Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 710
Chapter 710: Special Force (1)
Inside a huge room in the interior of the Palace of Glory.
“What? Say that again,” I demanded, slamming the table.
The prime minister and current supreme commander, Marquess Tercerion, replied without a single change in his expression.
“I will say this one last time. As supreme commander, I will not permit you to change your post.”
That was the response I got for requesting to be sent back to the frontlines where my clan was. I couldn’t readily accept it, not when none of the reasons he gave me made any sense.
“And why not?”
“You are a titled noble.”
“I heard that there have been cases where a person can be transferred from the headquarters if they personally request it.”
“The military doesn’t work for the benefit of the individual, but moves for the good of the organization first and foremost.”
“How is going there not beneficial for the organization?”
Although it might not have been barbarian-like, I tried to make my arguments known as logically as possible in an attempt to persuade him.
“You have a task you must do within the military command. And I have judged that ‘task’ to be more important than you going to the frontlines and fighting personally.”
“Something I must do…?”
“Something that I am telling only you. The royal capital of Karnon is not safe. Those foolish Noarkans have hidden themselves here, and the Department of Intelligence hasn’t been able to figure out what they are scheming yet.”
“And what does that have to do with me?”
“No matter how sturdy a building is, it will collapse without its pillars. And the titled nobles who have gathered here are the pillars of this nation.”
“No, I’m asking what that has to do with me.”
“There is no one else in this city who is more specialized at ‘protecting others’ than you. I am not asking much of you. Just stay here and prepare for any sudden threats that may appear.”
I heaved out a sigh. However, I at least finally understood why he was trying to hold me here.
Not to say I was just going to accept it.
I’m a barbarian in the end, right?
A simpleminded warrior who knew nothing but fighting.
A savage of this era that didn’t mix well with the laws and methods of the world.
However, the consequences did worry me a bit.
Hah, then what should I do here? Just completely ignore him and do my own thing? Or…
The marquess seemed to have sensed that I was having some inner turmoil, as he quietly mumbled as if to console me, “But well… The only reason I can’t send you is because of the Noarkans hidden in the city… So if you can dig them all out for us, then I might be able to heed your request.”
I heard a ping! go off in my mind.
I guess it’s a sort of pre-quest…
Sure, so I just needed to handle this?
***
Games sometimes featured a story beat like this. An area would appear with a sign that said you couldn’t enter, but it would open up after you completed a specific quest.
My current situation was exactly like that.
[Eliminate the elite unit that has hidden itself within the royal capital of Karnon.]
If I completed this quest, I would be able to leave the royal capital and legally join my allies on the frontlines. However, there was one disappointing thing about this entire ordeal.
“Then call my clan over here. I’ll be responsible for them, and we’ll hunt down the spies together.”
“I’m afraid that’s impossible.”
“So what, are you asking me to find them by myself?”
“No matter your opinion on the matter, what cannot be simply cannot be. If I give your clan special treatment, what will the other adventurers think? No one will fight wholeheartedly for the palace if I do.”
I tried to bargain for a little wiggle room, but the marquess sharply cut through the attempt.
“Of course, you will need people to help you. I will call those who are suitable for this mission to you.”
Still, since I ended up obtaining some help, I decided the attempt wasn’t completely useless.
“I will say this now, but you and the people you will be working with are only in a group for this special mission. Your affiliation is still with the military command.”
“I know.”
“I only say it because you seem to have no grasp on the situation. Again, but you must never leave the royal capital. If you do, I will have no choice but to condemn you for desertion.”
I paused, then reluctantly agreed, “I said I know.”
“Alright. Then you may go.”
With my meeting with the marquess finished, I returned to the main hall of the Palace of Glory and spent some time chatting with the other titled nobles to obtain intel.
“Haha! What is there to worry about? The incident this time is nothing but a last-ditch effort on their part. The power of the royal house is absolute.”
“I heard that the entire area will be ‘swept’ up in the near future, so I’m waiting to see how that goes.”
“By the way, seeing how His Majesty still hasn’t shown himself even now, it seems he will be ill for quite some time.”
Well, most of it was pointless yapping.
Still, I tried to listen in to as many conversations with as many people as possible.
“Baron Yandel, the support unit assigned to you by the supreme commander has arrived.”
I was able to meet the group that the marquess had discussed with me, and earlier than expected too.
A total of nineteen people. Including me, the special search unit of the military command would move as a twenty-person squad.
Not bad.
There was one more thing that surprised me too.
“Mr. Yandel?”
“Raven…?”
Haha, I didn’t expect the marquess to also assign her to the unit.
“Are you perhaps the leader of the special search unit…?” Raven asked. She must not have, like me, not been briefed on all the details, given how surprised she looked.
“That’s how it ended up. I’ll be in your care for the time being.”
Since I knew Raven was an exceptional individual, I reached out my hand in glee. However, Raven seemed dissatisfied about something even as she shook my hand.
“Ah, I’m feeling really worried now.”
“Worried?”
“It’s nothing. I just now realized this is going to be a very, very dangerous mission.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not planning on causing any trouble.”
“And have you ever caused trouble because you planned for it?”
Hey, don’t be mean to the barbarian.
“In any case, what exactly do we need to do?”
“Hmm? Did you not hear anything before you came here?”
“No. We just heard that we needed to find something. But I did get the idea it was something important because of how quickly we were recruited. So what is it?”
It seemed like she had absolutely no idea why she was here, so I gave a rundown of the mission we’d be carrying out.
“So basically, we need to go out and look for these people, the ones that not even the Department of Intelligence of the palace was able to find?” Raven’s expression soured at the news.
I felt a little sorry for her, but I let go of my ego a little and bowed my head. “I’ll be in your care.”
“No, even if you say that, it’s not like I have a superpower or something…”
“I need to do this to return to where my allies are.”
When I looked at her with pleading eyes, Raven let out the deep sigh that she had been holding in.
“Hah… I got it. I’ll try my best as well.”
“That will be enough.”
Those weren’t empty words. That promise from her was enough for me. After all, how long had we worked together at this point? Considering her personality, the fact that she told me that much meant that she would go as far as she could to help me.
Looks like the marquess actually put some thought into this group.
Why did the marquess, who always did things I didn’t want him to do, do something I liked?
Though I was surprised, I went and greeted the rest of the unit.
“As you all know, I am Bjorn, son of Yandel. You over there, what’s your name?”
“I am Marcus Batelan.”
“Oh, you’re from the Batelan Barony?”
“Not from the direct line, but a branch, Your Lordship.”
I took the time to ask everyone who they were and what their specialties were. In summary, there were ten knights, three wizards, and five “searchers” that were specially assigned to the task.
“By searcher, are your abilities well-suited for searching?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“How good are they?”
“No one within twenty yards of me will be able to escape my sight.”
I could feel the pride in their voices as the searchers responded to me. It didn’t seem to be baseless pride either.
“You may not know this, but when the palace knights stand guard at the boundaries between the gates, at least one searcher is stationed at the post with them.”
Since that palace was using them at the city gates, I held no doubt about their abilities.
With that, I pulled my attention away from the searchers and looked at the last person. It was a young man who wasn’t wearing the regular military uniform, but instead a gray uniform without any markings or patterns.
“You said you’re from the Department of Intelligence.”
“I did, Lord Baron.”
“What’s your name?”
“Under the protocols of the Department of Intelligence, I cannot reveal my name. I ask for your understanding.”
“Then at least answer this. Is your given name or surname Hans?”
He blinked, apparently taken off guard.
“It’s important, so answer me. If you can’t, then I don’t care if you’re part of the Department of Intelligence. I will have to cut you from this operation.”
“I don’t know why you’re asking that, but I am not a Hans.”
“Do you swear on the royal house?”
“I swear.”
Alright, then that meant there were no Hanses here. Someone from the Department of Intelligence wouldn’t lie while swearing on the name of the palace.
“Then what should I call you?”
“Please call me No Name.”
Wow, that speech, that outfit, and his name was No Name? It was obvious at a glance that he didn’t have many friends.
Alright, I’ve decided.
“No Name is too long.”
“What do you mean No Name is too—”
“I’ll shorten it and call you Mumu.”
After receiving his new name, Mumu seemed confused as to what I was talking about.
“How is that shortening it?”
“Mumu, and No Name. I don’t have to say as much.”
His eyelids fluttered even more in confusion.
“If you don’t like it, tell me your real name. Then I’ll call you that.”
When I tried to prod him, Mumu just let out a sigh before shaking his head. “It’s fine. It doesn’t matter what you call me. Do as you wish.”
“Got it, Mumu.”
Despite giving me permission, his face scrunched a little at that. He didn’t seem to like the sound of being called Mumu.
Well, it wasn’t anything I needed to care about. It was obvious that he was the one person that the marquess planted in the unit, so what was the point of being nice to him?
“Anyway, before we officially begin our mission, I want the information that the Department picked up already.”
“I knew you would ask that. I prepared it ahead of time.”
Our department boy Mumu told me what districts were searched by the Department, what was found, what clues they obtained, and so on. We spent some time taking in the information, but there wasn’t anything that stood out in the end.
“So you looked everywhere and couldn’t even find a single hair of these guys?”
“I suppose you could put it that way…”
“Hmm, then there is a possibility that these hidden Noarkans are all bald.”
“Are you…being serious?”
“No? I was joking?”
This guy acted like barbarians didn’t have brains.
“Alright, let’s get going,” I ordered.
“Do you have any place in mind?”
“Not really. Something should come to mind if we just start walking around, right?”
Mumu seemed like he had a lot he wanted to say to me, but he opted to hold it in, probably figuring that we wouldn’t be doing much and that he could spend the time not doing anything.
“Still, I was able to narrow the areas down a little thanks to you.” When he again blinked in surprised anticipation, I added, “It means that the Noarkans aren’t hiding in any ordinary places.”
His expression immediately shifted to exacerbation at that. However, even if it was an obvious point, it was honestly the most important one too.
“From what I can tell, you didn’t search any of the manors of the noble houses.”
Mumu flinched before rushing to say, “Lord Baron? You’re not planning on…”
He didn’t want to believe it even as he said it, but I wasn’t going to be backing down on this point. “There could be clans that are in leagues with the Noarkans, so isn’t it suspicious?”
“D-do you think we left them alone because we didn’t think of that possibility?”
“Raven, does the special unit have the authority to search inside the manors of the nobles?”
“Who knows? I don’t.”
“Then we’ll say we do from now on.”
Mumu jerked back in shock at my calm declaration and whipped around to look at Raven, but she just nodded without finding anything wrong with my statement.
“Since the marquess was the one who created the unit, he should take care of those problems for us. And since all the house heads are gathered in the Palace of Glory, the servants won’t be able to stop us either.”
“What are the two of you talking about?!”
“Alright, then that’s that,” I said, ignoring Mumu. “Let’s hurry. We need to carry out a search and seizure on as many houses as we can before the house heads notice.”
“Sure, but what does search and seizure mean…?” Raven asked.
“It means that if we find anything suspicious, we’ll take it with us to check later.”
“Ah…”
From the look of contempt on her face, I could tell that she understood that my real goal here was to look through the houses and secretly loot things that interested me. Even so, it seemed she was tired of stopping me as she just sent me an exhausted look and asked, “Then which house should we start with?”
Ah, that? It was obvious.
“Our first destination is the House of Marquess Tercerion.”
What was hidden in the prime minister’s home?