Barbarian Quest

Urich caught himself dozing off.

Tick, tick.

The fishing rod in his hands trembled slightly. He yawned and pulled on the rod.

A minnow wriggled as it was reeled in.

“This isn’t even enough for a bite.”

Urich threw the minnow hooked on the fishing line back to the flowing water, then went back to staring blankly at the river.

It was a river not far from Hamel. Urich often came here with just Hume and a few warriors and spent his days fishing as a pastime.

Crack, crack.

Urich stretched his neck from side to side to loosen up, sitting next to a basket of water with only two fish swimming in it that were caught by his clumsy fishing.

Urich woke Hume up after casting another bait. Hume, who had been dozing off against a tree, opened his eyes.

“Yawn, did you catch anything? We should head back soon.”

“Just wait, I feel like I’m going to catch a big one today.”

Urich smiled as he sipped the wine he brought.

‘Fishing is what he does after conquering Hamel…’

Even Hume often wondered about Urich's actions, not to mention the warriors who felt the same way. They often came to Urich urging for military action, but Urich just shook his head every time.

‘Five thousand warriors are idly wasting away.’

Those who wanted to settle and those who longed for their homeland had all left. The remaining five thousand warriors were those who wanted to share glory with Urich, missing the days of reveling in bloodshed.

“Only the pure warriors still remain by my side.”

Urich looked at his rough hands which were strong enough to kill a man without any weapons. He too was a warrior, so he fully understood the hearts of the warriors who stayed.

‘Pure warriors do not settle. They constantly strive to fight and conquer.’

People only stop when they are satisfied. Just as only a hungry beast goes hunting, only the people who have not fulfilled their desires continue to advance.

‘It’s not wrong for those born and raised as warriors to crave battle.’

Urich stared at the flowing river. There were fish that tried to swim against the current, whereas others went with the flow.

There was no absolute good or evil in the real world. When goals clashed, one just blamed the other as wrong, and that was exactly how things were between barbarism and civilization. Everyone simply lived to the best of their ability given their circumstances. Civilization was not inherently right, nor was barbarism inherently wrong.

It was a simple truth, but it was one that people ignored. To survive in this harsh world, they needed to believe they were right, and others were wrong. Everyone thinks they are the most justified.

‘Basha’s revenge was justified, and so was Hume’s.’

And Urich did not think his actions were wrong either. To save his people, he had no choice but to overturn the civilized world by force. Even if innocents suffered, it was inevitable, because if the civilized did not suffer, his brothers of his homeland would instead.

‘There is no such thing as a perfect world where everyone is satisfied.’

If there were absolute righteousness, life would be very easy. There would be no need to ponder what is right or wrong.

But the world was full of contradictions, and right and wrong changed constantly.

In the civilized world, Ulgaro of the north was seen as evil that knew nothing more than plunder and destruction, whereas in the barbarian world, the sun god Lou would be seen as weak prey.

‘But if there’s one thing that’s clear…’

Urich touched his heart.

‘In this unclear world, I have to do what I believe in.’

If one fears that their good might be another’s evil, they will do nothing. A half-hearted altruistic life was one chosen by cowards. In fact, those who chose it were not altruistic but merely afraid of others’ judgment.

Urich pulled on the fishing rod again, but no fish were caught.

“Another miss. Didn’t you say you were feeling like you were going to catch a big one?” Hume, eager to return, teased.

“Ah, the big one is finally here,” Urich muttered, looking at the empty hook. His ears twitched like a wild animal’s.

Twang.

It was the sound of a bowstring. An arrow flew.

Urich’s lips twitched as he tilted his head to dodge the arrow.

The warriors who had followed as guards were nowhere to be seen.

“E-enemies!” Hume shouted in panic, ducking and looking around.

“See? I told you I was going to catch a big one today.”

Urich laughed, staring at the bushes.

“Are you there, Great Chief?” A hearty voice called out.

“I’m right here,” Urich replied, crossing his arms. Three warriors emerged from the bushes, stepping cautiously.

“It would have been disappointing if the mighty Urich died to an arrow.”

A warrior laughed, tossing aside his bow.

“Thanks to your gentle shooting, I managed to dodge it.”

Urich's joke made the warriors laugh. They were former chiefs and head warriors who stayed in the army despite the others settling down in civilization or returning west to their homes.

‘We believed that one day, our Great Chief would rise again and start a war.’

Even if one was paralyzed from the waist down, there were mounts in the civilized world that made commanding still possible. Those who remained were likely ones who believed in Urich more than anyone else.

Three warriors approached.

Hume, standing beside Urich, flinched and stepped back. He was neither Urich's guard nor strong enough to fight real warriors.

‘Assassination.’

It was clear that the warriors had come to kill Urich after their accumulated discontent toward him had finally erupted.

“How many agreed to this? Who is my successor?”

Urich asked, lifting a basket of fish and biting into the flesh of one that was still alive. The fish, being eaten alive, thrashed its tail, slapping Urich's cheek.

“That doesn't matter. When you die, one of us will take your place. Then we will continue the war.”

“There is no such thing as an army that wins forever. You need to know when to stop.”

Urich threw the half-eaten fish into the river. The fish's blood dispersed in the water.

“You might think it's time to stop, but we don't.”

Urich stared at the warriors raising their weapons.

“You came to kill me with just the three of you?” He asked the warriors.

“Three is more than enough against a cripple.”

“Seems like you've underestimated me.”

Urich shrugged and laughed.

Meanwhile, Hume, standing behind him, trembled in fear and thought, ‘Today is the day that I pay the price for killing Basha.’

If Urich died, Hume would die too. There was no chance the warriors would leave a witness alive.

“Today, the Great Chief will go missing. He will finally be gone.”

Urich was a divine figure in the Alliance with an immense number of followers that was incomparable to Samikan's time. No matter how esteemed a warrior, if they killed Urich and took his place as Great Chief, they would be avenged by someone before long. The ideal method was to assassinate Urich and disguise it as a disappearance.

“This could’ve all been avoided if I had properly named a successor and stepped down,” Urich muttered, grabbing an axe.

“If you knew that, why did you hold onto your position? We didn't want to do this either. You are a great warrior. If you choose war even now, we will fight by your side with our lives.”

Urich rummaged through his bag and took out another axe, holding one in each hand.

‘Two axes?’

A quick-witted warrior sensed something was off. It wasn’t unusual for a warrior to carry one axe with him at all times, but bringing two axes to a simple fishing trip was strange.

“I, Urich of the Stone Axe Tribe, saved my brothers and sisters from the greed of the civilized people. It’s a bit embarrassing boasting about it, but it was something to be proud of. It was tough and grueling, but it was worth all the trouble.”

Urich spun the two axes in his hands. Every warrior in the Alliance knew he was a master of axe throwing, so they approached cautiously.

Urich closed his eyes thinking about the battle, then opened them again.

‘I’ve regretted my choices many times, but….’

But Urich still achieved his goal, and even if he could go back, he would still make the same choices again because he believed they were the right ones.

Urich loved the people of his home. They were his brothers.

“…But this time, I will save the civilized people from the barbaric violence.”

Urich the barbarian admired civilization. That sentiment hadn’t changed.

The warriors' eyes widened and then twisted with hatred. Despite them being the ones who came to assassinate the Great Chief, they were the ones who felt more betrayed.

“Great Chiiiiiiief!” They cried.

The words that should have never come out of Urich’s mouth carried the truth that the warriors of the Alliance had been ignoring.

‘Urich kept the civilized people closer than his brothers.’

Urich’s closest aides were always civilized people, and the discontent that accumulated exploded with those words.

One warrior charged like a bear with his axe prepared to lose a limb.

‘He might be a warrior blessed by the heavens and earth, but…!’

The warrior was confident that he could beat a crippled opponent.

Urich and the warrior crossed paths. The sound of flesh being cut and bones breaking filled the air.

But the warriors and even Hume fell speechless at what happened next.

“The hardest thing in the past six months was…”

Urich wiped the blood off his axe on his pants as the head that once belonged to the charging warrior fell to the ground.

“Enduring the doctor's tickling of my soles every evening.”

Urich limped. His gait seemed uncomfortable, but he was standing firmly on both legs. He swiftly beheaded the warrior with everyone present as witnesses.

“G-Great Chief!”

The warriors were shocked and left speechless.

Even Hume, who was always by Urich’s side, didn’t know about the condition of his legs. He had been hiding the state of his legs from others for over half a year.

‘Was he waiting for his army to naturally disband…?’

It wasn’t like he could move his legs this much from the start. For the past six months, Urich had been secretly undergoing rehabilitation, and it was only three or four weeks ago that he was able to stand on both legs again.

“Come at me, my brothers. If you want something, you have to seize it with force!” Urich shouted as he straightened his posture.

The warriors’ expressions were complex. While they were furious at the betrayal, they were also pleased by the return of the greatest warrior. Joy and anger were mixed.

“Why are you not leading us again? Why…” A warrior asked with a trembling voice.

“I told you, this time I’m going to protect the civilized people,” Urich was firm.

“That’s exactly what we can’t understand, Great Chief!”

Urich threw an axe at the warrior who shouted. The fierce axe flew and struck the warrior’s shoulder.

“Aaaargh!”

The warrior screamed. While he managed to prevent his head from being split, the axe buried in his shoulder had shattered bone and lodged deeply.

“I’m sorry, but I have no intention of gaining your understanding. This is my life. The only person who needs to understand it is myself.”

There was no room for right or wrong. The warriors had their reasons for being disappointed in Urich, and Urich had his reasons for betraying their expectations.

Life was a series of clashes with others. Ultimately, only those with deeper roots and firmer resolve were able to achieve their will.

A warrior swung his blade in anger.

Urich read the trajectory of the blade and ducked. He felt an electric sensation as the blade grazed his hair. The senses of the battlefield awakened, and the thrill surged, reaching the fine hairs on his skin.

Slash!

He swung his axe to cut the warrior’s ankle and send him collapsing sideways.

Crunch!

Urich jumped again and drove his knee into the fallen warrior’s head with his weight. The warrior’s skull caved in and shattered.

The last standing warrior charged, thinking to attack before Urich could regain his stance as he was slow to stand due to his legs still being a hindrance.

Urich threw the axe he was holding. The warrior raised his sword to block it as if he was expecting it.

Clang!

Urich’s axe was deflected. Now weaponless, Urich grabbed the sword the dead warrior had held and swung it.

“Oooooh!” Urich shouted. His muscles bulged and his veins stood out.

Crack!

The sword Urich swung was like a hammer with a force that no other sword than an imperial steel sword would have handled.

The warrior blocked, but Urich’s strength overwhelmed him. A long gash appeared on his muscular chest, widening and splitting vertically. Blood flowed like a waterfall down his chest.

“Kugh.”

The warrior retreated, clutching his chest with a wound deep enough to be fatal.

“You are still as amazing as ever, Great Chief.”

Urich smiled bitterly. The warriors he had just killed were his brothers too.

“I’m sorry about this.”

Urich spun the sword, preparing for the final blow.

“If you were going to apologize, you shouldn’t have done it in the first place. heh. Regardless of the reason, we tried to kill you, Great Chief, so there really is no need to apologize.”

Urich took a step forward and swung the sword widely. The warrior’s head fell cleanly.

As Urich looked at the bodies of the dead warriors, his eyes gleamed yellow.

Emotions surged, making his nose and eyes tingle. Even after seeing and hearing so much, the world was still difficult. Was this the best way? No matter how many times he thought about it, he couldn’t be sure. He merely embraced the unease and took a difficult step forward.

After staring at the bodies for a while, Urich grabbed his knees and stood up.

“Hume, let’s go.”

“H-huh? Go where?” Hume, startled, answered in confusion.

“If we stay here, you’ll die.”

Hearing that, Hume hurriedly followed Urich.

“W-where are we going?”

“First to the south…”

Urich trailed off, taking a large look around. His eyes, which had been scanning the south, finally turned east.

“Then to the east.”

Urich walks on.

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