Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 642
Chapter 642: Political Schemes (6)
I didn’t make a habit of sharing my life story with others, but just for today, I pushed through and spoke it out loud. I was certain that I would need to address the issue at some point in the future anyway if I continued to let it be. And for the people here, my story pertained to their not-so-biological daughters and children that they treated like their own daughters.
“Missha Karlstein and I are ordinary allies right now.”
A crease appeared on the Karlstein family head’s forehead. He glared at me as if to say, “You stole my daughter’s chance to get married and are now just ordinary allies?”
On the other hand, the elven representative’s expression brightened. That, of course, didn’t last long.
“Oh, then—”
“That goes for Erwen Fornacci di Tersia too.”
His expression immediately hardened.
“Hoh, then you currently do not have a partner?”
Mr. Dragon didn’t let go of the opportunity and tried to squeeze in, but I sharply cut him off just like the others.
“That doesn’t mean I plan on becoming your son-in-law. I’ve never seen Pen or Ravien in that way.”
“Ah, I understand. Affection is important between a man and a woman. What a shame.”
Unexpectedly, Mr. Dragon accepted my words pretty easily. He then asked this.
“Could I perhaps give you a piece of advice?”
“…Go on.”
“A person of your status may not require something like a political marriage. You have accomplished a great many things alone. However.” He paused at that word to take a sip of his tea before looking directly at me. “Paradoxically, that is why no matter who you marry, your marriage will be used to further someone’s political goals. Do be wary of that.”
It was such a natural piece of advice that all the marriage talks we had until now felt like it had built up to this. Maybe Mr. Dragon wanted to tell me that through the reactions of the Karlstein family head and the elven representative.
We were in a chaotic era, with the invasion of Noark and the sealing of Bifron. The two of them, who would have both experienced and survived countless events, probably weren’t trying to get me to marry their daughters just for their sake.
“In any case, if you do not have a partner in mind, come and enjoy yourself at the temple from time to time. My youngest daughter wishes to see you.”
Hmm… I got the sudden feeling that the reasoning for his advice wasn’t what I first expected.
“…Pen is really not on my mind.”
“Oh-ho, then her sister is?”
When I looked at him in bafflement, Mr. Dragon couldn’t maintain his serious expression and burst out laughing. “Bahaha! I am joking, joking. So all well, don’t talk to our friend here about this topic any further. Alright?”
As Mr. Dragon smiled brightly, I could feel the tension in the room quickly melt away.
Is this what they mean by years of experience…?
Since the oldest person present was acting like that, the family head and the elven representative found it difficult to drag the topic out any more than that.
“More importantly, I wish to converse more about the recent situation. What do you think?”
And when he naturally changed the topic to something else, the books were slammed shut on the conversation of my marriage.
“By the recent situation…”
“You’re talking about the Noarkan invasion.”
I paid closer attention to this, hoping to get some new information, but I unfortunately wasn’t able to get anything. The situation here wasn’t that different from Melbeth’s.
“There is a rumor that there is a wizard of Noark that has inherited the secrets of the Great Sage.”
“It makes sense for a rumor like that to spread. They did, after all, affect the protection magic circle without the divine object of the palace.”
“But I also heard that the rumor is likely not to be false.”
“Yes… Magic of the past teleported tens of thousands of Noarkans from the underground fortress.”
As the conversation continued, I picked up on a few things I didn’t hear from Melbeth, but they were only things that were discovered because time had passed. The intel capabilities of the two groups were pretty similar.
I mean, Melbeth was created by and for nonhuman nobles. It was natural for them to know information their leaders would know, and vice versa.
Still, I can tell that Mr. Dragon definitely knows something.
The other leaders began to sense the same with time and snuck glances at Mr. Dragon, but he just maintained his neutral expression and tried to ignore them.
“Well, I don’t know much either. I will tell you all immediately if I find out something in the future.”
Hmm, I was now sure he knew something. Would he tell me if I asked him in secret later?
I would have to wait and see. In the meantime, the meeting carried on with more bland and ineffective conversations.
“This was a great meeting, I will see you next time.”
Once the meeting had ended, everyone stood from their seats and left the meeting hall. When I reached the entrance, however, I felt a little outmatched for some reason.
“…Great work, Dumoka.”
“Lagcian, the carriage is ready for you.”
“We will guide you to the holy land, Lord Karlstein.”
The guards and servants of the dwarf, elf, beastman, and even the viscount greeted and attended to them when they left the building. There was even one dragonian who was here to greet Mr. Dragon.
The old, white-haired dragonian cleared his throat, quickly hiding something he had been fiddling with as soon as he spotted me. He was the one who gave me that ring puzzle in the dragon temple to test my intelligence.
Intrigued, I asked, “Oh, didn’t you say you couldn’t get it again?”
I tried to look at the puzzle he hid from me, but the old dragonian startled and turned away. “Th-this is different from that one…”
Huh? What’s with this grandpa’s tone?
Oh. Maybe he found it difficult to speak casually to me since I was now a noble and a chieftain?
“Could I take a look at it?” I asked more politely.
The old dragonian flinched before looking at Mr. Dragon standing next to him for help.
You’re acting like I’m bullying you. I can’t even say anything anymore.
Back then, I didn’t feel guilty about anything due to not having any power, but now, I felt like I was just oppressing him with my status.
“It’s fine,” I conceded. “I won’t look at it, so go.”
“…Thank you.”
Thank you? Did I threaten to steal it without realizing it?
“Then we’ll be going as well. Visit the temple when you have time. We will always welcome you.”
“Got it.” I nodded, recognizing that he wasn’t saying it just to be polite, but instead that it was a request for a private talk later.
Mr. Dragon then went away without saying much. “Until then.”
Right, this guy’s Dragon Speech was teleportation. Once again, I was left wondering if there was a race as overpowered as the dragonians.
Alright, then I should get going too…
However, when I moved away from the busy entryway, an overwhelming amount of attention was being poured on me from a certain direction.
Who’s this kid?
One of the people brought here by the elves was practically drilling a hole into me with his stare.
…Huh?
When we met eyes, the elven man stomped forward with long strides and introduced himself. “Nice to meet you, Baron Yandel. I am Beleg Shucia di Tersia.”
The name was both famous and familiar. “Ah, so you are…”
Beleg Shucia di Tersia. A high-ranking adventurer among the top-ranking elves.
“You’re Erwen’s uncle,” I said.
One of the few supposed “family” members Erwen still had.
Although this was the first time we were meeting directly, I’d heard a lot of stories about him from Erwen, so I had a good impression of him. Back when the Dragon Slayer laid terror on the holy land of the elves, this man was the one who saved Erwen and her sister. He had helped Erwen many times afterward as well.
“Good to meet you. I’ve wanted to meet you at least once in my life.”
“That is true for me as well.”
I went for a handshake to greet and welcome him. “…Hmm?”
He gripped my hand tight, clenching with an uncomfortable level of strength.
Honestly, what was he trying to do here? It had been so long since someone had tried that on me.
Hmm…
Though I did wonder how I should respond, I decided just to not do anything and wait. He was someone Erwen was grateful to. And what was there to gain for me here if I overpowered him with my strength?
Yeah, this is what being an adult is…
I chuckled inwardly and waited. When I did, he slowly relaxed his hand and ended the handshake.
“Rumors truly are unreliable.”
…Huh?
What? Did he become overconfident after getting the impression that I was weak?
Just as my head began to tilt, he added, “Your actions are measured and not impulsive, and you do not place importance on meaningless fights. I mean to say that you are much more difficult to trick than they say.”
He randomly complimented me before bowing his head toward me with a serious expression.
“With that, I can worry less. I will leave that child in your care.”
It was honestly shocking. If I had taken the contest of strength seriously, his assessment of me would have been wildly different. However, that shock went away pretty quickly.
“Then, farewell…”
He re-joined the group of elves after getting a signal from his representative, and I was overcome with a different complicated emotion.
Beleg Shucia di Tersia…
Why did it feel like I had seen this guy somewhere before?
***
The Races Summit was not only less useful than I expected, it also brought with it a frustration that I never anticipated.
…Hah, I didn’t do anything, yet I’m exhausted.
With that, the only other thing left on my schedule until the next time the labyrinth opened was the Palatial Meeting happening in two days’ time.
Well, since I had just returned after a long expedition, I was thinking of skipping the next foray into the labyrinth.
Unrelated to that, I’m still curious… How is the situation going to be resolved?
Experience had taught me that something bad would happen if I entered the labyrinth with things as they stood in the city.
“Hah…”
After taking a moment to think, I entered the administrative agency office of Karnon and contacted the holy land to let them know that since I was in the city anyway, I would stay out for a few more days and attend the Palatial Meeting before returning home.
Boom!
With the message sent, I left the building and immediately got on a carriage toward Gnome Tree.
I mean, Mr. Dragon might know something about all this. He had even openly invited me to visit whenever. I figured it would be more efficient to have a meeting with Mr. Dragon rather than rest just simply because I was tired.
If I knew this was going to happen, I would’ve just asked him to take me with him when we said goodbye…
Still, I fell asleep on the ride over. The carriage arrived at my destination at some point, and nothing of note occurred between me getting off the carriage and entering the dragon’s holy land.
“We welcome your visit, Baron Yandel.”
The dragonian gatekeeper didn’t even check my identity before opening the door for me. Maybe Mr. Dragon had said something.
Using the road to get here is pretty difficult.
After a while of climbing the mountain, I finally reached the Dragon Temple situated at the center of the dragonian holy land.
“Hmm, I didn’t expect you to come right away.”
“Why? Didn’t you say I could visit whenever? Were those empty words?”
“To be honest… I expected you to visit me after you attend the Palatial Meeting.”
“We don’t have long lives like you guys. I need to make the most out of every day.”
“Make the most of every day… That is a good phrase.”
“Anyway.” We weren’t close enough to share that much small talk, and since we’d talked about all the small things at the meeting before this anyway, I immediately went to the main topic. “Did you have something you wanted to tell me? It felt like you were trying to signal something to me.”
“As I said before, I expected you to come here after the Palatial Meeting. I was planning on giving you advice if you asked for it after you shared your thoughts then.”
“…Is there going to be some sort of problem during the meeting?”
“Not really a problem… You will soon hear of it, so I will tell you now.”
At last, Mr. Dragon revealed that there were two things of which he had prior knowledge.
“First is your betrothal.”
“My betrothal…?”
“The palace wishes to have you marry a woman of human noble birth.”
Why was everyone so interested in my dating life?