city Kommelby resided, had many shops and many people milling about. However, the District Four we arrived at after coming through the inspection office was different from what I would have expected.
The shops were all closed, and there wasn’t a single person outside.
“Human woman. What’s happening here?”
“…District Four has been temporarily shut down for the safety of its residents.”
“What other districts have been shut down?”
“Only District Four has been shut down.”
Those words made me doubt my ears for a second. “…What?”
What she just said didn’t make sense. District Three was in contact with District Thirteen, which had been taken over by Noark, and District Five was directly next to District Seven, yet neither of them was shut down.
Only District Four, which is in contact with Bifron, got shut down? For safety reasons?
Although it wasn’t easy to accept, I didn’t have the opportunity to ask for more details.
“You can hear the rest from the prime minister. Just as you said, I am not a person who can make these decisions myself.”
“Prime minister? Are we going to the prime minister right now?”
“Correct.”
No matter what I asked after, the only other thing she would tell me was to go and ask the prime minister himself, so I ended the conversation there.
After that, we formed a camp for the residents of Bifron and the adventurers of District Seven in the square of District Four. She told us that it would take time to decide how we would be treated and that we needed to stay here until then.
“Huh…”
“…It’s my first time seeing the Free Square empty like this in my life.”
Well, judging by the reactions of the others, they didn’t seem to be dissatisfied with how the palace was treating them. Perhaps they were thinking this was the obvious treatment?
“Come here, Lord Baron. The prime minister is waiting for you.”
“I’ll be back. Emily, Versyl—you two will be in charge here.”
With the situation in the square settled, I followed the Order of the Rose member. We arrived at a luxury mansion not too far from the square.
“The prime minister will contact you soon. Wait here for a moment.”
Perhaps I should have expected it. When we walked into the room, we found a communication crystal in the room rather than the presence of the prime minister himself.
Bzzt.
After the female knight left, I was left alone in the room. Not long after, the magic crystal vibrated, and as I pressed the accept button, a familiar face appeared on the crystal.
“It has been a while, Baron Yandel.”
“So it has, Marquess Tercerion.”
“Before we converse about our main topic, do understand that I wasn’t able to meet you face to face. It is difficult for me to leave my station due to the war.”
Difficult? Don’t make me laugh.
How long would it take him to get here from Karnon? This man could also use the military magic circles as he pleased.
I couldn’t even snort at the shamelessness, but the words I spoke were different from what I felt. “I understand. And it’s not something I care much about, so don’t worry.”
“That’s a relief to hear.”
“So, did the expedition group sent to the underground floor all return?”
“They have all safely returned to the city, and have finished their expedition report. We realized that you would be in District Seven thanks to them as well.”
“Hmm…I see.”
I usually didn’t like having long preambles before the main topic, but I didn’t mind this one. I decided to continue with the small talk since to obtain information.
“Then how did you know we were in Bifron?”
“We heard from our secret agents sent to District Seven. You declared in front of everyone that you were going to Bifron… Why did you do that? From what I heard, the enemy said they would allow you to pass without issue.”
Since this was a question I had expected, I answered without hesitation. “How could I believe that they’d let us go? And from our conversation, I found out they’re trying to use Bifron to do something suspicious.”
“Something suspicious? Did you perhaps learn something about that place?”
“I’ve investigated it for a few days, but I unfortunately wasn’t able to find anything.”
“I see… In any case, since you are the one to tell me this, Your Lordship, I will inform the strategy council that the forces of Noark are planning something related to Bifron.”
“Oh, excellent.”
A moment of silence passed, and I used it to carefully transition into something I was curious about. “How is Saintred doing?”
“Sir Saintred is also safe. Due to his special ability, he woke up in that place without a problem, and we heard everything from him as well.”
Okay, so the village chief had returned alive as well. It would’ve been nice if something had gone wrong and he just ended up dead.
“On the topic of Sir Saintred,” the prime minister continued, “I heard that after he ended up in that state, you were the one to lead the expedition group?”
“Ah, it somehow ended up like that. We all needed to make it out alive anyway.”
“Good. Well done. You have contributed a great achievement.”
“Oh, then can I get a promotion in my noble title?”
“…It is too early to discuss that. Although you will be awarded for your achievements during the expedition in the future, we are currently at war.”
Put another way, our rewards for our achievements would be given after we fought off the Noarkan invasion.
It was a plausible explanation, I didn’t say much to push against it.
Anyway, I think we got all the small talk out of the way…
It was time to get to the main topic.
However, the moment I went to say something, the prime minister beat me to it. “By the way. From what I heard, you took in the residents of Bifron as your servants…”
Since this grandpa who liked getting straight to the point was talking in such a roundabout way, my actions probably did catch his attention a little.
“Have you thought about sending them back?” he asked slyly.
“Send them back? Did I perhaps do something illegal?”
“No, you haven’t, but… From our position, it’s not that welcoming to see them all come outside like that. You should know as well since you’re a noble. Right?”
I would know since I was a noble.
To dissect his words, he was hinting that I should let go of any personal feelings and work for the benefit of the palace since I was now a noble.
“Well, if I heard that before, I might have changed my mind, but it’s too late now. I’ve already accepted them as my servants, so what can I do?”
“You can kick them out again.”
“Sorry, but I find it difficult to tell others off, so I don’t think that’ll be possible.”
The prime minister let out a baffled laugh at my answer. “Do you?”
You know, I’m pretty sensitive and introverted.
“In any case, since it’s not illegal, then it’s not a problem. Stop talking about it. It’s already been done.”
“…Your Lordship, I am telling you this because I worry for you.”
What worry? This guy would be the first to jump up in joy if I ended up dying.
“Thanks for your concern, but I’ll take care of myself.”
He didn’t respond.
“So, what are you thinking of doing with Bifron now?” If dealing with the residents of Bifron was the prime minister’s main topic, this was mine.
What was the palace hoping to do with Bifron?
“I cannot leak military secrets like that. But it isn’t something I need to hide from a baron like you. And it seems that you have suspected it somewhat as well.”
“If you say I’ve suspected it already…”
“That’s right,” he confirmed. “We are going to blow up the entirety of Bifron. The moment the forces of Noark go into that area, that is.”
Although he was speaking with a calm tone, what he was saying was cold and brutal. Even though they were planning on blowing up Bifron, he had just told me to send back the residents of Bifron.
…What do these guys think a person’s life is?
I constantly thought that this was a brutal world, yet from an outsider’s perspective, I was probably not so different from these guys.
But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
“Wait, were you planning on luring the Noarkans there?” I asked in surprise. “Do you know what they are trying to do in Bifron?”
“We don’t know either. However, we expected they would flee to Bifron if we kept up our pressure.”
Although the marquess told me he didn’t know, I wasn’t planning on just naively taking his word for it. From what I saw in the movement of the soldiers, neither the palace nor the Noarkans were moving in a normal way.
A secret he can’t tell me…
My curiosity only grew.
“In any case, that was the reason,” the marquess dismissed. “That was also the reason that we tried to quickly extract you from Bifron the moment we heard you were there as well.”
To be honest, I couldn’t understand that part. If I were in the marquess’s position, I would have blown me up with the Noarkans and dismissed my life as collateral damage. Just why did they go out of their way to save me?
Thankfully, that question was resolved a little bit with the following piece of conversation.
“Right, now that I think about it, I haven’t told you this yet. I heard you have most of the goods obtained during the underground floor expedition, correct?”
“Ah, I did,” I confirmed in the past tense.
“You did…?” The marquess tilted his head in confusion. However, he seemed to decide that it was a simple miscommunication as he continued, “Leave the goods you obtained during the expedition in the room before you leave. They are all important pieces of the palace’s property and will also be used to reward you later.”
I lowered my head. The loot we obtained from the underground floor, huh? I never expected them to save me just for that.
“…Why did you suddenly lower your head?”
Because I wasn’t confident I could control my expressions if I met eyes with him.
“My apologies, Lord Marquess.”
I already used them all.